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?
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