An (un)English Garden

Posted on April 13, 2012 by John S

Our back garden is a mess. The front third is a football pitch and so the lawn has disappeared. The middle third hosts a trampoline, so all the grass underneath has died. And the back third is for the washing line. The grass is overgrown and all sorts of weird and wonderful weeds have appeared. Around the edges are a series of bushes that were once delicate cuttings. Now wild and wonderful. And then there are the plants that have forced their way in – the ivy, the brambles, the nettles.

A complete shambles, but I rather like it. It’s not your classic manicured English garden, but it’s interesting, because it has taken on a life of its own. I’m not sure my wife agrees, but it’s a narrative which allows me to avoid doing too much gardening!

So look at the photos here.  You wouldn’t get these with that classic, looked-after garden.

I want to give a big up to Sarah Takes Pictures, a blog which inspired me to take these shots when the sun came out today.  Sarah takes photos of the plants and the scenery around her home pretty much daily. And they are wonderful photos. Well worth checking out. Click on the link above.

Double click on any of these photos for a full size image.

Spring is sprung.

I love this one. Growth, beauty, close to fulfillment.

There are footballs everywhere in our garden.  Mostly burst.  How, why, a mystery.  (Don’t) ask my son.

These bikes have been rusting away at the back for a few years now. Must take them to the dump one day!

Circles.

Trampoline.

So the garden furniture is past its best, but it takes a decent photo.

The holly tree reflected in the table.

Washing lines can be interesting.

So can taps.

We have a sun dial. You can just about see it.

The shed. With old catherine wheel firework still hanging there. Inertia.

And, last of all, and a tribute to Sarah, the forgotten tennis ball.

If you’d like to see a few more of these photos, have a look at my Flickr collection. See the right hand side bar.

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Sportsthoughts (19) – Squeaky bums and smelling the stable

Posted on April 9, 2012 by John S

April is the cruellest month…

I don’t know whether TS Eliot was a football fan – I somehow doubt it – but the opening line from “The Wasteland” perfectly sums up the agonies of April. What Sir Alex Ferguson memorably called “squeaky bum” time a few years ago, the business end of the season, as everyone seems to call it these days.

This Easter weekend has been very squeaky indeed, in the football, the rugby – and the golf. The first Major of the season, the Masters at Augusta. A real favourite, probably because it’s on the same course every year. You you get to know it: the beauty, the cruelty, the azaleas, the water. The legendary performances, the collapses (McIlroy last year rivalling Greg Norman against Nick Faldo in 1996). This year was a real slugfest.  No-one carved out an unassailable lead and on the turn on the fourth day, six, seven, eight golfers could have fancied their chances. At the end, two in particular could say to themeselves, I blew it.  Should have won that.  One was the Englishman, Lee Westwood. The best from tee to green, but just not good enough with the putts, not at this level. And then there was the mighty Phil Mickelson, three times Masters winner. One behind the leader, Peter Hanson, going into the last day. Had to be the favourite. No bum squeaking there…

Well, we couldn’t have been more wrong. At the par three fourth hole he imploded. Hacked around in the bushes, sliced it onto a path, went into a bunker. The sort of experience with which I am very familiar!  Triple bogey.

He played pretty well for the rest of the round – that’s where his experience told – and was only two off at the end.  That one hole did for him. Two golfers tied on ten under: the South African Luis Oosthuizen and American Bubba Watson. Bubba – now there’s a name.

Oosthuizen had hit an amazing second shot at the par five second, which went in the hole – an albatross. Watson really clicked into gear in the back nine, with a succession of birdies. He had the momentum, but Oosthuizen hung on – already a British Open winner, so he knew what it took.  On the second playoff hole Watson got himself out of trouble in the trees with an amazing hooked shot. The technique under that kind of pressure being what distinguishes great sportsmen from the rest of us. That shot won him the Masters. The American crowd, all in their regulation beige knee-length shorts and polo shirts, were ecstatic.  He’s a popular lad, Bubba.  One of the young guns.  Very emotional at the end.  If no British tabloid has described him as “Blubber” Watson, I’d be surprised. (I’m too lazy to check).

The main event in the football was the confirmation of the inevitable. The Man City collapse, the Man Utd surge towards another Premier League title. Arsene Wenger, happy at Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over City (should have been four or five) said, apropos United, “In France we say that when a horse smells its stable, it’s difficult to stop him… they can smell that stable”.  Hmmm, new one to me, but I can see what he means.  The whiff of a familiar prize in those red nostrils. You have to admire them.  I heard on the radio that since Paul Scholes returned from retirement, they have only dropped two points. I guess you have to call that another Fergie masterstroke.

It’s all a bit of an anti-climax, but the City demise has been creeping up on us. That sense of a team of gifted individuals whose mettle had not been truly tested has become stronger, until in cruel April, it has been fully exposed. Arsenal have been on a roll ever since they beat Spurs 5-2, but the ease with which they took City apart was an eye opener. No David Silva, Yaya Toure off injured early on, they looked rudderless. Only the centre backs, Kompany and Lescott, really seemed to have the fight, the passion. And up the other end of the field Balotelli, all petulance and dangerous tackles, entertained us and unravelled his team at the same time.  The red card was only a matter of time – it should have been a straight one in the first half for an outrageous tackle on Song (see photo). In the end it was a second yellow late on. With six games to go, that might be the last we see of Balotelli this season – and probably the last time we see him in a City shirt.

