normally this time of year...

Normally, this time of year,I'd be looking forward to June and Glastonbury. But this New Year,with no Glasto in 2012, it'll seem like a bit of strange time. Just a prolonged wait until October 2012 & for the tickets for 2013 to go on sale.

In the meantime,with the rain pouring down outside,on a grey grey grey December afternoon just listening to some music-at random today & this has been what's on

Bach-Brandenburg Concertos
Mahler-Symphnony No.1
Eminem-The Eminen Show
Goodbye Babylon-Gospel Compliation
Beyonce -Glasto 2011
The Flaming Lips- 7 Stars 3H (only 1 hour of this 24 hour track!)
Bob Dylan-Blonde on Blonde outtakes
Immortal Technique-Revolutionary Vol 1

More random stuff next year... 

swell maps-blam!

swell maps
 a trip to marineville- always will be one of the best albums

take a listen/look at this....

 

Turn Left at the Womble- Excerpt no 8-The Hill of Death

Turn Left at the Womble- Excerpt no 8-The Hill of Death

(Extracted from my 1st book about Glastonbury, "Turn Left at the Womble." Luckily I didn't have to do the Hill of Death this year at Glasto. I was dreading the very thought of it. However, here's what I thought of it in 2010. My sympathies for anyone who endured it this year).

Once through the gate I thought it would be a quick hop back to the car as I wasn’t carrying anything. Across the road and onto and up to what is correctly known as The Hill of Death. We hadn’t really noticed how steep this was on the way in. I think we had been so relieved to be getting to the gate- and anyway we were walking downhill. Standing at the bottom of the hill and taking a swig from my bottle of water, it not only looked a lot steeper than I recalled, but seemed to go on forever. There were only a few people climbing it ahead of me and they seemed to be making extremely slow progress. Optimistically I figured out that it was because they were either not as fit as me, or had bad hangovers, or both.

To ensure I make rapid progress up the hill I lit up a ciggie and put my best foot forward. After a few minutes of huffing and puffing I realised it wasn’t as bad as I had thought. It was much, much worse. If there had been a man-made obstacle put in place to ensure getting from the site was difficult then it could not have been as effective as this ball-ache thrown up by Mother Nature. The few people on the hill ahead of me were pulling away as if they were experienced mountaineers and I was a city-boy who wasn’t used to walking on anything that wasn’t concrete. Actually, I’m not even very familiar with walking on concrete. Driving along tarmac is more my style.

On and on I yomped up the hill and when I got half-way up gritted my teeth and determined to do the rest of it in one go. After 15 minutes I had reached the top and the sweat was pouring out of me. How we would manage to get back up it on the way home with all our stuff did not bear thinking about for now. I was not looking forward to Amy and Sacha’s reaction though. Surely I would be nearly close to the car now and it would simply be a matter of a leisurely stroll across a couple of fields.

get "Turn Left at the Womble" here

Kindle:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-The-Womble-ebook/dp/B0060YCKGW

 now as paperback as well! full colour throughout etc!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-At-Womble-Glastonbury/dp/1494816385

the follow-up, "Left Again at the Womble" out now!! here!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Left-Again-Womble-middle-aged-Glastonbury-ebook/dp/B00IBK2V6M

at last its christmas

atlas eets christmas-say it out loud-

new flips site 24 hr streaming christmas

here...http://atlaseetschristmas.com/

coldplay part two

I was going to post something about the Coldplay gig in Liverpool following my previous post and about how sometimes how you can enjoy something that is not critically acclaimed but that you just know is right. Glancing through todays Guardian though this link says something else...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/dec/02/coldplay-childrens-charity-kids-company

uh huh ..coldplay..part one

For a long time I'd (wrongly) written Coldplay off & believed all the negative hype. In an Eno-way I termed them as Music to Yawn To. It was quite a way away from the music I usually listen to. The Fall, Muslimgauze,Sunn o))) et al. In the background though I'd found myself picking up snatches of tunes and getting them stuck in my head. One of my friends (somone we all have), my musical mentor, tried to convince me that actually they were alright. If you respect and trust someones opinions usually then their judgement is sound and in this instance it was.I got hold of a copy of Vida and played it over and over again. How good it was! Just say no to musical snobbery! Within a few months of this conversion I managed to see them play one of the best gigs I have ever seen at the Royal Court in Liverpool full to capacity of 500 on a freezing night in December.  

