18/12/16 - In the old days, every sliced loaf would have one thick crust and one thin crust - both delicious in their own way. Nowadays they seem to have evened them out, which is a shame.
10/12/16 - I swear by wood glue as a way of cleaning records. Back in the 1980s I lived in a very damp flat in Dagenham, which left specks of black mould on the playing surface on a lot of my records. PVA lifts it straight off.
2/12/16 - From a food company set up by a rich person, which has since gone tits-up. He's now turned his attention to immigration, naturally, which brings to mind Michael Rosen's poem, Fascism: I sometimes fear... :
I sometimes fear that people think that fascism arrives in fancy dress worn by grotesques and monsters as played out in endless re-runs of the Nazis.
Fascism arrives as your friend. It will restore your honour, make you feel proud, protect your house, give you a job, clean up the neighbourhood, remind you of how great you once were, clear out the venal and the corrupt, remove anything you feel is unlike you...
It doesn't walk in saying, "Our programme means militias, mass imprisonments, transportations, war and persecution."
A couple of months ago, I was listening to the Origin Story podcast on 'Woke'. Whilst they were talking about the origins of the term, I said to myself, "I bet they won't mention Erykah Badu" - just as they mentioned Erykah Badu.
As it turns out, she's on the Woke Wikipedia entry as one of the first documenters of the term.
All her albums are superb, and this one is no exception.
I remain a proud member of the tofu eating wokerati, and am proud to say that I deleted my WhatsApp account this morning, as part of the un-zucking of my life.
2019 was a great year for jazz. I spent a fortune on tunes.
Right before everything went to shit with COVID, Kassa Overall released his Go Get Ice Cream and Listen To Jazz LP. This really spoke to me, as it was only a year or so after I'd quite drinking, and had filled the void with ice cream (frequently shovelled down whilst listening to jazz).
I'd eagerly anticipated his next proper album, Animals, which came out in 2023, and it arrived in the post on the day I came down with my first blast of the virus. It sat in the kitchen table, unplayed, for months.
I'd lost the ability to enjoy music.
Now, I'd been obsessed with music my whole life, and it had gone. I stopped playing records, I stopped buying records. For about a year - nothing. It was like the virus had erased that part of my brain. (In the spirit of every cloud having a silver lining, it saved me a fortune).
It's only been recently that it's started creeping back into my life, and this process of documenting my listens is now part of that.
I'm glad it's back and I'm glad
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2019 was a great year for jazz. I spent a fortune on tunes.
Right before everything went to shit with COVID, Kassa Overall released his Go Get Ice Cream and Listen To Jazz LP. This really spoke to me, as it was only a year or so after I'd quite drinking, and had filled the void with ice cream (frequently shovelled down whilst listening to jazz).
I'd eagerly anticipated his next proper album, Animals, which came out in 2023, and it arrived in the post on the day I came down with my first blast of the virus. It sat in the kitchen table, unplayed, for months.
I'd lost the ability to enjoy music.
Now, I'd been obsessed with music my whole life, and it had gone. I stopped playing records, I stopped buying records. For about a year - nothing. It was like the virus had erased that part of my brain. (In the spirit of every cloud having a silver lining, it saved me a fortune).
It's only been recently that it's started creeping back into my life, and this process of documenting my listens is now part of that.
I'm glad it's back and I'm glad I've finally been able to wrap my ears around this excellent blend of jazz, hip hop and electronica. Overall is an original and very creative drummer, and I envy his chops greatly.
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.
I listened to the icecream album this morning on the train and walk to work. It was so good. So good I didn't want to take my headphones off when I arrived. Ta 🙌 *adds to want list.
I'm a massive Stevie Wonder enthusiast. When he was at the top of his game, he was one of the most gifted musicians and songwriters ever to exist.
This LP comes smack bang in the middle of what is widely considered to be his creative peak.
Every time I listen to it, it leaves me flabbergasted at how one person can produce such beautiful, thoughtful work, where the same music can be enjoyed on a superficial, singalong level or can leave me breathless with its beauty and complexity.
There's a decent podcast covering this part of Wonder's career, The Wonder of Stevie, which is well worth checking out. mgln.ai/e/1334/rss.art19.com/e…
In about 1985, my mate Tim and me went off to the 100 Club to watch Phil Guy & Jimmy Dawkins. This remains one of the best gigs I've ever been to.
As a result of that I picked up this LP when I saw it for sale (in Our Price Records in Romford, I reckon, which rather oddly had a decent #blues section.)
Dawkins' guitar tone is class - I'm a sucker for an ES-335 - his playing is never fancy, but always delightful.
26/11/16 - Our cat, Mindy, was a stone-cold killer. We would regularly get up to find parts of rodents or skinks in the bathroom. Just like in this picture. Mindy's old now, and stays out of the way in the shed, away from the dogs, who get on her tits.
25/11/16 - A picture of Lily, pillow in hand, leaving for Schoolies. For those not familiar with this Australian cultural milestone, Schoolies is when the 18 year olds who are about to leave school, go to a (usually) seaside town and wreak havoc, get pregnant, take drugs, drink until they are sick etc.
17/11/16 - Looks like we went to what was the best banh mi shop in the western suburbs, I had a bit of a read and then down the Largs Pier Hotel with the kids.
In light of this post, I popped into Thanh Long on my way back from parkrun yesterday to pick up a banh mi breakfast. Still delicious. Has had a vegan tofu roll on the menu for a couple of years.
15/11/16 - Living where we live means we get to have cacti and succulents in abundance in our garden. I even have a stubborn thorn in my finger as I type. Their flowers are always spectacular.
15/11/16 - I must've received an order of 7" singles in the post. This, Ruby Andrews' original version of Casanova, is a great little record. Ruby Andrews is one of those singers who only seem to get some love from the Northern scene, largely because of Just Loving You.
I picked up a load of Jimmy Castor Bunch LPs in the mid-80s in a second hand record shop and have always found his acid-funk work enthralling, even though a good 50% of his LPs are just unlistenable MOR cover versions.
This single used to get spun at acid jazz dos. It's a cracker.
Tinselwig
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