Morning Music

Thursday, January 7, 2010 ~ 6 comments so far

Radio and I have never really gotten along. It’s mostly my fault. I don’t listen.

badum tish!

Actually, that’s not all that far from the truth. I don’t listen to the radio all that much, it’s just never been a part of any routine. Radio wasn’t a big part of my childhood as it never occurred to me that there might be stations other than those my parents listened to, so for the most part I grew up listening to albums.

The one time I do listen to the radio is in the car on my commute which brings me to my quandary.

What, or more exactly who, should I listen to?

Music wise my tastes lie somewhere between Radio 1 and Radio 2, with Radio Clyde (West of Scotland only) being the closest match (where closest equals “if I have to suffer a mix of chart music”). I’m not a fan of talk shows on the radio, so Radio 4 is out, and Radio Scotland has a jack of all trades approach which just annoys me.

Of course we are only talking about when I’m driving to and from work so I need to find a breakfast show and a drivetime show that I can tolerate.

With Chris Evans moving to the breakfast slot on Radio 2, it seems like there will finally be something decent to listen to of a morning in the car. His evening show was pretty interesting and musically a reasonable fit to my tastes. He’s much less grating on the radio than on TV and as the alternatives are Chris Moyles (Radio 1) or George Bowie (on Radio Clyde), well it’s a no-brainer.

But what of drivetime? Simon Mayo on Radio 2? Puhleeze, there is more personality in a toe-nail clipping. Scott Mills on Radio 1, inane chatter, that whole “off of” bollocks and his playlists always seem to favour the current, most annoying, manufactured tripe. Radio Clyde seems to be where this is heading, which at least gives me local traffic reports but means I have to endure the latest greatest Scottish slang… ohh yeah, and adverts.

And yes, I could just chuck in a CD, but my other half and I don’t share musical tastes, so perhaps the ultimate option is just to switch it off.

What do you do?

MNTKOT*

Monday, December 21, 2009 ~ 3 comments so far

I can remember the first time I heard it, in the Clyde Bar in Helensburgh. Raw, explosive, vitriolic and, to my 17yr old ears, a spitting hammer blow through my music collection.

I bought the CD that weekend and as soon as I got home, rushed up to my room, closed the door (I’m not THAT rebellious), put it in the stereo and turned it up loud.

Thumping bass notes, screeching guitar and THAT refrain.

FUCK YOU, I WON’T DO WHAT YOU TELL ME!!

As a track it still has enough raw energy and youthful (misguided) attitude to remain an anthem to many an angsty, angry, acne-ridden youth, and through the “power of the internet” it’s now the Christmas number 1 for 2009.

And yes, I bought it. And yes I’m glad I did.

Not because of any “sticking it to the man” sympathies, as many have pointed out, Sony own both record labels so they win either way.

Not to get at X-Factor per se, as it at least drives me to source other forms of music and find richer seams of pleasure away from the (mostly) manufactured crap that peppers the charts.

Not (just) because, musically, I much prefer a good bit of noisy rock to yet another ballad.

And definitely not to “get at Joe”, who seems wholly likable and sounds a bit like Neil Sedaka to me and that’s no bad thing (really, it’s not).

Nope, I mainly just to placate that tiny piece of me that remains rebellious, the bit that gets tattoos. To have a small amount of “fuck it” in my life, to get away from the tensions and strains of being an adult.

That’s really all there is to it.

So I’m not really raging against the machine, more *mildly not too keen on the thingmabob.

Curious Daylight

Sunday, December 6, 2009 ~ 1 comment so far

I’ve spent most of the evening retagging MP3s in my iTunes library in an effort to get them all cleaned up. I tried this with a bit of software before but it did more damage than good so I’m just slowly working my way through by hand and, as it turns out, it’s quite fun for no other reason than it is allowing me to revisit some music I’ve not played for ages.

It’s also kicking off a bit of nostalgia at times as well, as I pick over different eras in my music taste, particularly when I stumbled across an old Kevin McDermott Orchestra album which I played so much the CD started to wear through!

