Saturday 30 January 2010
The last two days have been extremely good. On Friday it was my third session at All FM in Levenshulme. With John away (he’d gone to Cardiff to see Future of the Left play at Clwb on Thursday and Friday night), I was going it alone – albeit with three others. I left in good time, arriving at the station at 10am on the dot. A few new faces were being inducted, Jason (Cooke, the volunteer coordinator and presenter of the Finally Friday Show) was busy showing someone how to use Myriad (the software which stores all the audio – songs, jingles etc – and plays them out live), and I went upstairs to the production office to prepare some notes for the show.
The Finally Friday Show, 11-12, is a fun, easygoing show, with music, banter, jokes, interviews and community information. It’s also a good opportunity to train up new volunteers to the station, which is why John and I have been helping out the last three weeks. Or rather, we’ve been coming along to be helped out by Jason, the show’s presenter. Jason’s a cracking bloke, always ready with a smile and a joke, and with a vast wealth of musical and technical knowledge that he’s more than happy to pass on to those who ask nicely. He’s the ideal introduction to radio, and I’m thrilled to be working with him.
In the production office, I was just scanning around for something community-based to read out on air. I decided to bring attention to a meeting at Platt Fields, by the Friends group, which was happening the next day. As I was doing this, a new face popped in, a chap called Craig who introduced himself, and said how he’d been helping out at All FM for a few months. I think he said he was studying sound production too. He was to be our producer for the show. Nearer to air time, Charity arrived, having had her first experience of the show the week before, with the full onslaught of Jason, John and myself leaving her in tears of laughter on the floor of studio one. Amazingly, she was back for a second helping!
After hearing that there could’ve been up to 8 people in the studio for this week’s show, it was a bit of a relief when it just boiled down to just Jason, Charity and myself on microphones, with Craig taking a back seat to observe proceedings. The show planned (roughly speaking!), we went through songs and items at a typically choppy pace. I found myself making notes during the show, partially to jot down some of the off-air banter, and to remind myself of things mentioned and half-mentioned. It reminds me of the PULP editorial meetings last year where I would try to make as many notes as possible (calling them minutes would be slightly misleading), as we talked about so much stuff. Of the things we discussed, about 50% of it would be dynamite, of which only some 10% would ever see the light of day. So I’m glad I have records of some of the half-conceived ideas. And some of the scatterbrained idiocy too, of course.
The show was over just as soon as it had started, and we’d managed to fit in what seemed like a great deal. An hour is a short show, but it does the job very well, and keeps the pace up. No room for stalling. We’d all had a good laugh too, and that’s the main idea of the show. And, with radio, if the presenters are having a good time, I think that mood rubs off on the listener. At least I hope so.
We also played typically varied music, including The Ramones, Shampoo, Peter Gabriel, Nirvana, Future of the Left, Feldmaus and so on. I’m trying to think what I’d like to play next week.
After a nice end to a great show, I headed back into Fallowfield to get some groceries before heading home with them. The afternoon was spent doing some reading, and following up the Feldmaus play from earlier. The track we played was in the Free Download of the Week feature, and the whole album was free to download. Having really enjoyed it, I went to find out more. The album’s been put out by a netlabel, which reminded me of a couple of others, all dealing in ambient electronica. A few clicks later and I had managed to downloaded something like 16 hours of new music. All free, all legal. Amazing really. All artists I have never heard of too, but all from labels I have heard something from – and that’s the good thing about a good record label: you can usually trust them to put out stuff you’ll enjoy. That’s the hope at least; I’ve barely made a dent in the playlist, although the Feldmaus, Clouds in My Home and Doyeq stuff is all fantastic. They’re the first three releases on the Passage Music label. Go get ‘em if ambient, glitchy electronica is your cuppa tea!
In the evening, I had heard that the Moon and Mars were meant to be looking pretty cool and as luck would have it, the skies over Manchester were clear as could be. I had a fun time trying to take a pictures of the Moon while my dinner of chilli cooked. Good thing that slow-cooked chilli tastes amazing, huh? After I’d finished faffing with my camera, I enjoyed the chilli and a few ciders in the company of Withnail & I.
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Saturday morning I was woken, at 10am on the dot, by the postie. He gave me a parcel from Hong Kong, which contained the spare power adapter for my netbook. Thankfully I haven’t had any more trouble from the netbook since the day I thought its adapter had died. Still, at only 6 quid and change, the spare (official!) adapter was a bargain, and it’s reassuring to know I have a spare in case the original carks it again.
