Not a huge amount of listening to report so far today, but that’s not an untypical Saturday. Most of the day has been spent trying to get things done. Succeeding, by and large.

Swell and the Fall

Up fairly early with the dregs of the Swell record still sloshing around my head. I checked the shelves and in fact I have three albums by the band, but not the one that really floated my boat way back when, which was called ‘…Well?’. So, I looked that up on Spotify. The album wasn’t there but the lead EP seemed to be and I remembered the track ‘At Long Last‘ so I gave that a listen. Laptop connected to hifi.

Thinking about Devon Record Club whilst I was getting up, and begining once more the process of sifting and considering my options, I found myself thinking of ‘Bend Sinister’, and singing ‘Terry Waite Sez’ in the shower. As I had Spotify on the go, I played all 1m38s of that.

Adam and Joe

Adam and Joe are back for a 12 week run on 6 Music. I love Adam and Joe like I love my oldest friends, like I love Danny Baker. Radio builds such personal connections between presenters and listeners and when it gets it right i’m a sucker. Both Adam and Joe and Danny Baker have been off the air for some time now, and Saturdays have felt clouded. Sounds ridiculous. Now these two are back, Saturday mornings seem worth getting up for again.

Anyway, we listened for most of the first hour, sent a picture of an ‘unusual sandwich’ as our Black Squadron’ entry, see above, and then I had to start lugging rubble to the local recycling centre. According to Jo, the rest of the show was really funny.

Before it started I heard the Peel Session version of ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ followed by Propellerheads and the Rebel MC on Nemone’s show, and afterwards, Liz Kershaw played the Peel Session version of ‘How Soon Is Now’. Couldn’t really have asked for two better bits of Maida Vale magic.

Beach House

For the last month or so, partly prompted by Devon Record Club once more, I’ve been running through my shelves and picking out CDs that haven’t had a fair crack of the whip. Starting at ‘A’ I’ve revisited neglected albums by A.C. Acoustics, Arnold, Arab Strap, the Auteurs… Earlier in the week I pulled out the first Beach House album and stuck that in the car. I finally played it through this morning, running to and from the tip.

I guess it’s growing ever so slightly, but I’m also sure that my willingness to keep going back to it will drop off completely before it has a chance to really blossom. I don’t really get on with washed out voices, which seem to have been prevalent again over the last couple of years. I can hear, and appreciate, what Beach House are trying to do, but it just doesn’t work for me. And really, should we be affording respect to any band who start a song with the words, “In a cold winter Tokyo/In the mahjong parlour he waits”?