End of the Week Quiz

A clock , just in case you were wondering

1. Sorry, I’m a bit late. This is not unusal, I have quite poor time keeping, which has resulted in several embarrassing / funny situations. I once arrived for a funeral just after it had finished – I’d like to think the departed person would have understood. Once as a student I arrived for a tutorial to be greeted with a heavily ironic “Well this is excellent” from the tutor who then encouraged to sit in a comfy armchair and “start as you mean to go on”. The tutorial wrapped up 10 minutes later. I was bemused until a fellow student explained I’d arrived an hour and 10 minutes late, not just 10 minutes as I’d thought . Possibly even more embarassing though was when I arrived for a lecture thinking again I was slightly late but then didn’t recognise anyone in the lecture and the penny dropped , I was in fact a day early. So , how is your timekeeping , and has it ever resulted in funny or embarrassing moments?
2. I’ll put this one bluntly – Do you think you’re normal? My timekeeping issus would appear to be down to my dyspraxia. In recent years there has been much greater awareness of neurodiversity and also mental health conditions. A backlash is of course underway with certain leading Tories talking about overdiagnosis. My personal theory is that there is no one who is normal , and those who are convinced they are seem to be a seething mass of neuroses just under the surface. But no judgement here! If you feel you are normal then feel free to say so. If you aren’t , how do you differ from the norm?
3. One thing that is often deemed “normal” is patriotism. Here in England we have just had St Georges Day which is increasingly becoming a curious occasion. I don’t remember it ever being a big deal growing up , but then the far right started loudly complaining that we “weren’t allowed” to celebrate it and now that it is much more prominent they have used it as an opportunity to kick off in order to try to prove that they still “aren’t allowed” to celebrate. Personally I’ve never considered myself patriotic, although on the other hand I’m about as English as you get in terms of culture, sense of humour , temperement etc and don’t feel at home anywhere else. I don’t feel the need to wave a flag though, although I’m happy to let others do that if they want. So, do you think of yourself as patriotic (wherever you are from ), and if so what does that mean?
4. This week I went to a very uncomfortable work meeting , although I won’t elaborate for confidentiality. It reminded me though that I’ve been in many awkward or otherwise painful work meetings in my life. One sticks on my head which was at a hostel I used to work at. We worked shifts and I was due to leave at 4pm to start a long weekend off. It was the monthly team meeting and my colleague who was coming on for the overnight shift had arrived armed with a 20 point agenda. .Each point dragged on and on and descended into arguments. At one point I noticed two seperate debates had developed , neither of which were anything to do with work, one of which was a heated debate about Marcus Garvey. I nipped to the kitchen for half an hour for a bite to eat and no one had even noticed I’d gone. Eventually it got to 7.30pm and we were only on point 3 so I just got up to leave, to a frosty “Where are you going?” I pointed out I’d finished worked 2 and a half hours ago and walked out. So, have you had any particularly bad work meetings? Any experiences you want to share?
5. It was Record Store Day the other day. I’m guessing we are all familiar with the idea. Record Store Day – yay or nay?

Earworms 22 April 2024

Good evening, and welcome to your selection of songs that remind you of something, someone, or somewhere. A wide topic, perhaps, but one that demonstrates how evocative music can be.

If you have an Earworm you’d like to share, please send an .mp3, .m4a or a link to adempster73@gmail.com, together with a few words about why you’ve chosen it. Next week’s theme will be songs referencing Shakespearean characters, sonnets or plays, as suggested by LongTallSilly. To make it easier, here is a link to an A-Z list of Shakespearean characters; first names will do. Worms should reach me by close of play on Sunday 28 April.

Many thanks to all contributors – keep calm, and carry on!

Hot Butter – Popcorn – glassarfemptee: My first foray to Europe was with my wife to be, when we stayed in a mosquito ridden campsite in Amsterdam. We took the bus to get there as we were penurious students. This infectious track kept coming up on the bus radio: sorry to inflict it on you.

The In-Crowd – Mango Walk – UncleBen: The song that makes me think of my daughter. We have our own special dance for it. My son leaves the room if he hears it come on.

Illinois Speed Press – Hard Luck Story – glassarfemptee: I spent almost a year in the States in ’68, and had an amazing time travelling the length and breadth by Greyhound, in search of music. I saw a zillion bands, but one memory that stands out was a sunny afternoon in Orange County listening to the short-lived Illinois Speed Press.

John Farnham – You’re The Voice – severin: This song reminds me of sitting in a Taverna on the Greek island of Kefalonia in the evening sunshine eating dolmades and drinking Robola wine (probably) while a Greek language version of it played on the local radio station. I knew that I knew the song but I didn’t ask anyone what it was at the time. When I got home my repeated requests to identify the song that went “Whoa a oh a oooh” resulted in little more than blank looks and increasing irritation. I’m still not sure who recorded the Greek version.

Murray Head – Say It Ain’t So Joe – DebbyM: Immediately transports me back to France, 1983. I worked on a campsite in the Vendée, where Nick from Luton ran the bar, was general handyman and listened to this song on his portable cassette recorder All. The. Time.

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Falling Down Slow – Fintan28: The something – in this case snow. Big fluffy flakes that take their time meandering to the ground. Helps to have a fire and a window to look out of. Apologies for the pops.

Jeffrey Martin – There Is A Treasure – tincanman: This is from last year’s rather quite good Thank God We Left The Garden. John Prine died three years earlier. Or did he?

John Sebastian – She’s A Lady – Fintan28: The someone – John Sebastian had a talent for getting away with sappy sentiment. Not played often but the same green eyes revisit each occasion.

Lou Reed – Goodnight Ladies – severin: When you were younger, did you ever go out with someone who you still sometimes think about wistfully, decades later? Even though you have had many other relationships since and they are probably happily married and living many miles away? Or is that just me? Well anyway, she loved this song and would ask for it to be played at parties.

