Category Archives: Music
Remembering Frank
21 December 1940 — 4 December 1993 Frank Zappa has probably had more impact on my approach and attitude towards music than anyone else. I tentatively popped a copy of ‘Tinseltown Rebellion’ into my cheesy teenage tape machine at the … Continue reading
Posted in Guitar, Music
Leave a comment
The Flaming Lips grin
If I seem unusually serene today, it’s because I’m wearing the customary post-Flaming-Lips-gig grin.
Posted in Drivel, Music
Leave a comment
New music – ‘Knitting with Spoons’
Oh, I forgot to mention… I made new music. Like most of my output in the past year (I promise to exercise some self-motivation soon) it’s the result of a task in the Recording Collective. The idea was that each … Continue reading
Posted in Music
Leave a comment
Band list meme
From Rick via Mike… “Your meme, should you choose to accept it, is to rank the following bands in order, from couldn’t live without to couldn’t care less. To add value to this process, you must also add one band … Continue reading
Posted in Drivel, Music
Leave a comment
Shawn Lane 1963-2003
Shawn Lane died last week. He was one of my biggest musical heroes. Unless you’re a particularly voracious fan of guitarists or non-mainstream music, you probably won’t have heard of him. Shawn was, first and foremost, a hugely talented guitarist, … Continue reading
Posted in Guitar, Music
Leave a comment
The end of the summer
It’s been a good summer. For a start, there was this… I like the Proms. I’ll admit that it’s a flawed system, limited geographically to London and stylistically to a fairly traditional idea of what “classical” music is. But it’s … Continue reading
Posted in Consumer, Drivel, London, Music
Leave a comment
Mahler for hi-NRG disco nights?
In Gustav Mahler’s Sixth Symphony, the first little solo played by the trumpet sounds exactly the same as ‘In the Navy’ by the Village People. See? I told you everything was connected, didn’t I?
Posted in Drivel, Music
Leave a comment
Is the UK music industry full of hot air?
So let’s get this straight. This year, the UK music industry has sold more albums than ever before. Album sales since 1998 (just after the first popular internet explosion) have been on average 40% higher than in 1993. So what’s … Continue reading
Posted in Music, Music industry
Leave a comment
New music – A Moment of Clarity
Spent yesterday morning knocking together a very quick little tune. I’d been messing around with a Japanese pentatonic scale called the Hirajoshi for a while and wanted to do something with it. It’s a very easy way of getting a … Continue reading
Posted in Guitar, Music
Leave a comment
New music – Magic Theatre
Much as I’m enjoying the hot weather, it’s not much good for productivity. Playing guitar has become a sticky, energy-sapping pursuit, so I’ve mostly just been sitting in the garden listening to Beethoven’s late string quartets today. Luckily, the latest … Continue reading
Posted in Guitar, Music
Leave a comment