I was quite glad the postie had got me up – not just awake, but up and about – as the weather outside was utterly glorious. Bright sunshine and not a cloud in the azure sky. I quickly made plans to take a trip out with my walking shoes and camera, and decided to head down Chorlton way as I still had yet to do so. With sammidges packed, I headed out just after 12 and looked for the Fallowfield Loop cycleway, a disused railway which has been transformed into a nifty, tarmac’d cycle/horse/footpath from Chorlton through Fallowfield, Levenshulme and Gorton to the reservoirs at Fairfield. It was great to get out into the sunshine, and to have a separate footpath to walk along instead of schlepping it down the busy roads of southern Manchester.
I found my way to Chorlton, having followed the path for a mile or two through underpasses and between residential areas. I passed a handful of cyclists and felt envious of their smooth progress. I’d love to hire a bike and cycle the length from Chorlton to the reservoirs one day. I also passed the developments taking place at the Chorlton end of the line, where Metrolink is constructing a new tram link.
I passed through Chorlton Park briefly, before emerging back out into a large, open space which led towards the River Mersey and the Sale and Chorlton water parks. I was glad I had my walking shoes on as some of the route was a bit wet underfoot, but also because they are incredibly comfy for walks like this. Very nice to walk around Manchester too, as it is all so flat!
I stumbled upon Jacksons Bridge, a historic crossing of the River Mersey, and location of the Jacksons Boat pub. Here there was the sound of a skillfully-controlled model aircraft whizzing and swooping around, several families, walkers and dog-walkers, and the sound of the Mersey, bubbling and sloshing along on its merry way from Stockport to Liverpool and beyond. This was also the fork in the path for Sale and Chorlton water parks. I opted for the latter, and began to follow the Mersey along its south bank. On the right was a golf course, and I followed the river for a few miles until a huge electricity substation, quietly humming away. I noted the irony that, to keep intruders out of the 132,000 volt danger zone, the fence was electrified. Hmm.
Shortly after, I found Chorlton Water Park, busy with birds and visitors. I stayed awhile to have my lunch – I was pretty worn out by this stage – before continuing on along the bank of the Mersey. I could’ve/should’ve headed back towards Chorlton and home from here, but something took me back to the Mersey, so I carried on. Luckily I was checking my route on Google Maps on my phone and I could see that carrying on to Didsbury was a bit too far for this trip, but that I could cut off at one point and cross through West Didsbury and home. So that’s what I did.
It was so good to see all these new places I hadn’t yet visited, and it really inspired me to do more of the same. Also, with the path along the Mersey being part of the Trans Penine Trail, it got me thinking that this summer I could do a much longer walk than I’ve ever tried before. There are a few candidates, all that would take a week or more, with camping or hostel stays necessary. It’s what I hoped to attempt in Scotland two and half years ago, but that didn’t quite go to plan. I feel like it’s time to do it properly. I’ll give it some thought over the coming months.
I made my way home from West Didsbury, following the cursed Princess Road. I had to cross this road four times today – fortunately three times were under it via footpaths. Never before has such a blight on existence been given such a misleading name. I think something like Botulism Road or Big Bastard Horrible Street would be better suited. But alas. It led me home, via the sobering vision of the Southern Cemetery.
Once home, I discovered (thanks to my nifty step counter!) that I had walked some 12 miles. Not bad for an aimless wander! And a great use of a glorious Saturday I reckon. Now I have a licence to stay indoors tomorrow doing some reading and catching up on some uni work.
More photos from Saturday’s walk can be found here.
It’s that time of year again…
Holy crap, is it really two years?
Two years ago tomorrow, I left a cold Heathrow airport for the somewhat sunnier climes and welcoming arms of New Zealand, where I spent seven weeks travelling, photographing and catching up with friends. I also kept a journal, and last year I created a blog to commemorate the trip, with a photo and journal entries every day of the trip, exactly one year on. Some of you may have already seen this, but for those who haven’t, and for me, I’ve decided to run the blog again this year.
If you’d like to follow the blog again this year, just head to nzjournal.wordpress.com and either check the site every day, or just subscribe via RSS. If you subscribed last year, it will appear in your RSS reader again this year. If you don’t want to see it a second time, just delete the feed. Sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.