The Kinks – Waterloo Sunset – Suzi: So, it’s 1967, I’m in London, up there on a day trip from Portsmouth, I’ve been shopping at Biba, and I love this song. So naturally I go and stand somewhere where I can look across the river to see Waterloo Station.  Didn’t see Terry and Julie, to my knowledge, although who knows. 

Queen – Keep Yourself Alive – tincanman: We’re all more learned now, but we never outgrow what we heard when we first clicked with music. Early teens me heard this when records were still mostly mono. Crossing guitars and drums between sides was, thesaurus.dot.com tells me, precipitousness.

All Saints – Black Coffee – UncleBen: The song that makes me think of my son. When he was very little, he would go to sleep on my shoulder while I jogged up and down very gently to this song, which – despite its title – turned out to have highly soporific qualities.

Mr. Acker Bilt – Stranger On The Shore – Mr. Acker Bilt – Fintan28: The somewhere – Laughton’s Hot Springs. Sadly it’s been closed for years but there was a time when it was the finest spot to be. Olympic diving platform. Huge naturally heated pool. Sundaes made from Chism ice cream at poolside. And a pretty decent sound system. A gawky 13 year old could be lost in things his future might hold as he gazed on a couple in swimsuits dancing to this. Takes me back instantly.

Main playlist, blurbs above:

YouTube Playlist, blurbs below:

Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit – LongTallSilly: In the ’90s we used to play this just before arriving at whatever rock face we were climbing that day. It started us in the right frame of mind for some epic routes, especially in Snowdonia on the slate!

Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced – MaggieB: The first time I heard the album was on holiday in Angelsey, so in my mind Yns Mon is forever associated with Jimi’s music.

Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters Theme Song – Suzi: A bit random, perhaps, but hearing this always takes me back to Javea in Spain, and a fiesta. Loads of firecrackers going off, to earsplitting effect, this song being played, and everybody dancing and singing along. I watched the film again on TV recently, very silly, and don’t think it has stood the test of time, but the song’s still irresistible and fun.

King Crimson – Book of Saturday – AliM: Reminds me of my teenage self, lying in bed and listening to Radio Caroline late at night. They used to play this track followed by “Exiles”, the next one on the album (Larks Tongues in Aspic). I can’t find a video of the two together, but “Exiles” is coming up next.

King Crimson – Exiles – AliM: See above. Reader, I bought the album, and never looked back.

Eyeworms: Give us a word that starts with ‘ay’

I’ve got my ay on you folks

This Week I Have Mostly Been Listening To… Lunar Vacation

Canada has given us Alvvays; New Zealand, The Beths, and Australia, Middle Kids. And when it comes to female-led indie-power pop bands from the USA, we need look no further than Atlanta, Georgia-based, five piece, Lunar Vacation.

Formed at High School in 2016 by Grace ‘Gep’ Reparsky and Maggie Geeslin, Lunar Vacation have hardly been prolific in the studio, releasing just a handful of EPS, one album and a number of singles – so far. To be fair, they spend most of their time on the road, putting in the hard yards and honing their sound in a vibrant live environment. Most notably, Lunar Vacation have opened for The Beths on a number of occassions and it’s not difficult to understand why they get on so well – musically and attitude-wise, they’re very much out of the same stable.

I first became aware of them about five years ago thanks to a nudge from the remarkably effective Spotify algorithm which correctly worked out that if I liked Alvvays and The Beths I was probably going to like Lunar Vacation.

It’s melodic, guitar-driven power pop and it’s 100% the sort of music that I love.

I can’t really sum it up any better than this line from a review of their 2022 debut LP, Inside Every Fig Is A Dead Wasp: ‘sweet, bubbly indie-pop goodness.’ Now that’s what I like!

Enjoy…

Grateful Undead?

Not on the new album unfortunately. Interested in what fans of the original ensemble make of it?

End of the Week Quiz

1. This is Edward. He’s 87 years old and, as you can see, somewhat the worse for wear. He was my mum’s teddy bear and then my teddy bear. Some 27 years ago, I tried to get my daughter to carry on the family tradition, but by then she had attached herself to a duck called Dorothy. Did you have a favourite soft toy (or other toy) as a child?

2. A few weeks ago, I had a Viennese Whirl for the first time in about 40 years, and – like the narrator of Proust’s ‘In Search of Lost Time’ involuntarily recalling an episode from his youth after tasting a madeleine dipped in tea – I was magically transported back to my 1970s childhood. What food or drink evokes the most vivid memories of your childhood?

3. I got rather improbably lost in Richmond Park last weekend. I thought I knew the area fairly well, but – trying to meet up with friends at a particular meeting spot and with no network coverage on my phone – I spent a wildly frustrating half hour or so in what felt increasingly like a Bermuda triangle. When have you got hopelessly or unexpectedly lost? How was your experience on a scale from joyfully liberating to maddeningly disastrous?

4. I am cursed by a phobia of seaweed. For many decades, my family laughed this off, but a few years ago my daughter (bless her) decided to take it seriously and devised a therapeutic programme to help me at least partially overcome the curse. Do you have any phobias or irrational fears?

5. You get to form your very own supergroup from musicians dead or alive. Let’s say one singer and a maximum of four other musicians. No two people from the same group in real life. The more unlikely (but effective) the combination, the better. For bonus points, what would you call your supergroup?

Earworms 15 April 2024

In memory of Derek Underwood – Many a reference to balls. I think this is my favourite Roy Harper song – LongTallSilly

Good evening, and welcome to your selection of songs about round things. Yes, I’ve finally got a round tuit (collective sigh…)

If you have an Earworm you’d like to share, please send an .mp3, .m4a or a link to adempster73@gmail.com, together with a few words about why you’ve chosen it. Next week’s theme will be songs that remind you of something, somewhere or someone. Anecdotes welcome. I think DebbyM suggested this topic but I may have embroidered it, anyway, suggestions for topics are always welcome. Worms should reach me by close of play on Sunday 21 April.

Many thanks to all contributors – keep calm and carry on!

