Hello, it's me

Haven't seen you in a while!

Actually, I genuinely have no idea if anyone is reading this. Do people read blogs anymore, other than people old enough to remember the internet boom times? Having said that, it seems that this post - an accessibility review of Center Parcs - still seems to be the most popular, having racked up 64,000 views. Weird. 

Anyway, just in case, here's an overdue update. I know how worried I can get if health content providers suddenly go quiet (I refuse to call them influencers). 

I became a little conflicted about the idea of being an MS blogger. To be honest, I was always conflicted.

In order to show up consistently you need content. And with MS, that's naturally going to be health-related. Not that I ever found myself wishing for an incident. But there’s only so many ways to say, "I'm still bimbling along, my legs are increasingly weak, and my underlying symptoms are incrementally worse than they were in the past."

So what’s been going on?

I'm still working as a podcast editor. I still love it. 

Going out anywhere depends on a lot of admin and negotiations. But we persevere when the event warrants the effort. 

We bought a house, and we're very happy there. 

The Child is now a teenager. She is obsessed with music and has adopted my two most expensive habits - buying records and guitars. 

Otherwise, I'm still bimbling along, my legs are increasingly weak, and my underlying symptoms are incrementally worse than they were in the past. Obviously.

Whaddya gonna do?

As I write this, I'm having an Ocrevus infusion - my first in eleven months. No drama, this is just how long it has taken for my bloods to normalise enough so that I will get the benefit of the medication. I’m very pleased that my neurologist is risk-averse. 

It has been three years since my last health incident. I know that another one is waiting in the wings. Let’s hope all my talk of "health content" doesn’t bring it out. 

My brother and I are doing a podcast. It's ostensibly about the music that we wrote and recorded in our dweebily misspent youth, but we also talk about our health issues, as well as other people's music. 

We also encourage listeners to get involved and share their own creativity. Give it a listen if you get the chance. There's a blog where we post related video content, and you can find it pretty much everywhere. It's inescapable.

I started doing a Substack to talk about my podcast-related thoughts but it's hard to find the time to write that, so I doubt I'll write in here again. 

But never say never, obviously. 

Go well, unknown and unknowable people of the internet.

i feel (too?) good

Later today I go for a short appointment with the MS Nurses. Not a full MOT as far as I know, just a catch-up. 

Obviously this is the first face-to-face meeting with them since I was ill earlier this year. So it'll be interesting at least.

Weirdly, last night I finished the book I started reading towards the end of my stay at my parents house. It's a book about Kraftwerk that Mrs D got me for Christmas. It isn't particularly long - I just couldn't focus on reading for the first month, and there are always newspapers and magazines vying for my limited attention.

Kraftwerk by Uwe Schütte

Since I last wrote anything here I've been getting on okay. But I have been guilty of maybe feeling too good. For example, I'll often walk the length of our house without thinking. And then I'll realise that I don't have my walker or my sticks, and I'm now stranded at the wrong end of the house and I have no idea how I'm going to get back.

I've been out with friends and family a few times, and I've been playing guitar and working. On that, the fact that all of my podcasting clients were totally understanding is undoubtedly one of the best things from this whole situation. I'm so glad I've found a new and better way for me to work. 

I'm increasingly aware of how much my illness affected everyone around me. I can understand that they tried to keep their own struggles from me while I was recovering. But just in conversations with Mrs D, our friends, my parents, they'll say something that makes me stop. 

For example, Mrs and Little Ms D frequently shared a bed because neither could sleep. The way our friends rallied around them both and made sure they weren't alone. It's important to remember that I'm not going through this by myself. And I know that. 

But perhaps more importantly, I'm not the only one who was diagnosed with MS all those years ago. My friends and family were too, because it affects them everyday. Not to make me feel any more guilt than I feel already! Believe me there's enough of that. 

But I'm maybe more aware than ever before about the love that surrounds me, sometimes from unexpected places. I'm very grateful and blessed. 

--

The emotional nature of this post might have something to do with the music I'm currently listening to. While I was recovering, the only music I had with me was what was on my phone. Which consisted of our Christmas playlist and the one belonging to my daughter (which has a lot of very cool music on it, I have to say.) 

At one point I downloaded the Bandcamp app so I was able to listen to the albums I'd bought through the site. And I bought a new album. 

"Carvings" by Juni Habel is a collection of spectral folk (new genre alert!) from a Norwegian songwriter (two ticks for Steve's tick list) that was recorded in various rooms in her grandmother's house (recording backstory - BIG tick!)

It's utterly lovely - listen to it below.

2022 earworm advent calendar - days 13-21

Well, this isn't going as well as one would hope.

To be honest, we've been struck down as a family by illness in the last week, and I've been working desperately to to clear my plate. 

And now that my plate is clear I have hit a wall. Cue one night of insomnia and now I feel like utter crap.

Here are the sporadic notes from the last week of earworms. 

 

Day 13-15?

David Guetta feat Sia - "Titanium" / Pavement - "Harness Your Hopes" / Roy Orbison - "Oh, Pretty Woman"

"Titanium" is a song that Little Ms. D is learning how to play in her guitar lessons. Pleasant enough but a classic "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"-type song.

I've written about my (initially reluctant) love for Pavement before. And, even though they might be in my top 3 bands of all time, I resisted the lure of this track for ages.

Why?

Because this has become the band's most played song on Spotify. Not because it's particularly good or innovative. But because it fits the algorithm for a particular type of American college guitar pop. So when people are playing something of that ouvre, this is the song that Spotify spits out.

One of my nephews first brought it to my attention as their favourite Pavement songs a couple of years ago. And now Little Ms. D as discovered it through them.

It's a good song. It doesn't rock my world but it's nice to sing along to in the car.

"Oh, Pretty Woman" popped into my head when I was making a sandwich. The filling was Vegan "Chicken".

Make our own version and be plagued by images of Vegan Chicken walking down the street.

 

Day ?

Vampire Weekend - "Holiday"

Another of my daughter's current favourites. From their seldom-played second album, "Contra".

It's a good song.

Are you picking up that our daughter controls the music in the car? One of her current obsessions is the 'Hatful Of Hollow' version of The Smiths' "Still Ill".

One of my all-time favourites, but I wish she wouldn't kill it with repeat plays. 

Yes, we indulge her. But she is awesome.

