Reading - June 2018

Bedlam by Christopher Brookmyre (2013)

Having recently re-read (and watched) Ready Player One, this sort-of companion piece (probably only in my mind) needed reading again. Good fun.

The Guitar Magazine (Vol 29 No 10)

The Book Of The Year by No Such Thing As A Fish (2017)

Subtitled "The Weirder Side of 2017", the NSTAAF crew - James Harkin, Andrew Hunter Murray, Anna Ptaszynski and Dan Schreiber - gather the oddest facts and events into an A-Z of, well, weirdness. Very entertaining.

Wednesday The Rabbi Got Wet by Harry Kemmelman (1976)

I read this via Libby, which I can now run on my shiny new phone, but I realised I'd read it before because I actually own it! It's of a piece with the other Rabbi Small novels, a very acceptable whodunnit with an American Jewish flavour.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1973)

I haven't read this for ages and I remembered it as an amusing, sweet twist on a fairy tale. However, this time, I find it somewhat irritating. The fiction of its being an abridgement of a classic novel is maintained throughout, with Goldman's interjections about his (also fictional) life, and while the overall pretence was funny the first time around, his breathless, chatty style wears thin and feels like it gets in the way of the narrative flow. Goldman has said that the device allowed him just to write just the "good parts" of the story and make disjointed leaps from one to another, but too many of them feel like they could have been removed. My edition is the 1999 25th anniversary edition that includes the first chapter of Buttercup's Baby, which is, if anything, even more annoying. (As an aside, I mentioned William Goldman to a good friend of mine once and he said, "Oh, I hate that guy." On being asked why, he said that he couldn't forgive him for ruining The Princess Bride with this abridgement. I tried to explain that there was no original book, but he wasn't having it!)

Sex, Sleep or Scrabble? by Dr. Phil Hammond (2009)

As I understand it, this is a collection of the most amusing and interesting questions that Dr. Hammond gets asked during his comedy tour (since he is also a comedian). Gently amusing throughout, with a couple of laugh-out-loud moments, but consistently informative and interesting. As good a compendium of general health tips as any, with a particular emphasis on sex and sexual health, as befits both the author's own interests and the likely interests of a well-refreshed audience shouting out mildly risqué questions.

The Ultimate History of Fast Cars by Jonathan Wood (2002)

A typical Christmas gift type hardback book, heavy on the glossy pictures and, despite being called "The Ultimate History", out-of-date less than a year after publication - which is why it cost me only a couple of quid. Nevertheless, an competent-enough summary of lots of interesting cars, with only a few odd omissions (no Caterham Seven?) and relatively little of the poor copy editing that usually plagues these kind of photo compilations.

Newport 1958

Mahalia Jackson
1958

Like most people, probably, I think I'd claim to know gospel when I hear it, but I wouldn't have identified this as such. This is just Ms. Jackson singing by herself, with minimal - but effective- backing instrumentation, primarily from a piano and occasional organ. Where's the mass choirs and fevered chanting?

All of which shows how much I know. My entire knowledge of gospel is the five minutes it takes James Brown to sing "The Old Landmark" in The Blue Brothers, so it's fair to say that I am not the best informed about the subject. Listening more carefully, as well as the obviously church-based lyrics, the chord progressions are very typical of gospel - at least, I assume so, because it sounds like early soul. What is striking is how funky some of it is, and you can see the direct line from "I'm On My Way" to Ray Charles's "Hallelujah I Love Her So", and from there to the sixties' twin peaks of Motown and Stax.

Mahalia Jackson's voice is fantastic and the whole thing sounds great fun. She's also sweet when the audience is clapping and she says "You make me feel like I'm a star" - although surely she was, since otherwise why would she be at Newport Jazz Festival, for the second time?

Needless to say, this isn't something I would have chosen to listen to or even known about had it not been in a list in a book, so I'm grateful to have been exposed to it. I'd even probably listen to it again some time.

Reading - May 2018

Songwriting For Dummies by Jim Peterik, Dave Austin & Cathy Lynn (2010)

This was a bit of a grind. There's some interesting stuff about the mechanics of songwriting - the section on song structures in particular was new to me - but it's not well-written, and didn't carry me with it. Most annoying is the fact that Jim Peterik appears to have only contributed by adding multiple quotes throughout the book, and each time he does, the quote is credited to "Jim Peterik, author of 18 Billboard hits, including (blah blah blah)", which is ridiculously repetitive and redundant, and just makes him seem like a one of those insecure people who keep reminding you about what they've done: "I wrote 'Eye Of The Tiger' you know!"

The Perfect Neighbour by Nora Roberts (1999)

I'm part-way through a number of books I'm finding hard to digest, so for a bit of light relief I picked up this sweet little snack of a book. Nothing fancy, just something to entertain for a short time.

The Joys Of Yiddish by Leo Rosten (1968)

This came from C's grandma a couple of decades ago - at least - and I've started reading it many times. It's great for dipping into, being basically a selected dictionary, but hard to read much of in a sitting, and as a result I'd never actually made it far. This time I was determined to finish it - even though it took me about three months! It's amusing and educational, and worth it for an insight into American Jewish culture in the US, certainly that of thirty-forty years ago, which, lest we forget, is still a very influential voice in Judaism.

