Thursday 28th February: ...and this week my night out with the Music Club takes place on a Thursday. My next appearance will probably be March the 12th - a Wednesday. I'm getting closer to being sued by Sheryl Crow...
Anyway, back to the evening in question. Five English pounds had granted us access to Fibbers, where the highly-regarded (at least by the rest of the gang) Four Day Hombre were headlining. More on them later because first up was Lights - essentially Ben Leftwich on guitar, aided by a backing guitarist whose name I didn't catch. Ben used to be frontman with The Nicoles, who I saw for their final gig last year. I remember them being pretty good, but don't actually recall too much about the gig itself. Unfortunately, this half-hour acoustic set was filled with very similar sounding songs and, on his own, Ben has very little stage presence. Although he does have a good voice, a bit more variety is needed to keep me interested, I'm afraid.
Next up were The New Adventures and there was a lot more stage presence and definitely more movement. At times lead-singer Jez was positively manic in front of the microphone! Strong drum lines, courtesy of Nick, and Helen's impressive keyboards added to the enjoyment of this indie rock band's excellent set. Helen's very feminine backing vocals provided a very effective counterpoint to Jez's lead and each song seemed to have a slightly different style to all the others while still giving the band a recognisable identity throughout the set. All three of us were impressed by this new (to us) band. A single due soon - hopefully an album will follow.
Finally, the aforementioned Four Day Hombre. I had borrowed their first CD, "Experiments in Living" and, while it was growing on me, it wasn't really my sort of thing. Too slow and with with vocals that reminded me of Athlete, was my first impression. After a couple of listenings, I was comparing the vocals more to Snow Patrol, at least in parts. So, as they took to the stage I was thinking that they would be hard-pressed to be better than The New Adventures. How wrong could I have been?
Playing live, 4DH are much rockier (heavier, even) than is apparent on the CD. Even the one song I recognised (most of the set was new songs, some destined for the next album) was vastly different from the recorded version. With a nice line in witty audience repartee - "We've never said we do this to be professional. That would involve getting paid." - this was a band quite obviously on stage to have fun. Halfway through, lead-singer Simon Wainwright forgot the words to one song because he was trying to remember the words to Salisbury Hill, which prompted guitarist Rich Huxley to start playing the Peter Gabriel classic. A rock cover of Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill was also in evidence.
Without a duff song in the hour-plus long set, this was much, much better than I was expecting and I was certainly surprised by how different a band can be between recording and playing live. Overall, including The New Adventures, this was approximately 100 minutes of the finest music I have had the pleasure of experiencing at Fibbers. So far...
Friday 29 February 2008
Sunday 24 February 2008
Saturday 23rd February: ...and the Friday Night Music Club found itself out, once again, on a Saturday evening. Perhaps from now on it should be referred to as the Weekend Music Club. Except that the two regulars were at Fibbers on Thursday. Is the Anytime We Want Music Club too cumbersome? Anyway, I digress...
With a guest appearance from my wife (along with appearances from the Holland and Strensall chapters) we all met up at the Roman Bath to see the excellent Breathing Space. Being quite a bit smaller than the Post Office Social Club, where Debbie and I had seen the band before, the Bath was quite packed. After a while though, we managed to get to the front and were treated to a superb show featuring songs from both the Breathing Space "Coming Up Air" and Iain Jennings "Breathing Space albums".
Lead singer Livvy (left) produced some soaring vocals and performed well, despite difficult current circumstances (if you aren't aware of them, it's not my place to tell you). There was an emotional introduction to "Belief" and a hint of tears at the end of the song.
Musically, the band seemed to be a bit more experimental than they were at the CD launch. Iain Jennings, especially, produced some new sounds from the keyboards. The whole ensemble was, at times, breath-taking producing a fusion of ambience, keyboard rock and mainstream pop, with just a hint of prog rock thrown in for good measure.
