With art, you still have the art...

Playlist

Sleep Research Facility - Nostromo

JD Allen - Americana, Vol. 2

Various Artists - Rise Jamaica: Jamaican Independence Special

Uriah Heep - The Magician's Birthday (Expanded)

Black Sky Giant - Primigenian

Kid Arrow - Happy New Strange Year, Part 2

Anchor and Burden - Feels Like Forever (V)

Tim Garland - One

Heldon - Stand By (Heldon VII)

Scary Pockets - 2am Funk Dance Party

Sebastian Knauer - The Mozart / Nyman Concert

Einaudi - Moments of Peace

Pink Mountaintops - Axis of Evol

Sleep Research Facility - Unrest

Bach, C P E - Double Concertos

Hammock - Oblivion Hymns

Dave Thomas Junior - Echo

Dave Thomas Junior - Pieces

Aaron Espe - This Time of Year EP

Bob Dylan - Time Out Of Mind

Kate Rusby - 20

Toploader - Onka's Big Moka

Todd Rundgren - Go Ahead, Ignore Me - The Best Of Todd Rundgren

Hammer and Felt - Beneath the Mountain (Single)

Death Cab for Cutie - Plans

Various Artists - Billboard Top 100 1979

Margaret Dahlberg - Guilded Harmonies

Rod Stewart - Storyteller - The Complete Anthology: 1964-1990

Various Artists - After Life OST

Jeff Beck - Beck-ola

Jeff Beck - Guitar Shop

Beck Bogert Appice - Beck Bogert Appice 

Jeff Beck & Johnny Depp - 18

As ever...

Up early and writing this and gathering new things...

I am currently making my way through my podcasts from 2016, listening last thing at night and first thing in the morning and the podcast today set me looking to see if there was any new music by Sleep Research Facility - a glacial ambient sound from a fellow Glaswegian - I found an LP I didn't have and a few tracks on comps which I've gathered together...

Scenes from the room...

Breakfast...

...accompanied by this, seen the other day in Fopp and now in the digital collection...

Nice...

1983's top ten announced (mine, that is)...

Around 11, out for a coffee with unpictured Anne and Lynn, fresh from their Zumba exertions...

Home for lunch and a "Blacklist", then, Anne was off out with Jane and their mum...

I decided to rearrange the shelves re setting up the wee CD player to be ready to play through one of the two portable speakers at the proverbial drop of a hat - a long way off from the old living room set up, which used to be my best Hi Fi components (now in the computer room)...

This was quite good but perhaps unlikely to be acceptable to the Exec Producer...

So, this...

...during which I noted the batteries in the CD player needed to be recharged...

Disaster - on extracting them, one popped out unexpectedly and produced a small chip on the fireplace...

Gutted...

What soundtracked this nightmare, Dave?

A new collection from Einaudi...

...a recommendation from Twitter...

...and the aforementioned Sleep Research Facility...

Outside, the sky was good...

Some discussion re the content of original pressings of Eno's "Before and After Science" - it seems mine has a few extras...

Also this afternoon, having had all the tracks from Ricky Gervais' "After Life" in a playlist for around a year now, I decided finally to make it an actual thing in the collection - a virtual 4 hour 4CD set...

Tasty...

As was Anne's unpictured but duly scoffed, pasta based tea...

This evening, two more "Blacklist" followed episode 5 of "Jack Ryan" - still as convoluted as ever...

Late on, word arrived that Jeff Beck had died, somewhat unexpectedly, even though he was 78...

His re-released single "Hi Ho Silver Lining" and one of the tracks on its B Side, "Beck's Bolero" were staples for me back in late 1972...

I gave a few of his records a spin...

We still have them, even though we don't have him...

Such is the way with art...

Lights out, in more ways than one...

Highlight of the Day : New music...

Today's new music:-

Saves can trump balloons...

Playlist

Various - Cloudland Blue Eclectic Selection 2016

Bruce Barth Trio - Dedication

Scary Pockets - 2am Funk Dance Party

Ches Smith - Interpret It Well

Samo Salamon, Arild Andersen, Ra-Kalam Bob Moses - Pure and Simple

Up at 7 to write this...

...opening the day with an old podcast and then the Bruce Barth Trio, which is very good indeed...

