Friday, January 31, 2020

Forgotten about music can be good to rediscover...

Playlist
Various Artists - Pure... Psychedelic Rock
Matthew Florianz - Sprook
John Cale - Honi Soit
Max Jury - Christian Eyes
Bidiniband - The Motherland
And One - Magnet (Premium Edition)
Pet Shop Boys - Hotspot
Cassandra Wilson - Blue Light 'Til Dawn
Neu! - Neu!
Cameo - Word Up! The Ultimate Collection
Daft Punk - Homework
Freddie Hubbard - The CTI Years (1970-1973)
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Love's A Prima Donna
Various Artists - A History of the Single - The 2020s
Various Artists - A History of the Single - The 2010s

And January is gone...


Most of the day soundtracked by German band And One who I was reminded of yesterday when dipping into my "tracks of the week" from back in 2014...

Home alone and cooking...












Reasonably tasty...


Links for the podcast recorded...

I'll put it together tomorrow...

Lights out...

Highlight of the Day : Cooking...

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Too much, too son...

Playlist
Pet Shop Boys - Hotspot
David Patrick Octet - Igor Stravinsky, The Rite Of Spring
Herman Van Veen - Neue Saiten
Various Artists - The Greatest Seventies Album
Various Artists - 100 Hits : Guitar Heroes
Müthel - Trois Sonates Et Deux Ariosi Avec Douze Variations
Arve Henriksen - Strjon
Françoise Hardy  - (Parenthèses ...) (CD)
Various Artists - Abstract
Cassandra Wilson - Blue Light 'Til Dawn
Various Artists - The Best TV ADS...Ever!
Albéniz - España y otras piezas para piano
Mazagan - Tajine Electrik
Fennesz - AUN – The Beginning and the End of All Things
Cage - Complete Piano Music
Son Lux - Brighter Wounds
Monteverdi - Monteverdi: Scherzi Musicali
David Bowie - Heathen
Haydn - String Quartets (Complete)
Pink Floyd - Ummagumma
Herman Van Veen - Herman van Veen 100
DJ Shadow - Our Pathetic Age
Girls Aloud - Chemistry
Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime
David Bowie - Reality
The Doors - The Soft Parade
Uriah Heep - Travellers In Time: Anthology Vol. 1
Various Artists - The Front Line
Wire - Pink Flag
Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention - Cruising With Ruben & The Jets [2012 Remaster]
Various Composers - Vivarte 60CD Collection
Dar Williams - End Of The Summer
Tangerine Dream - Alpha Centauri
Rainbow - The Best Of Rainbow
Lou Reed & John Cale - Songs For Drella
Steve Harley - Stranger Comes To Town
The Killers - Sam's Town
Wallenstein - Cosmic Century
New York Dolls - Too Much Too Soon
The Temptations - Psychedelic Soul
Taylor Swift - 1989 (Deluxe)
Al Green - The Hi Records Singles Collection
Van Veen - Piano Music Volume 2
Loudon Wainwright III - Album II
Leipziger Streichquartett - Festgrefreßen (?!)
The Rolling Stones - The London Years
John Cale & Terry Riley - Church Of Anthrax
The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter (Live)
Mozart - String Quartets and Quintets
Kraftwerk - Tour de France Soundtracks
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton
Various Composers - Musik in alten Städten & Residenzen
Uriah Heep - Equator
Emerson Lake & Palmer - Tarkus
Various Artists - Soul Years 1976
Soft Cell - Heat : The Remixes
Neil Young - Greatest Hits
Lou Reed - NYC Man: The Ultimate Lou Reed Collection
Brian Eno - ENOBOX II / Vocal
Roy Wood - Music Book

Today's listening was so far unplayed tracks on the newly refilled phone...

Good...

At lunchtime, this from the BHF for 50p...


My 81st CD purchase of 2020...

That's too much for 30 days...

But there are just so many great bargains out there...

Still, need to reign it in a little...

Other than that, I'm writing this next Friday morning so can't recall what we watched other than I now we did watch "Death in Paradise" and the departure of Ardal O'Hanlon...

Highlight of the Day : Death in Paradise...

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

A day celebrated the day before...