Breathing Space seem to have a hardcore of fans. I recognised a number of faces in the audience from the Post Office gig and at least one other had travelled from Lancaster to see them, spending the night in York before returning home (and to work) on Sunday. Other members of the audience were recognisable for other reasons - there were a few members of Mostly Autumn in evidence, including Brian Josh, who I chatted with and told him how much I liked his music, Heather Findlay and Andy Smith, who was working the light show. One of the guitarists from Freeway was also there, either doing sound or lights (I think).
After the gig, Debbie was treated to the club's end of night tradition - that of standing on a street corner attempting to be humorous before dispersing into the night. Aaaah, it's almost like being in the Mason's...
With a guest appearance from my wife (along with appearances from the Holland and Strensall chapters) we all met up at the Roman Bath to see the excellent Breathing Space. Being quite a bit smaller than the Post Office Social Club, where Debbie and I had seen the band before, the Bath was quite packed. After a while though, we managed to get to the front and were treated to a superb show featuring songs from both the Breathing Space "Coming Up Air" and Iain Jennings "Breathing Space albums".
Lead singer Livvy (left) produced some soaring vocals and performed well, despite difficult current circumstances (if you aren't aware of them, it's not my place to tell you). There was an emotional introduction to "Belief" and a hint of tears at the end of the song.
Musically, the band seemed to be a bit more experimental than they were at the CD launch. Iain Jennings, especially, produced some new sounds from the keyboards. The whole ensemble was, at times, breath-taking producing a fusion of ambience, keyboard rock and mainstream pop, with just a hint of prog rock thrown in for good measure.
Breathing Space seem to have a hardcore of fans. I recognised a number of faces in the audience from the Post Office gig and at least one other had travelled from Lancaster to see them, spending the night in York before returning home (and to work) on Sunday. Other members of the audience were recognisable for other reasons - there were a few members of Mostly Autumn in evidence, including Brian Josh, who I chatted with and told him how much I liked his music, Heather Findlay and Andy Smith, who was working the light show. One of the guitarists from Freeway was also there, either doing sound or lights (I think).
After the gig, Debbie was treated to the club's end of night tradition - that of standing on a street corner attempting to be humorous before dispersing into the night. Aaaah, it's almost like being in the Mason's...
Thursday 21 February 2008
What a Cheek!!
Thursday 21st February: It's not often that something fires me up enough to want to rant about it, but a phonecall that I received yesterday has left me fuming.
Last Christmas, as part of my wife's present, I "adopted" a tiger for her through the WWF. To do this, you decide an amount that you want to pay every month for a year. I chose £5. That money is, apparently, used to fund the WWF's work into safeguarding the specific species that you chose to adopt/support.
The phonecall was from a reprensentative of the WWF who thanked me profusely (many times) for my support, asked why I chose to adopt a tiger and told me a little bit about the organisation's results in its work to help Siberian tigers in the wild. So far, all well and good.
Then the bombshell. After just three payments of my annual subscription, I was asked whether I would consider doubling it. When I declined (out of both principle and current financial situation) it was then suggested that I increase the monthly donation by £1.
What a cheek! And, perhaps, the worst thing is that the caller stated that he was being paid a fee for making the calls.
Before this call, I had every intention of taking out another adoption, probably for a different animal, next Christmas. After being hassled like this I will now think twice before giving the WWF more money in this way.
Well done guys! That fund-raising call may just have backfired.
Last Christmas, as part of my wife's present, I "adopted" a tiger for her through the WWF. To do this, you decide an amount that you want to pay every month for a year. I chose £5. That money is, apparently, used to fund the WWF's work into safeguarding the specific species that you chose to adopt/support.
The phonecall was from a reprensentative of the WWF who thanked me profusely (many times) for my support, asked why I chose to adopt a tiger and told me a little bit about the organisation's results in its work to help Siberian tigers in the wild. So far, all well and good.
Then the bombshell. After just three payments of my annual subscription, I was asked whether I would consider doubling it. When I declined (out of both principle and current financial situation) it was then suggested that I increase the monthly donation by £1.
What a cheek! And, perhaps, the worst thing is that the caller stated that he was being paid a fee for making the calls.
Before this call, I had every intention of taking out another adoption, probably for a different animal, next Christmas. After being hassled like this I will now think twice before giving the WWF more money in this way.