Recently Balotelli was interviewed by Noel Gallagher – he of Oasis and the High Flying Birds – for BBC’s Football Focus.  This was pure hubris, looking back.  Balotelli as folk hero, entertainer, goal scorer, symbol of the new, brash City. Pop star. And he has been very funny at times this season, always a talking point. But the joke is on City now. And United are all laughs.

My son, an Arsenal supporter, now thinks that the Gunners might be able to catch City in second place. How football fans’ expectations change! Ten points behind, eighteen points left to play for. Possible, but unlikely.

A team with a whiff of the stable – Champions League place? – is Newcastle United. Quietly, they have been winning games, playing impressive football. A huge turn around from the joke they had become, especially off the field. They have bought well, especially from France, and now have two electric strikers in Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse. Alan Pardew is a good manager.  He did a decent job at West Ham a few years ago, until internal strife drove him out. His reputation dipped, but he is rebuilding it at Newcastle, and don’t be surprised to hear more “Pardew for England” cries in the future. I suspect top four is just beyond them this season, but they will keep Spurs and Chelsea on their toes, bums-a-squeaking.

I enjoyed West Ham’s easy 4-0 stroll at Barnsley on Good Friday (when did we start having football matches on Good Friday?). Nice to see Big Sam smiling again. Even better when Southampton dropped two points against Portsmouth on Saturday. Southampton and Reading are both four points ahead, but have to play each other.  There is hope. But we have a tough game at home against Birmingham later today.  A must-win, at the one venue where we can’t win at the moment. The Boleyn.  This must change!

Kevin Nolan celebrates the first goal vs Barnsley

The rugby is really at the business end too.  The Heineken Cup quarter finals were sadly bereft of Quins, who blew that last game against Connacht. We would have been away to Edinburgh – definitely winnable.  Instead it was Toulouse, who lost! So Edinburgh now meet Ulster in the semis, the latter having beat Munster. Not so much of a surprise this season, as Ulster are a very powerful and super-fast team. Leinster crushed Cardiff and Clermont Auvergne likewise against Saracens. So it’s Irish and French power that looks likely to prevail. Leinster may have that sniff of the stables, having twice been winners recently, that proves decisive.

Quins were in the Amlin Cup, which they won last season. On Friday night – Good Friday again – they got duffed up by Toulon’s scrum and the precision kicking of Jonny Wilkinson. I suspect Quins were just fractionally not up for it.  It doesn’t take much at that level for a team’s frailties to be exposed – see Man City. Evans and Robshaw, the two leaders, were missing. Others were rested. I think this shows that the priority for Quins this season is the Premiership and the play-offs. That has to be right – as long as such a heavy defeat, 37-8, hasn’t shaken the self confidence.

For Quins, the stables they are sniffing aren’t that familiar. It’s a bit of a journey into the unknown.  So now is the time to hold that nerve, maintain the belief in that running game, and show in the next two Premiership games – at home to Wasps and Leicester – what they are made of.  The fans’ bums will be squeaking, mine included!

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My Top Ten – Air Guitar Classics

Posted on April 6, 2012 by John S

A new series, something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while.  I’m hardly the first to indulge in lists, top tens or otherwise, but I think it will be fun, and maybe spark some rival choices.

Thought I’d start with something that is just pure fun: the air guitar playlist. Those songs that make you want to imagine you are there on lead guitar, or playing a very rocking riff.  An indulgence that is usually associated with consumption of beer. It can be pure air guitar, or maybe the use of a nearby implement: a tennis racket, broom handle, hockey stick, frying pan… the possibilities are endless. But all are worshipping the god of Rock.  With a knowing smile.  It is absurd, you know it is absurd, it is the whole point.  Celebration, laughter, rock’n’roll.

Metal lends itself best to the practice, the concept.  The riffs are huge and the sense of humour strong.  But there are outliers, not quite metal, but essential guitar. This, below, is my Top Ten. If I did it tomorrow it would be different – there are so many candidates. But the songs that made the Ten, well, they ROCK!

So, in ascending order…

10. 12 XU by Wire

I love this one because it’s so simple. Art punk. Off Wire’s brilliant album, “Pink Flag”.  A choppy, tense rhythm – saw you in a mag, kissing a man – builds up to a frenzy and then explodes – 12 XU! At which point you leap in the air, and if you happen to have a broom handle in your possession at the time, you are at risk of sweeping a few glasses off the table! Yes, it has happened.  A long, long, time ago…

9. Whiskey In The Jar by Thin Lizzy

This has been one of my favourite tunes ever since I first heard it in the early 70s.  It’s the lead guitar that makes you want to play.  Its roots are in an Irish folk song, but Lizzy added some searing solos and Phil Lynott sang like an angel, or maybe the devil.

8. Brighton Rock by Queen

“We Will Rock You”was obviously a candidate, but this song, off “Sheer Heart Attack”, is Brian May’s finest hour.  He gets to wig out like he’s Hendrix, and you want to do the same.

7. Cortez The Killer by Neil Young

Some may call this song a dirge, but the opening minutes of yearning, grungy lead guitar, are some of the greatest in rock history. There’s real emotion in the playing – you can lose yourself in this one. For me, this is Neil Young’s finest moment.

6. Given To Fly by Pearl Jam

This is one of those tunes that builds slowly and then just erupts into a humungus riff.  The build up, strangely, reminds me of the melody to Led Zep’s “Going to California”. Then it explodes and you just want to punch the sky!