Playlist
Françoise Hardy - Françoise Hardy En anglais
Al Di Meola - Opus
Petrels - Onkalo
Ligeti - String Quartets
Daft Punk - Homework
David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
Jon & Vangelis - Page Of Life
Various Artists - Trance Nation Four
Peter Gabriel - Hit
Charles Mingus - Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus
Various Artists - Kranky Kompilation
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Various Composers - 20th Century Masterpieces
Dream Theater - Greatest Hit (...And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs)
Scars - Author! Author!
Van Der Graaf Generator - The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other
The Weeknd - Kiss Land (Deluxe Edition)
Björk - Post
Billion Dollar Babies - Battle Axe
David Sylvian - Brilliant Trees
Dowland - Lacrimae, Or Seaven Teares
Allan Holdsworth - Against The Clock The Best Of Allan Holdsworth
The Clash - Sandinista!
Cage - Complete Piano Music
Tallis - Mass For 4 Voices, Motets
Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
Haydn - Piano Trios Complete
DJ Shadow - Our Pathetic Age
Styx - Brave New World
Nina Hagen - Unbehagen
Miles Davis - Miles Smiles
It Bites - The Big Lad In The Windmill
Fripp & Eno - The Essential Fripp & Eno
Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos
Allan Holdsworth - None Too Soon
Simpson - String Quartets #1 & 4
Dar Williams - My Better Self
Paul McCartney - Tug Of War
Various Artists - After Dark 2
Cameo - Word Up! The Ultimate Collection
Pet Shop Boys - Hotspot

Up early on Annie's birthday - which we really celebrated a day early - but still special...



Cards opened...


Of  out int the dark...

At lunchtime, along to Fopp...

This is good disco/electronic music for £3...

Mostly Mr Johnny Jewel and his various offshoots - Italians do iy better in the dark, apparently...


This is funkier than you might expect - Cameo were an excellent funk band for almost a decade before "Word Up"...


And, the new Pet Shop Boys album - special 2CD version with the instrumental disc...


The view from the office this evening I...


The view from the office this evening II...


Ripping and listening and telly watching...

Pet Shop Boys is good but somehow I'm always a little disappointed with them these days - can't really put my finger on it...

Notwithstanding that, most likely my Album of the Month, release-wise...

Highlight of the Day : Anne's birthday, even though it was kind of yesterday...

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Brzl...

Playlist
Neal Morse - Momentum
The Bad Plus - The Rite of Spring
Matthew Florianz - Onontgonnen
Various Composers - 20th Century Masterpieces
The Rolling Stones - Tattoo You (Limited Edition)
John Coltrane - The Best Of John Coltrane
Udo Lindenberg - Radio Eriwahn
Girls Aloud - Ten (Deluxe)
Craig Armstrong - Film Works 1995-2005
Be Bop Deluxe - Air Age Anthology
Françoise Hardy - Message personnel
Paul McCartney & Wings - Band On The Run
Madredeus - Ainda
Icehouse - The Berlin Tapes
Ornette Coleman - The Complete Science Fiction Sessions
Gabrieli Consort & Players - A Venetian Coronation
The Supremes - Baby Love - The Essential Diana Ross & The Supremes
Piebald - Barely Legal & All Ages
Various Artists - Hip City - Tales From The Funky Side Of Town
Various Composers - Bachfest Leipzig 2007
Various Artists - The Wire Tapper 26
Parliament - Tear The Roof Off 1974-1980
Jeroen Van Veen - Minimal Piano Collection Vols XXI-XXVIII
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
Brian Eno - More Blank Than Frank/Desert Island Selection
Neal Morse - Testimony
The Cure - Japanese Whispers
Anthony Moore - Flying Doesn't Help
LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundystem
The Cure - Wild Mood Swings
Pet Shop Boys - Behaviour
Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child: The Jimi Hendrix Collection
Walter Carlos - Switched-On Bach
Status Quo - On The Level
King Crimson - The Great Deceiver
Various Composers - 19th Century Masterpieces
Nina Hagen - Definitive Collection
Various Composers - Musik in alten Städten & Residenzen
Hawkwind - Epocheclipse
Lemon Juice Quartet - Republic
Nina Hagen - Nina Hagen Band
The Czars - The Best Of The Czars
Debussy - Works For Piano
The Tubes - Goin' Down
Jon & Vangelis - The Friends Of Mr. Cairo
Emerson Lake & Palmer - Pictures At An Exhibition
The Divine Comedy - Casanova
The Doors - Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine
Ligeti - Works
Hawkwind - Space Ritual
Caravan - Canterbury Tales - The Best Of Caravan
Talk Talk - Asides And Besides
Herbie Hancock - Takin' Off
The Pineapple Thief - Dissolution
Various Artists - Super 70's Rock
Various Artists - Da, Da, Da, Das War Die... Neue Deutsche Welle
Rush - Moving Pictures
David Bowie - Pin Ups
Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft - Gold Und Liebe
The Stranglers - Black And White
Geoff Downes - The Light Program
Strawbs - Ghosts
Sparks - Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat
Françoise Hardy - Star
Françoise Hardy - In English (Marble Arch)
Tippett - A Tribute to Sir Michael Tippett
The Ventures - Where the Action Is
Family 5 - Resistance
Various Artists - Das Bleiben Hits
Billion Dollar Babies - Battle Axe
Alice Cooper - Flush The Fashion
Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
Geisterfahrer - Fest Der Vielen Sinne
Family 5 - Resistance
The Tubes - Love Bomb
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - Love's A Prima Donna
Matthew Florianz - Mass Object

