Have you heard? … Altan (The first in the series)

Posted on October 31, 2011 by John S

I want to write some posts about bands or music that maybe not so many people have heard. Or just something that I really like.  Not because I have any great insight: rather it’s just music that I’ve stumbled upon at some stage that I think is worth sharing with others.

I’ve chosen Altan for my first post, not because their name begins with a capital “A” but because I was reminded of them as I was writing my book about my journey through music.  As I noted in my first post, I’m working through a chapter on “Celtic soul” at the moment.  Altan are the epitome of that.

The band’s roots were in County Donegal, and the name is derived from a lake in the shadow of Mount Errigal in Donegal.  They were led by singer Mairead ni Mhaonaigh and instrumentalist Frankie Kennedy (who sadly died in 1994 from cancer). They formed in 1987.  I first heard their music when they released an album called “Island Angel” in 1993.  It was just a recommendation from Q magazine, as I recall.  I was immediately struck by the depth and beauty of the album.  The songs alternated between jigs and reels and some lovely ballads.  It was the latter that really grabbed me.  Mairead ni Mhaonigh has one of those voices that is just so pure. And mystical. The second track on the album, “Brid Og Ni Mhaille” is one of those songs that is so beautiful that it absolutely doesn’t matter that I have no idea what it is about, given that it is in Gaelic.  I just know it is about love, maybe lost love, maybe a sense of exile and longing, all those things that make up the best Irish melancholy.  And if I’m wrong it doesn’t matter.  The sound is the sound of purest Celtic soul.

I bought some more Altan albums, like “Blackwater” and a greatest hits.  They didn’t have the same impact on me as “Island Angel” but only because I didn’t give them as much time.  I reckon you could start with any album and derive that same enjoyment I got from “Island Angel”, connecting for the first time with a truly authentic slice of Ireland.

Here’s a link to their website.

http://www.altan.ie/

And here’s a link to a performance of one of the songs on “Island Angel”, “Dulaman”.

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Winning ways!

Posted on October 30, 2011 by John S

Another most unusual sporting week, with all my favourite teams continuing to win, and, of course, the fallout from Man City’s 6-1 thrashing of Man Utd.

At the Stoop yesterday Quins beat Exeter 19-13 in what was easily the toughest fight they’ve had this season. Exeter’s pack was immensely strong and they had a No13 who was Lomu-like in the way he blundered through the Quins defence a couple of times. Quins had to put up some heroic defence near the end, but just held on. The difference in the end was that Nev was successful with all his kicks. One try apiece. Most of the top players had had two weeks rest while the youngsters took over for the LV Cup.  I wonder whether they were just a tad rusty.

I like the Exeter fans, in their Chief’s feathers and chanting to the bang of a drum.  Their only problem away from home is that the chant is about nothing in particular and it scanned perfectly with “Har-le-quins”, so the home fans took it over! In the good-humoured way that rugby supporters do, beer in hand.

And the Hammers, 3-2 winners against managerless Leicester (who’d sacked Sven during the week for being one or two points off the play off positions in October!). On the ridiculously late BBC Football League highlights they looked worthy winners and a new star – Sam Baldock – is emerging.  Two well-taken goals: he looks like the kind of goal-poacher that we’ve lacked for the last few years.

The Irons were also on Sky last Monday, away to Brighton, winning 1-0.  I’m sure the Brighton fans felt aggrieved – they had much more of the play.  But I liked the way that West Ham absorbed the pressure, took the goal and basically said, we are here for a routine win.  Brighton had very few shots for all the possession they had.  This is obviously the influence of Big Sam, and not in the West Ham traditional of porous defending at all. But I’ll take it!

