Personal MGCK

The TWELFTH NIGHT 'VOICES IN THE NIGHT' Double CD is now available on Cyclops Records. The album of previously unreleased material, includes 3 of the earliest Twelfth Night tracks written and performed with 'Electra', in that brief, but glittering period when she was their lyricist/vocalist. If you like the words 'PROG' and 'ROCK' in the same sentence, you'll like this. So, GO get it NOW! [SLEEVE NOTES]

They want to go up to Princes Street for the fireworks and then go to clubbing into the wee hours. I've been down that road a few times up here... knee deep in pish.. rained on... cold, wet, being groped by leering half-wits while waiting for a fireworks show that only lasts a minute-and-a-half. No thanks. If we're not going somewhere 'WARM' and groovy from the start (like TIMES SQUARE!), I think I'm just going to pull the plug on this 2007 thang. Swallow some goofy pills, sip some bubbly, watch a movie and go to bed BEFORE midnight. I don't like 'enforced fun' and New Year's Eve is just that... a time of enforced fun. If I was in New York.. I might feel different about it, but up here, in the far North?? I've done this too many times. I swore I wouldn't be in the UK for any more winters and then somehow... bingo bongo gongo... like the song says... Oooops, I did it again!

Anyway.. about the past year?? Any accomplishments or activities that created a sense of well-being?? Any forward steps??? NO. None. 2007 was a year of complete 'non'. Where (for me) 2006 had been a year of breaking boundaries and untying ties... 2007 (for me) was a year that was lived firmly in the doldrums... a dull-grey punctuated by great escapes. I hope to f*ck! that 2008 bears no resemblance whatsoever to this last year. My heart and mind are in agreement: I shouldna left California early this year... shoulda just stayed in that Golden state. But maybe there are no "shoulda's". Maybe the year was determined to be a non-starter no matter which way you slice it. No matter which part of the globe you pitched your tent in.

So here's to a genuinely 'new' year. It better be different than the last, for better or worse.

Just for auld lang syne... what LAST New Year's Eve looked like... firsthand... 10,000 feet up on a mountaintop in Arizona.

"The swaddled herd followed the raucous banging, clanging drums to the place where torch bearers would symbolically set a Viking Ship alight." As I have no relationship to any emotions they were trying to evoke, and already have immense difficulty making the join between Edinburgh (a strangely medieval city) and the approaching 21st Century year of 2008... well... it was way too far a stretch for me to want to see a Viking ship burning atop Calton Hill. A pretty little faux-tartan biscuit tin would have been more appropriate. Viking ships inspire images of hairy berzerkers, full of a raging lust for life.. .Edinburgh's image is much more sedate: Royal Bank of Scotland staff, the odd solicitor and some actuaries, perhaps. I wonder what type of ship they sail in?

So, I broke off from the madding crowd, hopped in the motor and took a little drive around town. It may seem excessive to drive, when Edinburgh is so compact and small and you can walk across it's city centre in 15-20 minutes... but really... I wanted shots of Edinburgh... at Year's End... at night .. in motion.

[all photos of Edinburgh City Centre @ Year's End by MOI! La Dona Electra! 30 Dec 2007]

We never made it to Paddy's Wigwam... but before we left for a Liverpool Christmas (which was lively and lovely), I was doing some last minute panicked 'desperado' shopping in Auld Reekie and ran into Steve, MY ELECTRIC LOVE AFFAIR's manager... It was brilliant to see him and he reminded me I haven't been to one of their gigs in over a year, and their gigs are EVENTS. He cautioned me they've made some line-up changes in the last year and now there are FIVE; and a new single release available at AVALANCHE (vinyl of course - they wouldn't have it any other way) promoted with an early 2008 tour in France with AUTOMATIQ. I'll need a copy to frame, as I framed their first 12" 30-minute single "As If I Get Confused". It's a WORK OF ART!!!! That's the thing about vinyl: artwork and timelessness. It also 'feels' nice and SOUNDS beautiful.

