Thursday, March 04, 2021

Last day of year 16, fraught...

Playlist
The Danish String Quartet - From Bach
Fehlfarben - Glut Und Asche
The Tubes - Remote Control
Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Eno, Nico - June 1, 1974
Various - New Reaction
Udo Lindenberg - Galaxo-Gang
The Tubes - The Tubes
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Schonberg Webern Berg
A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Atomos
Peter Gregson - Boundless
Isaac Hayes - Juicy Fruit
Iván Ferreiro - Val Miñor - Madrid: Historía y cronología del mundo
Earth Wind & Fire - The Need of Love
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Disquietsongs

When I opened the curtains this morning, this was the sight that met me...


In came Fang...





...and enjoyed some Dreamies while I recorded the morning views...




He was about to leave but then decided to find a spot on the back of the settee...


...checked it was ok to do so...


...got himself comfy...


...and settled down for a while...


He was still there as a pleasant surprise when the EP emerged from her slumber...

First thing, wrote up the sleeve notes for tomorrow's release of the new album...

Then, the start to a fraught day, when an email from BT alerted me to the fact that the new package I have said yes to with Talk Talk re our broadband, without prior advisement, takes in our landline and BT are saying they are sad to see us go...

The first call lasts an hour and a half before I am mysteriously cut off as "Kieran" goes to ask hi manager if Talk Talk can replicate the service BT offered us to stop me cancelling the deal...

The second call takes around 30 minutes and "Lori" advises the systems have just gone down and she will call me back - we agree she will call 90 minutes later with an update whether the systems are back up or not...

Needless to say it's now tomorrow morning and no call ever came...

Fucksake...

Anyway, I also played some records today while I WdFH...

Fehlfarben's most successful record, chart-wise, was this from 1983...


...dance oriented and with the band reduced to a trio comprising two original members and a third stalwart of the Neue Deutsche Welle szene...


I still enjoy this one, even though, of the main discography, it's the least Fehlfarben-esque of all their LPs...


Bought on its release on a trip to Germany...


Then, another bought on its release...


The Tubes' "Remote Control", produced, rather slickly, by Todd Rundgren, was probably their most successful for A&M...


...but the follow up was rejected and they were let go - only to come back with their most successful period, via Capital (till they got Todd to produce them again)...


This LP soundtracked quite a bit of my time in Munich in the summer of 1979...


Having seen them in Edinburgh before I went to live in Munich, I also caught them at the Circus Krone there, where they played a few extra songs, including an excellent rendition of the Mamas & Papas' "California Dreaming", along with "The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance"...

Then, not my favourite Eno related LP but...


...on listening...


..I found it to be better than I remembered...


I suppose it's not may fave as there's not enough Eno and too much Kevin Ayers - though I suppose it was his concert...


Next, an LP which includes "Hour Happiness Land" by Call Me Clive, in which I played bass, sang some of the songs, did most of the arrangements and wrote quite a lot of the music, till I was kicked out because I "lacked commitment" given I had a mortgage..


It was hard to take at the time but, you know, these things happen...

Anyway, we got the opportunity to put a track on this LP - if we made our own way to Leeds to record it and paid the record company an inordinate sum of money to be on the record...


Our drummer, Spooky Green, refused to partake so, when we arrived at the stately home in which we recorded the track, I had to learn how to work the studio's drum machine and painstakingly programme Spooky's part, beat for beat from a cassette of a rehearsal recording of the track, which I'd brought along...


Surprisingly, it holds up well and, of course, for me, it's the best of the 16 tracks on the record...


To be fair thiugh, I think today was the first time I've ever played any of the tracks on it apart from ours...

Fourth LP of the day bringing the "Random LP a Day" project up to date, was this from Udo Lindenberg...


It contains what I think is the first Udo song I ever heard...


"Radio Song", the final track on side one - about a song writer writing a song for his girlfriend and trying to convince the record company it should be released so she will hear it on the radio...


I coincidentally heard it on the radio in the lodgings I was in in Munich and, shortly afterwards, bought the double live LP "Unhaftig", which was the first of, now, very probably, far too many Udo Lindenberg recordings I own...


Baked potatoes for tea, followed by a 2 hour and very enjoyable "McDonald and Dodds"...

