To Nantes...

Playlist

Cloudland Blue Quartet - Bartok

Creek - Creek XIV

Fred Again & Eno - Secret Life

Winger - Seven

SBTRKT - The Rat Road

Up just after six and downloading today's new releases including new Eno, and releasing "Bartok" and "Creek XIV"...

At seven we left and trundled down the hill...

A 15 minute wait for the airport bus...

By 7:50 we were through security without a hitch..

Breakfast from Pret A Manger at 8...

Of course the 9:30 flight was delayed...

Finally boarded at 10:10...

...and took off at 10:40...

Entertained by Eno and fellow new LP's from Winger and SBTRKT...

Landed at 12:10, 1:10 Nantes time but 40 minutes to clear passport control...

A bus into town at two...

Lunch lunch at 3 was a tasty bagel plus refreshments...

Then our initial walkabout...

Tourist information located and excellent information and much literature and mappage provided by the nice young lady...

To nearby Bouffay for beers at Place de Bouffay by the Eloge du Pas de Cote statue...

We left the square around 4:45 to start the long trek to our apartment for six...

Our route took us through the old town...

...and botanic gardens...

...and by the Cimetiere de la Bouteillerie...

With around 30 minutes till our rendezvous, we stopped at Les Filles de la Cote for another beer and made contact with our host...

Then to the apartment, met outside by young man who advised Mary had been stopped by the police on her way and would be 10 minutes or so late...

On her eventual arrival she introduced us to all the aspects of the accommodation...

Unpacked and out again around 7:30...

A walk led us to a nearby pizzeria for tea...

Post this, further walking around, not much in her neighbourhood...

...though we did eventually find a sort of bar, but failed miserably to be served...

Walked home...

...and enjoyed very large coffees and music listening and reading up on Nantes...

...and wasps, Anne had spotted the beginnings of a nest in the attic this morning, first thing...

Highlight of the Day : On holiday...

Today's New Music:-

The first day of 64...

Playlist

The Beatles - Sgt Pepper (Mono)

The Shadows - The Very Best Of The Shadows

Françoise Hardy - In English (Marble Arch)

Simon & Garfunkel - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

The Kinks - Something Else By The Kinks

Various - Jackie The Album Vol 2

Leonard Cohen - Songs From A Room

Norman Greenbaum - Spirit In The Sky

Dave & Ansel Collins - Double Barrel

Jo Jo Gunne - Jo Jo Gunne

David Bowie - Aladdin Sane

Deep Purple - Made In Japan

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II

10cc - How Dare You?

Alice Cooper - Lace And Whiskey

Genesis - And Then There Were Three... (1994 Definitive Edition Remaster)

Brian Eno - Music For Airports

The Cure - Seventeen Seconds

Yello - Solid Pleasure

Jean-Michel Jarre - The Concerts in China (40th Anniversary Remaster)

Edgar Froese - Stuntman

New Order - The Best Of New Order

Propaganda - A Secret Wish

Roxy Music - Street Life - Greatest Hits

Suzanne Vega - Solitude Standing

Icehouse - Man Of Colours

The Cure - Disintegration

Lou Reed & John Cale - Songs For Drella

Yes - Union

The Cure - Wish

New Order - Republic

Earthworks - Stamping Ground

Black Widow - Black Widow III

Sonny Rollins - Sonny Meets Hawk!

Sister Ray - Communion

Capital Models - Breaking Silence

Capital Models - Live at the Edinburgh Festival 1980

PJ Moore & Co - When A Good Days Comes

Happy birthday to me!

First song?

"When I'm 64" of course, in mono...

More prepping for things that need to happen before tomorrow...

Like writing this up...

Cards were here for me...

...and lovely wine from Jane and Bob...

And monetary gifts for me to spend on things I like...

And breakfast was good...

It was the best day of the year - ok maybe second best after Xmas Eve...

Messages of congratulations were coming in all day on the Whatsapp and the Twitter and more cards in the post...

Into the office and down to Tranent with chum Spike for a meeting which will bring home some bacon...

Then, out for a slap up lunch at Fazenda with chum Raymondo...

Only the selection form the starter buffet was pictured...

And only Diet Coke was drunk...

Which was good...

Home via Fopp, where these were purchased...

