Harry Patch (in memory of)

Radiohead have a new song, an epitaph to Harry Patch, the last survivor of WW1 who died on the 25th of July at the age of 111. I find it hard to imagine that we now live in a world which contains no-one with any first hand experience of the war, 'lest we forget'.

The song itself is a simple 5 minute series of rising strings, with Thom Yorke lamenting over the top; clearly Radiohead in the same mindset as they were when they wrote 'Last Flowers'. It's by no means a masterpiece; I find the juxtaposition between the sweeping string orchestra and Thom's arhythmic lyrics quite difficult to handle, but then I should be used to that sort of thing with Radiohead. Probably a grower, certainly a song written about a very important subject - lets hope its presence in millions of iPods will help to keep people reminded of the sacrifice these men made.

You can download the track from http://download.waste.uk.com/Store/did.html for £1, and all the proceeds go to the Royal British Legion.

Florence and the Machine - Lungs

When I first started the CD spinning (or, more accurately, hit play on Spotify) I was hugely disappointed that here was another young female singer, having been brought up on her parents' Kate Bush records, trying to create that 'alternative sound', and instead sounding like all those other singers that think London-sound is cool. The voice is reminiscent of Kate Nash, Laura Marling and, dare I say, Lily Allen, and the first track, Dog Days Are Over doesn't do anything to dispel this.

However, as the album continues. her accent very quickly melts into the background as you get carried away into a jolting, almost tribal wall of music. Every song is like a great book; you really can't put them down until you've found out how they finish. An underlying pattern of verse-chorus is hidden under the evolving drums, guitars, harps that build up and up until you can't help yourself joining in. Drumming Song opens with a pattern of drums that's reminiscent of 'People Party' by the relatively unknown band, "For Stars" and builds into an epic that makes you feel like you're flying through the Amazon rainforest at the speed of sound in the arms of a superhero that you're passionately in love with. Your face is being scratched by the creepers as you fly, and you're missing getting to see the monkeys, but damn you just don't care!

In short, this Florence has a massively powerful voice and can't half write a tune, and is clearly supported by some incredible musicians. I have been surprised, but pleasantly so! Yes it's easy to like, and yes it's going to be hugely popular, but that shouldn't be a reason to ignore something that is both pleasing to the ear and intrigues the mind. I for one am delighted that popular music is going in this direction - people are starting to think about their music again.

The Golem

The Golem rolls on. It's all slowly coming together. All the scenes have now been rehearsed, and the next few days will see the slotting together of everything into a continuous piece. I'm very excited about the music now, having written myself a short prompt sheet and the whole score (in mandolin tabulature). I'm managing to use the mandolin in a number of diverse ways on top of the usual string plucking or strumming. The body makes a perfect percussive drum, while the strings behind the bridge sound almost like clanging metal when plucked, all of which are proving invaluable in the performance. It's thrilling to hear such a range of sounds coming out of one small instrument, and really is putting it to its maximum use. The last few days have also seen the creation of the publicity flyer, and soon the poster. My recent discovery of photoshop, and the wonders that can be performed with a few mouse clicks have made image design much easier, and the flyer is looking very good. Alex's brother has designed a very classy image, which, with a little digital juggling, has fitted beautifully. Hopefully it'll be online soon.

If you want to see the play, it's being performed from Thursday 13th August to Sunday 16th August at 7.30 pm at the Studio Theatre, Roundhouse, Camden. Click here for more details, or here to buy tickets.

c u r r e n t l y

Thanks to last.fm radio, and the ever plunderable Spotify, I've discovered Jason Webley - an American music-man who is a little like a more interesting version of Willy Mason who collided with an accordion and a few violins in a tragic (and yet beautiful) pile up, which was then attended by Isaac Brock (of Modest Mouse fame) in a particularly shouty mood. Listen to the song 'Broken Cup' to see what I mean.

I've decided that in future I should avoid looking at photos of musicians on the internet however. They never look like you expect.

What I've discovered this week.

