Rasputin...

Playlist
Carter - String Quartets
Boston - Greatest Hits
Bobby Hutcherson - Stick up!
Bryan Ferry - Olympia
Alice Cooper - Theatre of Death
Iggy Pop - Preliminaires
Scott Walker - The Drift
Japan - Oil on Canvas
The Eagles - Eagles
Otte - Das Buch der Klaenge
Various - Plague Songs
Echo & the Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here
Depeche Mode - Tour of the Universe
Black Country Communion - Black Country
Chroma Key - Dead Air for Radios
Chroma Key - Graveyard Mountain Home
Kevin Moore - Ghost Book OST
Tippett - String Quartets
Field - Complete Piano Concertos
Various - 101 Trance Anthems

Another month over...

Soundtracked today by music from the replacement phone having applied the last 30 acquisitions to it...

The snow continued - but enough of that, here's a tree, the moon and some morning sky...

To FOPP on the way home this afternoon and partook of a 5CD set of Disco and a 6CD set of trance...

Hmmm...

Christmas has started...

News from sister Pam tonight - to the hospital tomorrow for tests - all fingers and indeed toes crossed...

On TV, Frankie Boyle's new show was very funny in places and very toe curlingly embarrassing for him in others...

Probably better by far was the following on "The Morgana Show" (not Magenta )...

Lights out...

Highlight of the Day : Fairly low key all round but I'll go for the Lady GaGa sketches on "The Morgana Show" - that ga ga ga tune is, of course, based on Boney M's "Rasputin"...

Copy cat...

Playlist
Field – Piano Concertos
Bryan Ferry -Olympia
Brian Eno – Small Craft on a Milk Sea

More snow this morning...

Lunch with chum Spike re his birthday today – I shelled out for a tasty pie and peans at Bert’s Bar for us – post scoff, we were joined by an unpictured Kris-with-a-K...

A visit to HMV resulted in no new additions to the collection...

Even worse snow on the way home...

Finding myself watching the “Strictly Come Dancing” offshoot, “It Takes Two”, I realised I ought to be doing something more worthwhile and so fired up the studio for a run through the new 30 minute set which will be played on 11 December...

As I got to the end of the third last song, the Exec Producer advised me to stop as my mum was on the phone...

Some news re sister Pam...

The rest of the evening was spent in front of the telly...

Two programmes on Germany, the first on German art, the second on Berlin, attempted to divert my attention...

Highlight of the Day : German stuff - not other stuff...

Back to fourteen fifteen...

Playlist
Sour Grapes – Vendôme
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Vendôme
Sumner McKane – Something Very New England About This View
Justin Currie – The Great War
Various - LPs Bought in 1974

Yes - The Ultimate Yes : 35 years

An e-mailed thumbs up this morning from Oz collaborator Mr Williamson re “Vendôme”...

He will get a higher quality version of his track to me to work on...

I am invited too to contribute long distance backing vocals to an in preparation Sour Grapes compilation...

The things that happen by chance...

Snow continued to blight...

So another day spent mostly indoors...

The penultimate “Merlin” plus “Harry Hill’s TV Burp” and “Have I Got News For You” entertained in a warm and cosy Crispycat Towers...

Later, I ventured down to Tesco for ingredients re a solo cook tonight, Paprika Pork...

A tasty success, created to the soundtrack of albums first purchased in 1974 - and enjoyed with a lovely bottle of Merlot...

The weekend was rounded off with “Garrow’s Law” and “Match of the Day 2”, during the latter of which your correspondent was to be heard snoring...

Highlight of the Day : Back to the cooker...

Vendôme inspiration...

Playlist
Sombre Reptiles – Anthology tracks
Field – Complete Piano Concertos
Sour Grapes – Vendôme
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Vendôme
Creek - 2010
Leaves - Angela Test

Up at 7:30 and some house keeping on the hard drive...

Deleting WAV files no longer required and freeing up around 25GBs of space...

To the gym with Sombre Reptiles in the cans...

A call to mum – our trip to Paisley today is postponed till the New Year re the snow...

On the radio, Queen of the South’s cup final tomorrow in Perth against Ross County is also postponed due to the weather...

Updated the blog for most of this last week then visited Sour Grapes site – my long-distance collaborators on “Splinterheart” track “Black Earth”...