Ellison – Cars, Thieves and Carousels – DebbyM: A recently-formed duo from Norway who charmed me at the Reeperbahn Festival last September.

Joni Mitchell – The Circle Game – Suzi: One of her most beautiful songs. ‘The seasons they go round and round…we’re captive on the carousel of time.’

Pentangle – Will The Circle Be Unbroken – DebbyM and Severin: Debby: Yes, there are a zillion versions of this song, but this is my favourite. It was the first track (if my memory serves me well) on a Transatlantic sampler which was one of the first ever LPs I owned as a kid and kickstarted my lifelong love affair with a certain type of music. Severin: Folk/Jazz with a hint of blues. For years I hummed the theme song of Take Three Girls with no idea who it was by. A 1970s BBC “In Concert” programme, where they also played this song, set me right.

Eilen Jewell – Silver Wheels and Wings – glassarfemptee: From Eilen Jewell’s latest album ‘Get behind the wheel’. She’s now touring, and coming to Europe this summer, but not to the bit that flounced off leaving a trail of hurdles for musicians on tour.

The String-A-Longs – Wheels – Fintan28: Yeah this basically light fluff and only the title ties it to the topic. Still it’s earworminess can’t be denied. Somehow it popped into my head and I was a goofy 11 year old again. In true earworm tradition I now pass it on.

Yes – Roundabout – tincanman: Used to play air keyboards to this in high school. Still might be known to.

Les Fleur de Lys – Circles – glassarfemptee: A sixties nugget from Southampton’s Les Fleur De Lys.

Everything But The Girl – Mirrorball – glassarfemptee: EBTG are back in the saddle with the album ‘Fuse’. Here’s an oldie.

Lady Nade – Car Wheels On A Gravel Road – Severin: Nade covers Lucinda Williams. I like both versions.

Gillian Welch & Dave Rawlings – Red Clay Halo – tincanman: Halos are round. We know that because Beyonce told us they are they are they are.

Bellowhead – Fakenham Fair – Suzi: ‘So swing around, the merry-go-round/ Give the wheel of fortune a whirl.’ Bellowhead’s music conjures up the fairground’s carousel so vividly that you almost feel that you’re there.

Little Feat – Spanish Moon – Fintan28: OK, So it’s probably a dive bar but somehow it got it’s name from that skyward round orb right. Just love this groove so in it goes.

Israel Vibration – Ball of Fire – Uncleben: The Israel Vibration song was my first thought.

Janis Joplin – Ball And Chain (live) – Severin: One of her best songs, and there are quite a few. They put this extended live version on her Greatest Hits album.

Deep Purple – Fireball – Uncleben: I also remembered one of my favourite Deep Purple songs from my teenage years – which begins with the sound of an air conditioner unit that the band originally claimed was a type of synthesizer.

M.Byrd – Morning Sun – DebbyM: Full transparency: TheBoyWonder plays with this band.

Joe Pug – The Sharpest Crown – tincanman: We’ll assume it was a round crown. Joe was a ‘next Dylan’ who seems not to have wanted that crown.

Jerry Jeff Walker – Wheel – Fintan28: Life is a wheel, isn’t it. Goes round and round only to come back to where it started. I can only describe Jerry Jeff as being joyously melancholy on this one. It’s a favourite & if I’ve posted it before … well it’s worth another round.

Main playlist, blurbs above:

YouTube Playlist, blurbs below:

Pink Floyd – Echoes – LongTallSilly: “No one flies around the sun” is my excuse for this great Floyd song, plus a curiosity as to whether you could fit a 23 minute song in? (Length is not important – Ed.)

Pink Floyd – Have a Cigar – MaggieB: Records are round , this one is about making records, and the music industry at the time, which so disgusted Floyd (Roger Waters in particular).

Mitski – Circle – AliM: I have been listening to Toffeeboy’s playlist this week and I rather like this song from Mitski.

Ruth Etting – Button Up Your Overcoat – AliM: Buttons are usually round. Though not exclusively. Anyway, it’s good advice. Wear your flannel underwear when you climb a tree.

Beethoven – Rage Over A Lost Penny – MaggieB: I’ve just remembered this. 😄

Frank Zappa – The Adventures of Greggery Peccary – LongTallSilly: Ah Greggery, what a wonderful wild swine, though I think I want to be a henchman! “they decide to park their / Steaming vehicles in a circular / Pseudo-wagon train formation… And have a love-in! / Under the influence of a fantastic / Amount of trendy chemical amusement / Aid, they proceed to perform lewd / Acts, rip each other off for small / Personal possessions, and dance / With depraved abandon in the vicinity / Of a six-foot pile of /transistor radios / Each one tuned to a different station…” Why invent the calendar? Zappa at his most philosoftical?

Eyeworms: Give us a word that starts with ‘d’

Who’s your daddy this week?

This Week I Have Mostly Been Listening To… Mitski

Mitski, then…

The subject of the fourteenth episode of this blog has proved, if the reaction to my daily posts on my Facebook account is anything to go by, to be by far the least engaging so far. The silence has been deafening.

Which begs the question, ‘why?’

She’s definitely hard to define. Her music doesn’t fit into any neat pigeon holes and it’s not instantly accessible. She’s a singer/songwriter with broadly ‘indie’ sensibilities but her music swings wildly from mainstream pop to angst-ridden shoutyness. There are elements of Florence & The Machine and Kate Bush, and perhaps a touch of Lady Gaga, with occasional nods in the direction of Taylor Swift. She unapologetically makes music the way that she wants it to be made and, much like Swift, appears to have complete creative control over her output and the way that it’s presented to the world.

This might sound contradictory but she’s incredibly popular for someone that most people have never heard of! 35 million monthly listeners on Spotify (her most popular song, My Love Mine All Mine, has nearly 850 million Spotify plays!) places her, if not quite in the Premier League, certainly competing for promotion from the Championship – so I’m somewhat suprised by the underwhelming response to what I’ve been posting.

Personally, I feel that what the world needs is more artists like Mitski. I love what she does and I’m eagerly looking forward to whatever she comes up with next.