Someone gave me an iTunes by 25 gift card for Christmas. Thank God for CD Baby and CD Universe...

Hit the road Jimmy: As Dr Johnson suggested: "the view of the London road is the prospect in which every Scotsman most naturally and most rationally delights." Well... to help you make travel plans for the New Year, here it is:

*****Saddest news over Christmas: Tatiana the Siberian Tiger, was tormented by three teenage boys in her enclosure at San Francisco Zoo late on Christmas Day... Like ALL good tigers, she said, 'F*CK THIS', jumped her moat, scaled the wall and took one down, killed him, then stalked the other two as they fled while the zoo was shutting. Unfortunately, when she found and scragged them both at a zoo cafe, the police sharpshooters had to put a few rounds in her. The battle deciding 'who' is 'to blame' is raging in my part-time home-town of San Fran. And there's one less magnificent beast on the planet this Christmas.

22-23 Dec 2007 - MGCK Music

...Tropic of Capricorn.. here we come!!!

THE MOON RISING ABOVE THE FIRTH OF FORTH at 1:30 pm on the Shortest Day of the Year

After re-reading yesterday's year-end bluesy, 4am-dark-before-dawn, HELLO THIS IS MISERABLE SCOTLAND CALLING! missive, I decided to brighten up the scenario a bit and borrow some 'happy' year end messages from emails and newsletters I've received from other bull-merchants at this year-end...

So, here is the NEW and IMPROVED and completely DEVOID OF ANY CONTENT story of 2007 into 2008!

""Callin' ALL Groovy F*ckin' Dudes and Dudettes!!!!

After a SUCK-SESS-FULL 2-0-0-7, we will return for our 9th year in 2008 (what happened to the other 43 years...?) and may even change the way we do things by... uh... not doing them at all!!

In 2008, our cutting-edge entertainments may feature a wide variety of spectacular outdoor music, tours and road-trips, the occasional pyrotechnic display, some art, photography, a bit of dry, droll comedy and maybe, just maybe we'll get to rub elbows with some big name music acts here, there and elsewhere... AND... (quite possibly, but it's still a bit pie-in-the-sky) MAYBE even make some MONEY in the coming year!!!

After an unbelievably successful 8th year (that's the last one) of just f'ckin' about (don't try it at home, unless you've got a lot of ready cash to burn), we are excited by the talents we will certainly discover and unearth next!!! A very high standard was set this year when we claimed our crown of alternative, exploratory, in-transit, cozmic, spaced-out-cowboys and won ourselves an army of new MySpace fans and received much national airplay (MySpace IS 'National' isn't it?). If you want to follow in our footsteps, just remember, the winner will get to play music!! So don't miss out!!!

We hope everyone has a fan-f*ckin-tas-tickle of a Christmas time and a money-stuffin' prosperous New Year.

If you want to sign up for our NEW Newsletter in 2008, go to the website and register your first born child and all your personal details. If not?... well.. ADIOS Big Boy!

If you're stickin' with us, we'll C all U HARD-Rockin' Groovy Happenin' C*nts in 2008!""

PS: -

Yes, it's true. I actually received a newsletter telling me if I didn't register with their NEW system to receive their NEW Newsletter...well.. then.. Adios..."our ways will be parting in the New Year!" kind of thing.

Does anyone else suffer the 4am 'what the f*cks?' I had a terrible case of them lately... It's like a year has gone by in which I did nothing.. achieved nothing... thought nothing... travelled a lot, but did not a single thing of any real merit or substance. A few more years like this and I'll be ...well.... I'll be just like all the other people!! The walking dead... just making it through the days... lookin' forward to the holiday booked for two weeks in summer. I don't want to be that person. So it calls for ACTION in 2008.

