Showing posts with label Thousand Yard Stare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thousand Yard Stare. Show all posts

Wednesday 5 February 2020

Fair To Middling


Last night I finished watching Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar", it's taken me a week to do it and I don't know what I was expecting, but when it started I thought "I thought this was film about space exploration". Well it's Christopher Nolan and is a wonderful, touching and mind bending film, yes things happen that you think that's far fetched, but when you suspend your disbelief it is an absolutely brilliant film.

I am more than half way through the Elektra story by Jac Holzman "Face The Music" and we are still following The Doors. The importance of The Doors to Elektra is emphasised by the back cover of the book that has fourteen album covers, four of which are by The Doors, other bands and artists get one. It's still interesting and readable but a lot of this I know from The John Densmore book but that's bye the bye.

I also got through a few pages of my favourite book "Imajica" on my Kindle Fire and otherwise did nothing. Is reading and watching film efficient use of my time? Who knows but it is enjoyable.

I was thinking that this was about beginnings , middles and ends but the Thousand Yard Stare song "Fair To Middling" (a phrase from my youth) came to mind, and as they are one of my favourite bands I will share that with you, although that was the name of the album so we'll go with "0-0 After Extra Time" or "No Score After Extra Time" depending on who's reporting the title, still appropriate in this FA Cup replay week.

I also want to do a Youtube video of me playing Tom Wait's "In The Neighbourhood" and "Does This Train Stop on Merseyside" by Ian Prowse / Amsterdam . I know I can't match the originals but the songs are both simple and wonderful.

Wednesday 27 February 2019

Musical Mind Wanderings


On my walks to work this week I was listening to Janelle Monae's "Dirty Computer", in my opinion the best album of  last year which I eulogised here and one of the things I love about it is the way it is bookended by two beautiful and wonderful songs, the title track with vocal arrangement and contributions from Brian Wilson and "Americans" which is a brilliant state of the nation song.

I was wondering what to play next  as I was maybe ten minutes away from work, and was tempted by Jethro Tull's "Passion Play" but then went for Thousand Yard Stare's "Fair To Middling" EP which is obviously a shorter listen. I couldn't hum a song from the EP but every one is so easy to slip into full of wonderful guitar motifs and extremely unskippable.

This is how music should be, not everyone has the same taste (I was sat next to  a girl listening to Happy Techno on the bus neccessitating me to put on my headphones and contuing with "Dirty Computer"), but syou should enjoy what you listen to. I'm not a fan of elevator music , phone hold music or lounge jazz but there must be people who are.

The problem with the music "industry" is things are decided by people who think the know "what the public wants" and certainly don't want to risk offending anybody.  It the sixties and seventies the top thirty singles charts were the gauge of public taste and  people like me were worried that one daye the tope thirty would become static and we'd be forced to listen to the same dross over and over. Ironically that is the staple of most local radio stuck in a particular vacuous time warp playing the records I want to forget, smooth , easy listening cheese.

Don't get me wrong I love Abba, Boney M, Erasure  and lots of great pop , I mean one of the greatest heavy metal riffs is the intro to Abba's "Voulez Vous" , basically good music is good music but sometimes certain radio stations just really turn you off. My Radio channel of choice is 6Music, but again that is not  to everyone's taste, though a musician friend once told me no one would ever listen to DAB channels.



Thursday 15 November 2018

Remember A Day


I walked into work this morning as was listening to Thousand Yard Stare's "Live at Electric Studios" and had been wondering who the intro to the instrumental "Petrichor" remind me of, and today realised it was post Roger Waters Pink Floyd, pretty threatening before returning to familiar TYS territory.

The album is excellent but I have been listening to a lot of them this week so decided to to go to Floyd's last album that featured Syd Barrett, "A Saucerful of Secrets" which my friend Harry Clark referred to as "Y D" because of the titling on the cover, which is one of those that you can always lose yourself in wuth it's magu, planets and magical and alchemical devices and colouring.

The secongd song in is the one I took the post title from and still one of my favourites though I first heard it on "Relics" an early cheap compilation featuring a Nick Mason drawn Heath Robinson like cover, another that you can sit andlook at and lose yourself in though it's better to have the vinyl version than the CD or digital version.