Meanwhile, enjoy…

End Of The Week Quiz

1. After having my kitchen renewed last summer I looked for something to put on the new walls…. and ended up buying several original pieces of art for different walls in the house, including one in my living room that had been bare for years. What is on your living room wall? Flying ducks, photos, posters, a stag’s head, a priceless Picasso or nothing?

2. Last week’s Aliquestions identified that some superstitions are maybe just habits. So, are you a creature of habit? When not controlled by work or other outside influences, do you follow the same routines or is every day a magical road of discovery? OCD sufferers need not respond.

3. Everybody needs good neighbours, so the song goes. I have been fairly lucky with neighbours in the past: most have been friendly and, in some cases, outright helpful. I’m on at least nodding terms with everyone in my current street apart from the nasties immediately next door, who are permanently angry at the world and appear to believe I’m to blame. Have you ever lived next door to note-worthily bad – or good – people?

4. An old codger asks: Headphones used to be devices for listening to stuff without disturbing family/housemates yet now, it seems, they are fashion items that insulate people from everyone in the street. Do you carry your personal soundtrack with you everywhere or do you endure the sound of traffic, birds and other humans instead?

5. Laughter is, of course, the best medicine. What or who is most likely to crack you up? A particular comedian, a classic sitcom, a film, a cartoon, a cat video, the bloke down the pub or even naked schadenfreude?

This is currently the penultimate EOTWQ, with uncleben scheduled for next week. Ali’s original idea to resurrect it has definitely been a success and, if anyone still wants a go, either speak up and I’ll schedule it or just do it when you have the urge! It can be a sporadic feature rather than an unbroken chain of posts.

Earworms 8 April 2024

Good evening, and welcome to your selection of songs about anything to do with Blue. And a warm welcome back to Magicman, who has popped in this week.

If you have an Earworm you’d like to share, please send an .mp3, .m4a or a link to adempster73@gmail.com, together with a few words about why you’ve chosen it. Next week’s theme will be round things. Coins, buttons, records, plates, planets, wheels, marbles, tennis balls, like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel… or something. Anything round will do. Worms should reach me by close of play on Sunday 14 April.

Many thanks to all contributors – keep calm and carry on!

Half Man Half Biscuit – Blue Badge Abuser – severin: People in the UK with certain disabilities affecting mobility can apply for a Blue Badge which entitles you to various rights, including using reserved parking spaces. The narrator here is a rotten cheat.

Blue Lu Barker – Trombone Man Blues – tincanman: Ali asked for safe-for-work ‘blue’ songs, and that’s exactly how Louisa Barker got her nickname. I’ll never listen to trombone music with a straight face again.

Dorothy Moore – Misty Blue – severin: Just a beautiful classic song with an astonishing singer.

Alela Diane – Age Old Blue – Suzi: ‘The sea beneath the cliff/ Is the blue in my mother’s eyes/ That came from the blue in her mother’s eyes/ Thrown on down the line.’ Her family had ‘worked the field/ On borrowed land above the ocean.’ That’s where she feels that she belongs, rather than on those ‘higher hills…where water is captive to the well.’

I Am Kloot – Deep Blue Sea – DebbyM: An early Festive ‘Spill choice, this is one of my all-time goosebumps songs. Also, Little’Un can sing along to it!

Grateful Dead – Stella Blue – Chris7572: In this 1973 concert the band takes a minute to adjust after Truckin’ but then they contrive to deliver a version of gossamer delicacy that floats in air. There’s nothing you can hold for very long…

Wynton Marsalis Septet – Joe Cool’s Blues – Fintan28: One of the great ways to shirk off the blues is to dance. And the Snoopy Dance can’t miss as Wynton & friends share.

Artie Shaw – Pastel Blue – Suzi: Discovered Artie via RR. I have a few recordings of his with ‘blue’ in the title – Blue Skies, Rhapsody in Blue, My Blue Heaven. Maybe this one is a little less familiar? Not sure, but it really shows off his amazing skill on the clarinet.

Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band – Blue Runner – tincanman: What is a runner and does it come in any other colours? Who cares – it’s zydeco time.

Carl Perkins – Boppin’ The Blues – Fintan28: If you’re feeling the need for miracles just Bop them blues. Even Grandpa’s got the feeling. “Oh, the old boy done got rhythm and blues / And he threw them crutches down / Grandma he ain’t triflin’ / Well, the old boy’s rhythm bound”.

Randy Newman – Miami – Magicman: Here’s Randy Newman winging Miami. He has a way with words, and is slyly funny or just outright funny very often, “best dope in the world – and it’s free !”

Bright Eyes – True Blue – shoegazer: Quite a few blue items in this one.

The Murder Capital – Green and Blue – glassarfemptee: Irish band The Murder Capital give you two colours for the price of one. From their dark 2019 album ‘When I have fears’.

Patricia Kaas – Mademoiselle Chante Le Blues – DebbyM: A huge hit from the late ’80s.

Madeleine Peyroux – Blue Alert – severin: Like a red alert. Except that it’s the warning signs you get about an emotionally shattering love affair.

Little Walter – Blues With A Feeling – Fintan28: Nothing as glorious as a fine blues harp and Little Walter has it going on.

Alli Neumann – Blue – DebbyM: Some contemporary German pop music for you.

Bohren and Der Club of Gore – Patchouli Blue – glassarfemptee: I have tickets to a Bohren gig later in the year. Here’s the title track from their last album. 

Jeffrey Martin – Sad Blue Eyes – tincanman: Few write about sorrow with such elegance.

Lana Del Rey – Blue Jeans – glassarfemptee: There are lots of ‘blue jeans’ songs, but this one from Lana Del Rey is too good to miss. 

Main Playlist, blurbs above:

YouTube Playlist, blurbs below:

George Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue – MaggieB: Simply because I like it 🙂

Edith Piaf and Charles Aznavour – Plus Bleu Que Le Bleu De Tes Yeux – Suzi: Aznavour, who wrote the song, duets with Piaf’s ghost (apparently!) Both no longer with us now. Très charmante!