...and downloading as many Isaac Hayes LPs I didn't already have that I could find - just one now eludes me...

Then, finalising the new CBQ album for tomorrow's release...


...while Anne painted...


...before hitting the sack with an older CBQ LP on the cans...

Highlight of the Day : Last day of year 16 of the blog...

Wednesday, March 03, 2021

Quite good at standing around watching...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Cold Clear Morning (Ambient Mix)
The Bad Plus - Activate Infinity
A Winged Victory for the Sullen - We Played Some Open Chords
Gianni Lenoci, Kent Carter, Bill Elgart - Plaything
Various Composers - Music From The Era of Pieter Bruegel The Elder Vol 1
Elton Dean, Paul Dunmall, Paul Rogers, Tony Bianco - Remembrance
Reicha - Rediscovered Vol 3
Various Artists - The Age of Atlantic
Kronos Quartet - Fifty For the Future
John Cale - The Academy in Peril
Delmé Quartet - Favourite Encores For String Quartet
The Smith Quartet - Dance
Herman van Veen - Andere Namen
Bill Frisell - Richter 858
Ofra Harnoy - Beatles Classics
Ulrich Schnauss - Goodbye
Farr - Owhiro : Works For String Quartet
Vic Damone - Live from Las Vegas
The Weeknd - The Highlights
A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Invisible Cities OST
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Yellow Magic Orchestra (US Version)
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Schoenberg Webern Berg
Brian Eno - Film Music : Science/Fiction
Eric Carmen - Eric Carmen
Arnold -  - String Quartets
Cabaret Voltaire - The Pressure Company Live in Sheffield 1982
Earth Wind & Fire - Earth Wind & Fire
Christian Löffler - Parallels
Bliss - String Quartets, Conversations
Adam Lane Trio - Absolute Horizon
Extrabreit - Ruckkehr der phantastischen 5
Coates (G) - String Quartets #2, 3, 4, 7 & 8
Focus - Focus 11
Various Artists - The Front Line : Sounds of Reality
Tindersticks - Distractions
Strawbs - Settlement
Meyer, K - String Quartets #5, 6 & 8
UK - Night After Night (Extended Edition)
The Gladiators - Trenchtown Mix Up
Volkmann Volkmann - String Quartets1 & 4
Idris Muhammad - Black Rhythm Revolution!
Various Artists - Detroit Rock City 1969-1971
radio.string.quartet.vienna - Radiotree
Blackfield - For The Music
Jupiter String Quartet - Metamorphosis
Carl Craig & Moritz von Oswald - Recomposed
Atrium String Quartet - Jordi Cervello String Quartets
Chick Corea Trio - Trilogy
Steve Hackett - Under A Mediterranean Sky
Dessau - Complete String Quartets
Gavin Harrison Antoine Fafard - Chemical Reactions
Dusik - Sonatas
Shakti - Shakti with John McLaughlin
Janacek Quartet - The Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon
Sylvester - Step II
Neal Morse - Morsefest! 2015 ? and Sola Scriptura LIVE
Gjeilo - Sunrise Mass
Johnny Clarke - Rockers Time Now
Hellawell - Inside Story, The Still Dancers, Quadruple Elegy
Sigur Rós With Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir & Steindór Andersen - Odin's Raven Magic
Elena Riu - Piano Icons for the 21st Century
Ingrid Laubrock, Mat Maneri, Max Johnson, Tomas Fujiwara - The Prisoner
Matthias Arfmann - Recomposed
Marsh - 5 Symphonies
Tale of Us - Endless
Price - Piano Discoveries
Keith Hudson - Too Expensive
Vanden Plas - The Ghost Xperiment: Illumination
Flinders Quartet - The Offering
Alice Cooper - Along Came A Spider (Extras EP)
Chrsitian Loffler - Lys
Tindersticks - Distractions
A WingedVictory for the Sullen - Iris OST
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Twentytwenty
Neal Morse - Sola Gratia
Neal Morse Band  - The Grand Experiment

Another massive playlist - today comprising mostly the tracks which will be on the next few podcasts - I will record week 10 on Friday but am already up to week 14, content wise...

But, started the day with this...


...trying to determine what I might do with it...

