Count Arthur Strong - BBC TV
Did you see the show? What did you think?
Monday, 8 July 2013
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
IIl considered musical gems
I have been mouthing off about the mainstream music scene, so I thought I would try and be positive and drop in a few gems that appealed to me.
First off is Doyle Bramhall ll, who can name-check more stars than rocket scientist. The name must surely be enough to get you interested, but he's played with Clapton, Elton, Billy Preston and Roger Waters, to name but a few. In addition to playing with the above, his solo work is breathtaking and reminiscent of the late and great Jimi Hendrix. It is raw, immediate rock.
Next up is Yezda Urfa. It sounds like a constellation in the galaxy, but in reality it was a 70's American Prog band. They reference a number of great progressive bands with their Nicey nods to the classical canon, some breathy, Tullian flute, some classic Yessy tube Bass and the keyboard pyrotechnics of Emerson Lake and Palmer. So, ok, the vocals are a bit patchy, but since the majority of their fantastic Debut/Demo, "Boris" is instrumental I wouldn't let that put you off. That this band is largely overlooked in the Prog canon is a scandal.
For something completely different to the above, check out The Shirts. The Shirts were a CBGB band and so it's no coincidence that they sound a bit like Blondie. Try, as a taster, "Laugh and Walk Away". It's just great, three-minute pop. They are still in business apparently.
Then there is Giant Sand. Listen to The Inner Flame. It was a collaboration with the late Rainer Ptacek. It's a very laid back, mesmeric track with a sublime lick.
These all can be found out there. I haven't provided links because, if you cannot be arsed to check them out, then it is not you I am talking to.
First off is Doyle Bramhall ll, who can name-check more stars than rocket scientist. The name must surely be enough to get you interested, but he's played with Clapton, Elton, Billy Preston and Roger Waters, to name but a few. In addition to playing with the above, his solo work is breathtaking and reminiscent of the late and great Jimi Hendrix. It is raw, immediate rock.
Next up is Yezda Urfa. It sounds like a constellation in the galaxy, but in reality it was a 70's American Prog band. They reference a number of great progressive bands with their Nicey nods to the classical canon, some breathy, Tullian flute, some classic Yessy tube Bass and the keyboard pyrotechnics of Emerson Lake and Palmer. So, ok, the vocals are a bit patchy, but since the majority of their fantastic Debut/Demo, "Boris" is instrumental I wouldn't let that put you off. That this band is largely overlooked in the Prog canon is a scandal.
For something completely different to the above, check out The Shirts. The Shirts were a CBGB band and so it's no coincidence that they sound a bit like Blondie. Try, as a taster, "Laugh and Walk Away". It's just great, three-minute pop. They are still in business apparently.
Then there is Giant Sand. Listen to The Inner Flame. It was a collaboration with the late Rainer Ptacek. It's a very laid back, mesmeric track with a sublime lick.
These all can be found out there. I haven't provided links because, if you cannot be arsed to check them out, then it is not you I am talking to.
Monday, 1 July 2013
Listen to an album like it was vinyl
That's it really:- listen to an album like it was vinyl.
It was Christmas 1971/2 and I got given Surf's Up by The Beach Boys. I think that in 1971 I probably had no more than half a dozen albums that had cost full price, most of my collection consisted of bargain-bin stuff. I can't remember how much it actually cost but it is perhaps more relevant to say that it was probably the equivalent of a day's pay. Indeed, it was more than that for me, still a school student who earned about £1.50 on Saturdays.
Bob Harris, on The Old Grey Whistle Test, had been waxing lyrical about it all summer. I liked the Beach Boys and the album sounded as if it had marked the transition from what was essentially a singles band to an album band. Well almost. Remarkably at that point I had never heard Pet Sounds. Well, why should I? It never got played on the radio and I wasn't about to buy up the Beach Boys' back catalogue. I also had no idea about the background or the Smile debacle that sort of spawned Surf's Up. All I knew was that the BBs had done Good Vibrations and that was enough for me.
So, over 42 years later I put it on the turntable. (That's a figure of speech, like, "video".)
It's very uneven, for a start. You'll have to read elsewhere about the history of its making but sufficient to say that Brian Wilson was not a major part of the creative process and it more or less happened around him. Much of the work on the title track (the tapes lifted from a 1967 TV recording) was overdubbed. Wilson's contributions were considered to dark, even for a band that was trying to aquire some hip album credentials.
