Aug 17: Dungeness - on 12" shingle...

I've been planning to head for Dungeness for quite a while. I took this picture back in 2012, when flying over the cuspate foreland. I finally made it there in early August as part of a Kent road trip with my son.

Image: Alan Parkinson

I found there were a lot of musical connections with the place.

Source: Wikipedia page for Dungeness - selected examples.

Dungeness appears quite often in music videos, album covers and adverts. It featured on the cover of Pink Floyd's 1981 album A Collection of Great Dance Songs.

British band The Soup Dragons shot the videos for their top 5 1990 hit '"I'm Free", and follow-up top 20 1991 hit "Mother Universe" on Dungeness.

The shingle beach and fishermen's shacks feature extensively in the Lighthouse Family promotional video for their 1998 song "High".

The acoustic mirror at Dungeness is featured on the cover of the album Ether Song by the British indie band Turin Brakes. 

Dungeness appears on the covers of albums as diverse as So Much for the City by The Thrills and Aled by Aled Jones. 

The Prodigy's single "Invaders Must Die" video was filmed here and shows both the acoustic mirrors and the lighthouse. 

In 2011, the music video for the song Walk the River by British band Guillemots was filmed on the headland.

In 2012, Nicki Minaj's single Freedom was filmed on the beach and with the acoustic mirrors. It has rude words in it.

Athlete have a song on the album Vehicles and Animals called "Dungeness" which is about the area. 

Aug 17: 2020 - COVID year

We are getting close to the present day now and 2020 was a year when we saw the world change.

The UK's first national COVID-19 lockdown began on March 23, 2020. Boris Johnson ordered the public to "stay at home," only permitting residents to leave for essential shopping, medical needs, one form of daily exercise, and travelling to work if absolutely necessary. My school stayed open for essential workers' children and we had months of fine weather where we were confined to in and around the village apart from heading to queue to get into the supermarket to buy food (and hopefully some toilet roll). A local village shop in Castle Acre did a great job of supporting local people who were shielding and avoiding contact.

Music became important to many people... I listened to it while working from home, and while cooking, which became a bigger part of life. I got to know the local fields and woods around my village well and saw the full growing cycle of crops from sowing to harvest. Everyone was concerned for their health and the health of family.

Mary Chapin Carpenter released an album recorded live without an audience, but then shared this excellent track, which she hasn't bettered since...

Between the Dirt and the Stars. The guitar solo on this is excellent...

Produced by Ethan Johns (Ray LaMontagne, Paul McCartney, Kings of Leon) and recorded entirely live at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Bath, in southwest England, the album finds the 5-time GRAMMY Award-winning singer-songwriter pondering life’s intimate, personal moments and exploring its most universally challenging questions at an unprecedented time. 

Written at her rural Virginia farmhouse before stay-at-home orders became the “new normal,” the songs celebrate invaluable experiences and irreplaceable wisdom, while also advocating exploration of the best in all of us.

Tangerine Dream released an excellent album at the end of 2020 capturing the sound of the original band, with three members who worked really well together...

Here's a 2016 version of the track 'Proton Bonfire' from this album.

Bob Mould closed out the year with 'American Crisis'.

What music kept you going through COVID? 

Please let me know...

Aug 16: Protest Songs #5: Trespassers

There is a long legacy of landowners fencing off their land, and preventing people from accessing open space.

The Young 'Uns have released 3 albums of songs.

The Kinder Trespass is one of the more famous events in gaining access to land to walk and overcome the power of landowners to prevent access to their land.

It took place in the Peak District near Glossop.

I've followed the route of the Trespassers numerous times up to the Kinder Downfall.

Aug 16: 'The Lark Ascending' #2: Elgar and the Malverns

The second in a series of posts linked to Richard King's book 'The Lark Ascending'.

The first chapter of the book mentions Edward Elgar's links to the Malvern Hills. He was born in Broadheath, in the Malvern Hills near Worcester.

The National Trust and other organisations refer to the area as 'Elgar Country' and the National Trust manages 'The Firs' - his birthplace, which can be visited.

As you step into the birthplace cottage of Sir Edward Elgar, in the heart of his ‘beloved country’ between Worcester and the Malvern Hills, you are stepping into a space that inspired and comforted him, his entire life. Stand within the four walls of the humble cottage where he was born and be immersed in a world that Elgar believed already contained music that was there for the taking.