     

in the name of the law

excerpt no 7-the most expensive ice lollies

First things first though. As we were standing right next to the ice cream van and we were all extremely hot and on the cusp of being irritable I thought an ice lolly would go down a treat. Wasn’t going to splurge out on anything too fancy like 99’s or Magnums. Just plain plain cool-you-down lollies. Thought it might be a nice surprise for everyone. I had the biggest surprise of the weekend when three plain orange lollies, and small ones at that, came to at a cost of £6.00. Six pounds! Two quid for a lolly that you can get a box of eight from Iceland for a quid! Never mind the cost though- the cheap/expensive lollies did the trick and all suitably cooled down we were ready to move on.

listening to the fall

with the release of the new fall lp I have been listening to a whole bunch of earlier fall stuff.somewhere along the line I intend to write a massive post about the fall but for now its just a work-in-progress.
some initial thoughts cut-up at random.

hearing the first album at a mates house when it first came out. like an epiphany. first fall gig-17/18 yrs old? totally wired had just come out.

review in sounds of totales turns-"the taut mysticism" of the fall-that phrase has stuck with me.

seeing them play the venue in london in '81-they always seemed different when they played "down south"

middle class revolt gig at the methodist hall in liverpool- this was a low point

falling out with them briefly round the time of wonderful & frightening lp-then going to see them play nations saving grace and being re-converted

the weird return of martin bramah

smile/garden/hexen peel session tracks like dylans triumphant bring it all back home/h61/blonde on blonde compressed down into three tracks

always different, always the same.

 

glastonbury timeline 2011

speaking of the (mighty) fall

the new album is good but this of course is something else.....

friday random shuffles on ipod

these are the first 10

jelly roll morton-new orleans blues
texas alexander-don't you wish your baby was built up like mine
wilco-hell is chrome
fuck buttons-sweet love for planet earth
bruce springsteen-thunder road
gong-inner temple
half man half biscuit-he who would valium take
prefab sprout-life of surprises
the fall -pay your rates
laura cantrell-and still

not bad for a random choice

the horror that was..etc

sorry to inflict this but it'll put it all into context..

 extracted from "Turn Left at the Womble-How a 48 year old Dad survived his first time at Glastonbury"

The horror that was Muse (part 2)

They launched straight into the second song of the set, “Supermassive Black Hole.” If anything this was even more jaw-droppingly impressive than the opener. Wave after wave of crystal clear music pounded into our heads. All the lighting effects were perfectly choreographed to the music. Strobe lights pulsed away like crazy and like before, were as white as newly fallen snow. A few feet in front of me someone had climbed on top of a wooden sculpture and was swaying crazily around, shirtless, waving a lit flare in the air. The band were completely into the moment and had all the crowd singing along with every word.

And yet.

It was horrible.

It all seemed so false and utterly premeditated. 

There was no spontaneity, no margin for error. 

It was all too calculated. They could have been playing anywhere. It was just like a big arena show in a stadium anywhere in the world.

Get/read/see more here

Kindle UK:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0060YCKGW
Kindle US:http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Left-At-Womble-Glastonbury-ebook/dp/B0060YCKGW

Paperback:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-The-Womble-Glastonbury/dp/1494816385

The horror that was Muse (part 1)

 extracted from "Turn Left at the Womble-How a 48 year old Dad survived his first time at Glastonbury"

The horror that was Muse (part 1)

Twenty minutes or so later there was a massive roar from the crowd and all the lights on the stage came on. Red lights swirling at first with drums pounding then twisting white spotlights as the guitars and synths kicked in. A double drum hit 30 seconds in sparked an incredibly blinding flashing pulse of pure white light which lit up the whole crowd from the front of the stage to the back of the hill. I don’t know how they managed to do it but it was so bright for that second it was as if the night had disappeared and it was the middle of the day. It was truly spectacular.  During that millisecond I could see every detail around me. Then it went pitch black again, very dark except for the lights on the stage and the huge hexagonal lit backdrop behind the band that changed colour in time to the music. The band were tiny figures on stage, dwarfed by the huge music that was emanating from the stage. I looked up at the video screens and could see the lead singer in his skinny tight red jeans waving his headless expensive guitar around. The bassist was obviously getting into it as well-a lot of head nodding and serious gurning was happening. The final piece in the jigsaw was the drummer who was pounding his massive kit within an inch of its life and really enjoying it as he was grinning like fuck.