Ah, winning ways!  Good to see brittle Arsenal getting back their confidence too. While West Ham sojourn in the Championship, Arsenal are my Premier team – the family team, and always a joy to watch, even when they are falling apart.  Yesterday at Chelsea, 5-3, what a performance!  Who scores five at Stamford Bridge? (Apart from Chelsea).  OK, it is probably only oil-moneyed Man City who will challenge the reds and the blues this season, but it’s good to see a shake up, a bit of unpredictability… and loads of goals in the most surprising places.  And one can but dream of a transformed Arsenal slipping unnoticed into the top three and pouncing right at the end of the season. An unlikely fantasy, unless Arsene bites the bullet and buys some more quality defenders and Robin van Persie stays fit; but it’s only October – still time to dream.

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Why I still love the NME

Posted on October 27, 2011 by John S

The New Musical Express…

I first started reading it in 1974-75, aged 15.  I’d been a Sounds fan, rather than NME or Melody Maker, for a while.  It did the Rock – and I was into that, the Metal, Bad Co, Robin Trower, Rory Gallagher, Status Quo. But as rock’n’roll in its short sharp form – Dr Feelgood, Eddie and the Hot Rods to the fore – started to take hold, the NME seemed to capture the mood.  I jumped ship and have never looked back.

As I grew into the sixth form and then university, the NME became my bible. It was like a friend recommending records, and you knew the recommendations were spot on.  The NME knew.  If it said something was good, it had to be worth a listen.  Of course in the seventies having a listen wasn’t quite as easy as it is now. You’d listen out on the radio, or maybe go to a record shop with a listening booth, or, what the hell, just take a chance and buy the record. That sense of anticipation about the unknown was great, though disappointment was as likely as enjoyment. Today, a quick listen on Spotify or MySpace or You Tube avoids the disasters, but the sense of excitement at the possibilities is lost. (I prefer today by the way – so much more is available and explorable and that beats the sense of the unknown).

The mid to late seventies and early eighties were the NME’s hey day.  Punk, New Wave, New Romantics, post-punk, these were almost NME creations. And indie thereafter. In those late seventies, I marvelled at the interviews that Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill and Nick Kent and Charles Shaar Murray and so many others had with all the top bands.  The Tony Parsons interviews with Bruce Springsteen and The Clash were truly inspirational to this teenager.  I couldn’t but help love the music after reading his call to arms.  Later on, in the eighties, the likes of Paul Morley and Ian Penman bamboozled us with obscure prose, but intrigued us too, and pointed us to more good sounds, be it Yello, or Joy Division, or Orange Juice, or all sorts of electro-dance.

There was also humour and and just a bit of spite.  If the NME built someone up, you could bet your life that they’d put one of the antis on to bring them down at some point. The classic for me was Television. Their first album, “Marquee Moon”, is one of the New York new wave classics. A wonderful album which is right there in the DNA of The Strokes, for example.  I think it was Nick Kent who wrote the review (I could be wrong) and it was so good that the album just had to be purchased. And it’s one of my favourite albums of all time. There’s a fragility about Tom Verlaine’s singing and his layered guitar that is truly special. You can hear a bit of Neil Young in the solos, and the Velvet Underground are obvious influences, but there is really no-one like Television.  But then the NME put Julie Burchill onto the second album, “Adventure”, and she absolutely destroyed it.  As a student with not enough money to keep on chancing it on albums, it put me right off. I didn’t get around to buying it until a couple of years ago.  And you know, she was kind of right.  It wasn’t that good – but it wasn’t as bad as she made out either.

The NME almost always got it right. There is so much music I love that the NME first pointed me towards.  Through the decades.

Fast forward to today. Friends have been wondering for some time, why are you still reading the NME?  It’s for teenagers.  OK,  maybe twenty-somethings too. Students. It’s true, that is the NME demographic that the marketing men would pinpoint. And I’ll admit I read it now and sometimes feel a bit seen-it-all-before, a bit patronising about young people with the answers to all the world’s problems (not that older people have had any good answers recently), and yes, just a bit envious of the fun the youth are having. As they always have.

But I still buy it because of that youthful vibrancy and outspokenness and optimism and, above all, because the NME still has its finger on the pulse of modern music.  You can still be sure that if the NME is saying an album is good, or if it’s hyping a band, at the very least the album and band are worth checking out. And more often than not it still pays off.

