Entertainment For Lively Minds
Current Obsession...
Posted by Formbyman on 19 November 2011 - 7:17pm.
... At the moment I only want to listen to Tom Waits. If it's anything like my previous obsessions, this will last for a few more weeks and then it will be somebody else. Who or what is your current obsession?
- More from Formbyman.
- Login or register to post comments
-
Current Obsession...
Cycling. I hope it lasts for longer than a few weeks because I've spent a fortune on it in the last six months.
I've just spent...
... 8 Euros on a gel seat for my bike - an excellent, and cheap, accessory for anyone who gets saddle sore.
Not tried a gel seat
Haven't had problems with saddle sore since my first week on the bike though. Mind, I wear padded lycra. Lock up your daughters...etc
I would recommend
Getting used to a standard saddle, they are designed for long periods spent on the bike and once your, ahem, buttocks become accustomed they are more comfortable than a gel seat. I recently bought a new bike that had a gel seat after years with a standard and quickly changed it back as it just didn't feel right.
You're probably right...
... but the thing I like about it is it's removable - it's the type that fits over the existing saddle - which means it's always dry! But I know serious cyclists aren't bothered about getting a wet arse!
Saddle is the key word
As someone told me when I started, it isn't a seat, it's a saddle. A seat takes all or most of your weight, whereas on a bicycle, your weight is shared evenly between the bars, saddle and pedals.
Mogwai and Stevie Wonder.
Between them, right now these two are covering all the bases. I may have mentioned.
Non-musically, it's cooking. I spend half my life thinking about it and lusting after any kitchen that's not a 12 foot galley effort with a fucked oven.
Didn't have you
down as a Mogwai fan Bob. Have been playing them myself this week - am a recent convert after being hooked on Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed you black emperor.
My current obsession is Dawes - their album Northing is Wrong might be top of my list for 2011.
I like a bit of noisy-beautiful, me.
For a long time before I was on here, I was on a guitar-related forum, and for most of those years I was listening to a lot of noise and post-rock. Slint, Mogwai, Explosions, Godspeed!, Trail of Dead, Tortoise, Sonic Youth. Among much else, of course, but there was a good bit of that.
I'm not listening to much of that these days, but sometimes nothing else will do.
As much as I love pop, and I very much do, it's not the only thing I listen to. :-)
Higher Ground
Beyond superlatives. One of those records entirely lacking in faults.
I love Stevie...
... (70's obviously) - I think he might be next on my list.
This Week: Nick Lowe
"The Old Magic" recently replaced Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birdsrecent effort as the most played album of the last week.
A long overdue (on my part) trawl through Basher's back catalogue is currently underway.
The Beatles
They're very good, you know. This week, Abbey Road, particularly Come Together, played over and over in the car. Such a cool track.
This year it was ELO
I especially liked the later period ones that no one else seems to rate.
Oh good
I became mildly hysterical about The Move this past summer as I listened to their compact catalogue. I'm awaiting an Amazon delivery of the 11 ELO albums in a box to take it to the next obvious level.
An 11 album box set
is absolutely the right thing to do. As I've bought most of their albums individually this year it wouldn't make sense for me though. So I'll look into it immediately!!
You are in for a treat
ELO were a fantastic band and although some of the later albums sound dated from a technological viewpoint the tunes are still there.
Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
An update...
So I have been listening to pretty much nothing but ELO for the last 3 weeks, going album by album in chronological order. I have made it up Out Of The Blue. The music is ridiculously enjoyable and Lynne is amazingly underrated. The box is the best £22 I've spent on music in an age and, as expected, mania has set in. The phase after the music is immersing myself in trivia. Reading a lot of this site right now: http://jefflynnesongs.com/
ELO? Who knew?
I can't stop playing
the album "Time". I have discovered and constantly played all of their back catalogue this year but that one really stands out for me.
Rolling Stones
The Brussels Affair - Crikey this is good! Their best live album by a country mile, and confirms my memories of seeing them on that tour. Can't stop playing it...
Byzantine, Medieval and Renaissance art and Christianity...
Whoo! Rock n' roll!
Good man
Don't have the faith bit (maybe you don't either) but those are obsessions of mine too.
Oh and the iniquities of the way we are governed. Sorry for raving endlessly on these boards about it (damn did it again)
Otis Redding
Now that I've played Nick Lowe's new album to death I've gone back to Otis. Despite the fact that I've already got a ton of his stuff I came across this on Amazon yesterday...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Hits-Legends-Otis-Redding/dp/B003QLEDVC/ref=...
4 quid... 100 tracks. What's not to like?
