Musical and geographical offerings from GeoBlogs: a 365 blog project for 2026.
Sunday, 10 May 2026
May 10: Cat's in the Cradle
A powerful song about family relationships...
This is from Harry Chapin, whose family had strong musical heritage.
From Wikipedia: "Cat's in the Cradle" is narrated by a man who becomes a father in the first stanza. He is constantly too busy with his work to spend time with his son, despite his son looking up to him and promising he will grow up to be just like him. When the son graduates from college, he declines his father's offer to relax with him and instead asks for the car keys. In the final stanza, the now-retired father calls his adult son and asks to spend some time together, but the son is now too busy with his own work and family to spend time with his dad, and the father realizes his son has indeed grown up to be just like him.
And speaking of family, here's a track from Mike Oldfield that then became a hit for Hall and Oates.
I loved this album at the time and played it a lot. There was a disco element to some of it, but also a lot of musicians who played other styles of music including rock and blues
Julian Lloyd Webber – cello Gary Moore – Gibson Les Paul, Rickenbacker electric 12 string & Fender Stratocaster electric guitars, Guild acoustic guitar Rod Argent – grand piano, synthesizers (Minimoog, Roland RS-202, Yamaha CS-80) Don Airey – grand piano, synthesizers (ARP Odyssey, Minimoog, Solina String Ensemble), Fender Rhodes electric piano Barbara Thompson – flute, alto flute, alto and tenor saxophone John Mole – Fender Precision Bass, Hayman fretless bass guitar Jon Hiseman – Arbiter Auto-Tune drums, Paiste cymbals and gongs, percussion
It also featured Phil Collins. Seek it out on Spotify.
Another crossover between rock and orchestral music came out in 1978. This is still going strong almost 50 years on.
Some details of an album which I came across when searching for information about Alex Gifford's 'Morecambe Bay'.
There’s a strong green thread running through the album, too. It’s topped and tailed with different takes on environmental damage: the poignancy of Land and Sea set against the cheerily scathing Coming in Further.
Human damage to the natural world crops up in a number of the songs here, like the concertina-backed whaling chorus song Nantucket Sleighride, with its updated conservation message, or the acapella Do You Remember?, cataloguing 25 years of environmental decline.
The Icelandic band Sigur Rós were invited to perform at the special event at the Royal Albert Hall tonight. I look forward to watching it. I saw them perform live there in October 2025 - a memorable occasion.
On their Facebook page earlier, they said:
"We are deeply honoured to be a part of David Attenborough's 100 Years on Planet Earth celebration. He is one of the pillars of nature conservation and has raised awareness of environmental protection all over the world. He has been a part of our lives from early childhood, educating us on the wonders of our planet.
The fight for nature is one of the most important things in our lifetime.
Even in our little Iceland where we still have the largest unspoiled wilderness in Europe, we are facing plans of irreversible damage to our nature in many aspects.
Salmon farming is Iceland's new gold mine. As open-net salmon farming has been heavily taxed in Norway, the Norwegians are now welcomed to Icelandic fjords, destroying the seabed and the ancient breeds of wild salmon in our rivers. The conditions in these farms are absolutely disgusting. The raw sewage coming from fish farming in Iceland is equivalent to an 800 000 population town or city. To produce one kilo of salmon you need three kilos of protein. The salmon is partially bred on soy protein which is grown in faraway places which is another serious matter altogether.
As we speak they are transporting wind turbines to our first wind farm in the unspoilt Icelandic highlands and there are many more planned in the near future. We are told there is an energy shortage in Iceland which is not true. The wind farms will be used to power aluminium smelters, ferro-silicon plants, bitcoin mining and data centres. We don't really have to mention the effect these will have on birdlife and wetlands.
Iceland is also still allowing bottom trawling in certain areas around the island. Bottom trawling is like cutting down all the trees to get their fruits. It is a vulgar disrespectful method, destroying so much more than the species they are hunting for.
