Sep 28: Lee Ritenour's Earth Run.

Earth Run was an album released in 1986 by Lee Ritenour.

He used an early guitar synthesiser called a SynthAxe.

On the track Sanctuary you can hear this guitar being used. It has an interesting tone, which was then developed further by Pat Metheny.

Sep 27: Ice Flows Game

A few years back I worked with Anne le Brocq to produce an education pack to accompany the Ice Flows Game.

Give the game a go - it's online and available as an app. I've blogged about it over on my LivingGeography blog several times.

I made a Spotify playlist for the game, with songs linked to Ice.

Sep 27: PSB at Ally Pally

“Being able to come back to Alexandra Palace – where we first launched the album in 2014 – and play our biggest ever headline show, in support of The Race For Space, is very special. That record means a great deal to us as a band, and we know it’s similarly important for a lot of our fans; we’re hoping to create a truly memorable, celebratory experience that will live long in the memory.”

J. Willgoose Esq.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of heading for London with my friend Simon, who I've known for over 40 years to see Public Service Broadcasting's biggest ever gig, and to celebrate the 10+1 anniversary of their Race for Space album.

I met J Willgoose Esq. at the start of the summer at the PTI Geography Symposium.

Unfortunately when I said I was going along he didn't add me to the guest list...

I hadn't been to Alexandra Palace before. There's a great view of London from the top and there were lots of people with cameras waiting for the sunset. There's a big food and drink court and the large main hall.

There were lots of added features for this gig. One of them was to bring on the original vocalists: Andreya Casablanca for 2 tracks from 'Bright Magic' - their 'Berlin' album and the Smoke Fairies' for Valentina from the Race for Space commemorating the first woman in space. There were extra screens, pyro and squishy moon balloons.

There were also three roller skaters doing the 'People lets Dance' moves from the video.

The gig ended with 'Everest' of course.

And it was followed by a cover version of The Waterboys' 'The Whole of the Moon'....

The set list is here.

Images: Alan Parkinson

Here's Go from a previous gig....

Sep 27: Home town tunes...

Are there any songs which feature your home town in the title of the track's name?

John Shuttleworth has 'Relatives in Rotherham' on his album 'The A1111'

I've previously mentioned some local bands such as the Reytons.

An earlier example was Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers.

They had a hit with this classic... this was one of three number ones they had.

What famous bands are connected with your own home town?

Sep 26: Alive

"Veer off the track

Take the path

That leads beyond the map

I'm a travelling man

Each day I walk the byways of this life..."

A track by the band 'Big Big Train'.

And there they are playing their instruments for real in an excellent live performance. 

I feel fortunate to have seen David Longdon performing before his sad and untimely passing.... at the Cadogan Hall - a really interesting venue....

Sept 25: No one's Disciple

I need to find a way to watch this new documentary on Neil Peart...

Any advice on how to watch it in the UK?

Sep 25: Still potty and spotty - and award winning

Back in May, I posted about the Canadian band Angine de Poitrine.

Their Vol 2 album has been winning prizes, and they have been wowing crowds at festivals across the USA all summer.

They are coming to the UK in October for a string of sold out shows.

Here they are on Jimmy Fallon.

Sep 25: Heavy Metal - how it got its name

Heavy Metal music in its finest flower had one central, obvious message: There is no hope. Whatever you do, you can’t win. The world is run by war pigs who have turned you into human dogs and you must accept your fate as ignominiously as you possibly can.

Lester Bangs (1978)

I've mentioned the link between Black Sabbath, Birmingham and heavy industry before.

Deena Weinstein is amongst the academic researchers whose work has been featured in various academic papers which have helped add a little bit of nuance and gravitas... In this piece, she explores the origins of the term 'heavy metal' when applied to music.

Source:

Weinstein, D. (2013). Just So Stories: How Heavy Metal Got Its Name—A Cautionary Tale. Rock Music Studies, 1(1), 36–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/19401159.2013.846655

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/19401159.2013.846655?needAccess=true

Sep 24: Blacker Than

Back in October 1989 I went to see the Scottish folk band 'Runrig' at Sheffield University. It was a good gig.

The support band that day was This Picture.

I enjoyed their sound and performance and had quite a few of their singles on vinyl and also other recordings on CD.  I also have their two albums.

This is one of my favourite tracks they produced. Has anyone else heard of this band?

Sep 23: Commercialism

In 2023, we had the Barbie and Oppenheimer competition in the cinemas. I went to see both. 

Here's the trailer for Greta Gerwig's Barbie.

When I went to see the film there was this little marketing gimmick...

Aqua's 'Barbie Girl' video has passed a billion streams on YouTube.

100 000 page views - thanks for visiting

 

Sep 22 Incantations and a rock formation

In 1978, Mike Oldfield released his fourth album: 'Incantations'.

Incantations was a double album with four pieces spread across the 4 sides of the vinyl.

It was mostly instrumental.

