Analogue blues

 I don't know where musical urges come from. I'll be gripped by a sudden need to hear something at certain points. The oddest thing, though, is that it doesn't even have to be a particular song. It can just be a genre, a sound, a feeling, or a memory. It's like grasping for something: pulling a solid shape from a shifting background. 

So today is all about sawtooth waves. SH101's. Analogue synthesisers. I feel comfortable when I hear them: I'm not sure why. It has to be nostalgia - but it's less cut and dried than wanting to hear old records. It's tied in with how they were made and the boundaries that were being pushed in their creation. A feeling of hope and possibility. A feeling that now was tomorrow. A fluttering in the stomach and a spring in one's step. Looking out at a world which was brimming with potential. All of it within reach. 

Rehabilitation continues.

 I have to admit, I don't feel quite as down as I did a couple of days ago. Thank goodness for that: it was seriously messing with my mind. Cycling may have taught me to listen to my body, but it's also taught me to listen to my mind, as so much of the battle is not physical but psychological. Consequently, whenever anything is awry, my radar just starts pinging like crazy.

And it meant I could train again with a sense of purpose and direction. As you can see from my Xert profile wheel above, my overall range of abilities is being extended relatively evenly now. I aim to boost my performance in as many disciplines as possible - except for Power Sprinter because I'm hopeless at sprinting. Plus, the effort required to boost my sprinting would require immense amounts of application for only marginal gains.

Today, I rode the Sella Ronda, which was just spectacular. Just check out the views!

48 hours to go

Until I'm off to the airport. Still, after all this time, it seems faintly unreal.
I'm definitely getting excited, though. Should be a blast - if nothing else - to be able to kick back and relax, for a few days. As ever, I intend to try and soak up every last second of this time away, to imprint all of the sights, and sounds, and feelings, as firmly as I can, into my memory. I've learnt to love travel, doing it this way: journals, photos, diaries. Some tailored playlists, just the right book to read. Every last piece of clothing an essential. Nothing more, and nothing less than exactly what I need.
I'm still a bit disappointed I can't find this to put on a playlist - I need to just open the blog, in my Sao Paulo hotel room, and crank this nice and loud:

 Here's hoping for some rock solid wi-fi.

In Dreams

Vivid dreams last night - and more dreams of skyscrapers. It's a recurrent theme - for me, I'm not sure why. Always very tall, square, sheer sides. The whole thing is always quite "vertiginous". Lifts seem to play a constant role, and though the building never changes shape or narrows, the feeling of claustrophobia in the lift, as it reaches the summit, tends to increase. I think last night's dream featured a number of lifts: a main, large lift to a few floors before the top, and then having to switch to a smaller lift, for those final floors.
What it all means, I have no idea. I'm loathe to try and tie it to the current brexit brinkmanship, as it's a theme in my dreams that I've had for absolutely ages.
And - oddly, I dreamt of substances, too. Drugs that had no effect. Perhaps this is informed by my realisation (over the whole sobriety issue) that so much of that behaviour is essentially ritualistic.

Ah, that's quite enough soul-searching for now. Time to do the school run.

Hold on, where did the time go?

It's been - well, it's been busy.
I made a video for the new single, which was a somewhat tortured process, but ultimately rewarding. I used Rotor, which is a truly revolutionary way of allowing artists to make video content - I just need to practise a little more! Hopefully, I'll get that chance - the plan is to release visual montages for each of the three tracks on the forthcoming EP. So, one down, two to go.
Apart from the Joneses - change has been progressing, as ever. I'm a little lighter now, which is nice, I was a little flabby at the start of the year. I look back on some of the photos of myself in Tokyo, and wince. I'm about half a stone lighter now, which is great. A start. I've been exercising, and eating better, and the drop in alcohol consumption must have helped too.
One of the nice things about reducing my alcohol intake has been the return of my senses. I can taste, and smell things with greater clarity -  which was a huge surprise. I'm not complaining though, at this time of year, there's an ozone freshness to the air, and the smell of flowers, grasses-  even weeds, can be quite overpowering.
I'm drinking all of that in, instead.

Cognitive Dissonance.

Well, this certainly brings back some memories. A hotel, just off Times Square in NYC. A boy who thought he owned the town, who walked through those streets like he was born to do it. The shops full of Walkmans, discmans, hyper colour t-shirts. New York was a riot of colour, and excitement.
Breakfast was at the Amsterdam diner, on Amsterdam Avenue, every day. Two eggs over easy, bacon on the side, whole wheat down. Fuel to kill the previous night's hangover.
And there was music, everywhere. I was plugged into my Walkman, 24-7. Failing that, the tour bus stereo was always on. I just ...devoured music at that point. Ingesting the sounds like I was with all the other substances flying around me.

I would run down to Tower, and restock, whenever i could. This is the opening track from the Wim Mertens album "A Man Of No Fortune And With A Name To Come". I bought it, ran back to the room, and there was an impromptu, rather hazy party, while this played in the background. I'm going to gloss over the details, it's for the best.
I miss New York.

I love it when people return, and surprise me.

I interviewed Esser at least a couple of times during my tenure at NME Radio, and found him incredibly interesting. Always more than his outlandish image - thoughtful, polite, reserved. Very, very focused. I loved the stuff he was doing back then, but this? It's just.....fantastic. As much of a jaw-dropping reinvention as that last Horrors LP.