He appeared on the UK £20 note for some years.

There are various walking routes that can be followed which trace walks Elgar himself took - where inspiration was provided for pieces such as 'Land of Hope and Glory'.

Aug 16: 2019

2019 saw some interesting albums released. Spotify Wrapped produced a summary of the year - always some tracks in there which make no sense.

IQ released 'Resistance'. This has some good tracks in typical IQ style - they have a very particular way of building their tracks, with the distinctive voice of Peter Nicholls.

Rymden features three Scandinavian jazz musicians.

I have several albums by two of the members of the group.

Bugge Wesseltoft is a really interesting musician and he has collaborated with musicians in very different styles. He is a Norwegian pianist and composer. The first album I have of his is called 'New Conceptions of Jazz'.

He has worked with a whole range of different musicians.

Magnus Östrom on drums has also released a couple of excellent albums.

Some tracks of his are similar in style to Nick Bärstch's Ronin.

Here's a set from a 2019 jazz festival...

Also in 2019 was Bob Mould's 'Sunshine Rock', Big Big Train's 'Grand Tour' and Nick Cave's 'Ghosteen'.

Rammstein also released 'Deutschland' - which has featured on the blog separately.

What were your favourite pieces of music from this year?

Aug 15: 2018

From my Spotify Wrapped, I can identify the tracks I played most through this year. 

They include the following albums:

'Remain' by Folly and the Hunter - this was their best album - more recent ones don't have the same atmosphere and songwriting.

'Severed' by The Decemberists - this introduced some different textures and timbres to their usual sounds. Still recognisable as the work of Meloy et al. 

Take a listen here....

Public Service Broadcasting released their Titanic EP, which had its premiere in Belfast. 

Here's the track 'White Star Liner' from their EP.

Bob Mould released 'Sunshine Rock'. 

This was the stand out track....

Here's 'Deep Blue' from the album 'Avalanche' from Imar.

What were your favourite musical memories from 2018?

Aug 15: Audio Atlas x 2

Via LinkedIn and Brendan Conway.

Audio Atlas is an exploration of musical genres and a natural music search.

This Audio Atlas website is a living atlas of the world's music.

Developed by Jed Anang and others.

• Spin the globe and click any country to discover its genres
• Search across cultures, eras, and continents
• Sign in to contribute genres and suggest edits

I tried Madagascar first...

It suggested a genre called Salegy.

An up-tempo 6/8 Malagasy popular music from the north, descending from antsa vocal tradition and popularized by Jaojoby. It features tight guitar riffs, accordion or keyboard, and driving percussion.

It also suggested a song in this genre.

Why not give the globe a spin?

From Norway's love of Death Metal to the Morenada of Peru, there's a whole world of music out there for you to explore... and contribute a guest post about if you have the time.

Aug 15: ECM Podcast

There are now 70 episodes of the ECM Podcast, which shares news of acts on the roster of this record label, which has helped determine my musical taste over the decades.

Aug 14: Shipbuilding

Public Service Broadcasting are a band that has featured on the blog a number of times. Their music is always interesting, with each successive album developing their sound a little, and being based around some historical period which allows the integration of sounds and speech from the time. I have also been able to see them bring their music to life many times.

They premiered their Titanic suite at an event in Belfast. The band wove together the voices of the Titanic's survivors in a special musical commission for BBC Music's Biggest Weekend in Belfast. 

The music was first performed at the Titanic Slipways in May 2018 - taking it back to where the "unsinkable ship" itself was constructed by thousands of people from the local community.

Southampton also has a strong connection to the ship as it is from here that the 

Here's a BBC recording of the first performance.

Aug 14: 2017

2017 was the year when Spotify started doing their Wrapped, which contains lots of statistics about your listening through the year.

Here's one of the songs in my Top 100 that year: 'Our New World' from the huge Dream Theater album 'The Astonishing'. They can be a bit 'speed for the sake of it' for my liking, but this is nice.

The Mute Gods also released a great track, with Nick Beggs on bass...'The Tardigrades will inherit the Earth'.

I saw a few concerts this year too.

The year started well. One winter's Friday morning, I listened to a new Mike Oldfield album for the first time on the way to work, after it had appeared overnight.

Return to Ommadawn ended up being the final album that Mike would release before his retirement.

