A Lark Ascending

or

The bizarre thing I found with Lennon and McCartney after the split was the way that two people, who had been able to write melodies so memorable that they wormed into your brain and would not come out, wrote such two-dimensional tunes thereafter. (though I do like 'Another Day'...has that rich middle eight that made so many Beatles songs work). With McCartney they usually sound like nursery rhymes to me; Lennon's either sound flat or as if all the energy has gone into the radical posturing. I started buying records as the Beatles imploded and at the time they didn't get much of my attention - the records Lennon and McCartney put out convinced me that I didn't need more than the singles I could recall from my pre-record buying days. 'Band on the Run' was one of those records that burst out of dorm rooms all over during my first university year (fighting with Dark Side of the Moon and Tubular Bells). It always irritated me - though not as much as 'Silly Love Songs'.

Where's the flute?

You just cannot beat:

I've gone down the Amazon.co.uk route - £57.99. Again, more expensive but avoids all the tax possibilities. They are probably alreadey in the price.

Just finished series 2. Loved it. Now waiting for: I did see this series when it first came on but missed series 2 + 3. So I'm going back to 1. Recommended to those who like UK comedy - the three kids are absolutely brilliant.

I could have written that! Does it apply to contemporary Americana...or Eric Alexander?

I'll call you and raise. Is there any good McCartney music other than what he made with The Beatles? And I'll raise you further, adding 'Lennon or...' and '...they...'.

You should have waited a few days. Gordon is sending the Ark Royal to pick up stranded Brits!

Wonder if he'll do 'Money' as an encore?

You doing a De Tocqueville, MG?

Yesterday was beautiful; today started well but it's getting increasingly overcast and cooler.

Can be marvellous used as a colouristic device in more orchestral pieces - with Kenny Wheeler or (very differently) Charlie Watts; or in some of those recent ECM discs.

Very good! Perhaps Gordon, Nick and David will all be grounded and they'll have to cancel the 90 minute episode of 'Thunderbirds' scheduled tonight.

Quite possibly! A colleague of mine is supposed to be flying out to New York tomorrow - flight's been cancelled due to the ash.

Wish I could get to April 26th in particular. Louis Moholo is a long time favourite (think I first saw him back in '77) and Jason Yarde one of the most exciting players around currently - the duo record he did with Andrew McCormack last year is superb.

Dull and overcast. But that could be the volcanic ash the Icelanders are sending us in lieu of the money they owe us!

Looks and sounds like an ECM.

They are wonderful! What we now need is something like Jarrett's 'Hymns/Spheres' with one of those late 60s/early 70s BN covers showing a funky Harlem temptress.

Easy going detective novel set in Perigord with one of those gentle, likeable cops. The descriptions of food are absolutely mouth-watering. Interesting plot set in the present but reaching back into Vichy and the German occupation. A magical book about a young Irish girl starting life aknew in Brooklyn. 30 pages from the end and I just want it to go on.

I like this quote about Lizard. Steven Wilson - “I’ve always felt that if presented in the right way, I could make a case for this being the most experimental rock record ever made. It’s extraordinary what they’re doing on this album.” Hyperbole, perhaps, but I see what he is getting at.

I love that record - the trilogy of Yellow Fields/Silent Feet/Little Movements are my favourite Webers. Perfect balance of electric and acoustic with the drumming never rock-obtrusive. Always felt they chose to go back a few steps and explore the Miles electric legacy from 1968-69 rather than the usual fusion jump-off-point of 1969-70.

I still like it! As stated earlier it's still a reasonably "new" album to me. I've only listened to the original mix once (I probably should revisit it) and go with the Steve Wilson mix instead. It's an odd album in a good way. :rsmile: 'Lizard' and 'Islands' are probably my favourite KC albums. I bought 'Lizard' back in '71 and hated it at first. But over 12 months it wormed its way in and began to create a tolerance for dissonance. First place I heard Keith Tippett (apart from hearing Cat Food on the radio) who is extraordinary. The Bolero section which moves from almost 19thC Romanticism to near free playing from Tippett, Marc Charig and Nic Evans never fails to engage me. And the snake-guitar of Lament makes a wonderful near-ending (a brief circus bit follows). It's worth listening to it just focusing on Fripp's different guitar parts - a very 'layered' album, rather than giving a sense of a live show. May have to buy this - it's such a dense record with so much detail that it would really benefit from tlc remastering.

Oh, I love his playing. Undoubtedly my favourite electric guitarist, unique style, avoids all the cliches. Just think what rock electric guitarists sounded like in 1969. Fripp and Richard Thompson threw the standard blues approach (that was everywhere in the UK at the time) and did something quite different.

Here's the ultimate in Fripp bonkerosity. 6 CD's of him talking: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Robert-Fripp-Unplugged/dp/B001PCJ7YM/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1270921721&sr=8-7 It has a download price of nearly £50 on iTunes, a bit more modest here. I think his sister is involved in some sort of 'how to live a more meaningful life/find success/reach spiritual Nirvana' lark. You hear that in some Fripp's own pronouncements some times.