Oh, and let us not forget the whales. Iceland is still hunting fin whales, the second largest whale on earth, still listed as a vulnerable species, for no applicable reason at all.
The ongoing greenwashing of our government and the breach against our international commitments of conserving 30% of our seabed is highly alarming.
Iceland should be in the forefront of protecting nature and inspire other nations to follow in its footsteps. Monetary bullying and greed for natural resources is the main fuel in this attack on our country's nature.
These are just a few things happening in our little bubble called Iceland.
The whole world is at stake. Everywhere, we humans are slowly destroying our planet without giving it the slightest thought. We need to save nature to save ourselves.
We should fight for nature as David Attenborough has done all his life. Thank you David."
"Gordon Chapman-Fox impeccably soundtracks the construction and growth of a northern English community from the mid 1970’s to early 1980’s, rendered in shimmering arpeggios and soaring, euphoric leads."
As with several small labels, music is released through Bandcamp, where you can see the variety of releases, many of which have titles themed around a period of house building, when new towns, housing estates and tower blocks were springing up - a period written about by John Grindrod.
There are also some tracks featuring archive audio from a time of great promise and change in urban areas.
Back at the start of the blog I added a Google Form.
Please fill it in....
It is still there and you are welcome to complete it still.
One of the questions was about books with a musical theme which came to mind.
Here are a few suggestions from those who filled in the form so far:
Angus said:
The Philip Norman book on Elton John set an early high bar. I liked Keith Richard's candid "autobiography" "Life".
Matt suggested Neil Young's "Waging Heavy Peace".
Sandra said:
Brian Johnson's "The Lives of Brian". I loved this book. I learnt so much more about Brian and AC/DC by reading it. I didn't know how worried he was joining the band and taking over from Bon Scott. I also learnt a lot about his life in Glasgow as he grew up.
John suggested 'This is Memorial Device'.
I heard a lot about this book and bought it but it didn't click - reminded me of Iain Banks' 'Espedair Street' - Alan
Stephen was all in on The Beatles, with the recent "John & Paul A Love Story" and also Craig Brown's book on the Beatles.
Brendan was in agreement on The Beatles, suggesting 'Beatles '66: The Revolutionary Year' by Steve Turner, a deep dive into the pivotal year of 1966 when The Beatles transitioned from pop stars to studio innovators, focusing on their final tour, and the creation of "Revolver".
David suggested "Sinatra: The Life" by Anthony Summers
More suggestions in another post later in the year...
KALEO is playing at Þingvellir National Park, in the Bergmál festival in Iceland on the 20th of June 2026.
On the summer solstice, the midnight sun will become part of the experience: an endless golden hour against one of Iceland’s most iconic landscapes.
Bergmál (Echo) draws from the natural acoustics of Þingvellir, where voices once carried across the rift valley during Alþingi gatherings.
Known for their powerful, emotionally-charged live shows, KALEO is one of Iceland's most internationally recognized music acts, with roots that trace back to the country's vibrant music scene.
IcelandAir are offering a package which includes return flights, a festival pass and shuttle bus transfers between Reykjavík and the Bergmál festival at Þingvellir National Park.
Located between the drifting tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia, Þingvellir is not only a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but also the historic heart of Iceland, where the nation’s parliament was founded over a thousand years ago.
KALEO will headline BERGMÁL at Þingvellir, joined by a handpicked group of artists. The lineup features some of Iceland’s most celebrated musicians, including Emilíana Torrini, Mugison, Stuðmenn, Helgi Björnsson, Hjálmar, GDRN, Júníus Meyvant, KK, and Árný Margrét – with more special guests to be announced.
I have to say I'm tempted, but we haven't quite finished for the summer by then....
The venue is significant as it is a World Heritage Site and has special cultural and historic significance to the people of Iceland as well as its stunning landscape: it's one of my favourite places on the island.
I wonder whether there were some people who weren't impressed with the location for this particular concert and the environmental impact of it.
