A Lark Ascending

Well, that's a relief. Instead of Greggs we'll have a nice Laura Ashley tea shoppe. With an attached plant shoppe ! I'm not sure they'd be allowed to sell the sort of plants the Beatles got their inspiration from in the mid 60s!

Well, that's a relief. Instead of Greggs we'll have a nice Laura Ashley tea shoppe.

Baker's shop. According to the news today Abbey Road is up for sale because of EMI's plunging profits. Couldn't they have sold Robbie Williams instead? He got a lifetime achievement award at some industry love-in yesterday. Lifetime? He must be all of 15.

I shouldn't lose too much sleep over the quality of lyrics. Quite a few opera libretti have toe curling lyrics. And those that know about these things proclaim them 'high art' and ensure that the state or private enterprise lavishes vast amounts on getting them out there. If the music works the lyrics generally (though not always) fade into the background. 'Ticket to Ride' or 'Help' (not to mention 'I am the Walrus') bear endless replaying despite the trite lyrics. And then there's Jon Anderson and Yes...

Try the Apple-Soyuz docking system from 1975. Or am I getting confused?

Glad you mentioned that. I checked yesterday and the programmes were not yet available on the iPlayer. Thought I'd missed it. But it's there now. Am recording it to listen to in the car next week on the work run.

Just finished Season 3. So this is why you Americans are so strange? Worksop ain't like this! Really strange series - generally pushing all sorts of boundaries; and then suddenly it will hint at the price to pay.

Bound to become a Starbucks!

God knows, Seeline. "WMA Lossless" it says, warning that they are larger than MP3. Which might explain why Winamp had a dickey-fit! My brain mists over with the details. Here's their explanation: http://www.theclassicalshop.net/wmasearch07.asp And their solution to my problem: http://www.theclassicalshop.net/HelpiTunes.asp Anyway, the Debussy disc played perfectly so I'm happy.

Well, three months on and I may finally have sorted this. I noticed a few weeks back the crashes occurred when I was trying to burn Chandos tracks that I'd downloaded in their higher quality lossless format. So I've used iTunes for those. Then on Saturday I played a recent Debussy piano disc with lots of tracks segueing together and got the dreaded tiny gap (despite the 'no gap' setting). Tried shaving of the gap with Total Recorder - usually works seamlessly, but couldn't get it without a lurch. Tried Foobar; couldn't get it to show any burning software and when I tried to upload a separate file couldn't get it to speak to Foobar. Tried Burrrn but it couldn't see the tracks. Tried Media Monkey but the 'free' version wanted me to buy something else; wasn't prepared to pay for something that still might not work. However, going back to the Chandos site I found a help page that suggested altering the import settings in iTunes to 'Apple Lossless Encoder' (this took some finding as it was in a different place from the screenprint on the Chandos help!!!!). But it worked! Khamma, Jeux, La Boite a Joujoux sans les gaps! So it looks like Winamp for most burning, iTunes for those higher files if the music runs together from track to track. Hope this might help someone else out!

The thing that made me laugh about the last one was the way it was being advertised using the same techniques employed to sell Lego or a cosmetics gift pack.

Thanks, Dave. That is good news. Let's hope they don't get further snarled in copyright issues and restrict it to US release.

Our gang is better than...

Reminder that this goes out tomorrow: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qn3wd I'm on half-term so will have the time to give it a good listen.

Great idea but I suspect that Bath may be constrained by current economic considerations. At least they could get him back in the Guildhall with his assorted bricks and wind chimes ! Yes, you are right. But... I'm all for the international slant of things like Bath (though it seems to increasingly favour the margins of what we might think of as jazz) and its commitment to up and coming players. Just seems such a pity that we have this enormous talent here in Britain who is still getting so little exposure. The same could be said for Westbrook. The last time I saw him with a big band/orchestra was in the mid-90s. Keith's performance with Mujician at Bath many years back was one of the most exciting concerts I've ever attended. But I'll settle for solo (with or without wind chimes and musical boxes!).

I can't even remember this song. Probably proves I was really there in the 80s.

That must have been fun, Alex. Keith Tippett is very important to me...opened my ears to very different of approaching and hearing music. I was transfixed by his playing on three King Crimson albums which led me to Centipede. Although 'Septober Energy' had a couple of very jazz-rocky sections, elsewhere it was much, much freer than anything I'd heard before. I still think his short solo passage opening side 4 (that seems to shift from Romanticism to abstraction and back before ushering in a mighty orchestral chorale) is one of my favourite musical moments of all time. I wish somewhere like Bath would commission him to do one of his larger pieces. Has to be cheaper than paying for a US big band to cross the Atlantic for one concert. Probably couldn't get the sponsorship.

Five programmes, one each day at UK lunchtime and repeated at 10 pm. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qn3s3 When the slot was given to Duke Ellington in the late 70s there were riots in the Home Counties. I expect David Cameron will make a statement about how it illustrates the cultural decline of the nation under the stewardship of Labour.

Warmer than we've been used to since December. Signs of things stirring in the garden too!

Iirc there are music-rights issues with EYES ON THE PRIZE that have hindered its being sold on DVD. That's unfortunate. I only saw parts of it when first screened here. I'd find it really useful now as a teach this topic to 16-17 year olds.

"I'll Fly Away". I loved this series set against the Civil Rights years, with Sam Waterson. It was broadcast here at odd times, scattered across the schedule where there was a gap so I missed a fair bit. I'd buy a box with the full series. And, related, 'Eyes on the Prize', the documentary series about Civil Rights. Might have made it onto DVD in the States but never seen it here.

Excellent programme - give it a listen if you can. Keith sounds just like Robert Fripp. That gentle West Country burr! A very modest and polite chap to boot.

Good programme again. Ending with that great 1964 Miles 'My Funny Valentine'.

I loved his playing on this, one of my favourite Douglas CDs. I bought a solo disc on the back of it and found it way too over-produced and saccharine.

Utterly ludicrous packaging. I've thrown it away and keep the discs in PVC sleeves alongside the booklet. One of the unforseen advantages of downloads is the ending of this sort of nonsense.