The views from the office this morning, out and about with the EP...



Coffees in Stockbridge...


...before heading up to George St and Fazenda for a birthday lunch for Anne, using a token (in part) gifted to me for my birthday nine months ago by chum Gina...

In...


Top notch fayre, starting with the salad bar, Anne is behind me selecting some delights...


Here's my first go...


..and Anne's...


The concept of this Brazilian restaurant is that various different cuts are brought on skewers to your table and carved to your plate...


Tasty...


...very tasty...



...enjoyed with some Brazilian wine...


Eventually, we could not really justify eating any more cuts...

And so, something else was ordered to round matters off...


Small Argentinian "biscuits", kind of similar to mini Wagon Wheels...


Lovely...


Coffee for Anne...


...before a visit to nearby White Stuff some further birthday treats...



My reading while Anne was in the changing rooms...


Items selected...



..and a bus home...


No tea required...

Some listening...


I'd wanted to play some LPs but it turns out my turntable is "suddenly" on the blink...

Now swithering about a new one...

"Holby City" rounded off a very good day...

Highlight of the Day : Celebrating the EP's birthday at Fazenda...

Monday, January 27, 2020

Looks is deceiving...

Playlist
Various Composers - New Music Collections: Orchestra
Spock's Beard - Snow
Alice Cooper - The Eyes Of Alice Cooper
Neil Young - Decade
Hawkwind - Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music
The Tubes - Remote Control
Neal Morse - One
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
Lothar and the Hand People - Presenting...Lothar and the Hand People
Edgar Froese - Epsilon In Malaysian Pale
Soft Cell - Non Stop Ectatic Dancing
The Tubes - T.R.A.S.H.
David Bowie - Hunky Dory
The Bears - Rise and Shine
Tallis - Mass For 4 Voices, Motets
Kamasi Washington - Heaven And Earth
A Certain Ratio - The Graveyard & The Ballroom (Reissue 2004)
The Church - Conception
Juicy Lucy - Lie Back And Enjoy It
Rush - Caress Of Steel
Lone Star - Lone Star
Solution - Cordon Bleu
Yello - Baby
Television - Adventure
Alice Cooper - Da Da
Alice Cooper - The Last Temptation
Inga Humpe - Planet Oz
Horse - The Same Sky
Francis Dunnery - Let's Go Do What Happens
The Bad Plus - Activate Infinity
Focus - In And Out Of Focus
Jenkins, J - All In A Garden Green
Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon
Eagles - Long Road Out Of Eden
Eels - Beautiful Freak
Nico - The Marble Index
Echo & The Bunnymen - Crocodiles
Sparks - Terminal Jive
Marin Marais - Suites pour viole de gambe - Juan Manuel Quintana
Trevor Rabin - Trevor Rabin
Wire - Pink Flag
Alice Cooper - Dirty Diamonds
Dutch Uncles - Out Of Touch In The Wild
William Orbit - Pieces In A Modern Style
Eagles - Their Greatest Hits
Strauss, R - Strauss - Chamber Suites Op 60, Duets, Sextet
Françoise Hardy - Personne d'autre
Rush - Clockwork Angels
David Bowie - Lodger
Status Quo - Picturesque Matchstickable Messages From The Status Quo
Françoise Hardy - Golden Hour Presents the Best of Françoise Hardy
Purcell - Instrumentalmusik
Television - Marquee Moon
Monteverdi - Scherzi Musicali
Billion Dollar Babies - Battle Axe
Shawn Colvin - Whole New You
Billy Cobham - Rudiments - The Billy Cobham Anthology
Neu! - Neu!
Various Artists - Best Of The Seventies
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Soundingfall
Robert Fripp - Network
Haydn - Complete String Quartets
Family 5 - Stein des Antosses
Free - Fire And Water
Grandaddy - Just Like The Fambly Cat
David Sylvian - Gone To Earth (Remaster)
Thomas Dolby - The Golden Age Of Wireless

Nothing much to report today...