5. Rock and Roll – Led Zeppelin

You could fill the whole chart with Zep tunes.  This one has a relentless, driving riff, and some fancy lead, and some great vocal posturing by Robert Plant… because you have to sing, too, when you are playing the air guitar.

4. Planet of Sound by The Pixies

This is another one of those slow build and explosion tunes.  And when it explodes, it does it better than just about anything else I know. If you could smash an air guitar, you probably would by the end of this one.

3. The Day That Never Comes by Metallica

What a song this is! Saw them play it at the O2 in London, with shooting flames, the works. A two part air guitar special.  First the soaring lead guitars laying down their own melody and then half way through some heavy riffing.  It’s the singing guitars at the beginning that make it really special.

2. More Than A Feeling by Boston

This is metal at its most over the top. And all the better for it. The original air guitar song. Almost as if it was designed for the purpose. The slow build, the straining vocals, getting higher and higher, the chorus of guitars, the triumphant, punching riff.  A hymn to Rock.

1. Enter Sandman by Metallica

The greatest metal track ever?  I think so.  All those things that I’ve said about the other songs – the slow build and explosion, the searing lead, the driving riff – they are all present in “Enter Sandman”.  It takes you higher and higher and then… blows everything apart with a piledriver riff.  And all before the singing starts! The song then goes on its volcanic way. Exit light, enter night! There is no respite. The guitar is pounding, soaring, cutting, thrusting, the choruses resounding.  Relentless and intense. Only the strongest of air guitarists will survive the full five and a half minutes!

What did I leave out?

So many, but to illustrate the competition: “Black Dog’ and “Custard Pie” by Led Zep, “Freebird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Rock The Nation” by Montrose, “Silver Machine” by Hawkwind, “Ace Of Spades” by Motorhead, “Killer On The Loose” and “The Rocker” by Thin Lizzy, “Sweet Child Of Mine” by Guns’n’Roses, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana, “Breaking The Law” by Judas Priest. To mention just a few. Let us rock!

You can listen to this Top Ten on Spotify at TFW510 – Air Guitar

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Have You Heard? – (13) “The Man Who Sold The World” by Bowie, Lulu and Nirvana

Posted on April 4, 2012 by John S

It’s an odd trio.  You wouldn’t naturally put them together. But the “Man Who Sold The World” unites them.

The song was originally by David Bowie, the title track of his 1970 album.  This was just a bit before Bowie really became famous.  In the UK that came with Ziggy Stardust, which then worked back to “Hunky Dory” which came out in 1971.  I didn’t discover “The Man Who Sold The World” album until the mid-eighties, so I think  it’s fair to say that I heard Lulu’s version before the Bowie original, as Lulu got onto Top of the Pops with it in 1974.

We’re talking a long time ago here! My teens.

The Bowie album is challenging, quite unsettling. He hadn’t quite developed his pop touch. “The Man Who Sold The World” is the best track. A brilliant tune with a spooky guitar motif that runs through the song.  There’s a minor key sound to it which conveys that sense of, what? Hopelessness? Oblivion? Sleaze? All of these things.

Here it is. The template.

Lulu was a Scottish pop singer with a really soulful voice, who made her name in the sixties with songs like “Shout” (the Isley Brothers tune) and a wonderful theme tune to the film, “To Sir With Love”.  That’s so good I’m going to include it here.

Her version of “The Man Who Sold The World” came completely out of the blue, but I remember absolutely loving it.  It came out about the same time as Bowie had released his covers album, “Pinups” and not so long after the magnificence of “Aladdin Sane”. The first “Diamond Dogs” track, “Rebel, Rebel” was on its way.  So this was a period of absolute brilliance in Bowie’s history and Lulu rode the wave. Her version was less eerie than Bowie’s, but more soulful, with a soaring saxophone leading the way. It was “Young Americans” before “Young Americans”.

Lulu in the seventies became a real household entertainment figure, with her Saturday evening variety show. Then she faded from view a bit, but she made a comeback in the 2000’s. Here’s another of her versions of “Man Who Sold The World”, from 2003, with that sax prominent.

And then there was Nirvana.  Kurt Cobain and the band did a MTV Unplugged show in 1994 and they played “Man Who Sold The World”. This might well be the best version of all. It has the spooky feel of the original, as well as the hard edge of Nirvana. Captivating.

A great song, truly enhanced by the covers.

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Cycling the Thames in the Spring sunshine

Posted on April 1, 2012 by John S

First of April, the weather lovely.  Bright sunshine, hardly any wind, a light chill in the shade, but feeling warmer than the 12 degrees forecast when you were in the sun. A perfect day for a good cycle.

I decided to go down to Richmond Lock first, cross the bridge there and head east to Hammersmith, along the loops and twists of the River Thames.

I’ve posted photos about this stretch of the river before – see my original Cycling the Thames from October 2011 – but things are always changing and something new will catch your eye.  These are the sights of Spring.

(As ever, click on a photo to get the full size.)

You approach Richmond Lock from the Isleworth Promenade. A grand title for a rather short path.

Some views from the Richmond Lock bridge.

Heading back towards Kew, there’s a swampy patch just off river, and the buds on the trees are beginning to sprout.

Kew Bridge, from the east side.

Looking ahead to the District Line tube bridge.

Invasion of the canoes!

Barnes Bridge is always good for a photo.

