Phew…that was a tiring week. And now I have reverse jetlag and now I feel awake when I should feel tired (instead of feeling tired when I should be awake). Aha!
Managed to get my booty through the green customs channel. That’s one in the eye for the little guy, right? And so I am now the proud owner of a second-hand Fender Stratacoustic which I bought for a bargain price of $129 (which is about £70). The same guitar I saw in a shop in the UK for £270 – you go and do the math. My other purchase was for an FX pedal…the Boss RC-20XL which is a looping device that can hold up to 16 minutes of musical soup. This isn’t currently available in the UK and was again bought for a bargain price thanks to the generous exchange rate. I haven’t quite got to grips with it yet but it should be a fun toy to play with.
While I was away even more CDs have been flying off the shelves at CDBABY with “Sows’ Ears” being a particular favourite. While it isn’t enough for me to buy a Bentley (you can’t even drive, you fool) it is heartening to know that complete strangers are giving my music a home and a chance. Hurrah! If only I could perform this stuff live…that particular bugbear keeps nagging me at the back of my mind. Live…live…live…if only I could.
Anyway, my very first independant review of “Sows’ Ears & Silk Purses” goes like this.
Brian of Oregon says:
“At 4+ hours for $10, this thing is the ultimate bargain for enthusiasts of tasteful, intelligent electric guitar playing. It’s all over the map stylistically, of varying but never terrible recording quality, and all quite pleasantly listenable with moments of brilliance.”
This truly makes it all worthwhile. And, of course, you can grab your copy by paying a visit to…
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/darrenlock3
Each copy of this has been lovingly rubbed against my codlings before they were sealed into the box.
Shameless self-promoting son-of-a-bitch, ain’t I?
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At the moment, I am typing this using the hotel room’s “Internet TV” service – so please excuse typos. Yesterday, I spent fifteen minutes writing a diary entry only for it to disappear into the ether courtesy of this service. Oh well…cheap ‘n’ cheerful, I guess.
Last week, left for USA. Hardest part of the journey was getting stuck in traffic for 30 minutes on the M25 as soon as we entered it from our locale. Not good. The flight was a breeze – though I was shocked by the amount of babies travelling on the flight. When the plane began its descent, they all started bawling as their little ears popped. Poor little mites….their parents should be strung up by their codlings for making them suffer so.
Arrived in the afteroon. The Missus advised me to keep going rather than nap. So I kept going and we mooched around and got something to eat. Went over 24 hours without sleep. When I slept I woke at 5am in the morning (jetlag rules OK). This pattern continued for the next three days.
Hired a car, made the Missus drive immediately onto the freeway in order to conquer her fear of driving on the wrong side of the road. It worked (almost). Had little gas and so we pulled off in some run down part of LA. Nice hispanic man at the gas station showed us how to use the pump. Different from the UK. He was helpful and laughed with us at our British incompentence.
Carried on driving. Got to Irvine. Checked in, went out. Headed for the South Coast Plaza for shopping and snacks. Good fun. Bought Talking Heads CD. Went back to the hotel. The Missus had a nap while I tried to remain cold, stone awake. Went down for the concert. Arrived at the desk but there was no record of me on the computer and so I used my English accent to convince the guy that I had travelled all the way from England for this show. Got a pair of entry bands. Thanks, BarryK. Checked out the “art”.
“Like shooting fish in a barrel,” says cynical me. Though we did chortle at the paper mache dog complete with postman’s hand in its mouth. It reminded us of Rumpus Meridius Maximus who is probably rumping on the sofa 5000+ miles away in Blighty.
Watched gigs. Went back to room. Slept. Left early. Headed to Fashion Island near Newport. Mooched around here for a couple of hours. Headed off again along the Pacific Coast Highway – stopping off here and there. Sat on a bench overlooking Rendondo Beach for 45 minutes – doing our thing, people watching. Do we dare join the good-looking, tanned locals? No, who wants to see our pale flesh exposed? So we shuffled back to the car and continued our journey.