Are We Still Rolling? by Phill Brown (2010)

I learned about this via the Spirit Of Talk Talk book. Phill Brown was the engineer on Spirit Of Eden, Laughing Stock and Mark Hollis's solo album, but before that he'd spent twenty years working in London studios, primarily for Island Records, engineering a host of classics by the likes of The Wailers, Robert Palmer, John Martyn and many more. The book is an autobiography, but centred on his recording experiences. The world of the music business in the seventies sounds as bacchanalian as legend would have it - clouds of cocaine, parties every night and women everywhere - but equally, plenty of hard work, at least for an engineer. It sounds like he started falling out of love with "progress" during the eighties and isn't entirely happy with the music business any more. It's also notable that the band he most consistently references throughout the book is Talk Talk, and the experience of recording their last two albums sounds particularly intense, and it casts some valuable light onto the process, even if it reveals nothing of the reasons for it (as a techie, he seems to have little insight into the artistic process). An interesting read for a music geek like me but probably a bit niche for most people.

Can You Keep A Secret? by Sophie Kinsella (2003)

I last read this about four years ago. I grabbed it one evening when I just needed something to read before sleeping, rather than spending half an hour trying to choose a book. I enjoyed it last time and I enjoyed it this time. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, it's sweet and the central character is quite endearing.

Get Fit Swimming by Kelvin Juba (2006)

I'd like to start swimming again properly, because I'm not running regularly and I think it's because, really, I'm not that bothered about running, despite its convenience. So it's good to have a reminder of training approaches to swimming, and there's some useful summary information about land-based work too.

The Importance Of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1895)

Light and fluffy, but sharp and so beautifully honed. Reading it isn't the same as watching it, of course, but it's a good read anyway. Other than the classic 1952 film, I probably last saw this on stage in the 1995 Old Vic production, about which I remember little other than the famously silent "handbag", and being a little underwhelmed.

Solo of the Month #36

The backing track this month sounds like something from a sixties spy thriller (although only to me apparently, judging by the other entries). I'm thinking of things like Get Carter (not actually from the 1960s, I know), The Persuaders, The Ipcress File and so on.

Hence I have attempted to create "Theme from Unknown Man", the title sequence from a little-known TV series shown for 3 weeks only on ATV Midlands in 1969.

In my simplistic way, "spy theme" boils down to semi-tone intervals and lashings of plate reverb. So I fiddled around in Am and added grace notes a semi-tone above or below where the main notes were until I got a melody that sounded suitably mysterious. I played the first half in 3/4 across the 4/4 beat to make it sound interesting, and the second half in 4/4, but shorter phrases, to make it sound like it was going faster.

Production wise, this was straight into the audio interface and all effects in the box: JS 1175 compressor (one of the many compressors in Reaper), a bass amp plugin that came free with Computer Music, TAL's Dub II delay, Acon Digital Verb (also free with CM), and a (free) valve exciter thing to sprinkle a little pixie dust over the top. (I haven't gone for many paid plugins yet!)

Reading - April 2018

Spirit Of Talk Talk by James Marsh, Chris Robert & Toby Benjamin (2012)

Talk Talk are one of my favourite bands and I bought this luxurious book in a moment of madness. It's a three part book: a band history, a broad selection of quotes from famous musicians, and  detail about the cover art, the latter unsurprising given that James Marsh is one of the authors. I guess I bought this hoping it would somehow enhance my enjoyment of Talk Talk's music (particularly given that there's never going to be any more), but of course that didn't work. Details about the artwork are interesting but parenthetical, and the many, many quotes diverting but largely irrelevant. And knowing that the participants came from pretty mundane backgrounds doesn't change how marvellous the music sounds - which is really what it all comes back to.

The Guitar Magazine (Vol 29 No 8)

Presumably these guys know their market but this month there are no guitars under £1500 reviewed, and I found the ridiculously uncritical look at PRS's carbon-copy of a Strat somewhat grating.

Set The Boy Free by Johnny Marr (2016)

I really enjoyed this, a big book but a very straightforward read. Marr doesn't get into any technical depth about his work - perhaps understandably for an autobiography aimed at the mass market - but you get the sense of how hard he's worked. The Smiths accounted for only about five years of his career, and there's plenty he's done that I wasn't aware of, so lots to go and find.

The Best A Man Can Get by John O'Farrell (2000)

By turns insightful and moving, and annoying. Parts of it read like excerpts from stand-up shows that never quite made it, which, given the author's past (and present?) as a gag-writer for a number of well-known shows and figures, could well be the case. Funny in parts, true in others, and the ending is a bit sudden and too neat, but it's enjoyably short and easy to read. 