Public Service Broadcasting released "Every Valley". I've mentioned this before several times already.

What was your favourite music from this year?

Aug 14: Celtic Connections

I often let Spotify follow on suggesting similar music once the music I listen to has finished. This sometimes leads me to make new discoveries.

A few days ago I started listening to some music by the French musician Gabriel Yacoub.

This led to further discoveries - as shown below...

Aug 14: Donn/Dubh

New from Real World Records and playing as I write this.

Donn/Dubh (Brown/Black) is a bold reimagining of Hebridean musical heritage, rooted in Arun Sood and Angeline Morrison’s shared connection to the islands. 

Inspired by 10th-century Celtic texts linking wind directions to colours, the album transforms traditional Gaelic melodies into expansive new compositions. 

Drones of Scottish folk instruments intertwine with bass-heavy rhythms, lush synths, abrasive guitars and immersive soundscapes, exploring questions of tradition, landscape, identity and belonging.

As this review in the Guardian says:

Morrison, co-founder of the Black British Folk Collective, has brilliantly brought forgotten Black histories into the folk canon for years, including on 2022’s The Sorrow Songs. That same year, Sood’s Searching Erskine used sonic collage and old recordings to conjure the lives of residents on his grandmother’s abandoned home island of Vallay. Their talents converge around Alastair Smith’s startling production: Morrison’s deep voice, ghostly one moment, lullaby-warm the next, inhabiting soundworlds recalling the shuddering shadows of late-90s Boards of Canada and Unkle.

In Gaelic, Donn means brown / dark, while Dubh is black.

Some elements remind me of Martyn Bennett's work.

Here's a sample track...

Aug 14: "The Lark Ascending" #1: Vaughan Williams & KES

"The art of music above all other arts is the expression of the soul of a nation"

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Richard King's 2019 book explores British music and its link with the landscape of Britain.

I have a copy of the book and enjoyed reading it when it first came out. I've mentioned it previously on the blog.

I've now revisited it for this blog and there is plenty of relevance to the blog's theme, so there will be a number of posts to follow through the next month or so.

Vaughan Williams is referenced in the prologue and his quote that "Folk music is not a cause of national music, it is a manifestation of it'.

He wrote 'The Lark Ascending' which was premiered in 1920 having been started at the outbreak of the Great War.

It was premiered near Bristol.

Vaughan Williams believed that music was a latent force in all people... "the only means of artistic expression which is natural to everybody."

The soundtrack to the Ken Loach film 'KES' (from Barry Hines' book) has a wonderful soundtrack by John Cameron.

"Kes flies higher" has a link to 'The Lark Ascending' in its structure and feel...

Chapter 1 of the book explores the piece in more detail.

It epitomises an idea of place, and because there are no lyrics it hasn't been (mis)interpreted as Blake's 'Jerusalem' has been.

It invokes a reverie: a country dance observed by a bird in flight, "a lyrical expression of grace and freedom".

King says that Vaughan Williams "achieves a synthesis of air and earth as the skylark shares in the merrymaking taking place below and the intoxicating sense of euphoria is absolute."

Vaughan Williams described folk songs as "an individual flowering on a common stem".

Aug 13: In the Pool

This is the 'B' side of a single released by Mike Oldfield.

It's an instrumental piece, and one that many people may not have heard...

Today was very much a day for being in the pool...

Aug 13: 500 posts

I've added my 500th post to this blog. 

Not bad since I started it on the 1st of January. Some of them were guest blog posts this time round. Thanks to Carl Lee, Brendan Conway and Sandra Patterson for their contributions, with more promised. 

Thanks to everyone who's visited and read a post too.

Please consider adding your own memories whether as a comment or via the Google Form. If you use that as a search phrase you can see all the posts where there's a chance for you to add your ideas as a Google Form.

Here's a song featuring the number 500.... sing along!

Aug 13: The Belfast Fleadh

I've been reading about the Fleadh which has recently finished.

Belfast hosted the Comhaltas Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, the world’s biggest celebration of Irish music and culture, for the first time in 2026. 

The city welcomed 1.65 million people between Sunday 2 August to Sunday 9 August 2026, more than doubling the estimated 800,000 visitors.

Aug 13: 2016

Up to 2016 now and just ten years ago.