Parked near Santa Monica Beach and had some grub. The turkey and coleslaw sandwich sounded nice on the menu. Went it arrived it was deep fried! Jeez, I felt like Elvis. Afterwards, a walk along the sea front up to Marina del Ray (though not all the way there, I am afraid) was enough to get the greasy sandwich through my digestive system. Walked there and back – stopping to sit and enjoy the evening sunshine and the sand. Back to hotel for deep sleep and waking at five in the morning.
Sunday began with us walking to the Guitar Centre on Sunset. Nice to look around but the staff are just a little too keen to introduce themselves. Let me browse in peace, dagnammit!
Walked back to the hotel in the mid-day heat and went out driving to the Santa Monica shopping complex on Third St. Good mooching. Had tea and a scone in one of the “English” tea rooms around there. The tea was good but the scone was a bit floury for my pallette.
Walking down to the coast and down to the pier. To the end of the pier for photos and staring out to see. Naturally more impressive than Clacton Pier which I had visited in July, but what do you expect. Walked slowly back to the car. Hotel and bed.
Monday morning was my first morning without waking at five am. No more jetlag, hurrah! Went out driving stopped here and there. Visited my favourite Sam Ash music store and bought some musical goodies. Drove around Beverly Hills and the Palisades. Good driving. The Missus made a motoring faux pas and we nearly got squished by a very big juggernaut. Not bad going. One honk the whole weeked. Well done, The Missus.
Stopped by the beach again and walked around before sitting in the sun for 45 minutes. People watching. Police arresting bums. Dogs in the heat. The odd British accent. Had to return early as the Missus begins her professional life for the next couple of days. She spent the night out at some DVD awards (I declined to go, preferring to stay in the room and play with my new musical toys). Watched my first proper evening of American TV and then to bed.
And that brings me up to this moment. Tuesday morning. The Missus is working and I’ve got to figure out what I am doing with myself. Might take in a movie or just mooch around the locale. Some drummer is playing in a musical at a theatre that is part of my hotel complex. Everywhere I go Val Kilmer is staring at me. I don’t likes it.
REVIEW
The California Guitar Trio + Tony Levin
TU+4
At the Third Eye Gathering, Irvine, CA. USA
27 August 2004
This is done from memory, so it is a bit feeble. I should have made notes on the day, but what the fuck, I was just lucky to be there.
There was hardly a mad rush to the front of the stage, so The Missus and myself stood smack dead centre of the performance area. I hadn’t seen the California Guitar Trio since they last opened for King Crimson in the UK in1996. I am not a particular follower of their music, but I’ve always enjoyed their live performances and this night was no exception. There was a mix of old and new (as far as I know, but I am no CGT expert) tunes on show including an excellent rendition of Heart of the Sunrise, complete with Tony Levin on funk fingers – though the song was held up slightly by the loss of the aforementioned funk fingers. They are under the case, Tony!
With Pat Mastelotto on drums and TL on bass, the trio was expanded and I really enjoyed the more rhythmic stuff. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the new tracks from the band’s new “Whitewater” album. I had downloaded a track “Atlantis” from their website to familiarise myself with the material and so I recognised this one when it appeared on the setlist. My only quibble was that the sound mix was a little muddy and I even though I was standing at the front of the stage, it was hard to tell who was playing what lines – such was the cruddy sound mix.
The band finished with Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody and the mic was lowered right above our heads – so if there are any recordings of this, the two voices at the front were the Brits, doing their best to remember the words!
TU came on shortly afterwards and two vocal loops taken from Queen were used as a backdrop to some early noodling. It was quite weird to have Freddie Mercury in the room with us, but it made for an interesting experience. The TU band, made up from drummer Pat Mastelotto and Warr guitarist Trey Gunn, play improvised, rhythmic electronica. It is reminiscent in places to some of the KC improves, but is more for the hips. While you can’t necessarily dance to it, you can have a good jiggle if so inclined. It became a very intense experience and I felt a part of this music. Every so often PM and TG would begin to spar with each other, deliberately trying to catch the other performer out. This interplay was good fun to watch and lifted the performance. It’s hard to describe the music. It is quite different from the TU album. It is heavy in places. It will hit you in the chest if you let it.