I remember liking it in total. I put that down to having invested heavily in the product, even if it was a gift. Disney Girls I liked. Student Demonstration Time I did not like. The title track blew - me - awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.
The only more recent equivalent is perhaps Bohemian Rhapsody. It has that kind of operatic, impressionistic feel and is segmented and segued. It shows the amazing partnership of Wilson/Parks at its creative best.
Surf's Up was well received and generally like upon release but did not sell in huge quantities. I believe that is because the Beach Boys fan base did not understand it and the hipsters were snooty about it being the Beach Boys. Nevertheless, in contemporary production terms it was an excellent audio experience.
In many ways it fell between two stools; the fantastic and daring breadth of the title track and at the other end the derivative and doctrinaire Student Demonstration Time. None of the tracks were three minute hits.
It only lasts for 34 minutes. I was a little impatient with it to start with, but the last three tracks - all Brian Wilson songs - still worked for me after all these years. It does not equal Pet Sounds but it shows that, had the internal politics of the band been healthier, The Beach Boys could have been a lot more respected as an entity, rather than simply a backing band for Brian.
Rating then: 4/5
Now: 3/5
So, over to you. Listen to an album like it was vinyl and get back to me!
It was Christmas 1971/2 and I got given Surf's Up by The Beach Boys. I think that in 1971 I probably had no more than half a dozen albums that had cost full price, most of my collection consisted of bargain-bin stuff. I can't remember how much it actually cost but it is perhaps more relevant to say that it was probably the equivalent of a day's pay. Indeed, it was more than that for me, still a school student who earned about £1.50 on Saturdays.
Bob Harris, on The Old Grey Whistle Test, had been waxing lyrical about it all summer. I liked the Beach Boys and the album sounded as if it had marked the transition from what was essentially a singles band to an album band. Well almost. Remarkably at that point I had never heard Pet Sounds. Well, why should I? It never got played on the radio and I wasn't about to buy up the Beach Boys' back catalogue. I also had no idea about the background or the Smile debacle that sort of spawned Surf's Up. All I knew was that the BBs had done Good Vibrations and that was enough for me.
So, over 42 years later I put it on the turntable. (That's a figure of speech, like, "video".)
It's very uneven, for a start. You'll have to read elsewhere about the history of its making but sufficient to say that Brian Wilson was not a major part of the creative process and it more or less happened around him. Much of the work on the title track (the tapes lifted from a 1967 TV recording) was overdubbed. Wilson's contributions were considered to dark, even for a band that was trying to aquire some hip album credentials.
I remember liking it in total. I put that down to having invested heavily in the product, even if it was a gift. Disney Girls I liked. Student Demonstration Time I did not like. The title track blew - me - awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.
The only more recent equivalent is perhaps Bohemian Rhapsody. It has that kind of operatic, impressionistic feel and is segmented and segued. It shows the amazing partnership of Wilson/Parks at its creative best.
Surf's Up was well received and generally like upon release but did not sell in huge quantities. I believe that is because the Beach Boys fan base did not understand it and the hipsters were snooty about it being the Beach Boys. Nevertheless, in contemporary production terms it was an excellent audio experience.
In many ways it fell between two stools; the fantastic and daring breadth of the title track and at the other end the derivative and doctrinaire Student Demonstration Time. None of the tracks were three minute hits.
It only lasts for 34 minutes. I was a little impatient with it to start with, but the last three tracks - all Brian Wilson songs - still worked for me after all these years. It does not equal Pet Sounds but it shows that, had the internal politics of the band been healthier, The Beach Boys could have been a lot more respected as an entity, rather than simply a backing band for Brian.
Rating then: 4/5
Now: 3/5
So, over to you. Listen to an album like it was vinyl and get back to me!
Sunday, 30 June 2013
England's green and peasant land
It should have been a strawberries and cream weekend; the Stones play Glastonbury, Lewis was on pole and an English girl makes it through to the second week of Wimbledon.
Now, I have to be honest here and risk losing readers, but firstly I have never rated Elvis or The Rolling Stones. Shortly before their virgin appearance at Pilton I listened to Paul Gambaccini's radio 2 show where he featured all the original versions of the records that the Stones covered in the early days - "You'd Better Move On", "It's All Over Now", etc. Without exception, every one of them was better than the insipid renditions by a band who for me have never really lifted themselves out of the pub circuit. (As for Elvis, just listen to "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog" by Big Mama Thornton and you may agree)
The internet was abuzz with opinions about the Stones' performance. Many of them agreed with me, even the die hard fans were not impressed and, horror of horrors, some people made dark suggestions that that Keef and Ronnie were being musically "augmented" by other musicians from behind a curtain.
