The opposite of electric...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Proposed Sampler
King Crimson- Red
OMD – Organisation
OMD – OMD
UK – Danger Money

Some work today on the flyer for the gig and thinking about offers on the CDs for the night, in a bid to get some sales...

To FOPP at lunchtime to get King Crimson’s “EleKctric” album but, alas, all copies had disappeared...

As a very poor substitute, I picked up OMD’s debut album plus bonus tracks for just £3...

In the evening to Stu and Ali’s where, not in bed by the time I got there this time, I met their daughter Lily for the first time in over six years – for her of course it was the first time she’s ever seen me, so she was extremely shy...



The rehearsal went well all told, although the first run through was ropey to say the least but predictably so given our 15 day lay-off...

We reworked “Never or Now” to the point where we’re happy with how it’s shaping up...

Some of the tempos were a bit awry but, on the whole, it’s sounding good...
And I love the way Peri’s beard and hair change from week to week...



Home to see the highlights of Rangers’ humiliating 4-1 home defeat, their second 4-1 home defeat in the Champions League this season – and people said QoS were an embarrassment to Scottish Football when they played in Europe?

Highlight of the Day : Rehearsing again...

Clangers...

Playlist
King Crimson - Cadence and Cascade (3xCD-R)
King Crimson - The Power to Believe
King Crimson - The ConstruKction of Light
King Crimson - Thrak

To FOPP at lunchtime - bumped into a very attractive young lady there - none other than the Exec Producer, who advised she'd seen my hat from outside the shop...

Swithered about whether or not I already own King Crimson's "EleKctric" live album - decided I surely must do...

Nothing partaken of...

On the way home past the gardens in Charlotte Square with its annually ruined by the Book Festival turf about to be replaced...



By the time the bus arrived at Cripsycat Towers, the evening gloom was drawing in...



Random bushes were once again captured for posterity...



Discovered I don't have the Crimson album in question - until tomorrow...

After an excellent home-made macaroni cheese dinner from the fair hand of the EP, I retired upstairs for my nightly run through of the set...



Still making quite a few clangers...

The rest of the evening was spent surfing (probably - I'm writing this at 9pm) to the sounds of the Mighty Crim...

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

Hanged man...

Playlist
Gong - Shamal
Gong - Expresso II
Bruford/Borstlap - In Two Minds
Blue Roses - Blue Roses
Bigelf - Hex
King Crimson - Cadence and Cascade (3xCD-R)
Bigelf - Cheat the Gallows

Another fairly uneventful Monday, the daylight hours soundtracked by Gong...

Browsed this month's "The Wire" whilst listening to Bill Bruford and Michiel Borstlap...

Watched "University Challenge", then ran throught the 30 minute set again...



Then back downstairs for "Flashforward"...

Then back upstairs to burn a copy of the King Crimson compilation I used to introduce brother-in-law Keith to the band exactly a year ago...

This copy is for "The Man" Colleague Prog Rock Willie, who has recently introduced me to the music of Bigelf - he is a prolific buyer of CDs, much like me, and I hope this taster will turn him on to the magic of King Crimson...

Designed a new cover, removing the red angry face of brother-in-law Bobby and replacing it with Fergus Hall's Tarot of the Witches paintings...



To bed with the Bigelf in my lugs...

Recommended...

Highlight of the Day : Bigelf and Crimso...

Goodnight sweet prawn...

Playlist
Various - 1972 Singles (3xCD-R)
The Human League - Reproduction
David Sylvian - Alchemy
Kevin Ayers - Joy of a Toy
Hawkwind - Take Me to Your Leader
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Songs on Myspace
Various - Oh! Canada
Girls Aloud - Out of Control
Mike Taylor Quartet - Pendulum
Weather Report - Mysterious Traveller

A long lie - till 7:45...

Some work at the PC including trying (unsuccessfully) to spice up the design of the CBQ Myspace page...

Rather frustratingly, this only resulted in the complete disappearance of the music player - and a message saying I had no songs at all on Myspace - extremely annoying considering the time spent yesterday on uploading songs etc...