My New Year's Resolution in 2007 was 'DO SOMETHING That Matters'.. well... I didn't quite manage that. So the resolution in 2008 will be 'JUST F*CKIN' DO SOMETHING!!!! And Do IT FAST!!!'

and, as I cycled down to the pool and sauna at noon, the Portobello beach front was not exactly bathing in sunlight:

And while we're dreaming of getting the 'shortest day' out of the way, we're also heading for the longest night... i.e. New Year's Eve.. [Traditionally, there's only one place I want to be on New Year's eve and it's somewhere on the island of Manhattan... or in a big house, upstate, in the countryside with the snow falling. One or the other] BUT that's NOT the CASE this year. So.. we have to make do with what we've got. The plan ahead.. the guy we didn't see when we were in Barcelona region in November... the ex-Ibiza promoter, is coming our way for the big night.. so.. what'll it be? Any ideas for an ibiza'd up clubbing night in Edinburgh? It's been a while since I paid any attention to the scene. So, I will just go wherever I am taken to.

you can write to the sexiest man alive - Vladimir Putin... also 'Man Of The Year'..

I am desperate to get my hands on a PUTIN 2008 calendar. There are some remarkable beef-cake shots of that gorgeous gangster within.

I'm not even a 'Cal-'if-forn'-ian'. I'm a native New Yorker who now misses BOTH coasts so painfully. But anyway... I'm thinking, early 2008 will see me going home for a bit.. wherever home is.

I've been tormenting myself with film we took last December in northern 'Cal-if only'. I was there all winter, but really when JM arrived, we had three weeks to roam around together, driving north and then east and then south, listening to ALL the great STEELY DAN albums, unfettered and with no agenda, except to go down roads that 'looked-like-they-needed-to-be-gone-down', well.. it was just great.. It makes me pine already for a lifestyle that will someday be G-O-N-E. The freedom to just get in a car and DRIVE. Gone with the buffalo. What incredible freedom we've all had.

Went out to see a band this weekend They didn't know how to play their instruments... but who DOES these days?

A day or so earlier, I'd seen a documentary about PINK FLOYD. Roger Waters was describing their inception as 4 architecture students trying to make a youthful 'jail-break' from an absolutely set-in-stone middle-class future as architects and pillars of society.

The interesting parts were 1) No matter how 'unique' their music got, they never managed to NOT be 'middle-class' [having met one or two of them and worked with one of them specifically, I KNOW how truly 'middle-class' they still are!] and 2) Roger Waters said it was lucky they didn't know how to play their instruments when they first got together. If they'd known how to play their instruments, they might have been skilled enough to copy and sound like someone else...

So... maybe NOT knowing how to play is the way to begin all truly new endeavours.

Which brings me to the last wacky 'cultural' thing that happened over the weekend. On Saturday evenings, I go to the gym before it closes at 7. The televisions are on. Another British culture phenomen-non, 'Strictly Come Dancing'.. or go dancing or whatever. Jeeeeeesus. Has anyone told that ex-Sugababe Alyesha.. or whatever her name is... she's fat!!??!!? And dances like a fat-arsed Triceratops??? Why is 'fat' the new 'normal'?

Fri 14 Dec 2007 - MGCK Music

Each December dawn is a Stockhausen moment

We're spending the cozy dark winter months at home writing music and just 'being'. We've moved the recording equipment back into the living room and are creating one 'Stockhausen' moment after another in this lovely location. JM just completed a 20-minute piece based on November's time spent in Catalunya, called "Mas Bish-Bosh Da Dalt". I love it. Maybe, this is what the dark is all about. Delving deep and coming up with little gems.

No... I didn't have a ticket.... but I thought about it last night. I thought of a life long love affair with that sound. That completely unique and comprehensive 'sound'. The sound that launched a thousand TRIPS!!!! When you have the very best of all elements: earth, water, air and fire and they make music together and create magic. Magic that leaves people amazed and 'in love' with that sound for a whole life long. It only happens once in a while...a couple of times in a generation.

I think it was maybe three years ago, they were announcing the vote for 'Best British Band' and something dismal and unbelievable like 'McFly' had won. The announcer joked, 'Did anyone tell Led Zeppelin?