New Blue Nile, kind of...

A Canadian disc of which, it turns out, I already have a download...

...and some tasty jazz...

Listened to in the living room while further cards were opened...

A call with my mum...

Writing up notes on A Capital Models release for later this month on its 43rd anniversary...

And good telly - "Astrid" and another two of "The Diplomat"...

And the, final prepping and packing...

Birthday over, once again...

Highlight of the Day : It was my birthday...

Today's New Music:-

The last day of being 63...

Playlist

Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley

Roxy Music - Montreux 1973-04-29

Cloudland Blue Quartet - Bartok

Das Kondensat - Andere Planeten

Yello - Bostich (Ancient Methods Remix)

Adès - Dante

Various - Pulp Fusion Vol. 3 - Revenge of the Ghetto Grooves

Earthless - Night Parade Of One Hundred Demons

Island Man - Direct-to-Disc Sessions

Arturo O'Farrill - Legacies

Nik Turner - Life in Space

Various - Trojan Dub Rarities Box Set

Thomas Feiner & Anywhen - The Opiates Revisited

Ekranoplan - Deutsch-Italienische Freundschaft

The Wood Brothers - Heart is the Hero

The Album Leaf - Future Falling: The Singles

Polar Inertia - Kinematic Optics

aus - Everis

Rymden - Rymden + KORK

Thomas Feiner - Thomas Feiner 2011-2022

Cloudland Blue Quartet - GLAM!

Alexander Melnikov - Fantasie: Seven Composers, Seven Keyboards

Koenig - 1 Above Minus Underground

Volker Lankow - Music For Quiet Environments

White Willow - Future Hopes

Empyre - Relentless

Per Mathisen - Sounds of 3 Edition 3

Liis Ring - Homing

The Nels Cline 4 - Currents, Constellations

Scott William Urquhart & Constant Follower - Even Days Dissolve

Busch - String Quartet in A Minor, Flute Quintet in C Major & 9 Pieces for String Quartet

Booka Shade - Circulate

Sparks - Two Hands One Mouth

Squeeze - Big Squeeze: The Very Best Of Squeeze

Yes - Fly From Here - Return Trip

Yes - From A Page

Yes - The Quest

Frederic L Epee - 12 Pieces for Solo Electric Guitar

Scott William Urquhart & Constant Follower - Even Days Dissolve

The last day of being 63 and, unlike the previous two days, I was busy from the off...

Uploading the latest Creek archive recording...

...and the next CBQ release (recorded last October)...

Fang popped by and stayed a while...

Anne was off out to Zumba then for lunch with Lynn, to where I provided a lift...

On the Twitter, mention of Anne Marie David's Eurovision win 50 years ago...

I still have the single, bought at the time and always a favourite...

In English...

...and French (Luxembourgian)...

I also recorded and published this week's podcast to get it out the road...

In the afternoon, with Anne back, Jane popped by with my birthday cards for tomorrow and a bottle of wine - some chocolate from Lynn was opened later this evening and enjoyed pre birthday....

This evening, football again...

We were 4-1 up but ended up losing 9-8...

Home for salmon...

"Dalgleish" was good and it may have been today, or yesterday, that we started "The Diplomat" which is very good...

Highlight of the day : Getting things done..

Today's New Music:-

Not much happened, again...

Playlist

Island Man - Direct-to-Disc Sessions

Uriah Heep - Chaos & Colour (DL)

Triángulo de Amor Bizarro - Año Santo

Marea - Los potros del tiempo

Inger Nordvik - Hibernation

Michael Hoenig & Manuel Göttsching - Early Water

Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian - Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian

The Fatback Band - Keep on Steppin'

Segerstam - Segerstam: String Quartet No. 6 / Rituals in La

Johannes Luley - Follow Your Heart

Teho - Backfirewall (OST)

Earth - Full Upon Her Burning Lips

Reuter Motzer Grohowski - Bleed

DoomCannon - Renaissance

Daniil Trifonov - BACH: The Art of Life

Ô Lake - Still

KMRU - glim

Boa Morte - The Total Space

I:Cube - I:CUBE – EYE CUBE  (VERLP45)