There, I was particularly taken by an instrumental track by Mr Ryan Sour Grape...

...called “Vendôme” with it’s beautiful initial chord sequence - and had to have a try at working something out for it...

So, with the Paisley trip off and Annie listening in to what was left of the football calendar, I set about the task...

Within a few hours I had a new CBQ/Sour Grapes collaboration, having added vocals, acoustic guitars and, erm, birdsong to the track, with lyrics cut up from the Wikipedia entry for the eponymous French town...

I mailed an MP3 to Ryan of SG in Brisbane and await his response...

If positive, I may debut this at the next CBQ performance, which is confirmed today as 11 December...

...and it may become the first song to be included on the next CBQ LP...

In the evening it was out into the snow, my less than sensible footwear for the evening causing our walk down to the bus stop to be almost doubled...

To the Jolly Judge off the Royal Mile, where we met up with old chums Paul, George and Jim...

The bar being particularly crowded, thanks to an influx of kilted Masons and, with our spot right in front of a roaring fire causing potential combustion complications, we moved over the road to the less well attended Castle Arms...

Here we were joined by Lynn and the drinking and carousing stretched into the wee small hours...

Good to catch up with these guys who have been in our lives for more than thirty years now...

Highlight of the Day : A new piece/a night out...

Field and snow and impossible songs...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Last Night’s Set
Cherubini – String Quartets
Field – Complete Piano Concertos
Various – Euphoria Ibiza

Another very cold day indeed during which it always looked like it would snow...

To HMV at lunchtime and finally succumbed to the offer of a 4CD box of the complete piano concertos of Mr John Field...

A quick listen back home - having gotten myself ready to brave the elements...

Chris-with-a-Ch arrived around 7...

...to, very kindly indeed, give us a lift down to the Dakota Hotel in Queensferry....

A long awaited, multi-postponed, night out with John and Ali of Impossible Songs beckoned...

Here are the lovely ladies at the Dakota...

Much beer, wine, G&T’s and liqueurs plus some extremely tasty food was consumed...

And, finally, it snowed...

It was great to catch up with them – it’s been too long...

A variety of topics was covered including comparisons of our respective Canadian Rocky Trips...

And I think they are somewhat intrigued by the performing in Second Life idea...

A hair-raising taxi ride, involving dropping the Impossible Songs a mile or so from their house due to the snow, saw us arriving home around 1:15 am...

...to find the flowers which appear on the cover of "Splinterheart" looking like this...

A good night...

Highlight of the Day : Out with Impossible Songs...

Sixty minutes...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Tonight’s Set
Tippett – String Quartets
Roxy Music – Country life

Back to physio today, on another bright sunny but bitterly cold winter’s day...

Vicky, for it was she, advised my thigh is progressing nicely but I had to report debilitating pain in my right knee for the last week...

New exercises were tried out and added to the list...

Took the opportunity for a wee shifty round the new Avalanche shop in the Grassmarket - much the same as the old Avalanche shop in Cockburn Street but mor spacious - much more stock on its way...

A rush to get to Pol’s tonight in time for the gig’s early start of 7pm – soundchecking at 6:55...

Then, straight into the set and, despite a few fluffed lines and wrong chords, very enjoyable indeed...

Quite a sizable online crowd for my first solo outing of a full 60 minutes...

Very enjoyable...

Need to work out how to make my avatar bald and fat...


Highlight of the Day : Performing...

Memory loss...

Playlist
Tippett - String Quartets
Muffatt - Concerti Grossi

Today, I put together tomorrow night’s 60 minute set, choosing songs from all eight CBQ albums and a couple of oldies from the Sombre Reptiles days...

Recorded a rehearsal run through tonight to go on to the CBQ live site tomorrow night after the gig...

Other than that and an episode of "Big Bang Theory", I can’t remember (writing this on Saturday – that’s what happens when I leave it too long...)

Highlight of the Day : A new set...

Five years on...

Playlist
King Crimson – Live in Chicago 2008

Well, I was all set to head to the gym tonight when I received an e-mail from Second life chum POL Arida which seemed to be inviting me to play a 30 minute set tomorrow night...

So, instead of going to the gym, I put together said 30 minute set and rehearsed it...

It turns out I misread the e-mail...