Well done guys! That fund-raising call may just have backfired.
Sunday 17 February 2008
Spicy Lager, Country Walks and CD Purchases
Sunday 17th February: ...and my latest excuse for not seeing any live bands this weekend was that I was working in Glasgow...
Apart from meeting up with an ex-colleague (and ex-Orange Wednesday cinema partner) the highlight of this trip was trying (and liking) Chili Beer. This is a North American lager-style beer with an actual green chili pepper in the bottle. The beer has a chili kick and is very drinkable, if you like spicy food. Check out the website to see a chili beat up a lime.
At the risk of turning this blog into more of a diary, here are another couple of things that went on this week.
It was half-term for Elizabeth so I took a couple of days off work so that we could do "family" things. These things turned out to be two trips to walk around some of the spectacular Yorkshire countryside. Wednesday saw us in Dalby Forest in brilliant sunshine, while it drizzled on us while we walked around Aysgarth Falls on Thursday. Whatever the weather, Elizabeth loves being outside so she really enjoyed herself and Dalby Forest was so nice that I bought an annual pass. Now we have to go back.
Musically, I did buy a bunch of cheap CDs from Tesco, some of which I've had a chance to listen to, others I haven't.
"This is the Life" is last year's debut album from Amy McDonald, bought on the strength of the single (and title track), which makes her sound Swedish. She's actually from Bishopbriggs, just outside Glasgow where, coincidentally, the ex-colleague mentioned above lives. Amy wrote all the songs on the album (co-wrote one) and plays acoustic guitar as well as doing all the vocals. The album is a bit samey throughout, but quite listenable.
Mark Knopfler's 2007 album "Kill to get Crimson" is more guitar, less pop. The ex-Dire Straits frontman treats us to some laid back tunes which come across as more folky than anything else. This one may have to grow on me.
Also from last year is "This Time", ex-Spice Girl Melanie C's fourth album. I already had her first two and have seen her live twice (stop laughing). This, along with her third album, was released on her own label, meaning that all the musical choices on it are hers. She co-wrote all the songs. Not had a chance to listen to this one yet.
"Cuts Both Ways" and "Into the Light" are 1989 and 1991 albums by Gloria Estefan. I previously had these on vinyl, bought during the height of Estefan's popularity in this country (which also saw me see her live). I still like her admittedly commercial Latin pop songs and ballads.
"Supernatural" and "Shaman" are Carlos Santana's 1999 and 2002 albums. I've only just discovered Santana's superb guitar-playing but haven't listened to these yet. Like Estefan's albums they are special minimally-packaged CDs from Sony. This range covers quite a wide-spectrum of both music and time and feature two albums, released in a cardboard sleeve. While not perfect for me (I remove CDs and booklets from jewel cases and put them in CD holders to save space - I can't do that with these more eco-friendly cases. Not that I'm complaining.) Tesco are selling each pair of albums for £5. Bargain!
Apart from meeting up with an ex-colleague (and ex-Orange Wednesday cinema partner) the highlight of this trip was trying (and liking) Chili Beer. This is a North American lager-style beer with an actual green chili pepper in the bottle. The beer has a chili kick and is very drinkable, if you like spicy food. Check out the website to see a chili beat up a lime.
At the risk of turning this blog into more of a diary, here are another couple of things that went on this week.
It was half-term for Elizabeth so I took a couple of days off work so that we could do "family" things. These things turned out to be two trips to walk around some of the spectacular Yorkshire countryside. Wednesday saw us in Dalby Forest in brilliant sunshine, while it drizzled on us while we walked around Aysgarth Falls on Thursday. Whatever the weather, Elizabeth loves being outside so she really enjoyed herself and Dalby Forest was so nice that I bought an annual pass. Now we have to go back.
Musically, I did buy a bunch of cheap CDs from Tesco, some of which I've had a chance to listen to, others I haven't.