   
Get/read/see more here

Kindle UK:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0060YCKGW
Kindle US:http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Left-At-Womble-Glastonbury-ebook/dp/B0060YCKGW

Paperback: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-The-Womble-Glastonbury/dp/1494816385

the flaming lips 24 hour song

I will be writing more (much more) about the Flaming Lips at Glastonbury. Here is a photo for now.

In the meantime and at midnight October 31st 2011, the Flaming Lips released a 24-hour song entitled "7 Skies H3". It is up for free download, but is also available for purchase as a harddrive encased in an actual human skull. There are exactly 13 up for purchase at $5,000 dollars each. It takes some perseverance to listen to the whole 24 hours but it's worth it. Even though I don't think I could do it all in one stretch.

It's streaming here for now. http://www.flaminglipstwentyfourhoursong.com/ 

Give it a go. It takes less time than I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and makes more sense.

joseph spence vs. x factor

Last Saturday & Sunday X Factor was on the tv. Tonight, Monday, I have been listening to an album by Joseph Spence- Living on the Hallelujah Side. I don't know if it is fashionable or not, in a Eurovision way to like the X Factor. What I do know is that Joseph Spence is so far removed from the X Factor is that it appears to be a completely different cultural form.I cannot begin to describe how different it really is. Try his version of "When The Saints Come Marching In."

See Wikipedia about him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Spence_%28musician%29

.

excerpt no. 5 - everything was going to be fantastic

We were directed to the crest of the field and motioned where to park. It was really hot and all the cars were shimmering in the haze. I stopped the car and turned the engine off with a relieved click. There was the briefest of pauses. We all looked at each other and grinned. We were at Glastonbury. We had got there fine and in one piece and so had the car. The sun was not only shining, it was blazing hot. Everything was going to be fantastic.         

music for winter

with winter approaching I've been thinking that there is somehow music that is more relevant for certain times of year & that fits with the weather & especially after hearing the new kate bush album

initial thoughts......
young marble giants-colossal youth
sigur ros ( )
the residents -eskimo (clearly)
barre phillips-call me when you get there
the blue nile-a walk across the rooftops
godspeed you! black emperor -yanqui U.X.O
 

 

mahler grooves

indeed he does..

random thought about glastonbury

there are no pets allowed at glastonbury-for very good reasons. however,I cannot ever remember another time or place where you can go for four/five days straight without seeing or hearing a dog or a cat-it's one of those things that you don't realise at the time but its just different....

excerpt no.4 - how to get tickets

The number was already in the phone. It was just a case of redial and we would be through. Additionally the website was ready to refresh in case the phone option didn’t work. However, as soon as it was 9:01 the phone was “line busy please try later” again and again and again. The website kept crashing and wouldn’t get past the first page-even if it loaded at all. Still being optimistic we thought that this might be an initial rush and then we would be ok. As this continued for the first half hour or so it slowly dawned on us that this assumption was much too optimistic. It probably would be (as it really is) just a case of touching lucky and getting through by chance. Amy kept trying the phone and I kept tapping away at the keyboard hoping that one of us would eventually succeed. This went on for an hour and as ten o’clock headed towards eleven o’clock the mood got grimmer and grimmer. The feelings of anticipation at nine were taken over by waves of desperation and defeatism. Much coffee was being drunk and many cigarettes were smoked (by me). To make matters worse the batteries on all the phones were running out rapidly and there was still no sign of getting through on the net. Message boards were gleefully relaying stories of people getting their tickets by five past nine and then heading out for a Sunday of celebration. Who the fuck were these people and how exactly had they managed to get tickets when we had been so unsuccessful, despite being so prepared? Were they doing something that we weren’t? Did they have a magic system? I was rapidly going through the five stages of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

glastonbury 2013 ?