I suppose it’s a bit silly ‘commemorating’ a trip that happened so recently, but if you know me, you’ll know I like getting all nostalgic, and this is a good opportunity to do so as I feel I documented the trip fairly well. Maybe you’ll enjoy it too.
Anyway. The blog’s back up, and the first entry starts tomorrow and there’ll be daily updates until March 4th. A nice distraction until Spring, perhaps.
A most exquisite joy/Thanks, Lis
Given how today was a mostly average day of schleppin’ into uni to attend some lectures that didn’t teach me a whole lot, I had a pretty subtly lovely afternoon.
The first part was brought about by spending some time in the library, leafing through some books on diary-keeping (stop me if this gets a bit too meta…). Some varying attitudes were present, although there was one particularly lovely book that captured exactly what I wanted to read about; methods, good practice, justification, brief histories. That sort of thing.
(Incidentally, just so you don’t think I’m slackin’, I am still keeping a daily diary, but for various reasons I’ve decided to keep it private. It’s a fabulously therapeutic process for me, and I think this blog probably works better with less-frequent/more-interesting posts. It’s not you, it’s me etc.)
So I left the building in that peculiar post-library haze of ideas and thoughts, into a Manchester accompanied by a cold wind and light snow. The type of flakes that feel small and almost metallic, which force you to squint as you walk lest they get in your eyes.
I stopped at Ryman’s to pick up some stationary and Spar for stamps, being kind of surprised at the surly service I received in both. I put it down to them and not me, silently cursing them as I left. Continued my walk down Oxford Road at that busy mid-afternoon time, passing countless people coming and going.
Before long, I got to Whitworth Park where I cut across the still snow-covered grass to avoid the icy paths. An inquisitive dog came to sniff my trousers before trotting off through the snow, and that’s about the moment I became aware of the song on my iPod. It came on via Shuffle, and I didn’t recognise it. But I picked up lyrics about wolves and it painted a vivid-yet-hazy picture in my head, accompanied with some sweet, simple music.
It’s a mystery how these songs get on my iPod; songs I don’t think I’ve heard before. I’ve set up a smart playlist which only syncs tracks to my Shuffle that I’ve: i) played at least once; ii) not played in the last 2 months; iii) not skipped in the last month. And yet sometimes tracks fall through that I must have played once and not registered at the time. Mostly these get skipped in short order as I search for familiarity, but occasionally there is just something so compelling about an unknown track that I have to keep listening to work out who it is, or to enable investigation later. Some recent examples include Wintersleep’s Jaws of Life (which crept in via an NME covermount CD), The Chills’ Special Time (buried on the Secret Box unreleased compilation) and Beta Satan’s Let’s Talk About Sex (one of many albums given to me by Troels, my arbiter of good taste in music).
And here, yet again, was a song I was instantly falling in love with which I couldn’t place at all, and which seemed to perfectly soundtrack my movements as I floated through the park with snow in my eyes. I didn’t want it to end, so I was glad it was a relatively long song with a seemingly perfect structure.
Once I got home, I looked it up and, hey presto, this revelatory track was Wolves by Phosphorescent.
Who I had never heard of.
So how had it entered my life? Aha! A mix* by the mix mistress herself, Lis at Last Year’s Girl, from October 2008 – coincidentally the first month we ‘met’ as we both geeked off about the newly-released Cardinology. (*The mix doesn’t appear to be online at present, but for the purposes of continuity, you can still go read the tracklist and Lis’ write-up.)
So thanks, Lis. I know you didn’t mean for that strange alignment to happen, although I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear it did. But it certainly made my day. And it couldn’t have happened without you.
Monday 11 January 2010
After several weeks of predominantly snowy, cold weather – the mercury in Manchester hit something like -19c recently – I think most people are beginning to get a bit fed up of it. It’s still something of a novelty for a country that doesn’t really do well-defined seasons, but after such a prolonged spell (again, for the UK), it’s about time it cleared off and went back to wherever it came from. And so this morning, in Manchester at least, signs of the inevitable thaw had arrived.