The Rolling Stones – I Got The Blues – MaggieB: I’ve not got the blues right now but will have if this wind keeps on blowing the way it has for the last three days.

Chickn – Shifting Time Blues / Akhedia – AliM: From their brilliant 2016 album, “Chickn”. “I met her underwater / In the deepest secret sea / She took me for a ride / She had something to hide / It’s the shifting time blues…” OK, not the most exciting lyrics, but the band are from Greece, writing in English. I certainly couldn’t write a song in Greek. Probably not in English, either.

Eyeworms: Give us a word that starts with ‘ow’

Took a few friendly punches for last week’s French eyeworms. Ow.

This Week I Have Mostly Been Listening To… The High Llamas

The High Llamas then…

When, Microdisney, the 1980s second-most undeservedly unsuccessful band folded in 1988 (I’m rating The Go-Betweens as #1 on that particular list) a beautiful song-writing partnership came to an end. They may not quite be up there with Rogers & Hammerstein, Lennon & McCarthy, Goffin & King et al. but the unlikely combination of Sean O’Hagan’s Beach Boys-esque pop sensibilities with Cathal Coughlan’s angry, gritty, nihilism produced something quite magical.

Over the course of four albums released between 1984 and 1988 and after moving to London in 1983, the duo from Cork blossomed into one of the most exciting and literate bands on the 80s Indie scene. Championed by John Peel (who described one of their early releases, Helicopter of the Holy Ghost as the greatest B-side he had ever heard) Microdisney were always full of promise.

In addition to the four albums, Microdisney recorded 6 Peel Sessions, released a number of EPs and singles and put out a compliation of early singles and rarities, originally released under the title, We Hate You South African Bastards, but later released under the slightly less attention-grabbing title, Love Your Enemies.

During their five years in London the duo morphed into a ‘proper’ band with the addition of Jon Fell (bass) and Tom Fenner (drums). They also moved from indie obscurity to a deal with Rough Trade Records, and then to the verge of mainstream pop success via a deal with Virgin Records. The breakthrough never came but the almost inevitable breakup did…

Sean and Cathal went their own ways; Cathal Coughlan formed the in-your-face Fatima Mansions while Sean O’Hagan was able to follow his Brian Wilson inspired pop dreams through the medium of The High Llamas.

And 32 years after the release of the first High Llamas album, Sean O’Hagan has just released the 11th. It’s generating a lot of indie media interest and BBC Radio 6 airplay but I can’t see it troubling the charts. O’Hagan ploughs his own furrow and makes music exactly how he wants to. He’s not afraid to experiment (he was, for a short while in the early 1990s, a member of avant garde popsters, Stereolab, and it’s not hard to see how he fitted in there) and the new album, Hey Panda, sees him using an auto-tune effect on some of his vocals – not something you’d expect to hear from a white, male, middle class, 65-year old singer with a solid indie pedigree!

I’ve chosen seven High Llamas tracks covering the whole of the band’s 32-years’ output – I say ‘band’ but it’s effectively Sean O’Hagan’s solo project and it always has been. Two of the tracks feature notable vocal contributions from Laetitia Sadier and the late Mary Hansen of Stereolab fame (Cookie Bay) and from Rae Morris (Sisters Friends).

Enjoy…

End of the Week Quiz 2 April 2024

Greetings all. I’m a bit stumped for original questions this week. But that never stopped me.

1. What and why would you like to be named, if you weren’t named whatever you’re named now? Do you see yourself as a Florence? A Lawrence? A Mike? A Moira? Or are you happy as you are?
2. Superstitions. Do you have any? Or are they just a load of baloney?
3. Potatoes, or pasta?
4. Aged P, or Aged Parent, was a brilliantly observed and comic character in Charles Dickens’ ‘Great Expectations’. Do you have any favourite memorable characters from books, films, or comics?
5. What is your idea of a perfect day?

Have fun, I will probably think of some much better questions tomorrow.

Earworms 1 April 2024

And how do I catch the waking edge? The edge of a dream about someone…

Good evening, and welcome to your selection of songs about sleep and dreaming.

If you have an Earworm you’d like to share, please send an .mp3, .m4a or a link to adempster73@gmail.com, together with a few words about why you’ve chosen it. Next week’s theme will be blue(s)– the colour, the emotion, the butterfly, blue remembered hills, music, rowing clubs or anything slightly dodgy or erotic which is publishable. Worms should reach me by close of play of Sunday 7 April.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the Easter break, if you had one. Keep calm and carry on!

Billie Eilish – Bury A Friend – tincanman: Where do we go when we sleep, Billie asks, and Issa López had the same question listening to the song over and over while she wrote the eerie True Detective Season 4. I’ll say no more.

Clock DVA – 4 Hours – shoegazer: Adi having a bit of a nightmare.

Tangerine Dream – The Big Sleep In Search of Hades – severin: Band and song title on topic. An instrumental of course but it does conjure up a dream like landscape.

Hannes Wader – Dat Du Min Leevsten Büst – DebbyM: The granddaddy of German folk singing in Plattdütsch (Come over and knock on my door when my father and my mother are asleep).

Olivia Chaney – Bogeyman – severin: “Why is the bad dream back under my bed? I’m afraid of the dark in childhood sweat”. I know the feeling. Two songs, two weeks in a row from the same new album. You want to buy it now, don’t you?

The Decemberists – Sleepless – glassarfemptee: Toffeeboy has been reminding us recently of the genius of The Decemberists as we await their new album. Here’s a cracker from the ‘Dark is the Night’ charity album.

The Cranberries – Dreams – Fintan28: If I could somehow arrange to dance to this as I pass on that would be a dream. I just revel in this. Absolutely captures the illusory, otherworldly state love can conjure. Love it.