Then, when I tried to re-upload, it wouldn't allow me, it just gave me a maddening unexplanatory error message...

I fired off a message to Myspace for help - I never got a reply, but within the hour, the player suddenly reappeared with all songs intact...

Weird...

And so, out to Loanhead, via Argos, where a new TV Stand was purchased for my mum...

Arrived at her home around 1pm and a wee cup of soup and half a roll sustained before the build...

It took less than half an hour to put together and, at 14:48, this was the scene...



The new telly to sit on it should arrive this week...

An enjoyable couple of hours was spent before we headed back home...

I took the opportunity to run through the live set - not the best performance ever - it'll be good to get back to playing as a duo on Wednesday at Peri Urban's place...

To Anne's mum's for tea - where I thrashed nephew Ollie (age 8) three times in a row at chess...



Unlike his cousin Craig, who at the same age, when I used to beat him all the time at games, would take a tantrum and howl and cry, Ollie took it in his stride and actually congratulated me on winning...

I suspect his wee sister would be less inclined to behave like that - she is a lovely, but cheeky, monkey...



Home in time for Anne to catch "Emma"...

Late night listening for me in the form of some tasty mid-sixties British jazz from Mike Taylor and his crew and a classic from the mighty Weather Report - inspired by the latest pics over on Sid Smith's blog...

Lights out on another enjoyable weekend...

Highlight of the day : An easy building exercise for once...

Dark trees recorded...

Playlist
Bigelf - Cheat the Gallows
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Myspace Player
Jean-Luc Ponty - Enigmatic Ocean (LP)
Hawkwind - BBC In Concert 1972
Bruford/Borstlap - In Two Minds
Hawkwind - Take Me to Your Leader
Mike Taylor Quartet - Pendulum
Gong - Shamal
Gong - Expresso II

Up at 5:45 and to the PC to work on publicising the upcoming gig...

Updated the CBQ Myspace Player - adding two songs from "Soundingfall" and one each from the previous four albums, taking the total number of songs up to ten...

Blend
The Angels' Kiss
Very Small pt 2
I Re-Arranged the House
Twenty Twenty Vision
The Sound of the Fall pt 2
Lights Out
The Crocodile Song
Everything You've Ever Wanted
Hollow Man

A veritably tasty wee compilation LP in its own right!

Into town with Anne at 10:30 and met up with Brodski for today's record fair...



Bought "Enigmatic Ocean" by Jean-Luc Ponty on vinyl for just £3 - used to have this but it was misspressed - contains some excellent guitar work from Allan Holdsworth...

Also bought a couple of Hawkwind discs, a Bill Bruford album, and took a chance on an unknown (to me) British jazz disc recorded in the mid sixties by the Mike Taylor Quartet...

This was my best purchase of the day and Mr Taylor's story is one of tragedy...

On to FOPP, where a couple of Gong albums from their jazz-fusion period, joined the fray...



All in all £26 spent for a collection which would have cost over £80 on Amazon...

Meanwhile the Count partook of a goodly number of LPs (despite no working turntable at present at Castle Brodski), while Anne was waiting for me back at the car sporting a new winter coat...

Back home, organised a new TV stand for my mum which we will buy and assemble tomorrow in anticipation of the arrival of her new big TV...

Spent the rest of the afternoon listening to the new albums whilst keeping one eye on the footie - Queens dropped from 1st to 5th in the league as they lost 1-0 away to Raith Rovers while all their rivals picked up points...

The JTs scraped a 1-1 draw away at Aberdeen...

In the evening, out to meet up with Brodders and Penny and Dr Prog for what was supposed to have been a get together for Fred Hessler's 50th - Fred was off on a luxury weekend however so the evening was cancelled...

We decided to celebrate nonetheless...

First, to The Brass Monkey where a couple of drinks were enjoyed in their back room...

Then, to Mother India, where the beer and wine was flowing, the chat was good and the food up to its usual superb standards...











Leaving/thrown out at closing time, we made our way down to the revamped Holyrood Tavern for more drinks from their impressive high tech and well-stocked bar...