I glumly looked out of the window to see patches of damp tarmac, dirty, slushy snow beginning to accumulate. There’s still quite a bit of snow about, it’s just that in places it is turning to slick sheets of ice, and in others it is a filthy slush. So it was with not a little trepidation that I stepped outside today to head to Sainsbury’s. Even with my nifty walking boots, with their essential grip, pleasant warmth and snug fit, I felt myself slide on some patches of ice.
The trip to Sainsbury’s was uneventful, but it was the walk back through Platt Fields Park that was such a revelation. I noticed an unusual bird hopping up the bark of a tree and tried to get a closer look as he hopped to and fro. I soon realised that it was a Woodpecker and, as if to confirm it for me, a few seconds later I heard the trademark rhythmic drilling into the side of a tree. A few steps further on and I caught sight of a Blue Tit flitting about, shortly followed by a Thrush.
I’ve got some kind of inbuilt appreciation for birds, no doubt inherited from my mother and her love of them – and a childhood spent with a garden filled to the brim with peanuts, bird feeders and birdhouses. Whenever I am home even now, the sight of a Red Kite fills me with happiness as it signifies that I am in my home area – a successful breeding program has seen Red Kites in great numbers in the Chilterns. But the sight of these birds in the park reminded me that nature is moving on relentlessly – that after this cold snap, and now this thaw, spring will soon follow. And where the UK doesn’t really seem to get proper seasons like other places, we do transitions really well indeed. And that’s what I’m looking forward to now: the transition from winter to spring.
In other areas, I feel this same freshness: it’s a new year, of course; a new term at university starts tomorrow; John and I are treading the boards of community radio for the first time this Friday – although just watching from the wings for now. And where for the last month I have been recounting the year’s best music, films and so on, it now absolutely feels like it is time to look forward again – to this year’s prospective best albums. I even sampled Delphic’s new album, out today (on Spotify now – link). Despite the relative hype, I rather like what I hear. I must give it a few more spins, but it sounds a lot like Bloc Party to me, mixed with some very nice electronic instrumental stuff which is just self-indulgent enough without getting arrogant.
I also have a couple of gigs coming up, in two venues I’ve actually not visited yet – Denis Jones at Band On The Wall and Future of the Left and Kong at the Ruby Lounge. The Denis Jones gig has finally convinced me to download his album, although it is three years old now. I presume new material is in the works, but his performance at RNCM with Johann Johannson last year was such an eye-opener that I’m thrilled to be going to see him again.
Being away from Manchester for a few weeks has given me a strong desire to get back into the swing of things, and with Troels visiting this weekend, I will have the opportunity to do that as I play the guide while remaining mostly a tourist myself. Visits to Piccadilly Records will most certainly ensue, as will a drink in the Whitworth Arms and possibly the Briton’s Protection. And wherever else takes our fancy.
I’ve also been enthused by the likes of the Love & Disaster label (see Hey! Manchester interview here) releasing a 10″ EP showcasing four Manchester bands as their first release – it instantly made me think of the Dunedin Double EP. It might just be my naive sense of fantasy, but I often see parallels between Manchester and the likes of Dunedin and Christchurch (at least in the early 1980s) in terms of the independent music scenes. But I suppose the same can be said of most scenes in most places. Still, zines such as High Voltage, releases like L&D’s 10″ EP, the culture for newer lo-fi bands to release stuff on tape – they are all encouraging signs of an enthusiastic music scene. That’s something to celebrate.
And just in case you thought I was getting a little bit too Manchester-minded (hah!), the continuing news of Flying Nun’s new lease of life has been keeping me excited ever since it was uttered to me in confidence in October of last year. It means re-release of classic material which desperately deserves it, new releases by acts such as Die! Die! Die! – and a whole lot more, in terms of New Zealand’s cultural heritage. And that’s something to celebrate too.
So, in a roundabout way, I’m in the mood for change, for new things, for transitions. And with that in mind, it’s about time I got to bed to enjoy my new bed linen.
Five things making my Saturday evening
Beta Satan – Girls (2008)
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Kong – Snake Magnet (2009)
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Future of the Left – Travels With Myself And Another (2009)
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Lipton’s Sunny Camomile Tea in pyramid bags
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Esquire’s January edition*
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*In particular, Esquire’s 108 Things That Make Us Happy, which included several items that either made me laugh or just made me happy to think about. It’s the sort of feature that makes Esquire worth subscribing to for me – I stumbled upon it at random and at just the right moment. And, obviously, it inspired this list.