I haven't posted for ages again. There's been a flurry of exams (still 2 more to go this term), so I've resisted blogging.

I'm currently holed up in the Clare library. I've got an electric heater next to me, and a nice little cubbyhole in the laptop-room - very snug, unlike our house - which is freezing!

Things I've discovered this week:

1. Discovery from current revision: Dilated Cardiomyopathy is more common in dogs, while Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is more common in cats.
2. I much prefer espresso coffee from coffee shops than their horrible watered down mud. Particularly starbucks coffee which is strong, but in a horrible over-brewed way. Espressos taste good though. However, espressos are by definition, small, and so are not useful for stretching out for 2 hours for a work-fest. Hmm. Fortunately I have justified the caffiene content to myself by discovering that most bought coffee contains 2 shots of coffee, exactly the same amount as a double espresso. Huzzah!
3. People like drama - Short Fuse was a massive success (the room was completely crammed with people!). We had to turn people away at the door, and people were heard to remark that they want to come to the next one. So there probably will be another in Autumn. Huzzah!
   
4. You can hold a bed together with paperclips. I finally got hold of the bed for my room from my landlady, and unfortunately there were a few screw missing for the cross poles. Luckily, after some sword fighting with the loose poles, Reece, Bethmo and I came across some paperclips and twisted them around the poles to hold everything in place. Bodged beautifully.
5. Music made with dropping water is good, but only every now and then. Otherwise too much like water torture. The song I refer to is "Drop" by a Japanese chap, who goes by the name of "Cornelius" - very Japanese.
6. Gilbert and Sullivan can be quite good fun. After my previous trip to the Mikado which I promptly forgot a few days after seeing it, Alex and I went to see Iolanthe at the Cambridge Arts Theatre on Wednesday (our 4th anniversary), and it was very enjoyable. Nice and laid back, with some good tunes and an amazing set. The girl playing Iolanthe was particularly good. Plus the oboeist was, of course, a stand out genius (Mary).
7. While not strictly this week, Jamie Frost has a podcast. It rocks. Go to his website, or get it on iTunes. I'm listening to it while learning about myocardial disease, and it's very soothing when the fatty degeneration gets too much.
   

Tom

CAMS Open Mic Lent 2008

Alex and me played at the CAMS (Clare Alternative Music Society) Open Mic Night on Sunday. We played two tracks, Proof by I am Kloot, a classic that we've played once before, and the more adventurous Lover, You Should Have Come Over, by Jeff Buckley. He's got some really impressive chord progressions, and it was a challenge, but I like to think we made a good stab of it! The open mic nights have been really impressive recently, and it was really satisfying getting such an amazing response from the audience - the cellars were pretty packed. Plus, Alex was mistaken for "Amy Buckley", Jeff's non-existent sister... she must have been singing pretty well to be mistaken for a blood relative of the man himself... and I suppose Buckingham does sound a little like Buckley.

All of the other musicians were fantastic, including Davy, Ruth and Paddy who played some cool Irish ballads, and The Staircase Band who got my blood pumping with their European folk accordion, brass and violin tunes. They sound alot like A Hawk and a Hacksaw, and I seriously suggest that anyone who has ever come in contact with an accordion and thought that it was possibly the sexiest instrument around to check them out (both, though you'll need to look out for the Staircase band in Cambridge). I have added a photo of Alex and me at CAMS, I hope the people responsible won't crucify me for stealing it, but it's an amazing photo. If you are from CAMS and you'd like me to take it down, email me, but I'm linking to your facebook group!

C u r r e n t l y m u s i c 26/02/08

Currently listening to:

Roxy Music, Roxy Music
I am Kloot - Moolah Rouge
A Hawk and a Hacksaw - The Way the Wind Blows
Radiohead - The Bends
Jeff Buckley - Grace

I am a rabid llama without rabies.

Have been trying to work through Neospora caninum for the last hour. It's only a few pages of notes, but my brain has decided to go on holiday. I have distracted myself with such disgusting modern day faffing aids as newgrounds (portal is an addictive game, thank you Simon Spiro!). Luckily, I have just discovered insane jazz (Acoustic Ladyland) on Andrew's Itunes, and am bouncing my way to the end of Neospora and protozoa as a whole like a rabid llama without rabies.