Swinging onto Hammersmith Bridge, and then heading west, past all the pubs, one reaches Chiswick Mall. No photos of the buildings this time, just the river and then some of the gardens.

The beauty of a garden by the river.

Low tide looking east.

Slimy green when revealed.

A lone branch on the shore.

A stony island.

A little further upstream,  a heron perched on a stone in calm splendour. Yes, this is urban Hammersmith.

I then cycled into Duke’s Meadows. The good weather had brought hundreds of people out to have barbecues. Smoke wafted from the fires.  I only started cycling this route last Autumn, so I’ll be interested to see what it’s like in the Summer!

And while this was going on, there was an open air judo/kendo/kick boxing/whatever class going on in the open air. Well, why not?

What I love about this ride is that not only is there such beautiful and interesting scenery, but there’s so much activity: be it the rowers on the river, the pub dwellers, the joggers, the promenaders, the kids at play, the barbecuers. Nature and humanity – both at their best on a lovely Spring day.

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Sportsthoughts (18) – For Quins and West Ham, playoffs beckon…

Posted on April 1, 2012 by John S

Big games for both my favourite teams yesterday. Quins were away to Saracens, the team they can never beat, at Wembley Stadium, of all places.  If Saracens won they would go above Quins at the top of the rugby Premiership. West Ham were at home to Reading, the team that has knocked them out of the top two automatic promotion places in the football Championship (the second division).  A Premier League place at stake. West Ham coming off a run of draws at home which has eroded belief; Reading on a run of something like eight wins out of none.

The nerves were jangling. To be completely honest, I thought Quins would probably lose to the grinding Saracens machine, but that West Ham would show what they are made of and get a vital win, to spark off a late season surge.

Er, wrong on both counts!

Let’s start with the positives.  Quins at Wembley were magnificent. They beat Saracens 24-19.  Saracens have played at Wembley five times previously, winning each time. They are a very strong side, with a hard South African core, but also some very promising young England players, Owen Farrell among them. While they can be dour, it’s that Saracens mentality which has been imparted to the new England team, giving us real hope for the future, especially now that Stuart Lancaster has been confirmed as the manager.

Quins yesterday were quite outstanding. They took on Saracens physically. They scored three superb tries, each one the product of a steady, sharp build up of phases and then the lightning strike. Textbook rugby.

This is Danny Care getting the third. Off-field problems forgotten!

And then, under intense pressure from Saracens, they defended unbelievably. Especially in the second half, in most of which they were a man, and sometimes two men down.  The ref didn’t like something about Quins’ aggressive approach and dished out four yellow cards.  Saracens’ sixteenth man? It felt like it, but it’s all about those grey areas in the rules. They will always be there in rugby.  What can you and can’t you do when those rucks develop?

The defence by Quins was astonishing.  Any number of try saving tackles.  George Lowe, one of the centres, back from a long term injury, put in three amazing tackles, scored a try and deservedly got the man of the match award.  But a couple of times we saw a prop (James Johnston)  and a second row forward (George Robson) straining every sinew to keep up with attackers and bring them down just in time. Everyone was up for it.

This tackle looks a tad illegal!

Saracens will probably be asking themselves, how did we not win that? Quins will be marking it down as the performance of the season, in a season of great performances. One to give them great confidence for the rest of the season.

(Photos are copied from Google images.  Getty Images photographers.)

Nick Easter pursued by four Saracens! Robbo, as ever, in close support.

Joe Marler modelling his latest hairstyle. Man or monster?

Ugh, but what a contrast to West Ham! The squad, without question, has to be the best in the division. It was improved in the January window, especially to bring in more firepower – Vaz Te, Maynard.  It looked promising. But they are stalling, especially at home, where draws have become commonplace. The fans get edgy quickly, not really buying into Sam Allardyce’s crude tactics, which are safety first with plenty of long balls up to the big man.  Not always – they’ve played some decent football at times – but it is Big Sam’s default strategy. 4-5-1, morphing into 4-3-3 when he feels brave, 4-4-2 when he gets desperate.

I’m forever blowing bubbles…

The Hammers fans are not happy. In fairness, we are not easily satisfied.  We cling to the myth about the flowing football of the past, the Academy of football.  There have been times when the football was outstanding. I remember the early eighties, when I went to all the home games, when Brooking and Devonshire unleashed the likes of Goddard, MacAvennie and Cottee. But we started that period in the Second Division! The Moore/Hurst/Peters era, the halcyon days of the sixties and early seventies, never saw a league place higher than sixth. The best manager we have had in recent times, Alan Curbishley, who saved us from relegation and then got us to tenth in the Premier League, essentially was ousted because the fans got bored.

So yesterday’s game was crucial.  If we won we would overtake Reading.  It would be the launch pad for the run in. We lost 4-2 at home! Dominated the first half apparently and let in two goals just before half time. Never really looked like winning in the second half. Are Reading really better than West Ham? Well, right now the answer has to be yes.

Reading’s first goal goes in…

So four points behind, the playoffs beckon, although Southampton lost at Blackpool, so there is still plenty to play for.  But it feels like there has been a turning point.  Big Sam has started lashing out at his critics – the fans.  The away hardcore, in Peterborough, last Tuesday, were singing ironically – or was it plaintively? – “We play it on the ground”. Sam’s response was that some fans were “deluded”. He may well be right.  But when you start to dispute things with the fans, it is usually the beginning of the end.  See Roy Hodgson at Liverpool last season.

The playoffs for Quins and West Ham have a very different tenor.