 ...and downloaded an LP of original stuff by Scary Pockets, just two long tracks of funk, which is also very good indeed but perhaps not as good as their cover versions...

Also researched a possible trip to Nantes later in the year - it looks good...

Breakfast was nice and will be repeated...

...and word from Mixcloud that my latest podcast, despite very few listens indeed, has somehow managed to make the Top 10 of their Global Classical Chart... 

Into town today to do some work at my old office - this soundtracked the bus in - also very good indeed...

Post work, a walk along to Fopp - nothing acquired. However, this, which features work commissioned by Sebastian Knauer of Michael Nyman, intrigued...

It's on the Berlin Modern label too, which is usually good...

Another bus home in the rain...

...soundtracked this time, by this, which is also very good...

I was trying to take intentionally blurry pics but it didn't really work...

Into my bear-like onesie and spent the remainder of the day on the sofa till bed time...

...alternating between listening and goggling the gogglebox - which included 2 of "The Black List" and the 2nd part of this week's "Silent Witness"...

In footie, at Dumfries, Queens, although, it seems, being on top throughout the game, could not score against Kelty Hearts but, despite one Harry Kane-esque ballooned over the bar penalty, thanks to two saves by the keeper, Currie, won the penalty shoot out 4-2 and, for the second year running are in the semi finals of the Challenge Cup (which is open to all Scottish teams apart from the "Premier" League)...

They will play Hamilton Academical from the Championship...

Meanwhile, tasty chili from Anne...

And that was it....

Ten days in already...

No, wait, on this day in 2016, I wrote this...

Lights out...

Highlight of the Day : Out and about...

Today's new music:-

Chance can be extremely good....

Playlist

Mick Ronson - Slaughter on 10th Avenue

Mick Ronson - Play Don't Worry

Heldon - Stand By (Heldon VII)

Django Bates - Saluting Sgt. Pepper

Camel - Breathless

Marc Almond - Tenement Symphony

Uriah Heep - Easy Livin' - The Singles A's & B's

Genesis - Abacab (1994  Definitive Edition Remaster)

Sol Gabetta - Il Progetto Vivaldi

Tim Garland  - One

Simcock,  Garland, Sirkis - Lighthouse

Scary Pockets - The Best of Scary Pockets

Ches Smith - Interpret It Well

JD Allen - Americana, Vol. 2

Terri Lyne Carrington - New Standards Vol. 1

Hélène Grimaud - Resonances

Dave Sewelson - Nature Boy

Will Bernard - Pond Life

Avram Fefer - Juba Lee

Various - Cloudland Blue Eclectic Selection 2016 Vol 4

Up at 6:25, after relistening to some Mick Ronson, which closed off last night, and, to writing this...

For a couple of days now, I've not made any notes, which makes it harder to recall what happened...

My discipline is rubbish but at least I'm writing it...

And taking blurry pics of the work station...

Tweeted my Top 20 for 1983

Ooft - all these records are 40 years old this year...

Even worse though, is that all of these are 50 years old!

Anne was off out shopping with her mum, who has not been too great for quite a few weeks now but, today, appears to have turned a corner, so that's great news...

While Anne was gone, I did some tidying in the living room re a box we keep under the shelves of CDs and books...

I found these lists of fave music in September 2015 from Olly and Kitty...

Here's Kitty's - most of which, she advised this morning, she would probably still listen to...

...and here's Olly's...

He very kindly sent me an up to date list this afternoon, of which I have only heard of one...

A compilation opportunity beckons perhaps...

Two episodes of "The Black List" again at lunch time, accompanied by the left overs of last night's risotto for me...

Late afternoon, I was in the back room enjoying some Vivaldi from Argentinian cellist, Sol Gabetta, who features on one of the Hélène Grimaud LPs downloaded last night...

Delightful...

I was below the blinds...

Some good discoveries today...

I don't know how I came across them, probably just surfing around on Youtube but there's an excellent covers band out there called Scary Pockets - which is actually just two guys, both seasoned professionals, one of whom is Patreon founder, Jack Conte, with various guests on each track...

They've done what seems like hundreds of covers since 2017...

The motto of the band is, “Arrange quickly and simply, have a ton of fun, and be funky.."

Indeed, they turn every song they do, funky...