Mick himself kind of croaked his way through the songs. Having personal experience of old rockers who still think they can sing when they reach their fifties, sixties and seventies, I would just say that Rock and Roll is a game for kids. Best leave the business or die young.
I have yet to watch the British Grand Prix, but poor Lewis appears to have had a mishap with tyres. Pirelli are clearly not flavour of the month down in the paddock.
Elsewhere, people have been lining the streets of our Isles to celebrate the contribution of our armed forces to our security and well-being. I salute them. We live freely because, freely, they gave.
So this weekend there have been a lot of bank clerks and council workers donning wellies and seeking nirvana. Of course, on Monday, having been "in touch" with their "real selves" in a field in Somerset, they will be back, making their contribution to the shittyness of our lives.
Now, I have to be honest here and risk losing readers, but firstly I have never rated Elvis or The Rolling Stones. Shortly before their virgin appearance at Pilton I listened to Paul Gambaccini's radio 2 show where he featured all the original versions of the records that the Stones covered in the early days - "You'd Better Move On", "It's All Over Now", etc. Without exception, every one of them was better than the insipid renditions by a band who for me have never really lifted themselves out of the pub circuit. (As for Elvis, just listen to "You Ain't Nothin' But a Hound Dog" by Big Mama Thornton and you may agree)
The internet was abuzz with opinions about the Stones' performance. Many of them agreed with me, even the die hard fans were not impressed and, horror of horrors, some people made dark suggestions that that Keef and Ronnie were being musically "augmented" by other musicians from behind a curtain.
Mick himself kind of croaked his way through the songs. Having personal experience of old rockers who still think they can sing when they reach their fifties, sixties and seventies, I would just say that Rock and Roll is a game for kids. Best leave the business or die young.
I have yet to watch the British Grand Prix, but poor Lewis appears to have had a mishap with tyres. Pirelli are clearly not flavour of the month down in the paddock.
Elsewhere, people have been lining the streets of our Isles to celebrate the contribution of our armed forces to our security and well-being. I salute them. We live freely because, freely, they gave.
So this weekend there have been a lot of bank clerks and council workers donning wellies and seeking nirvana. Of course, on Monday, having been "in touch" with their "real selves" in a field in Somerset, they will be back, making their contribution to the shittyness of our lives.
Tuesday, 25 June 2013
Lizards lose Control
Last time, I wrote about the Bilderberg Group and their probable complicity in the saga that is the European Community. In the past week I have been surprised by the amount of time spent by very powerful people on trying to reel in one Edward Snowden. Snowden appears to be a mega whistle blower whose revelations have made uncomfortable but not really surprising reading. Governments are bidding for this guy. Presidents are talking about him. He's not only made the shit hit the fan, the fan has disintegrated, along with the effluent, and turned into an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.
As I write, the news wires are abuzz with speculation on his whereabouts. And let's not forget that Julian Assange has a permanent surveillance cum swat team that is waiting to get him when he leaves the Embassy of Equador - currently the number one destination for the disaffected and traitorous.
In other news I read a fascinating article about Bitcoins. Now, I don't know much about Bitcoins, but they are a sort of cyber currency that is supra national and impervious to political control. This last fact is worrying the world financial institutions. I bet it is.
And of course there is pornography. The idea that governments are seeking to control something that has been scrawled on walls since pre-historic times, by curbing its presence on the www is absurd. It won't work and, why should it? What, after all is porn? Looking at naked bodies? Looking at a collection of pixels arranged in a certain way? What is intrinsically wrong about being titillated by sex? I thought that is what it is supposed to do. Perhaps the answers goes a lot deeper and has something in common with the way in which others seek to restrict what we can and cannot know.
Over all, we live in an era of extreme censorship and proscription. I cannot step out of the current narrow orthodoxy without risk to my freedom.
All this must be obvious to you. But have you any idea where this Spanish Inquisition is headed? It cannot carry on because by its own terms of reference, it will end up locking everybody up. It has even created a special category of crime, called a "hate crime". What I want to know is, since when has violence against another individual not been in part due to hatred? Personally I resent the idea that, because I am white, straight and male, if someone beats me to a pulp, the value of my injuries is somehow mitigated by my falling outside the remit for "hate". I suppose it means that sooner or later they will run out of white straight males to blame for all the ills of the world because we are all on disability benefit or dead. In Scotland, the principle of corroboration in legal cases is being abolished by the SNP after hundreds of years and with the almost unanimous opposition of Scottish lawyers. The reasons for this are, again, very telling. It is to appease the rape activists. It's a liars charter - and it is not as if false accusations of rape are unheard of. It will result in innocent men being convicted on the word of a women who wants revenge. (Not an uncommon concept).