The Apollo astronauts (and those who came before and after) have enjoyed views of the Earth that very few have seen. We are also waiting for the ARTEMIS mission. It's been a while coming.
The early Apollo missions were very popular as TV spectacles, although over time, there was less interest - Apollo 13 brought the audiences back for a while, but perhaps for the wrong reasons. The Space Shuttle programme also had its moments, but also some disasters.
The Apollo programme has also influenced other musicians. Mike Oldfield's 'Space Movie' album remixed some of this themes from other albums.
I mentioned earlier in the blog that John Wilkinson was a key inspiration in the development of this blog, and he has now developed a new online PTI course which may be of interest.
This online course will explore how Britpop can be used as a lens to examine the socio-economic, political, and cultural landscape of 1990s Britain. It will consider how music reflects identity, lived experience, and sense of place, while addressing the challenge of maintaining academic rigour when using music in Geography.
Participants will learn how to use music as a focused and effective stimulus for discussion, grounded in the cultural zeitgeist of the 1990s, and aligned with the Key Stage 5 Changing Places curriculum.
Aims of the course:
Apply the nexus of music, sport and politics to explore the socio-economic, political and cultural landscape of 1990s Britain
Examine how Britpop reflects cultural identity, lived experience, and sense of place
This course is for:
Teachers delivering Changing Places at Key Stage 5
Teachers seeking to enrich their teaching of place, identity and cultural geography
Teachers interested in using cultural material (e.g. music) to deepen geographical thinking
The guest speaker is Miranda Sawyer. Miranda is an English journalist and broadcaster. Besides her features and radio criticism for the ‘Observer’, her writing has appeared in ‘GQ’, ‘Vogue’ and the ‘Guardian’. She is a regular arts critic in print, on television and on radio. She broadcasts on Radio 4 and for The Culture Show (BBC TV) and was the host of the popular podcast, Papercut. She is on the board of Tate Members, the South London Gallery and Sound Women.
Her latest book, Uncommon People, was published in 2024.
It's a good book. I got it out of the library and a review is forthcoming in a future post.
I saw 'Star Wars' when it came out in the UK in 1978.
It was in the first week of its launch and there were queues for tickets at the Sheffield cinema where I saw it. This was well before online booking of course, and you got your little cardboard ticket to have punched as you entered the screen.
There'd been a lot of buzz about the movie in advance. I was into films and science fiction at the time, and had seen preview images in magazines, and also on Blue Peter.
I bought the soundtrack to the movie of course. It was a double vinyl with a plain black cover with the white Star Wars logo and details of the London Symphony Orchestra who recorded it.
For the original soundtrack, Williams selected 75 minutes of music out of the 88 minute score. To provide musical variety, it did not follow the film's chronological order.
John Williams' score for Star Wars was recorded over eight sessions at Anvil Studios in Denham, England on March 5, 8–12, 15 and 16, 1977. The score was orchestrated by Williams, Herbert W. Spencer, Alexander Courage, Angela Morley, Arthur Morton and Albert Woodbury.
The orchestration of the soundtrack by John Williams is awesome... here's the Main Theme - instantly recognisable.
In 2004, it was preserved by the Library of Congress into the National Recording Registry, calling it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2005, the American Film Institute named the original Star Wars soundtrack as the most memorable score of all time for an American film.
Punk music in Belfast emerged as a powerful expression of place identity during The Troubles (O’Neill & McLoone, 2008; McLoone, 2004). For many young people, daily life was shaped by division, violence, and uncertainty. In this context, punk became more than a musical genre; it was a voice of rebellion rooted in lived experience. Bands such as Stiff Little Fingers articulated what it meant to grow up in a city defined by conflict. As Jake Burns explained, “We were living in a war zone… we just wrote about what was going on around us” (Burns, cited in Good Vibrations; Campbell, 2012).