Allison Russell – Snake Life – tincanman: From last year’s The Returner, an album about finding ways to become whole after trauma (she was sexually assaulted by her stepdad). She used to dream to escape, she writes; now she wields words to weave a world where every child is safe and loved.

k d lang – A Sleep With No Dreaming – glassarfemptee: Alt-country singer k d lang is now “semi retired’. This is from 2011’s ‘Sing it Loud’.

Kathy Heideman – Sleep A Million Years – glassarfemptee: Kathy Heideman only released one album, in 1976 (it’s been re-released since). Here’s her carpe diem song.

Jaques Brel – La Ville S’Endormait – Suzi: Gorgeously atmospheric accompaniment to Brel’s song. ‘The city fell asleep, I forget the name.’ 

Mary Coughlan – Sleep On It – severin: From her House of Ill Repute album. Where the songs about beds aren’t generally about sleeping.

The Beatles – I’m Only Sleeping – Suzi: Waking up but really just wanting to go back to sleep.

Peter Blegvad – Bee Dream – Uncleben: No idea what this is about, but I rather identify with the sentiment in the opening lines: “Each of us has in our soul a portion of eagle, a portion of mole – one soars in the sunlight, one snores in a hole”.

Roy Orbison – Dream Baby ( How Long Must I Dream) Live – Fintan28: The Black & White Roy Orbison Special was a dream collection of Music Industry stars gathered to revel, sing, play with and in general have a damn fine time with Roy Orbison & that marvellous voice. No one had more fun than Bruce Springsteen. When Roy & the assemblage whisper the refrain almost to a stop his joyous shout brings everyone winging back to the business at hand. Dreams!

The Everly Brothers – All I Have To Do Is Dream – Fintan28: 66 years on and the moment I hear that first shimmering, reverb laden chord The Brothers stop me in my tracks and I pause to breathe this in. To me it’s just a perfect pop song.

The Decemberists – Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect – Uncleben: My favourite Decemberists song, and apparently one of Colin Meloy’s too.

Blondie – Dreaming – Suzi: Dreaming is free….another lovely one from Blondie.

Main playlist, blurbs above:

YouTube Playlist, blurbs below:

Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac – The Green Manalishi – LongTallSilly: A proper dream from the proper Fleetwood Mac, complete with Peter Green!

Fleetwood Mac – Dreams – LongTallSilly: Still confused as to why they think “thunder only happens when it’s raining” but a decent song from the fluffier version of Fleetwood Mac.

Van Halen – Dreams – MaggieB: This one was suggested by my daughter. Good choice kid.

The Mamas and The Papas – Dream a Little Dream of Me – AliM: There are many wonderful versions of this song, and I picked this one.

Kate Bush – And Dream of Sheep – AliM: I’m not a huge fan of Kate Bush, but I do like sheep, and this is so evocative of craving the safety and oblivion of sleep with the warmth and intoxicating scent of peaceful animals. Or perhaps it’s just me.

This Week I Have Mostly Been Listening To… The Decemberists

I first became aware of The Decemberists thanks to the Readers Recommend blog and I quickly fell in love with them. I need to find out who I have to thank for introducing me to them…

I have to admit that I find Colin Meloy’s voice ever so slightly irritating at times – a bit too forced, a bit too ‘olde worlde folksie’ but that small caveat aside, I would definitely rate them as one of my favourite bands. It’s partly the occassional forays into early-70s Prog Rock (think Jethro Tull, think Genesis) and it’s partly the band’s penchant for a good tune (always played with gusto!), but mostly it’s the lyrics. Colin Meloy is to my mind the greatest songwriting storyteller out there.

Whether he’s telling the tale of the unfortunate loss of his friend’s bicycle (Apology Song) or relating the epic story behind The Mariner’s Revenge Song, he’s a master of the genre. The clever wordplay in a song like Yankee Bayonet, the sinister anti-hero in the song cycle that makes up the Hazards Of Love, the simple childhood tale of sporting inadequacy in The Sporting Life – Meloy makes it all seem effortless.

There’s a new album out later this year and I’m very excited to be seeing them live for the first time in August.

Picking out seven songs from a back catalogue stretching back 22 years was never going to be easy but I hope I’ve done it justice.

Enjoy…

Vers oculaires : donnez-nous un mot qui commence par « ddoo-bluh vay »

Heureux poisson d’avril

End of the Week Quiz – by Suzi

I couldn’t think what picture to use, so this is my grandson’s artwork from quite a few years back!  Here are my questions:

1. If you had to pick a favourite musical instrument to listen to, what would it be, and who would be playing it?
2. Who is the instrumental virtuoso you like and admire the most – the same person as in question 1, or someone else?
3. Have you ever had a dream, or experienced a fleeting mental vision, which later seemed to have been prophetic?
4. If forced to choose, would you rather live in a mansion or on a narrowboat (no other choices available)?
5. With which fictional character(s), if any, have you at any time identified, or seen as a rôle model?

Earworms 25 March 2024

Clap your hands now…

Good evening, and welcome to your selection of songs about hands and feet.

If you have an Earworm you’d like to share, please send an .mp3, .m4a or a link to adempster73@gmail.com, together with a few words about why you’ve chosen it. Next week’s theme will be sleep and dreaming / dreams. As inspired by Wyngate’s EOTWQ last week.

Worms should reach me by close of play on Sunday 31 March (if you’re not too busy eating Easter eggs).

Many thanks to all contributors – keep calm, and carry on!

James Holden – Trust Your Feet – Uncleben: From probably my favourite album of 2023, Imagine There Is a High Dimensional Space of All Possibilities, which is good advice when listening to his music.

Dean McPhee – Fatima’s Hand – glassarfemptee: Yorkshire guitarist Dean McPhee produces immaculate instrumentals. This is from the album of the same name.

Susi Hyldgaard – Regard Je Tends Le Main Vers Toi – DebbyM: My ‘A’-lister!

The Shins – Pink Bullets – Fintan28: Love can take a shell “just bony hands. As cold as a winter pole” and restore it to life. As well, the embers in it’s memory sustain even when it’s gone.

