That whooshing noise was St David's Day hurtling past me.

As it is the first Friday of the month, it is time to ask the traditional question : "what have you heard, read and seen this month ?"

Via the marvellous pathways to unknown worlds, here is a link to a very interesting talk by Evan Parker on John Coltrane.

There is interesting technical analysis (about mouthpieces) and he also places Coltrane in context of Malcolm X, shamanism, and slave history.

http://www.pointofdeparture.org/PoD9/PoD9EvanParker.html

I remember my first car ended up with a huge bag of cassettes to keep me sane on long trips. But it turns out that I had missed a trick - I could have been listening to the vinyl I was buying on the way home from the shop if my car had been suitably equipped.

Article here : http://itishifi.blogspot.com/2010/02/records-on-road.html

and the rest of the splendid blog on vintage hi-fi is http://itishifi.blogspot.com/

Tonight, BBC4 has a Latin music theme.
The part that I will be Sky+ing (other recording methods are available) is Ry Cooder & The Chicken Skin Band, in a concert from 1977 recorded for The Old Grey Whistle Test

Do any of the Massive in the Glasgow area fancy meeting for a drink ?

I suggest Friday 12th March - and I also suggest Mono in King's Court as the venue.

It's a reasonable size of pub, has good beer, and serves vegan food.

And it's got one of Glasgow's best record shops, too! (Not sure how late monorail stays open, but I'll find out)

http://www.monocafebar.com/

So - any thoughts ? Any other preferred venues ?

Is it me or are we hurtling through 2010 ?

In any case, as it is the first Friday of the month, it is time to ask the traditional question : "what have you heard, read and seen this month ?"

Willie Mitchell, one of the giants of soul music, has passed away.

He is most famous for his career as artist and producer at Memphis’ Hi Records, for whom he produced all of Al Green’s classic albums from the late ’60s through late ’70s. He was co-owner of the Hi Records label from 1970-1979, and owner of Royal Recording Studios in Memphis, where had continued to produce music until suffering a cardiac arrest in December, 2009

http://www.offbeat.com/2010/01/05/willie-mitchell-legendary-producer-at-...

http://funky16corners.wordpress.com/2010/01/05/willie-mitchell-rip/

Here's some Al Green with Willie's great production :

All the best for 2010, everyone - it had escaped my notice that yesterday was the first Friday of the month, so apologies for the delay in asking the traditional question : "what have you heard, read and seen this month ?"

As I sit by the fire with a warming glass of Bruichladdich, I'd like to send best wishes to all who hang out in this lovely virtual pub (which is how I think of this sector of cyberspace).

May 2010 bring you all you want, may the best of your past be the worst of your future, and lang may yer lums reek!

Here's a splendid seasonal blast from the good people at WFMU including a session from the mighty Fleshtones and many other different takes on festive favourites.

http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/29548

I'm blasting this out just now as I chill with a large Laphraoig Cask Strength.

Merry Christmas to one and all!

I love Christmas music - Elvis Presley, Aimee Mann, Low, Dr John, The Roches, Evan Johns & The H-bombs ... One night in the pub while discussing the daftness of it with a similarly-afflicted friend, we were talking about the Christmas albums we'd like to hear.

We realised that Hank Williams missed the chance, but would have been a great candidate - and we started concocting the titles of songs that should be on it.

This was some years ago, and I can only remember a handful :

Twinkle, Twinkle, Lonesome Star

Christmas Eve In Jail

My Dad Calls Another Man Sonny

Daddy's Drinking Our Christmas

Most "Reviews of The Year" are based on records released this calendar year. I don't seem to relate to music in that way, so much. There are some things released this year that have grabbed me straightaway but a lot of my listening has been older things : some re-discoveries of CDs I bought and filed without listening to much, some older CDs I only caught up with this year, and of course a cluster of great recommendations from The Massive.

Mojo has a year-end review titled "What's the best thing you've heard all year ?" and it is one of the few aspects of Mojo that chimes positively with me.

So, in a homage, I'd like to ask the Massive the question - "What's the best thing you've heard all year ?".

My thoughts -

Three belters that were tipped by my invisible friends here :

The Very Best Of Ethiopiques (http://ethiopiques.info/)

An Introduction to Alejandro Escovedo

Fairport Convention - Unhalfbricking

Five albums from this year that have stood up well to repeated listens:

Madness - The Liberty of Norton Folgate

The Unthanks - Here's The Tender Coming

Dinosaur Jr - Farm

The Duke & The King - Nothing Gold Can Stay

Wooden Shjips - Dos

But the best thing I have heard all year is Grails - Burning Off Impurities. It's instrumental, you could call it post-rock, soundtrack-ish, moody, brooding, intriguing.

It's a long piece, but an interesting perspective on how record companies work : 300,000 songs used on compilations but not cleared!

http://www.thestar.com/business/article/735096--geist-record-industry-fa...

The bill could be between $50 million and $60 billion (if calculated on how the CRIA works out breaches of copyright by illegal downloaders)

What does The Massive think ? Will the CRIA pay up ? How have they got away with it for so long ?

I only saw this when flicking through the guide - tonight is Johnny Cash night on BBC4.

I'll be Sky+ing them

21:00
Johnny Cash: The Story of Folsom Prison
Documentary exploring Johnny Cash's concert at Folsom State Prison in California in 1968.
22:00
Later with Jools Holland and Johnny Cash
Jools Holland plays host to the Man in Black, who performs a selection of his classics. (R)
22:30
Best of the Johnny Cash Show 1969-1971
Rock
2/2. With Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Eric Clapton and Ray Charles.
00:30
Johnny Cash: The Last Great American
Documentary profiling the life of the legendary country music star Johnny Cash. (R)
01:30
Best of the Johnny Cash Show 1969-1971
Country Gold
1/2. Guests include Tammy Wynette, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Bill Monroe and Loretta Lynn. (R)

The splendid archive.org has an edition of The Grand Ole Opry available to view / download.

The link is http://www.archive.org/details/GrandOldOpry-28april1956 and the show features Host: Carl Smith - Guests include: Buddy Ebsen, Chet Atkins, Collins Kids, The Jordanaires, June Carter, Flatt and Scruggs, Minnie Pearl, etc.

If you're interested in country, it's well worth a look.