For Quins it will mean they are in the top four, fighting for the Premiership prize. They are in with a good shout of being top two now, six points ahead of Saracens and the lurking Leicester at the moment.  That would give us a home semi final. Shame that you don’t just win the league by coming first, but I understand why the playoffs were introduced.  Mainly for the money, obviously, but it is fair to those sides who lose so many players during the Six Nations, and indeed, the World Cup this season. Leicester, more than any other team, lose so many.  And look at them now.  Whupped Worcester, 43-13, with seven tries, on Friday.  Looking very dangerous.

For West Ham, the playoffs mean failure. Chucking away an automatic spot. Dragged into the dogfight with three other teams, all desperate to hit the jackpot that is the Premier League. If you make the final, so much is at stake, money-wise.  For West Ham, it is tied in with the putative move to the Olympic Stadium.  That won’t be much of a draw if they are stuck in a lower division.  High stakes indeed.  The nerves will be shredded, although we might draw comfort from the last time, in 2005, when we only just sneaked into sixth place (beating Reading on goal difference), but then outclassed Ipswich in the semis and Preston in the final.

I think we all need to give Big Sam our full support. West Ham – the whole club – was traumatised when we went down.  He has turned it around, instilling a real professionalism to the way things are conducted.  Things have gone a bit wrong lately, but there is time to get back on track.  Southampton and Reading will feel the pressure too.  Anything could happen.  Should we fail to go up this season, we should be even stronger next season. If we want to be.

It’s time to stick together, play for the team, to believe.

Follow the example of Harlequins.

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Sundown on Putney Bridge, iPhone style

Posted on March 30, 2012 by John S

On Tuesday, as I and my friends walked over Putney Bridge, on our way to see Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo at the Half Moon, the sun was in its last throes for the day. I had to stop and take a few shots with my iPhone.  Another opportunity to get some of those distorted images which sit halfway between a proper photo and a painting. I love ’em! Especially when you zoom in, things go all over the place.

(By the way, you can see my review of Emily Barker in the previous post.)

First a few shots out onto the river, the buildings and trees in silhouette, the buildings marked by little dashes of light.

From the centre of the bridge, you see the bend in the river ahead.

At the south end of the bridge, there’s a modern development, called Putney Wharf. It’s striking, if a little out of place.

This next one makes the building look like some kind of mediaeval tower.

The lights on the bridge burst to life in these distorted photos.  Just like when I take my glasses off, any light throws out a dazzling array of patterns. The benefits of being short-sighted!

Look at those colours!

The traffic flows over the bridge.  That is not an exploding car behind the bus!

And the lights on the other side of the bridge from where I was standing, looking in the direction of Chelsea.

I love the colours: a product of the fading sunset and the street lights and way the zoom mixes them together.  All pure chance: I just zapped the shots as quickly as possible, hoping they’d turn out interesting.  While my friends waited patiently!

The real and the not real. Impressionism…

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Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo at the Half Moon, Putney

Posted on March 29, 2012 by John S

On the Tuesday just gone, 27 March, I went along, with a couple of friends, to the Half Moon, Putney, just along from Putney Bridge, in South West London, to see Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo.  I was introduced to the band when I saw them play a set supporting Eliza Carthy at the Lexington on the Pentonville Road, North London. I’d not heard of them before that, but was really knocked out by the performance.  I blogged on it before – see my piece called “Two Gigs and Three Discoveries”.

I’d not been to the Half Moon for ages, but it is a great venue. An intimate space, now with red and black decor. It was certainly different when I last went there, but it’s back to the eighties, and the brain cells haven’t stored any memories.  I remember the band: Morrissey- Mullen, a jazz funk combo. Morrissey – or was it Mullen? – had been a guitarist in the Average White Band.  Good pub as well, with a decent range of beers.  Worth a visit.

The support was a singer/ guitarist called Jenny Lindfors. She’s Irish, based in London, and plays a jazzy, bluesy folk, with, I noticed, the capo quite a way down the fretboard, to give a sweeter sound. That’s about as technical as I get! I really liked her music and her sense of humour.  Most of the songs were from her “difficult second album”, not yet released.  Her first album is called “When The Night Time Comes” and is only £4.99 on iTunes.  I downloaded it after the gig, and would recommend it to anyone.

Emily and her band played a fantastic set.  I’d been familiarising myself with the songs after the Lexington gig, buying the latest album, “Almanac” and the previous one, “Despite The Snow”.  Both wonderful albums. Folk with soul, with a celtic flavour at times, sometimes a little bluesy. Beautiful music, basically.

Emily plays guitar.  The rest of her band are Anna Jenkins on violin, and, I heard on Tuesday, “foot banjo”; Jo Silverston on cello and banjo; and Gill Sandell on accordion, flute, percussion  and guitar. And all provide the harmonies that give the sound a lovely extra dimension.  I saw the band’s music described somewhere as “chamber folk”.  This is not a genre that I had previously been acquainted with.  I can see what it means, given the absence of drums and conventional bass (Jo and Anna pluck some rhythms on the cello and violin) but this is music that could reach out on any stage. It has a real resonance.

The photos here are a bit ropey, having been taken in a dark room with an iPhone with no flash and sometimes on zoom. Excuses aside, here are the members of the band.