Bob Dylan and The Band – Forever Young – severin: May your hands always be busy, may your feet always be swift.

The Duck & The Bear – Hand Jive – tincanman: A Muscle Shoals oddity with an uncredited Duane Allman on slide guitar. Found this on the Anthology albums (Vol 1 & 2), a worthy collection.

Shriekback – Hand On My Heart – shoegazer: Will also work for this week’s Songbar.

Harlem River Drive – Idle Hands – Uncleben: About the finest brass and percussion arrangement committed to record that I know, courtesy of Eddie Palmieri.

Ella Fitzgerald – Clap Yo’ Hands (with Nelson Riddle) – severin: From her George and Ira Gershwin songbook collection.

The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band – Clap Your Hands – DebbyM: A Festive ‘Spill choice from many moons ago.

Chicken Shack – Webbed Feet – glassarfemptee: You don’t hear much Chicken Shack these days, so here’s a reminder of excellent sixties British blues.

Califone – Slow Right Hand – Fintan28: Haven’t a clue what they’re on about but it’s a nice sound they make.

Bill Withers – Grandma’s Hands – glassarfemptee and MaggieB: ghe: Bill Withers had a hit with this in 1971. It probably resonates with many of us. MaggieB: Love, love love this song🙂. You can watch the video here. (BBC In Concert, May 1974).

Aaron Neville – Warm Your Heart – Fintan28: “Come close to me, hold my hand / And warm your heart” Nice.

Alanis Morrissette – Hand in my Pocket – Suzi: Has to be this wonderful song!

Berge – Kinder (Sind so kleine Hände) – DebbyM: A very pleasant cover version of one of the biggest hits to ever have been written in the DDR.

Olivia Chaney – Mirror Mirror – severin: Walk beside me hand in hand, don’t be afraid to tread this ground. This is from her new album, Circus of Desire which I commend to the house.

Main playlist, blurbs above:

YouTube playlist, blurbs below:

Etta Scollo – Ora – DebbyM: I’m hoping to see her at the end of April!

Kirsty MacColl – In These Shoes? – MaggieB: Doesn’t specifically mention feet, but where else do you wear shoes?

Fats Waller – Your Feet’s Too Big – Suzi: Always makes me smile.

Reef – Place Your Hands – AliM: This is an old video, but we saw them play it last year and it’s still a great song.

Eyeworms: Give us a word that starts with ‘oy’

The world is your crustacean

This Week I Have Mostly Been Listening To… Crumb

What do we know about Crumb, then?

They’re a Boston-based four-piece who met at University and started playing music together in 2016. They’ve hardly been prolific over the course of the past eight years, releasing two EPs, two albums and a handful of singles.

But any lack of quantity is more than made up for by the quality of their output. Essentially, Crumb offer a millenial take on 1970s jazz-infused prog rock, with the sounds of the Fender Rhodes and the Phil Miller-style fuzz guitar front and foremost. The most noticeable difference between Crumb and late-60s/early-70s bands Canterbury Scene bands such as Caravan, Soft Machine and Hatfield and the North is that the saxophone solos tend to be about 30 seconds long instead of 7 minutes and the average song length comes down from about 18 minutes to somewhere around three.

My favourite description of Crumb’s music (although I haven’t been able to find the source) is ‘psychedelic jazzy lo-fi dream pop’. And I’m not going to disagree with that…

Enjoy…

End of the Week Quiz – slightly late

Sorry, busy , fell asleep , etc etc

1. Firstly , harking back a couple of weeks on EOTWQs , Mnemosene told me that the thing in the apple cider vinegar that I’d thrown away was a vinegar mother. A few days later I went to have a scan on my kidney stone and in the waiting room got chatting to another patient who was a health nutritionist who told me what was really good for dealing with kidney stones was apple cider vinegar with the mother – d’oh! So my question is have you ever thrown anything away and found it afterwards that that you’d made a mistake?

2. The other morning Wyngate Junior woke me up at 6am so that I could get him to the school bus. “Are we getting the usual bus?” I asked. Of course we were, there is only one school bus, but in my addled state I was thinking he had to go in fancy dress and therefore might have to get a special fancy dress bus. None of this was true. Many years ago, as I was waking up one day I was convinced my flatmates were vacating the flat ahead of a napalm strike that they’d arranged to get rid of me. That wasn’t true either, although I don’t think they particularly liked me. So my question is have you ever had a non-sensical conversation with someone while half awake, or do you remember any confused perceptions you’ve ever had in such a state?

3. Staying with the mysterious world of sleep, I have a very bad an inconvenient habit of falling asleep in the bath, I do it on a very regular basis sometimes for hours, I’ve even gone for a bath at night and not got out until 6am, on a workday as well. Worst of all though I once nodded off in a team meeting at work, in a new job as well. Have you ever fallen asleep in any odd or inconvenient places?

4. On a different tack , next week Jaz Coleman visits Leicester as part of his spoken word tour. I haven’t got a ticket and finally decided I won’t bother after reading that the opening night last night was full of conspiracy theorising. No surprise really. So related to that my question is are there any musical artists whose work you really like, but that you would NOT want to meet?

5. Finally, I may have mentioned that I’ve recently been invited to sing for my mate’s band. My response was to send a laughing emoji, seeing as I have more or less no singing ability. But I’ve been thinking…. They are playing UK82 style punk, right up my street, and I’m now very consciously noticing that hardly any “singers” in those bands can actually sing. They are writing their own stuff but don’t have any lyrics yet either, so I guess if I took up the offer that would be down to me as well. So my multiple question is : have you ever sung in a band or at least in front of an audience ? If not, would you do if offered the chance? And what would you write about if you were writing the lyrics?

Earworms 18 March 2024

It’s all too much…

Good evening, and welcome to your selection of songs about futility. In case you were beginning to get interested, LongTallSilly found this quote: “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture”, which is loosely attributed to Martin Mull. Whoever he is. Not sure if I can be bovvered to look him up. “Life! Don’t talk to me about life!”