Songs like Alternative Ulster highlight the frustration and lack of opportunity felt by many young people. The lyric “Grab it and change it, it’s yours” reflects a desire not only to escape the constraints of Belfast’s identity at the time, but to actively reshape it (Stiff Little Fingers, 1979; Reynolds, 2005). Punk offered a way to challenge dominant narratives of fear and division, replacing them with agency and resistance. This illustrates how place identity is not fixed, but constantly negotiated and reimagined, as geographers such as Tim Cresswell and Doreen Massey have explained in their work (Cresswell, 2015; Massey, 1994).
At the same time, punk captured the deeply personal impact of conflict. In ‘The Cosh’, the line “I don’t want a peacemaker” suggests how even relationships were influenced by mistrust and tension (Stiff Little Fingers, 1979; Rolling Stone, 2013 retrospective). Here, rebellion operates on both political and emotional levels, reflecting the complexity of living in a divided place.
Despite the surrounding violence, the punk scene in Belfast created rare, shared spaces where young people from different backgrounds could come together (McLoone, 2004; Worley, 2017). Music venues became sites of alternative identity, where sectarian labels were temporarily set aside. This spirit of unity links closely to the band’s later support for Integrated Education, which promotes educating young people together regardless of background (Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education, 2020; DENI, 2016).
In this way, punk in Belfast was not only an outlet for anger and frustration, but also a hopeful reimagining of place; a place where identity could move beyond division towards connection and peace.
The presence of soldiers on the streets, one of the most visible and contested features of life during the Troubles, is also confronted directly in the music of Stiff Little Fingers. In ‘Tin Soldiers’, the band critiques the normalisation of militarisation, particularly how young people came of age in an environment where armed patrols, checkpoints, and violence were embedded in the rhythms of daily life. The deployment of the British Army across Northern Ireland shaped these experiences in ways that were deeply felt at community level (McKittrick, D, McVea, D, 2000). The song’s title is deliberately provocative, hinting at both the youth of many soldiers and the idea of individuals as instruments within a much larger political conflict. Rather than offering a single perspective, the lyrics capture the tension and ambiguity of living in a militarised space. This aligns with geographical perspectives on place as something actively produced through lived experience. Tim Cresswell argues that places are not just locations, but are made meaningful through everyday practices, emotions, and memories (Cresswell, T. 2004).
In this sense, the presence of soldiers contributed to shaping Northern Ireland as a ‘contested landscape,’ where meaning, identity, and belonging were constantly negotiated.
For me, this song carries a more personal resonance. It gives recognition to my own memories of growing up in that contested landscape, where the presence of soldiers was not abstract but part of the fabric of childhood. Drawing on Tim Cresswell’s work, these lived experiences help make places what they are; layered with memory, emotion, and meaning. ‘Tin Soldiers’ therefore does more than document history; it validates lived experience and reinforces how music can connect personal geographies with wider social narratives.
Songs by Stiff Little Fingers also capture the lived reality of a society emerging from conflict.
Stiff Little Fingers at Ulster Hall
Tracks such as ‘My Dark Places’ speak directly to the psychological aftermath of violence, where unresolved trauma often lingers beneath the surface of everyday life. Research into post-conflict societies suggests that a significant proportion of the population, estimated at around one in five, experience mental health challenges linked to prolonged exposure to violence and instability (Bunting, B. P., Ferry, F. R., Murphy, S. D., O’Neill, S. M., & Bolton, D. 2011).
This context gives added weight to live performances.
At gigs, there is a palpable shift when ‘My Dark Places’ is played: an audience often made up largely of middle-aged men, many shaped by the era of the Troubles, are confronted with a powerful message about vulnerability and help-seeking. Frontman Jake Burns has spoken candidly about his own struggles, using the platform to challenge stigma and encourage openness. In that moment, the music becomes more than memory or nostalgia; it acts as a form of collective reflection and, importantly, a prompt toward healing.
For me, Stiff Little Fingers is more than a case study of place and rebellion, it is part of my own sense of identity. The band was hugely popular within my parents’ generation, and I have strong memories of my dad playing their music. Those songs became part of the soundtrack of my childhood, shaping my understanding of Belfast and its history long before I studied it academically.
