Playlist
Up early...
...to catch up with new playlists for (a) CBQ related recordings (b) CDs and (c) Downloads which entered the library in May, June and July...
The sun was not up yet...
Another extended playlist today but I did have my "track a day (so far) of 2026" on shuffle for 33 of the 44 LPs...
It was Tuesday...
At breakfast, my O2 service went down...
A seamless changeover re replacing the SIM with that from Tesco Mobile and all was fine and, indeed, dandy...
Then, for the fourth day in a row, I did, basically, nothing...
However, there was some action re Capital Models in the form of a discussion in the Band's WhatsApp chat re what we might do on Sunday (moved from Friday)...
I'd suggested we might press on and try the remainder of the Bob Dylan songs we've not attempted yet...
Subterranean Homesick Blues
Love Minus Zero-No Limit
Simple Twist of Fate
It Ain't Me Babe
Don't Think Twice It's Alright
Tangled Up in Blue
...along with those we have played so far...
I am in the minority re time to be spent on these...
Found this doc I did a few years ago now, when Paul was in the band, re learning new songs...
Basically - get the song sheet, play the chords, get the tempo...
You have the song...
Which was my idea for an initial work through...
From there, it would be a question of refining, re sounds, styles and arrangement...
But ideas, definitely for the sounds and styles, need to be worked on away from the rehearsal room with recordings made of the first run through because, frankly, we do not play together often enough for this to work any other way...
We struggle to get just two days in a month where everyone can play...
So, you're talking months and months just to nail, say, five songs...
In the big scheme of things that's fine when we have nothing really to work for as we have no gigs booked but, for me, it's deeply unsatisfying - I meet up with the guys to play songs not to go over the minutiae they ought to be going over at home with the recordings I provide after every rehearsal...
I'm pretty sure there is a built in reluctance to listen back to rehearsals - an attitude I find difficult to fathom - I've lost count of the times I've gone to play a song, incorporating changes made at the previous rehearsal (of which a recording has been provided) only to find that no fucker has even bothered to listen pre the next rehearsal and so they've forgotten what the changes were...
And they wonder why I can be such a grumpy cunt?
Indeed there seems to be an active dislike for reference recordings of what we do...
For example...
"I've been in 3 or 4 other bands in recent years. CM is the only one that records practice/ rehearsals. All the others discussed and agreed what to play, rehearsed fairly regularly, discussed issues at rehearsals, went home, worked on what they needed to individually, came back next time and got on with it. That seems to work for most bands"
To which...
"Ok. Can you tell me what you’ll be working on re these, just from your memory of the session? Also it’s pretty hard to do anything when we can hardly manage 2 sessions in an entire month"
Zero comeback, so...
"I think it’s an advantage we have over those other bands, that we can absolutely know for certain what we’ve done. Case in point was to be able to know re Stewart Brewing that the vast majority of our performance garnered absolutely zero audience response - per my post, now miles n miles above from here"
Yep - another problem is a complete reluctance to actually read what's posted in the WhatsApp group...
"The discussion we had last Friday re SB and audience reaction did make me think that no-one had actually read my post"
...or actually listened back to the recording but relied instead on their memory of the gig as to what audience reaction had been...
But...
"I did read that post and admit I was surprised how bleak it had been. I had thought we had got a response to some numbers but not many. I think if we have a rush on we should record rehearsals, but not necessarily every time"
You wouldn't have been surprised if you'd listened to the performance and the audience reaction...
And so, this...
"The massive gaps between sessions call for reference recordings, to give us the opportunity to play along at home as if the rest of the band were with us, allowing the opportunity to enjoy “virtual sessions” without our bandmates being present.
That’s why I record the sessions.
If anyone doesn’t or, perhaps, can’t, play along, due to not having the means, that’s fair enough (subtext - you ought to be working out how to do it).
But other bands who don’t have the opportunity to take advantage of this re honing their performances are surely missing out…"
...and, this...
"I expect everyone to work at home on their ideas and bring them along ready to go....
If we're winging it, it's because we've not worked at home...
If no-one's bringing ideas along, then we end up just winging it. Maybe my standards are low but it usually sounds ok and gets refined the more we play. The problem is, we don't play enough, which is why we need to work when we're not playing with the band..."
And then, of course, there's the problem that one man's hammered in "nail" re our interpretation of a song is another man's "shoogly peg" - but, again, that's up to them to work at home and bring better things to play in the songs along to rehearsal ready to play and play competently...
If anyone wants to work on the small stuff, do it at home, get it off pat and start playing it at the next rehearsal - the others will soon tell you if what you've done works, or not, or how it might work...
But, to wait till we're all together to start that process is wasting the little time we have to actually play the songs as a band and become familiar and comfortable with them...
I might be willing to do that if we were writing our own material from scratch in the rehearsal room - but there seems to be zero appetite from the others to create anything original...
And, having said that, even if we were, the best way for that to work would be, again, for ideas to be worked up at home and presented to the group...
But we also seem to have very different ideas as to what constitutes "good music"...
i.e. divergent tastes...
It's a worry...
Further takes on matters...
This...
"Maybe we could all think a bit about intros, fills etc. and see what comes along?"
To which...
"Well - yes - but that's basically what I would hope people are always doing when they are not playing with the band - once again, that's why we record what we do - so people can work at home and come back with ideas etc. - or having honed what they're doing...