It's slow as sludge...

Up super early...



...digging out the next batch of random LPs - that project only has a week or so to go now - started way back in May last year...


The one at the bottom is a rip off (for the participating bands) compilation which my old band, Call Me Clive, is on, recorded near Leeds in 1988...

Copies are going for £40 on Discogs for some reason...

Even if all the ex-members of the band sold their copies for that, we'd still be making a loss re what we were charged for doing it...

Oh well, you live and learn...


Watched the remainder of the Alice Cooper Band Meeting...

Finally got round to burning young Olivia's collection...


...and delivered it this afternoon...

Fang popped by again...



..and stayed for a wee while...


This evening, a very pleasant and enjoyable time was spent with the telly off, some music on, some reading and chatting, a bottle of white...


...me watching while Anne who, soundtracked by the tasty orchestral sounds of A Winged Victory for the Sullen, cooked a beautiful Rogan Josh...






Drinking, listening, reading and waiting...




Funny how, seeing a piece in a book can take you right back to when you stood in front of it many years ago...


...was, ultimately, absolutely worth it...


More reading, then, earbuds in and falling asleep while Anne watched the final of "Landscape Artist of the Year"...


It's what Wednesday nights are for...

To bed with Neal Morse, kind of...

Highlight of the Day : Helping Anne cook, kind of...

Tuesday, March 02, 2021

A mystery of chronology...

Playlist
Roy Wood Wizzo Band - Super Active Wizzo
UK - Night After Night (Extended Edition)
UK - In the Dead Of Night (3CD Anthology)
Earth Wind & Fire - Earth Wind & Fire
Earth Wind & Fire - The Need of Love
Jiva - Jiva
Delroy Washington - I Sus
Roots Man Time - Crisus Time
Keith Hudson - Too Expensive
U Roy - Dread in a Babylon
The Gladiators - Trenchtown Mix Up
Johnny Clarke - Rockers Time Now
Mighty Diamonds - Right Time
U Roy - Natty Rebel
Outrageous Cherry - Our Love Will Change the World
A Winged Victory for the Sullen - We Played Some Open Chords
Various - The Front Line : Sounds of Reality
A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Atomos
A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Atomos VII [Single]
A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Iris OST
Nina Strauss - Controlled Chaos
Alice Cooper - Detroit Stories
Grand Funk Railroad - Runaway Train : Madison Square Gardens 1973

Up late, slept in...


Kicked off this morning with Roy Wood, after not getting through the whole LP last night...

Man is a genius...

Views...




A visit from Fang...


This morning, I found the full set which was butchered to produce the live LP by UK I played a week or so ago, of which I had bemoaned the fact that I did not have the full recording...

Almost an hour of extra music - it's now a cracker, worthy of the band's reputation...

Possibly too much lettuce at lunchtime as we enjoyed a couple of episodes of "Superstore"...


A long afternoon of WFH, during which 19 albums joined the fray, having been downloaded over the last couple of days...

This included a 92 track compilation of reggae music released by Virgin on their Front Line label in the 1970s...

On researching though, I found that, weirdly, all the releases on the label were from 1978 and 1979 while the compilation I had - which comprises the first ten tracks on this 5CD set, were released in 1975 and 1976...

Oh well...

Anyway, I also sought out the 8 LPs featured on that original comp, which was really my intro to reggae, other than a few singles by the likes of Greyhound earlier in the 70's...

Tonight's tea was a very tasty courgette and chorizo pasta from the EP...


...whose latest painting is coming along very nicely indeed...


As night drew in...


...I ended the day with some Nita Strauss, Alice Cooper and Grand Funk Railroad (pictured tomorrow morning)...


That was it...

Highlight of the Day : Old reggae (the best kind)...

