Christ, this was bloody awful. The oh so enthusiastic handclaps ten seconds in should have served as a warning sign. This isn’t really a live album, is it?
I could have tolerated the post-production feel if the songs stood up. But they were shit. I bailed on track five - quite an achievement.
⭐
Blimey - Adrian Sherwood has been busy once again with another new release: The Collapse of Everything.
He’s one of those artists that I never know where to really start. The back catalogue is so vast and diverse. Sometimes it’s just best to dive in at random.
The Collapse of Everything is a little more structured. Tango Dub would be a clumsy, yet accurate, description.
Yer man certainly knows how to build up and sequence a track. It reminded me very much of the ACE Ozrics in places.
It sounds like a full on orchestra has been hired at Abbey Road as part of the production. Betcha it was more like a home bedroom DIY effort.
I’d love to see a film that has The Collapse of Everything as the soundtrack.
Maybe just turn on the news and mute the telly?
Not all Sunny Stockwell Skies snaps capture the sunset - especially so when the silly sun decides to set ridiculously early and you are out being a Boy About Town.
I caught this one early evening, I published it the following morning.
I’ve always had an issue with timekeeping, Comrades.
I love turning a corner around my S Ldn patch, and then OH MY DAYS, another new mural has appeared.
Create without permission, as we use to say back in the day.
But I suspect that Spanish artist Sebas Velasco did seek permission before he painted his beautiful new piece of work on the side of Broadstone House along Cobbett Street, SW8.
It’s titled ‘Yves’ - a local young fella from Brixton, standing on the Brixton mainline platform.
The art may - or may not - be long for this world. It’s right at the heart of the failed South Lambeth Estate ‘regeneration.’
If Lambeth can be arsed to get its act together after more than a decade of stalling, then we may soon have another soulless, uniform development springing up soon.
Then again.
When regeneration stalls, the streets speak.
Or something.
I passed some half term kids playing cricket on the North side of Clap’ham Common during the morning run. Nothing too odd about this - except that we’re approaching Halloween.
There was around half a dozen of the ankle biters, probably around Year 5 or Year 6 primary school age.
They were taking it incredibly seriously as well, fully padded up and even a protective helmet on show.
GOOD EFFORT.
It was a refreshing change from seeing the S Ldn yoof playing football - or throwing fireworks at one another during this time of year.
What was all the more remarkable was that they were playing on the Common grass, or what’s left of it, late autumn. It must have been one hell of a sticky wicket.
Later in the day I found myself walking around the Harleyford Road and past The Oval. The Hobbs Gate was padlocked up.
It was a most sorry sight, reminding me that we are deep into the Winter Well non-cricket season.
Hang on. There’s an England ODI series that no one really gives a shit about taking place on the other side of the world right now, yeah?
I took my enthusiasm from the Clap’ham Common kids, tbh.
Another changing of the seasons, another selection of new music from Cleaners from Venus.
Hurrah!
Mr Mule has dropped on Bandcamp the Neverland for Now EP - four tracks, all with a a DIY ethos as you would expect.
Start your own revolution and cut out the middle man, etc.
Mule has been particularly prolific in recent years. Did someone say LEGACY? As long as he’s coming up with the goods, I don’t really mind.
The lead track from the EP is a dreamy affair, complete with Mule’s signature backwards vocals bolted on at the end. The unmistakable jingle jangle chords carry the song.
There’s a breezy summer feel - unlike the Lilli Bolero summer album, that sounded more like autumn.
Mule World is always a little mixed up.
Elsewhere across the release and there are local references ahoy. Track 4 is even called Return to Wivenhoe, a subject we all find hard to address.
“When the tide is high, and the mist is low, I will return to Wivenhoe.”
Expect a Christmas drop soon.
For once a foreign language album I can appreciate. The tightness of the beats and the production elevate above the lyrics. I bailed at the end of the album, rather than continue with all the mixes. The strength of the originals was enough to satisfy me. A decent working soundtrack.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐
This is a powerful video from Novara: Tom McTague, author of Between The Waves, in conversation with Aaron Bastani.
The book plots the rise of how Britain left the EU in 2016. The story doesn’t start with Douglas Carswell jumping ship to UKIP in Clacton.
McTague explains with tremendous historical detail how the Brexit Wars can be traced back as far as Enoch Powell. He draws a direct comparison to Nigel Farage.
There’s so much detail to take in here. McTague is a great guest who clearly knows his subject matter.
There’s intriguing tales of Westminster drinking clubs and how the elite and The Establishment network amongst themselves.
At just under two hours long, it’s not exactly social scrolling friendly. But that’s the whole point. This is a serious subject that deserves a long form analysis. Bastani lets McTague tell the narrative with only a little prodding.
It reminded me very much of David Sanders' Losing an Empire, Finding a Role, a staple read for any first year social science undergrad at Essex University back in the early 90’s.
Hey kids! Here’s the course leader. Oh - and you’ll need to buy his book in the University Bookshop if you want to progress…
Thirty five years on, and we’re still no closer to finding that role.
I streamed Bark Psychosis' Hex album this afternoon. There was a cheapo copy going on ebay for £6. Anything between £15-£20 is the usual asking price.
The idea was to give it a play through to see if it was as outstanding as I once remembered. It was, and it wasn’t.
It’s an exceptional piece of music of which the term post-rock - whatever that might mean - was made for. What makes it all the more remarkable is that this was very much an unknown musical direction back in 1994.
The disappointment wasn’t in the music, but in me. I must have rinsed this on a home recording cassette for six months or so around 1994. Yet I didn’t recognise one single piece of music throughout the playback this afternoon.
I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing.
Hex has clearly left a memory on me as being something of interest. I wouldn’t have set up an ebay search otherwise.
But it fails to pass the Old Grey Whistle Test. You won’t get too many window cleaners whistling along to some of the dark passages that unfold as the album stretches out in front of you.
Three tracks in and I had decided that this was worth £6. It’s probably worth £10 tbh.
And then BLOODY HELL. I clicked through on ebay, only to find that the CD had been sold.
Buy now, ask later, etc.
