This is an extended version of the interview that appears in today’s Nottingham Post. You can read the shorter version here. Richard Thompson is in Manchester, about to embark on three days of band rehearsals for his new tour, which comes to Nottingham next Thursday. He doesn’t like rehearsals generally, but this time should be more straightforward than usual. For his new album Dream Attic was recorded on the road, in the USA last year (quote about advantages/disadvantages). ‘People often come up to me after shows and say the studio versions are great but we prefer the live versions of songs. So this one’s looser. There’s the odd mistake on there. I hadn’t realised that it would involve so much work for the band. In…
No time for a long post about this week’s song of the week, as I’ve spent my weekend blogging time writing up an interview I did with one of my musical heroes on Thursday. An extended version of the interview will appear next weekend, after it’s been in Friday’s Nottingham Post. But, in the meantime, here’s a clue as to who it’s with. This is from a stone cold classic album that was, for a long time, the worst selling LP in the Island label catalogue, ‘Henry The Human Fly.’ Richard Thompson – Shaky Nancy
So, it’s over. I make no apologies for blogging a third time about Christian Marclay’s incredible video installation ‘The Clock’ at Nottingham Art Exchange, which closes in two hours’ time. I’ve visited twenty times, taking in over 15 hours of this epic masterpiece. And, while it kept getting fuller, I’ve never failed to get a place on one of the two sofas (admittedly, on Thursday, when we went for our last big 50 minute chunk, I had to wait half an hour). It’s been a great place to meet people too. Today, when we went to take in six minutes we’d missed from 1.36-1.42 (yes, we kept a careful record, using the wallchart above) I bumped into two couples who I hadn’t seen in ages.…
Every new year, my oldest friend and I exchange best of year music lists. This is based purely on how much we’ve enjoyed stuff, no attempts to be cool or comprehensive (well, OK, I do try to listen to everything, must have heard over a hundred new albums this year, some of which have yet to sink in). The positions freeze at midnight so maybe I’ve put Kanye too low and the Eels should have slipped in rather than The Fall, but it’s too late to change. Here’s my top twenty. 1 The National – High Violet 2 Arcade Fire – The Suburbs 3 John Grant – Queen Of Denmark 4 Spoon – Transference 5 Vampire Weekend – Contra 6 Robyn – Body Talk 7 …
For the rest of the year, I’ll be devoting this blog to the sleeve notes to our best of year compilation, now in its 22nd year with, for the first time, downloads of the songs featured (unless copyright holders object, these tracks are presented for promotional purposes and will be removed if yada yada). So, on with the show. This year’s cover photo is taken from a brief unscheduled stop made by the massive train The Canadian, on which we took a wonderful four day journey from Toronto to Vancouver back in August, passing through The Prairies that you see in the background. 1. Robyn – Dancing On My Own The pop highlight of the year, without a shadow of a doubt, has been Robyn’s…