I had thought “Eyes & Ears V” would have been
my final cultural blog of 2014, but I’d forgotten about the top 10 lists, so
that became “Eyes & Ears VI.” Of course, that meant there were still
December’s purchases and Christmas presents to attend to, so here we have a
shorter than usual final say about what I’ve read and listened to of late.
Books:
Three book s to mention; all of them Christmas
presents. First up is the one I’d been looking forward to the most; “The Second
Half” by Roy Keane and Roddy Doyle. This was an (unintentionally?) uproarious
laughter session from start to finish, where north Cork’s most humourless man
has his obsessive, compulsive, paranoid, egotistical, intense personality laid
bare with his accounts of his departures from Manchester United, low-key spell
at Celtic, the rise and fall of Sundireland Incorporated, his ill-fated
administration of Ipswich Town and the supposed new chapter as willing
apprentice with Ireland and Aston Villa. We’ll ask Tom cleverley how that final
appointment worked out, though we probably won’t spend 15 minutes ringing on
his doorbell to get an answer.
The joy of this book is that Doyle’s brilliant
prose style makes every single paragraph of this sensibly chronological account
sound as if Keane is speaking it, dead-eyed, monotone and emotionless, directly
at the reader. Unfortunately, for every amusing score-settling with a cutting
anecdote, about Dwight Yorke, David Nugent or Robbie Savage for instance, there
are others that are lightly glossed over. His departure from the Mackems and
his disinclination to accent the Celtic job are told in too superficial a
manner to allow us to fully appreciate what happened. However, this is a minor
quibble; I wanted to read this book because I love Doyle’s writing and not
because I like Keane. That situation remains unchanged.
I don’t know Dave Kidd, but I know his wife (who
went to school with my sister) and I know his work as a “Sunday Mirror”
football journalist. I asked Santa for his collection of short stories “Half
Man Half Misfit,” because I feel in many ways I do know him, even if
tangentially. In many ways, this provided me with a problem, as I began to
analyse the 15 stories as being, in some way, autobiographical which, as a
writer, I find maddening when readers do the same. I would guess though that
much of the material herein is at least observational as Kidd has produced an
intriguing collection of tales of males, mainly middle aged, mainly middle
class, and their neuroses with relationships, work, family and ageing. The
tales are, by turns, funny, nostalgic, sad, depressing and uplifting; sometimes
all on the same page. Some of them such as “Spin Cycle,” the tale of a troubled
widower, his autistic son and the chance of love in a launderette are works of
genius. Others don’t work quite so well. However, that’s why anthologies of
short fiction, a genre I remain strongly connected to, are like albums;
sometimes you get a blinding set, while most times you hope there isn’t too
much filler. There’s very little filler in this charming, diverting collection
and I suggest those of you who enjoy Nick Hornby or John Updike get hold of a
copy.
I’m a sucker for dictionaries and encyclopaedias
of arcane trivia, so I was pleased to get “Bingo Boys and Poodle Fakers” by
Claire Mackey, which is an alphabetical list of curious, redundant English
phrases, often without any real context. It would have been more helpful if the
book had been arranged thematically. Instead, it's all lumped together in an
unwieldy and fairly unsatisfying mess. This is strange given that in her
introduction the author is very aware of the importance of context, even if she
doesn’t actually introduce any. Another one for the browsing and referencing
section than actually reading.
Music:
Four albums, two new and two old, as well as one
gig to discuss. We’ll start where my live music experience began back in
December 1976; Lindisfarne’s Christmas gig at the City Hall. Admittedly, it’s
only just Ray Jackson these days, but it’s still an event to be treasured.
While I went into minute detail last year, writing 5,000 words in http://payaso-de-mierda.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/magic-in-air.html
I simply want to reference that I was delighted to be able to take both Ben and
Laura to this one, as it’s important I feel he gets to experience a seminal NE
musical tradition.