The Tao Of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff (1982)

During the Great Book Excision of 2017, I saved this because, despite not having read it for twenty years or more, I remembered it as a sweet, charming digression into Taoism, as illustrated by the tales of Winnie-The-Pooh. Since I am sure the book hasn't changed, I suppose I must have done, because reading it now, I find it trite to the point of vacuity. Hoff's assertion that you can do the Right Thing if you will only clear your mind and listen to your Inner Nature isn't really different from memes on Facebook declaring that you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it; both embody wishful thinking that sounds lovely but says nothing. In addition, the idea that there's some sort of perfect ancient Eastern wisdom that we have somehow diverted from is clearly bollocks. (And in an odd coincidence, I found my sister also read it, for the first time in decades, but entirely independently, at the same time!)

The Vinyl Detective: Written In Dead Wax by Andrew Cartmel (2016)

My friend Nat dropped this on my desk one morning and said I had as much time as it took him to get a coffee to read the first few pages. He thought I'd like it, and he was right. I'd ordered it (from the library - only 70p to reserve a book!) within the hour. The idea is fun - basically a murder mystery centred on records - and the execution good, although I thought it was a touch too long. For some people, the tendency of pretty young women to throw themselves at the narrator might spoil it but I like that.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (1876)

I've been reading this in spare moments on my phone for the last couple of months and have finally completed it. I originally read it in my teens, in a Reader's Digest condensed version, and while the overall shape of the story remained with me, most of the details haven't, so it's nice to revisit it. That said, I didn't find it a particularly compelling read - but as a way of passing the time while waiting for other things, it was fine.

Reading - March 2018

4:50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie (1957)

A Miss Marple mystery that potters along quite amiably. An easy read.

The Guitar Magazine (Vol 29 No 07)

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett (1988)

I like the witches, particularly Granny Weatherwax, and I haven't read this for ages. The Discworld books are often described as making people laugh out loud, but this is the first time I've read one that I remember finding genuinely funny in places, as opposed to gently amusing. The snippets of scripts that are written by Hwel, the playwright (a dwarf) are really well-done parodies.

Men At Arms by Terry Pratchett (1993)

I fancied reading this because I know it quite well, and I always enjoy re-reading books. However, I've probably over-done this one. I enjoyed it, of course, but I knew what was going to happen too much.

Maskerade by Terry Pratchett (1995)

So, onto another Pratchett, this time one I hadn't read in a while. This features the witches again, and a good-natured send-up of opera and theatre-folk. It feels a little insubstantial though, for some reason. I'm going to give myself a rest from the Discworld for a little while now.

Call The Midlife by Chris Evans (2015)

The third and least interesting volume of Chris Evans's life; less of an autobiography this time than an extended pondering on lessons learned as he enters the "second half of his time on earth". I found it rather shrill, particularly towards the end, as we hear again and again about how great his life is. He's very keen to air his new-found wisdom - such as "everyone should run a marathon!" - without apparent consideration that while such knowledge is right for him, it won't necessarily be right for everyone. Still, much of interest and pretty readable. It finishes with the announcement that he is taking over Top Gear, which is a bit of a shame since it means we don't get any analysis of that whole episode - but maybe that's for the next book.

Solo of the Month #34

There are only three chords in this month's backing track, and the third one only crops up twice anyway. That doesn't mean it sounds monotonous though, it's a jazzy, minor feel vamp, loosely based on the progression from "Unchain My Heart".

The root key here is Gm, but the other chords bring in other notes and scales and - as ever - I don't have the theoretical basis to be clear what would be "right" here. I little improvisation over it shows that keeping in Gm pentatonic sounds about right, but a bit dull. The other approach is to work out what notes are in the chords and work with those (in fact, B, whose knowledge of music theory is better than mine, suggested this as well). I probably should have done this to advance my knowledge and understanding, but I didn't have the time and couldn't really be bothered.

I experimented for a while with variations of the chords at different positions to see if the transitions inspired anything, but couldn't quite make it work to my satisfaction (one of the other participants did the same and ended up with a gorgeous sounding spy theme, much better than I would have been able to do). However, during this, I hit on the idea of playing with octaves, and decided to make this the basis of my solo.

I played through the track multiple times and eventually the shape of the solo worked itself out. So I suppose we could consider it "composed" rather than improvised. I recorded it in sections so I wouldn't forget it, and then played along with myself to get the whole solo in my head. I liked the sound of this, so I decided to have two guitars at points. The important thing there is that the two guitars are two different takes, not just the same take duplicated, because the tiny differences in timings and intonations is what gives it a sense of space.

The final take is a single pass through, since I'd learned the whole thing, and the second guitar is used to "pop" some of the key notes, as well as providing a harmony in the last four bars. Both guitars were recorded dry, just through the amp. I added a bit of EQ and compression in Reaper, but no reverb since it sounds nice without it. I used a touch of reverb to the harmony guitar to give it a slightly different position in the track. Finally, when it got to the harmonies in the last bars, I panned the guitars slightly left and right, to emphasise the change.

This was a bit of a struggle, mainly because I couldn't hear anything over the track for a long time. But the end result, a product of a solid three hours right at the end of the time allowed, is something I'm rather pleased with. It's understated and works with the track rather than sitting on top of it, I think.