Something Different

I Can Hear Your Heart by Aidan John Moffat is a curious beast. It contains a short story which you are invited to read first, then listen to the CD from track 2. (track 1 tells you to go and read the story). The tracks that unfold tell the tale of a fumbling Glaswegian love story, fueled by illicit lust and desire - these are of course the best type of love stories. There is a mix of spoken word, fuzzy orchestral pieces, and insane but hilarious phone calls, short songs, a couple of covers and finally an extended vignette to complete the tale. None of the tracks are particularly great, the short story is ok and the covers are definitely not for the squeamish - as you will hear.

But......as a whole it really works and I keep coming back to it and losing myself in the world it conjures. I like the way the language is both offensive and curiously erotic, and whilst the CD is clearly labelled ADULTS ONLY I suspect this is as much to do with the subject matter as the language. In other words it probably only appeals to those who have experienced the infidelity, misplaced lust and hungover shame that the album evokes. (Obviously I have lived a saintly life so have to call upon my imaginative powers to fully dig it!)

I know that part of my affection for this lies in the dialect. I do enjoy the way the English language is adapted in so many ways and as I am Scottish myself can appreciate (and understand) Moffat's Falkirk brogue. The two tracks below give a flavour of the piece, and even though many will shudder, I always like to hear Springsteen covers.

Enjoy

Aidan John Moffat - Good Morning
Aidan John Moffat - Hungry Heart

The bit at the side says I'll sometimes talk about books, so here is the first one. In the real world I teach young people the joys of English and as such have developed a keen interest in books aimed at teenagers. The curious thing is that we live in a time when some of the best books being published happen to fall into this category and the work of Patrick Ness falls into this category.

The Knife Of Never Letting Go appeared last year and the premise intriqued me. A boy on the cusp of manhood lives in an all male community. Unfortunately everyone can hear everyone else's thoughts all the time, including animals, such as his dog. This is obviously very annoying and so he likes to stroll away from the community, down by the river. One day he encounters something he has never experienced before - a block of silence. He follows this strange silence and finds something else he has never seen before - a girl. This encounter is about to transform everything in his life and the story that then unravels is incredibly powerful, exciting and violent. I reached the final page desperate to know what happens next but have had to wait a whole year for the second book.

The Ask and The Answer appeared this summer and is equally brilliant. It's hard to tell you much about this one unless you have read the first book. Suffice to say terrorism, torture, space ships and radical feminist politics all make an appearance. If you read book 1 you will definitely want to read the sequel. The ideas thrown up by these books are not just for teenagers, so please treat yourself and try them. Unfortunately I now have to wait another year for the concluding book to appear. If anyone knows Mr Ness, tell him to get a move on!

Buy the books here....

The Knife Of Never Letting Go

The Ask and The Answer

My New New Favourite Band - Sort of......

Saturday evening, pre - X-Factor. I thought I would atone for the sin of enjoying such nonsense by posting some new music which may also help save lives - yes really! This clever achievement stems from the work of the rather wonderful Neil Finn and his 7 Worlds Collide project. Titled from one of my fave Crowded House songs, Distant Sun, this is essentially a charity album for Oxfam. However whereas many such releases can be filed as worthy-but not-that-exciting-in-a-musical-sense this album, The Sun Came Out, stands out because a) it features a stellar cast and b) they seem to have pooled some great songs rather than some throwaways. Led by Mr N Finn, Johnny Marr, Jeff Tweedy, Tim Finn, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway, KT Tunstall and others gathered in New Zealand and spent a few days making tracks in various combinations and it was clearly one of those parties you wish you'd been invited to but lacked the necessary street cred/contacts/footwear/alcohol/drugs. (There are so many reasons not to invite me to a party)

Over the past few weeks songs from the album have popped up on my ipod and every time I've thought 'oh this is good what is it?' and upon checking discover it is another cracking tune from 7 Worlds Collide. I've yet to have lived with it long enough to fully describe all its wonders but two tracks stand out so far. The opening ' Too Blue' is a Johnny Marr/Jeff Tweedy composition and sets the standard for the rest to match. Further into disc 1 (yes - it's a double!) is a weird but lovely song from Lisa Germano, with backing vocals from nearly everyone else involved.

So, highly recommended and your money will go to the good people at Oxfam to spend on those who need it a lot more than anyone who has the technology to read this blog could possibly realise.

