Sep 2: What I've Heard

I've just heard about this site.

It's an interesting visual variation on Setlist.FM - using its data / API. There's a few issues as the first act I tried: Mike Oldfield had some concerts without set lists on the site so the data is incomplete..

Pick a band, tick off the nights you were actually in the room, and get the record back: every song you’ve heard them play live, how many times you’ve heard each one, the tours you were part of, and a print-resolution poster of it all. 

It’s free, there’s nothing to install, and an account is optional - your nights are saved on your own device unless you ask them to follow you elsewhere.
How it works

Find the band. 

Search any artist, or start from the names in the ticket fan.
Tick the nights you were at. Their whole documented touring history is there, newest first - dates, venues, cities and tours. 

Already log your shows on setlist.fm? Paste your username on the home page and your “I was there” list arrives already ticked.
Read your record. 

Every song you’ve heard live and how often, your tours, your cities and countries, the rarities you happened to catch - and the nights that made them.
Print it. 

An A4, print-resolution poster styled for the artist, plus ticket stubs and a map of where you’ve been. Keep them in your collection and re-print any time.

It allows you to generate various graphics such as the ones below:

And here's one for Rush... again, it's not quite correct...

Sep 2: Capercaillie

The Capercaillie is an endangered bird which lives in Scotland. It's a type of grouse. There are fewer than 600 left.

It has an interesting courtship ritual which involves making a large clearing called a lek.

It has a distinctive call. I've heard it once or twice in my life.

Capercaillie is also the name for a Scottish band which have been around for over 25 years. I have been listening to their music for as long as that, and have seen them play live quite a few times, most recently when they visited King's Lynn's Corn Exchange - which meant my shortest ever trip to one of their gigs. 

Here's one of several ticket stubs that I have from seeing them. This was a standing ticket for the Cambridge Corn Exchange back in 1995. It would have been a cold drive over to Cambridge on a school night and they played plenty of songs from their album at the time.

I have a number of their albums on CD and had a few vinyls back in the day.

Capercaillie have recorded an album with the Soul II Soul producer Will Mowat in 1994 - a reworking of their album Delerium.

Here's Coisich a Ruin from Delerium...

And the 'When your Return Widescreen Mix' from the album with Will Mowat.

More recently, they reinterpreted some of their songs with an orchestra.

Members of the band have also released their own albums separately and several of those are well worth mentioning here for your further exploration as well.

These include Manus Lunny's excellent album with Andy Stewart.

Karen Matheson has released a number of solo albums.

Donald Shaw has worked as a producer as well and created soundtracks.

He also worked on the music for Katie Morag: a book series which many Primary geographers will be familiar with, and will have used 

The violinist Charlie McKerron worked with Donald Shaw to produce music for a BBC Alba TV series.

A recent addition to the band Andrew McGoldrick has also released a number of solo albums which I own.

Here's a Hogmanay performance from New Years Eve 1991/2

Most recently, they played Sidmouth Folk Festival 2026 when I was down in Devon for the week.

Sep 2: Georgian polyphonic singing

Georgian polyphonic singing is on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage. It was added to the list in 2008.

Polyphonic singing, in the Georgian language, is a secular tradition in a country whose language and culture have often been oppressed by invaders. There are three types of polyphony in Georgia: complex polyphony, which is common in Svaneti; polyphonic dialogue over a bass background, prevalent in the Kakheti region in Eastern Georgia; and contrasted polyphony with three partially improvised sung parts, characteristic of western Georgia.

An ensemble called Lalkhori played in London earlier in the year.

They are from the Svaneti region of the North Caucasus mountains of Georgia.

Sep 1: A Place called England

This is a vocal rendering of a song about the changing nature of England's 'green and pleasant land'.

It's by a group called The Young 'Uns, who perform vocal arrangements of songs.

Listen carefully to the lyrics to get a sense for its focus:

For England is not flag or empire, it's not money, it's not blood
It's limestone gorge and granite fell, it's Wealden clay and Severn mud
Blackbirds singing from the May-tree, lark ascending through the scales
Robin watching from your spade and English earth beneath your nails

What landscapes would you choose to represent the best of England?

Image: Castle Acre, Norfolk - in a place called England - image by Alan Parkinson, shared on Flickr under CC license.