For the last few years it has been a ritual of ours to put on Christmas music as we decorate the tree and house and the XFM charity album It's a Cool Cool Christmas is the one that gets the most airplay at our place. It is an alternative album with a mixture of traditional and original tracks all versions of which I doubt you would have heard before, and certainly won't hear playing in the shops continuously.
Highlights for me are Grandaddy singing 'Alan Parsons in a Winter Wonderland', Eels 'Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas' with the immotal line 'Baby Jesus... ...born to Rock!'. Belle & Sebastian's version of 'O Come, O Come Emmanuel' is sublime, The Flaming Lips pretenting to be Tom Waits in 'White Christmas' is great fun.
All in all it is a very uplifting and enjoyable album... ...probably the best Christmas Album ever - tell me what you think is the best?
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
A Christmas Sing-A-Long…
We went up to my uncle’s place where he and a few neighbours have an annual carolling evening. Many musically minded members of the Aldbury Morris turn up and join the classically trained cellist and violinist from next door and we all provide lusty voices to traditional Christmas carols with throats lubricated with liquid beverages before enjoying a pot-luck meal and catching up with everyone.
It is a most enjoyable affair and imbues us with plenty of Christmas spirit, setting us up nicely for the coming festivities.
More of wot I have read…
Breathless by Dean Koontz
A few miles away, Camillia Rivers, a local veterinarian, begins to unravel the threads of a puzzle that will bring all the forces of a government in peril to her door.
At a nearby farm, long-estranged identical twins come together to begin a descent into darkness… In Las Vegas, a specialist in chaos theory probes the boundaries of the unknowable… On a Seattle golf course, two men make matter-of-fact arrangements for murder… Along a highway by the sea, a vagrant scarred by the past begins a trek toward his destiny…’
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
More of wot I have seen…
James Bell of The Reverenzas was at the Dorking Folk Club, on his own as his band mates could not make it due to illness. It was an opportunity for him to throw himself fully into his music, and boy he did that with abandon. He is a high energy performer with a rare talent and a charismatic personality. His rendition of Wuthering Heights was a blast.
More of wot I have read…
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
This is a strangely disturbing book where the symbolism of the twins looms large making you question identity, family bonds, individuality, love, desire, compulsion and life and death. I found it a quite captivating, if periodically uncomfortable, read that makes you question elements of human passion.
‘Dearest E,
I told you I would let you know – so here it is – goodbye. I try to imagine what it would feel like if it was you – but it’s impossible to conjure the world without you, even though we’ve been apart so long. I didn’t leave you anything. You got to live my life. That’s enough. Instead I’m experimenting – I’ve left the whole lot to the twins. I hope they’ll enjoy it. Don’t worry, it will be okay. Say goodbye to Jack for me. Love, despite everything, E.
Julia and Valentina Poole are normal American teenagers – normal, at least, for identical ‘mirror’ twins who have no interest in college or jobs or possibly anything outside their cosy suburban home. But everything changes when they receive notice that an aunt whom they didn’t know existed has died and left them her flat in an apartment block overlooking Highgate Cemetery in London. They feel that at last their own lives can begin… …but have no idea that they have been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from the obsessive-compulsive crossword setter who lives above them to their aunt’s mysterious and elusive lover who lives below them, and even to their aunt herself, who never got over her estrangement from the twins’ mother – and who can’t even seem to quite leave her flat…’
This is a strangely disturbing book where the symbolism of the twins looms large making you question identity, family bonds, individuality, love, desire, compulsion and life and death. I found it a quite captivating, if periodically uncomfortable, read that makes you question elements of human passion.
‘Dearest E,
I told you I would let you know – so here it is – goodbye. I try to imagine what it would feel like if it was you – but it’s impossible to conjure the world without you, even though we’ve been apart so long. I didn’t leave you anything. You got to live my life. That’s enough. Instead I’m experimenting – I’ve left the whole lot to the twins. I hope they’ll enjoy it. Don’t worry, it will be okay. Say goodbye to Jack for me. Love, despite everything, E.
Julia and Valentina Poole are normal American teenagers – normal, at least, for identical ‘mirror’ twins who have no interest in college or jobs or possibly anything outside their cosy suburban home. But everything changes when they receive notice that an aunt whom they didn’t know existed has died and left them her flat in an apartment block overlooking Highgate Cemetery in London. They feel that at last their own lives can begin… …but have no idea that they have been summoned into a tangle of fraying lives, from the obsessive-compulsive crossword setter who lives above them to their aunt’s mysterious and elusive lover who lives below them, and even to their aunt herself, who never got over her estrangement from the twins’ mother – and who can’t even seem to quite leave her flat…’
A Cotswold Treat…
Good friends of ours treated us to a holiday in the picturesque Cotswold village of Broadway in the grand Lygon Arms hotel that has a long and interesting history. At this time of year the town is gearing up for Christmas and has a nice picture postcard atmosphere about it as we strolled about the street enjoying the festive sights and sounds.
Needless to say we also enjoyed our time together over a series of mouth-watering meals washed down by liberal liquid refreshments.
We had an outing to Stratford-upon-Avon and walked around the streets busy with tourists eager to absorb some of the Shakespearean culture.
On our way home we stopped off at the imposing and stately Blenheim Palace to see how the other half live in ostentatious gilt and silken grandeur.
Needless to say we also enjoyed our time together over a series of mouth-watering meals washed down by liberal liquid refreshments.
We had an outing to Stratford-upon-Avon and walked around the streets busy with tourists eager to absorb some of the Shakespearean culture.
On our way home we stopped off at the imposing and stately Blenheim Palace to see how the other half live in ostentatious gilt and silken grandeur.
More of wot I have heard…
Get on with it Live by Chumbawamba
A live album recorded during their 2006 UK tour with many songs that they performed during the concert we saw in Shoreham-by-Sea.
Joy to the World by Pink Martini
A seasonal holiday inspired album with artist and songs from around the world in different languages with interpretations on this period of the year that are grounded in different cultures and backgrounds. It is a musically interesting and exciting album of many parts.
Laura Marling free CD from the Observer
A nice freebie collection of tracks from this accomplished folk artist.
A live album recorded during their 2006 UK tour with many songs that they performed during the concert we saw in Shoreham-by-Sea.
Joy to the World by Pink Martini
A seasonal holiday inspired album with artist and songs from around the world in different languages with interpretations on this period of the year that are grounded in different cultures and backgrounds. It is a musically interesting and exciting album of many parts.
Laura Marling free CD from the Observer
A nice freebie collection of tracks from this accomplished folk artist.
More of wot I have seen…
We went to see Chumbawamba perform at the intimate Ropertackle Arts Centre in Shoreham-by-Sea.
We had dinner before at the charming Chambers Bistro before going along to the small venue where we mingled with an eclectic mix of people who had come to watch this talented and amusingly entertaining band perform their songs that have strong political messages and pointed lyrics. The band is part of a folk collective called No Masters.
We had dinner before at the charming Chambers Bistro before going along to the small venue where we mingled with an eclectic mix of people who had come to watch this talented and amusingly entertaining band perform their songs that have strong political messages and pointed lyrics. The band is part of a folk collective called No Masters.
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