Richard Herring has had his identity stolen! Well his name anyway, some bloke by the name of Virgilio Anderson in Macedonia has titled his facebook page with RH’s name. Bizarre. If you are here in the US, visit www.richardherring.com/gb/ and show that support for young Mr. Herring is transatlantic.
Anyway. The Word podcast this week is particularly fascinating if you are a music geek like me. Paul Du Noyer is talking about his new book “In the City” a history of London music. What interested me most is the content concerning music hall, a subject close to my heart. I have managed to pull together quite a collection of music hall recordings thanks to the internet, it’s a fascinating genre and a snapshot of British (especially London) working class life at the end of the Victorian era.
The Word Podcast along with the Collings & Herrin Podcast ROCK!!!! Check them out every week; you’re a silly bugger if you don’t!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Been a long time
OK, so it’s been a while. There’s been a lot of stuff going on and this has been pretty low on the priority list.
I finally got hold of Goffam by Jim Bob, another classic indeed. Vey lo-fi this time around, to me this is a good thing. I like huge arrangements and classy production in its place, but these songs just beg to be recorded on the mono portable tape recorder of old. The type my sister used to use to record Top of The Pops by holding the mic in front of the TV speaker.
First track “The Golden Years of Lonely Old Dears” sets the tone right from the start, Jim Bob has always expressed disgust at the plight of senior citizens and the way we throw them on the scrap heap. The sentiment of “I didn’t live through a war to die of cold” is something that should be fiction, but as we all know it happens every day.
“Teenage Body Count” should move you to tears; if it doesn’t (or at least make you think about crying) you are beyond hope. The chorus “Oh what a world we’ve made for our children, a world to get killed in, a world without love.” is striking. If you are a parent, it terrifies you. If your not, you may consider staying that way. The song concerns knife crime, a major problem among youth in the U.K. Here in the US where guns are lying about for all to grab, it makes you want to keep your kids hidden away.
I’m not going through the record track by track; I don’t work for Rolling Stone or the NME. If I did Jim would be where he belongs, on the cover.
God bless Jim Bob, God help us all.
I finally got hold of Goffam by Jim Bob, another classic indeed. Vey lo-fi this time around, to me this is a good thing. I like huge arrangements and classy production in its place, but these songs just beg to be recorded on the mono portable tape recorder of old. The type my sister used to use to record Top of The Pops by holding the mic in front of the TV speaker.
First track “The Golden Years of Lonely Old Dears” sets the tone right from the start, Jim Bob has always expressed disgust at the plight of senior citizens and the way we throw them on the scrap heap. The sentiment of “I didn’t live through a war to die of cold” is something that should be fiction, but as we all know it happens every day.
“Teenage Body Count” should move you to tears; if it doesn’t (or at least make you think about crying) you are beyond hope. The chorus “Oh what a world we’ve made for our children, a world to get killed in, a world without love.” is striking. If you are a parent, it terrifies you. If your not, you may consider staying that way. The song concerns knife crime, a major problem among youth in the U.K. Here in the US where guns are lying about for all to grab, it makes you want to keep your kids hidden away.
I’m not going through the record track by track; I don’t work for Rolling Stone or the NME. If I did Jim would be where he belongs, on the cover.
God bless Jim Bob, God help us all.
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