Tom

p.s. cheese and onion crisps are fickle friends. They don't last very long, make you fat, and make you smell. Just so you know.

[Edit] I say I am bouncing my way though Neospora, but infact I am mostly writing this blog post... and extending it unnecessarily with p.s.es and edits. Oh dear...

C u r r e n t l y m u s i c

It's so cold in this house. It's so cold in this house. Smart little Bloc Party.

Music I'm currently listening to:

Purcell: Dido and Anaeus (particularly the Prelude for Witches act. Amazing stuff)
Elgar: Dream of Gerontius (my favourite piece of classical music)
A Hawk and a Hacksaw: The Way the Wind Blows (crazy Romanian market-place music)
Thom Yorke: The Eraser (How to do electronic music)
Led Zeppelin

We went dancing last night

For the first time in a while...

It was good fun, though Fat Popadaddies was not up to his usual form, we didn't hear any bloc party, and had to endure a hundred middle class white Cambridge students chanting "f*** you I won't do what you tell me" to Rage Against the Machine. Of course, they're all heavily institutionalised (like all us students are), so it seems a little hypocritical. Hehe - we had a good laugh. Couldn't help feeling a tad older than the emo moshers of my sister's generation around me.How mature we are. Pretty soon we'll be sipping Chateaux de Chasoulet and remembering the good-old-days. Pffk.

End the Neglect.

I'm currently going through my "Never Listened To" Playlist - as I realised I had about 500 tracks that I'd never listened to. Some of them I have, just not on Itunes etc, but it still upsets me to think that some of my music has been neglected. I like to think that I like all of my music (with the exception of odd tracks on albums). How many unlistened-to tracks do you have? Stop the neglect -listen to them.

In rainbows.

There's a new radiohead album. Oh yeah - it finally arrived. I've been like a hare (not narcoleptic like the one in the fable) waiting patiently for the tortoise to finish the race - for over 3 years. Finally they've produced something, and it's beautiful. Plus you can pay as much for it as you want! Amazing!

#Marillion, Marillion, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Marillion.#

Marillion are the best band in the world, and yesterday they came to Cambridge. They did a little signing session, and played a few songs (See it Like a Baby, 80 Days (which I really didn't expect) and The Answering Machine) in the HMV in Lions Yard. I was stood at the back listening to the Answering Machine and did a little double-take as I realised the person standing behind me was Mark Kelly*! He had turned up a little late, but signed my CD none-the-less. I managed to get my CD signed by all the guys and had a little chat with Mr H about The Cooper Temple Clause split-up (I was wearing my TCTC T-shirt). It was incredibly weird seeing these guys who have had such a huge influence on my life in the last 5 years in the flesh, and realising they are real people (though a little objectified by the signing-session). When I walked into HMV they were playing Marillion on the PR, there were Marillion CDs everywhere and everyone was wearing Marillion T-shirts. Having spent the last 5 years spotting every little reference to them that I can it was like sensory overload!!

*Marillion Keyboardist and Sample Man

Then, in the evening they played at the Junction, supported by Kingrat (who were pretty good, a little datedly prog, but ok). They played a huge two hour setlist: Splintering Heart | The Other Half | You're Gone | Thankyou Whoever You Are | Ocean Cloud | Fantastic Place | The Last Century for Man | Somewhere Else | The Wound | Between You and Me | King, and then as an encore: Easter | Garden Party | Neverland (a 26 ish min encore!).