"This is the Life" is last year's debut album from Amy McDonald, bought on the strength of the single (and title track), which makes her sound Swedish. She's actually from Bishopbriggs, just outside Glasgow where, coincidentally, the ex-colleague mentioned above lives. Amy wrote all the songs on the album (co-wrote one) and plays acoustic guitar as well as doing all the vocals. The album is a bit samey throughout, but quite listenable.
Mark Knopfler's 2007 album "Kill to get Crimson" is more guitar, less pop. The ex-Dire Straits frontman treats us to some laid back tunes which come across as more folky than anything else. This one may have to grow on me.
Also from last year is "This Time", ex-Spice Girl Melanie C's fourth album. I already had her first two and have seen her live twice (stop laughing). This, along with her third album, was released on her own label, meaning that all the musical choices on it are hers. She co-wrote all the songs. Not had a chance to listen to this one yet.
"Cuts Both Ways" and "Into the Light" are 1989 and 1991 albums by Gloria Estefan. I previously had these on vinyl, bought during the height of Estefan's popularity in this country (which also saw me see her live). I still like her admittedly commercial Latin pop songs and ballads.
"Supernatural" and "Shaman" are Carlos Santana's 1999 and 2002 albums. I've only just discovered Santana's superb guitar-playing but haven't listened to these yet. Like Estefan's albums they are special minimally-packaged CDs from Sony. This range covers quite a wide-spectrum of both music and time and feature two albums, released in a cardboard sleeve. While not perfect for me (I remove CDs and booklets from jewel cases and put them in CD holders to save space - I can't do that with these more eco-friendly cases. Not that I'm complaining.) Tesco are selling each pair of albums for £5. Bargain!
Sunday 10 February 2008
The First Book Summary of 2008
Sunday 10th February: The second weekend in a row when I've not been out to see any live music (this time due to being on standby for work), no match at Elland Road for me to comment on (although Leeds did drw 1:1 at Northampton yesterday and I haven't been to the cinema in weeks.
I have, however, read a few books so far this year so I thought I'd comment on some highlights.
Now, I normally struggle a bit with some early (say pre-1980s) science-fiction. I find the writing style to be generally dense and, in some of the classics (as evidenced by what is reprinted in the SF Masterworks line), I just don't get the stories or some of the meanings. Maybe I'm just not clever enough to understand the science fiction that tries to comment on the real world. However, I really enjoyed two 1970s books that I read recently - The Inverted World (Christopher Priest, 1974) and Orbitsville (Bob Shaw, 1975).
Both these books are short - just a couple of hundred pages each (practically short stories in today's world of doorstep-sized trilogies) - and both are genuine "sensawunda" SF. The first tells the story of Helward Mann, recently granted an apprenticeship with the Guild of Futures, the group that maps out the path taken by the ever-moving city whose inhabitants are ignorant both of the city's motion and the real world that surrounds the city.
Orbitsville (which, I have just found out is the first part of trilogy) concerns Vance Garamond who, after being involved in the accidental death of her son, flees Earth and the vengeful President Elizabeth Lindstrom. Out in the stars, he dicsovers a Dyson Sphere which, in a universe in which only two habitable planets have been found, offers hope for an over-crowded Earth. Garamond reports the find and Lindstrom herself follows him to the sphere, eventually allowing humanity to migrate there, while formulating a plan to get revenge on Garamond and his family.
Even in their short lengths, these two books show more ideas and characterisation than a lot of today's novels. Both are easy reads and there is no message or interpretation/interpolation of our world. They are, quite simply, well-told stories.
The other books I have finished since 2008 started are:
Confessor (Terry Goodkind, 2007): The final volume (book 12!) of the Sword of Truth series. This series went on too long for me and the ending was a little weak.
Barrayar (Lois McMaster Bujold, 1991): Aristocratic, military SF, telling the events leading up to the birth of Miles Vorkosigan, Bujold's most famous character. I enjoyed this one more than I expected to.
Hot Sky at Midnight (Robert Silverberg, 1994): A environmental warning set on a near-future Earth where global warming is taking its toll. Well-written with some good characters, but I didn't really get the ending.