There was a time, in my late teens, when I was heavily into the Scottish music scene, Simple Minds, Love & Money, The Silencers, The Humpff family and Del Amitri, and given that I was ‘growing up’ at that point it’s fair to say that a lot of the lyrical content seemed to resonate deeply with me.

Now I’m not saying that any of the aforementioned bands were particularly adept at song writing but remember, I was a bag of hormones and emotions so even the simplest line of melancholy had me proclaiming it as the best song EVER.

However what took me by surprise, as I flicked through some of the tracks, was how deeply they STILL resonate. One perfect example is on the Kevin McDermott album, Bedazzled, a track called Curious Daylight:

I hope this song makes sense tomorrow,
My words keep falling on the floor,
It’s nearly dawn and soon I’ll follow,
It’s time you helped me to the door.

So now we know that something’s wrong.
We’ve been on this ship too long.

I can’t wait, til we’ve got it made,
I can’t wait, til we turn the tide,
I can’t wait, cos I see everything,
and it sure looks strange in this curious daylight.

Wish we could talk about the weather,
Fall asleep and wake as friends,
but I can’t talk about forever,
and I’m the villain once again.

We’re getting further from the shore,
but I’ve sailed this sea before.

But I can’t wait, til we’ve got it made,
I can’t wait, til we turn the tide,
I can’t wait, cos I see everything,
and it sure looks strange in this curious daylight.

Though I need you more than ever,
Because the cards I have are always wild,
I’m trying to keep this ship together,
so try to understand the thankless child.

I don’t expect to be forgiven,
There’re things that I could never be,
No well intentioned break upon the shores of heaven,
No endless refuge.

I’ve been on this ship so long,
and I’ve never felt this strong,
Now I can’t wait, til we’ve got it made,
I can’t wait, til we turn the tide,
I can’t wait, cos I see everything,
and it sure looks strange in this curious daylight.

Nothing special, for sure, but it still made me stop and sit back and just listen to the music. Not something I do all that often, and it evoked a powerful set of memories, of people and places, laughter and tears.

It also reminds me that memories, good ones, are very important and I should try harder not to leave them to tarnish.

Fatefully conspired against

Friday, September 25, 2009 ~ 2 comments so far

I have returned from my time in Derby. It has been an eventful and exciting week in many ways and yet, despite my best laid plans, fate decided to remind me of my position in the universe.

As I mentioned previously I was travelling down to Derby (Mickleover to be precise) where I was attending a conference at which I was delivering a presentation entitled “Why Blog?” (you can see my slides and notes on my other blog. I’ve presented at something similar once, and considering the topic I was reasonably comfortable with my knowledge of the subject matter. I’ll be writing more about the conference on my other blog, although some of the cognitive psychology stuff will probably fall here too, it’s fascinating!

As I was in the area, it transpired that, after many years of reading him and recently delighting at watching him dance on the plinth in Trafalgar Square, I would finally meet the Troubled Diva (aka mike) himself. All good. THEN he said that I’d also be able to shake hands with, and congratulate on his recent half-marathon (for which he helped raise over £3k!) the only and only SwissToni well I was delighted. THEN he mentioned that Sarah would there as well, and as she was one of many Tweeps that shared the delight of the pointy fingered dancing on the plinth that evening well it was looking like a nice evening.

THEN they mentioned we’d be seeing a gig by a Norwegian band named Ungdomskulen and… yeah.. I wasn’t sure. As it turns out they were good, big and noisy and a little “prog”, although the CD that I purchased after the gig is a lot … hmmm … more indie sounding than the live act.

Anyway my over-elaborated point is that I had several reasons to be excited about my trip.

The journey down on Tuesday evening was uneventful and very short, flying from Glasgow to East Midlands airport (the cheapest option!) was all of 40 minutes, and the first day of the conference nicely played out along the theme I was using as part of my presentation on blogging first thing on the second day (the whole “be part of the conversation” thing, you know).