It was amazing to hear Garden Party live, an homage to the prog days, chosen by H due to the fact that it's a Cambridge University piss-take:

#Champagne corks are firing at the sun again | Swooping swallows chased by violins again | Straafed by Strauss they sulk in crumbling eaves again ... | Please don't lie upon the grass | Unless accompanied by a fellow | (May I be so bold as to perhaps suggest Othello)#

It was written before I was born, and is typically Fish, but good fun in Cambridge. They also played Ocean Cloud, which was great lice - I've often wondered how they'd play it live. It's always amazing seeing those 5 guys make such an incredible and full sound. H is an amazing leading guy and put on a proper good show, even climbing over the gear during the encore. King was incredible, I completely lost myself in the ending, and Between You and Me was amazing live. All in all, a fantastic gig. I left with an incredible buzz and a sadness that so few people get to experience Marillion... jeez, I sound like an evangelist!

xxx

Looking up

Things are looking up slightly. It was really sunny today, and I slept in so was actually awake all day - it's definitely the best way to get the most out of revision. Also, Marillion are doing a signing-session in the HMV in Cambridge on the day of their gig. Hurrah!! 5pm. Don't let me forget. ANYONE.

I went to a Chalk-talk yesterday lunchtime, my 2nd talk/lecture thing all term, and also my second in a week. It's only when you start revising that you realise how much you hate some things, and how interesting other things are. The talk was really interesting and linked a few lectures we'd had in Mod 9, which will be pretty helpful in an essay.

Nnnrgh - work. It keeps on coming. On the plus side I have two pigeon hole packages. Oooo

Busybusy

Have somehow not blogged for 2 or 3 days, despite this being exam term. I have been pretty busy the last 2 days with this and that, and trying to cram work into every moment in between doing stuff, eating or drinking tea/coffee. Plus it's been bloody freezing (as mentioned in my previous post) and it's going to be the same all week. How depressing!

Sunday night was Open Mic Night (photos). Alex was pretty nervous all day but calmed down while the guy before us was playing, while I did the complete reverse. Hehe. We played "Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, "Proof" by I Am Kloot, and "The Fear" by Travis. It went pretty well, and Sam (who was running the CAMS (Clare Alternative Music Society night) apparently enjoyed CYHSY even though he's a great fan of theirs, and the 1st year medic I met at the Medic's dinner who said "Proof" was her favourite song on the I am Kloot album also seemed to enjoy our rendition. Hurrah! It was good fun!

Yesterday was a pretty full day, so much so that I did no work! OOer. I'll have to have a purge today. Mary came round for coffee in the morning and we sat in the kitchen chatting to her from 10am until gone noon. I then rang Rahul (who was still in bed) at almost 1pm to get him up and out to snooker, and we went to WT's for a few hours. We played 5 games, drank 4 pints (in total, not each) and he pipped me to the post 3-2 on the last black. Nnnrgh. For some reason we got a free pitcher of beer when we got the table, so, not to turn down a bargain, we happily obliged. "It's a little early" I said. "It's never too early" she replied... Fair enough!

We then went to our 1st "Improver's" dancing class in the evening, which was pretty hard. We'd missed last weeks lesson, so we had to catch up the Rumba and the "hestitation" in the quick-step, which was really hard to get our heads around. Still, good fun though, and we got take-away icecream on the way home (at 10pm - hooray for La Margherita). Then, we had coffee in the kitchen with Iona, and I discovered Horlicks... a strange malty concoction that should probably be avoided at all costs, but somehow tasted slightly pleasant. Don't think I'll be drinking it again though. I also somehow got on to the topic of "gene knockouts" and tried to explain the "cre-lox" system for knocking out genes in specific tissues... I wasn't wholly successful, but that was mostly due to my poor explanatory skills. I left in where devils fear to tread... should have gone for something more simple like mRNAi or oligonucleotides. Nevermind!

Adieu,

Tom

c u r r e n t l y

Currently reading: The Dawkins Delusion: a critique of The God Delusion - should be pretty interesting.
Currently working on: Limb Bud Development
Currently listeninging to: Interior Lulu by Marillion - an epic track from their 2000ish album Marillion.com. Not an easy one to get into if you've never heard Marillion before, but beautiful none-the-less

I wanna feel alive, gas up the 4-wheel drive.

Good evening all. I haven't posted ALL holiday - which is a bit lame really. First thing's first - there's a new Marillion album, so I'd better get a review out the way.