Big Big Train released 'Folklore'. This was one of their best albums with some excellent tracks

The album really starts to pick up with the boisterous extravaganza that is “Winkie”, which tells the story of a carrier pigeon sent to relay a message of a stranded soldiers, not your average Prog story. The song swirls between various parts for what is one of the heaviest tracks the group has produced. The song also contains the best instrumental sections on the album, brimming with colorful keyboard parts at times recalling Tony Banks on Colony of Slipperman. This is one of the highlight tracks on the album. You will need to listen to the song to find out if the pigeon is successful.

Source: https://progreport.com/big-big-train-folklore-full-album-review/

Dream Theater released a double album called 'The Astonishing' which had its moments, including this appropriately geographical track.

What were your musical memories of 2016?

Aug 13: A Song for the Horses

As permafrost in Siberia continues to melt and the steppe in the Gobi turns to desert, people in Mongolia are faced with overlapping climate crises. Some nomadic herders describe climate change as the end of a world. They are quick to add that the world has ended before for Indigenous people in North Asia, as waves of colonialism have left the steppe with a complicated web of apocalypses. A Song for the Horses by K. G. Hutchins examines cases in which people respond to the pressures of climate change by drawing on cultural heritage to foster social resiliency.

Hutchins’s ethnographic research, spanning more than a decade, provides a vivid and intimate portrayal of Mongolian life. Musicians use the morin khuur, or ‘horse fiddle,’ to engage with the subjectivities and agencies of nonhuman animals and other beings. This work is a significant contribution to the posthuman turn in social sciences, engaging with theories from prominent scholars such as Donna Haraway and Anna Tsing .

As climate change continues to impact communities worldwide, this book offers a unique perspective on how cultural heritage can be mobilized to address environmental challenges, providing valuable lessons for global efforts to build sustainable and resilient futures. At the intersection of music, environment, and posthumanism, A Song for the Horses shows how Mongolian musicians use cultural traditions to imagine and build toward alternative futures beyond climate change and neoliberalism.

Aug 12: 2015

2015 saw the release of 'The Book of Souls' by Iron Maiden. This was another solid album from the band.

It featured on my listening that year.

Public Service Broadcasting released the wonderful 'The Race for Space'.

This had a space theme, featuring some of their most memorable songs. This is a live favourite.

Gagarin features the words of Yuri Gagarin himself as he did his first space walk and saw the Earth from space.

What beauty. I saw clouds and their light shadows on the distant dear earth.... The water looked like darkish, slightly gleaming spots.... When I watched the horizon, I saw the abrupt, contrasting transition from the earth's light-colored surface to the absolutely black sky. I enjoyed the rich color spectrum of the earth. It is surrounded by a light blue aureole that gradually darkens, becoming turquiose, dark blue, violet, and finally coal black.

This is the track named after him:

June saw the passing of the great Chris Squire. I had the pleasure of seeing him play live a number of times with Yes in various incarnations.... and his Rickenbacker tone was legendary.

Here's a classic bass line... from 1983 when Yes 'reinvented' themselves... 

I remember this playing in the Dickens Inn in Rotherham... a classic pub much missed... 

There were lots of musical myths about this place, but it also hosted some excellent musicians.
This was our pub of choice in the early 80s

The Dickens at Westgate was a popular meeting place in the 70s and 80s and attracted such legendary performers as Joe Cocker, Frank White, Def Leppard and Saxon.

Def Leppard played there in 1979 and were apparently paid £20.

What are your musical memories of 2015?

Aug 12: As seen in Canterbury

Earlier today...

All together...

In the deserts of Sudan 

And the gardens of Japan 

From Milan to Yucatán 

Every woman, every man

Aug 12: ...of the heart...

RIP Bonnie...

Or perhaps this...

Aug 11: Glen Hansard RIP

I wasn't very familiar with the music of Glen Hansard who sadly died last week in an accident, but it seems he meant a great deal to a great many people and lived a life steeped in music and live performance.

He was connected with 'The Commitments' and led a band called 'The Frames'.

In October 2022, Hansard recorded "Take Heart", featuring Irglová, and Ukrainian refugees, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Aug 11: 2014

2014 was a year of consolidation back in the classroom, along with some project work to bring in additional income (and interest).

In March there was a new album from Mike Oldfield called 'Man on the Rocks'. This had a few interesting moments, but wasn't to the same standard as earlier albums. There were spirited vocals from Luke Spiller.