 

Day ?

Mary Margaret O'Hara - "When You Know Why You're Happy"

 

The only 'proper' album by Mary Margaret O'Hara - 1988s "Miss America" - is one of the best albums ever made. FACT.

Well, it's one of my favourites, anyway.

Mary Margaret is the sister of Catherine O'Hara - y'know, the awesome actress from Beetlejuice, numerous Christopher Guest films, and who played the incredible Moira from Schitt's Creek that you watched during the first lockdown.

This is a frequent earworm but it was perhaps inspired here by the fact that the opening bass line has a slight whiff of Seinfeld, which we've been rewatching recently.

"You move much better than you know, not just some jerky to-and-fro"

 

Day 21 - I know it was because it was this morning!

FULL DISCLOSURE: some of these might have been playing in my insomniac head.

Weezer - "Across The Sea" / The Smiths - "The Headmaster Ritual" / Johnny Cash - "A Thing Called Love"

I'm trying to keep Weezer's icky second album from my daughter. Let's dissect:

1. Oft-referenced obsession with Japanese and half-Japanese female fans (the one in this song is 18)
2. The album is called "Pinkerton" - Pinkerton is the name of the US naval officer who marries 15-year-old Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly. After their marriage he returns to America and Cio-Cio-San waits for his return, having had his child. When Pinkerton eventually comes back with his American wife, it is only because they have decided to raise the child in the US. Pinkerton refuses to see Cio-Cio-San, and she kills herself.

So it make me a little uncomfortable. From Wikipedia:

Pinkerton is named after the character BF Pinkerton from Madama Butterfly, who marries and then abandons a Japanese woman named Butterfly. Calling him an "asshole American sailor similar to a touring rock star", [Weezer songwriter Rivers] Cuomo felt the character was "the perfect symbol for the part of myself that I am trying to come to terms with on this album".

Am I being too hard on it?

"The Headmaster Ritual" is a Smiths song that I haven't managed to play for my daughter. It's obviously a belter.

Oh yes, FYI Little Miss D. is well aware of the fact that Morrissey is now a loser. She's cool with cognitive dissonance.

And absolutely no idea where that Johnny Cash song came from. The mind is a terrible thing to taste, no?

2022 earworm advent calendar - days 2-12

Yeah, I know, I know. This is harder than it looks y'know...

Day 2

ABBA - "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (a man after midnight)"

 

Not my favourite track by the evil Swedish pop geniuses. However, it is the basis of a horribly weak joke that I made up and sent in to the Adam Buxton podcast for inclusion on the annual Adam and Joe Christmas Podcast 2022. Fingers crossed!

Day 3

Hideous mental mash-up of Weezer's "Beverly Hills" and "Teenage Dirtbag" by Wheatus

This is particularly heinous because they're effectively the same song.

Weezer's first "Blue" album was the soundtrack to my final year at University. Played it every morning without fail. Little Ms. D has recently got into it, but I advised her not to go any further into their back catalogue.

A friend made her a playlist of what he considers to be their better post-blue moments. When Little Ms. D heard this she christened it "Disney Rock." 

The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, does it?

"Teenage Dirtbag" is just pure dreck.

Day 4

Radio silence

 

Day 5

A MEGAMIX of "Christmas Everyday" by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, "Jimmy James" by Beastie Boys, and "You're the One For Me" by Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers

The first actual Christmas song of the season. This one by Smokey Robinson and friends has been getting played a lot in our house.

The Beastie Boys are always in heavy-rotation - the album this is from, "Check Your Head", is an all-time Top-10er. RIP MCA.

Look I'm not going to band on [too much] about how much I love Jonathan Richman. Again.

The album this is from - "Jonathan Sings" is a really odd song, as it features really professional and well-recorded musicianship. I got this primarily for "Not Yet Three, to soundtrack a mushy video compilation of Little Ms. D at a time when she was not yet three. 

Day 6

The Aislers Set - "Cold Christmas"

A re-entry, from the last time I did this, when it appeared on Day 18.

I still know nothing about this band but it's a belter and livens up any Christmas playlist.

 

Day 7

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee into "O Paul" by Palace Brothers

 

Two Christmas Country poppets. Brenda Lee has obviously been played in our house but that first Palace Brothers is as unseasonal as they come. No idea where that came from but we LOVED that album when it first came out.

PS nobody mention the Mel (Smith) & Kim (Wilde) version of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", ok?

Day 8

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

No words required. Just immaculate.

Day 9

Richard Dawson - "The Hermit"

At 41 minutes long, ordinarily this song alone would count as the best album of the year.

Thankfully the rest of "The Ruby Cord" is also brilliant. 

My wife and daughter refuse to let me play it so here it is for you.

Day 10

Kendrick Lamar - "King Kunta"

From the best album of the 21st Century, "To Pimp A Butterfly". Not my favourite track so I've got no idea why the phrase that I heard upon waking up was "You goat-mouthed mammy f**ker".

Day 11

Deerhoof - "Witchery Glamour Spell"

I hadn't slept that well so - even though I love Deerhoof more than anything - this is further proof that my brain is an arsehole.

Day 12

Radio silence so here is what is officially my current favourite Christmas song.

Connie Francis – "I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter" 

2022 earworm advent calendar - day 1

For reasons best known to myself (forcing myself to write something, anything), I've decided to do another earworm advent calendar this year. 

The rules

Every morning I'll open up a door in my advent calendar (wake up) and look at the picture (make a note of the song that is playing in my head.) 

This one's fairly obvious.

There've been a number of rock deaths this year but not really of the sort of deaths that send me sobbing to my bed (David's Bowie and Berman, I'm looking at you.)

Case in point: when I heard about Wilko Johnson's death, it was definitely more of a "aww, that's a shame" kind of thing. Sad, obviously, but I'm sure even he'd agree that his last years were nothing short of miraculous. 

After being diagosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in 2012, he went on a farewell tour and released what was assumed to be his final album. Two years later, an operation to remove a 3kg tumour left him cancer-free, buying him an extra ten years. Crazy. 

I don't own any Dr. Feelgood albums but their amphetamine-fuelled take on early tock and R&B was clearly a huge part of what would become Punk. Part of the what was called the British 'pub rock' scene (patronising, much?), theirs was a kind-of back-to-basics reaction to the prog rock excesses of the mid-70s. 