I remember hearing a fragment of this for the first time while in the car with my family coming back from a trip out to a village pub in Firbeck, South Yorkshire. The radio programme played part of Side 1 as a trail for the album - not sure what channel or show that would have been, but I instantly knew I would need to get this album and that I would love it. At this point, the idea of seeing him was not something that seemed possible. I was yet to see my first live gig and I didn't know how one would go about seeing someone so famous anyway.

The album remains one of my favourites, particularly Side 3 which is basically an extended guitar solo for most of it.

The front cover features Mike on a beach with a distinctively shaped rock behind him.

This is a place called Cap Pregonda on the Spanish island of Menorca.

It is one of those places that I've always wanted to try to get to... I'll get there one day.

Are there any places that you have always particularly wanted to go to which were inspired by an album cover or a piece of music. 

Sep 21: Chris Watson

I have recently been exploring the work of Chris Watson. 

He is a sound recordist, who heads out and captures natural sounds and releases them using a range of additional sounds to produce something powerful.

Check out WEATHER REPORT.
This has 3, 18 minute tracks

• Ol-Olool-O: Kenyan savannah...
• The Laipach: a Scottish glen in all weathers
• Vatnajokull: a glacier sailing in Arctic waters

Chris says of this album:

The weather has created and shaped all our habitats. Clearly it also has a profound and dynamic effect upon our lives and that of other animals. The three locations featured here all have moods and characters which are made tangible by the elements, and these periodic events are represented within by a form of time compression. This is Chris's first foray into composition using his location recordings of wildlife and habitats -- previously he has been concerned with describing and revealing the special atmosphere of a place by site specific, untreated location recordings. For the first time here he constructs collages of sounds, which evolve from a series of recordings made at the specific locations over varying periods of time : namely Kenya's Masai Mara, Scottish highland glens and ancient ice formations lurking deep within the Norwegian sea.

Also check out "Outside the Circle of Fire" for more sounds...

His latest album is called 'Planet Ocean'.

Chris also worked on natural sounds with a range of musicians as well.

Sep 21: Plastic Bertrand and....

Name five famous Belgians...

It's a famous challenge. Perhaps Plastic Bertrand (Roger François Jouret) would make the list?

And Hergé perhaps?

Of course, these days, Wout van Aert would be top of the list for me.

Who are your favourite Belgian musicians? Introduce me to some music I haven't heard before please :)

Sep 21: Sunday night at the London Palladium

Sunday 20th 

London Palladium

I don't think I've been to the Palladium before.

Jon Anderson has been touring with the Band Geeks for quite a while within the USA, but this is their first tour of the UK.

Last night they reached London and the Palladium: a wonderful old theatre with great acoustics and sight lines. I was up in the Royal Circle.

The evening was excellent. 

The band were great, and Jon's voice was as True as ever... timbre, range, accuracy and emotion. They started with 'Close to the Edge' and added 'And You and I' and 'Awaken' and the twists and turns of 'Perpetual Change'.

I'd heard of "10 standing ovations"... which was a little performative from some people.... 

I'd previously seen Yes (with all the classic members), the Union shows at Wembley when various versions got together, Anderson Bruford Wakeman and Howe several times, 'Drama' era Yes and various other solo shows....

Here's a review from someone else who was there...

And here's an official live video of 'And You and I'...

I also appreciated the staff who were stopping people from videoing... just watch the show with your eyes... Public Service Broadcasting definitely have this right... I hope they go back to showing this.

Here's 'Geoffrey went too far"....

Sep 21: Cities and Music #10: Newcastle (& Middlesborough)

Newcastle is one of the cities that features in Karl Whitney's book on music.

Image: Alan Parkinson

The River Tyne is famously foggy...

Lindisfarne sang about that.

Jimmy Nail came to prominence as 'Oz' in 'Auf Wiedersehen Pet'. He still tours as a singer.

Here's his most well-known song

I decided to extend this post down south a little...

I saw Vin Garbutt quite a few times at the Wentworth Folk Club, which I posted about earlier in the year.

A favourite of mine was about the drive to build bypasses, and the loss of the countryside that they led to:

There's a film made about him. Here's the trailer:

Here's some Gil Scott Heron street art down by the Tyne as well.

Image: Alan Parkinson

Sep 20: Coming Home

Bruce Dickinson has had a life well lived, with plenty of lows as well as highs. He has beaten throat cancer - a gruelling treatment, and fences internationally.

He is also a trained/qualified airline pilot 

On some Iron Maiden tours, the band used a jumbo jet which was piloted by Dickinson, called 'Ed Force One'.

In this song from 2010 he describes the experience of piloting his plane and looking down at the Earth below:

Credited songwriters: Stephen Percy Harris / Bruce Dickinson / Adrian Frederick Smith

Curving on the edge of daylight
'Til it slips into the void
Waited in the long night dreaming
'Til the Sun is born again
Stretch the fingers of my hand
Cover countries with my span
Just a lonely satellite
A speck of dust in cosmic sand

Warning: A rude word occasionally...

Sep 19: Image of the Day

As seen on an 'A' level Geography fieldtrip led by my colleague Claire earlier in the week to the Brick Lane area of London.

A plaque linked to Haroon Shamsher, founder of the Joi collective. They recorded albums for Real World Music.

Image: Claire Kyndt