Leland Sklar also provided the bass. He is one of those session musicians who has played with many of the greats, including Phil Collins. He has a very distinctive look...

Steve Lipson produced the album. 

This track was probably the best on the album, remembering an evening in Ireland, drinking 'Moonshine'.

Bob Mould released 'Beauty and Ruin'.

Among the standout tracks from this album was the short blast of 'Tomorrow Morning'.

This was the year when every young girl was belting this one out... a great vocal from Idina Menzel.

Aimee Mann released an album with Ted Leo, called 'The Both'. The first single was 'Milwaukee' which referenced "the statue of Fonz and the duck".

This refers to the Bronze Fonz - check out the live webcam down on the riverfront.

And 'Gertie the Duck'.

What are your musical memories from 2014?

Aug 11: Getting my Second Wind

Another album from Pierre Moerlen's Gong. I had these on vinyl and they are not so easy to come by now. More bass wonder from Hansford Rowe. 

Aug 10: 2013

Into 2013. 

This was the year when I returned to the classroom again, after five years away, working for the GA and then as a freelance geography author and 'consultant' (basically saying yes to anyone who paid me to write something).

I love this film of the folk band Blowzabella recording in the recording studio of the French musician and hurdy gurdy player Patrick Bouffard.

It was recorded in May 2013.

The song is called Falco.

Big Big Train released 'English Electric Part 2', which included more classic tracks, and was very much in the same vein as the first part of the double album release. David Longdon's voice was wonderful as always.

Here's the opening track 'East Coast Racer'.

The band's website provided the following detail on the track:

75 years ago, on 3rd July 1938, a streamlined locomotive called Mallard set the world speed record for steam trains, travelling at 126mph on a straight, downhill stretch of the East Coast Mainline.

Mallard has been preserved as a static exhibit and is normally on display at the National Railway Museum in York. Whilst she was made for speed the designers created a machine of extraordinary beauty; if you go to the museum, she will stop you in your tracks.

The story of Mallard has been described by Andrew Martin as being like Chariots of Fire with steam engines and it became, for me, an irresistible theme for a song. However, it wasn’t so much  Mallard but the people who designed, made, fired and drove her that interested me. And it is their tale we tell over the 15 minutes or so of East Coast Racer.

It is a story with a wonderful list of main characters; designer Sir Nigel Gresley, his assistant Oliver Bulleid, fireman Tommy Bray and driver Joe Duddington. Alongside those with starring roles was a community of engineers and railwaymen who all played a part in the making of a legend.

But, in the end, we come back to Mallard.

Émile Zola said: ‘Somewhere in the course of manufacture, a hammer blow or a deft mechanic’s hand imparts to a locomotive a soul of its own’.

In this short sentence, Zola puts his finger on the connection between the maker and the machine. Mallard has outlived its creators but in it, this company of men and the work they carried out, lives on.

My former neighbour Norman was a huge train enthusiast and had a model train 

A statue of Nigel Gresley stands at King's Cross Station on the concourse....

Sigur Rós released Kveikur. After a few more 'relaxed' albums this was a return to discord and noise...

Goldfrapp released 'Tales of Us'. Some awesome tracks on this one...

What were your musical memories of 2013?

Aug 10: The ubiquitous Phil Collins

Phil Collins was interviewed in last weekend's Sunday Times newspaper. It's an excellent and wide-ranging interview. 

Phil is 75 and has not been in the best of health in recent years, but he is now feeling a lot better than a few years ago when he was in hospital and people thought he may not get out.

He has had a remarkable career and a tumultuous private life too. His children have their own careers in music, acting and football. His son drummed with Genesis on their 'farewell' tour (or will there be one final reunion: getting the band back together...).

He was famous for drumming with Led Zeppelin on their 'reunion' at Live Aid which didn't go as well as hoped.

He was the only musician to play both the London and Philadelphia concerts for Live Aid in 1986, flying on Concorde (which was the only way that could have happened really).

He has previously said that he understood why people might have got a bit sick of him in the 1980s as he was everywhere... his massive solo success, acting, soundtracks, touring with Genesis and other work.

I was fortunate to see Phil play with Genesis numerous times from the early 1980s through to the 1990s and to hear him play the drum duets with Chester Thompson, particularly the 'In the Cage Medley' from the Mama tour was a privilege...