Rewind (Terry England, 1997): The story of seventeen adults who, after entering an alien spaceship, are reverted back to ten-year-old bodies. This book show the reactions to them by scientists, family and humanity in general. Not bad, but it seemed to be a story that needed an SF idea to tell it, rather than an SF story.
Circus of the Damned and Lunatic Cafe (Laurell K. Hamilton, 1995 and 1996): Books 3 and 4 of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. This is an attempt at a more adult version of Buffy - supernatural creatures not only exist but live alongside us and have legal rights. I didn't really like the first book (Guilty Pleasures, 1993) but had bought most of the series so had to persevere. Happily, the rest (so far) have been much better, weaving pretty good stories and well-written action, with a good dash of humour in each. Any book which boasts a man with lycanthropy who turns into a swan can't be all bad...!
I have, however, read a few books so far this year so I thought I'd comment on some highlights.
Now, I normally struggle a bit with some early (say pre-1980s) science-fiction. I find the writing style to be generally dense and, in some of the classics (as evidenced by what is reprinted in the SF Masterworks line), I just don't get the stories or some of the meanings. Maybe I'm just not clever enough to understand the science fiction that tries to comment on the real world. However, I really enjoyed two 1970s books that I read recently - The Inverted World (Christopher Priest, 1974) and Orbitsville (Bob Shaw, 1975).
Both these books are short - just a couple of hundred pages each (practically short stories in today's world of doorstep-sized trilogies) - and both are genuine "sensawunda" SF. The first tells the story of Helward Mann, recently granted an apprenticeship with the Guild of Futures, the group that maps out the path taken by the ever-moving city whose inhabitants are ignorant both of the city's motion and the real world that surrounds the city.
Orbitsville (which, I have just found out is the first part of trilogy) concerns Vance Garamond who, after being involved in the accidental death of her son, flees Earth and the vengeful President Elizabeth Lindstrom. Out in the stars, he dicsovers a Dyson Sphere which, in a universe in which only two habitable planets have been found, offers hope for an over-crowded Earth. Garamond reports the find and Lindstrom herself follows him to the sphere, eventually allowing humanity to migrate there, while formulating a plan to get revenge on Garamond and his family.
Even in their short lengths, these two books show more ideas and characterisation than a lot of today's novels. Both are easy reads and there is no message or interpretation/interpolation of our world. They are, quite simply, well-told stories.
The other books I have finished since 2008 started are:
Confessor (Terry Goodkind, 2007): The final volume (book 12!) of the Sword of Truth series. This series went on too long for me and the ending was a little weak.
Barrayar (Lois McMaster Bujold, 1991): Aristocratic, military SF, telling the events leading up to the birth of Miles Vorkosigan, Bujold's most famous character. I enjoyed this one more than I expected to.
Hot Sky at Midnight (Robert Silverberg, 1994): A environmental warning set on a near-future Earth where global warming is taking its toll. Well-written with some good characters, but I didn't really get the ending.
Rewind (Terry England, 1997): The story of seventeen adults who, after entering an alien spaceship, are reverted back to ten-year-old bodies. This book show the reactions to them by scientists, family and humanity in general. Not bad, but it seemed to be a story that needed an SF idea to tell it, rather than an SF story.
Circus of the Damned and Lunatic Cafe (Laurell K. Hamilton, 1995 and 1996): Books 3 and 4 of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series. This is an attempt at a more adult version of Buffy - supernatural creatures not only exist but live alongside us and have legal rights. I didn't really like the first book (Guilty Pleasures, 1993) but had bought most of the series so had to persevere. Happily, the rest (so far) have been much better, weaving pretty good stories and well-written action, with a good dash of humour in each. Any book which boasts a man with lycanthropy who turns into a swan can't be all bad...!
Sunday 3 February 2008
Mac's Back (pt II)
Saturday 2nd February: Work shifts, family and finances meant the I was an absent member of the Friday Night Music Club this weekend - a review of the York music scene can be found here.
So, for the second time this week, I'm going to write about Leeds United. As anybody who read my last entry (or the newspapers, or just follows football in general) knows, this was Gary McAllister's first game in charge - a home match against Tranmere Rovers.