There were many tributes to Wilko after his recent death, but this video shared by Steve Albini on Twitter was my favourite. 

This is down to the fact that Wilko is playing lead and rhythm guitar at the same time. And he's getting such a precise percussive sound playing just with his fingers. 

Also the fact that lead singer Lee Brilleaux is so obviously "chemically stimulated" that he appears to be - to paraphrase Steve Albini's tweet - chewing his teeth to dust.

Happy Christmas, one and all!

remembering live music no.5

Nirvana, live in 1991

Nirvana, Shonen Knife, Captain America / Eugenius - Rock City, Nottingham, 3 December 1991

It's been a while since I've posted one of these. And I don't think I'll be heading out for a gig anytime soon. This memory was prompted by an earworm, which in turn was prompted by Little Ms D's current musical obsession. She loves Nevermind (she's a little too young for In Utero - "Daddy, what does 'Rape Me' mean?") and plays it whenever she can. 

So yes. I am old enough to say that I saw Nirvana play live. It's the kind of thing that sometimes impresses people. But less so when I say, "They were alright."

An explanation.

I was listening to something on Radio 4 a few years ago and in a discussion about favourite music, a female panelist came up with the perfect description. I wish I could remember her name because I've been using this line ever since. 

She said that Nirvana didn't change her life. They were just the end of a musical line that she'd been following through the 1980s. And that sums up how I feel about them. When you've seen Pixies and Sonic Youth, and heard Hüsker Dü, Butthole Surfers, Big Black, Killdozer, Mudhoney, etc… they weren't anything Earth shatteringly new. 

Now don't get me wrong, they were a great band, with great songs and a no-doubt charismatic lead singer.

Plus it was really exciting to hear "our music" being played on daytime Radio 1. I actually remember hearing Smells Like Teen Spirit being played in Nottingham's much-missed Selectadisc record shop and being blown away by how good bit sounded. 

And I'm not trying to say that I heard them first. As far as I'm concerned, that honour goes to my old friend Sally-Anne. We swapped tapes and she had all of those early Sub Pop releases and Dope, Guns & Fucking In The Streets compilations. 

So anyway I saw Nirvana. And they were pretty good. Tight and well rehearsed in the way of most American bands. But, because this was over THIRTY YEARS AGO, my memories are pretty scattered. 

1. I went to this gig on my own. I don't know why nobody else was around or could be arsed but there you go. I bumped into someone who was more a friend of-a-friend, gave him a lift home and he eventually became the singer in my last band. Strange. 
2. Captain America (the then-current band by Kurt Cobain's favourite musician, Eugene from The Vaselines) had changed their name to Eugenius by the time the gig happened. They didn't think that Marvel would mind. The past really is another country, yes?
3. Shonen Knife was very kawaii and buzzy and punk-pop-tastic. Too much sugar is bad for you. 
4. Setlist.FM has got this gig completely wrong, I think. I'm positive that the first song they played was Aneurysm. 
5. Kurt Cobain played a guitar solo while doing a forward roll. 
6. Krist Novoselic spent a good deal of the gig throwing his bass into the air. 
7. Nirvana had a dancer, who it turns out was the drummer in Derby band Bivouac. 
8. It felt like they tossed out …Teen Spirit early in the set. 

Weirdly in researching the date for this post (I threw away all my old gig tickets!!), I stumbled on this video report of the gig. I've no memory whatsoever of seeing a film crew there but some of these kids look like yr archetypal gormless Nottingham Rock City types. 

The interview with the band is the classic alternative scene, make-up-some-stuff-and-riff-on-it-to-confuse-the-interviewer situation. But interestingly, when asked about success, they seem to say their role is to point people to all the bands that came before them (from 4.29). 

A few years ago, I went to see Bob Dylan. I was lucky and got Good Bob that night so came into work afterwards saying that I'd never been in the same room as a living legend before. A colleague said, "Ah, but you were in the same room as Kurt Cobain."

To which I replied, "Yes, but he wasn't a living legend until he'd died."

Sad but true?

the advent calendar of earworms days 18-24

Day 18

The Aislers Set "Cold Christmas"

A new (although it's fairly old) addition to our Christmas playlist (over 19 hours and going strong). A rather tasty bit of American indie pop. I know nothing about this band.

Day 19

Dead air.

Day 20

Tom Waits "Day After Tomorrow" 

I like to either listen to podcasts or music on my phone while I do the washing up. This was the first song to come up on shuffle today and it damn near broke me. 

I love Tom Waits more than I can possibly say and this is one of the most perfect anti-war songs you'll ever hear. 

Taken from his "challenging" junkyard human-beatbox album Real Gone. It's one of my favourites now but I wasn't keen when it first came out. I got it on vinyl a couple of Christmases ago and for some reason it makes more sense - really bluesy and groovy.

Day 21

Here Come the Double Deckers! theme ("Get On Board")

My brain! 

Here Come the Double Deckers! Was a British children's TV series which revolved around the adventures of seven children whose den was an old red double-decker London bus in a scrap yard. Obviously. 

Another bit of music which plagues my brain, despite the fact that the show aired a few years before I was born. It must have been on repeat for a long time because I had a recording of this theme from when I was at college and making mixtapes for friends. 

Day 22

A-ha "Take on Me" and Guided By Voices "Game of Pricks"

Inexplicable mashup. "Take On Me" is obviously a banger - if you need to dance like you're in the 80s, just make sure you hit the 2nd and 4th beats (the snare beat). If you need to make it more 90s, go for the 1s and 3s. However, regardless of the era, NEVER clap on 1 and 3 - the scourge of TV talent show audiences everywhere. 

There are at least two different versions of "Game of Pricks" but this is my favourite. The other is on Alien Lanes, one of the many albums I purchased this summer. 

Day 23

Franco Godi - "Mr Rossi" theme (aka Viva Happiness)

This is a song that gets heavy rotation in my brain. I don't know why but I find myself singing it at random times. It's a great song.

Mr Rossi was on British TV in the mid-to-late 80s (I think). Episodes usually involved Mr Rossi going on a random adventure with his soppy dog Harold.

Day 24

Talking Heads "Once in a Lifetime"

Prompted by me saying "My God!" this morning. This dystopian mid-life crisis was not quite the positive end to this series that I was expecting. And yet, it somehow seems all too fitting for 2020, which can absolutely get in the bin. 