Last week he was also interviewed by Vernon Kay for the Radio 2 series called 'Tracks of my Years'. 

What did he choose?

If you are reading this in Summer 2026 you can hear the interview and the music here.

In a conversation based around the tracks he loves from Stevie Wonder, The Who, Taylor Swift, the Travelling Wilburys and more, Phil discusses the influence and impact these songs have had on him. Taking Vernon through his life, he talks about getting his family’s help to assemble his first drum kit as a child and then auditioning for various groups as a teenager, through to joining Genesis and writing his solo music, including the story behind creating In The Air Tonight. 

Plus, he tells stories about crossing paths with the likes of Brian Wilson, Martha Reeves, Bruce Hornsby and Taylor Swift.

Born in 1951 in London, Phil loved music from an early age and was auditioning for bands as a teenager, joining Genesis as their new drummer in 1970. Five years later he replaced Peter Gabriel as the vocalist in the band, continuing their huge success. In 1981 he began his solo career with the debut album Face Value, and to date has sold more than 150 million solo records worldwide. His accolades include an Oscar, six BRITs, two Golden Globes, and eight Grammys. This November, he’ll be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for a second time, following Genesis' induction in 2010.

An interview from 1979 with Anne Nightingale.

Aug 9: Music Blogs: Some Landscapes

This post via a Blogger Reading List suggestion.

I've visited previously but not for some time: Some Landscapes.

Aug 9: 2012

This was the year when Big Big Train released their album 'English Electric' Part One.

This has a real pastoral feel to it.

This is one of the most 'English' tracks.

It ends with a recitation of some of the wildlife to be found in hedgerows...

Rose hips, haw berries
Hedgerow, dry stone
Dog rose, honeysuckle
Blackbirds, red wing
Song thrush, yellowhammer
Lacewings, ladybirds
Fox earths, rabbit warrens
Badger's sets, partridge nests

Public Service Broadcasting released their EP 'The War Room'.

Some classic tracks are on this EP and 'Spitfire' remains a popular part of their live shows with the roar of the Merlin engines at the start.

2012 was the year that London hosted the Olympics. 

I was down in Devon at the time and was actually watching Leeds play Torquay in a friendly match when the opening ceremony started.

We headed back to Dartmoor where we were staying and put the radio, and remarkably it said 'Mike Oldfield'... and on came a version of this Tubular Bells theme...

He hadn't performed live for years...

When Mike Oldfield stepped out onstage at the Olympic Park in Stratford, London, on Friday 27th July 2012, it marked his first major live concert performance in his home country in over a decade. However, this was no ordinary show. Oldfield’s music had been personally selected by Danny Boyle to play a central part in Isles Of Wonder, his specially-created work for the Opening Ceremony of the 30th Olympic Games.

In front of an estimated global viewing audience of a billion (not to mention the 80,000 in the stadium), Oldfield opened with the immediately familiar theme from his legendary Tubular Bells before he and his band lifted off into the incredible ‘Tubular Bells Swing’ section, which, as many will recall, accompanied the staff and patients of Great Ormond Street Hospital doing some remarkable choreography. Add into that newly-composed material to signal the arrival of the flying Mary Poppins, a spirited rendition of his 1975 UK Top Five single ‘In Dulce Jubilo’ and the beautifully wistful closing coda, and you have eleven-and-a-half minutes of premium Mike Oldfield. It was a extraordinary night to kick-start an extraordinary Olympics, and this is extraordinary music.

Source: Mike Oldfield website

One of my daughter's favourite bands 'Two Door Cinema Club' released their single 'Settle'.

My son later created an awesome stop-motion music video for this song for his 'A' levels.

Finally, I adore this particular Berlin performance from New Order filmed in 2012. Some fantastic tracks and really well shot...

And Two Door Cinema club released 'Settle': a track my son created a video for for his 'A' level Media Studies coursework.

What were your favourite albums from 2012?

Let me know in the comments.

Aug 9: Antarctic playlist from Heidi Sevestre

Via LinkedIn.

The glaciologist Heidi Sevestre has shared some of the tunes that she listened to while on a recent field visit to Antarctica.

In January 2026 she completed the Under Antarctica expedition.