Added to the players previously signed by Dennis Wise before his move to Newcastle were Bolton defender Lubo Michalik (why he dropped two divisions and was able to be bought for just £200k, we don't know), and prolific Stockport striker Anthony Elding. Darren Kenton, previously a loanee, signed for us full-time and defender Alan Sheehan was brought in on loan. Of those four, all but Sheehan started the game, as did a returning Johnny Howson. Missing were defenders Fraser Richardson and Paul Huntingdon, midfielder Neil Kilkenny and 'keeper Casper Ankergren.
Any new manager must be looking at the pros and cons of his side and, I have to admit, there were few cons. In fact, there was an almost total lack of confidence, conviction and (in some cases) control. As to the pros, there were few of them as well. Howson did well in midfield - he always seems to have more time than anybody else and manages to pick out his passes most of the time, unlike David Prutton who just seems to lump the ball forward without looking.
New striker Elding got a reasonably good first-half shot away, which seemed to calm his nerves. As much as commentators point out that, to a lot of First Division players, the large Elland Road crowds can be intimidating, I would have thought that the same would be true for a player like Elding who, not that long ago, was a part-time player with a proper job.
However, we lacked invention and goal-scoring opportunities, whilst Tranmere seemed to have both and, after a goal-less first half, they dominated and scored the only two goals of the game. Leeds slipped out of the play-off spots for the first time since they got into them, eventually ending the day in eight place. It's now five games since our last win.
At the moment, it's hard to see where any wins are going to come from. Opposing teams seem to have worked us out now and we are less of a "scary" opposition then we were at the start of the season. McAllister had only had three days with the players and you can't expect things to change overnight but you also can't help feeling that there is a lot of work to do. Hopefully he will think that he can change our fortunes with the players we have as I, for one, don't want to see another raft of loanees coming in. After all, the players that Wise signed in January were brought in with a view to playing in the Championship next season, so they should be good enough to get us there.
So, for the second time this week, I'm going to write about Leeds United. As anybody who read my last entry (or the newspapers, or just follows football in general) knows, this was Gary McAllister's first game in charge - a home match against Tranmere Rovers.
Added to the players previously signed by Dennis Wise before his move to Newcastle were Bolton defender Lubo Michalik (why he dropped two divisions and was able to be bought for just £200k, we don't know), and prolific Stockport striker Anthony Elding. Darren Kenton, previously a loanee, signed for us full-time and defender Alan Sheehan was brought in on loan. Of those four, all but Sheehan started the game, as did a returning Johnny Howson. Missing were defenders Fraser Richardson and Paul Huntingdon, midfielder Neil Kilkenny and 'keeper Casper Ankergren.
Any new manager must be looking at the pros and cons of his side and, I have to admit, there were few cons. In fact, there was an almost total lack of confidence, conviction and (in some cases) control. As to the pros, there were few of them as well. Howson did well in midfield - he always seems to have more time than anybody else and manages to pick out his passes most of the time, unlike David Prutton who just seems to lump the ball forward without looking.
New striker Elding got a reasonably good first-half shot away, which seemed to calm his nerves. As much as commentators point out that, to a lot of First Division players, the large Elland Road crowds can be intimidating, I would have thought that the same would be true for a player like Elding who, not that long ago, was a part-time player with a proper job.
However, we lacked invention and goal-scoring opportunities, whilst Tranmere seemed to have both and, after a goal-less first half, they dominated and scored the only two goals of the game. Leeds slipped out of the play-off spots for the first time since they got into them, eventually ending the day in eight place. It's now five games since our last win.
At the moment, it's hard to see where any wins are going to come from. Opposing teams seem to have worked us out now and we are less of a "scary" opposition then we were at the start of the season. McAllister had only had three days with the players and you can't expect things to change overnight but you also can't help feeling that there is a lot of work to do. Hopefully he will think that he can change our fortunes with the players we have as I, for one, don't want to see another raft of loanees coming in. After all, the players that Wise signed in January were brought in with a view to playing in the Championship next season, so they should be good enough to get us there.
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