At the end, the special guests came on and it turned out to be Tony Levin and the California Guitar Trio. The trio began with a circulation and the rest of the players joined in. This was a bit messy in terms of sound because when the electric players hit their stride, the poor CGT were wiped out of the mix. Luckily, someone decided to push the CGT to the max.
Overall, it was a good evening of music and something I would not be able to see in the UK. I came away very satisfied, but I couldn’t believe that more of the so-called hardcore fans didn’t make an effort to see this event. But hey, you guys are the losers. I travelled 5000 miles and it was worth the fucking jetlag and the expense.
Not much doing.
Been spending time with The Missus. Getting drunk and generally being naughty.
Decided to retire my bass of 12 years and buy a new one. Went to the Guitar Centre in E1 and bought a lovely red Fender Precision Bass Special Deluxe. When I got it home, I took the router and hammer drill to it and made loads of holes in the body to accommodate an internal MIDI pickup. Now I have a wonderfully playable MIDI bass…yum.
To pay for such doings, my old bass, an acoustic guitar and some other crap I no longer need will be going up on eBay. It is good to binge and purge, binge and purge…
Phil Manzanera is, most undoubtably, the most underrated modern guitarist of his age. For those of you who aren’t aware of him, he is most famous for being the plank spanker in Roxy Music. He is also famous for producing Brian Eno’s “Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)” album and being the brains behind the 801 Live band/album.
His solo career has been patchy…and that’s coming from me, a fan who cites this guitarist as one of his main influences. His first solo “Diamond Head” is an essential purchase and is a who’s who of rock at the time. His subsequent works have veered from OK (K-Scope, Listen Now) to brilliantly futuristic (Primitive Guitars) to mediocre (Southern Cross).
Luckily, 6PM owes more to “Diamond Head” than to any other of his albums and features many of the performers that appeared on that original 1975 release. Brian Eno, Robert Wyatt, Paul Thompson, Andy McKay and Bill McCormick all appear and are augmented by performances from Chrissie Hynde and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. To quote PM himself, this is an album he has waited 26 years to make.
The opening track “Broken Dreams” is a paean to his dead father and his a direct nod to the acid-rock of the late sixties. It sounds like Floyd amongst others. “Green Spikey Cactus” is far more left-field and features some incendiary harmonica from Chrissie Hynde. With a superbly catchy chorus, this track is a real summery song. Come on, let’s come together right now!
This upbeat feeling continues with “Love Devotion”, song about love obviously, but trust me, it isn’t mawkish. It’s a love song for boys, OK? Again, it is up (with a bit of down) and has another sing along chorus. “Wish You Well” is a much more sombre affair and is a tribute to Ian McDonald (not that one – the one who played on 801 & Diamond Head) who committed suicide last year and features a bass solo from his brother, Bill MacCormick. With a few dodgy couplets, this is prolly my least favourite track on the record.
The title track is guitar-led instrumental, which features some signature playing from PM and when you hear this, you will hear the precise tone and playing that inspires my own noodlings on the electric banjo. Then it is back to the songs again with “Waiting for the Sun to Shine” which is most apt in this wash-out of a British summer we are experiencing and is my “Song of the Summer”. Again, it is catchy, upbeat and if it was fronted by some blond 20-year-old lad, it would be a massive success on the hit parade.
Towards the end of the record is a series of songs that are linked together…yup we are talking prog, my friends. The Cissbury Ring – as that’s what the collection is called – is a musical journey around the South Downs. Starting with “Cissbury Ring”, another upbeat track that sounds like it has been nicked from my old pals Supergrass. “Porlock” is an instrumental that features the ethereal trumpet of Robert Wyatt (I forgot to mention that RW plays his share of the drums on this record too, yahoo!). The collection ends with the trilogy of songs “Shoreline/Always You/Sacred Days” which veer from bleak to introspection to optimism. The last two tracks feature some strong guitar playing from David Gilmour…in fact the last track features some guitar sparring from DG & PM.