ALTRES also played last night and I wasn't there either! Must be something to do with the 'deep deep dark' of winter in the far north, or a simple motor car mechanical difficulty... but really... I missed everything yesterday.

But I did meet another 'yank' yesterday. She met and fell in love with some Scots geezer last May and moved over here from Connecticut. She says 'it was SO LIGHT in the summer'... and yeah, well.. HELLLLLLOOOOOOO... 'It's SO DARK NOW!!!!!' She also whispered to me, 'And they're ALL alcoholics!' I had to smile at her painful discoveries and nod quietly. I tried to think of something to console her... but ended up saying: "Just RUN! RUN WHILE YOU CAN!!!"

Sun 9 Dec 2007 - MGCK Music

They come and then they go... the lights

Karlheinz Stockhausen , the 'enigmatic maestro' has died at the age of 79. He leaves, bereft, a world of admirers. He pioneered a whole genre of music that we simply take for granted today. Germany is famous for it's avant garde experimental music and it is arguable that in the 20th Century, the father of experimental electronic music was Karlheinz Stockhausen. Miles Davis said he was his only true inspiration. Bjork and Brian Eno say they are disciples of 'Stockhausen'. The Beatles put his face on the cover of Sgt Peppers. He elevated the concept of 'controlled chance ' to true art. Allowing the present moment to be his guide; putting down ideas without judging, planning or thinking about them. He often recorded day-to-day sounds and arranged them to make 'musical' compositions. 'Improvised fortune', pure 'serendipity' if you will. He was completely original, completely unique and completely out there. Stockhausen is recognised as a genius and will be sorely missed.

JM noted: "They're all dying.. the greats.. the creative geniuses who introduced us to new thoughts and un-numbered ecstasies in the latter half of the 20th Century. They're all dying and what are we left with?" [....hmmmmmm.... Big Brother, I'm a Celebrity...The X Factor??? Just get me OUTTA here!]

But don't let it ruin your day. Find your Russian Oligarch! Helicopter pad optional.

I've been talking to a 'toff' lately... Over the years, I've know quite a number of 'royal-linked', landed types on this island. As I was a musician floating around and a lot of them were hanging out in flats and houses scattered across the country, spending their allowances on dope and reading Aleister Crowley, I made close bonds with quite a few lads and lasses with a 'touch of the purple'. [Was even asked to 'marry' one!] Anyway.... I've been introduced to yet another one in the last week and we've spent some time chatting. The other day, he asked me, in that accent that sounds like a bit of carpet is caught in an upper molar, 'You're not one of those anti-blood-sports 'people' ...are you???"

So I replied to the chappie.... "Why certainly Not!!! If you 'even' the odds. .. Let's say, instead of a fox... you go haring after a .... mmmmmm... how 'bout a Grizzly Bear??! Why yes indeed! I'd pay GOOD money to see THAT. That's what I'd call a 'blood sport'." (N.B.- No firearms or cross-bows allowed!)

{If you get the chance, read the poem 'Reynard the Fox' (not in it's entirety on that website) to really get a sense of what it might be like to BE that terrified pursued creature.}

"Perhaps you haven't seen what a fox will DO when it gets into a hen-house!!!"

So I had to tell him...Look, spare me the "I know the land and you don't" malarkey. I grew up in the country too.. Granted, New York City was just 30 miles away, but anyone who's been to New York knows just how luxurious the woods and forests of upstate New York and New England are when you get just a few minutes out of town. We have hundreds of miles of forests. We have trail-less wilderness. We have lots of beautiful LAND and we have thriving WILD LIFE in these places. [They found a Coyote in Central Park for-goodness-sake, just a year and a half ago!] And I had all the usual: pet chickens, pet geese, pet ponies, pet horses, all kinds of 'pet' creatures when I was a child. More 'pets' than you can shake a stick at, including a pet sheep named 'Baby'.

