Thursday 17 November 2011

Away With The Faeries

Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren’t go a-hunting
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And white owl’s feather!


William Allingham (1824-1889)

Monday 10 October 2011

The Surrounding Hours by The GoldRoom

ALBUM REVIEW

Although I pretty much love all genres of music I can sometimes find hard rock a bit heavy going. However The Surrounding Hours, the new album by The GoldRoom, is easy listening in the best way.

It stands out because of the interesting combination of intelligent hard rock with indie and new wave sensibilities. This along with the fantastic vocals, guitars and some rather awesome drumming make the album an all round top listen, relisten and repeat.

I can pick out some Sonic Youth, Neil Young and Pixies influences which add to the class of this album.

My favourite tracks are My Darling, Car With Crystal Brakes, Es Verdad and the wonderful Broken or Missing. Broken or Missing would make me say, if I was a record company boss sitting at a desk with a cricket bat, "well boys...we just heard the first single." It is a massive hit waiting to happen.

Highly recommend this album which could easily, and rightly, break big at any time.

Click on the title to listen and download from bandcamp.com

Like them on facebook..http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Goldroom/48093452961

Sunday 25 September 2011

Kubla Khan By Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Kubla Khan
or
A VISION IN A DREAM

By Samuel Taylor Coleridge

In Xanadu did Kublai Khan
A stately Pleasure-Dome decree,
Where Alph, the sacred river ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers was girdled ’round,
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

But, oh! That deep, romantic chasm which slanted
Down the green hill, athwart a cedarn cover:
A savage place! As holy and enchanted
As e’er beneath the waning moon was haunted
By woman wailing for her Demon Lover!
And from this chasm with ceaseless turmoil seething,
As if this Earth in fast, thick pants were breathing,
A mighty fountain momently was forced,
Amid whose swift, half-intermitted burst
Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail;
And ‘midst these dancing rocks at once and ever,
It flung up momently the sacred river!
Five miles meandering with ever a mazy motion,
Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean.
And ‘mid this tumult, Kublai heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!

The shadow of the Dome of Pleasure
Floated midway on the waves,
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device:
A sunny Pleasure-Dome with caves of ice!

A damsel with a dulcimer
In a vision once I saw:
It was an Abyssinian maid,
And on her dulcimer she played,
Singing of Mount Abora.
Could I revive within me
Her symphony and song,
To such deep delight ‘twould win me
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome within the air!
That sunny dome, those caves of ice,
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry: “Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle ’round him thrice,
And close your eyes in holy dread:
For he on honeydew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise!”

Wednesday 31 August 2011

William Wordsworth...Lucy Gray

OR, SOLITUDE

OFT I had heard of Lucy Gray:
And, when I crossed the wild,
I chanced to see at break of day
The solitary child.

No mate, no comrade Lucy knew;
She dwelt on a wide moor,
--The sweetest thing that ever grew
Beside a human door!

You yet may spy the fawn at play,
The hare upon the green;
But the sweet face of Lucy Gray
Will never more be seen.

"To-night will be a stormy night--
You to the town must go;
And take a lantern, Child, to light
Your mother through the snow."

"That, Father! will I gladly do:
'Tis scarcely afternoon--
The minster-clock has just struck two,
And yonder is the moon!"

At this the Father raised his hook,
And snapped a faggot-band;
He plied his work;--and Lucy took
The lantern in her hand.

Not blither is the mountain roe:
With many a wanton stroke
Her feet disperse the powdery snow,
That rises up like smoke.

The storm came on before its time:
She wandered up and down;
And many a hill did Lucy climb:
But never reached the town.

The wretched parents all that night
Went shouting far and wide;
But there was neither sound nor sight
To serve them for a guide.

At day-break on a hill they stood
That overlooked the moor;
And thence they saw the bridge of wood,
A furlong from their door.

They wept--and, turning homeward, cried,
"In heaven we all shall meet;"
--When in the snow the mother spied
The print of Lucy's feet.