That connection between punk culture and social change continues today through the band’s ongoing support for Integrated Education. At their annual August concerts in Belfast and Dublin, fundraising collections are regularly taken in aid of the Integrated Education Fund. This demonstrates how the band’s legacy extends beyond music into practical community action. Reported figures from recent fundraising show the scale of this support: more than £50,000 has been raised by the band for the Integrated Education Fund. This shows how concerts can become civic spaces where music, memory, and social values intersect, reinforcing Belfast punk’s long-standing association with inclusion and shared futures.
As someone who advocates for Integrated Education, their message resonates in a different but equally powerful way. What once reflected division and frustration now also speaks to the possibility of change and shared futures. Today, my brother and I carry that connection forward; we go to concerts together, turning it into a family tradition. In this way, punk music continues to shape not only how I understand place, but how I experience it: through memory, connection, and hope.
References
Barros D’Sa, L., & Leyburn, G. (Directors). (2012). Good Vibrations [Film]. Canderblinks
Film and Music; Revolution Films.
Bunting, B. P., Ferry, F. R., Murphy, S. D., O’Neill, S. M., & Bolton, D. (2011). Troubled
Consequences: A report on the mental health impact of the civil conflict in Northern Ireland.
Commission for Victims and Survivors. ulster.ac.uk
Campbell, S. (2012). Good Vibrations: The story of Belfast punk. British Council.
Cresswell, T. (2004). Place: An introduction. Routledge.
Cresswell, T. (2015). Place: An introduction (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
Department of Education Northern Ireland. (2016). Shared Education Policy. education-
ni.gov.uk
Integrated Education Fund. (2023a, March 1). Stiff Little Fingers put their hands up for
Integrated Education. ief.org.uk
Integrated Education Fund. (2023b). Hanx to Stiff Little Fingers and their amazingly
generous fans! ief.org.uk
Lundy, P., Gilmartin, N., McDermott, P., Finegan, R., & Murphy, R. (Eds.). (2021). Dealing
with the legacy of conflict in Northern Ireland through engagement and dialogue. Glencree
Journal; Ulster University.
Massey, D. (1994). Space, place and gender. Polity Press.
McKittrick, D., & McVea, D. (2000). Making sense of the Troubles. Blackstaff Press.
McLoone, M. (2004). Northern Irish culture and identity. Routledge.
Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education. (2020). What is integrated education?
https://nicie.org/
O’Connor, F. (2002). A shared childhood: The story of integrated schools in Northern
Ireland. Blackstaff Press.
O’Neill, M., & McLoone, M. (2008). Punk and the politics of Belfast. In I. Peddie (Ed.), The
resurgent voice of popular music (pp. 79–94). Ashgate.
Reynolds, S. (2005). Rip it up and start again: Postpunk 1978–1984. Faber & Faber.
Rolling Stone. (2013). 100 best debut albums of all time: Stiff Little Fingers: Inflammable
Material
World Health Organization. (2019). Mental health in emergencies and post-conflict settings.
who.int
Worley, M. (2017). No future: Punk, politics and British youth culture, 1976–1984.
Cambridge University Press.
Sandra Patterson (FCCT) is a veteran geography teacher with over 25 years of experience and a long-standing membership in the Geographical Association. A Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching, Sandra is a prominent advocate for social cohesion and equity. Her dedication to bridging community divides and closing equality gaps has driven her leadership within WomenEd Northern Ireland and her extensive work in Integrated Education.
Do you have an idea for a guest post? Please get in touch.
As with his i/O project, Peter Gabriel is releasing one new single each year on the date of the full moon. This was released earlier in the week and is one of the best so far from his new project. It's a hopeful song of how everyone needs to stand up for positive change.