However, late doors, a gig on Thursday on Second Life was confirmed – I will play for 60 minutes at “Melodies”...

So I’ll work on that tomorrow...

Fifth anniversary today of the big ankle break of 2005 - it still gives me gyp...

Highlight of the Day : Getting more gigs...

The man who dies everyday...

Playlist
Bryan Ferry – Olympia
King Crimson – Cadence and Cascade
Grand Funk Railroad – 30 Years of Funk
Various – 1970’s Albums Artists
Ultravox! - Ultravox!
Ultravox! – Ha! Ha! Ha!
Ultravox! – Systems of Romance

A fine morning...



A break from CBQ music today...

To the gym this evening with King Crimson installed on the phone...

Back home, spent too much time compiling a 3CD set of tracks by my favourite albums artists of the 70’s...

Put that on my tombstone...

To bed with early Ultravox!...

Highlight of the Day : Crimso in the cans...

Fraught city...

Playlist
King Crimson – Live in Warsaw 2000
Cloudland Blue Quartet – 60 Minute Set
The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Splinterheart
Sparks – Singles 1972-2009 (3CD-R)
Various – Ministry of Sound Anthems II 1991-2009
Tippett – String Quartets

What ended up as a fraught day, started nicely at 6am with Meg the Black Cat in the back room listening to King Crimson in Warsaw ten years ago before working on the Crispycat website, bringing it up to date and, then, to the new Cloudland Blue Quartet Live site...

I intend uploading either recordings of gigs or final rehearsal run-throughs where the gig can’t be recorded...

The first Second Life gig is up (live at Jester Inn 21/10/10) which is a recording of the actual gig, albeit with a few minor repairs re drop out on the original tape - it's also in mono sadly...

I have also posted the Splinterheart sets played live on 31/10 on Second Life and 3/11 at Secret CDs plus the Poppy Day Second Life set played 11/11...

The interweb - it's the new concert stage and I don't even have to leave my house (and you don't have to leave yours)...

It’s the Crispycat I-Player (kind of )...

The morning continued with a leisurely breakfast concocted to the sounds of The Velvets and Sparks...

Then, the fraughtness kind of started...

Took the malfunctioning phone back to Tesco to be advised, after a bit of mucking about with it by the nice young man, that I probably just had too much music on it (despite the fact that it’s spec says it can take a 12GB card and my 12GB card was only half full)...

Post that, to a nearby shopping centre (hell on earth on a Sunday afternoon)...

...to purchase clothes (hey I can’t spend all my money on music and food)...

Post clothes purchase success, back home and duly deleted all the music from the phone and added back just one LP...

It still wouldn’t work...

Back to Tesco – phone evidently goosed...

But no replacement (because it was slightly more than 28 days since I’d bought it) – instead they offered to send me a free jiffy bag to allow me to send it for repair...

Repair?

After five weeks? (six actually I worked out later)...

I asked to see the manager...

30 minutes went past - during which the salesman let slip to another customer making a purchase that, in the run up to Xmas, the four week in-store warranty period was extended to 31 January...

When the manager finally appeared I pointed out that if I bought the phone today and exactly the same thing happened, I would have it replaced, no questions asked...

She then phoned her manager and I managed to get agreement to an immediate replacement...

But first I had to come back to the house to collect the charger plug and USB cable...

Finally, I walked out with a new phone with a slightly different charger plug and USB cable...

Back home, I couldn’t face adding any music to it and merely left it charging till tomorrow...

In the evening, Anne made some very tasty indeed burritos – mmm, mmm...

A nice bottle of red accompanied...

This was followed by some research into which gigs since 2003 and before, could be added to the CBQ Live site...

Then, “Garro’s Law” – a new Sunday night favourite...

I fell asleep during “Match of the Day 2”, the early rise and the day’s fraughtness finally catching up with me...

Highlight of the Day : Anne's excellent burritos...

Not the flip-side of Geronimo...

Playlist
Simple Minds - Sons and Fascination
Brian Eno - On Land
Francoise Hardy - Comment te dire adieu?
The Hollies - Greatest Hits
The Marmalade - Greatest Hits
Argent - All Together Now
Mingo Lewis - Flight Never Ending
Tippett - String Quartets Vols 1 & 2
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Splinterheart
Various - Top 2 Albums of the Year 1959-2010

First task of the day was to print out a list of all the albums I have on the various hard drives which, to date, have not been burned on to CDs...

