ghost train
Friday 27 April 2018
Thursday 26 April 2018
Tuesday 24 April 2018
a gem of a record store
I do so love it when things don't turn out entirely as one expects.
During a recent visit to our little Shed we make a day-trip to Holt, a beautiful Georgian market town in Norfolk stuffed to the gills with independent shops, galleries and eating-places. The intention is to look for a pair of empire-line trews with which to clad my ever-expanding corpulence but alas the customer service at our chosen destination falls rather short of the mark. But wait ... what's this just a few steps down the road?
The unassuming shop front of what doubled-up until very recently as a Post Office announces its name in suitably funky yellow script - Holt Vinyl Vault. Dear mrs. electrofried grants me a generous pass-out and I'm straight inside!
And what a treasure trove it proves to be. A friendly, welcoming proprietor and stacks and stacks of great vinyl, both new and old, to explore. The stock is fantastic and before long money changes hands and I'm the proud possessor of 'The Complete Animals' and 'Kool Roots', a lovely vocal/dub set by the mighty Earth & Stone.
A truly wonderful old-school record store to rival the best, Holt Vinyl Vault has a regular monthly evening event which sounds enormous fun. Definitely one to check out - it comes with the very highest recommendation!
once upon a time ...
Once upon a time there was a big man, with a big field and a shiny, new tractor to keep it all nicely mown. He had a big trailer to carry things in as well.
One day the big man put some children in the back of his trailer and took them for a lovely ride up and down in his big field. He let one of the children steer the shiny, new tractor.
The big man still lives there and he still has a big field. The children are all grown up now and the shiny new tractor has a patina of rust. It still mows the field though!
Monday 23 April 2018
top ten albums - no. 6
no Top Ten list of mine could ever be complete without a King Crimson album. I've followed the works of Robert Fripp since I was a small boy hearing the roar of 'Twenty First Century Schizoid Man' through my bedroom wall. It came courtesy of an Island sampler called, "Nice Enough to Eat' owned by elder brother, Bruce.
The very first King Crimson album I bought was the debut, 'In the Court of the Crimson King'. As a teenager I also loved the much neglected and oft maligned, 'Islands'. It's very pleasing to see that at least two songs from that album ('the Letters' and 'Sailor's Tale') now feature regularly on the live sets of the latest incarnation of King Crimson.
More of that later, but back to the albums. Others followed in quick succession, including the legendary 'Larks Tongues in Aspic' and a trio of sharp, poly-rhythmic albums featuring the distinctive voice and guitar of Adrian Belew. He brought an almost Talking Heads-like feel to the music and it's unsurprising to learn he once turned down an offer to replace David Byrne in that band.
Mr Fripp has never stayed in one place for too long. Both his music and the band that plays it changes and morphs with delightful regularity. Indeed, at one point he launched a whole series of bands simultaneously under the collective name of the ProjeKcts.
The album I've chosen is one of the more recent King Crimson live sets, called, 'Radical Action to Unseat the Monkey Mind'.
In recent years Mr Fripp has put together a fantastic seven piece touring band, featuring three drummers, to re-imagine selections from the mightily impressive King Crimson back catalogue. These are drawn from many different eras and iterations of the band and the fact they integrate so well with each other and with the various impromptu sound landscapes that punctuate the performance is testimony to his music genius.
Mr Fripp once described the contrast between King Crimson's studio albums and their live outings as the difference between receiving a love letter and a going on a hot date. We saw the band play two years ago and it was most certainly a hot date! We're due to see them again later this year and we're very much looking forward to a similarly exciting experience!
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