Spin the black circle

Had a couple of people ask why I'd stopped doing this, so here we go again. What I've been listening to, this past week or so:

The Smiths: - 'The Queen is Dead'. Ahead of the new Morrissey album out next week (and after hearing the fantastic new single 'Irish Blood, English Heart') I decided to give one of my favourite smith's albums a few spins. Hard to beat songs like 'Cemetry Gates, 'Big Mouth', 'I Know it's Over' and 'The boy with the thorn in his side'. Still a great record.

Hole: - 'Celebrity Skin'. Not sure what made me give this a spin, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was still a pretty decent album. Mad Courtney does write a good tune every now and again, and whilst this album lost the raw power of the excellent 'Live Through This', it was still a lot better than it ever got credit for being.

Nina Simone: - 'Sings the Blues' As they say, don't make 'em like this anymore. Not my favourite Simone album, but it's hard not to enjoy this record, and her great vocals on it, all the same. 'I want a little sugar in my bowl' never failing to raise a smile.

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Substack: the new blogging and a new music newsletter

Hello again my old blogger blog. Just checking in to plug the new substack newsletter I'm doing. It is also home to the CTTB Music podcast and its archive too. Why not pay me a visit and sign up for future editions of the newsletter (free)

Todd Rundgren @ The Forum 23/11/2008

I think this was Todd's first appearance at the Forum since he recorded a live album there back in 1994 on the No World Order tour. He was all alone for that one. Tonight, things could not have been more different as Todd brought the Arena tour to London. What can I say. It rocked. Playing the same set that he has been doing for the whole tour - opening with Love in Action, Open my Eyes, Black Maria, I Saw the Light etc, before playing Arena in its entirety - this was guitar rock heaven (and let's face it, probably the last time you'll see Todd doing this kind of tour in the UK). The band were tight, the backing vocals near perfection, and a few ropey moments aside, Todd's vocals strong and good. It was a real joy to see him playing so much lead guitar, after recent years of being more of the 'singer in the band'. There were a few technically issues near the start, when Todd couldn't get the clean guitar sound he wanted, and one amusing moment when he manag...

The Decemberists - 'The Hazards of Love'

Whilst the Decemberists have been around for a number of years, and a friend of mine is a big fan, I have to confess - a few tunes aside - they have never really made much of a splash with me. With their fifth album - 'The Hazards of Love' - a 17-track concept album that sort of tells a story about a fair maiden ravished by a shape-shifting demon (no, really) - however, I am suddenly find myself surprisingly won over. On some levels - like most concept albums - it is utter tosh, but with its repeating musical motifs and reprises, making you quickly think that actually there are only about five actual songs on the album - a clever trick. Like with all good concept albums this makes listening on shuffle not the ideal way to digest this album - especially as their are short 'interlude' pieces joining all the songs too. Added to all this the fact that the band seem to have a love for early 70's British folk/prog/heavy metal and this walks right up my street - and will ...

Todd is God

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