Have a great festive break, stay safe and I'll be back with more void-yodelling in the New Year. 

the advent calendar of earworms days 9-17

Day 9

Cliff & The Young Ones "Living Doll"

Mostly the "I feel sorry for the elephants line".

Day 10

Nick Drake "Poor Boy" into the theme to Top Cat into the theme to Chorlton and the Wheelies

An audio representation of why my brain is a twat. We bought a new hoover recently and the box is in our hallway. Written on it are the words "small ball", which is why I then had that repeating in my head in a budget gospel style a la Nick Drake.

This then reminded me of a microwavable neck wrap we have. The box says "luxury heatable hot wrap" and I recently amused myself no end by singing that to the theme from Top Cat ("Hot wrap! Luxury heatable hot wrap").

For some reason this sent me along various mental side roads, eventually leading me to remember the first time I ever experienced YouTube. I was at work and we immediately used this amazing technological resource to look for old TV theme tunes. Notably this 1970s classic.

Like I said, my brain is a twat.

Day 11

Del Shannon "Runaway" and The Smiths "William, It Was Really Nothing"

Inexplicable mash-up #5012

"Runaway" is one of Little Ms D's favourite songs (I blame my parents). And I've spoken before about my love of The Smiths. 

Morrissey may well be a racist bell-end - but what a song!

Day 12

Dionne Warwick - various songs

Obviously prompted by the fact that the night before we'd watched a compilation of her performances at the BBC. I've never really considered her before but this programme taught me a couple of things.

• One - a lot of her songs are stone-cold classics
• Two - her voice was fantastic

Day 13

Jonathan Richman "I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar"

I make no apologies for talking about Jonathan Richman again.

I read recently that the reason why Jojo is so punk rock is because he uses embarrassment as his main weapon - not his own, but the audiences. He basically feels no shame, which is the reason he can do ridiculous performances such as the one below. Is the audience laughing at him? 

Or are they embarrassed by the fact that they will never be as unselfconscious?

It's like something I once read about dance. As anyone who has kids will attest, if any child (from babies and up) hears a song, they just start moving. Then as we grow we're taught not to dance in this natural way. And then as we grow, we need do be taught how to dance all over again.

I haven't used the "cosmic insight (man)" tag for a while!

Day 14

Dean Martin "Let It Snow", Led Zeppelin "Immigrant Song"

An actual, proper Christmas song! And it only took 14 days.

The start of "Immigrant Song" is a fairly regular ear worm around these parts, along with a visual memory of Jack Black singing along with it in "School of Rock".

Day 15

Pavement "Grounded"

A track from my favourite Pavement album, but not a song I've played in ages. Is this the start of Stephen Malkmus trying to transition himself into rock-guitar-god status?

Day 16

Cat Stevens "Can't Keep It In"

The sound of driving around in our first family car to have a tape deck. Cat Stevens was my dad's favourite so I can clearly hear him singing along with Cat's overly-earnest vocal delivery.

Because my dad no longer has a turntable I've now taken ownership of his two albums.

Day 17

Fleetwood Mac "Brown Eyes"

From Tusk, Fleetwood Mac's follow-up to the omnipresent uber-selling Rumours. It was always regarded as a commercial failure, because it "only" sold 4million copies. 

Imagine a record label nowadays being upset by sales of 4million!

I first heard this album during a relapse - I was burning through books so Mrs D went the library and got me the 33 1/3 book about the album. It was just fascinating to read about the bed-hopping bolivia-inhaling madness behind its creation. Especially the creative tensions between the floaty-headscarf-wearing songs of Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie, in comparison to the new-wave leanings of Lindsey Buckingham.

As noted above, my brain is a twat, hence why this morning's ear worm is a Christine McVie song, not one of the cooler songs.

Still, it's a great album - and so is the remake by American alt-rock legends Camper Van Beethoven. So here's a compare and contrast playlist I made of both versions!

the advent calendar of earworms days 1-8

Day 1

Rufus Wainwright "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk"
Rufus Wainwright is one of the many artists who has been providing free live performances this year, with his Quarantunes / Robe Recitals series in the first lockdown. I hadn't listened to him for a few years but some of those solo home performances really blew me away. 

And it looks as though he's starting them up again. So COVID has done at least one good thing. 

Rufus was responsible for my first ever sit-down gig, at Nottingham's Royal Concert Hall sometime in either 2004 or 2005. 

Day 2

Pavement "Painted Soldiers"
Not wanting to overburden the legacy of an obscure band with Beatles references, but Stephen Malkmus was clearly the creative driver of Pavement - the Lennon AND McCartney, if you will. 

Which means that Spiral Stairs aka Scott Kannberg was the George Harrison. Perennially overlooked, his songs were at first just tuneful, route-one, and throwaway. But gradually he stared to hit a rich seam of classic guitar pop. And this song is an absolute belter. Great video, too. 

Nevertheless, it was chucked onto the soundtrack of an obscure film. 

Once Pavement split up, Spiral Stairs released a solo double album under the name The Preston School of Industry (named after an unused song he wrote for Pavement). The name of this album - "All This Sounds Gas" - is uncannily similar time the name of George Harrison's first post-beatles release, the triple-album "All Things Must Pass". 

Day 3

Silence. I could make up something achingly cool and obscure but no. 

Day 4 

A hellish mash-up of Fleet Foxes "White Winter Hymnal" and "Don't Let Me Down, Gently" by The Wonder Stuff 

I like Fleet Foxes but not this song particularly, which has become an accidental Christmas tune. I've always REALLY hated The Wonder Stuff so I can only assume that my brain was angry at me for the previous day's silence. 

Try to imagine it. Like, really try. It's AWFUL. 

Day 5

David Bowie "Star"
From "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars", of course. One of those songs where you can't quite remember it but then you hear it (in your brain) and you remember how amazing it is. 

It's fairly well accepted that everything has been shit since David Bowie died in 2016, right? 

"Just watch me now"

Day 6

More silence. Or at least I can't remember any earworms. And I respect you too much to make this up. 

Day 7

Kurtis Blow "The Breaks"

Clap your hands, everybody

If you got what it takes

'Cause I'm Kurtis Blow and I want you to know

That these are the breaks

Fairly late-in-the-day entry for a song which crops up regularly when shuffling on my internal iPod. Featuring a great example of that early hip hop sing-song vocal cadence. 

