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Black Cat Cigarettes, London
As seen on the ghost signs walk we went on at the weekend…
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Kristina Hautala – Kun kello käy
While doing some research for a post for AHFoW I found myself watching videos of the 1968 Eurovision Song Contest. That in itself is a bizarre opening sentence, more bizarre even than that is that the...
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50 films: 1968 – 2001: A Space Odyssey
I don’t like Kubrick’s films. I was disappointed in The Shining (mostly because I had loved the book so much), am baffled by the Strangelove love and A Clockwork Orange is just hatefully unpleasant....
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Another 50 albums: 1969 – Soundtrack from the film More by Pink Floyd
At the age of 14, in 1979, music kicked in for me. In 1979 Pink Floyd released The Wall, I was not impressed. Some school mates were fans, but it left me cold. Years later I discovered I could...
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Another 50 albums: 1973 – Everybody Likes Some Kind of Music by Billy Preston
At lunchtime yesterday I listened to a BBC Radio documentary on Billy Preston, presented by Rick Wakeman, that made me realise that I never really went beyond the fifth Beatle thing (although it turns...
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Another 50 albums: 1976 – Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder
I have the double LP of Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life bought way back when, possibly not in 1976, but probably not too long afterwards. One of the records is broken, I have no idea why. I...
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The Vacant Lots album launch at The Social
Last night I headed out to The Social in Little Portland Street for the album launch of the splendid new LP Departure by The Vacant Lots. I don’t get off my arse for too many folk who aren’t...
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Another 50 albums: 1999: e.s.t. – From Gagarin’s Point of View
Picture lifted from this blog where there are plenty more like it. Despite the best efforts on my part, and a ten week online course, jazz is still not something I find myself returning to often. The...
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50 films: 1968 – Les Bicyclettes de Belsize
I haven’t seen this for ages, probably 30 years, or more. Les Bicyclettes de Belsize is a short musical film, with a slight, but charming, plot, some lovely north London photography (sadly a part of...
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50 films: 2013 – Computer Chess
Computer Chess evoked the time it was set in rather well, the black and white videography, the set dressing, the computers and the clothes all seemed to help set this film in a strange past, where our...
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Crich Fruit Squares
One of the highlights of the Indietracks weekend for the last two years has been the opportunity to visit the lovely The Loaf bakery/cafe in Crich and eat their lovely Crich Fruit Squares. And for two...
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“Everything here blows up”
Against the Wind (1948) – poster At work on Thursday a couple of colleagues and myself were discussing this splendid blog post discussing the training and “prop design” of the Special Operations...
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Another 50 albums: 1969 – Scott 4 by Scott Walker
Scott 4 is one of those albums it’s assumed that people who love music will love. To the point where, I suspect, that there are more people who “love it” than have actually listened to it. That’s not...
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My top 6… Beatles cover versions
Today on A Head Full of Wishes I posted Damon & Naomi’s cover of The Beatles’ (well George’s) While My Guitar Gently Weeps… it’s a lovely cover but not in my top 6… actually these aren’t really my...
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Hitch: #1 – The Pleasure Garden (1925)
I rather love The Pleasure Garden, the plot is simplistic but the characters have vivacity and there are some wonderfully constructed scenes and sequences. The humour is pitched well and the secondary...
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Hitch: #2 – The Mountain Eagle (1926)
No, of course I haven’t seen it… sadly, nobody has for years! Lesson learned: Take care Watched: Source: Rating: Hitchcock wiki BFI Most Wanted
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50 films: 1966 – Wings
The “50 films” project faltered early when 1966 was supposed to be Larisa Shepitko’s Wings, but the DVD hadn’t arrived… it then fell by the wayside… 1966 was nabbed by Gambit and when the DVD finally...
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Another 50 albums: 1985 – What Does Anything Mean? Basically by The Chameleons
I hardly ever listen to The Chameleons, and I know I should. They’re another band that I was aware of for a long time before I actually gave them any serious time, and by the time I did they were long...
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Hitch: #3 – The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927)
… and classic Hitch really kicks in with The Lodger. The conceit is superb, the mood is as beautifully dense as the London fog, and the performances he elicits from his actors are impeccable. Throw in...
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Another 50 albums: 1971 – Blessed Are… by Joan Baez
My dad’s a Joan Baez fan so we had plenty of her albums around the house. Blessed Are… is the one I listened to more than any of the others, and doesn’t it look like it? I’m not sure who was...
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