Music
It appears that I’ve preordered an album on Bandcamp two times again. I need someone to keep track of these things for me.
Read: 1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left by Robyn Hitchcock 📚
Can I count this as my first read of 2025 despite starting it a couple of days ago? Anyway this is a short and sweet memoir of how Robyn Hitchcock became a “groover” at school in 1967. A nice origin story of an original artist.
The Allander Record Fair was in town again today. I always feel obliged to buy something but I was happy to get these for a decent price. All seem in good condition.
A late entry to my favourite albums of the year. This is gorgeous. the innocence mission - Midwinter Swimmers 🎵
Big Big Train - Last Eleven. One of the highlight songs, amongst many, from Saturday’s show in Edinburgh. I love this band. The combination of music and lyrics here never fails to move me. 🎵
Reading: Neu Klang - The Definitive History Of Krautrock by Christoph Dallach. I really like the oral history style of books like this. You get a better picture of what happened with all of the different memories and viewpoints. 📚
Almost forgot about the upcoming Yes concert in Glasgow. My ticket for last year’s cancelled show is still valid. The current lineup gets a lot of stick (“Tribute band!") but as long as Steve Howe is still there I’m on board.
For the 50th anniversary of Richard and Linda Thompson’s first album as a duo, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, we take a detailed look at how it was made.
A fantastic deep dive into one of my favourite albums. 🎵
The Guardian: Billy Bragg: ‘There’s nothing like going out there singing your truth. That ain’t changed’. Billy has always been a force for good and it’s great to see he’s still fighting the good fight. I’ve seen him live a few times over the years. 🎵
Qobuz
I chose Qobuz as my music streaming service because:
- it prioritises albums over playlists
- it has good editorial articles by humans
- there are no aggressive algorithms feeding me more of the same
- it just suggest new albums that usually push me out of usual routines
- you can buy hires downloads from the qobuz store
- it isn’t a system to be gamed like Spotify
- it sounds great
- it doesn’t appear to be run by a creep like Daniel Ek
I expect to come back and update these thoughts after a few more months of listening.
Earworm of the week: Sisters Friends by The High Llamas. One of the best tracks from the new album. 🎵
I found my old Sony Mini Disc player. It still looks shiny and brand new. I wish I could also find the recording of Alex Chilton I made with it when he played our local Art Centre back in the 90s. He performed a set of cover versions with a couple of Scottish musicians and I’m sure it would be of interest to collectors (if I ever found it). 🎵