Day 8

De La Soul "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)"
I didn't really get De La Soul's second album, "De La Soul Is Dead" at the time. I LOVED "3 Feet High and Rising" and I guess I just wanted more of the same, not three guys grumpily dismantling their success.

Plus there are WAY TOO MANY skits on it.

But I went away to university with a tape (!) of a skit-less version of the album and over the years it has become the album of theirs which I play the most. Yes, it's dark and grumpy. Maybe we're all a little dark and grumpy, no?

I saw them play live in Nottingham a couple of years ago. It was like a foul-mouthed pantomime, with the audience being split into sides in a singing competition. Brilliant.

---

Join me again next time to see if I can follow through with this ridiculous conceit! Will I make it? Tune in to find out!

what did you do in the pandemic, daddy? (3)

Here's a Spotify playlist with a track from (almost) all of the albums which I splurged on between March and September 2020.

Warning: some of it contains language.

The final scores on the format doors:

• CDs: 3
• Downloads: 7
• Vinyl Records: 10

Buying records really shouldn't be as expensive as it is - I dread to think how much I've spent.

But it's such a satisfying format to invest in! Although it can be hard to take a chance on an unknown artist. And I really had to think long and hard before I bought anything.

Still love it, though. And it really does sound better (to my ears).

what did you do in the pandemic, daddy? (2)

First part of this nonsense here.

11. Fiona Apple - "Fetch The Bolt Cutters"
Album of the Year 2
I've never listened to her before and had assumed that it wouldn't be my sort of thing. But the reviews it received made me check this out on Spotify when it was released digitally and it blew me away. Great, unglossy vocals, bonkers rhythms, timely lyrics. She's "pissed off, funny and warm", grieving, raging and full of life. Sort of like the ultimate 2020 mindset. And it really doesn't sound like anything else I've heard all year. 

Bought with birthday Norman Records vouchers along with...

12. Laura Marling - "Song For Our Daughter"
LM soundtracked Little Ms D's birth so we haven't really wanted to revisit her work since then. But she is a great artist (triggering memories aside) and I wanted this after hearing her appearance on the Adam Buxton podcast (Now, I love Buckles but she came across a lot better than him - he'd not really done even minimal research). Anyway this is just obviously great.

13. Miles Davis Quintet - "Freedom Jazz Dance: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 5"
Bargain triple heavyweight vinyl? Featuring complete studio reels of Miles Davis' second great quintet working through pieces in exquisite unedited detail? With studio banter? Where do I sign up?!

14. Deerhoof - "Bibidi Babidi Boo"
Free download from Bandcamp of random live and radio sessions. How much Hoof is too much Hoof? No such thing! I've got a fever! And the only prescription is MORE HOOF!

15. Oneness of Juju - "African Rhythms 1970-1982"
Triple vinyl bought direct from Strut Records. Juju play a mix of African rhythms with jazz, classic funk and R'n'B. Came with a free download version of the album which has almost twice as many tracks than are on the vinyl.

 

16. Jonathan Richman - "I, Jonathan"
Ah lovely Jonathan Richman, surely everyone's favourite gentle punk rock 'n' roller. First ever vinyl release of his fourth solo album from 1992, bought with yet more Norman Records birthday vouchers. Includes his brilliant tribute to the Velvet Underground (which sounds nothing like them but also kind-of does) and the classic "I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar". Naive? Not a bit of it. Beautiful and soulful.

17. Guided by Voices - "Alien Lanes" - 25th anniversary limited edition swirly multicoloured vinyl
Bought from - where else? - Norman Records. Actually one of the first things I ordered at the start of spring but it wasn't  released until the end of August. GBV were a band which I took a long time to love but now they're one of my all time favourites. And there's a lot to love. Their discography currently stands at 30 studio albums, 19 EPs, 39 singles and more. The actor Paddy Considine was once asked what was the most expensive thing he'd ever bought. He said an original pressing of GBV's fifth album "Propellor". 

18.  Roger Nichols & The Small Circle Of Friends - s/t
Because for all my talk of brutal hip hop, Lo-Fi guitar noise and avant jazz, I do have a deep and abiding love of a particular type of 1960s soft psychedelic sunshine pop. With close vocal harmonies. Way back in the early days of borrowing  CDs and burning MP3s, I copied a handful of tracks from this album, borrowed from one of Mrs D's work colleagues. 14 years later I decided I needed to hear the rest of it and got a CD from the Discogs marketplace.

19. Angel Olsen - "Whole New Mess" on limited edition translucent smoke-effect vinyl
As (almost) an earlier version of last year's "All Mirrors", this is way better than it should be. I like the orchestral treatment on much of the 2019 album but I definitely prefer the simple guitar-voice-and-occasional-organ arrangements here. Plus the handful of tracks which didn't make it to the later recorded but first released album are some of my favourites she has ever done.

20. Deerhoof - "Love-Lore"
Album of the Year 3
Just when I think I can't love them any more they release this, essentially a mixtape which the band performed live in the studio. Available free from their Bandcamp page. Features avant garde compositions, jazz reimagining, Eddy Grant, The B-52s and the theme to Knight Rider.

what did you do in the pandemic, daddy? (1)

Well I bought a shit ton of music for a start! At an almost Steve-in-his-college-years level. 

Let's Dissect!

1. They Might Be Giants - "Flood" 30th anniversary picture disc LP
So pretty!

2. Polvo - "Today's Active Lifestyles" 25th anniversary vinyl reissue on multi-coloured vinyl
41 minutes of the mathest of all math rock, springy guitars and proggy time signatures. Plus the vinyl is a beautiful thing. Bought from the mighty Norman Records. Sign up to explore their brilliant selection and experience their fantastic customer service here and I'll love you forever.

