After a twelve-hour day at work, I’d like to leave the computer but the livingroom is dominated by Big Brother and his two devoted fans. Plague, an England supporter (he was born in Manchester and has taken it to heart) is off to the pub to celebrate their victory over Trinidad & Tobago. He has the right idea.
I’ll just blog about my RadioBlog jukebox then curl up with a book.
The Who: Won’t Get Fooled Again. Not much to say about this except it continues to sound fresh after all these years. I wait for Daltrey’s scream at the end. The most amazing thing about their performance at Live 8 last year is that he could still do that.
Sinead O’Connor: My Lagan Love. From her excellent album of traditional songs Sean-nos Nua. This song entranced me at a very early age. My parents had it on a Kenneth McKellar album, backed by simple harp. It always retained an edge with its minor-major shifts and enormous range. Van Morrison did a good version too.
Rosie Bell: Seven Magpies. Earlier in the year I played guitar and bass on three of Rosie’s tracks. This is one of them, uncharacteristically melancholy and quite lovely.
Robert Fripp (featuring Terre Roche) Exposure. From Fripp’s 1979 solo album of the same name, just re-released. This has a fair bit of screaming by Ms Roche (one of the Roche sisters), Eno spelling the title, plus bass in 5/4, drums in 4/4 and rhythm guitar in 3/4 and Frippertronics loop in no time, according to a recently unearthed interview. So now you know.
Robert Fripp (featuring Darryl Hall) North Star. From the same album but you’d never know it, this beautiful short ballad has some exquisite singing, especially at the bridge ‘She stands in the hallway..’
Paul Simon: I Don’t Believe. From the new album Surprise, one of the more varied and musically dense tracks, with some great lyrics.
Norman Lamont (featuring Tricia Thom): Your House. Who he? One of the tracks I’ve been working on for a while, but finally decided less is more. Tricia was the singer in Hungry Ghosts and is the singer in Gravy Spiders.
Lindsay Sugden: Bernard Drake. One of the delicate but strong tracks from her new CD Lightning Strikes.
Ivor Cutler: Life in a Scotch Sittingroom vol 2 episode 2. Why do so many Scots recognise this, when we were never brought up like this. What did Ivor tap into?
Indigo Rose: Melancholy Baby. A nice recording (by CBQ) for the last OOTB compilation. Fraser Drummond on flute and John Farrell on bass make the arrangement. I just put on a strings wash here and there. This was enjoyable to do.
David Byrne: Women vs Men. From his Brazilian album Rei Momo. I’ve never been a fan of Latin music, guess I’m too melancholic! But this album is so exuberant it carries me along. This is about as moody as it gets.
Bruce Springsteen: Oh Mary Don’t You Weep and The Ghost of Tom Joad: Springsteen the folkie, in rampant and reflective mood. The Seeger Sessions is great.
Hope you like some of this – leave comments!
i never knew bruce Sprinsteen could sound like this! Its good, same with Paul Simon, I never would have heard what he was doing these days so i’ve enjoyed discovering, thanks. Like your song too.