After 80 days and 4,000 km by kite-ski, she and Matthieu Tordeur reached Hercules Inlet, completing Under Antarctica: the first French crossing of Antarctica’s interior by kite-ski, the first kite-ski expedition dedicated to polar science, and a female first on this exact route. For nearly three months, they moved at the rhythm of wind, cold, and ice, scanning the Antarctic ice sheet to better understand this key continent in the face of climate change.

On her website, she has shared what she was listening to while out on the continent.

She says:

Juba from Cigcola from Smelly Feet Records got in touch about a series called The Expansion, asking a simple question: what were you listening to out there?
I sent back an embarrassingly long answer. Three months on a kite, eight to ten and sometimes twelve hours a day, with a landscape that barely changes — you have a lot of time to fill. So I'd treated Antarctica as a blank page and used it to catch up on every book I'd ever meant to read.

Mostly audiobooks, if I'm honest. Music gets repetitive fast when it's the same songs day after day, but a good story could carry me for a week. I started with the heroic age — Endurance, In the Kingdom of Ice, Icebound — until I got quietly fed up with those explorers complaining about the cold while I was there just as frozen.

So I widened out: the Apollo missions, Vikings, Mandela, Michelle Obama, Marcus Aurelius, the suffragettes, Inuit mythology before heading to Greenland, and a stack of books on climate solutions. And Shantaram, which I first read on my very first expedition in the Himalaya fifteen years ago, and which was a completely different book this time.

And what about the music that she listened to?

The music had a different job: to make me feel warm, and to make me want to dance. Muse, Daft Punk, Pink Floyd, Hans Zimmer, Les Misérables, Taylor Swift, Raye, Madonna (Confessions Tour live), ABBA Voyage setlist on heavy rotation. It had to be loud enough to hear under a helmet.

Smelly Feet Records created a podcast weaving the books and music together.

You can listen to it here.

Smelly Feet Records · Selection of Music: A Glaciologist Exploring Antarctica - Dr. Heïdi Sevestre

Aug 8: 2011

2011 was not my best year overall... just three years into my job at the GA, some political manoeuvres ahead of a general election meant the loss of some project income, and the decision was made to make some roles at the GA redundant... including mine. I then had a car crash...

I called on my network and some work came in, and cashed in various saving plans for the future... at times I had just a few hundred pounds in my bank account... and I lasted a few years building up my freelance work, including ERASMUS projects and some work with the Open University... then returned to the classroom in 2013.

I will always be grateful to those who stepped up to help me, and thanked them here.

Musically, there was lots happening.

I headed for Latitude and saw Jonsi play live... Ed Sheeran and Yann Tiersen were also in the lineup.

I saw Yeasayer the same day and was impressed with them.

Adele dominated the charts.

The Decemberists released 'The King is Dead'.

Kate Bush released '50 Words for Snow'

What were your favourite musical memories of this year?

Aug 8: American Utopia.

I went to see this film on Wednesday when it received a special new 4K restoration screening "for one day only" at cinemas around the UK.

This was the film of a 2018 Broadway run of concerts/performances given by David Byrne. It was released in 2020 and directed by Spike Lee.

There were obviously comparisons to be made with the recent "Who is the Sky?" tour, which I saw earlier in the year at the Hammersmith Apollo (and which was excellent...

It was staged more simply with chains as the backdrop, and worked better as a result. There were fewer Talking Heads songs, and alternative choices of music, and different musicians and dancers.

One of the stand out songs was an acapella performance of  'One Fine Day', written with Brian Eno.

Aug 8: Can you map music?

That's the question asked by GIS consultant Madeleine Ratcliffe, who works for ESRI.

On a recent LinkedIn post she described the inspiration for an ESRI StoryMap she has created.

I first heard Smetana's Vltava (or The Moldau) while driving with my mum. We're both flautists, and she knows the piece well. As we listened she explained how it traces the course of the Vltava River through Czechia. It begins where two mountain streams meet, represented by two intertwining flutes. From there, the music carries you downstream past hunters in the forest, a village wedding, moonlit dancing by the water, the dramatic St. John's Rapids, and finally to Vyšehrad Castle in Prague. 

She gave a running commentary as we listened, and it completely changed how I thought about music. I hadn't realised it could tell such a vivid geographical story.

When I joined Esri UK two years ago, I couldn't shake the idea of bringing this piece to life on a map.