Emily

Jo

Anna

Gill

The first song was one that I didn’t know, but was clearly called “This Is How It’s Meant To Be”.  A lovely country song with some great bursts of harmonica from Emily.  It’s a song from the first album, “Photos. Fires. Fables.”. It set the tone for the evening.  Beautiful, wistful, soulful music, subtle and elegant musical backing, wonderful harmonies.  Emily has a great voice, effortless but affecting.  Songs like “Reckless” and “Ropes” from “Almanac” stood out, as did the two that have found fame (of sorts) by becoming theme tunes for TV series. “Nostalgia” (the theme to “Wallander”) for me is one of those songs fits perfectly into my definition of celtic soul – yearning, sad, but uplifting through its beauty.

And then there was “Pause”. The theme to ‘The Shadow Line”. That’s great, but doesn’t mean much to me as I’ve never watched it. What “Pause” means to me is that it is one of the most beautiful songs that I have ever heard. Especially live.  It’s the one where Emily gently strums an electric guitar, but otherwise it’s just her singing, her lament about a lost love, and the harmonies from Anna, Jo and Gill. Very simple, slow, impressionistic. Delicate fragments of sound as much as a song.  I’m not surprised it found its way into a series based in Scandinavia, with, no doubt, big skies and lots of snow.  It grabbed me at the Lexington and transfixed me at the Half Moon. I just love it. My new favourite tune.

This is the band singing “Pause”.  Impossible to get all four in the shot from where I was standing, quite near the stage.

I’m sure that there are zillions of other bands out there, that if I heard, I would love.  That’s the joy of music.  Whom you discover, who really moves you, is really quite a random thing. Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo were second on the bill at one of the gigs that The Word magazine puts on at the Lexington. Pure chance that I got to hear them.  But I’m so glad I did.

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To Padstow, Cornwall, to cook some seafood!

Posted on March 26, 2012 by John S

Last Christmas I got a great birthday present from my wife, Kath – a day’s fish and seafood cooking course at the Padstow seafood school. Yes, birthday – I was born on Christmas day. 1 in 365 of us has to be. At the same time my friend Jon had been bought the same by his wife Maggie for his birthday just before Christmas.  So, this weekend, the four of us – children suitably supervised back in London – took the train to the South West for the big cook-out. The wives were planning a leisurely day while the men sweltered in the kitchen.

We went down on the Friday.  The weather was beautiful. On the way down there is some lovely scenery, especially just the other side of Exeter, when the railway runs right next to the sea, with a stunningly red sandstone cliff on the other side.  This bit of the coast was still very misty around one o’clock, as we passed through, so the view was rather obscured, but it had a certain spooky atmosphere.

Padstow isn’t connected by rail so we had to get off at Bodmin Parkway and get a taxi.  “Parkway” means out of town when it comes to the railway. Middle of nowhere in this case, but very pretty.  The forest and Bodmin Moor. With a steam railway running alongside. And a nice little cafe doing bacon baps.

The taxi dropped me and Jon off at Wadebridge, five miles from Padstow, so we could cycle part of the Camel valley trail to Padstow. The Camel river is tidal at Wadebridge and the tide was out as we cycled by.  Here are a few photos of the ride.

I like the way there’s a crack , a canyon in the sand, as the water deserts the the land.

We moved a little closer to Padstow before I took this shot and Jon snapped me.

This next one is the the little harbour in Padstow.

And the the ferry between Padstow and Rock on the other side of the estuary. Miss this and you have a a long journey up, over and down the estuary.

A view from the coastal path, which we walked along in the afternoon.

A few close ups as we wound through the woods .

And into the open, looking across to where the lifeboat is situated.  I think the grey slate houses are where the lifeboatmen and their families used to live.  Not sure whether they do now.  But you can see it is/was in splendid isolation.

Walking along the beach I took a few detailed shots.

My fellow travellers.

And then on to Day Two – The Course!

It was an early start: 8.45am arrival.  Jon and I ventured out from our cottage at 8.00 in the hope that we could find a cafe open and have a cup of tea and a bit of breakfast. We couldn’t find anything – Padstow’s cafes don’t seem to get going until 9.00 – and so we bought a loaf of bread and some butter at the Spar shop and went back to the cottage for some toast and tea.  Good job we didn’t have much of a breakfast because the day turned out to involve a lot of eating!

The seafood school is part of the Rick Stein empire. Rick, for any non-UK readers, is a chef who specialises in seafood and has made a great name for himself on TV.  He is from the Padstow area and now owns a number of restaurants in Padstow as well as a deli, a fish and chip shop, a gift shop, a bakery, a hotel and no doubt much more.  He has become synonymous with the town.

The school looks quite ordinary from the outside (see next photo), but inside it is a superb space.  It was a cooking paradise, such were the facilities, the ventilation (no sweltering), the utensils and the lovely view onto the estuary beach (OK, my shot through the window here isn’t the greatest, but you can imagine how nice it is to have a view like that).

Our master of ceremonies and master chef for the day was Keith, a Yorkshireman with the gift of the gab and an amazing talent for cooking.  He was incredibly knowledgeable about all aspects of the fish and shellfish we were preparing. The day was a real education.

After coffees the day started with a bang, with instructions on how to kill a crab. This was necessary for the preparation for one of the courses, a crab bisque.  To ensure that the crabs are fresh, they are bought live. They are killed with a couple of strategic thrusts with a skewer.  You wince a bit watching it, and then doing it.  But it’s the reality.  If you want to eat an animal, it has to be killed.

This is the said crab, post execution. The weapon is next to the board.