Monday, March 01, 2021

There is possibly only one reason to listen to Doo Wop...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Schoenberg Webern Berg
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Elements
Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Beware
Fennesz - Venice
Lana Del Rey - Ultraviolence [Japanese Edition]
Chick Corea - Now He Sings, Now He Sobs
Crowded House - Temple of Low Men
Paul McCartney & Wings - Venus And Mars
Suzanne Vega - Beauty & Crime
The Bad Plus - Suspicious Activity?
The Decemberists - What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World
New Order - Technique
Emerson Berry & Palmer - ...To The Power Of Three
Yes - Fragile
Dio - Dream Evil
Ornette Coleman - The Shape Of Jazz To Come
Kiss - Revenge
Leonard Cohen - The Songs Of Leonard Cohen
Muse - The Resistance
Françoise Hardy - Ma Jeunesse Fout Le Camp...
Jon Hopkins - Immunity
Talk Talk - The Colour Of Spring
Roger Waters - Radio KAOS
The Bad Plus - Inevitable Western
Magazine - Real Life
Robert Fripp - Let The Power Fall
Peter Gabriel - Birdy
Al Stewart - Bedsitter Images
Rodrigo Leão & Vox Ensemble - Ave Mundi Luminar
The Beatles - Please Please Me
The Beatles - Revolver
Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans
Kamasi Washington - Heaven And Earth
Charles Mingus - Oh Yeah
Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings
Roine Stolt's The Flower King - Manifesto Of An Alchemist
It Bites - The Big Lad In The Windmill
Muse - Black Holes & Revelations
Asia - Phoenix
Dar Williams - Mortal City
Great Lake Swimmers - Great Lake Swimmers
Paul Buchanan - Mid Air
Björk - Debut
The Czars - Goodbye
Sumner McKane - Select Visual History
Brian Eno - Drums Between The Bells
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
Marilyn Manson - Mechanical Animals
Alice Cooper - The Eyes Of Alice Cooper
Yes - Time And A Word
The Mars Volta - Noctourniquet
Neil Young - Trans
The Tubes - Young and Rich
Rush - Hold Your Fire
Madonna - Confessions On A Dance Floor
Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel
Weather Report - Weather Report (1971)
David Bowie - The Next Day
Jimmy Smith - Home Cookin'
The Killers - Battle Born
Steven Wilson - Grace For Drowning
Dead Kennedys - Frankenchrist
Max Richter - The Blue Notebooks
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Fiona Apple - Fetch the Boltcutters
Tom Rogerson with Brian Eno - Finding Shore
Mick Ronson - Play Don't Worry
Magazine - The Correct Use Of Soap
Chicago - Chicago Transit Authority
Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica
Michael Brook - Hybrid
Japan - Quiet Life
David Bowie - Hunky Dory
Jacques Loussier Trio - Play Bach No1
Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
Chicago - Chicago III
Sparks - Plagiarism
Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys!
David Byrne - The Catherine Wheel
Strawbs - Settlement
Earth, Wind & Fire - The Box Set Series
Various Artists - London American Doo Wop 1955-58
Various Artists - Rockabilly : Red Hot & Rare Volume One
Roy Wood Wizzo Band - Super Active Wizzo

Into March and another massive playlist today...


...started with my new LP, which will be out on Friday - my 10th release since lockdown began last Spring...

Then, reminded myself of my last LP, which is less than a month old and which is doing quite well on the Bandcamp...

Then, under good skies...


...started on the updating of the "album a month" "one track each" playlist, following the recent re-re-compile...

The tunes from this lasted all day really...

Tasty egg on toast for breakfast...


...as breakfast too awaited the birds...


At lunchtime, down to the town to post an order, noting two new places due to open soon...

A weigh your own food place...


...and a Lebanese food place...


Looking forward to those...

As night drew in, the playlist continued to soundtrack WFH...





...while Anne prepped a superb lamb chilli dish...


...with flatbread...


I am locked down with the best!

Late on, I sought out a couple of 2CD sets, bought purely because Brian Eno likes Doo Wop, to post onto the Twitter re a Doo Wop conversation that was occurring...


Other than that, a close third on "University Challenge" and the second of "Unforgotten" which, like "Bloodlands" last night is shaping up well...

Some rockabilly and some Roy Wood's Wizzo Band almost ended the day...

But, last thing, I found the Alice Cooper Band's Band Meeting on Youtube and started watching that - some good insights...

Caused me to seek out music by ace guitarist Nita "Hurricane" Strauss's dad from the 1970's, on George Harrison's label..

That, plus other stuff downloaded today, will be added to the collection tomorrow...

For now though, lights out...

Highlight of the Day : As is the case on many days, Anne's cooking...