I compiled a list of 25, mostly songs Capital Models do, or which I have done in the past, plus a couple I'd like to, and including their latest, only released today, Taylor Swift's "Anti-Hero"...

Then, as I listened back to that, a chance Tweet led me to some American jazz writers' poll of the best jazz albums of 2022...

There were 200 nominations in all, of 130 different LPs, of which I already had 17 and added a further 4 this afternoon, plus a couple of back catalogue things from people well-mentioned of whom I had not heard but could not locate the 2022 LPs in question...

In all, I obtained some 12 LPs but, on listening back, rejected half of them...

Which is fair enough, I can't like everything...

On delving further into the site which hosted the poll, belonging to one Tom Hull, I found an extraordinary source of tips re new jazz...

Which, in turn led to even more new music being downloaded - all, this time, retained...

This evening then, pre a 125 score on "University Challenge", I enjoyed this funky item as I washed a mountain of dishes...

...and, post both "UC" and "Silent Witness", this and another new title were found to be suitably "far out, man" for my tastes...

All in all an excellent day for new music...

Highlight of the Day : Jazz discoveries...

Today's new music:-

When something you think has gone completely wrong turns out right, that's good...

Playlist

Uriah Heep - Demons and Wizards (Expanded)

Earth - Even Hell has its Heroes (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Uriah Heep - Very 'Eavy, Very 'Umble (Expanded)

Heldon - Interface (Heldon VI)

Tower Of Power - East Bay Grease

Tower Of Power - Bump City

Alexander Balanescu, Dave Hewson, Troy Banarzi - Dimensions

King Buffalo - The Burden of Restlessness

Dominic Waxing Lyrical - Rural Tonic

Bill Bruford & Michiel Borstlap - In Concert in Holland

Larry Page Orchestra - John Paul George Ringo

Jongen - Preludes for Piano

Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself (Expanded)

Various - Bureau B 2022

Earthworks - Heavenly Bodies An Expanded Collection

Hawkwind - Master of the Universe

Glen Campbell - Classic Campbell

Queen - The Works

Various Artists - 101 Power Ballads

Johnny Jewel - Windswept

David Essex - A Night At The Movies

Muse - Origin Of Symmetry

Iggy Pop - Every Loser

Heldon - Electronique Guerilla (Heldon I)

Heldon - Allez-Teia (Heldon II)

Hélène Grimaud - Resonances

Tim - Garland One

Hélene Grimaud & Sol Gabetta - Duo

Black Heino - Heldentum und Idiote

Hélène Grimaud - Schumann: Dichterliebe

Up, writing yesterday...

Today's soundtrack was mostly things acquired thus far in 2023 - I am posting a daily pic at then end of each entry - plus a digital version of a tape of Hawkwind I made in 1974, some songs being considered for the July wedding gig, the excellent Fripp/T Dream-like sounds of Heldon and delving into the back catalogue of Hélene Grimaud...

As of close today, the tally of new things sits at 99 items, lasting just over 4.5 days - we are 8 days into the year...

Oh dear...

Anyway, sky...

Blinds...

Moon through blinds...

Breakfast with Anne, post having added the daily pics of acquisitions to the previous 2023 entries...

Then, out to do my mum's shopping, a visit to Anne's mum and then out to mine and home again...

Lunch of the remains of yestrday's home made soup...

And a "Jack Ryan" - we are struggling to follow exactly what on earth is going on...

Not to worry...

In the afternoon, Anne returned to her roulade, the sponge for which was attended to yesterday and had to be in the fridge overnight apparently...

It was now ready to roll...

...while I mucked about...

It was very good indeed - although Anne pronounced it a bit of a stressful pfaff...

This evening, soundtracked by the German punky sounds of Black Heino, it was my turn in the kitchen as I looked to create a risotto from a new recipe...

...which, amazingly (following some hairy moments where I thought it was going completely wrong), worked out fine, dandy and, indeed, tasty...

...with some left over for lunch tomorrow...

The roulade was further delved into...

...and accompanied by episodes 9 and 10 of the first of 10 (so far) seasons of "The Black List"...

Much easier to follow than "Jack Ryan"...

With Anne then turning to "Call the Midwife", I set about filling in some gaps in my Hélène Grimaud collection before lights out...

Highlight of the Day : Cooking...

Today's new music:-