These on the way down from the terminus in the dark...


Beast in a hat...


Tonight, some Neu!


..and we came second in "University Challenge" and watched something else at 9pm which I can#'t remember but I think it might have been good...

Hmmm...

Highlight of the Day : Posting a pic on Twitter of an LP, while listening to an MP3 of it...

A glorious win and a forgetful mum...

Playlist
Lou Reed - NYC Man: The Ultimate Lou Reed Collection
Freddie Hubbard - The CTI Years (1970-1973)
Max Richter - Voyager: Essential Max Richter
Various Artists - Is This Love
Françoise Hardy - Personne D'autre (CD)
Cloudland Blue Quartet featuring The Capital Models - 2020-01-11 (Set 1)
Muddy Waters - The Essence Of Muddy Waters
Rodrigo Leão - O Aniversário
Various Artists - The Greatest Seventies Album
Riverside - Acoustic Session - EP
Calexico - Carried To Dust
Capital Models - The Sweet Thrill of Industry
DDHR - Basso Profundo
Françoise Hardy - Françoise Hardy I (Tous Les Garçons Et Les Filles)
Françoise Hardy - Françoise Hardy Sings About Love
Françoise Hardy - Message personnel
Genesis - And Then There Were Three
The Steve Miller Band - Sailor
Sparks - The Best of Sparks (1979)
David Gilmour - David Gilmour
Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
Brian Eno - Small Craft On A Milk Sea
Caravan - Blind Dog At St.Dunstans
Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys!
Sparks - Whomp That Sucker
Die Ärzte - Nach Uns die Sintflut
Public Image Limited - Album
Coldplay - A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Rush - Vapor Trails
Lou Reed - The Raven
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
The Church - Sometime Anywhere
Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy
Lou Reed - Ecstasy
David Bowie - Low
Status Quo - Picturesque Matchstickable Messages From The Status Quo
Peter Gabriel - So
Ringo Starr - Ringo
Strawbs - Ghosts
Emerson Lake & Palmer - Tarkus
Prince - Sign 'o' The Times
Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet - Landfall
Simon & Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
The Clash - The Clash
Kraftwerk - Electric Cafe
The Cure - Concert: The Cure Live
Robert Fripp - Exposure
The Beach Boys - The Best of the Beach Boys Vol 1
Rush - Exit...Stage Left
The Czars - Goodbye
America - Homecoming
Al Stewart - Bedsitter Images
Chris Rea - Water Sign
Alice Cooper - School Days
Jon & Vangelis - Private Collection
Heavy Metal Kids - Anvil Chorus

Up early once again...


Today's project, to celebrate the 40th annivesary of the recording of the 1st Capital Models album...


I still enjoy it despite the not great production...

I discovered too that I have been spelling guitarist Eric Merrall's surname wrongly for, probably, 40 years...

Oh well...

Corrected now...

In the afternoon, took Anne to her mum's for the two of them to head to Tynecastle to watch Hearts, very surprisingly but very satisfyingly, thrash Scotland's newest club 2-1...

Meanwhile I visited my mum, who was fine and dandy and had her shopping carried out by her dutiful son...

Back at Jane & Bob's, post match, the mood around the table for Anne's birthday tea was buoyant...


Kind of...


There was some trouble lighting the candles/sparklers...




..and for Mary in trying to remember exactly who might be turning 59 soon...



Ah yes, her elder daughter...


Eventually...



Success...





...times two...





Kitty tried to cover her self proclaimed wayward ear with the Happy Birthday singing cake thing...

But failed...


The pyrotechnics over, the cake was enjoyed...


A very good evening indeed...

Back home for "Star Trek"...

Weekend over...

Highlight of the Day : Hearts 2 The Rangers 1...