Reading - March 2013

Thelwell Country by Norman Thelwell (1959)

Also funny. It is a shame that such beautifully detailed pictures are printed in a small paperback, though.

Angels On Horseback by Norman Thelwell (1957)

I loved Thelwell's cartoons as a child and I learned to draw by copying them. Still classic, even though it now only takes ten minutes to read, and it gives me immense pleasure to watch B laughing over them too.

The Pleasures And Sorrows Of Work by Alain de Botton (2009)

Ostensibly a rumination on the meaning of work in the modern era of micro-specialisation, this is really a series of entertaining vignettes on widely different occupations. Always highly readable, amusing (and occasionally laugh out loud funny), thoughtful and thought-inspiring, it nevertheless feels like a compendium of repurposed magazine articles, even though I don't believe this is the case. Still, I enjoyed it immensely.

Chase The Morning by Michael Scott Rohan (1990)

An old favourite that I seem to remember discovering in the library when I lived with my parents, which means it must have been pretty new at the time. It's an enjoyable fantasy of an average man somehow caught up in a parallel world. The writing could be better but the overall story appeals to me. I've only recently discovered that there are two sequels - now ordered for the princely sum of 1 penny each (plus P&P). Isn't the internet wonderful?

Moondust by Andrew Smith (2005)

Notionally an investigation into how the nine (at the time) remaining men who have walked on the moon are faring, but more a rumination into how the author feels about the Apollo mission and the astronauts who flew in it. A bit too much "me me me" at times but never less than very readable.

Shopping 23 March 2013

On Saturday, Brian and I braved the snow and the cold in London. Suitably fortified by Sammy Smith's finest brews, we first ventured out to find K West (now the site of chi-chi restaurants) and then Jessie Matthews (subject of the blue plaque on the right). As luck would have it, she was born in what is now the Music & Video Exchange on Berwick Street. Destiny. Three shops later (it's really not what it used to be on Berwick Street) I wandered back the the Duke Of Argyll clutching the following immortal albums.

One Day Remains by Alter Bridge (2004)

Blackbird was one of my favourite discoveries of last year, and this is the album before it.

McLemore Avenue by Booker T & The M.G.'s (1970)

The Beatles' Abbey Road, covered by Booker T & The M.G.s. What's not to like?

Happy Sad by Tim Buckley (1969)

Another in the ongoing mission to a) like Tim Buckley, and b) listen to all of those 1001 albums.

Supernature by Cerrone (1977)

I first heard "Supernature" at a Goldfrapp gig - obviously, really.

Armed Forces by Elvis Costello (1979)

A must have, not sure why I don't already.

Almost Blue by Elvis Costello (1981)

Similarly classic.

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan by Bob Dylan (1963)

I think Dylan is vastly overrated but this album has memories of winters with Josh.

Here Come The Warm Jets by Brian Eno (1974)

Eno's first solo album comes highly rated.

Before And After Science by Brian Eno (1977)

Well, I already have about seven Eno albums, what's another one?

American Beauty by Grateful Dead (1970)

A classic, required listening apparently. We'll see. I have my doubts.

A Donny Hathaway Collection by Donny Hathaway (1990)

I heard Donny Hathaway mentioned on the Danny Baker programme about albums and thought I should investigate.

British Steel by Judas Priest (1980)

Another 1001 Albums ... purchase, and in any case I seem to be getting back into guitar music.

The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks (1968)

And another ...

La Roux by La Roux (2009)

I'm vaguely aware of La Roux as eighties retro-istes, which has a certain appeal for me.

Hymns Of The 49th Parallel by k.d. lang (2004)

She has yet to make a poor album, as far as I'm concerned.

Roots by Curtis Mayfield (1971)

Another classic artist I know too little music by.

Sail Away by Randy Newman (1972)

His most well-known album - although not by me, so attempting to correct this.

Vulgar Display Of Power by Pantera (1992)

More classic metal, more guitar action.

Introducing ... (Selected Works) by UNKLE (2006)

When I bought this I thought it was their first album, but it's actually a promo of some sort. I hope the track featuring Alice Temple (of Eg & Alice) is on it.

Stevie Wonder's Journey Through "The Secret Life of Plants" by Stevie Wonder (1979)

One of the few albums from Stevie's "good" period (i.e. anything up to Hotter Than July) I don't already have. Sorted.

Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang Clan (1993)

More 1001 Albums ... choices, although I feel I should have more hip-hop anyway.