Weval - Remember

Isaac Hayes - Golden Hour Presents Isaac Hayes

Red House Painters - Down Colorful Hill

White Willow - White Willow 1995-2017

Brian Blade - Lifecycles Volumes 1 & 2

Cosmic Gate - MOSAIIK Chapter Two

Umber - Sometimes That Light, That Shine, Seemed Like a Pretty Nice Thing

Blank Gloss - Cornered

Taylor Swift - Midnights (3am Edition)

Vinnie Sperrazza, Ethan Iverson, Michael Formanek - Saturday

Wollschleger - Scott Wollschleger: Dark Days

Julia Gjertsen - Formations

Armin van Buuren - Feel Again, Pt 3

Ryuichi Sakamoto - Playing the Piano 12122020

Dar Williams - I'll Meet You Here

Goldbloom - Peaked In High School

Wadada Leo Smith & Orange Wave Electric - Fire Illuminations

Hirotaka Shirotsubaki - I Still Cherish Those Days When You Said They Were Ridiculous

GoGo Penguin - Everything Is Going to Be OK

Kerry Charles - I Think Of You

Fenne Lily - Big Picture

Karfagen - Passage to the Forest of Mysterious

VEIN - Our Roots

Ian Hunter - Defiance Part 1

Brian Eno - FOREVERVOICELESS

Easy Star All-Stars - Ziggy Stardub

Aglinskas - blue dusk

Hainbach - Voice Magnetic

Signal Quartet - Second Exploration: The Music of Ben Wolkins

John Foxx & The Maths - Howl

Hawkwind - The Future Never Waits

Das Kondensat - Andere Planeten

Volker Lankow - Music For Quiet Environments

Rick Wakeman - Piano Odyssey

White Willow - Future Hopes

Another Tuesday...

Not much happened, again...

But there was a very good chili for tea...

And this was the scene shortly before I retired...

Much of the day was spent listening to my albums of the day so far for 2023, so that was good...

And, as ever these days, too much new music was obtained...

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

Today's New Music:-

Kitchen progress...

Playlist

Miles Davis - Tutu

Gazebo - Univision

Paul McCartney - Press to Play

Frank Zappa - Jazz From Hell

Isaac Hayes - U Turn

XTC - Skylarking

Udo Lindenberg - Phönix

Lou Reed - Mistrial

Genesis - Invisible Touch (2007 Remastered)

Herman Van Veen - Anne

Black Sabbath - Seventh Star

Die Ärzte - Die Ärzte

Adrian Belew - Desire Caught By The Tail

Fra Lippo Lippi - Songs

Dead Kennedys - Bedtime For Democracy

Holger Hiller - Oben im Eck

Wadada Leo Smith & Ed Blackwell - The Blue Mountain's Sun Drummer

Allan Holdsworth - Atavachron

Nazareth - Cinema

Jean-Michel Jarre - Rendez Vous

Alice Cooper - Constrictor

David Sylvian - Gone To Earth (Remaster)

Emerson Lake & Powell - Emerson Lake & Powell

Falco - Emotional

Harold Budd - Lovely Thunder

Icehouse - Measure for Measure

It Bites - The Big Lad In The Windmill

Kansas - Power

Kraftwerk - Electric Cafe

Laurie Anderson - Home Of The Brave

New Order - Brotherhood

Pet Shop Boys - Please

Peter Gabriel - So

Public Image Limited - Album

Sparks - Music That You Can Dance To

Talk Talk - The Colour Of Spring

Tangerine Dream - Underwater Sunlight

Various Composers - Adagio Collection

Cloudland Blue Quartet - Auden

Weather Report - This Is This

Pat Metheny & Ornette Coleman - Song X

Today, up super late and looking at 1986...

...and the living room...

At lunchtime, "Designated Survivor" came to an end - a few kind oof cliff hangers but it was cancelled after the 3rd, 10 episode season...

To be fair, once they'd killed off agent Hannah Welles, it wasn't the same...

Other than that, nothing all day really...

Downloaded some gap fillers...

Late on, the joiner came round to check out the kitchen and what needs to be done...

In the evening, no "University Challenge" as it was a bank holiday...

So we watched something or other off the Tivo...

That was it...

Highlight of the Day : Moving the kitchen plans forward...

Today's New Music:-