Over the day, we cooked four courses, having had a demonstration on each first. We worked in pairs, so naturally, Jon and I teamed up. At each stage we ate the fruits of our labour.  This is why we became glad we hadn’t found a cafe open at eight o’clock.  At about eleven we were eating the first we’d made: deep fried lemon sole with a spicy Malaysian coating, with a sambal side dish and a rocket salad. This was probably the most complex dish to make.  We learnt how to fillet and skin the sole. A very sharp and very bendy knife is essential.  But it worked. The sambal was a mixture of torpedo-shaped onions, long red chillies (with the seeds scooped out) and tomatoes grilled until they were black.  There was a black chilli pepper too, which had a kind of liquorice flavour. It was all chopped up, and then we added lime juice and Thai fish sauce.

It was amazing!

This is how it ended up looking on the plate, but I can tell you, those pieces of sole were so succulent, while the batter and the sambal had some seriously spicy oomph. Eleven o’clock, and we wanna rock!

Keith was funny about his rocket. It had to be turned the right side up. No grabbing a big lump and just shoving on the plate. Perfectionism!

The crab, once killed, was plunged in salty water and cooked for eight minutes. Meanwhile we got on with preparing the next dish, which was a delicious concoction of clams and lardons with a tomato and red wine sauce and parsley. It ended up like this.

So good!

We moved on to the crab bisque.  An amazing number of ingredients went into this. Carrots, celery, onions, garlic, parts of the crab, prawns, brandy, dry vermouth, tomato puree, fish stock. Boiled, simmered, liquidised, strained through a pointy colander and then finished off with butter, Cornish double cream and a bit of paprika. Yowsa!

The taste was exquisite.  It was so rich that you wouldn’t want a massive dishful, but as a starter it was unbeatable.  Jon and I congratulated ourselves for getting our soup’s texture exactly the same as Keith’s. It was the moment of the course – how can food taste this good?

So here is the concoction before it got mashed by the liquidiser.

And here is the final product, with a little bit of the crab meat preserved from the monster.  Jon and I misheard the instructions so ate most of ours while we were cooking.  Good ol’ Keith let us have a bit from the demonstration to garnish our perfect soup.

The last thing we cooked was Ling (a cross between a cod and a large  eel) with spring onions, gem lettuce hearts and peas.  All braised in butter and chicken stock and topped off with some crispy pancetta. Oh wow, I’m practically crying with delight as I describe it! It was so nice.  And so simple to make, once, Andy, another of the chefs, had done the hard work filleting the massive ling.

So here it is in the pot and then on the plate.

The braised lettuce was quite delicious. Beats the salad version any day!

And while we were making this meal (and beforehand), Keith and Andy were making the mother of all seafood paellas, with intimate details of the average squid’s sex life described en passant. Lobster, squid, monkfish, mussels, sea bream. Spanish rice, saffron, which cost a huge amount – if I’d sneezed while smelling the bowl of the stuff that was passed round, £130 would have been on the floor!

And, well, I doubt I have to tell you how good it tasted.

So, after each dish we ate our produce, and from the clams onwards we were were washing it down with some very nice white wines too. Nothing too excessive, but a lovely complement. By the time the course ended – about 4.30 – we were most definitely, replete.

So what can I say? If you fancy doing something a bit different, or giving a close friend, or your partner, something interesting for a present, then a trip to the Padstow Seafood School, comes highly recommended.  Costs £195, but dare I say… it is worth every penny!

We still had the Saturday evening before us, of course, after this culinary adventure and five course feast. After meeting up with Kath and Maggie in a cafe, Jon and I retired to a pub to watch Stoke vs Man City play out a grim 1-1 draw, leavened only by a quite magnificent volleyed goal by Peter Crouch. And then, after a brief rest at the cottage,  the four of us went to one of Rick Stein’s restaurants, the St Petroc. Being all fished out, I had a steak, with scallops to start (on the basis that we hadn’t cooked any of those on the course). More wonderful food – not exactly necessary, but it had to be done.

And all the while, the weather was beautiful.  The perfect weekend.

There’s a larger set of photos on Flickr – see the link under the Blogroll on the right of this piece.

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Have You Heard? – (12) “Wrecking Ball” by Bruce Springsteen

Posted on March 21, 2012 by John S

The release of a new Bruce Springsteen album is always important to me, ever since that moment, back in 1978, when I was lying in bed, in the darkness, listening to a review of new albums on the radio, and on came “Racing In The Streets” off “Darkness On The Edge Of Town”.  And then “Candy’s Room’, or maybe it was “Badlands” – my memory of that is a little hazy. I was hooked. Bruce quickly became the most important artist in my musical world, and he’s stayed that way ever since.  There’s usually something I’m listening to more, and not every album he’s released has been top notch, but when it comes to the crunch, it is Bruce’s music that has meant more to me than anything else ever since that chance encounter in ’78.

And so to “Wrecking Ball”. The album was preceded by some good reviews.  People were saying it was a real return to form (after “Working on A Dream” which I have to say, was probably Bruce’s weakest ever. With that first song, “Outlaw Pete”, the first ever song that I genuinely just didn’t like). There was lots of excitement – especially in the US – about how angry the album was, how it was a return to Bruce as the spokesman for the ordinary man, buffeted by the economic crisis, forgotten while the Government worked out how to save the banks. It sounded like it was going to be good.