Then downwards from the steep hill's edge
They tracked the footmarks small;
And through the broken hawthorn hedge,
And by the long stone-wall;

And then an open field they crossed:
The marks were still the same;
They tracked them on, nor ever lost;
And to the bridge they came.

They followed from the snowy bank
Those footmarks, one by one,
Into the middle of the plank;
And further there were none!

--Yet some maintain that to this day
She is a living child;
That you may see sweet Lucy Gray
Upon the lonesome wild.

O'er rough and smooth she trips along,
And never looks behind;
And sings a solitary song
That whistles in the wind.
1799.

I love Sub Pop...love love love

Tuesday 16 August 2011

frickin awesome

Thankyou to the lovely Sabrina Smith Saxon for sharing this

"If you want your dream to be
Build it slow and surely.
Small beginnings, greater ends
Heartfelt work grows purely.

...If you want to live life free
Take your time go slowly.
Do few things but do them well
Simple joys are holy.

Day by day,
Stone by stone,
Build your secret slowly.
Day by day,
You'll grow too,
You'll know heaven's glory.

If you want your dream to be
Build it slow and surely.
Small beginnings, greater ends,
Heartfelt work grows purely.
If you want to live life free
Take your time go slowly."

Thursday 14 July 2011

..."You never really know whether something is fortune or misfortune. We only know the momentary changes as it alters our sense of hope about things." ~Alan Watts...
Christmas Card by SummerAllen
The student complains to the Master:
"You always tell us stories and never reveal their meanings'.
The Master replies: "Would you like it if someone offered you pre-chewed food?"

Friday 8 July 2011

"Be and remain a free thinker. Think for yourself and not according to what other people think. Likewise, let everyone think freely; do not impose your ideas on others and always remember that your ideas are also evolving." Rose-Croix Code of Life


Friday 1 July 2011

The blue sky says "Everything is here" ~ The mountain says "Be still" ~ The sun says "Fear nothing" ~ The grains of sand say "Pay attention" ~ The flowers say "Remember" ~ The stars whisper "You...never die" ~~~ John DeKadt

Sunday 26 June 2011

The first time ever I saw your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes
And the moon and stars were the gifts you gave
To the dark and the empty skies,

Wednesday 15 June 2011

"Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
...For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow."
Langston Hughes

Wednesday 18 May 2011

Thursday 5 May 2011

I'd forgotten how good this. Lovely version

A couple of songs or three from The Analog Affair

I really rate this band. They (Evan Baker and Cody Moser) have a new album out at the end of May which I'm looking forward to listening to and reviewing.

Find out more and download some songs for free at :-

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Analog-Affair/71010594091

Good Vibrations by The Analog Affair

Stereo Kicks by The Analog Affair

Riverside by The Analog Affair

http://soundcloud.com/theanalogaffair

Wednesday 4 May 2011

Fleet Foxes' title track from their record Helplessness Blues

I love this unfortunately no video embed available yet grrrr lol. It's a beautiful song.

http://youtu.be/7HHgedNNQco


Sunday 20 March 2011

Wednesday 16 March 2011

Cut Price Astral by Narco Bear

I love this album. It's interesting, inventive, clever and really tuneful. A great mix of electronic, samples, lovely lovely bassyness and lots more besides. It sounds fantastic. Tagged on bandcamp as abstract beat hip hop jazz mood :)

follow the link to listen and download for free.
headphones recommended for your ultimate listening pleasure


http://narcobear.bandcamp.com/album/cut-price-astral

Tuesday 15 March 2011

if you fancy a bit of acoustic J and who wouldn't

go to this link for streaming of Several Shades Of Why the new acoustic album,out today, from J Mascis of the lovely Dinosaur Jr. The album will be being streamed all this week.

http://www.subpop.com/releases/j_mascis/full_lengths/several_shades_of_why

this is good

extortion by love restraint

Thursday 3 February 2011

Just loving listening to Bobby Jameson's songs. Recommend his blog too.

bobbyjameson.blogspot.com/

Not sure why these are hanging. Will try and sort it