I seem to have bought one of these; a device that will revolutionise my performances. As I don’t have a band, nor the ability to find one (nor the patience to lead one, nor the finances to pay one) this will be the way to enhance my live sound. What a loop pedal does isContinue reading “A New Piece of Kit”
Category Archives: music
Anniversaries to Forget….
Today BBC 6 music is making a big fuss about the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds album because it was released exactly fifty years ago. Well, how astounding. What a perfect opportunity to celebrate a seminal work of popular culture, apart from the fact that Brian Wilson’s alleged masterwork sounds exactly the same as it didContinue reading “Anniversaries to Forget….”
Seven Space-pop Classics!
Humankind’s first steps into space inspired a rash of pop songs. In the wake of the first moon landing in 1969, songwriters started to imagine what space travel might mean for matters of the heart, and a mini-genre was born. Future-tastic sound effects, weightless melodies and tin foil in the videos all contributed to theContinue reading “Seven Space-pop Classics!”
Rock Dinosaurs Team Up
It could only happen in America. I can just picture hundreds of thousands of psychedelic beach chairs, picnic hampers and parasols spread out on the ‘Empire polo field’ (that famous rock’n’roll venue…) as Bob Dylan, the Stones, Paul McCartney, The Who, Roger Waters and Neil Young perform at a mega-gig in Indio, California this October.Continue reading “Rock Dinosaurs Team Up”
You can call him Al…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywjb0pSCfSU In the seventies there was a slew of tracks that blended folky balladry and rock textures and, although not neccesarily sounding like Dylan, they were clearly in debt to his epic style of songwriting. A long and winding melody would be combined with tasteful instrumentation and cryptic, poetic lyrics that were sometimes comprehensible, sometimesContinue reading “You can call him Al…”
Valentine’s Day – David Bowie
Remember this from David Bowie’s penultimate album The Next Day? It’s a perfect psychedelic pop melody; indeed it could easily have been written in 1965. Maybe it was, and he just kept it in his back pocket for some infathomable Bowie-ish reason. But no; the lyrics point a more contemporary subject; this is no romanticContinue reading “Valentine’s Day – David Bowie”
My Latest Hero
I was delighted to discover this guy recently – Reggie Watts, if it is possible to define him, is a surreal stand-up comedian and improvising musician, who flips hilariously from one genre and persona to another effortlessly. At one moment he is straight-facedly delivering what seems to be a science lecture or TED talk, butContinue reading “My Latest Hero”
Waiting For the Mantra
Nowadays it seems everyone is getting spiritual. Meditation and mindfulness in particular are booming, with courses and classes available all over every city. We tend to think of meditation as a silent practice, but there is one meditation method which is anything but silent. Mantras are repeated phrases, chanted or sung as part ofContinue reading “Waiting For the Mantra”
Riding With Joni
Popular music history is full of train songs from Boxcar Blues to Chatanooga Choo-Choo and Joni Mitchell continued the tradition on this cut from her 1974 album Court and Spark. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgE6lDYz7I0 It’s a wistful tune – it is Joni Mitchell after all – but it rides on a gently funky chassis, suggesting the forward movementContinue reading “Riding With Joni”
Caving In…
It was Christmas Day and my step-mum had just given me a present – a DVD of the Nick Cave documentary 20,000 Days on Earth. As I studied the cover she told me: “They were talking about him on Radio 4. They’ve reassessed his life and career…you like him don’t you?” “Yes, I’ve heard aboutContinue reading “Caving In…”
Tom George 