Anyway... we had foxes, and deer and black bears in the woods; raccoons, porcupines, skunks, weasels, 'possums... .no wolves or mountain lions.. they had been 'deterred' over time.. You probably have to nip up to Canada to find a wolf or go down to Georgia or Florida to find a cougar or 'puma' on the East Coast. Still.. we had a LOT of wild creatures. Of ALL of those creatures, potentially harmful to my pet geese, chickens and guinea fowl (we had 4 of those roosting in some trees), all of which roamed about un-penned and un-restricted, the only thing that ever killed and ate one of my 'pets'? was a dog. A particularly nasty dog: a Corgi that my brother brought home as an adoptee, which killed ALL of my pet ducklings one quick afternoon. So, Her Majesty The Queen harbours some craven, nasty characters in Buckingham and other palaces.

(I have neglected to mention the playful raccoons that ate the heads off a litter of newborn kittens - but I'm sure that was an accident.

I'm not going to get on a horse and 'ride them down'! Even if they DO look like little bandits!}

Back to my landed friend... I think, what he fails to note, with his fond memories of 'EMPIRE'... Great Britain is, currently, a small small place. And if you cross it, up, down or around... you will discover that 90% of the land is farmed or 'managed'; has sheep, cattle or grain growing on it. There is absolutely NO place for wild creatures left on this island. They had that terrible incident with the pair of 'Hen Harriers' shot by that other dimwit bastard son of a ________, Prince Harry. There are only 20 Hen Harriers on all of this island. Why would you shoot TWO of them? What for? To protect your domesticated livestock??? Or precious Chinese import pheasants, which flop around in their thousands???

In a world, where humans are cutting up and 'managing' every inch of natural terrain, of course, the remaining few bits of wild creatures are going to run up against the domesticated variety. Particularly on this tiny island. If I was a 'farmer' on this island... with all the subsidies that our taxes are paying for, I would keep a few chickens hangin' around just FOR the foxes.

So...yes. I desperately want to see that 'Grizzly Hunt'.... bring it on... If I married a Russian oligarch tomorrow and had a couple hundred million to spend on such a lark, indeed, I would take some British aristocrats and landed gents of dwindling means (ladies welcome), to ride to the hounds in Montana, Idaho or SIBERIA! and track down a Grizzly (remember - no firearms or crossbows). As I said before... I'd pay good money to see it. They'd probably do it for cheap.

[all photos found on Google Images... from some great websites...like 'Critter Crossings']

Winter on The Mediterranean... A lot of people wouldn't think of it..(*and THANK F*CK for THAT!!!) but believe me, it has it's charms. Many of which are just access to beautiful sunlight. But others are a chance for solitude.. empty beaches to walk on... quiet roads to drive down... naked monuments, uncluttered by tourists. The chance for complete retreat, should you have a quiet corner to retreat to, as I wrote in an email to Fifi:

"The beauty of retreats...the real beauty of them... the real beauty of going somewhere completely quiet and completely alone: You remove yourself from the prison of other people's perceptions. The social bars that keep you 'controlled' and functioning like a wind-up clock in your environment. Total retreat allows you to empty out your mind of 'other's' perceptions of you and frees you to refill the vacuum with your own better understanding of how you really are. All those GREAT books that Erica's got all over the house help seal the deal. Pure meditation and self-discovery."

if that's not in your line.. here's the classic: Monty Python's - International Philosophy video

Weather news on Deutsche Velle tells me, 'The Iberian Peninsula is sunny'.. But of course it is!!!!.. 'Scorcho, scorcho, scorcho!' That's pretty much it. Each and every day. And I miss the dappled light in the oak forests by the house.

But I'm here now.. and this is morning in Scotland. And I'm already finding things to look at.. to 'see'... that interest me.