Recent examples? The Foals, to my mind one of the best bands of recent years – the new Talking Heads – brought to my attention by the NME. Not quite so recent, but The Arctic Monkeys, The Strokes, The White Stripes: all NME enthusiasms which you just couldn’t resist. Best bands of the 2000s.  Some excellent “Radar” downloads on their website in recent times, which put me on to the brilliant electronic track, “Wet Look” by Joy Orbison , the heavy rap of “Talking The Hardest” by Giggs (not Ryan!) and the indie pop perfection of “Constellations” by Darwin Deez. And they made the Horrors’ “Primary Colours” their album of the year in 2010 and it made me listen, and conclude it was pretty good, especially when I saw them rocking out at Glastonbury this year.

It never stops, because the NME is your good mate who just knows everything thing there is to know about rock’n’roll music. And if you listen to what it is saying, your music collection, your iPod shuffle, however you listen to music in 2011, will be better for it.

Here’s a link to the NME’s website, which is celebrating its first fifteen years.

http://www.nme.com/

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Cycling the Thames

Posted on October 24, 2011 by John S

Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song…

One of the great things about living in West London are the bike rides you can do that hardly involve roads.  Just parks, the Grand Union canal and The River. The weather this weekend was an autumn joy.  Bright sunshine, a mild temperature. Time to cycle the Thames. On Saturday I cycled down to Richmond Lock, crossed the bridge there and then took the towpath all the way to Hammersmith. Then back to Ealing along the river and the A4 and the parks of the Queen of the Suburbs. I started through Boston Manor Park. Not so well known, but a lovely spot.  The bizarre thing about the place is the fact that the M4, elevated, goes right through it. The planning permission in the 60s must have been interesting.

Boston manor Park The M4 carves through the park

From there it was down the Grand Union canal to Brentford, where it joins theThames.

Brentford is a pretty non-descript part of London, with a football team that is stuck in the lower leagues. But it has such potential.  See the photo above  – there’s a bit of a riviera developing.  It needs a foot bridge over to Kew Gardens to get a cafe society going.  It could be brilliant. From there I cycled through Syon Park  and then Isleworth village, next to the Thames. The London Apprentice pub is worth a visit, for its location

.

That’s the house at Syon Park, here’s the London Apprentice.

From there it was a cycle to Richmond Lock, some along on the river, a bit on roads. Here’s the bridge.

The towpath on the south side  – or is it east or west side, the river bends so much –  then takes you as far as Putney.  I usually go to Hammersmith though occasionally I stretch to the extra 15 minutes to Putney. It’s a bumpy ride from Richmond Lock to Kew Bridge, but there are some lovely views, especially of Syon Park, and the rowers on the river.

It’s then Kew Bridge and beyond where you get some great views of the Strand on the Green, the beginnings of Chiswick, which is just one of the best bits of London. I’d live there if I had the money! (Actually, I like Ealing just as much).

There’s a great run through Kew to Barnes.  Leafy glades, the views on the other side, past the Brewery (now Budweiser, proper beer in the past), and the riverside pubs, which have a problem when the tide is high and the paths flood. This is the  natural world – sometimes parts of the towpath aren’t passable because of high tide. Blame it on the moon.  It’s the same Richmond way, and at Isleworth near the London Apprentice, and Twickenham.  They all get flooded, sometimes in half an hour.  I went for a beer once at the White Cross pub in Richmond (see the picture later). Locked my bike against the river railings.  Then the water started to flow in.  I thought at first it was just the backdraft of a large boat that went by. No, it was the tide. By the time I’d finished my beer, I had to take my shoes and socks off to rescue my bike.

Barnes Bridge is a railway bridge. It has style. Then there’s a straight run of road in parallel with the river just after that defines the place.  Inland there are some lovely greens.  Barnes is another top part of London.

And so on to Hammersmith. One of the best bridges in London. Though weak apparently.