I must admit that I didn’t have any expectations when I heard about this. Luckily, the album didn’t disappoint and it is a very strong collection of songs. They aren’t going to be to everyone’s tastes – some might dismiss them as being a little light or a little fey, but I think that this is the strongest collection of songs PM has put out since Diamond Head. I was also surprised by PM’s vocals. His influences are worn on his sleeve from Pink Floyd to Robert Wyatt to Kevin Ayers. It’s all here if you know what you are looking for. It’s a very English record.
I am thoroughly enjoying this record and recommend it. And the packaging is pretty snazzy too (if you like digipaks, that is).
This concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall marked the end of the 10th Rhythm Sticks festival, which celebrates all manner of percussion and drum music.
I’m not a big jazz fan, so I don’t know if I am sufficiently educated to give a critical view of the concert, so I’ll just fluff my way through with some general thoughts.
The opening band “Polar Bear” are a four-piece band augmented by a female singer and a guy who makes terrible noises on an Apple Mac laptop. The band itself started off well and I was very impressed with the interaction between the drummer/band leader Sebastien Rochford and double bass player Tom Herbert. In fact, I enjoyed Herbert’s contribution the most as he was a good solid player and provided a good foundation for some of the free-form stuff going on. The two saxophonists, Peter Wareham and Mark Lockheart, blew very well and they took it in turns to solo and react with each other. It was a 45 minute set and the band started off very well, flagged in the middle, and caught our interest again with the final stomper of a song “King of Aberdeen”. Interesting and if I see their CD around, I might even give it a go.
The main attraction was this expanded Earthworks band, featuring members of Tim Garland’s Dean Street Underground Orchestra. I’d never seen Earthworks before and I knew with this configuration I was flying into uncharted waters. Tim Garland was the band leader for the night, leading the group through a combination of material from the Earthworks and Dean Street Underground Orchestra. A lot of the Earthworks material was almost unrecognisable because it had been re-tooled for a 9-piece band. There was lots of great soloing and it was all good fun. I had a few issues with the mix – I couldn’t hear the drums and bass clearly enough – but I think this was down to the sheer amount of sound coming from the stage. There was even a namecheck to KC from Tim Garland during the show.
It was a really interesting and engaging evening of music I had never heard before. The Missus pointed out that this was the first gig where NO GUITARS were present. That was refreshing, indeed. Now I really want to hear Earthworks as a four-piece!
It’s cold, it’s dark, it’s raining and I want SUMMER. I want SUMMER right now. I know worldwide the gag is that we live in a constant shroud of cloud and rain, but usually, at this time of year, even us poor, pale, pasty-faced Brits have a little bit of sun and warmth. Not this year, it seems.
At the moment, I am without work. The situation is one step away from being critical and with one opportunity closing, I need to find some more work. Unfortunately, I am the worst freelance writer…ever! No, it is true. Trust me on this. I’ve done my darndest to network, to make contacts, but I am just not breaking through anymore. It is a concern. Take the following reply I received from an editor this very morning:
An editor with an arse for a head wrote:
Unfortunately you seem to be writing for our competition. I’m afraid we can’t use the same writers that they do.
Thanks,
Graham
Well, excuse me. I didn’t realise that I was working in such an exclusive industry. This has happened to me before and if an editor sees that you write for another competitor, they won’t hire you. This means that even if you haven’t written for that magazine for a couple of years (like in my case) you are stonewalled out. Does this happen in other professions?
Imagine the scene. A young fellow goes for an interview at Burger King.
Employer: I see that you’ve worked for McDonalds, Mr Smith?
Potentential Employee: Yes, I can explain. It was a Saturday job when I was at school.
Employer: Sorry. We can’t hire you. You’ve worked for our competitor.
Potential Employee: Nooooooooooo!
And so my patience is wearing thin with the whole media industry. It is so facile and shallow and nasty that even a little underacheiving sprout like me finds it hard to continue.