Oliver Wood Photography

Mr P (our man in London) has once again kindly provided me with a handful of CD’s, and some rather interesting news concerning Woody Alan’s latest film production which is literally shooting, as we speak, on his doorstep in Kentish Town—more soon no doubt. But back to the CD’s, two of which have been on my ‘want list’ for a while and the other, is provided more for its curiosity value. These three albums constitute a rather eclectic cross section of taste but unfortunately the excellent Thome Yorke and Zero 7 have not quite lived up to full expectations (in my mind ) this time around. Read on.

The Eraser

Few people would disagree that Thom Yorke is a genius and one of the last decade’s most influential musicians. But his recent solo project
The Eraser is for the most part a quite radical departure from the sumptuous other worldliness of Radiohead .

I only really like the title track which I think has the greater musical interest and employs all of Yorke’s unique vocal attributes plus his ability to convey an emotive intensity that has a very unusual and effecting character. The Eraser is the most Radiohead like track too but Curiously, something about the structure of this track made me want to listen to Steve Reich’s City Life again—-what’s that all about? The rest of the album sounds too much like a tentative stumble through an electronic playground and although this random and loosely structured tapestry of sounds is likely to be highly deliberate it just didn’t really excite me in either an intellectual or emotional way.

The Garden

Zero 7’s latest and much awaited offering The Garden is a bit of a let down considering the presence of Jose Gonzales; a significant figure amongst the current wave of new purists. Gonzales’ talents are hugely under-utilised and in some ways undermined by inappropriate treatments, he seems kind of out of place on this album. Of course Bins and Hardacker’s electrofication of “Crosses” just doesn’t feel right when you are used to the Gonzales thing!

There are however, a few stand out tracks, well two to be precise. ‘Left Behind’ seems to be a new tune by Mr G, a more accurate demonstration of his own style, and ‘Your Place’ is quite an interesting homage to the Scandinavian nujazz scene which seems to be attracting a steadily growing interest. I think the moodier and more deconstructive feel of When it Falls, and Simple Things continue to be the best offerings from the Z7 boys.

Impeach My Bush

Lastly we have Impeach my Bush the latest album from the self-producing mistress of “smut” aka Peaches. Mark sent this more for its curiosity and comedic value, and it does have a fair amount of both but really not an album that would naturally find its way into my stack. Although Peaches is supposed to take an ironic angle on the “white trash” electro-clash scene and has something of a female ‘Ali G’ quality the excessive use of ironic (?) visceral and sexual imagery is a bit over the top for me. I suspect this would still be a popular find for the UK white “chav” audience. There is however, an interesting political double entendre encapsulated in the title. Mark has provided much more interesting offerings in a similar vain from the likes of Ween and Beck, and I wouldn’t mind a burn of Ween’s Pure Guava if your listening Mark ??

And now for something completely different, as we used to say.
We have just acquired or are in the process of acquiring an allotment in Heaton Chapel, its all quite exciting but as yet we are not sure which one of a number of plots we are likely to end up with. Some have appeared to be better than others but one thing is for sure all will require a substantial amount of work and clearing of scrub etc. Obviously we are all thinking about the initial fun of clearing and claiming our own space with all of the attendant excitement of using power tools and maybe the prospect of having an intriguing sheded hide away or den. But eventually the real prospect of near self-sufficiency in fruit and veg provision should become a real asset. Have a look at Gill’s site for more info Urbanimp

We have just returned from that week of camping in glorious Edale comprised of four nights under canvas and one in the so-called ‘camping barn’ at Upper Booth. The weather was typically changeable for this deep valley setting with a number of quite windy nights but the large three bay tent proved to be more than adequate shelter, and it was comfortably warm too!

I love this moody and challenging landscape with all of its transient and dramatically different lighting conditions but alas photographic results have proved to be somewhat less than successful. Landscape is a difficult subject at the best of times but especially when using low to mid range digital equipment on ‘auto’ mode. I tried some contra-jour (into the light) shots in the valleys a very difficult but impressive back-lighting technique—when it works! Most of the results however, are rather hazy (see the view of Hope Valley above) due to the lack of exposure and aperture control not to mention filtering, a polariser would have been a very useful asset here but hey, I did get quite a lot of other interesting pictures which may appear on this site soon.

Gill on the side of one of the Tors.

We all did a heck of a lot of hill walking and cycling to and from Edale either by road or via the Pennine Way “across the top” with the imposing vista of Mam Tor overshadowing the Hope Valley below us. Much of the time at base resounded to the sound of Evan and Adam playing guitar. Kites where flown including two hand made mini kites that Lu and Helen fashioned from bits of plastic and string and ‘extreme baseball’ was played but with surprisingly few injuries!

Evan by the river Noe.

The last night was spent in the camping barn at upper Booth, a very basic form of accommodation literally situated in a very old stone barn with a few wooden benches and a raised area for airbeds and sleeping bags etc. Of course the barn has no lighting or any other “domestic” services so one is expected to make full use of all the usual camping gadgets and accessories. We made extensive use of Gill’s ingenious Kelly Kettle a very simple but effective Irish invention that can boil up to two pints of water in three minutes simply by lighting a small fire in the base. The Kelly Kettle was the only device that could be relied upon in any weather conditions and it was easy to find an almost limitless supply of dry dead twigs to fuel the thing .

Gill Preparing lunch in the camping barn.

I couldn’t let the month of August pass without paying my own mini homage to Manchester’s “famous” Spirit Recording studios which is to close and move on after more than 21years as a base for the cities most influential musicians and the equally acclaimed School of Sound Recording. SSR and all of those free facilities at Spirit significantly aided my career in the audio production field. But I guess I was one of the lucky ones in a sense, because I was there when it was the place to be, circa 1985-86 and vividly remember the frequent and sometimes surprising visits from Manchester’s very own music elite. This included 52nd Street, Swing Out Sister, Bernard Sumner and M people no less. The atmosphere at Sprit in those days was intensely creative and hugely optimistic, all of us felt that we were a part of something that seemed to transcend the work-a-day ethos of other recording industry training establishments. Of course, all those in the class of 85 will remember the burgeoning Stone Roses using the studio facilities and John Squire’s spontaneous Hendrix-like jams in the rehearsal rooms and main studio. The Manchester “take” on electronica and ‘house’ was forged in this very studio by 808 State.
So many of the old students went on to become significant figures in Manchester music or ended up working further afield. I still have exceptionally fond memories of night time sessions with Lawdy Mamma, Virginia Wolf, and the making of a commercial for Piccadilly radio with my colleague Dave Pike, not to mention all of those great staff such as John Breakel and Tim Oliver et al. The closure of Spirit is definitely the end of an era for the Manchester studio circuit.

I’m very much looking forward to a big camping expedition in beautiful Edale with Gill and family next week, no doubt there will be further reports and plenty of photos to follow. Of course we are taking the bikes, and a huge tent for the boys, girl friends, and their friends and partners etc. I suspect that Gill and I will indulge in a little dreamy eyed property window shopping—at some point!