Hope lies in the mess that the world elites are in. It is a mess of their own making; there's a former Italian PM who has finally been nailed, like Al Capone for various misdemeanors. Berlusconi has spent years playing the Italian legal system like a Stradivarious. There have been years of a blind refusal to understand the implications of Islam on Western Culture and the damage that is already done. We are committed to foreign wars that defy a rational explanation of our involvement. So much so that our own Government was complicit in lying to Parliament and lying to the British people in order to "justify" their war.
Most commentators do not think the Euro will survive for much longer. It is the mainstay of the failed Euro Odyssey, which is kept alive by political will and subterfuge.
Our Empire, once kept at arms length, is now so dismissive and scathing about our former Colonial power, is intent upon traveling, by any means possible, to join us here in Britain. Yes, we are so hated by the rest of the world, especially places like Pakistan and Somalia, that their people are flocking to this country.
And so on, but you get the picture.
It comes down to something I have said for years, over and over. Political Correctness, and its ever decreasing frame of logic, will eat itself. It cannot do otherwise because it is inherently nihilistic and intellectually deceitful.
The world elites depend upon keeping the rest of us at arms length, preferably in the dark but always, always under observance. History shows us that at times when the ruling bodies feared for their own position there was usually a repressive backlash of some kind, often accompanied with state-sponsored violence. But today the main way they control the narrative is to do just that; i.e. make it impossible, in Orwellian terms, to articulate opposition without being accused of one "ism" or "phobia" or other. I suggest you read Paulo Freire on that score, in his book, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. In other words we are being controlled on the level of public discourse, to such an extent that it is virtually impossible to articulate a concept that is outwith the current orthodoxy.
Right now, one power base is competing with another for a prize, one lone maverick spy. They are fighting like cats in a cage over the last piece of meat. The spectacle of three major powers arguing over one individual is so supremely ironic and tells us a lot about the sense of entitlement and consequent outrage of an oligarchy who can no longer guarantee to control the agenda.
As I write, the news wires are abuzz with speculation on his whereabouts. And let's not forget that Julian Assange has a permanent surveillance cum swat team that is waiting to get him when he leaves the Embassy of Equador - currently the number one destination for the disaffected and traitorous.
In other news I read a fascinating article about Bitcoins. Now, I don't know much about Bitcoins, but they are a sort of cyber currency that is supra national and impervious to political control. This last fact is worrying the world financial institutions. I bet it is.
And of course there is pornography. The idea that governments are seeking to control something that has been scrawled on walls since pre-historic times, by curbing its presence on the www is absurd. It won't work and, why should it? What, after all is porn? Looking at naked bodies? Looking at a collection of pixels arranged in a certain way? What is intrinsically wrong about being titillated by sex? I thought that is what it is supposed to do. Perhaps the answers goes a lot deeper and has something in common with the way in which others seek to restrict what we can and cannot know.
Over all, we live in an era of extreme censorship and proscription. I cannot step out of the current narrow orthodoxy without risk to my freedom.
All this must be obvious to you. But have you any idea where this Spanish Inquisition is headed? It cannot carry on because by its own terms of reference, it will end up locking everybody up. It has even created a special category of crime, called a "hate crime". What I want to know is, since when has violence against another individual not been in part due to hatred? Personally I resent the idea that, because I am white, straight and male, if someone beats me to a pulp, the value of my injuries is somehow mitigated by my falling outside the remit for "hate". I suppose it means that sooner or later they will run out of white straight males to blame for all the ills of the world because we are all on disability benefit or dead. In Scotland, the principle of corroboration in legal cases is being abolished by the SNP after hundreds of years and with the almost unanimous opposition of Scottish lawyers. The reasons for this are, again, very telling. It is to appease the rape activists. It's a liars charter - and it is not as if false accusations of rape are unheard of. It will result in innocent men being convicted on the word of a women who wants revenge. (Not an uncommon concept).