I've shared a version used as a soundtack to the Japanese animation "The Wanderer" for you to enjoy.

Wednesday 7 November 2018

Grey Day To Grey Week


The sky is a uniform grey still, and now the rain has turned up. This is not the most inspiring of weeks, although the fact that in the USA the Democrats have retaken the House of Representatives giving Donald Trump a metaphorical bloody nose (I wonder if he bleeds orange) is a definited bright spot although the Republicans still hold the Senate, just. There's info here thought not sure if it will stay.

I watched this weekes episode of The Walking Dead and there was a major event which should have been a shocking surprise but the Fox announcers kept telling us about it in the ad breaks. It loses it's impact if you tell people about it, but I'm not done with the series yet and am still working through Black Sails and Constantine, and maybe I will watch the film at some point but cant see Keanu Reeves providing as much entertainment as Matt Ryan.

Tonight I am going to see Thousand Yard Stare supporting House of Love at The Boilershop, so it's not exactly a quiet week for me, things are happening and keeping me on my feet.

So hopefuly the clouds will disperse so I will share Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting".



Tuesday 6 November 2018

Fadely Grayley


Well today is another totally grey day, there's fog on the Tyne and the sky is just a uniform singularity of non colour. There's moisture in the air and thi sis the sort of day where SAD kicks in and there seems to be nothing to inspire you. You don't want t walk, because that's all you are doing, it's unlikely that you will see anything worth taking a picture or video of, and the weather seems to vreate that uniform winter silence.

CHAT Trust Phoenix
I did submit an image of the CHAT Trust Phoenix to MyTownPhotography  just because of the general positive vibes it creats in everyone, although taking a photo today would not have been good, so I'll include an earlier one to your right.

I've also got my House of Love / Thousand Yard Stare ticket so tomorrow night will be the first time that I have been to a gig at the Boiler Shop in Newcastle.

Yesterday I did manage my first #cookamealinaminute video which you can see here. It's for Jack Monroe's Chickpea and Peach Curry which will appear in her next book I believe.

I'm not sure which song to share with you, I was thinking something by Pearls Before Swine but couldn't find the song I wanted so we will go with "Grey Day" by Madness., which suits the weather.

Sunday 4 November 2018

When Things Go Wrong


I woke up about 3 AM then went to bed about 4 AM. It that time I managed to screw up access to this blog, put some Thousand Yard Stare onto an SD Card then tried to insert it into my Emopeak headphones, which kept flipping to FM radio and not playing the Music despite saying "Music" (It talks), then I took the card out , reinserted it, and managed to lose it in the headphones. The SD socket had got slightly bend so the card disappeared into the body of the headphones which is an otherwise sealed unit.

Then I was messing with CNAMES on the blog redirect and it started saying there's something wrong with this page, although I was trying to rush things and it did say it could take up to six hours, but I expected the old links to work. Anyway it finally seems to be sorted, and I was just wondering whether this would sort the visitor situation. Time will tell on that.

So my headphones still work, and I will use my Pixel Phone as the music source, the blog is working, but obviously in the middle of the night my mind is not fully functional and things seem more impossible than they actually are.

I'm still debating the Thousand Yard Stare gig., they are the support, but I really do need to see them, so maybe tomorrow I will go and buy a ticket, will try and avoid SeeTickets, and it's and excuse to share the wonderful "Version of Me" with you.

Saturday 3 November 2018

Cut


Where Has The UK Gone?
Normally I have about 250 views on the site from the UK. Now it's down to around thirty so I think that probably Facebook is removing me from people's feeds. There's times when I can't even find my own posts let alone other people's so I haven't a clue what's going on, but seriously I can't be bothered to find out.

I know things change and we need to adapt to change, but I haven't noticed any improvements in Facebook. I use it to play Scrabble and have the odd interaction with friends.

I'd received an invite in November but couldn't find it on my mobile, and it was difficult on the PC so that is a definite failure.

So really it's probably just some kind of blip and there are worse things to bother about.



November has started well on the walking front and on Wednesday Thousand Yard Stare are on at The Boiler Shop in Newcastle. I've not seen a gig there and I have never seen them despite them being one of my favourite bands, so I really need to make the effort to get over there and I'm sure I will. They're supporting House of Love so that's two great bands in one great place.