Oh dear - 26 pages - around 1,000 - many of the folders listed actually contain multiple albums too...

Oh dear...

A squirrel in next door's garden, munching at the remains of a sunflower, entertained...

To the vet with Meg the Black Cat - four weeks already since her first "episode" related visit - in the last two weeks she has had only two that we've witnessed, on 3rd and 14th November...

We came a way buoyed as much as we could be by the vet's advice and, although lighter of pocket, we now have enough medication to take our favourite wee beastie into 2011...

The vet advised the patient immediately prior to Meg had not been so lucky - a dreadfully maltreated and emaciated cat for which he could do nothing save end the misery, while the owner remained in denial...

Very sad...

Into town via Anne's mum's, dropping her off there re today's Hearts v Hamilton fixture - a 2-0 victory for the Jam Tarts...

Meanwhile, I parked the car and rushed to the library but my arrival was still twenty minutes later than I had advised Dr Prog it would be...

The Bruford and Eno books from three weeks ago were re-borrowed, along with "Last Shop Standing" - the story of the decimation of the independent record shop sector in the UK...

I still can't believe I can borrow books for free...

The two Francoise Hardy discs were returned, while discs by Carl Friedriech Abel and the Kronos Quartet were put on the old library card...

Good chat with the Progmeister and some sustenance at the mosque kitchen in the rain before we retired to Cafe Nero at Blackwells Books for coffee and cake...

The doc at the counter...

Coffee and apple and cinnamon cake...

The doc failed to look "cool" whilst using "Shazam" (and there was me thinking it was a Shadows "B" side) on his I-Phone to determine that the background music was that of Sergio Mendes...

Oh yes, gone are the days of going into record shops and humming to the assistant in the hope they might recognise the badly performed tune...

Before heading home, I partook of two Tippet String Quartet discs for £3 each in the Blackwells sale...

As Meg enjoyed sleeping on my bag (cats eh?)...

.... I set about working again on the mobile phone - in fact I had left the PC transferring tracks whilst I was out..

To no avail - I fear the phone needs to go back because now, not content with allocating musical input to an undetectable location, the MP3 player function is freezing...

Aaargh!

In the evening, a curry and "Merlin" entertained before I once again sat till 1am and beyond trying as best I could to figure out why the phone is such a heap of unmitigated shite...

Highlight of the Day : A good report from the vet re Meg the Black Cat - though I think we must resign ourselves to the fact that the episodes will continue...

Telecommunications breakdown induced gloom...

Playlist
Pink Floyd - The Wall
Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures
Fehlfarben - Monarchie und Alltag
Joy Division - Closer
King Crimson - Discipline

Another "not much happened today" day...

Spent much of the evening continuing to try and get the mobile phone to (a) accept more music (the external card is not even half full) and (b) just work, really...

Welcome respite came in the form of an e-mail from Creek buddy Stu, who had a couple of suggestions re the second of the two tracks I've been working on recently...

A couple of hours was spent re-jigging said track and mailing it off to the Creekers...

I returned to the phone and, at 1am, I was still  trying to figure out exactly what's wrong with the damn thing...

Eventually, I had to admit defeat, intending to return to it tomorrow...

Lights out...

Highlight of the Day : Once again, struggling - oh, wait, mmm, Annie's as yet unmentioned Red Thai Chicken Curry - a veritable beacon in the mobile phone induced gloom...

Stuck...

Playlist
Brian Eno – Music for Films
Return to Forever – Anthology
Bobby Hutcherson – Stick Up!
Girls Aloud – Out of Control
Various – Top Two Albums of the Year 1959-2010 (Shuffleplay)

Used the phone as my soundtracker for today...

A visit to HMV resulted in zero purchases – although I pondered over a box set of John Field’s Piano Concerti...

After last night’s labours, it turns out single tracks (rather than foldered tracks) are not very useful on the mobile phone...

Instead, I transferred over some more recent LPs – duplicating the part of the content of one of the existing jukeboxes...

Somehow they then didn't show up on the phone...

This is how I waste my time...

On telly, Tivo’d “Have I Got News For You” and the latest “Big Bang Theory” entertained...

