Welcome In

In the act of being busy with work over the course of the last couple of weeks, and the PR-related news below, there's been no opportunity to reflect on the passing of another year over here. This year, with March 5th falling on a Saturday, there was a fun evening in town. It could almost have been the other side of the Atlantic; drinks, curry, bowling. Only the unannounced snow would remind you it wasn't. I did myself a comical injury at the latter, and the scar still hasn't gone nearly two weeks later. It got me no sympathy. So here's a little musical something, off pretty much one of the last albums I bought in the UK, along with others to pass the flight. It was also performed on the TV a couple of weeks in advance of leaving. I think that while the situation was slightly different, the lyrics were generally appropriate to moving half way round the world. Well, except the 'we are barbarians' bit. That's about the last thing you could describe Canadians as. And 'only here for a while' will hopefully be a bit longer than that...

Lost Treasure

A lost heirloom found on YouTube tonight: the 1999 tour of Ben Folds Five to Japan, promoting their third album The Unauthorised Biography of Reinhold Messner. It had appeared on a fan channel before, but had sadly been taken down. Here they are at the peak of their powers, which is odd considering the very same third album essentially finished them - amicably it must be said - as a band.

I'd been listening to it a fair bit this week on the walk to and from work; it's a 'sad' or 'depressed' mood music, and I'd begun to worry a bit about applying for visitor status after my work permit expires, after reading multiple confusing documents on the CIC website. The immigration saga continues to drag interminably. Having spent a good couple of hours reading, I'm feeling a little more optimistic now. So here's the very oddly incongruous - in the context of the rest of the album - Army, dealing with the choices and trials of life.

The line at 2:54 is not the original ;-). The rest of the concert can be seen here; for some odd reason the songs are listed in reverse order in 'uploads' so start at the bottom! Watch it before lawyers have it taken down again!!

Friday Music

So after a long winded sort of a week, where not much got done except endless annoying corrections to a journal manuscript, here's a bit of musical Canadiana I unwound to this evening. I managed to miss all but the last two songs in the encore when it was broadcast over the internet a month ago. Here it is from the top. It wins the internet. If you've got a spare 94 minutes, plump up a cushion and enjoy*. It makes me really regret that I can't play any musical instruments, when each of them can play each other's, but then music and drama were the two subjects at school I disliked more than any other.

For maximum aural pleasure, I suggest a proper set of speakers, or some good headphones. YouTube have set the volume too low I think.

* Some occasional naughty language between songs. The chorus of one song about halfway through shouldn't be taken literally (it's metaphorical (or is it allegorical? I never remember); I take it to mean Bush-era neo-Conservatism). Also, you will need a computer from the 21st century, so that it can keep up. You know who you are!

Friday Timewaster

By the time this entry gets read, the free pac-man game on google might have finished. It's a fun way to spend ten minutes on a Friday night after a drink or two with friends. It reminded me of the following video/song by the relentlessly cheerful Brighton-based The Go! Team, which is a fine thing to spend a sunny Friday evening listening to.

The One Word CD Review

My iTunes account has been quite busy of late. So, given that this blog format doesn't seem to have a 'five stars' function, I'll have to take a different approach. So in one word (with a bit of cheating perhaps):

Ben Folds: Way to Normal...vibrant
Kaiser Chiefs: Off With Their Heads...veryveryverymediocre
British Sea Power: The Decline of British Sea Power and Open Season...idiosyncratic
The Killers: Day and Age...patchy
Hotel Lights: Firecracker People...autumnal
Kings of Leon: Only By The Night...dark

As a coda to the second entry, can I say how very, very disappointed I am with it. I don't expect profundity with a Kaisers album, just cheery, breezy pop. It hasn't improved with mutliple listenings. And three more words: Lily bl**dy Allen!