Marillion - Somewhere Else.
After the first few listens I was, how shall I put it... shocked... and somewhat apalled. H's voice has a real habit of sounding terrible when he's singing something you're not used to. His melodies seem random, and his voice seems droll. But after a few listens it sounds incredible! You realise why he's singing why he is, and how it sits with the rest of the song. Because they have a tendency to make such epic songs, you need to know what's coming to enjoy the rest of the song. That's why I love them so much - every minute of (almost) every song is building up to something big, small, poignant, whatever. Just magical music.
My hilights from the new album are the opening track (The Other Half), Most Toys (which has a radioheadesque guitar line running all the way through it), The Last Century for Man, which builds up beautifully similarly to King (if you know Marillion!) and has the best few seconds on the whole album ("I wanna feel alive, GAS UP THE 4-WHEEL DRIVE). Oh, and A Voice from the Past (which I hated at first), is perfect. Perfect guitar solo, perfect vocals. Glorious.

This album is probably the biggest grower since Marbles!

I've also recently bought the new Maximo Park album, and the new Bloc Party album, and both are pretty good. Somehow none of the songs hold me like Marillion though! I'm going to see them in Cambridge in June! Hurrah!

How to avoid lions, bears and catch up vaguelly on what I've been doing.

It's been a while again. I was being so post-worthy last month, and this month it has just died.

"Could you rinse a lion if it charged at you?" Apparently this is the best tactic should a lion be attempting to take-down your LIFE in a big field, try and rinse it. The best way to do this is to SHOUT and RUN and WAVE YOUR ARMS. Freak it out, just like you would a small cat in the road that has just stolen your chicken fillets. Just so you know. Don't try this at home (lions don't really go in suburban London), OR with bears. They get "scratchy".

So now you know.

In other news, I had a formal with Tiffin friends and Uni friends, which was really good fun. Rahul and me beat the buttery staff at pool, and Chris told us all about facebook. ALL about facebook. He really is the king of that place, though merely through total-man-hours-spent. Natalie is going to London to be a REAL LIFE DOCTOR, Andrew is cool, and Joe is the May Ball President! Hardcore!

Also, we went to see Tom perform at West Road with his quartet. He played Schubert, though not after we'd watched a concert pianist playing many a piece, each interspursed with violent, AROBTTH inducing bows. He was good, just bowed. ALOT.

Tonight is my "daughter's" birthday, so we're going to TeriAki (mmm noodley goodness - in other news a Wagamama is opening in Cambridge. Finally!), which should be really good fun. There's then an indie/alt Dj in the cellars, so no doubt we shall toddle down there.

Sorry for it being so long, hope you enjoy the album spinny chart below:

Spinny Album Chart

The soundtrack to my life.

Courtesy of Jenjen,
How to make the soundtrack to your life…
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle/random
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...

• Opening Credits: Sunday, David Bowie
• Waking Up: Vegetable, Radiohead (ahem!)
• First Day At School: A Whisper, Coldplay
• Falling In Love: Sebastian, Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel (blimey!)
• Fight Song: The Hardest Button to Button, The White Stripes (amazing!)
• Breaking Up: It Ain't Necessarily So, Nicola Benedetti
• Prom: Gleaming Auction, Snow Patrol
• Life: Oh You Pretty Things!, David Bowie (so true...)
• Mental Breakdown: Paper Lies, Marillion (clearly I'll break down over money)
• Driving: Packing for the Crash, Tom McRae (scary... this is completely random...)
• Flashback: Billets Doux, Django Reinhardt
• Getting back together: Script for a Jester's Tear, Marillion
• Losing your virginity: Aftermath, REM
• Wedding: The Fountain of Salamacis, Genesis
• Birth of Child: The Hindu Times, Oasis
• Final Battle: You Fool Noone, Deep Purple
• Death Scene: No Cars Go, The Arcade Fire (aw)
• Funeral Song: Cave, Muse
• End Credits: Shine it All Around, Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation