Category Particular platters
WE LOVE BEACHES
Australia. More stunning coastline than any country in the world, most of it uninhabited. Two thirds of the population live within striking distance of an ocean or bay. The result? Most people can swim, a summer holiday simply must involve sun, sand, and fish and chips, plus we have the highest rate of skin cancer […]
THE RINGWRAITHS RIDE IN BLACK
Peter Jackson’s famous films were not the first cinematic journeys into Middle Earth. American animator Ralph Bakshi visited back in 1978 with rather mixed results. Clearly holding the J.R.R. Tolkien books in high esteem, Bakshi adopted such a respectful approach to the epic fantasy that the result is, despite the adventurous content, quite slow-moving and […]
CIMMERIAN CLASSIC
Prior to an overseas trip in the early nineties, I hosted a Book Party. The goals were threefold: to reduce the amount of stuff I needed to put into storage, see people for a farewell drink and chat, and perhaps raise a few shekels for the travel fund. So I put the word out, mentioning […]
GOOD VIBRATIONS
We’ve spent quite a lot of time in 1967 recently. (Running tally here) Time to pogo forward ten years to 1977 and one of the ‘first wave’ punk bands, The Vibrators. Pure Mania was released in June 1977 Is it ‘true’ punk? There is some debate amongst sad (now middle-aged) former punks as to whether […]
VERITIES AND BALDERDASH
Back in the seventies I listened to quite a few singer-songwriters as I made a feeble attempt to be one myself. Wrote a few tunes, performed at a few threadbare church-connected coffee shops, gave it away (both the church part and the songwriting). But along the way, I listened to some artists who really were […]
HE’S BEHIND YOU!!!
Disconsolate piano notes descend in a maudlin trickle; the guitar squawks like a tortured chicken. Then the band hits a catchy riff, though it’s not the spine of the song. The central nervous system is a four chord descending figure in counterpoint to a rising vocal line. The music is powerfully rocking, the words gloomily nihilistic, […]
COME AND GO BLUES
Back then, Brothers and Sisters was a notable purchase: a new record, still on the charts. What led to this profligate expenditure? Perhaps the infectious boogie of the radio single “Rambling Man” demanded more frequent playing than AM radio offered; doubtless hearing the instrumental “Jessica” on 3XY’s Sunday night Album Show fanned desire. A late […]
BIRDS OF PARADISE
Browsing the ‘Cover Pairs’ posts for the compilation/deletion project, I came across SEABIRD [COVER POST #37]. Having written on Chick Corea’s Return to Forever—my first ECM album and a record that still brings great enjoyment—it’s time to tell you about a favourite feel-good album, Paradise Volume One by Australian composer/musician John Sangster. Now Mr Sangster […]
10 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT PAN
1 Pan is the Greek god of Nature, of untrammelled wilds and rustic settings. He is the player of music, the companion of nymphs, the patron of shepherd and flocks, and a bit of a lad with the ladies. Goat from the waist down, crowned with curling horns, it is sometimes written that Pan is […]
WORLDS IN A MAGICIAN’S HAT
Yesterday I ran a beginner’s dungeon for a group of children between the ages of 11 and 15 (plus an embedded 50-something). Today I’m recovering. The convalescent state rekindled a process of memory-mining around my introduction to the prince of all role-playing games, an excavation that began last year when I read David M. Ewalt’s […]
SPIRITS IN THE SKY
Having received polite encouragement to pursue the ‘Curiosity Corner’ series from indulgent readers, I rushed off to compile a list of candidates, pulling out LPs and CDs with butterfly abandon. I thought about the 1956 Folkways album, Folk Music of Jamaica, then jumped to the recent haul of library records and the battered Heavy Rock […]
SPIRIT OF PEACE
There was a poster I recall seeing many years ago that captured those difficult times with insight and humour. It came to mind this week. The quote is variously attributed to Ashleigh Brilliant, Aunty Acid, Jennifer Yane and Author Unknown. I reckon it’s Brilliant. As one does in trying times, I turned to music. Something […]
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