Weather Reort

I haven't got much to say about this except to say that the musicianship is outstanding and it features the greatest electric bass player ever, the late, great genius who was Jaco Pastorious.

Genius - Luke Haines.

Last year one of the very best books about the music industry came out. "Bad Vibes - Britpop And My Part In Its Downfall" by Luke Haines was the most brutally honest insights into what it is like to be lauded by the music press as the next big thing and then be cut of at the knees by the very same press when the next big thing comes along.

What makes this book so fascinating is that Haines has not edited his reminiscences about the period to show himself in a good light. Haines seriously believed he was a genius and that The Auteurs (Haines' first project) would take the world by storm. Indeed their first album did take the world by storm (at least critically) and Haines genius seemed to be cemented.

It did not go quite to plan, although Haines continued to write outstanding songs for The Auteurs it ended in tears. 'Bad Vibes' charts this downfall frankly with Haines writing as he was at the time (basically a bit of a twat).

Further projects as Baader Meinhof (an edgy and brilliant concept album about the German terrorist gang) and the wonderful Black Box Recorder followed. BBR got back together for some gigs last year and I can confirm they were outstanding, so it seems Haines still has it.


Here is Haines as Baader Meinhof doing Meet Me at the Airport




As Blackbox Recorder doing The Art of Driving




And where it all started as The Auteurs doing Lenny Valentino

Record of the year.

It has been an odd year this year music wise. I have been to a lo of gigs, the highlight being Retribution Gospel Choir at London's Water Rats but musically I think it has been a bit barren. It maybe that I wasn't taking a great deal of notice, a fact that has certainly been true over the last 2 months or so when my mind has been elsewhere. However if I had to choose a record of the year I think it would be "French Navy" by Camera Obscura which is a delicious slice of Northern Soul tinged pop.

Vic Chestnutt RIP

American singer-song writer Vic Chestnutt died on Christmas day following a suspected overdose. He was 45. His body was discovered at his home by REM lead singer Michael Stipe. He recently told National Public Radio in the US that he had attempted suicide on three or four times. Long time friend and collaborator Kirstin Hersch left a message on Twitter that Chestnutt had told her he had left a suicide note so the speculation is that Vic took his own life.

Chestnutt was a master of the melancholy and his songs were dark and rather beautiful. He recorded 17 albums including two that were released in 2009. Acts such as Madonna and Sparklehorse have covered his work. He will be sorely missed.

Delta Maid

I went to see The Retribution Gospel Choir the other night at London's Water Rats. They were outstanding. To see Low's Alan Sparhawke rocking out was a joy. However the evening was made all the more memorable for one of the supporting artists.

I know little about Delta Maid (I'm not even sure that is her real name!) except that she is from Liverpool and plays a lovely mix of country and blues. She is a very gifted guitarist and although she hasn't released anything yet I'm sure it won't be long before we'll be able to buy her wonderful music. In the mean time here is a YouTube video taken at a recent poetry slam in London.



You can also catch her at Delta Maid on Myspace

No, I'm Spasticus.

I thought long and hard about what to write about for this years Blogging Against Disablism Day. I was initially going to write about the access to live music for disabled people which is still, I'm afraid, not good. In accessible venues, lack of accessible toilets and if you are lucky enough to get in lack of decent views of the stage are 10 a penny. it is improving and the excellent people at Attitude Is Everything are campaigning vigorously for venues to be upgraded to include access to ALL music fans.

Then I wondered about blogging about the lack of disabled performers in the music industry. There are of course notable exceptions; Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Ian Dury, Robert Wyatt and Vic Chestnut spring to mind but although that is a subject that brings up all kind of issues of body image and how the media portrays and excepts us and that issue has already been covered by others during BADD. Visit The Diary Of a Goldfish who is co-ordinating this years event for some excellent blog posts on this and many other issues.

In the end though I decided to post a comment from the late great Ian Dury who in 1981 wrote a song which wouldn't be out of place as a BADD posting today. It was banned by the BBC as offensive but as you will see was completely misunderstood. I'll let the video below do the talking as there is little to add. apologies for the slow loading time.

Sweet Soul Music ~ Laura Nyro

I was bought a rather good book at Christmas by my mate Rob (aka Jock Pop). 'The Best Music You've Never Heard' issued by Nigel Williamson published by Rough Guide is a treasure chest of lost classics that is a must for any music fan. Having been a fan of music 'on the fringes' I am aware of a fair proportion of the artists covered in this book but I have been led to some music that I wasn't aware of at all. I'll return to this great book from time to time but today I want to concentrate on someone I was aware of but to my shame had not heard until recently (thanks to Spotify for costing me money on Amazon).

Laura Nyro is one of those talents that a talentless person like me (although my Spaghetti Bolognese has been spoken of as far away as Leigh on Sea) is extremely jealous of. How can someone liby a great musician, singer and song writer. The only unfathomable thing is that Nyro isn't a household name. For example she wrote this song only for Barbra Streisand to cover it is a big showbiz way and make it a hit.

Her songs were complex and by all accounts difficult to play for instance at the 1967 at the Monterrey Pop Festival her band cut her set short because they couldn't follow her intricate music! You don't get that with your run of the mill artist. She recorded three seminal albums for Columbia 'Eli and the Thirteenth Confession', 'New York Tenderberry' and 'Christmas and the Beads of Sweat'.

This song is from 'New York Tenderberry' and is pretty special. It's called 'Captain for Dark Mornings'