Reviews to follow in the coming weeks (or, let's be honest, years - I still haven't quite finished reviewing the last batch).

Reading - February 2013

All Fun And Games Until Someone Loses An Eye by Christopher Brookmyre (2006)

The usual Brookmyre fun, satire and body count. Pure fantasy but beguilingly possible.

The Insider by Piers Morgan (2005)

A real insight into the world of the tabloids and highly recommended. Morgan is fairly unsparing on himself at times, although he is clearly very pleased with himself overall, and as a result only comes across as a bit of an arse. Some of the other characters - say, Murdoch or Rebekah Wade/Brooks - sound like complete wankers. But unmissable if you want to understand what makes the tabloids the way they are.

The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood? and other essays by William Goldman (2001)

Being a collection of articles written over several years makes this somewhat repetetetive. Nevertheless Goldman's insight into the industry is as keen as ever and it's fascinating to see him flag up future phenomenons - like Titanic - well ahead of time.

The Truth About Melody Browne by Lisa Jewell (2009)

Lisa Jewell is one of my favourite authors and this is a sweet book that tackles a potentially difficult and unpleasant subject in a light yet thought-provoking way.

Titanic And The Making Of James Cameron by Paula Parisi (1998)

An interesting insight into what I think is an astonishing film. Despite the way book attempts to portray Cameron as a driven genius, I think he mostly comes across as an arsehole. But maybe that's what it takes.

Alex II: Magnum Force by Charles Peattie and Russell Taylor (1989)

A nice light read of what was once one of the best comics around.

The Atomic Mr. Basie

Count Basie Orchestra
1957

It's impossible not to compare this with Duke Ellington's Ellington At Newport. To the uninitiated - me - there is precious little difference between them. I believe that Ellington's band is the older, for what it's worth. But they both played big band swing, jazz with a driving rhythm. They both have leaders with assumed titles who play the piano. And they both produced classic albums towards the end of the fifties. This is the Count's.

It is a great jazz album, but not quite what I expected. Although there is improvisation, there's less emphasis on it and more on the tightly arranged, punchy ensemble pieces. If you've never heard it before, then think about the theme music for Top Cat or The Flintstones - that brassy riffing and infectious swing. The up-tempo tracks are the ones that initially grabbed my attention, the opener, "The Kid From Red Bank" being an excellent way of starting the album, while "Double-O" builds nicely and contains the most traditional jazz solos on the album. The subtler tracks are good too, although it took me a few listens to get past the immediacy of the noisier songs. All in all, great stuff.

So, Farewell Then

R.I.P. Lotus Software UK
1983 - 2013

Not to sound overly dramatic about this or anything, but last Friday was the end of an era. IBM left Lotus Park, the home of Lotus software in the UK for the last twenty years.

For those of us who worked there this is a bit of a melancholy occasion. Not because of any particular love for the building itself; it struck me as a typically bland corporate box when I first encountered it in 1995 and it felt no different on my last visit about a year ago, when the tumbleweed was already starting to gather in the corners. No, what makes it sad is that this is the death of Lotus in the UK.

For several years, IBM has been slowly killing Lotus, the brand it paid 3.5 billion dollars for in 1995. You could argue that there have been several milestones that mark its actual demise: the decision a few years ago to rename the Lotus division internally to ISC (don't ask, it's too dull); the re-branding of Lotusphere this year as IBM Connect (zzz); or even the announcement that the next version of Notes will be marketed as "IBM Notes" (although obviously this won't stop everyone else calling it Lotus Notes forever more). While there were still some of the old faces clinging on in Lotus Park, we could claim a spark of the old firm was still present inside Big Blue, but no longer. Now there are just scattered ex-Loti, some of whom still work for IBM.

I have my own valued memories tied up with the place, many good, some bitter-sweet and a few bad. They are mostly about people. The place itself - an anonymous building in an anonymous business park in an anonymous suburb - is merely a container for these events, a vessel for the reminisces. Don't get me wrong, it was pleasantly situated on the Thames and comfortable enough, but being in ISSL (née CSG, LC and LPS) meant I spent significantly more time on customer site than any sales person, which may explain why I'm not as sentimental about the building itself as some. Indeed, if I recall memorable working locations, my two years in Edinburgh comes up first, followed by the 18 months in Halifax.