And remember....these mp3s are from a charity record...so donate!

7 Worlds Collide - Too Blue
7 Worlds Collide - Reptile

Happy Birthday Bruce!

My love of Bruce Springsteen is the closest thing I have to faith in my life and the great man is 60 today. There will inevitably be further posts here about Bruce and I'm always keen to welcome others onto the path of righteousness. For those who have already heard the good news here is an early version of one of the all time greatest ever singles. Hallelujah!

Happy Birthday Bruce!

Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run (Alternate Version)

Contrast Podcast - Random Week

The inspiration behind this blog comes from the wonderful Contrast Podcast, and all the amazing blogs that the regular contributors offer the world. I adore the CP because it offers some stuff I know and love, stuff that's new and loads of stuff that leads me elsewhere. I shall be recommending Mr CP, Tim Young, for some kind of honour when I next meet Her Majesty. This week was random week and you will be able to hear my offering if you download episode 182. However, I thought I'd post from one of the three CDs that didn't make it. Not 'Dance Craze Fever' or Randy Newman's 'Lonely At the Top', but instead 2 tracks from The Avalanches.

When it first appeared the album Since I Left You was a critics' smasheroonie and it does still sound good today - 8 YEARS LATER!!! Doesn't time fly. We still wait for the follow up, although there have been various releases on the internet, often via their site here. There was a great version of Wham's 'A Ray of Sunshine' a while back that I may post another time. I think the album was made up entirely of samples, and vaguely recall that there exists an original version containing samples they couldn't get clearance for - perhaps another lost/mythical album that will appear one day. I suspect that loads of people have this album but haven't played it for a while. Here's a refresher.......

Since I Left You - The Avalanches

Frontier Psychiatrist - The Avalanches

My New New Favourite Band

Like everyone else in blogland I keep finding new bands I suddenly love (until everyone else loves them and they win a Brit and they are no longer cool) and a few months ago I came across a track that rocked my world. Not enough bands wear their love of ABBA ,(and ELO, Donna Summer and The Glitter Band) on their sleeves, but this lot seem to have it tattooed across their foreheads like a big pop lighthouse (apologies for that - it's Sunday night). It seems that Music Go Music are on the cusp of beoming very familiar so it won't be hard to find out a lot more on other parts of the interweb. The album Expressions is out soon so all the cool people already have their promo copies. I shall be content with saving my pennies until it 'hits the racks'.

Look out for more of my new favourite bands...............For now, here are two lovely tracks to share with you all.

Music Go Music - Light of Love

Music Go Music - Warm In The Shadows

FINALLY FRIDAY

The end of another working week, bottle of red calling, Series 5 of The Wire ready to roll and Derren Brown later tonight. Time to spend a few minutes sharing something with the world. Many moons ago The Boomtown Rats released their great single 'I Don't Like Mondays', Being young I only had enough money that Saturday to buy one single...or to buy a Mother's Day present! I am still ashamed to say that Mum was disappointed the next morning but it was a really good record. Anyway, a few months later I was able to buy my first ever LP and it was the Rats'. Not Tonic For The Troops, but the underrated and often overlooked follow up the fine art of surfacing (note lack of capital letters). Reissued not long ago it still sounds terrific. Yeah, we all know the Rats were never quite convincing as punks, and not quite hip enough to be really cool new-wavers but as a power pop, occasional Springsteen wannabes type band they did ok. And 'I Don't Like Mondays' was their second classic number one single. A few years ago I met a guy who used to drive bands on their tours around Europe. He told me he had travelled with dozens of rock stars but the best bloke he ever took was Bob Geldof who, it transpired, was one of the few who treated the driver with respect and used to come for a chat as they rolled back the miles.

So a couple of tracks for your listening pleasure, the second of which has one of my favourite guitar solos. Have a great weekend everyone!

The Boomtown Rats - Diamond Smiles
The Boomtown Rats - Having My Picture Taken

First mp3 post

As this is my first mp3 post it is still a bit of a test. But what better way to test than with a track the whole world should hear. Taken from the wonderful The Ugly People Vs The Beautiful People, this track has beautiful guitars, layers of harmony and a melody to soothe and entrance.

Proven to work on sleepless children, this is dedicated to new parents everywhere.

The Czars - Lullaby 6000

It took a while but.....

Right.....2 years later and I've finally.....I think....worked it out. maybe this blog might work after all!