I love Hammersmith.  It has scuzzy parts, but the stretch along the river, with lots of great pubs and wonderful views, is close to unbeatable.  And it has the Lyric and Riverside theatres, the Apollo for rock. And tube lines galore.  Yes, live in Hammersmith if you can.

On the river journey, you go through Hammersmith to Chiswick, and to one of the poshest bits of London, the Chiswick Mall. It floods in the high tides, but the buildings are magnificent, and to have a garden which looks on to the Thames – hey, I’d like that!

First photo is Hammersmith just down from the bridge. Then three around the Mall.

From the Mall, you go past the home of London’s  (and England’s?) greatest beer, the Fuller’s brewery. That’s right by the noisy Hogarth’s roundabout, on the A4.  Amazing that only five minutes way is the tranquility of the Thames. From the Chiswick Mall, you head on through a private estate to Dukes Meadows and along a road which weaves past playing fields, reconnecting with the river from time to time.  You can see the Barnes promenade and then Chiswick Bridge.  At this point you lose the river.  You can regain it and take the Strand on The Green to Kew Bridge, but it’s narrow and on a bike you have to stop too often as there are are a lot of people walking along the path . So I head up to Chiswick Park and thereafter to the A4.

I like the urban/rural thing.  One minute the serenity of the Thames, the next minute the roar of the A4, Chiswick roundabout and the North Circular.  It’s West London, innit? On the way home I take in four parks: Gunnersbury, Ealing Common,  Walpole and Lammas parks.  In the autumn sunshine they are all beautiful.

Gunnersbury

Ealing Common

Walpole

Lammas

Then there was Sunday.  A cycle down to Richmond and then on to Twickenham and Teddington lock, before heading back on the towpath to Richmond.

Richmond bridge and environs from the north side.

Heading into Twickenham, you see the bridge that links the “mainland” to Eel Pie Island.  No cars allowed there. Haven’t explored the island yet, but from a distance it looks cool.  Pete Townsend is a resident.

Then Teddington.

But it’s the journey back to Richmond that inspires. Such a beautiful scene.

Back to the bridge and just beyond a pub called the White Cross. it is just so tempting to stop off at for a pint of Youngs. Just bitter, rather than Special, as I’m riding.  It’s such a good location – except when the water comes rolling in. Then again, even that is good – the force of nature before your very eyes.

And so, back to Richmond Lock, before crossing over and heading back home. Another wonderful journey. So lucky to live in this part of the world…

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C’etait magnifique

Posted on October 23, 2011 by John S

So the All Blacks made it, just.  8-7.  The score doesn’t convey what a great game it was. The intensity shown by both teams, from start to finish, was amazing.  Maybe if Piri Weepu’s boot was firing in the first half there would have been no chance of a French comeback. But when France got their try and moved within one point, it really felt like it was theirs to win. Another French comeback against the AB’s looked on.  Like I said in the previous blog, I was torn.

But New Zealand were brilliant in the way they slowly reasserted control – through all those Northern Hemisphere ways (kicking, up-the-jumper mauls…) that tend to come to the fore when it’s knockout rugby – and they came out winners.  It was agonising – just one infringement from a kickable distance and France might have triumphed.

The French deserve massive credit,  they’ve been vilified throughout the tournament, almost as much as England, but they were superb today.  They took the game to New Zealand, they tackled and rucked heroically.  It was a more even game than anyone expected.  How they let it slip at times, like the Tonga game, is mystifying.  One day, surely, they must win the World Cup. 2015 in England?

I missed the Haka and France’s V-shaped advance.  I couldn’t get my Sky box to work! Saw it in the ITV analysis at the end. It was dramatic – but I remember years ago Wales getting criticised for doing something similar, without the V-shape, for disrespecting the Haka.

If there is an outstanding hero, it has to be the obvious one, Richie McCaw.  At the end, as he collected the trophy, he was clearly limping: that metatarsal or whatever it was. But during the game would you have known it? Never. There was a moment, I think in the second half, when the French, with a brilliant strike, got a turnover and sent the ball wide. Another ruck ensued, and the ferocity with which New Zealand reclaimed the ball, as if the previous turnover was a deep affront, said everything. Richie McCaw was right in there, as ever.