Also posting ideas up here (the WhatsApp group)."
And, on that point...
As ever, there's been zero discussion here re the last session since I posted the link for you all to listen back - so, you know, kinda par for the course I suppose.
As you know, I don't enjoy spending "actual playing time" going into detail on the stuff - a failing obviously/perhaps but just the way my mind works.
For me, people need to cook up ideas at home and bring them along to play, having already tried them out at there against the recordings to ensure what they intend to play will fit in?
I'm probably too used to just working on my own...
Probably also better to have a target to work to (a gig for example) which can concentrate the mind on what we're trying to do?"
To which, this...
"I get that, it's not easy to focus outside of the group. If this project isn't a good idea for everyone we should just move on. I think it'll take a while for us to crack it and if that's too much that's understandable."
...and, this...
"I think it’s clear we are all not fully aligned on how we think rehearsals should be but the one thing we all agree is that the band is important to us. Important enough to keep meeting and making music...
If it was so important, we'd be working at home to present new ideas when we meet?
You are correct, you have created so much music your way, alone. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for such a prolific writer as yourself to deal with us.
How I work on my own music is completely different from the band but, in many ways, yes, a lot easier...
From my limited experience in bands the collective creativity and excitement came from getting together and playing.
But we need to work on matters away from the band - we meet so seldom, we cannot rely on only working on material when everyone is present.
I think the last couple of sessions were interesting and challenging as we worked together on ideas.
Agreed
However you have to accept that tracks will not be broadcast ready on the first attempt.
Agreed
Everyone has made it clear how they feel and we are all too long in the tooth to change radically so I hope we all compromise a little, accept working differently together and enjoy the experience. Life is too short!"
It certainly is...
We are in a project at the moment to learn Dylan songs...
They are all pretty simple and we should be playing them quite easily...
Some of the arguments against just working quickly on matters, playing the songs and getting better at playing them are predicated on us having an audience which is (a) going to be interested in the minutiae of what we're doing, and (b) going to be paying close attention to what we're doing...
I'm pretty sure we are not that band...
Our first goal should be to book a series of performances at a venue to which we can invite people and about which we can put out the word...
Then, if it's covers the majority of the band wants to do, then, make a list of artists by whom we can easily learn and play, say, 12 songs - we already have around five of those - we can then make each of the booked gigs a themed gig...
Open with the original Capital Models canon (and/or anything new we actually write ourselves), continue with the feature set and close with an "encore", of sorts, of four or five of the old repertoire which we really enjoy playing...
The other option is to just not play live...
Instead, we might concentrate on recording good versions of those songs on our "ongoing" LP, "Repertoire", (highlighting every song we've ever played) which are currently limited to download bonus only status, due to not being quite up to standard, re errors etc...
We can then get "Repertoire" updated and, as we ought to be doing all the time i.e. whenever anyone says to any of us "oh you're in a band - are you on Spotify?" direct them to our music on Bandcamp...
Anyway...
Last words...
"I think we should work on the same songs, discuss things face to face at rehearsal, with us all being prepared to listen to advice and suggestions from the others about what we could or should be doing individually.
Take each number as far as we can on the day and know what we each should be working on alone in our own time, without having to troll through endless reams of text talk. (yet another reference to not wanting to/or being unable to be bothered to - read the WhatsApp discussions)
If we get to that stage we could maybe try one or two other numbers??"
No doubt Sunday will be fine though...
We'll see...
More pressing was the buggering up this afternoon of the blind in the back room - I raised it to allow a bluebottle out the back window and, now, it will not go back down...
A huge pain in the ass, as I will need to move everything away from the window to allow it to be fixed - that is, if we can ever pin down the blind company to come and fix it - certainly they never phoned back today, having said they would phone back today...
Cheered somewhat though by another "Murder in a Small Town" with its boring main man and insipid main woman a but also by a new to us cartoon, "Exploding Kittens", starring Tom Ellis, aka the star of fave TV show from a couple of years back, "Lucifer", as GodCat...
Meanwhile, the view from the back room this afternoon, with buggered blind...
The view in the front room...
Anne was off out to Cafe Andaluz with chums Gillian and Lorraine...
Solo cooking ensued...
Pasta with onion, Quorn mince, peas and pesto...
It was only after I added the pesto, that I recalled this particular brand had tasted horrible the last time I used it...
Oh well...
Reasonable...
Having searched for something or other to watch on Netflix and Prime while Anne was away, and having noted the third "Venom" film might be ok (I'd not heard of it but it's a Marvel thing from, apparently, the "Spiderman" universe), I looked for the first two...
Unfathomably, there was a charge on Prime to watch the first movie, while the second and third were free on Netflix...
So, having boned up on the plot of the first, I watched the second...
It was funnier than the poster suggests...
Like the meal I'd just botched up, it was deemed "Reasonable"...
Post that, I was reminded by a BlueSky chum's post that he was listening to "The Rotters' Club" by Hatfield and the North that I never got round to removing the annoying vocals from it...
So, I did that and listened back and, lo, it was good...
Evening shots from the front room as I awaited a call from Anne...
...which soon came, and I drove to the Zoo to pick her up, a good night out having been had...
Some scrolling by both of us, before bed at midnight...
Highlight of the Day: Cooking, even though the results were mixed...
Today's New Music:
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