however much I'd think of a dream line-up they'd all probably clash on different stages but here goes.....
...
the fall
led zeppelin
flaming lips (again)
laura cantrell
wire
sunn O)))
bob dylan
camille
sigur ros
xtc
she & him
my bloody valentine
the blue nile
godspeed you!black emperor
klf

that's enough lists for now-I'll think of more between now and then

the national. as promised. a perfect summer day.

excerpt no.3 - the national

Twenty past five. 17.20. The National came on stage. Nondescript bunch of blokes-dark plain shirts and jeans, more than a few beards and most of them with thinning hair. There were loads of them as well. Two, three guitarists? Brass section, trumpets and trombone. I was sure I saw a violin as well. Drummer and lead singer. It was like having a full orchestra on stage.

Then the first song kicked in. If there is such a word it was epiphanetic. The drums popped hard Joy Division-like. The lead singers deep deep bass voice was Curtis-ish but without the annoying mannerisms. I couldn’t tell what he was singing but it was heartfelt and honest and serious. The guitars swooped and soared like the few wispy white clouds in the sky. As the song rose to the end the brass section grew louder and louder and more strident as the rest of the music faded away, leaving just one trumpet note hanging in the air. There was a microsecond of perfect silence then the crowd exploded. This was the sort of thing we wanted to hear! This was what it all should be about! The singer, squinting behind tortoiseshell Raybans, “Look at that sunset. Make a wish.” This was our wish. This was my wish. It was like seeing the Fall again for the first time or like Amy being at Anfield for her first night time game and turning around on the Kop to see the pitch lit up perfect emerald green. You just know when something feels just right.

(video clip to follow. soon.)

 with the weather today that june day seems a long time ago

kate bush

listening to the new album
http://www.npr.org/2011/11/13/142133269/first-listen-kate-bush-50-words-for-snow

seems somewhat appropriate for a cold day

excerpt no. 2 - sunday morning

There seemed to be no-one up in the campsite bar a few little kids full of life and parents who looked like the living dead. I ambled down to the toilets for a quick wee. No queues because there was no one around so I had my pick but they were still rank. What a way to wake you up in the morning. Back at the tent it was time to put the stove on and brew up.  Sitting in the chair, sipping the coffee from the metal cup. Dew on the grass under my bare feet. Watching the early morning sun and looking across the site to the hills on the other side. It felt like a perfect Sunday morning-all that was missing was the Sunday paper but I could live without that for once. This felt so good, so relaxed-it was like a holiday feeling.

Turn Left at the Womble- Rocking with Age Concern:The Stranglers at Glastonbury

Turn Left at The Womble-The Stranglers at Glastonbury

(extracted from Turn Left at the Womble-How A 48 Year old Dad survived his first time at Glastonbury)

As the Stranglers were on next I wondered whether they would be any good - especially without Hugh Cornwall. Maybe they would be like some bad pub style tribute band.

I told Amy and Sacha that I’d seen them loads back in the days of the punk wars (when I was metaphorically manning the artistic barricades etc) but the air of general incomprehension led me to gather that it didn’t make sense to them at all. “Never mind,” I said, “They may be ok, let’s see how they are.” 

After a bit of messing around by roadies and the like, and sticking to the timings they came on stage near enough at the right time, all dressed in black (as expected) and the crowd went potty. Far from being a tribute act they were very tight, cranking out song after song and I was amazed at how many I remembered. Get a Grip, Nuclear Device, No More Heroes, Peaches and more-it was a greatest hits that took me back and nearly (but not quite) had me singing along. There were though however, loads of people bellowing along, many more that I would have expected to have known of them. Even Amy and Sacha seemed to be enjoying it, and although they were not bopping along they did nod quite enthusiastically. 

