Miguel “Adorn”

I’m going RnB mad at the moment. I’ve quietly over the past couple of years been digging into the current RnB stuff.  People like Drake and Frank Ocean.  And I’ve always got Prince on the go, and a lot of the current stuff seems to nod towards him.  Dug out lots of my old Timbaland productions.  Even been listening to Justin Timberlake (the new album is superb, big widescreen production, great songs).  And this guy Miguel.  An album last year called Kaleidoscope Dream, which manages to be both current RnB and oldschool Prince/Marvin Gaye.  This track is the most obvious Marvin Gaye ‘tribute’ and is quite possibly my favourite vocal performance in years.  I love it when the vocal takes off in the second half of the song

 

Dust

So, drop the needle onto a record. That crackle that you hear, that familiar sound. I was thinking about that today. Well, actually I was being morbid. Thinking about recordings of people who aren’t with us any longer. 

I’ve listened to Otis Redding a million times. But there is so much life and energy in those recordings that I forget he died before I was born. And imagine if he was a relation of yours. Would it be scary or weird to hear him singing at you. Or a comfort?

Anyway, this led me to think about those recordings, dead people’s words, voices, old rooms and equipment caught on tape. Ghosts essentially. And I thought how amazing it is to have those in your house, to listen to, to be inspired and excited by.

Then I thought about putting an old record on and the dusty crackle. That 7″ you bought in 1983 from Beesley Brothers on the corner. Dusty. Dust.

Average dust in our house in the 70s and 80s was mostly human skin and cigarette ash. So that sound on the single could be bits of old family members, old friends and girlfriends or boyfriends. It could be the sneaky Benson and Hedges you puffed on after your mum went to bed. Or  your mum’s ever constant Consulate No2. Tiny particles of the past being drawn to the recordings of ghosts. Past to past.

I freaked myself out a little. Its no wonder I prefer MP3s.

Thinking Of You

A short post dedicated to friend of the blogs Dick Van Dyke.  DVD, thinking of you and yours at this difficult time.  A big blog hug matey.  And some music, some Weller who else?  

xx

 

Merry Christmas!!!

I shall be posting some musical selection boxes, taken from my favourite listening this year later in the week, but I thought I would take five minutes to post a Christmas wish to you all out there. Hope its a great one. Now, excuse me I hear sleighbells….

Squeeze

The BBC documentary about Squeeze from a couple of weeks ago left me really weird. I was moved, I felt sad too and remembered how much I loved Squeeze.

Moved because of the obvious love between Difford and Tilbrook, moved because of the rags to riches and down again elements of their story, but also saddened by the glimpse into another world. The world and music scene they arrived in doesn’t exist anymore. I’m watching X Factor while I’m writing this and I can’t actually see Squeeze in the same world as it.

I also felt a little sad and nostalgic about my own times in bands. There was a time when the musicians I worked with were very much the same sort of people as Difford/Tilbrook, so I kind of felt like I was watching my own story alongside Squeeze’s. Felt like I wanted to be in a band again, and that hasn’t really been that strong a thing for a while.

Here’s a track from Squeeze and it’s from what is now ‘mid period’, 1990 or thereabouts. It was a b-side, but I can’t find the original version on Youtube, so here’s modern Squeeze (with the beard!!) performing Who’s That, which is a recent discovery of mine. Lovely lovely song.

Monday Mover

One of my favourite singles of the 90s, a funky little mover with a skyward chorus. Luscious Jackson were never as big as they could have been but in my house this track gets played on a regular basis. Love love love.

Sunday Soul Time

A little quickie from The Songs That People Sing Kitchen. Herman Griffin & The Boys In The Band “Are You For Me Or Against Me, a lovely soul stroller to soundtrack a big pot of soup for lunch.

Still alive

This has been a bit of a year.  My last post was talking about my wife and dad being in hospital for various reasons.  Well since then – August – they’ve both been back in again.  They’re both still going strong, but I think we’re all fed up of hospitals and ambulances and all a bit exhausted.  Lets just get the rest of the year go by without incident.

I may blog more often soon.  Providing I can work out the new(ish) wordpress behind the scenes.

 

Joe Strummer

It’s been a odd summer.  Actually it’s been pretty crap.  My poor wife ended up in hospital in July and then last week my dad had a heart attack and a pacemaker fitted.  When there has been sun I’ve either been inside a hospital or in a part of the country that is being rained on.  I’ve not really been in blogging mood.  Never really liked blogging the bad stuff.  Sad stuff and headfuck stuff is another matter.  

I managed to miss Joe Strummer’s birthday, which was yesterday.  I’m not the only one by the looks of it, none of the blogs I follow covered it.  Here’s the headfuckery.  Joe would have been 60.

 

60 years old.  Here’s the sad and another headfuck moment.  Joe has been gone a decade this December.

Here’s one of my absolute favourite Joe moments, Johnny Appleseed from the last album released in his lifetime.  He was 48 or 49 when he did this.  I really think he was at a second peak during this period, some of the best music he had made in twenty years.  Happy birthday Joe.  

The Proclaimers

I was quite a fan of The Proclaimers back in the late 80s. I loved the songs, the vocals, the lyrics. They had Dexys connections, and Then I Met You from their Sunshine On Leith album is one of my favourite songs by anybody. But I never followed them, never really heard anything else over the years. Their cover of King Of The Road put me off in a big way, so they went off my radar. They released an album this year called Like Comedy which bought last week and only listened to this morning.

I was in bits in the kitchen to this song this morning, a song that seems to be about being a parent. Now I’ve two kids of my own I felt it, probably more than I would have done before. Fans of Dexys should give this a listen, especially as this track really does soar. Song of the year for me without a doubt.