Roll on Thursday morning, the second day of the conference and at 9am I stepped up and 35 minutes later I finished, took 5 minutes for a few questions and ended bang on time. I missed one or two little things but hey ho, it went very well from my side and a few people spoke to me afterwards saying they had enjoyed it so it seems to have been well received. The video of the presentation will never ever see the light of day. I had to kill the A/V guy after my session to make sure, so apologies to any dog-walkers in Mickleover who stumble over the body of a young man, strangled by several microphone cords.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur and all of a sudden I’m in Derby and heading towards the building where all the noise was coming from, and next thing I’m shaking hands with three people who I don’t know but have known (collectively) for many many years. Fab! It also whittles down my list of “bloggers to meet” to around 4 or 5 (no, no names). I originally thought the number lower but well you lot are just too fab.

Alas the excitement had to end so this very morning at something around 4.50am I woke up and not being able to get back to sleep got up and started the last of the packing. I jumped in the taxi when it arrived (late) and by the time I got to the airport (including 2 trips round one roundabout!) I was a little tight for time.

I grabbed a paper (The Guardian in which Mike had an article), a coffee and hustled to Gate 23.

Sidenote: There is a sign in Derby airport that states how far gates 18-23 are, 180m from the sign apparently. Now, whilst I can, now, figure out roughly how long that may take me to walk, does anyone else think it odd they didn’t at least have a diagram, or indicate how long it might take someone to walk (1-2 minutes)?? Just me, ok as you were.

At the top of a metal escalator as I reached down to grab my bag, my foot caught the edge of a step and next thing I know I’ve fallen forward, banging my injured knee (long term, tendinitis), my shin and my arm as I try and keep hold of my coffee, the paper and my luggage. It hurt.

I was very tired, mainly because whilst conferences are great they are intense, as there is a LOT of thinking that goes on both in the sessions and in the chats afterwards, and because I’d spent the previous (very enjoyable!) evening on my feet. I hadn’t had breakfast, and it REALLY fucking hurt. I think it’s the closest I’ve been to crying about falling over since I was a child.

Needless to say the escalator was still moving and a split second later I realised I would have to get up or try and negotiate the end of the stairs and I painfully managed to get to my feet just in time to stagger forward and fall down again.

I’m rather thankful there wasn’t anyone else in sight.

Looking back it seems a bit silly but given that I spent the first 20 minutes of the flight pale, sweating and shaking so much the stewardess stopped to ask if I was ok I guess the adrenaline rush was a little too much for my tired and aching body to cope with.

All that at the end of a wonderful week, meeting interesting people, making new friends, learning new things, enjoying new music and meeting someone I’ve ‘known’ for longer than anyone outside my immediate circle of “real life” friends (they don’t blog, I can call them that). Regardless of all the good things that happened this week, the shock of that simple little trip will be what I recall when I mention the conference or “when I met Mike”, and that, my friends is why I’m feeling mostly conspired against.

So, I’m going to focus on the positives and, as I limp home, remind myself that this was just a little bit of balance, that’s all. Both reminding me that while life can be fantastically good, it can also tip you over. Literally. On a metal escalator in an airport near Derby.

Music Futures

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 ~ 5 comments so far

Prompted by some questions about Spotify on Twitter, questions which sparked a heated debate that is still raging*, I thought I’d revisit my own music purchasing and usage habits and see where I sit in the consumer spectrum.

First things first then, I do purchase music mostly, these days, through iTunes. Mostly because it’s handy and I’m a total Apple fanboy (yeah, Windows SUCK!!). That last bit is a lie, of course, as my home PC runs Windows and I’m really enjoying using Windows 7 (something else I’ll be purchasing soon).

I digress.

I spent a long time digitally converting my CDs, and as they now reside in boxes in the loft I don’t see the need to purchase anything on physical media. I have bought a couple in the past few months, mainly band specific special releases though, so they aren’t available through iTunes. I’m sure there are other ways I could purchase music but for what I listen my system works for me.

Do I miss the act of going into a music shop, flipping through the stacks? Yes I do, but not so much that I’m losing sleep over it, although it’s easy to say that since my current office is miles from anywhere, whereas working in the city centre made access to places like Fopp an always entertaining lunchtime visit.

As for listening to music, well that mostly happens either at work (when time/task allow) or at home when I’m sitting at the PC or just generally faffing about upstairs. More recently I have started taking my iPod Shuffle to the gym.

