2023 : A Picture a Day...

Last day memory loss re releasing...

Playlist

The Velvet Underground - Squeeze

James Brown - Black Caesar

Al Green - Call Me

plusol - Birthright

Caroline Rose - The Art of Forgetting

Thysenterprise - ESSENTIAL

Tate McRae - THINK LATER

First Snow of The Year - Awakening of The Pines

Fred und Luna - Im Fünfminutentakt

The Clientele - I Am Not There Anymore

Hitsujibungaku - 12 hugs (like butterflies)

Janus - Illusions

Terell Stafford - Between Two Worlds

Christina Rosenvinge - Los versos sáficos

Jess Williamson - Time Ain't Accidental

Marike van Dijk - Stranded

Ah! Kosmos & Hainbach - Blast of Sirens

Christophe Schweizer Normal Garden - Physique

Phi-Psonics - Octava

Sebastian Morawietz - Pianospheres

Cosmic Ground - area 23

arovane - Drei Formen

100 gecs - 10,000 gecs

stefan schmidt - arboretum

Parannoul - After the Magic

Mitski - The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We

Corinne Bailey Rae - Black Rainbows

Blondshell - Blondshell

Tangerine Dream - Nightshift Mix

Last day...

I was ready for a relaxing one...

This morning, took a look through the supposed "best albums of 1973" as their 50th anniversary year came to a close, and filled in a few holes in the collection (see below)...

Yesterday, I'd noted nice breakfast offerings at a Spanish place in Stockbridge and thought we might breakfast there today but, unfortunately, Anne was under the weather, having been hit by a cold...

So, breakfast at home...

Mine was a wee bit OTT...

£30 saved though...

Also first thing this morning, I forgot to release my final LP of the year but remembered around 11 and set it free into the wild...

A shout out on Bluesky for "the first LP you ever bought"...

Following its recent repurchase, I was able to post this...

One final very short visit from wee Fang before he went on his New Year's Eve way...

The Beast and its Exec Producer were in blurry black and white in their onesies...

Anne did some painting, I did some listening...

At 2, over to see my mum - in reasonable spirits...

I took my speaker with me thinking I might be able to plug her drug dealer burner phone into it, to assist her in hearing anyone she phones...

All to no avail - zero sound from what I had presumed was a headphone socket...

Instead, as you can see, I subjected my mum to my new LP...

And, then, to the music I will play in Newcastle in a couple of weeks' time...

She cannot comprehend why anyone would ever want to listen to this, continually asking, "will anyone come along?", "what sort of person listens to that?", "do people really pay money to listen to that?" etc etc...

This is indicative of the "support" she has shown to my artistic endeavours for over 46 years now...

Oh well...

Drew up a new list for her of upcoming visits - also provided to her chum Linda so that she can time her visits to maximum effect...

And home...

...for a relaxing evening...

Wine, Doritos and dip and TV... 

Including some of "Zulu"...

Anne was popping to and from the kitchen, prepping our last meal of 2023...

...a lovely casserole...

..with mash...

For the rest of the evening, more TV and more celebratory drinks... 

Anne finally gave up the ghost around 11:30, laid low by her cold...

I stayed up, carrying out, just before "The Bells", my last two downloads of the year - an extended version of the latest Church LP and an album released today by Tangerine Dream, of a performance given at NTS Radio, Los Angeles, back on the 19th of this month...

And then, it was all over for another year...

Totals for the year

CDs : 360

Downloads : 4,060

CBQ Related Recordings : 117

Highlight of the Day : Unpressurised chilling with Anne on New Year's Eve...

Today's New Music:-

A whole Heep of Uriah, as I used to say back in the 70's...

Playlist

Uriah Heep - Alternate & Extended 1970-1976

Uriah Heep - Discography

Various Artists - Cloudland Blue Eclectic Selection 2023

Peter Gabriel - i/o

Thirst And The Cow (TATC) - The Main Sequence At Last

Ndox Electrique - Tëdd ak Mame Coumba Lamba ak Mame Coumba Mbang

Minus the Bear - They Make Beer Commercials Like This (EP) (DL)

Ken Hensley - Rare & Timeless

Various Composers - Classic Flicks

Parannoul - After the Magic

Uriah Heep - The Magician's Birthday

Last Saturday of 2023 - the year has absolutely flown past...

A fluttering of snow occurred...

This morning, after listening to Uriah Heep overnight, I filled in a few gaps in my collection of Mighty Heep music (see below)...

At lunchtime, took Anne round to Jane's as they were off to Tynecastle to see Hearts unexpectedly only scrape a draw against Ross County...

In Dumfries, Queens managed to beat "local" rivals Annan Athletic 2-1 and, the way other results and postponements went, they are now up to 5th in the league after three wins and a draw in their last four games...

I popped over to Stockbridge after dropping Anne off, and found a trio of items, the final CD purchases of 2023...

After this morning's Heep trawl, I coincidentally found this in Oxfam for just £2...

Turns out I'd downloaded this Minus the Bear EP (£1) a while back...

Ans, again for just a quid, this 3CD box of film music and classical music used in films, is reasonable...

Back home to rip and listen and keep an eye on the football before going to pick Anne up to bring her home...

A chicken satay was prepped and very much enjoyed...

...as was the film "The Secret Life of Pets 2"...

Off to bed tonight with the filing piling up...

Highlight of the Day : A win for Queens...

Today's New Music:-

You spoil us Mrs Ambassador...

Playlist

Sonar with David Torn and J. Peter Schwalm - Three Movements

Schubert - Die Schöne Müllerin, D.795

Various Composers - Schumann Piano Trio In F; Weber Clarinet Quintet In B Flat

Capital Models - 2023-03-26

Capital Models - 2023-11-19

Capital Models - 2023-10-29

Throttle Elevator Music - Final Floor

Aretha Franklin - 30 Greatest Hits

Lloyd Charmers - The Best of Lloyd Charmers

Trio 3-63 - Muacy

Various Artists - Queer As Folk (OST)

Brahms - Sonata for 2 Pianos in F Minor, Op. 34bis & Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34

Peter Sellers - BBC Comedy

Various Artists - Buried Treasure 70s

Various Artists - Our Generation

Various Artists - The Greatest 70's Album

100 gecs - 10,000 gecs

Purcell - King Arthur

Star of Heaven - Slow Tour from Öregrund

Tate McRae - THINK LATER

Cloudland Blue Quartet - Twentytwentythree

Cloudland Blue Quartet - Front Porch (CBQ Version)

arovane - Drei Formen

stefan schmidt - arboretum

Corinne Bailey Rae - Black Rainbows

Mitski - The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We

Blondshell - Blondshell

Parannoul - After the Magic

Beethoven - String Quartets #2 & 14

Various Artists - The Roots Of Reggae

Haydn - Six Popular String Quartets

Carver - Robert Carver Vol.1 - Cappella Nova

Duncan Honeybourne - Contemporary Music For Harpsichord Volume 1

Zach Bryan - Zach Bryan

3 days left and again I couldn't sleep...

Much of the morning was spent watching TV, at one point accompanied by Fang, paying us a brief visit...

In the afternoon, back to Bonnyrigg to visit my mum...

I don't really see any improvement in her and her release date, if it ever comes, seems to be retreating further and further into the distance...

Today though, she was cheered by a visit from her chum Linda - who, it turns out, had tried to visit on Xmas Eve but had been directed onto the wrong bus and so never made it...

Home for a tasty tea of prawn, chorizo and creme fraiche spaghetti...

You spoil us Mrs Ambassador...

Highlight of the Day : Anne's spaghetti...

Today's New Music:-