No, Lotus wasn't a particularly special place or even a uniquely gifted set of people, but it was, for a good while, a proper team, with all that implies. There were many great people, some of whom I am still in touch with and some of whom I wish I was. (There were some right wankers too, but that's inevitable.) We worked together, we played together, a few even loved together. Unsurprisingly, nearly all the stories we swap concern the latter two; for some reason there aren't many anecdotes about great business wins.

Lotus valued its people enough to consider them worth treating well. Obviously, creating a team isn't just about money, but it does help. A month after I joined I expensed £120 (almost £200 today) on dinner for two in Oslo (gravad lax, reindeer steak and cloudberry mousse, no alcohol), fully approved in advance. Everyone loved the Christmas parties, which followed a simple formula of loud music and free booze. We were taken for week-long kick-offs in Evian, Cannes and Athens, where the business content came a distant second place to the nightly parties. I worked for two months in Cambridge, Mass (in the Lotus HQ) and lived for the duration in a luxury apartment on the 26th floor of a building overlooking Boston harbour. On a separate occasion I blew $4,000 in two weeks at the Charles Hotel on Harvard Square (although they've left me off the guest list for some reason). We had an annual summer family gathering, at one of which the number of people injured by the activities on offer outnumbered those uninjured. And I worked for services, generally considered to be a poor cousin of the money-spinners in sales. They had serious amounts of cash thrown at them.

As an employee, I consider such generosity a good thing, of course. However, it's generally acknowledged that Lotus was losing money when they were bought and it couldn't last. IBM makes money almost despite itself, thanks in part to an intensive policy of penny-pinching (current restrictions include not buying laptop bags for new joiners), but I've yet to meet anyone who feels the same about working for IBM as we felt about working for Lotus.

Reading - January 2013

The Importance Of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1895)

Always a joy. And the first book I have ever read electronically, on a tablet.

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die by Robert Dimery (editor) (2008)

A monster of a book, very interesting but flawed. It took me over a year to finish. See my review.

The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie (1943)

Describing any book with murders in it as "charming" seems wrong and yet that's what this brief period piece is. Notwithstanding the deaths, it's a rather sweet story and has a gentle romance element too (which I'm always a sucker for).

Good 'n' Mad by Albert B. Feldstein (editor) (1963)

I used to subscribe to Mad magazine when I was younger and although I don't have the back catalogue any more - I wish I did - I still have some books. Some of the material it is very dated - unsurprisingly for a book that is fifty years old - but some is surprisingly current. Too small a format to properly appreciate the artwork though, which is often fantastically detailed.

Falling Towards England by Clive James (1985)

Why would anyone be interested in the brief period of Clive James's life in between coming to England and going up to Cambridge? By his own admission, he did little and that badly. The reason would be the writing, which is as sharp as anything of his I've read - and that's saying something. He is a master of concision and remarkably frank. Very enjoyable. (I'm also quite chuffed I spotted that "Bruce Jennings" was in fact Barry Humphries.)

The Sacred Art Of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre (2002)

Anyone (is there anyone?) reading these notes of the books I get through will notice that I read a lot of Brookmyre. This is the first one I came across (thanks George!) and still one of my favourites. A superb combination of plotting, comedy, characterisation and thrill. Anyone who isn't a complete prude or ludicrously easily offended should read it.

Unreliable Memoirs by Clive James (1980)

I've had this for ages and yet never read it. Now I'm not sure why not. It is superb, and the writing is as good as any of his that I have read. However, although it's a short book, it took me a while to finish it. The prose is like a good chocolate mousse; rich but so filling that you can only take a little at a time.

Back Country Suite

Mose Allison
1957

Polite, white jazz-blues that enjoyed a surprising following amongst sixties rockers, The Who going so far as to include a cover of "Blues" (as "Young Man Blues") on Live At Leeds. Why this should be so is less than clear to me. The music is uninspiring and pedestrian and Mose Allison's voice is, well, polite and white; fey, body-less and bordering on anodyne.

"In Salah", singled out in reviews I've read for particular attention, sounds to me like a dead ringer for "A Night In Tunisia". The album as a whole is very much of its time; pleasant enough in the background and is nicely short at a touch over half an hour.

Once again, as I have found with albums of a similar age by Fats Domino and Elvis Presley, what this album represents is historical value; it was ground-breaking; it now is run-of-the-mill. If it took a white man to impart a "respectability" that was perceived to be lacking in the music performed by black musicians for a decade or two, then great. But on its own merits, in the 21st century, it's distinctly unimpressive.