So where does Spotify fit in all this? Well it should fit perfectly, at home at least (I’ve not tried but guessing company firewall restrictions would rule it out there). I do have it, I have an account yet, for some reason, I don’t use it. To be honest I’ve only used it a couple of times, and I do like the idea of sharing playlists with others but what about all that music that I have?

I LIKE all the music I have, well most of it**, except when it’s on shuffle of course, and whilst I am open to hearing new artists I only tend to use work as a backdrop so I’m not usually actively listening. With that in mind, it largely doesn’t matter where the music comes from, but I’m far more likely to put on something I know so I don’t HAVE to listen to it.

You know what I mean, right?

Perhaps I just need to give Spotify more of a try, perhaps I’m missing something fundamental but I really don’t see it as a game changer. Yet.

But then I said that about blogging, and Twitter so hey, what do I know?

* or perhaps just one or two polite replies, poetic license, innit
** the joys of a shared library of music and Last.fm listing tracks from Louise’s iPod, for the record I did not listen to Girls Aloud AT ALL that week

The joy of the lyric

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 ~ No comments yet

So, I posted a photo from it but I wanted to mention the Emiliana Torrini gig I attend last week. The venue, Oran Mor, is quite small and intimate, occupying the top floor of an old church and holding maybe 400-500 people, tops. The stage wasn’t set very high and, upon taking to it, the diminutive Ms. Torrini admitted she was a bit taken aback that everyone was ‘right there’.

Musically she’s a tricky one to pigeonhole. Her Icelandic roots make the leap to Bjork a bit too obvious and she’s certainly more grounded in traditional songwriting arrangements than her Icelandic counterpart, but that’s not to say it’s all acoustic guitars and winsome melodies. Her last album covers such tracks as well as a reggae tinged number as well as bringing a pop sensibility to things. It makes it her most accessible album and probably accounts for the range of ages in the audience.

But it’s her turn of phrase that caught my ear when I first chanced upon one of her tracks, and allows me to suggest that she’s not far short of Mr.Garvey (Elbow) for a nicely visioned lyric.

A good gig then, an excellent venue that was small enough to be intimate, and a pretty slick set from the band. Her voice, whilst sounding quite delicate at times, can certainly hold it’s own against 5 and 6 piece band, and her desire to give the audience the background story to most of the songs was endearing.

Not sure how she’d fair at a larger venue and whilst I hope she continues to build her fanbase (she’s released three albums so far) part of me hopes she sticks to this size of venue as it seems perfectly suited to her sound.

New music exclusive!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 ~ No comments yet

Well, exclusive to my inbox at least, hey don’t look a gift horse and all that, right? I’m not troubled bloody diva, published everywhere and rubbing shoulders with the stars or anything, I takes what I gets!

So it was a very nice surprise to be able to receive an email in my inbox offering me a preview release of an upcoming EP featuring a band whose:

sound has grown stronger and surer as a result of their creative self-empowerment – alive with animalistic rage, suffused with emotive human spirit. Quite simply, it is enormous

Which sounds quite bloody impressive if you ask me.

The band in question are called Lupen Crook & The Murderbirds, and this is their first self-published work and also marks the first time I’ve heard anything by them. I’ve listened to the EP a couple of times now and I’ll happily admit that it’s good if not quite as startlingly original as the press release makes out but hey, when did a press release ever resemble reality?

Folk-Punk is the genre, apparently (yeah, new one on me too) and at first listen it sounds fairly derivative, some punk-lite melodies and an ‘authentic’ voice. Nothing out of the ordinary. A second, closer, listen reveals more depth and a nice grasp of rhythm and lyric, and I have to admit that it is growing on me. A third and fourth listen immediately followed and already the songs feel comfortable, like older friends. There is a definite quality to the tracks which hints at grander things to come.

The band are ploughing their own path and seem to embracing all forms of media in their quest for artistic expression. Whether or not that will stand them in good stead only time will tell but, based on the music, there is no reason why they can’t push on to bigger and brighter things. Whether they want to do that or not remains to be seen.

Either way, this is definitely a band to watch.

The EP is out on 4th July, more details available on the band website: www.lupencrookandthemurderbirds.co.uk.