3. Deerhoof - "Halfbird"
4. Deerhoof - "Milk Man"
5. Rattle - "Sequence"
6. clipping. - "There Existed An Addiction To Blood"
These were all bought as downloads in the first Bandcamp Friday - a day when the music retail site waives its fees to ensure that the artists receive as much money as possible during the COVID lockdown. Rattle are from Nottingham and they were brilliant when I saw them supporting Black Midi last year.
clipping. (punctuation artist's own) are a horror rap band. This isn't quite as good as I wanted it to be but still has some cracking tracks on it.
Deerhoof are one of my favourite bands and I took this opportunity to get more of their stuff. "Halfbird" is pretty raw but "Milk Man" is fantastic.
My key early lockdown homeschooling successes were teaching Little Ms D the words to "Birdhouse In Your Soul" and getting her into Deerhoof. Especially this track. #ParentingGoals 

7. Kendrick Lamar "To Pimp A Butterfly" double vinyl set
The best album of the 21st Century so far? I bought this on download pretty much the second it came out but when I had a chance to buy a cheap copy on vinyl (from RecordStore.co.uk) it would've been daft not to.

8. Run The Jewels - "RTJ4"
Album of the Year 1.
Just amazing, with timeless themes which are still horribly relevant to America today. Run The Jewels always release their albums as free downloads (making their money through merch, physical copies and live performances) but with this one they asked people to donate to organisations protecting the rights of people protesting the police killing of George Floyd and racial injustice in the United States.
I (almost) ended up live-blogging my first listen (during a Tysabri infusion!) on Instagram.

9. LCD Soundsystem - "Electric Lady Sessions"
Solid versions of LCD classics and cheeky covers, recorded live in the iconic studio. Better than the similarly conceived "London Sessions" from a couple of years ago. I bought this on vinyl from RecordStore.com but it was regifted to me for my birthday. 

10. Damaged Bug - "Bug On Yonkers"

Limited Edition multicoloured vinyl pressing of bizarro outsider art psychedelic skronk-fest from the leader of Thee Oh Sees, who are a band I'm not that fussed about but this is great. Very groovy, loads of keyboards and who doesn't love a band with two drummers?

Find out more about Michael Yonkers here.

the thing about the heartsick shut-in

This brilliant song by They Might Be Giants was my earworm this morning. It made me laugh, the way that clever, rhythmically precise lyrics can.

And then I really started to pay attention to them.

Renew my subscription
To "Desperate Bellowing Magazine"
It sure does have a familiar ring
You might say I fit the description
Renew my subscription
To "Miserable Freak Show Quarterly"
Every back-number I saw spoke to me
Acknowledging it's my addiction

Although it would be natural to be tired of feeling like a "heartsick-shut-in", nearly five months into the UK's delayed lock-down, in all honestly it hasln't involved massive changes to my everyday life.

• Still working? Yep*
• Too much? Possibly
• Going out regularly? Well, as much as ever (i.e. not so much)

* By the way, the fact that the government has stopped shielding vulnerable people with chronic health conditions and is effectively forcing them back into work makes me sick. I’d hoped that the pandemic would make employers appreciate the value of remote working. I guess I missed a meeting. 

As I mentioned before, I've been getting more regular exercise than I have in years. In fact, I'm still displaying more commitment to the Joe Wicks exercise videos than the man himself. It became part of our home-schooling schedule so we carried on doing weekday mornings even when Joe went part-time. Plus me and Little Ms D did extra sessions on weekends, and we're still going.

Recently there has been a bit of talk about swimming pools reopening. Much as I miss swimming, I can't imagine anything less likely at the moment.

Like a kind of filthy, random stock-pot! Yikes.

On the couple of occasions I've been to the hospital for my Tysabri infusion, when asked the standard question about if I have any alergies, I have said, "Only other people." I really don't have much faith in the British public's much vaunted stock of common sense.

I mean, it's never a good sign when American friends send WhatsApp messages, mocking events such as the terrible scenes at Bournemouth last month. That's right. American people, from AMERICA, think that we're idiots.

A catchphrase of mine and the divine Mrs D's was prompted by a story on our local news programme. This was immediately after the announcement that people could book foreign holidays, a ruling that, in itself, didn't last that long.

I'm sure that, as I write, the official line is that people are being encouraged to book holidays in order to support the tourism industry. However, they should expect not to be able to travel. I'm pretty sure that, had I ever been arsed to finish reading Catch 22, this might make some kind of sense.

Anyway, in the news report that evening, they interviewed a woman who was going towards check-in with her kids. They asked her why she was travelling. She said something along the lines of, "The schools aren't in, and we'd seen that bookings were possible, so we just thought, 'Why not?'"

To which we responded, "Because there's a frigging GLOBAL PANDEMIC!"

So "we just thought, 'Why not?'" has been a recurring joke, whenever another brainfart recommendation has been mooted. Maybe we have a slightly more sensitive attitude towards risk than most people.

I wanna be a much better person
Instead I worsen with every day
But there's a drug whose name I'm not sure of
Which I need more of to feel okay

Read the full lyrics to Renew My Subscription.

remembering live music 4: the missed and the misunderstood

A quick detour from these posts - which could come over as "cooler than thou I WAS THERE" grandstanding - I'm going to talk about a few artists that I either missed or just didn't get at the time.

1. Pavement, Derby Wherehouse, May/June 1992

Yes, this was the band's first ever UK gig. Yes, they were all over the British music press. And yes, this was a hot-shit ticket.

But I only went because a friend of mine from college got a ticket. At the time, I was a right snooty so-and-so who saw them as a complete rip-off of The Fall.

But, y'know, the difference was they wrote HUMMABLE SONGS and seemed to be charming and amusing people.

There was one writer in Melody Maker who at the time called skronk avant-garde guitar manglers Trumans Water the REAL Pavement. Which is a statement I agreed with but which is, in retrospect, so needlessly arsey it's ridiculous.

The gig was packed (ooh look, there's the drummer from The Wedding Present!) plus it was a beautiful sunny evening.

Pavement were ramshackle. And cute. And charming. And their original loose-cannon drummer Gary did handstands and chatted with the crowd.

But I just didn't get it. Even though I can still remember some of the tunes they played that night. Because HUMMABLE SONGS.

At the time I preferred the support act, Jacob's Mouse (no, me neither).

I still listen to Trumans Water. But nowhere near as much as I've listened to Pavement in the years since this gig, right up to the present day.

I even wrote huge sections of my University dissertation about their second album, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. TRUE STORY.

2. The Strokes, Sheffield Leadmill, 23 August 2001

Another gig that I was dragged to by friends - Simon and Annabel. This was one of their first UK tours but even though all the influences and references were there, again I JUST DIDN'T GET IT.