From the lyrics:
A million mothers looking forward They're all looking out ahead In the haze they can make out a planet Alive, or was it dead? Moving out in so many directions The inhabitants have lost their nerve And servants of the people Have forgotten how to serve
This is not the way we want to live It's not the way it has to be This is not the way we want to live It's not the way it has to be
Peter says of the song:
“I had originally thought about trying to create some music for The Elders.org, who are an extraordinary group of people. Their currency is not based on military power, economic power or political power, but just the moral authority they have from having lived extraordinary, selfless lives.
That's something which I wanted to talk about, write about and encourage, because it's pretty dark out there in lots of places and I think we need people who can just nudge both us and our leaders and keep alive some basic values of justice, compassion and democracy – a hope that can help us start envisioning a just, peaceful and fairer world. I think people generally respond much better to positive pictures of what’s coming than they do when they are bombarded and scared by negative ones.
We are much more likely to engage if we feel hope. Right now, we don't see so many positive visions of the future, at least they're not being projected so strongly as the negative, so I think it's really important that we start looking for visions to which we can aspire and looking for people who can provide that.
A couple years back I found myself kicking back in the rooftop garden of a Marrakech riad. It was within earshot of Jemaa el-Fnaa.
It was the afternoon and the smoky chaos that unfolds as the sun sets on Marrakech’s main square within the walled old city had not yet begun. On the riad’s sound system - on low volume but gently persistent - a culturally appropriate journey unfolded, a compilation of Arabic house music.
With the snow-capped Atlas Mountains off in the distance and just visible through the forest of palms, telephone masts, minarets and heat-haze, Arabic house music hit an hypnotic spot.
It certainly wouldn’t have been anything like what I was listening to when, in 1980 aged 18, I first visited Marrakech. It wasn’t Crosby, Still’s & Nash’s 1969 hippie anthem ‘Marrakesh Express’ but Bob Marley and the Wailers new album ‘Uprising’ that had been released a month earlier, so more of a ‘Zion Train’.
Not a huge amount has changed in Marrakech’s walled Medina over the years; it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Inside the monumental city walls the stunningly beautiful Koutoubiya Mosque overlooks the maze of covered allies, sudden sun-lit squares and walled gardens.
Yet nearly half a century on there are far better restaurants, cafes and riads but also the lasting visible damage of the 2023 Al Haouz earthquake; tumbled down houses, minarets supported by scaffolding and cracking stretched across many an ancient wall.
But what was this Arabic house music?
Signs of earthquake damage.
Shazam wasn’t up to telling me, and as the day progressed I forgot to ask at the riad’s reception. The moment passed.
And as the holiday passed snippets of similar sounds floated past me in the background at restaurants, from boom boxes in the street and in the chic cafes of the new city. Arabic house was clearly ‘a thing’ in Marrakech.
I’d started exploring Arabic influenced music decades back; probably first piqued by the Lebanese singer Dunya Yusin’s voice on Eno and Byrne’s 1981 ‘My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts’.
This really resonated with me fresh of the back off a month in North Africa. Then there was Jah Wobble, Natasha Atlas, Omar Faruk Tekbilek (although he was from Istanbul, Turkey) and Page and Plant’s excursions with a full Egyptian orchestra layering an Arabic sway across Led Zeppelin classics, the
album of which, ‘ No Quarter’ (1994), was recorded partly in Marrakech.
I even had a WOMAD inspired Algerian Rai phase and shook my booty to DJ Monkey Pilot and his Whirl-Y-Gig sound system (I’ve still got one of their t-shirts). But that was all more than a couple of decades back and so this smooth Arabic house defined by its use of some traditional Arabic music stylings and instrumentation, and added to a dose of the Balearics that was clearly rooted in the streets of North Africa, became the impetus for me to see what was out there, and what that compilation was.
A key aspect of Arabic music is that it crosses over a huge geographical area stretching from the clubs of Dubai to those of Casablanca and within that are regional differences drawing upon an area’s traditional music. Fortunately musicologists have mapped out the traditional sounds of just about everywhere but not necessarily what is new and bouncing in cafes and on folks’ phones.
Hats off to Rave Club Morocco Collective who are a one-stop shop, vertically integrated operation
dealing with everything from artist management and recording to party organising.