Saturday Morning

And once more, I'm sitting in the kitchen, waiting for the water in the bottles to cool, having watered all of my plants, just quietly welcoming in the day. It's definitely become my favourite part of the day - this early morning ritual - and a welcome moment of silence in a life that's got a lot more noisy since Marnie arrived!
Was on my own last night (which actually ended up rather fraught as Marnie was grouchy, then decided to poo all over me, vomit on the sofa and decide to refuse her food) so I was somewhat frazzled by the end of it all. I ended up messing around online, searching for things to put a smile on my face. I found this (again) and went to bed a truly happy man.

History Lesson for you....

"I never smoked me no cigarettes, I never drunk much booze"
Well, I think Bon Scott might have been stretching the truth somewhat, don't you? This is AC/DC at their finest, and it's taken from "Let There Be Rock".
However, it's interesting for another reason. It's the touchstone for quite a lot of what we did in Jesus Jones. Have a listen:

Now, listen again, and sing "...Yes you know how some things seem like God's Gift.." over the top of it. See what I mean? It's the inspiration for "Song 13", as well as " Don't Believe It" and a couple more as well. It's not that Mike ripped it off, it's just his favourite chord progression - so a little of "Overdose" bled into a lot of what we did. Mike knows this song in absolute minute detail, and there are other fragments of it that have ended up influencing the way we sounded. And people thought we were just a Baggy band? Hah. Think again.
The reason this has ended up on the blog today? It popped up onto the car stereo as I was heading to Homebase to buy some bamboo canes for my Roses. How's that for incongruous?

Because every Monday morning comes.......

Have some of this.

And the tune that was in my head as I awoke this morning...

I love being obsessed by music....

And currently, that obsession is with The Mynabirds album "What We Lose In The Fire, We Gain In the Flood". It's available from the ever-reliable Saddle Creek, in a number of format choices.
Mynabirds is the latest project from Laura Burhenn, one-time vocalist for Georgie James, whose one and only album was one of the best things about this entire decade.
If you need to hear how good the album is, then check this out:

Humpday!

I'm sitting in the loft room, listening to "Shivers" by The Boys Next Door, getting ready for work. No news on the baby front *sighs* - wonder how long it's going to take? It's such a weird form of limbo....
Off to the Bakerloo line soon, and quite probably a stroll through the back streets of Waterloo/Borough. I *could* go to Southwark station, but there;s something nice about wandering down Theed Street and clearing my head in preparation for another day on air.

Right, time to tie up a loose end....

I've blogged about this song before - it's my favourite record of all time. But at the time, I didn't have a clip to post online. However, via the magic of YouTube, here it is. This was the sound of my teenage years.

And just so you know what's filling my ears at the moment...

It's this.

Thanks, Nige.

I'm not scared, just not prepared.

This has been the music in my head, all day long. The very wonderful Prego, live in London, last year.

Summer's Here.....

Or at least, it was at the weekend. Seems to have abated somewhat, damn. Spent a lot of it cooking (as ever) with Xacuti curry being top of the pile. Finally got a chance to use the spices I brought back from Goa!
Also managed to squeeze in a trip to Islington to see Spear Of Destiny. Great to see Kirk again, he was on fine form, and the band were as tight as I've seen them, playing "One Eyed Jacks" in its entirety. However the icing on the cake for me had to be seeing Elizabeth from Westworld doing backing vocals! It's been years since I saw her on a stage (1988, I think) and her voice was as wonderful as ever. I'm going to have to dust off my copy of "Where The Action Is" later.
While I'm obsessing about Westworld, here's the video for the title track off the aforementioned album - filmed around the Westway! Ah, I love it when everything dovetails together.....

Just a wonderful day....

Really sunny, crisp, fresh and beautiful.
The blossom is out on the trees, the daffodils and crocuses are in bloom, the air smells sweet and clean. I walked through the streets to the north of Golborne Road, dropped down along the Portobello Road, then cut through Pembridge Crescent to Notting Hill Gate, to meet Jeff for a Sunday Lunch, then a leisurely exploration of the bargain basements of the Record & Tape branches, seeking out weird and wonderful vinyl. We had a pint in the Castle, flicked through the racks of sevens in Rough Trade, and checked out Intoxica. I came back with a Stupids album,and a repress of the first ever Studio One album.
As soon as I got back home, this was on the stereo:

It's been a weekend of cooking too - vegetable soup, meatballs in tomato sauce, home-made bread - I've been slaving over a hot stove, and I've loved every second.

Still dazzled by the sunshine....

I'm blinking my eyes and looking out over West London, even loving the smell of Diesel from the buses nine floors beneath me - today is just one of those days when everything seems OK. Well, there's plenty of time for that to unravel, I guess, but for now - all's good.
I'm just about to head off to do more voiceovers for the Travel Channel, which is always fun. If you want to hear what I sound like, check this out. Then it's off to Southwark for the final radio show of the week, then some leisurely cooking to round off the day. I love how the promise of a day can put a smile on your face.
The weekend should be good too, Jeff's over from Cleveland, so there will be pints in the Portobello road, and some leisurely shopping for bargains in the basement of Record & Tape. Life doesn't get much better than ale and vinyl. Musically, today is soundtracked by the wonderful First Aid Kit.

A track from one of my all-time favourite albums...

And a band which no-one else seems to know about (what a typical scenario for me!)
More on the band here.
The Stars Of Heaven - "What Else Could You Do?"