Was I threatened by how insanely cool and attractive they were? I wouldn't like to say. But probably, yes. Definitely.

They were supported by The Moldy Peaches, who were cute but annoying after a while. I actually listened to them while writing this post and I really enjoyed them.

I think at the time The Strokes didn't even have that many songs so I think they just played tracks from their forthcoming (?) album. Maybe even in the album order?

God, they were cool.

And looking back now, they were everything I want in a band. Locked-in together, no flash, no gimmicks, chops for days.

About 6 months after this gig - so almost exactly 6 months after everyone else in the world - I borrowed the CD of Is This It from Annabel and finally understood. Now I think that if anyone wants to learn how to play alternative/indie-rock guitar they should just play along with this album. It's all there.

As if to prove a point, I've just spent 15 minutes watching live footage of them from around this time. They was great.

I'd completely forgotten that both Moldy Peaches and The Strokes were tainted by the shadow of 9-11: The Strokes first album came out at the end of August 2001 and featured New York City Cops ("...they ain't too smart"); The Moldy Peaches album actually came out on September 11 2001 and featured the song "NYC's Like a Graveyard" - ouch.

3. Bill Hicks, Sheffield University, 26 November 1992

This one hurts but confession is good for the soul. Also, not music although he had a rock-star attitude.

This gig took place during my first year studying at Sheffield Uni. With my brother I'd devoured Bill Hicks' legendary 1991 comedy set Relentless when it was shown on Channel 4. Politically he was light-years ahead and had a great, no-bullshit persona.

Dreadful hair and glasses, however.

His '92 UK tour was around the time he recorded his Revelations set. At the time The Guardian and various left-wing comedians were all hymning his act with its politically edgy material. It turns out Bill didn't want to be idolised. He also didn't like the idea that people felt they had a handle on him.

So for that recording - in front of an audience of paid-up believers and his peers - he launched into an extended, skin-crawlingly appaling bit which saw him adopt the persona of Pan The Randy Goat Boy.

It's truly horrible. But point made.

Two years later Bill died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 32. His legend has only grown in subsequent years. Some of his political material would be entirely relevant now if you could just change the names.

Truth be told his sexually explicit material would have been his downfall had he survived. I dread to think what he would've made of the #MeToo movement or issues of rights for trans people. And some of his material hasn't aged at all well. But that's comedy, right?

So anyway. On his final UK tour (?), he played down the road from me, at the University where I was studying.

And I didn't go. 

Worse than that, I didn't go because I couldn't be arsed.

Nurrrr...

remembering live music no.3

 

LCD Soundsystem, Magna Centre, Rotherham, 13 November 2010

ROAD TRIP!

This gig was at a crazy venue - Magna Science Adventure Centre just outside Rotherham. Thankfully all the interactive exhibits were safely away by the time the gig started.

I loved - and I still love - LCD Soundsystem. I wouldn't say they were strictly dance music per se (Mrs D, who is a bit of dance-music officianado, sometimes dismisses them as 'indie dance'). But they're probably as close as I'll get (chip on my shoulder caused by bad experiences at university combined with my own snobbery).

And the Sound of Silver album is one of my all-time faves - a concept album (kind of?) about careening towards middle-age (hmmm, why would this possibly resonate with me?)

So as soon as the tour with Hot Chip was announced - LCDs FINAL tour, no less - I knew I had to get tickets for me and Mrs D. By the time the gig rolled around, she was pregnant with Little Ms D so my brother was more than happy to tag along.

The tour was a co-headlining-deal with the two bands taking turns to headline - on this night, LCD were on first.

I've always been the sort of gig-goer who doesn't like to be too near the front. The only times I've been in the "pit" are Galaxie 500 (which was never going to be too raucous!), Fugazi (politest, most respectful mosh-pit EVER) and this gig.

Now I have pretty short hair. But when the beat kicked in after the intro of Dance Yrself Clean, it was so LOUD that it moved my hair. I remember my brother and I danced our butts off throughout their set.

Yet again, as a live band they were ferociously tight. Even when one of Nancy Whang's antique synths went haywire near the start of the set they kept it going.

And I don't think there's anything better than watching a brilliant drummer. And Pat Mahoney was - if you'll excuse the language - fucking amazing. He was like a frigging machine, just holding it down throughout the set. Evan when James Murphy wandered over to play bits of his kit in a way which must have been off-putting. If not bloody annoying.

I can't argue with SetList.fm this time - it certainly tallies with my memory, anyway. But I can't believe they turfed out All My Friends so early in the set.

Long time visitors to this blog will know that I'm a massively soppy bugger. One of the things which can set me off are songs about home.

Talking Heads' This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) is a particular killer. Even Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Our House can set me off if I'm in the right mood.

So when LCD ended their set with Home - the last track from their final album at one of their final ever UK gigs - it was just perfect.

I mean, I wasn't anywhere near as bad as this guy from the DVD of their FINAL EVER gig at Madison Square Garden in 2011 but it was pretty powerful nonetheless.

It was so good that we didn't stay for all of Hot Chip's set. It just wasn't able to come anywhere near the majesty of LCD Soundsytem going out at the top of their game.

Except they didn't. Because a few short years later they reformed.

And I couldn't even be mad at them, especially not when I saw them perform Call the Police on SNL.

But imagine being by this guy!

At least he was at the MSG gig.

remembering live music no.2

Pixies, Rock City Nottingham, April 25 1989

Picture young Steve, aged 15, attending only his second ever gig, going to see what was at that time his favourite band. Live music after this point was basically ruined for me.

My (older) brother had seen them play the previous year and we'd got tapes of Come on Pilgrim and Surfer Rosa. Obsessed.

Excitement was only increased by their second Peel session (which I taped, obviously) and this awesome appearance on SNUB TV (which we kept on video until the tape wore out) - I remember telling people at school to watch it.



How can people who look so ordinary - square, even - make a sound so wild? Look at their little faces, they look almost embarrassed to be on TV. Kim had only just stopped going by the nom de disque Mrs John Murphy. Couldn't Black Francis get a clean top?

In advance of the release of Doolittle, John Peel was playing a different song every night on his Radio 1 show. I'd even managed to get hold of a one-sided promo record with four songs on it. I was primed and ready to go.