On the day Mike “The Mouth” Elliott passed, it was
fitting “January Song,” which closed an impeccable first half, was dedicated to
him. The start of the second half was a little dull, with too much blues and
“Back and Fourth” for my liking, but the admittedly predictable run-in from
“Winter song” was as emotional a set of songs I can think of. As soon as “Clear
White Light” ended, I knew we’d be back next year. You just have to be…
The last couple of albums I treated myself to were
both by long-time favourites of mine. I’ve been disappointed by the lack of
activity involving Euros Childs this year, but a late spurt of action saw a
Marc Riley Radio 6 session, a few solo piano dates and a new album, “Eilaaig.”
Most people, erroneously as it turned out, assumed “Eilaaig” was a Welsh word,
but as Euros revealed it’s actually a predictive text suggestion, but he can’t
remember what for. “Eilaaig” is as low key as the rest of 2014 has been for
him; no big tours, no super poppy albums, but instead a quiet, introspective
piano only album, where 6 of the 9 tracks are instrumental and the other 3 are
in Welsh, such as “Basged o Clustiau,” which means “Basket of Ears,” so it is
very much a mood piece, rather like “Face Dripping” from a few years back. That
said it’s haunting, it’s delicious and lovingly crafted like all of Euros’s
music and I’m very glad I bought it.
Rather more memorable and alluring is Alex and
Lavinia from Trembling Bells’s (largely) unaccompanied “The Golden Boat” album,
under their Crying Lion moniker. It’s been a busy year for Alex with his “balls
to the wall” free jazz outfit Death Shanties, alongside this equally eccentric,
esoteric and memorable release. The title track is one of the best call and
response sea shanties ever written about Byers Road and its environs. I don’t
know the terminology required; but the beautiful madrigal voices holler and
swoop in a way that takes us from medieval to modern in the space of a single
track. Fascinating, beguiling and avowedly and acquired taste, this is a simply
superb set.
I often wonder if I’ve brought my son up properly.
Such thoughts can be easily dismissed when your Christmas box from the bairn is
Augustus Pablo’s “King Tubby meets Rockers Uptown” and “Super Ape” by The
Upsetters. If you had to pick one album that best represents the art of dub, few
would fault you for ending up with Augustus Pablo’s magnificent album, which
stands as perhaps the finest collaboration between two of instrumental reggae's
leading lights; producer and melodica player Augustus Pablo and legendary dub
pioneer King Tubby. Among other gems, this album offers its title track, a dub
version of Jacob Miller's "Baby I Love You So,” which is widely regarded
as the finest example of dub ever recorded. However the rest of the album is
hardly less impressive; "Each One Dub," another cut on a Jacob Miller
rhythm, possesses the same dark and mystical ambience, if not quite the same
emotional energy, as "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown," and the
version of the epochal "Satta Massaganna" that closes the album is
another solid winner. Pablo's trademark "Far East" sound, characterized
by minor keys and prominent melodica lines, is predominant throughout, and is
treated with care and grace by King Tubby, who rarely sounded more inspired in
his studio manipulations than he does here. Absolutely essential.
Lee "Scratch" Perry's dub masterpiece
“Super Ape” was given a heavy makeover for its international release on Island
records in August 1976, as well as being credited to his backing band The
Upsetters rather than the great man himself. The record is undoubtedly one of
the greatest dub albums ever released, combining the rhythms of some of Perry's
most recent songs of the time, including Max Romeo's "Chase the
Devil" and "War Ina Babylon", Devon Irons' "When Jah
Come" and Prince Jazzbo's "Natty Pass Thru Rome", with the
heaviest layers of dub Perry had created thus far. The album showcases how Lee
Perry would incorporate his African heritage into his music, its spiritual
influence creating an album that is both at one with nature and yet still in
keeping with modern reggae times. A classic album, a landmark for Lee Perry,
Reggae and Dub and a great Christmas present.
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