As for the Stranglers themselves, the replacement for Hugh Cornwall, the baldy bloke was sufficiently gruff enough, JJ Burnel didn’t seemed to have aged at all and was still throwing the old shapes across the stage, wielding his bass like some broadsword. Dave Greenfield appeared as odd as ever and Jet Black, well, he must’ve been in his 50s when they were in his prime, so how old was he now? Sixty-five? Seventy?  Seventy-five? (I knew when we got back home I would have to check it out on Wikipedia. I did, and he is 72.) It didn’t really matter because they were so surprisingly enjoyable.

Get/see/read "Turn Left at the Womble" here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turn-Left-The-Womble-Glastonbury-ebook/dp/B0060YCKGW

this is what it's all about..and what it's all going to be...probably.

In June 2010 I went to the Glastonbury festival for the first time. I was 48 years old and didn't really know what to expect. It turned out to be a wholly memorable experience for a lot of different reasons. Afterwards,all that we had was a few photos and our memories of what happened. Maybe, I thought, it would be worth writing it all down. Just a few notes. An aide-memoire for the future.Just a few brief diary entries. I started scribbling not long after we got back and within a few weeks there were reams and reams of stuff. Better to do something with it. Get it off these bits of paper in longhand and type it up.Put it into some sort of order. Glastonbury 2011 came and went and I was still typing.By now it was more than just a diary. As I had spent so long doing it better get it polished up best as I could.Some sort of structure was imposed. Chapters were put in place.Tried to be as clear as possible with recalled conversations.What to do with it when it was all finished? Oh, I could read it on my Kindle.I could self publish on Amazon. So I did. And here it is http://amazon.co.uk/dp/B0060YCKGW .The writing bug has hit now so this blog has begun.What's it for? I'll put bits of the book on. Random stuff about music.Just whatever. It'll be a bit loose and unformed for now.But there'll be something every day. Probably.  

a small conversation

“I’m off to Glastonbury.”

“What?”

“Glastonbury. The festival.”

“Glastonbury? Really?  You? Really?”

“Uh huh.”

“You got tickets and everything?”

“Yes.  Tickets and all the stuff. Tent and sleeping bags.”

“You’re going to Glastonbury? You?”

“That’s right. In June.”

“Isn’t it a bit rough? For you, I mean. What about all the mud and everything else? And you’ve heard about all the toilets and all that? It’s all a bit...yucky.”

“Don’t know. Just see what it’s like when we get there. Sure we’ll be ok.”

“We? Who are you going with?”

“Our Amy and her best mate.”

“Two 18 year olds? You’re brave!”

“They’ll be fine. They’re quite sensible. Fairly sensible.”

“And you’re really going? You? Have you ever been before?”

“Yes. I’m definitely going. Never been before. Not really sure what to expect though. Do you think I’m too..”

“What? Old? ”

“Well, yes.”

“No. Don’t think so.”

“What do you mean, “Don’t think so?” ”

“Well, you’re not fifty yet, so…”

“No, but close enough. I’ve been thinking that I should really give it go before I really hit middle age and in 18 months that’ll be it according to you. Hit fifty and the boat will have sailed.”

“Not exactly, but don’t you think it’s really for kids?”

“Hey, don’t you worry about me. I’m down with the kids.”

“Of course you are. So down.”

what it is all about

Can you be an obsessive music fan and never have gone to a music festival?  Do you think that most bands are going through the motions when playing live? Have you never been camping and have no idea at all of how to pitch a tent?  How about if you are nearly 50 and never have been to the biggest festival in the world? Is going to the Glastonbury festival something you should do before you hit 50? Would you have preconceived ideas about what it would be like?  Drugs, mud and rock & roll? How about going for the first time and taking your 18 year- old daughter and her best friend? Would you survive?

This is the story of how a 48 year-old went to the Glastonbury Festival in 2010, got lost on the way there, saw some great bands, saw some terrible bands, pitched a tent and got lost on the way home.

Rock and roll. Phew        

Turn Left At The Womble: How a 48 year-old Dad survived his first time at Glastonbury

This all only started off as a diary, a recollection for later times of how I went to Glastonbury festival for the first time in 2010. It ended up as a book... more to follow...