Hope lies in the mess that the world elites are in. It is a mess of their own making; there's a former Italian PM who has finally been nailed, like Al Capone for various misdemeanors. Berlusconi has spent years playing the Italian legal system like a Stradivarious. There have been years of a blind refusal to understand the implications of Islam on Western Culture and the damage that is already done. We are committed to foreign wars that defy a rational explanation of our involvement. So much so that our own Government was complicit in lying to Parliament and lying to the British people in order to "justify" their war.
Most commentators do not think the Euro will survive for much longer. It is the mainstay of the failed Euro Odyssey, which is kept alive by political will and subterfuge.
Our Empire, once kept at arms length, is now so dismissive and scathing about our former Colonial power, is intent upon traveling, by any means possible, to join us here in Britain. Yes, we are so hated by the rest of the world, especially places like Pakistan and Somalia, that their people are flocking to this country.
And so on, but you get the picture.
It comes down to something I have said for years, over and over. Political Correctness, and its ever decreasing frame of logic, will eat itself. It cannot do otherwise because it is inherently nihilistic and intellectually deceitful.
The world elites depend upon keeping the rest of us at arms length, preferably in the dark but always, always under observance. History shows us that at times when the ruling bodies feared for their own position there was usually a repressive backlash of some kind, often accompanied with state-sponsored violence. But today the main way they control the narrative is to do just that; i.e. make it impossible, in Orwellian terms, to articulate opposition without being accused of one "ism" or "phobia" or other. I suggest you read Paulo Freire on that score, in his book, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. In other words we are being controlled on the level of public discourse, to such an extent that it is virtually impossible to articulate a concept that is outwith the current orthodoxy.
Right now, one power base is competing with another for a prize, one lone maverick spy. They are fighting like cats in a cage over the last piece of meat. The spectacle of three major powers arguing over one individual is so supremely ironic and tells us a lot about the sense of entitlement and consequent outrage of an oligarchy who can no longer guarantee to control the agenda.
Monday, 10 June 2013
Lizards in Watford
If there is one thing that has come out of the fuss over the meeting of the Bilderberg group this week (in Watford of all places) it is that conspiracy theories make money for their proponents. David Icke has been doing the rounds, as has his American counterpart, Alex Jones, who claims a radio listenership in millions.
Curiously enough the Bilderbergers are in a kind of conspiracy but it is a fairly obvious one; the creation of a European Superstate, with the connivance of the USA.
That is their agenda. Simply take a look at the massively pro-European Union guest list. There is also no doubt that their intentions are to by-pass democracy, something that they have already had a lot of success with. So there is no really secret agenda, it is bloody obvious to anybody who cares to look at the credentials of Bilderberg delegates and their complicity in furthering the aims of the EU.
I have a lot of time for the idea that important people can meet outwith the glare of publicity. That way they can think the unthinkable and speak the unspeakable. However, those involved are there by virtue of their public office and as such are duty bound, or at least honor bound, to serve us, the people. And I don't think they give much thought to that, either.
Curiously enough the Bilderbergers are in a kind of conspiracy but it is a fairly obvious one; the creation of a European Superstate, with the connivance of the USA.
That is their agenda. Simply take a look at the massively pro-European Union guest list. There is also no doubt that their intentions are to by-pass democracy, something that they have already had a lot of success with. So there is no really secret agenda, it is bloody obvious to anybody who cares to look at the credentials of Bilderberg delegates and their complicity in furthering the aims of the EU.
I have a lot of time for the idea that important people can meet outwith the glare of publicity. That way they can think the unthinkable and speak the unspeakable. However, those involved are there by virtue of their public office and as such are duty bound, or at least honor bound, to serve us, the people. And I don't think they give much thought to that, either.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Though the show was a little uneven - I don't think Barry Cryer added anything to it particularly (His contribution somehow jarred with the internal "reality" of the show), but the cafe scenes were remarkable and very, very funny. It's full of some cleverly devised visual and verbal humour and references all sorts (I won't spoil it for you by giving the gags away.)
I think the character of Count Arthur Strong, as seen elsewhere, suffered from being on stage, naked, as it were. His stand-up stage act was a kind of slow motion car crash of ineptitude. He really needed a context; something to ground him in some sort of reality so that the slower viewers among us could get a handle on it.
Thankfully, the context created by Graham Linehan hits the spot. Like his illustrious progeny "Father Ted", CAS works because the characters are likeable and endearing. The comedy business is priceless; the "two teas" bit - just one of many running gags, puts it up there with Father Ted. The "Heineken Manoeuvre" will get played over and over on You Tube. The killer visual gag is priceless.
It kind of makes sense to me now. Some may not agree, but this is going to be up there with the greats.