Highlight of the Day : Certainly wasn't trying to get new music onto the phone...

Out of time...

Playlist
Fripp & Eno – Paris 1975
Genesis – Wind and Wuthering
Gentle Giant – Interview
Brian Eno – Before and After Science
David Bowie – Low
UK –UK

Not much to report today...

Spent much of the evening copying tracks back from my 60GB Jukebox to the hard drive with the intention of placing them on my phone...

It took so long, I was out of time and headed for bed...

Highlight of the Day : Listening to some old tunes...

The glow was slightly tarnished...

Playlist
William Orbit - Pieces in a Modern Style Vol. 2
DAF - Gold und Liebe
Creek - 2010

This evening, post a tasty pasta from Annie and with Meg eating again after the last two days of under-the-weatherness, I felt inspired to work on the new Creek material...

A good three hours or so was spent treating and mixing the input already created by my colleagues for the second of five tracks for the proposed new LP...

I'm listening to the end product now as I type, having preceeded it with the track I did back in October - and I am liking them both...

I have e-mailed an MP3 to co-Creekers Craig and Stu (Count Brodski has expressed a desire to sit this one out for the time being) and I await their feedback...

A productive evening...

Highlight of the day : Creeking on "The Glow was Slightly Tarnished"...

Jack's back...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet – 60 Minute Set
Various – Last 13 Months on Shuffleplay
William Orbit – Pieces in a Modern Style Vol. 2
Oceansize – Myspace Player
Black Country Communion – Black Country
Chroma Key – Dead Air for Radios
Chroma Key – You go Now
Chroma Key – Graveyard Mountain Home
Kevin Moore - Ghost Book

Lovely cold, bright, frosty morning...

New music came into the CBQ sphere today from two sources...

Prog Rock Willie surprised me with four discs (three under the name Chroma Key) by ex-Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore - and the new album by “supergroup” Black Country...

The Moore albums put me in mind of Porcupine Tree and Steven Wislon - while Black Country Communion rock in a way you would expect a band with a Deep Purple/Led Zep/Dream Theater pedigree and the inclusion of one of the modern day masters of the blues guitar to do...

Meanwhile, a text from Macclesfield Craig gave me the heads up re Manc prog band Oceansize whose music I enjoyed on Myspace...

Craig texted me from the band’s gig tonight in Manchester - my query as to whether he had his earplugs in to counter the heavyosity of the music was met with the reply that he was up the back with "the parents"...

Rock and, indeed, roll...

And an unexpectedly buoying e-mail from old music chum Peri Urban, who is to cover three CBQ songs on YouTube - I will post a link once they are completed and up - I must say I'm looking forward to that...

Home made chicken pie for tea courtesy the talented Exec Producer...

Other than that, a new series of “Miranda” entertained, while a visit to the gym strangely failed to do so...

Meg still a bit under the weather and out of sorts – she was doing so well too...

Highlight of the Day : Unexpected new music...

Just when we thought we were out of the woods...

Playlist
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
King Crimson - Red
Cockney Rebel - The Psychomodo
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Brian Eno - Another Green World
Cloudland Blue Quartet – 60 Minute Set
Brian Eno – Small Craft on a Milk Sea
Various – Plague Songs
William Orbit – Pieces in a Modern Style Vol. 2

Had intended to go to the gym again but a call from sister Sheila meant our plans for today had to be brought forward to accommodate a visit to my mum’s for lunch...

So out to the other side of town for Anne to complete the purchase of a new coat which was commenced on Thursday during her Glasgow trip with Lynn...

For my own part I shelled out an unheard of thirteen squid for the new double CD from William Orbit “Pieces in a Modern Style Vol. 2” (which follows on from the original release from 2000)...

To mum’s for lunch and a natter – carrying out some tasks from her imaginary list of things that need to be done...

Home and a wee rest as we enjoyed the Orbit disc before heading to Anne’s mum’s for the family tea...

Back home and enjoyed “Garro’s Law” and “Match of the day 2”...

Unfortunately between these, wee Meg had her first episode since 3 November...

We’re off to the vet again this Saturday – maybe it’s just something that’s going to plague the wee beastie from now on but if we can keep them as few and far between as possible that would be good...

Highlight of the Day : A relaxing hour or so in the middle of “family duty”...