A Lark Ascending

I remember seeing him on The Old Grey Whistle Test when 'Virginia Plain' first came out (1972?). Did not get it at all. Little did I know that this was just the thin edge of the wedge! My favourite is: King Crimson played that prior to coming on stage in 72/73 - remember being spellbound by it at a couple of gigs. Remember playing it endlessly when it came out in late-73. Came to enjoy some of the Eno Island albums later on.

After spending 36 years learning to keep negativity in check and accentuate the positive with kids I heard a programme on the World Service a few weeks back saying that praise is counter-productive. It might make the recipient beam but everyone else in the room gets resentful of the recipient. More to the point, they resent you for not picking them. This story seems to back that up. Well, I'm not going to unlearn a 36 year habit.

Year month day seems more sensible to me. Storing minutes of meetings is a bugger any other way. Made worse with terms that start in September. I always name them 13_09_12, 13_09_26 etc so I don't get chaos when it gets to Jan 2014. But other people don't and I get confused.

Yes, a risk you take with these long OOP things. I think I'm partly driven by its 'lost-in-action' status, partly by an OCD-like Ogun completism. Here's another disc I'm curious about (reminded by the Oliv mentioned above). Has Julie Tippetts aboard.

Goat and Yorkshire Pudding don't go well together. However, mint sauce can be applied.

Came to a common agreement with family and friends some years back not to buy Xmas presents but buy goats and camels from Oxfam Unwrapped instead. All that buying of things people don't want/need got daft. Buy things for kids and a bottle of wine for people I'm visiting but that's it. The nice thing about Xmas for me is seeing people, nice meals and the seasonal music - and I do like these modern lights. Quite spectacular when they're not doing cheesy Santas. So no stress at all except remembering to get the Oxfam cards online on Xmas Eve. I suspect capitalism would collapse if this caught on! (I'm sure I saw a ghostly figure rattling chains come in the front door!)

This box combines mono with stereo. If you wanna be entertained, go analyze the damage currently occurring on that other forum. They missed a trick there!

That was the mono box of the British releases. Must have the mono box of the US versions.

The Beatles - The U.S.Albums (13CD Box) £144.99 - how many other ways can they repackage this stuff? Think I'll wait for the mono box that is sure to follow.....

Hmmm - My LP copy sounds pristine. Cost no more than a fiver too. Agree that it merits a CD though. I bought it back in 1978 when it came out. First copy had fried eggs underneath so returned it. Second was only mildly better. These were the dark days of flimsy vinyl. Maybe Nottingham HMV got a bad batch.

Indeed. Especially if you don't insist on hard copy. That 'Scratching the Seventies' is readily available as a download.

Borgen - last episodes. Great to see Alex get his come-uppance - 'Next time you want some fun, go to a fair.' Sad to see this series end but probably wise to quit while ahead. BBC 4 TV doc about John Fahey. Another feather in the cap for the station, maintaining diversity of provision (what the BBC should be about and why the Tories must not be allowed to destroy it in the interests of their Eton mates). Alex from Borgen would never have commissioned it!

"River" And then there's 'The Messiah'. Although associated with Xmas most of it relates to Easter.

Afew I'd like to hear: And one I'd dearly like a CD copy of, without the LP surface noise that has spoilt the record for me since it's release: Prefer them as single disc releases rather than as part of megalopoboxsets.

Richard Strauss - "Die Heiligen Drei Könige" Can be found on a fair number of Strauss song recital discs. Utterly gorgeous.

um, over the hill.... "Escalator Over The Edge" would have been an intriguing jazz-prog rock album. Followed up by "Close to the Hill" (more pastoral in approach).

I first heard it sometime in 1975 - a friend at uni bought it and we spent the afternoon trying to make sense of it. This was before I had any sense of wanting to listen to jazz though I was deeply into the Soft Machine/Henry Cow/Mahavishnu side of jazz-rock. I'd lived in Singapore ten years previously - one of the things I recall from those early listenings was a real sense of deja vu for the Far East. A bit like when you catch a smell that throws you back to a place from long ago. I recall being intrigued by the overture at the start which is very much in the world of inside-outside jazz - I'd say it was one of the recordings that broke the ground for my later turn to jazz. I remember being absorbed by Charlie Haden on that overture. By early next year I'd combined that experience with my enjoyment of some of the solo Jarrett records to take the plunge with 'Death and the Flower'. I always think of that as the record that sent me over the edge. That friend also bought 'Tropic Appetites' which just deepened the fascination. I find Carla Bley's music from the last 30 years far plainer and less involving than those recordings. She's never 'mainstream' but I miss the raggedness and the references way outside of American jazz culture.

My first Jim Hall record and still a favourite: Heard 'Lament for a Fallen Matador' (actually 'that' Albinoni piece) on the radio and was haunted. After hearing much more Hall I now think it's really a re-run of Concierto though still lovely - Art Farmer is beautiful. I actually prefer Hall's take on the Rodrigo to the Miles/Evans' - just feel it does something very different to the original.

Any Haydn? Erskine put together a British band 10 years ago to play a specially written piece - I think I saw it at Bath. Never got recorded unfortunately because I recall really enjoying it. Those were the days - when UK festivals would hire the likes of Erskine, Andrew Hill and Hermeto Pascoal to put together big bands stacked with the best local talent.

Yes, Rawalpindi Blues flows into the much calmer section I've always thought of as 'Desert Music'. They seem to be lumped together as one 12 minute + track in listings even though they are quite distinct with the rock quartet on the first part and the Cherry plus orchestra on the second. 'Rawalpindi Blues' and the earlier track 'Businessmen' has some of my favourite McLaughlin on any record. And Cherry is astounding both on pocket trumpet and vocal on that 'Desert Music' coda to 'Rawalpindi Blues'. [i think 'End of Rawalpindi' was the start of side 6. Includes some reprising of material from across Side 5.]

I was lucky enough to do a ten week recreational evening course on The Ring back in 1990 - got guided through it by a very good teacher who helped us follow the leitmotifs and had us wrestling with the philosophy (I think it was the hardest I'd had to think since university 15 years before!). I had this single disc of orchestral excerpts which got be familiar with some of the main themes: Includes a good 20 minutes from the final scene which is incandescent. Though I quickly had LP sets borrowed from the library to hear it all and then bought what was then the cheapest CD set (you are spoilt for choice today). If I was doing it from the start today I go for a DVD/Blu-Ray. I've been through the Copenhagen production twice in the last year and find it spellbinding.

Yes. I saw him at Cheltenham and at Brecon (late 90s early 00s).

Details here: http://www.discogs.com/Carla-Bley-Paul-Haines-Escalator-Over-The-Hill/release/4596661

RIP. One of my favourite guitarists who I was lucky enough to see a couple of times.

Lots of people like Louis Armstrong; but they are content with a one disc best of rather than shelling out for a Mosaic (including out-takes). There's room for best ofs and the total immersion experience. They are different experiences - it's even possible for the same person to enjoy both in different situations. I'm currently listening to a disc of famous bits from Mozart and Beethoven which is ideal after a long day with another couple of hours of work to do. On a weekend or holiday I'll happily sit through the full montes. On the other hand, my dad always loved famous opera/operetta arias but would never sit through a whole opera. Give the Ring a go - it's stunning. Though I'd recommend getting to know some of the instrumental (or vocal) excerpts first. Not essential, but it does give you some points of familiarity.