So I will leave you with "God's P45" one of my slideshows for one of their songs, which has a totally gorgeous chorus, like so many of their songs. Listening to this has nailed it, I'm going on Wednesday.

Thursday 15 February 2018

Weatherbeaten


Yesterday was the first time this month I've done less than 10K steps (8.5K) and the simple reason for that was that the wind was so cold it felt like it was burning my face off. So I wimped out and jumped on a bus. It puzzles me how extreme cold effectively feels like extreme concentrated heat, it burns and it hurts. Yes you can put up with it but you do feel as though damage is going to be done to you, so in situations like that I always go for the definitely safer options. So yesterday I was definitely beaten by the weather.

Weatherbeaten sounds like an English Thousand Yard Stare title , they have a habit of running two words together, examples being "Wideshire", "Halfsize", "Comeuppance" and "Halfsize". So the y are the obvious choice for todays post and we will go with "Comeuppance".

There is quite a lot of their stuff available on Youtube and they were giving away their back catalogue digitally recently. I did a slideshow for "God's P45" which I've also included below , although I got a recent copyright notice for it, but that's Youtube for you.


Saturday 12 November 2016

A Wonderfully Arty Vegan Lift To The Weekend - #ALifeInNumbers #49



In a week that has felt like the world is raining hammer blows on us, today I had two pieces of good news. My friend Craig is out of hospital, but posting on Facebook and sounding very upbeat and positive, though has a drug stash almost as big as mine.

Not Wildflower
Not Thousand Yard Stare
Secondly my friend Jessica, well we've met twice, she has given me cake and I know her mum and we are Facebook friends, and her friend Asher Turnbull are opening Wildflower, an art / vegan café in Westgate Road on 15th of November.





I mentioned that their logo reminded me of the one that one of my favourite bands, Thousand Yard Stare ,had used for their new album (which is excellent by the way). If you follow the tag or click on her name you will find details of the amazing exhibition where I first met Jessica , but as yet I haven't visited  Wildflower but will do as soon as it opens.


While I am pleased to have a vegan eatery close to home I will give a real review when it opens but I am just going to share Jessica's words with you for this. Yes it's a bit lazy I know, but as well as being an amazing artist , she can write too:


Wildflower is a vegan art café opening up on 283a Westgate road, just a little walk from town. We are a friendly place aiming to help creatives express themselves while eating delicious cake!

The café is owned by two very creative young vegans, Jessie and Asher, who aim to make this place spectacular. We want to have many fun events and parties, such as still life drawing sessions, anarchy knitting groups, themed dinner parties, vintage markets, art markets, live music, comedy, upcycling workshops, cooking demos and many more things! All with demonstrating an eco friendly ethic, and helpful attitude towards the local community.

We have started out with very little money, but have so far managed to get most of our furniture from Freecycle, which has been rather glorious. But there are a few essential things that you simply cannot get for free, such as ovens (that work properly!) so we are raising some money to try and get those few essential things! Link to our crowd funder is here


Their Facebook page is here  and this is where it is, so also handy for me for lunch.

Anyway this is being woven in with my #ALifeInNumbers  sequence and for number 49 it was always going to be "Funk #49" by the James Gang. The James Gang featured Joe Walsh on guitar, and I have always loved his economic style. Pete Townshend once said that Joe Walsh was his favourite guitarist and you can see the similarities. The chord holsds sway in their songs and this means that they are easy to follow for budding musicians. I've included an excellent live session but you can here the James Gang original here.

Have a wonderful Saturday night my friends.



Thursday 3 November 2016

Thousand Yard Stare - #ALifeInNumbers #45



This morning I got another follower on twitter, someone called Kelly. I thought the name was familiar and I think she is a great girl I worked with at EE, I am not 100% certain but may be right or wrong. I was Facebook friends but dropped her when I started getting some spiteful harassment from other people and decided it was not a good idea to be Facebook friends with management at the place where you work. The good thing about social media is you can connect with people who are worth your time and effort and I do look to try and be friends with positive people and Kelly is definitely one of those. Who knows we may reconnect on Facebook.