The flight back on Ryanair was typically quick...and I suppose acceptably comfortable, if you like travelling with the drunk and uh... the DRUNK!! Someone - yes, I'll say it again, - very drunk by (and NOT Spanish) decided he had the inalienable right to light up in the toilet. The pilot was so furious I thought we'd land on the spot.. And, as with all cases of divine justice, I believe, every other short, fat, balding, very sozzled skonk who filled every other seat on the plane, gave a little cheer when they saw a panda car waiting at the bottom of the steps on landing. The guy in question - comparatively 'young' and kind of 'Ibiza'd', was led away with his very tall and pretty girlfriend running behind, braying 'Fuckin' Kunts!!!' at the cops who wouldn't let her ride with him.

So... welcome to Scotland... That and the weather.. well, yes...and no. Yesterday was pretty.. real pretty. The sunlight as I drove around in the morning was absolutely crystal and beautiful. I took a little side-trip to Portobello and cursed not bringing my camera. The colour of the 'air', the distant beach viewed in snapshots through passing slices of street. It was a lovely day to take some photographs. So... yes, I quickly adapt, when I am afforded something worth seeing. I adapt to wherever I am, wherever we are.

So, it ain't bad being here. It's just... 'different'. And I had the added pleasure of listening to THE WHO triple CD compilation as I drove. I would need a trip to Argyll to hear it all, but I have my favourites. 'Magic Bus', 'Live At Leeds', 'Tommy', 'Who's Next', 'Quadrophenia' and their last album, "Who Are You?". (All of them... really.) So who ARE they? God rest John Entwistle. He pinned it all down and then died at the very end. Keith Moon's drums throughout.. So over-the-top, so completely wacky.. so out there.. Cymbal crashes everywhere! So entirely exciting!! Another one gone way way too soon. Roger Daltry. Greatest rock voices 'ever' list's top 5. And all hats off to Pete Townshend who not only wrote the songs but produced and 'played' to them. Every bit is perfect. He's a genius. If I saw him on the street, I WOULD throw myself in his path and kiss the ground he walks on. Such pleasure he's given me in my life. The most fun you can have with your clothes on.

So in all... it's been another great month. In a lifetime that's just a bit longer than a dog's, you've got to make the most of every moment. Still obsessed with Venice. The history of the place is as magnificent as it's art and architecture, and a yoga class last night reminded me I haven't seen even the tiniest shred of India.... So many incredible places... so much to do... so little time. Life is short... .it all depends where you look.

""I asked Bobby Dylan... I asked the Beatles.. I asked Timothy Leary.. but he couldn't help me neither, they call me The Seeker... I've been searchin' low and high!!! I won't get to get what I'm after.. til the day I die..."" 'The Seeker' - THE WHO

Said good-bye last night and closed the gates. Got to my flight early and secured a window-seat for take off. The wet road home (the M8) was pretty grim, as were the Scottish slate roofs, wet with morning rain.

It's been typically nice... but now, we've got things to do, places to go, people to be...

As this is my Grand Exit, I'll peruse El Periodico's 'Grande's Exitos' or HOT CD Releases for the week 29 Nov - 5 Dec 07:

Artist	Album Title	Estilo / Record Label	Commentary
ANTONIA FONT	"Coser i Contar"	Pop - DiscMedi	5 Stars - Antby nia Font is NOT a chick, she's 5 guys and the translation tells me, "They have an 'interplanetary imagination'." [Well... what do you expect? They're from Mallorca... a location famous for it's numerous UFO sightings. ]
MIRACLE FORTRESS	"Five Roses"	Pop - Rough Trade / Sinnamon	4 stars - "Debut project by Canadian, Graham Van Pelt, who employs a psychaedelia like the Beach Boys, but with a beautifully personal twist and intuitive viewpoint." [i.e. he idolizes Brian Wilson, but rather than park outside the house on Mulholland Drive - binoculars at the ready, he made a wrong turn on Sunset and ended up in Bryant Park.
EEF BARZELAY	"Eef Barzelay"	Pop Rock - Houston Party	4 stars - "Includes sentimental passages from New York poet Clem Snide, over a full-bodied electric background." [I guess you've got to hear it, but the name is a bit of an off-putter.]
NEIL YOUNG	"Chrome Dreams II"	Rock-Folk - Reprise / Warner	4 stars - (yeah.. I've got to get this) - ""The title suggests it's a continuation of his legendary road-trip disc from 1977." [Whatever.. it's Neil Young. Enough said.]
PETTI	"ON"	Folk-Rock - Gaztelupelo Hotsak	3 stars -"Using traditional American materials, i.e. guitars, drums, vocals and violins; Masters of vitality after 5 long years of silence." [Sounds the way I go about things... 1 year doing something... 15 years thinking about it.]
DOYLE BRAMHALL	"Is It News"	Blues-Rock - Yep Rock / DiscMedi	3 stars - "Sounds like Ray Vaughan, for whom Doyle composed and played drums during many years. Mixes retro-rock, rockabilly, white soul and electric blues with Texas hill country sensibilities." [Phew... anything else he could throw in there? A little Bach perhaps? Some Stravinski.. for that neglected 'touch of class'.
TALIB KWELI	"Eardrum"	Hip-Hop - Blacksmith / Warner	3 stars - "with a penetrating flow, but nothing aggressive and with enough velocity in his cadencious diction..." [Wow... I wish I wrote reviews like this. But what can you say about Hip Hop? I mean.. what can you say..?? you gotta see the video. Are there enough bitches in the bath? That's the $64,000 question.]
SINNIKA LANGELAND	"Starflowers"	Jazz-Rock - ECM	4 stars - "Singer and interpreter of the 'Kantel', the traditional folk music of Finland. Langeland takes verses from Hans Boril and sound-samples from forests and trees that grow and converts it into music." [I wonder if she would take a look at our composter in the back green.]
SHIVAREE	"Tainted Love: Mating Calls & Fight Songs	Pop Experimental - V2	3 stars - "Singer Ambrosia Parsley and a companion, arrive at a terrain of phantasms and other spectres in a repertoire of covers. They delight in their similarity to Michael Jackson and the borrowed styles of Phil Spectre, Leadbelly, Chuck Berry, Gary Glitter and even a perversely moderated nocturnal dose of Motley Crue!" [Maybe just call it 'pop mental' and leave it at that. But V2 seems to like it. You see Virginia.. it IS possible to get a record deal. How about 'Cordelia Corriander'?]
COREA & FLECK	"The Enchantment"	Jazz - Concord	3 stars - "The immaculate piano of Corea and the flexible banjo of Fleck, dialogue without apparent force in their own repertoire, which hides no surprises." [Makes you wonder why they bothered.]
GROUNDTRUTHER	"Altitude"	Jazz - Thirsty Ear	3 stars - "Groundtruther is the project of Charlie Hunter, who usually plays guitar of 7 or 8 strings and Bobby Previte on drums. On every disc they seek the complication of a third musician." [Then why not just GET a third musician??]
RUPERT GREGSON-WILLIAMSON	"Bee Movie"	Film Soundtrack - Sony Classical	5 stars - In the style of the music of his brother, Harry Gregson-Williamson, the composer lights himself with a symphonic dynamic, that follows the habitual forefathers in animation. Lovely melodies, references and authors like Mancini or Williams over an educated rhythm of the imagination. [Soundtrack from the new DreamWorks cartoon. I guess it's a 'must have'.]

as I said before.. it's always interesting to read what is 'rated' in another country.

Oddly... today... really missing the pub that was The Princess Alexandra on Portobello Road.. missing watching Lemmy stroll around the lounge, completely off his face.. GRINNING or just baring his teeth, as was his wont when he was lacing his Jack. I do like things about the UK. I LOVE London... and miss Ladbroke Grove / Notting Hill.. Portobello market on weekends. Last time I visited, it looked like the place had been bought up and re-styled by Kate Moss. Still... it's got something of it's old self... forever. I'll certainly never forget.

And as with every new month... I'll be retiring an 'old' month.. Probably May-June 2005 - California Dreaming.....