The Kinks
Okay, okay, so their output after Preservation Act 1 is patchy at best, but at their late 60s/early 70s peak they were sublime.
Just coming out of
a huge Beatles phase (again) and now entering a Bowie one. As a relative Bowie virgin this could be a long and immersive journey. Can't wait! (Any pointers welcome BTW).
Start with
The Man Who Sold The World (his first great album) and continue through in release order to Station To Station. That's eight 5 star (studio) albums without a break. Possibly the greatest and most extended burst of musical creativity outside of The Beatles.
After that it becomes more uneven with the highly rated Berlin trio of albums dividing opinion and gems in among lesser works.
In terms of runs, I think you
can legitimately start at Space Oddity, and go all the way up to and including That Lodger. Allowing the slight sidestep of Pin Ups, that's a dozen five-star albums. Led Zep managed six. The Beach Boys I give nine, from Pet Sounds to Holland. The Stones run is trickier - from Aftermath to Exile? Seven. The Revolution 9 Floor-fillers - everything? Twelve?
I'll go with that
except I still think TMWSTW is his first nailed-on classic.
As for the Stones I'd move it along a notch and claim Beggars Banquet to Some Girls as their run of eight cinq corps céleste disques.
Gil Scott Heron
especially "Winter In America" oh and Feist
Michael Carpenter.
Power Pop delights unbounded. The Aussie Matthew Sweet. A genius.
I'm also enjoying kitcheny things. Doing Xmas stuff at the moment. Mincemeat tomorrow.
I feel
The Killing II obsession about to begin
Having just watched the final episode -
- prepare yourself for something that starts weaker than the first series, then gets a grip, and you're thinking, "this is just as good!", and then sort of frays out into a sense of disappointment.
What else is there?
Boston - "More Than a Feeling".
REM
The IRS years
Steely Dan
Always on in the car.
This week I am mostly listening to
Pictures Of You by The Cure
Dan Mangan
Oh Fortune
Nice Nice Very Nice
Postcards and Daydreaming
I'm obsessed with them all.
Etta James
the Chess singles
Anna Calvi
Saw her in concert last night, she was sensational.
And Hannah obviously :)*
* but officer, I was just joking.
Okay, okay not within 500 yards, I understand...
Balam Acab
Can't get enough of the "Wander/Wonder" album. The tag of "new Burial" doesn't even cover it. Beautiful late night post dubstep with soul.
Lana Del Rey
is my current obsession while I wait for Everything Everything to release new material.
Ms Del Rey
I must away and do a fresh image search.
The legs..
Scritti Politti - Cupid and Psyche
Most of the lesser tracks horribly bring to mind 80s teen flicks, of one of the brat pack running to catch a bus or a busy high school hallway as the kids rush to find their way to the next lesson. There is nothing more 80s sounding than this album. But for some reason it has its claws in my ears and won't let go.
don't stop there
if you love that synth-copated sound, Provision is the equal of C&S. Then grab Anomie & Bonhomie and Black Beer, White Bread. A Scritti obsession in four quick steps.
The Dan,
Donald Fagen & Lana Del Rey for me. Oh and the Silver Seas :-D
I've just parked my prog obsession
which followed my electronic obsession (both only parked temporarily) and have returned to Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Johnny Cash and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. (It's dark music for dark times).
Dubstep. And Marillion.
I know, I know. But you asked.
The Vaccines
They don't get much coverage on here, or in the magzine, (absence of beards, not being from Nashville or environs) but that album is the best thing I've heard this year.
Classical music and Lloyd Cole
Handel, specifically, and some Faure.
Don't know why
I played this constantly for awhile this year.
VDGG..Refugees. Hard to think a new release could have quite the same vibe as this...It's transporting.
Know the feeling
In the mid-90s I discovered VDGG, fell for them in a big way and was obsessive for a fair while. There's nothing else like them, although none of the prog-UK retrospectives want to mention them.
This year it's been vinyl
I have rebuilt my record collection, buying mostly excellent or mint condition original or early pressings, many at bargain prices, with the occasional splurge on a rarity (£30 on the Nick Drake compilation 'Heaven In A Wildflower').
These ones stand out for sheer audio delight:
Innervisions
Quadrophenia
Caravanserai
The Yes Album
The Hissing of Summer Lawns
One Size Fits All (Zappa)
Electric Ladyland
Can't buy a thrill (US pressing)
Boston
Shakti - Natural Elements
Slow Turning (Hiatt)
The Lonesome Jubilee (Mellencamp)
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Desitively Bonaroo (Dr. John)
Crosswinds (Billy Cobham)
Judee Sill (new 4 Men with Beards pressing)