The right result for rugby, but hail the French too. It was truly magnifique.

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New Zealand vs France – I’m torn

Posted on October 22, 2011 by John S

How many months ago did the World Cup start? Seems like an age since England were turfed out, tails between their legs. Anyway, at last it’s the big one. What a game it should be, especially if the French turn up.

I said to a friend before the whole thing started that if England didn’t win it I hoped the All Blacks would.  They are the best team in the world, they play fantastic rugby and New Zealanders care about it so much. They really would be devastated if they didn’t win.  When England went out, everyone had another go at them and then we all turned our attention back to the footie.

So yes, come on you All Blacks… but, but… allez les Bleus! I love watching France too.  When they get going, no-one can match them for improvisational genius. Remember that comeback against the All Blacks in 1999 – the greatest of all time?

Could it happen again?  I doubt it.  The All Blacks looked awesome against the Aussies and the French were grim against Wales – and England, and Tonga, and NZ in the pool, etc, etc.  But you never know.  One burst from Parra or Clerc or Medard and the game could change.  The tails go up and New Zealand won’t know what hit them.  And if it happened, I’d probably be whooping with delight.

And don’t we want a Northern Hemisphere victory? Well, yeah, sort of.

I’ll stick with New Zealand… until I change my mind!

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So The Stone Roses are back

Posted on October 21, 2011 by John S

Hooray!

Years of speculation and denials and now it’s happened.  Just been reading that 220,000 tickets for three Manchester gigs were sold in 68 minutes.  Pretty impressive.  Hope they’ll come down to the Smoke at some point.  Might be hard to get tickets, but there’s always a way if you want them enough.  (Usually involving significant amounts of cash).

But let’s pause to ask, why are The Roses so popular?  They made two albums.  The first is now iconic but a friend reminded me today that it got 6/10 from the NME when it was released. The second album took five years to make and got dissed as a bit of a Led Zep workout when it finally saw the light of day.  In between there were a couple of very good twelve inch singles (ah, the eighties and nineties!) that were funky and rocky at the same time  (“Fools Gold” and “One Love”). And, er, that was it.

The first, eponymous (love that word – it’s so rock!)  album kicked off with the brilliantly arrogant “I Wanna Be Adored”, lurched through “She Bangs The Drums” and peaked with ‘Waterfall” which really did sparkle. It got a bit dull after that until “Made Of Stone” and the last track  “I Am The Resurrection” (arrogant, moi?). So 6/10, or maybe 7, was probably right.

“Second Coming” got slated because people were hoping for so much after the five year wait.  But there were some pretty good songs on it, Like “Ten Storey Love Song” and “Love Spreads” and “Driving South”. It kinda rocked, it wasn’t indie. People were disappointed. The Stone Roses were supposed to save the indie world.

But they represented something that grew and grew until they became pretty much the best band of their time.  What was it? I think it was mainly two things.

First they symbolised the coming together of indie music and dance.  Dance as in rave.  The “Summer of Love”, 1989.  And their riffs, the whole vibe, was a bit of a throwback to the sixties, The Byrds, the Doors, the Stones, The Beatles.  The fusion with dance wasn’t new – the New Romantics, inspired by Bowie, Kraftwerk, (and Michael Jackson) were doing it in the early eighties. But the late eighties and early nineties took it all to another level and the Stone Roses were the indie side of it. They set off the “baggie” movement: Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, Charlatans and all the followers.

Second, I think the Roses were the bridge between The Smiths before them, and Oasis afterwards.  The Manc triumvirate who defined indie music for ten-twenty years: in fact, forever.  So many generations of music lovers can celebrate that, not just those who were there at the time.

And I guess there’s a third thing too.  It’s the association with football, and Manchester. United as the supreme team, City (until the oil money) as the glorious failures – but cool because the real Mancs (Oasis, et al) favoured them. Or so the myth goes.