Here's the Exec Producer getting a round in (I don't carry money!)...



Penny insisted I record the large number of sauce and vinegar bottles gathered near our table...



The bar received a unanimous thumbs up...



Then it was off for the night bus and back to Crispycat Towers around 1:15 for a relatively (to the rest of our party no doubt) early night...

Once more, the dark trees were recorded...



Highlight of the Day : Out with the Brodskis and Dr Prog...

Tijuana...

Playlist
Cloudland Blue Quartet – Acoustic Soundingfall
Kevin Ayers – Yes We Have No Mananas
Kevin Ayers – Shooting at the Moon
Soft Cell – Heat : The Remixes
Bigelf – Cheat the Gallows
Bach – Goldberg Variations
Bach – Orchestral Suites
The Osmonds – Best Of
Rheostatics – Whale Music Concert

Up early and some internet prep and work for the upcoming gig – nothing musical, just work that needs to be done in relation to it...

In the evening, scrubbed almost 5,000 tracks of classical music from the jukeboxes, in the first wave of trying to get them back into some semblance of order...

Much moving around of tracks – this was my view for most of the night...

Not exactly of course - I wasn't floating beneath the ceiling...



...apart from this, an hour of entertainment was provided from 9 till 10 by “Have I Got News For you” and “Armstrong and Miller”...

Highlight of the Day : Armstrong and Miller...

Red, difficult, sublime...

Playlist
Soft Machine – Six
Soft Machine – Seven
Soft Machine – The Unforgettable

A Soft Machine day initially, until I met Anne for the evening...

Dinner at The Candy Bar...



...before taking a bus up to the Festival Theatre to collect our pre bought tickets for tonight’s performance by Scottish Ballet to celebrate their 40th Anniversary...

Over the road to The Black Medicine Company for a nice wee coffee each...



...followed by a browse in the nearby bookshop, before taking our seats back at the theatre at 7:30...



Three pieces...

The first, Balanchine's Rubies to the music of Stravinsky (Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra)...

The second, William Forsythe's Workwithinwork to some very “difficult” Berio (Duetti for Two Violins)...

The last, Krzysztof Pastor's In Light and Shadow, a sublime piece of art featuring superb dance, breathtaking imaginative lighting effects and the gorgeous music of Johan Sebastian Bach (Aria from Goldberg Variations and Third Orchestral Suite)...

You can see some of the work here...

A couple of buses took us home to the darkness of Crispycat Hill...







...in time for the first episode of season seven of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “This Week”...

Highlight of the day : Ballet...

Sechsundzwanzig...

Playlist
Deep Purple – Live in Europe
Bigelf – Cheat the Gallows
Nick Buzz – Circo
Be Bop Deluxe – Dratic Plastic
Groundhogs – Thank Christ for the Bomb
Kevin Ayers – Joy of a Toy
Kevin Ayers – Yes We Have No Mananas
Kevin Ayers – Shooting At the moon
Kevin Ayers – Confessions of Dr Dream
Be Bop Deluxe – Sunburst Finish

To Fopp again at lunchtime and mad again – a further seven titles entered the collection, four by Kevin Ayers, two by Be Bop Deluxe and a third in two days from the Groundhogs....



And this is before I’ve even unpacked all the free stuff downloaded from Zunior yesterday...

Listening to some of these while we cooked tonight’s celebration dinner...





...of sirloin, fries, mushroom, onions, green beans and pepper sauce...



Accompanied by a tasty Pinot Noir from New Zealand, courtesy of Debbie and Sid, our Monday night Chop Chop chums...



We enjoyed (whilst gently ribbing for its pathetic schmaltzy American-ness) “Flashforward” before a couple of episodes to commence our viewing of series five of “Curb Your Enthusiasm”...

Highlight of the Day : Anniversary dinner

Overload..

