"Without a word, each man collected a handful of thin children, who followed obediently, like reverential shadows."
He Locked The Door That Lay Behind His Eyes
"He locked the door that lay behind his eyes and walked away, leaving the body, the plaster dust, the flask of cold tea, and the angry gaffer behind."
Note: Listened to the Steve Albini tribute mix on Mary Anne Hobbs' show :-(
LINK: When do we stop finding new music?
Read this recently and am glad I am bucking the trend. For sure, hearing music from my teenage years (Throwing Muses, Belly, Sonic Youth, Dead Kennedy’s, and Senser are just a few) imparts a deep emotional response, but newer stuff is also doing similar: I remember exactly where I was when I first heard Self Esteem’s I Do This All The Time; I was running and listening to ChillDaBeats.
Someone in the comments talks about a truly wonderful thing they do with their friends where they have to put together a top ten of their favourite tracks from the current year. I have no friends, but collating my favourite tracks from the current year* and therefore actively listening to music from the current year, well, I’m up to three hours and six minutes of songs from this year already and I wish I’d started doing this before 2021.
* - Since I count songs on albums released in the current year some of the songs have often also been released as singles the previous year, but it’s still newer than the 90s.
He Poured Her A Phosphorescent Glass Of Diluting Juice
"He poured her a phosphorescent glass of diluting juice, but she held her hand out in refusal."
I should probably try to find something else to post beyond quotes. I have got through all my books now though so will run out soon.
This was a really good read.
Our Nurses Are Now The Truest Practitioners Of The Healing Art
"Our nurses are now the truest practitioners of the healing art. If every Scottish, Welsh and English doctor and surgeon dropped suddenly dead, eighty percent of those admitted to our hospitals would recover if the nursing continued."
Probably some truth to that.
Note: Oh, what a surprise, Labour too with that last note
Note: Fuck the UK/England/Tories: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68848046
Who Use Religions And Politics To Stay Comfortably Superior To All That Pain
"I clenched my teeth and fists to stop them biting and scratching these clever men who want no care for the helpless sick small, who use religions and politics to stay comfortably superior to all that pain: who make religions and politics, excuses to spread misery with fire and sword and how could I stop all this?"
(But also sadly now labour too).
Note: RAINBOWS totally makes Dead Pony's IGNORE THIS album for me. Superb track.
When Many Free Men Are Begging For Work
"Modern industry finds it cheaper to hire hands for days or weeks - when not needed they are free to beg work from other masters. When many free men are begging for work the masters are free to lower wages."
Written before zero-hour contracts were a thing.
I Feared He Was Trying To Smother Himself
"For a moment I feared he was trying to smother himself, then muffler eruptions showed he was using it to absorb glandular evacuations."
The only comical and descriptive bit of prose I’m including. The rest is all political.
We Must Spend Some Time Apart To Stop Us Going Stale
"How lovely, God, to waken all alone, and bath and dress alone, and eat alone. When we get married Candle, we must spend some time apart to stop us going stale."
True.
I am fortunate enough to have seen the film and read the book, pretty close together as well. I never expect films to perfectly resemble books, nor should they, but it is always interesting to see how they compare and contrast. I liked both, although they really are quite different beasts with different focuses. Neither were anywhere near as controversial as some reviews/opinions I read beforehand which can only have been made by people that had neither seen the film nor read the book.
April Audio
I thought last year was really good for music, but this year, a quarter of the year down, is proving insanely good.
I’m up to two hours seven minutes of tracks in my “picks of 2024” list already. Rather than go over all the albums so far I’ll pick some of the tracks:
- Bullion and Carly Rae Jepson: Rare. Just beautiful. Elevated by Carly’s vocals. I hope she does more like this.
- New Dad: Nosebleed. I liked the album on first listen, but it’s also a bit of a grower… because I didn’t really notice this track to start with, perhaps because it’s more gentle that the likes of Nightmares, Angel and In My Head, but it’s really beautiful.
- Real Estate: Water Underground. Jingly jangly happy indy at its best.
- The Reytons: Let Me Breathe. Prolific and consistently knocking it out of the park . Would be superb to see at a festival.
- Bill Ryder-Jones. This Can’t Go On. Like Embrace’s Gravity, but with a larger soundscapes and slightly less melancholic. Still leaves you feeling though. Deep breath at the end. Recover.
- Jalen Ngonda: Illusions. Possibly my favourite song of the year so far. Possibly the best song ever written. Mind blowing.
- KNEECAP: Sick in the head. Too good. Will be all over everywhere by the end of the year.
- Waxahatchee: Right Back To It. Indeed. A welcome return.
Not just April, obviously.
These are the ten most recent posts (not counting any note drivel), for older posts see the Archive.