If you have an Earworm you’d like to share, please send an .mp3, .m4a or a link to adempster73@gmail.com, together with a few words about why you’ve chosen it. Next week’s theme will be hands and feet. Worms should reach me by close of play on Sunday 24 March.

Many thanks to all contributors – keep calm, and carry on!

Trail of Dead – Wasted State of Mind – shoegazer: Trail Of Dead caught in a stasis.

Matchbox Twenty – Rest Stop – tincanman: I’ve stopped dating people for saying something stupid. Harsh, sure. But if you know it’s doomed, why wait?

The Cars – Drive – Fintan28: Standing on the outside and watching another’s descent is a true exercise in futility.  Especially if you were once inside that circle with a chance to make the difference.

Tracy Chapman – Broken – Suzi: You may wish for a picture-perfect life, but it’s not going to happen. One of her most beautiful songs.

Rachel Sermanni – What Can I Do? – DebbyM: I’ve loved this girl’s music ever since Blimpy introduced her to us!

Dusty Springfield – I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself – severin: Parties, movies. Nothing helps. Covered by Elvis Costello and by the White Stripes but this version is still the best.

Bill Morrissey – You’ll Never Get to Heaven – UncleBen: “You’ll never get to heaven if you don’t stop talking, and it’s just a waste of time when there’s no one there.” Quite a number of his songs would qualify for this topic. As would Steven Patrick Morrissey’s, come to think of it.

Mexrissey – Cada Dia es Domingo (Everyday Is Like Sunday) – severin: Morrissey’s lament for run down, neglected seaside towns where nothing seems to happen any more. I wouldn’t pay to see him sing it any more but this lot were stupendously good on both occasions I saw them. “On your face, face face…”

Jaques Brel – Madeleine – Suzi: The hopeful but deluded protagonist of this song waits for Madeleine every week with a bunch of lilacs. She’s not going to turn up, is she?

Carl Perkins – Honey Don’t – Fintan28: “Tell the truth now is love real?” That’s the crux of it and Carl can’t get a true answer.

Grateful Dead – Tennessee Jed – Chris7572: Everything – including his dog – is telling him to go back where he claims he wants to be but it’s all in vain. Garica’s solo in this one is beautifully off-kilter.

Leonard Cohen – Waiting For The Miracle – Suzi: A futile wait for something that’s just not going to happen.

Aretha Franklin – Ain’t No Way – Fintan28: I love me some Aretha.  She can’t do wrong in my book and this just might be her best.  Aretha’s voice, her brilliant piano work and sister Carolyn’s devastating lyrics all work to make this a gem. Cissy Houston’s background trill is the icing. “Ain’t no way for me to love you if you won’t let me”. Futility distilled.

Ezra Furman – Train Comes Through – tincanman: Ezra does a great job of conveying the futility of resisting … um, whatever it is he’s singing about.

The Sound – All Fall Down – severin: Maybe more about apathy than futility but let it pass. “There’s words on the page still, but where’s all the rage gone?”

Main playlist, blurbs above:

YouTube playlist, blurbs below:

Amended YouTube playlist including Matching Mole

Subhumans – Waste of Breath – wyngatecarpenter: Ironically the subject has prompted me to contribute for the first time in weeks: “It’s the story of your life / And the end of it’s your death / And every word that’s in between / Is just a waste of breath”. Needs more cowbell!

Status Quo – Gerdundula – AliM: Not yer typical Quo. Here they muse on the futility of looking for love.

Frank Zappa – The Blue Light – LongTallSilly: I think it’s futile trying to pin down Zappa lyrics, but it sounds to me about futility in modern life!

Pink Floyd – Time – LongTallSilly: This is one of my favourite Floyd tracks lyrically. So many references to the futility of our existence. “And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking / Racing around to come up behind you again / The sun is the same in a relative way but you’re older / Shorter of breath and one day closer to death”.

Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody – LongTallSilly: Nothing really matters…

Alan Hull – United States of Mind – AliM: “I’ll let it thunder, let it whistle / Let it blow like hell, I’m not really bothered / And my state of mind has finally been discovered.”

Peter Lind Hayes ‘ Life Gets Teejus, Don’t It’ – MaggieB: Even better with all the scratches and crackles. Suitable subject today; Leicester City just lost the FA cup quarter final😒 I am in the company of two disgruntled grandsons- teejus, ain’t it?…

Neil Young – The Needle and the Damage Done – AliM: But every junkie’s like a settin’ sun.

Disturbed – The Sound of Silence – LongTallSilly: Total futility for me!

Matching Mole – Signed Curtain – Chris7572: My contribution to 2011’s RR Futility playlist was Robert Wyatt’s desperately sad almost-song that holds its punch until the very last line.

Eyeworms: Give us a word that starts with ‘c’

Hope this captures your imagination

This Week I Have Mostly Been Listening To… Arlo Parks

In 2018, Hammersmith-born Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho adopted the stage name Arlo Parks. In the six years since Arlo has gone from strength-to-strength, releasing a string of singles and EPs and two award-winning albums. The highlight of her career so far came in 2021 when her debut album, Collapsed In Sunbeams won the Mercury Prize for Best Album.

The album was described by Guardian music critic Alexis Petridis as “a diaristic, near-perfect debut” and I don’t think he’s too wide of the mark. Arlo Parks is, to my mind, the best thing to come out of the UK music scene in the past five years.

A classically trained pianist, Arlo grew up with a love of music, listening to the likes of The Pixies, the Stone Roses and The Cure. But there’s probably no bigger influence on her musical life than Oxfordshire alt-rockers, Radiohead. This background of white, middle-aged indie-rock blends exceptionally – and undexpectedly – well with the jazz-funk tinged R&B beats that Arlo constructs her songs around and the end result is nothing short of musical genius.

My Soft Machine, Arlo’s second album, was released in 2023 – again, to much critical acclaim – and you get the very distinct impression that even greater things lie ahead.

Enjoy…