Using an ArcGIS StoryMap, I've traced the journey of Vltava along the river itself. As you explore, you can listen to each section of the music, discover the historical and cultural context behind it, and see how the landscape, geography and composition are all woven together.

Thanks to Brendan Conway for the tipoff to Madeleine's work.

Here's the details of how the map was created.

Aug 8: 8.8.88

Today in 1988 I was in Manchester.

I made my way to Maine Road, which was the home of Manchester City at the time before they built the Etihad Stadium. It was a classic 

The occasion was a Pink Floyd concert as part of their 'A Momentary Lapse of Reason' tour.

It took place on the 8th of the 8th, 1988 (and the concert started at 8 minutes past 8. 

Here's the setlist that I saw: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/pink-floyd/1988/maine-road-manchester-england-3bd76478.html

Here's a recording...

The tour became an excellent live album called 'Delicate Sound of Thunder'.

Aug 7: Changes: the story of Sugar

Earlier this year, I went to see Sugar on their first UK date in well over 30 years... it was loud! It was awesome.

I walked into Topsham Brewery a few days ago and they were playing the Copper Blue album - excellent choice - the beer was good too.

A new documentary has been released telling the story of Sugar. It came out of a bad experience with Virgin Records. It's well worth watching...

Aug 7: William Orbit RIP

William Orbit has sadly passed away. His work has been mentioned on the blog previously.

I've mentioned his work with Madonna and Propaganda.

Here's his remix of U2's 'Electrical Storm'.

Update

The Guardian suggests 12 of his best works here.

Aug 7: 2010

2010 saw a series of albums that were important, including a solo album by Jonsi.

I remember this appearing on Spotify while I was working at the Geographical Association.

The first track hit really well as I listened to it in the office... and it was definitely my sort of thing.

And here's a track I saw him play live - and I still remember the sudden shift in energy part way through as the very impressive drummer kicked.

This was at Latitude in 2011, where we were invited to offer some workshops for young people and got free tickets as a result. We were invited back the following year too, and Tom Morgan Jones was also asked to create a map and we had lots of graphics and inking created for the event by him, including some of the famous Latitude sheep.

Around Us.

Just before Latitude, I had been to Glastonbury and, as with both, there was a presence from the Geography Collective / Mission:Explore.

I've posted separately about visiting Glastonbury that year.

What were your favourite musical memories from 2010.

Aug 6: 'Grendel' and Beowulf

Grendel is a long song performed by Marillion when Fish was lead singer.

When released it was described as their version of Supper's Ready.

There's a section in the song in the same time signature (9:8) and with a similar feel to the Genesis song.

Grendel was a monster living in an area of fen, marshland or bog. He was eventually killed by Beowulf.

There's plenty of landscape description in the lyrics of the song.

This is part of the story of Beowulf - a lengthy Anglo Saxon poem and epic written 700-1000.

I saw this song performed live several times in the early 1980s in their early tours.

Aug 6: Cities and Music #7: Glasgow

Glasgow is one of the cities that is featured in Karl Whitney's 'Hit Factories' book.

In August 2008, Glasgow was named the UK’s first UNESCO City of Music and only the third in the world with the city being home to legendary venues as well as hosting huge music festivals.

There are plenty of bands associated with the city.

Here are some chosen by Glaswegians.

The city also has several venues that are famous.

The city's Sauchiehall Street has a long history as does Barrowlands (with several bands and artists recording live albums there) including Francis Dunnery.

The SECC or 'Armadillo' is a building I've visited several times, and I also enjoyed my visit to the Hydro, to see Peter Gabriel some years back.

Here's an image of mine of the Hydro and the Finnieston Crane.

Perhaps the best known band is Simple Minds. They have been around since the 1970s - next year sees their 50th anniversary.

The band is currently a core duo of original members Jim Kerr (vocals) and Charlie Burchill (guitar), augmented by guest musicians. Notable former members include Mick MacNeil (keyboards), Derek Forbes (bass), Brian McGee (drums), Mel Gaynor (drums), and John Giblin (bass).

My favourite album of theirs is 'Sparkle in the Rain'.

And here's Peter Gabriel on the Back to Front tour, which I saw as mentioned, back in 2013 at the Hydro.

Set List here.

Belle and Sebastian recently toured their albums.

What other Glasgow bands have I missed?

Image: Alan Parkinson, shared on Flickr under CC license