The Week In Review

Quotation of the day:  Alben W. Barkley -- The best audience is intelligent, well-educated and a little drunk.

Dear Reader:

It's sad, really, but i haven't the time or the imagination to write new posts to this self-indulgent fiasco that is Spriggsblog more often.  And, to prove it, here's a new post.

So (i hear you ask),  how has the week since my last post gone?  Well, actually, it's been life in the bus lane, uneventful.  Went to the pub three times (and had the usual two pints, so no dancing on tables to the music of Radiohead's new album or anything like that).

I bought a couple of CDs.  That's exciting!  I bought the new Roger McGuinn (of The Byrds) album, "CCD."  It's a mostly solo acoustic record of traditional folk songs about the sea and about seafaring men. (A sea CD = "CCD," geddit?)  It's quite nice, but after only two listenings i still can't avoid the feeling that half of the songs have the same melody.  Further listening is warranted, for sure.







I also bought the new CD by Big Wreck, "Albatross."

Now, this is more like it!  I wasn't really familiar with the band until my favourite radio station (www.therock.fm) started playing the title track a while back, and i loved it to pieces.



And that's the video.

Now, i really hate buying a CD on the strength of one song: i've been burned too often.  But this is a very good album.

And, finally, as i know you care, here are the CDs i've listened to this week:


Tuesday

"Celtic Pink Floyd"
Clive Gregson & Christine Collister -- The Last Word
Various Artists, "Good Rockin' Tonight: The Legacy Of Sun Records"
Roger McGuinn, "CCD"

Wednesday

Peter Hammill, "Singularity"
Bruce Springsteen, "Wrecking Ball"
The Eagles, "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, 03/14/1974" (bootleg)
Big Bill Broonzy, "Rockin' In Chicago, 1949-1953"
The Kathryn Tickell Band, "Instrumental"

Thursday

John Fogerty, "Blue Moon Swamp"
King Crimson, "Lizard"
Memphis Minnie, "Crazy Crying Blues"
Seether, "Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces" (i love Seether, they're my new fave band)

Friday

Various Artists, "Sounds Of The Star-Club"
Lisa Gerrard, "The Mirror Pool"

Saturday

Horslips, "The Tain"
Alan Stivell, "Olympia Concert"
Seether, "One Cold Night"

Sunday

Big Wreck, "Albatross"
Kate Rusby, "Make The Light"
Keane, "Night Train"
King Crimson. "Beat"

Monday

Steve Hackett, "Spectral Mornings"
Jeff Lynne, "A Message From The Country"
Amy Winehouse, "Lioness"

Album Of The Year, 2011

Quotation Of The Day: Ian Anderson -- Too old to rock 'n' roll, too young to die

There's really no question.

I bought some really good CDs this year. Honourable mentions go to many: "Chickenfoot III," Black Country Communion's "2," Florence + The Machine's "Ceremonials," "New Blood" by Peter Gabriel, "PNO GTR VOX" by Peter Hammill, "So Beautiful Or So What" by Paul Simon, "Endgame" by Rise Against, and "A Grounding In Numbers" by Van der Graaf Generator are all great albums (most of them by a bunch of old farts).

The runner-up is (drum roll)....

A sublime meditation on the subject of winter.

But the winner is:

Seether was a Major Musical Discovery for me in 2011. "Holding Onto Strings Better Left To Fray" (daft title!) is a CD without a crap track on it (and how rare are those these days!).  I'd been vaguely aware of the band ere now, but am now investigating their entire back catalogue, and have loved everything i've found.









This is a joyful noise in what is apparently called the "post-grunge" genre.  Well, what do i know about genres, i don't grasp them very well.  I just love Seether to pieces, i want to have its babies :o)