Playlist
Crazy Wisdom - The Reptile Tapes
Paul Linklater - Smooth Sailing and How
Simple Minds - Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call
The Human League - Reproduction
The Human League - Travelogue
David Sylvian - Alchemy
Groundhogs - Split
Groundhogs - Who Will Save the World
Kevin Ayers - Whatevershebringswesing
Mendelssohn - Lieder ohne Worte
Chris Rea - The Return of the Fabulous Hofner Bluenotes

Went a bit crazy at Fopp at lunchtime today...

Nine albums purchased, including a three CD/double 10" vinyl/book set by Chris Rea - an old favourite of ours from the 1980's...



Also, decided once and for all to cancel my subscription to The Wire...

The music they rave about is, on the whole, esoteric rubbish...

Instead I will be dropping by http://www.zunior.com/ and partaking of some of their more tuneful goodies...

Today, for example, I bought a 3CD set by one Paul Linklater - for $20 I got an immediate download with the physical version winging its way from Toronto to Crispycat Towers as I type...

And, for good measure, I also downloaded around ten albums' worth of free stuff...

No rehearsal this week with Peri Urban, as I'd arranged it for tomorrow, forgetting of course that it's the Exec Producer's and my 26th Wedding Anniversary...

Lights out with new music in the cans...

Highlight of the Day : Music decisions...

Chop chop chop...

Playlist
Various - 21st Century Trance Vol 4
Rheostatics - Various Albums
The Five Hole Band - Erotic Hockey Tales
Martin Tielli - 2 Albums
The Violet Archers - 2 Albums

The Exec Producer met me up town tonight and we made our way to excellent wine bar Le di'vin where I partook of a couple of glasses of a cheeky wee French red and Anne availed herself of some G and indeed T...



Then, to meet up with Debbie and Sid for a strange offering...

A wine tasting from The Great Grog accompanied by chinese food at Chop Chop...

Debbie censored my picture of the proceedings...



We enjoyed champagne, three whites and three reds, along with thirteen (count 'em) different, tasty dishes from the kitchens of Mr and Mrs Chop...

An entertaining magician was also on hand - amazing us with his sleight of hand...

Your correspondent emerged into the cold night shortly before midnight, rather the worse for wear, with the Exec Producer and our chums not faring much better...

An airport bus along the road was followed by the long climb back up to Crispycat Towers and a welcoming bed...

A great way to start the week!

Highlight of the Week : Wine tasting at Chop Chop...

Fallen leaves return...

Playlist
Martin Tielli – Operation Infinite Joy
Martin Tielli – We Didn’t Even Suspect He Was the Poppy Salesman
Rheostatics – Maple Serum (DVD)
Brian Eno – Thursday Afternoon
Rush – Power Windows
Alan Brodie – Anthology
Cloudland Blue Quartet - Soundingfall
Various – Zunior Samplers
Various – Oh! Canada Vols 1-5
Various Composers – Concerto Koln Box Set
Various – My Favourite Records of All Time
Various – The Alan Brodie Radio Show Vol 10

Up at 6am and downstairs with Meg the Black cat, intending to watch “The Man Who Fell to Earth” but my one and only Rheostatics DVD also caught my eye and I ended up watching that instead...

“Maple Serum” is a film of one of their 13 sold out shows in 2001 at the Horse Shoe Tavern in Toronto and also contains a couple of promo videos...

PIN; The Making of PIN ; Stolen Car...

Then, some mucking about on the PC before we headed out for breakfast to Patisserie Florentin...





...followed by a leisurely stroll around the Botanical gardens...





















Then, over to the Royal Mile...





A walk down to the horrendous waste of money that is the Scottish Parliament, not just the building itself but the cost of all the buffoons who “work” there...

A coffee at Starbucks...



...then to M&S for provisions for this evening...

Back home around 3:30 or so and a swift rehearsal followed by some tasty classical music from a box set bought a year ago yesterday and, shamefully, seldom taken off the shelf since...

In the evening, Meerkats followed by “Iron Man” on DVD then further additions to the Crispycat library whilst listening to the compilations I did for count Brodski’s birthday, already nearly two months ago...

Highlight of the Day : A stroll through the botanics