In Morocco a key source of inspiration has been the blend of Sub-Saharan African, Berber and Arabic influences such as Gnawa music, a traditional genre that has been elevated to being of UNESCO intangible cultural heritage importance.
Gnawa is famed for its live performance, which are often trance-like with the invocation of spirits and obviously drawing on traditions beyond Morocco’s predominantly Islamic culture. In Essaouira on the Moroccan Atlantic coast an annual Gnawa festival is held with leading artists such as Asmaa Hamzaoui performing both traditional Gnawa with its focus on the guembri, a camel-skin covered bass lute and qraqab, large metal castanets. Most evenings in Jemaa el-Fnaa several groups are playing Gnawa and that imbues the square with its evocative soundtrack whilst hungry locals eat, snake charmers charm, hustlers hustle and camels and tourists idle past.
Another side of Marrakech is to be found outside the walls of the medina; modern Marrakech with its wide boulevards, chic 5 star hotels and night clubs where the beautiful people party and leading the party today is Amine K, Marrakech resident, international DJ and perhaps the highest profile Arabic
House DJ around.
He has quite a distinct vibe, clearly ticking all the house music boxes but layered across it is a distinct Moroccan feeling created by dipping into the countries traditional Gnawa, Chaabi and Berber sounds.
After a fair bit of musical exploring I have come to the conclusion that the elusive house mix that my riad was playing, or something incredibly similar to it, is probably one of Café De Anatolia’s Arabic house mixes. There are plenty of these mixes on YouTube to choose from and they often come accompanied with some rather dramatic drone footage of Arabic landscapes from deserts to bustling
towns. Even if it isn’t one of these mixes they do take me right back to the frenetic bustle of Jemaa el Fnaa, the narrow lanes of Marrakech’s medina, the chic cafés of the new city, piercing sunlight and the lofty peaks of the high Atlas Mountain in the distance.
Carl Lee is retired but was a lecturer at The University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, taught A level Geography for 20 years at Sheffield College, is the author of five books about geography and has a PhD in economic geography. He has been nuts about music since buying his first single in 1973: 10cc’s 'Rubber Bullets' if you were wondering.
This album is definitely in the top five best live albums ever recorded.
It captures the band that toured with Joni Mitchell in 1979.
For the album, Mitchell was backed by a band of acclaimed jazz and fusion musicians consisting of guitarist Pat Metheny, bassist Jaco Pastorius, drummer Don Alias, keyboardist Lyle Mays, and saxophonist Michael Brecker.
The vocal group 'The Persuasions' also appear on several tracks.
After an introduction with a wash of keyboards from Lyle Mays and an extract from the film 'Rebel without a Cause', the album opens with "In France they kiss on Main St." which is driven by Jaco Pastorius' excellent bass line, with interjections from Pat Metheny... fusion... "Coyote" is excellent. Pat also has his own solo following the track 'Amelia'.
I had an email from Real World Records earlier this week talking about a new signing of Sulaf.
Sulaf is from the Sudan.
Description:
“I gathered my belongings into a small bag, not shedding many tears as no one expected what would happen. No one foresaw all this separation ...”
Sulaf transforms her refugee exile into ABA — an album blending Nubian roots with modern soundscapes in collaboration with producer Maxime Kosinetz (Imarhan, Tinariwen).
Drawing on the Sufi poetry of her great-grandfather, she captures loss, identity, and resilience, carrying Sudan’s spirit across borders with haunting power and emotional depth.
Sulaf will introduce material from the album for the first time to audiences across Europe as the opening act on select shows of desert-blues supergroup Tinariwen’s current tour.
She appears as a featured guest vocalist on their new album Hoggar.
More on Tinariwen in a separate post.
With ABA, Sulaf emerges as a vital new voice — “a vessel for the songs of the women of Sudan”, as she puts it — creating music that speaks both to deep-rooted tradition and a bold, contemporary sonic future.
