Sunday, September 16, 2012

Irish eyes smile.. again

I knew I could rely on the good wife to take time to peruse our large array of cds and find me the inspiration I need while I cook.

"4th draw down, left hand side, 16 back" she said, eyes not leaving the Living Channel.

Thanks babe, Christy Moore - Voyage, nice one. Once again, another $1 school fair purchase. (I'm beginning to sound like a cd dumpster diver), but still, an excellent find.

Christy Moore and Shane MacGowan are so different and yet so similar. Shane's vodka and razor blade vocal approach to the Celtic sound is what you fuel a party on Saturday night with. Christy's melodic, misty and at times melancholic sound is what you ease into a Sunday morning with.

The end product of each of these artists is quite different yet still undeniably Irish. They both sing of Irish history and nationalism although it's Moore who mixes folk and politics with his support of the Irish Republican movement and at times the IRA.

On a lighter note, I read somewhere that Christy Moore reckoned his song "The Voyage" has been played at over a million weddings.

I am a sailor, you're my first mate
We signed on together, we coupled our fate
Hauled up our anchor, determined not to fail
For the hearts treasure, together we set sail
With no maps to guide us we steered our own course
Rode out the storms when the winds were gale force
Sat out the doldrums in patience and hope
Working together we learned how to cope


Life is an ocean and love is a boat
In troubled water that keeps us afloat
When we started the voyage, there was just me and you
Now gathered round us, we have our own crew
Together we're in this relationship
We built it with care to last the whole trip
Our true destination's not marked on any charts
We're navigating to the shores of the heart


That's enough to put some Irish mist in those Irish eyes..

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Finding a new groove

I listen to the radio Monday to Friday for about 20 minutes a day. In my car, 10 minutes each way. During that time I rarely listen to a complete song. If it's not the ads it's the DJs wittering on or I'm station surfing for a better song. To be fair I'm not much more at ease with a CD of late. Time for a new groove...


Being of Scottish extraction it never entered my head to pay full price, I'm off to the local School Fair. After flicking aside Mozart this and New Seekers that I come across a modern looking, elaborately packaged CD from a band I've never heard of, Underoath - Survive Kaleidoscope. Could this be my new groove?

For the bargain price of $1 I take my new CD/DVD deluxe edition purchase home and pop on track 1. Everything starts off ok, very quiet and ambient, a bit sort of Brian Eno-ish. It reminds me of the first time I heard Siouxsie And The Banshees live LP 'Nocturne'. Everything on that LP started off quiet and orchestral and then launches into 'Israel' with a crash, brilliant. Underoath on the other hand are an entirely different kettle of fish. The only danger of a crash with this was me pushing past furniture to hit the eject button. Had I known for a single second that I'd selected an American Christian Metalcore CD I would have dropped it quicker than Superman drops Kryptonite. These must be some very angry young men.

Somebody should have warned me that searching for a new groove can be a dangerous game.

I am going to have to tread far more carefully.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Something Old, Something New

When I asked my middle child to delve into my CD collection and choose a CD of mine that she found interesting she plucked out The Animals - The Singles Plus. I've probably had that CD for 20 years and i don't know that I've put it on for at least the last 10. It got me thinking, how many others in the rack need a good dusting off?

Time to try this out again with my eldest and see what she comes up with for me. I think I need to be a bit clearer with the brief though. No grabbing the first CD within reach. I want some thought going into this please. If I get The Animals again I'm threatening a surprise jalapeƱo on her pizza.

Well, she has at least pretended to show some involvement, she's dipped into the "M" section and plucked out The Meat Puppets - Forbidden Places. When quizzed on why this CD, all she could muster was "because their name is really gross". I was ignorant of the Meat Puppets in their prime and only stumbled across this CD for a dollar at a school fair. The alt-country/punk sound works well in general, only getting a bit tangled in itself as they tread off the path into mid heavy grunge. It's probably all a sign that as I age I prefer the 'quirky' to the 'noisy'.

Here's hoping that daughter number three chooses something good for me...
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