And maybe a fourth thing.  Ian Brown has carved out an impressive solo career. John Squire is one of the great guitarists. Mani plays bass for Primal Scream. Their reputation has soared over the years.

So the myth is entrenched.  The Stone Roses are one of the great indie bands. They were the first to fuse indie with dance.  They had the best songs. Noel Gallagher was inspired by them.

I’ll happy buy into it, even if I don’t really worship the music – just like it.  And if I can blag a ticket for a London show I will definitely be there!

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Renewal and redemption

Posted on October 19, 2011 by John S

My football team is West Ham.  Legacy of 1966 when as a seven year old, Geoff Hurst became my hero.  I’ve stuck with them through thin and thin ever since. MyDad, my son, my father-in-law, my brother-in-law, are all Arsenal. How I have suffered in comparison!  We came third in the old First Division in 1986 and there is a special DVD/video about it, “The Boys of ’86”. It’s great. Frank MacAvennie, Tony Cottee, Trevor Brooking, Devo. Arsenal and Man Utd fans feel like slitting their throats if they come third.

My rugby team is Harlequins. Always quite liked their fancy-dan, underachieving image, but with some friends, got serious four years ago and now have season tickets.  Love it.  Brilliant running rugby and a great atmosphere, where all the fans mingle – no antagonism about the opposition.  Good beer, decent burgers.

Both teams had a tough time of it recently though.  The Irons got into big trouble over the Tevez/Mascherano deal (it always seemed too good to be true) and got relegated last season.  Quins had the absurd “Bloodgate” crisis, which knocked them back for a season.

But now – and yes, it’s early days – it all seems to be going rather well.  Penance has been delivered, redemption is on the way.

West Ham have a good squad for the Championship and Sam Allardyce looks to be a good man for the job of leading them back to the Premier League. (And I admit, it was the appointment I didn’t want to happen). Lost to Southampton last night, which is a shame, as a win would have put us top. But I’m feeling good about the prospects.

As for Quins, top of the Premiership with six wins out of six. Following the victory in the Amlin Cup (the second European tournament) over Stade Francais last May. Yes, teams like Leicester have lost more people to the World Cup, but we’ve lost a few too, to injury, if not the World Cup.  We’ve benefited from having a team of really good young English players who aren’t quite ready for the England team.  But they’re very close, and have been outstanding in the last few weeks.  The running rugby has been exhilarating.  If only England could play the same way. If there is one emerging player to look out for it is Luke Wallace.  He will be one of England’s flankers within a year or so, surely.  And he has the Jean-Pierre Rives haircut to go with it. (Old person’s reference to eighties French super star).

Curmudgeons (especially those from the bitter North) might say neither team deserved the second chance and probably benefited from being cool London teams, who pull the crowds in and have the bankers on their side.  Yes, that is probably true. They are cool.  They are good. Bankers like them. They play their respective games the right way.  They will never be consistently the best, but they are both teams to be proud of.  Come on you Quins/Irons!

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Just starting

Posted on October 18, 2011 by John S

The screen door slams…

Hi there.  I’m starting this blog to write about music mostly, but also some literature, maybe some art, and probably quite a lot of sport.  Football and rugby union to the fore.  These are my passions.

A year or so ago, I started writing a book about my musical journey through life.  200 pages in and I’m still working my way through the eighties.  It’s great fun, but painstaking: remembering all the songs, the lyrics, the time I got into them, when they came out.  Thinking of different ways to describe a buzzsaw guitar riff or a plaintive melody.  When I’ve worked out what you can and can’t do about quoting lyrics, I’ll start posting it;  but quite a lot of what I write about on this blog will be prompted by what I’m writing about in the book.

So right now, I’m on The Waterboys, and when they went all Irish with “Fisherman’s Blues”.  A wonderful album, full of tales of longing and regret… and love.  Violins wrapped around the songs, giving them that Celtic rhythm and feel. It helped draw me in to the sounds of Ireland, past and present.

Lots to work out as I’ve never blogged before, but looking forward to imparting my thoughts and hopefully getting some reaction.

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