So how is it, does it live up to those expectations?  I’ve been listening to it a lot, to decide what I really think.  To get past that first reaction that it’s Bruce so it will be good. Or that slight disappointment which comes next when it sounds largely like the last twenty years’ worth of albums overall, with just a few nuggets emerging in time. Trying to get to the essence, giving it a bit more time than I’ve given most of the albums in recent times. I didn’t have a blog then!

So, so… straight up, I’m saying it’s an 8/10. That’s very good.  Definitely the best since “The Rising” and maybe as good as anything since…. I don’t know, “Born In The USA”? That was 1984.  “Tunnel Of Love”, 1987? I really think it is up there with those albums (a notch below the famous first six*).

The first thing to say is it is one of those albums which works as a whole. A coherent body of work, where the emotions ebb and flow, where there is light and shade, celebration and darkness.  With all those classic Springsteen themes about the downtrodden man, the forlorn lover, the defiance, the passion, the redemption in ordinary things. It’s an album that continues Bruce’s journey into America’s musical roots, especially the folk music, which itself is a descendant of the folk music of Ireland, amongst others.  When I listen to “American Land”, which is a bonus track on the iTunes version of the album, or “Death To My Hometown”, I can imagine Shane MacGowan of The Pogues singing the song, as the violins and tin whistles kick in.  They are great, rousing tunes that resonate with my celtic soul. And “Death To My Hometown” sure is angry about those invisible forces that brought so many working people to their knees.

Anger, some times smouldering, sometimes in your face, sometimes despairing, sometimes defiant, runs like bubbling, spitting lava through “Wrecking Ball”.

The album starts with a bang.  “We Take Care Of Our Own” enters with a thunderous drum beat, roaring guitar and a classic Springsteen R&B piano that harks back to the days of “Jungleland” and “Badlands” and “Factory”. As well as a diatribe against against the uncaring society, I think it’s a celebration of the sound that made Bruce’s music so distinctive, with the late, great, Clarence Clemons at its heart.

The next two tracks, “Easy Money” and “Shackled and Drawn” delve into those American roots. “Shackled and Drawn” especially, is ready for the hoe-down. Bruce has only ever made one record that works in the discos – “Dancing In The Dark” – but on the country dance floor he has a whole repertoire, and “Shackled” is impossible not to tap a foot to, especially when that accordion buts in with its refrain.  A joyous sound, juxtaposed against words of defeat, loss of hope and energy. That contrast creates a real tension through much of this album.

Two tracks form the centrepiece of the album, for me.  The first is “Jack Of All Trades”. Set against one of those simple, rolling, soul ballad piano backgrounds (there is probably a technical term for it, but I don’t know about that stuff), Bruce sings tenderly about a simple man doing his best for his woman in hard times. Holding on to the everyday. There’s a breakout of that suppressed anger too – If I had me a gun, I’d find those bastards and I’d shoot them on sight – but mostly it’s about the personal defiance that is at the heart of so many of Springsteen’s greatest songs. So simple, so moving.

And the second is “Wrecking Ball”.  I didn’t get this one at first. There was a lot going on and I wasn’t sure if it hung together.  And then suddenly the wrecking ball refrain became the one in my head as I was in the Tube on the way to work. Sometimes a song takes a little while to reveal itself, for all the layers to peel away. For the structure to emerge. “Wrecking Ball” is like that, but now it feels like a Springsteen epic. It builds and builds and erupts in a chorus of brass at the end, matching the come-and-get-me thrust of the lyrics. It sounds like a song made for the end of a live set – for the exit in triumph.

“My Depression” and “You’ve Got It” are the deeply personal songs, the love songs, with a twist.  The ills of the world are background, but the focus is one-to-one. “My Depression” is a plea for love and support in hard times which grows on me each time I listen to it. “You’ve Got It” is a simple piece of rock’n’roll, a bit of light relief in a densely orchestrated album.

I don’t know what to make of “Rocky Ground” really. It’s got a nice melody. But it feels like a song that has been designed for the Superbowl Final, with a bit of rapping from Michelle Moore, and the inevitable gospel choir.  Dare I say, the sort of thing American TV seems to lap up.  All the key US musical cultures coming together.  We are the world. Just a little bit grating to these British ears. “Land Of Hope And Dreams”, a song that has been around for a while, is in a similiar, but more meandering vein. The gospel sound – not my favourite Springsteen style. I’d rather leave that to Aretha Franklin. But there is a searing sax solo from the Big Man, Clarence C, which reminds you what we’ll be missing from now on.

And then the album ends with “We Are Alive”. A certain irony as the lyrics sing of the souls of the dead and of abandonment; but against a rolling country beat, Bruce intones a simple message which sums up the album, and pretty much his musical history: the sound of defiance and hope emerging from loss and despair…

We are alive – And though our bodies lie down here in the dark – Our souls will carry the fire and light the spark – To fight shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart…

So, yeah, buy this album. Give it a bit of time.  There’s a great fire burning at the core of this album. It’s Bruce Springsteen at his heartfelt and rootsy best.

* The asterisk! The first six Springsteen albums are on a different level as far as I am concerned. I’ve grown to love the seventh – “Born In The USA” – over time, though I rather dismissed it as the yuppies-discover-Bruce when it came out, in 1984..

In case you don’t know them, here they are, the first six, the best music ever!

“Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ” (1973); “The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle” (1973); “Born To Run” (1975); “Darkness on the Edge of Town” (1978); “The River”(1980); “Nebraska”(1982). Every one essential, in different ways. I will come back to them in time.

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