Today is fairly grey and this morning was spent dodging cattle and sheep on the road between Orton and Shap on the way to Tebay services via the back roads. Today was meant to be total relaxation, with no driving, but needs must and I took the car out again. This means that I will have driven on every day of the holiday, which has still been very relaxing and enjoyable.

It is so nice to not have to get up and go to work. As I write this I am sitting in the warm listening to Tom Ravenscroft on 6Music, with the likes of Leonard Cohen, Yak, Prince and Grandaddy flowing through the airwaves.

Anyway we’re up to number 45 in #ALifeInNumbers and it was always going to be “God’s P45” by Thousand Yard Stare. Thousand Yard Stare are a band I always loved but didn’t get the success they deserved. I think their sound and attitude is in the same universe as Half Man Half Biscuit and The Wedding Present, and loved the titles of their songs such as “Happenstance”, “Buttermouth” and “0-0 After Extra Time” (that could have been Half Man Half Biscuit. I was delighted to hear they had got back together and produced a new digital album, which still have to buy, but it’s here.

 "God's P45" is the first song that I can't find on Youtube and it's not even available digitally. I have a copy at  home, so I will create a slideshow and put it up at the weekend and include it here. Anyway enjoy “Version of Me” , and enjoy your Thursday my friends, the weekend is nearly here.



Sunday 9 October 2016

Bo Diddley's A Violin Player Now #ALifeInNumbers #12


For this one I was thinking of a cut from Spirit's classic "The Twelve Dreams Of Dr Sardonicus" , the title always intrigued me but but Spirit were never an "in" band in my teens for some reason. Eventually when I realised that I could listen to whatever I wanted I bought it and realised that I had been missing some amazing stuff , and in fact my all time favourite album "Future Games" is by them.

But I recalled a Bo Diddley instrumental called "Clock Strikes Twelve"  for it's great reverb drum sound , "I'm A Man" riff vibe and distinctly original guitar sound. Well no wonder that guitar sound is original because that guitar is, in fact, a violin. Did you know Bo Diddley played violin? Until reading up on the song I didn't , hardly an instrument you associate with blues or rock except as part of an orchestral backing.

I've always loved Bo Diddley's songs and playing and was amazed to find a band who you an see playing small venues , the wonderful Lord Rochester who play a lot of Bo Diddley songs , effect the rectangular guitar and are one of the best live bands you will see. They describe themselves as Scotland’s Top Rock n’ Roll combo? I wouldn't disagree. I've included a video I took of them at The Schooner a couple of years back playing "Layla".

I am enjoying writing this series because it does enable me to talk about my favourite music, although I know the coming weeks will be a lot harder, I do have a few mapped out ready to slot it , often classic by major artists, although I didn't think I could fit Thousand Yard Stare in then I saw the number 45 in one of their song titles so they will be on the list though that's 33 songs and posts away.

Anyway enjoy the rest of this summery sunny Sunday my friends, and enjoy "Clock Strikes 12", it's another song I love.


Saturday 8 October 2016

Ten Tonnes Raining Down In The Autumn Quiet - #ALifeInNumbers #10


Today has seemed incredibly quiet, like the sound of traffic and everyday life has been muffled. And no I am not going deaf, it's just the heavy grey skies and falling leaves are the definite harbingers of autumn, and precursors to winter.

Anyway there were again a few contenders for Number Ten , such as Bruce Springsteen's "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" and Kingmaker's "Ten Years Asleep" , and I got to thinking about songs I had missed that have now gone past such as Tom Robinson's "2-4-6-8 Motorway" and Van Der Graaf Generator. Mentioning Springsteen reminded me he's a shoe in for number 57 and I would like to include some Thousand Yard Stare if I can, but can only think of "0-0 AET" as one of their number songs.

Anyway I have chosen the awesome Royal Blood's "Ten Tonne Skeleton", one of those amazing series of two piece bands along with Black Keys, White Stripes and Gallery Circus, and I am sure there are many more, but not in my head at the moment.

Anyway it's time for bed unless you are staying up to watch the Grand Prix or you are in another part of the world, but I will say my goodnight my wonderful friends.