Which is why it's so disappointing that I can remember so little about the gig!

• They started with "Into The White" which hadn't been released at that point. It had a very literal (and blinding) light show.
• Early in the set they played the (similarly unreleased) UK Surf version of "Wave of Mutilation" - I was convinced they were playing it so slowly because they were f*cked off - too many cries of "You fat bastard" from the more *excitable* and *refreshed* members of the audience?
• "No. 13 Baby" was the only song from Doolittle I'd not heard before I got the album the week before this gig. It's still my favourite track on the album. The light show was awesome for the long instrumental coda.
• And regardless of what Setlist.fm says, I have a vivid memory of them playing "Vamos". Joey Santiago playing much of the solo with a beer can as a slide - and I've just remembered he had a teeny tiny guitar amp!

Kim was pretty much the only Pixie to speak to the audience ("Thanks!" and not much else).
Regardless, I do know that they were bloody brilliant. So loud, so incredibly tight and just completely on it.

A few short years later they were hanging out with Bowie and U2, barely speaking to each other and having band promo pictures taken in their sunglasses.

remembering live music no.1

Do people really need another blog about living with MS in the times of COVID-19? Thought not!

Kind-of inspired by those Facebook posts about "10 books / albums / *delete as necessary that made me", I'm going to be posting about the best gigs I ever saw.

Why? Because reasons. But mostly as a reminder of something which none of us will be doing for some while.

---

Lemonheads, Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham, May 23 1990

The Lemonheads in 1992. Photograph: Ebet Roberts/Redferns

Starting off with a gig which I still maintain is the best I have ever seen. This was in a tiny room just next to the student bar at the old Trent Polytechnic, like a glorified recreation room. It was a glorious summer night and I went with my brother and my first actual girlfriend.

The Lemonheads (or as my gig ticket had it, The Lemon Heads) had recently trimmed down from a fractious five-piece line up to the classic power trio which would go on to record Lovey. At this gig they played stuff that would show up on that album, along with loads of songs from Lick (in my - unreliable - memory they started their set with Mallo Cup). 

They played so long that after a handful of encores Evan Dando said they didn't have any more songs. But the audience wouldn't let them off the stage (the room was so small that they had to push through the front rows to get on and off the stage).

Eventually Evan Dando said (and please remember that I'm paraphrasing based on my aged fading memory so I may have totally misremembered / embellished it all), "I wrote this song today, and after this we've got nothing". He then played a solo version of Ride With Me, still one of my favourite Lemonheads songs.



Like I mentioned earlier, if I ever had to say what was the best gig I ever saw, this was it. It was just a great example of the "simple" pleasure of great songs played well, and the unmistakeable heft of classic power trio. Plus the feeling when you're at a gig where everyone is loving it, and you're all there before a band goes supernova.

"I was there", indeed.

FUN FACT: Lemonheads are also responsible for the worst gig I ever saw. This was in Sheffield on the Car Button Cloth tour with Murph from Dinosaur Jr on drums. This was (I *think*) 1996-7 and Evan was deep into his crack years. Not pretty.

He encored by turning his back on the audience and feeding his guitar back for what seemed like 15 minutes.

Challenging. And more than a little sad.

i don't write to waste my time

As a long-time friend of the blog and Person I've Actually Met In Real Life, SwissLet recently invited me to take part on his site. He sporadically logs his earworms and he wondered if I'd like to have a go.

Really? Asking me to blather on about music? The very idea...

So obviously I did it. And I probably went a little bit overboard, meticulously logging the songs which genuinely appeared unbidden on my internal iPod first thing in the morning all week.

If you need some of that in your brain pan, please visit his blog here. My playlist features D'Angelo, Harry Nilsson, Super Furry Animals, Stereolab, Bonny Light Horseman, The Pointer Sisters and - OF COURSE - Killdozer.

Obviously, I LOVED doing this. So much so that I may do it again (whether he wants me to or not).

nights that won't happen

David Berman (photo by Cassie Berman)

Silver Jews are a band that I liked and admired for many years. When they first came out, I was very much a fan of Pavement, with whom they (sporadically) shared band members and a similarly fairly loosey-goosey approach to instrumentation and recording.

But gradually the lyrics got to me. David Berman - who has died suddenly aged 52 - was a poet who wrote songs, rather than a songwriter whose songs came to be seen as poetry.

It was obvious that Berman was a man who struggled with depression and addiction. Yet the words were darkly funny, beautiful, heart-wrenching.

So Silver Jews became a band that I loved, eventually providing an unofficial soundtrack to my 2017 relapse. Long time and eagle-eyed visitors might remember the many posts from this period with titles taken from their songs.

They split up in 2009 in bizarre circumstances. And Berman disappeared from view, aside from a few sightings and rumours of recording sessions.

He resurfaced this year under a new name, Purple Mountains. In the intervening years his battles remained constant and he'd split up from his wife and former band mate Cassie. But the wit was undimmed.

The Purple Mountains album is up there with the best of his work, melodic, mordant, melancholy. But despite the journey the songs travel - through divorce, depression, addiction and grief - it seems to end on a level of acceptance and hope. He even talked in interviews about going on tour.

When I read the news of his passing on Thursday morning it was still a shock. I honestly haven't been as devastated by the death of a stranger since the other DB.

No cause of death has been announced yet. But it's hard not to surmise from the details we "know" about him (who can really know what goes on inside another person?) that - intentionally or otherwise - he ended his life.

I know that I and many other people have taken comfort from the way he would report from his front line with courage, clarity, dark humour and endless empathy.

The tragedy is, it appears that his words weren't enough to save him as well.

One particular lyric which has been going round my head since Thursday morning is from Pretty Eyes, the last track from Silver Jews' second album, The Natural Bridge:

I believe the stars are the headlights of angels
Driving from heaven to save us
To save us
Look in the sky
They're driving from heaven into our eyes

That's how he sings it, anyway.

On the lyric sheet it reads, "Won't you look at the sky?", not "Look in the sky". I guess it just sounds rhythmically neater.

But in the written lyric, he's pointing to the sky, imploring us to look showing us that it'll be ok. That salvation - of whatever sort you might need - is coming.

I wish he had been looking too.



I hope there are enough links in this post for you to explore David Berman's work.

There is a brilliant article about the recording of "The Natural Bridge" on Stereogum.