Sunday, January 31, 2010

BOREALIS 2010

The program of the BOREALIS festival of Bergen is here . I know the local artists, but not many of the others, one exception being Steve Reich! If we are going to go minimalistic, let me mention that Phillip Glass will be here at the Bergen International Festival in May and Terry Riley visited BOREALIS some years ago. Next year go for La Monte Young and Eno.
I also look forward to percussion player Robyn Schulkowsky. I have heard her live (Molde Jazz Festival) and on CD with Nils Petter Molvær.
The festival is happening 9 -13 March, but they already had a satellite in London, and the good Mapsadaiscal was there.
Here are my BOREALIS pictures from 2008 and 2009.

Lidbo Remix

Jeanette Lindström won the Swedish Grammy for "Attitude and orbit control" (Diesel 2009), where she worked with Robert Wyatt. One of the most beautiful songs from 2009 was "River" (Wyatt singing), one of the tracks on this album. It seems like Diesel/Playground uploaded a "Lidbo Mix" of the song. Anyone seen this on some kind of physical format?

Damn I thought it was "Libido Remix", it´s made by Håkan Lidbo, and here´s another link.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Bicarbonate of Chicken


What a lovely Ivor Cutler homage! "Bicarbonate of chicken" is from "Jammy smears" (1976). Add to shopping basket.

Ivorfan has more of them too.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Paper of pins


How about a laid back electronica-jazz album with your drink (or tea if you prefer)? Bill Wells / Annie Whitehead / Stefan Schneider / Barbara Morgenstern´s "Paper of pins" (Karaoke Kalk 2009) surfaced autumn 2009. The trombone player Annie Whitehead and electronica artist Barbara Morgenstern are people I know from the Robert Wyatt discography, but I could not place Bill Wells (he has played with Lol Coxhill and Kevin Ayers) and Stefan Schneider.
Imagine something with a dash of Carla Bley (when she is relaxed) and a teaspoon of Penguin Cafe Orchestra ( Whitehead played there), then you might be close to the flavor here. And don´t you worry, if you don´t like it. The record clocks in at less than 30 minutes.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Jaga Jazzist


This year started almost too good, with several great Norwegian albums being released. We have had Motorpsycho and Shining in the blog, og here comes Jaga Jazzist with "One-armed bandit" (2010). The prog word must be used again, because this one smells good of prog too. The band is a bit ironic, calling track number 6 "Prognissekongen", meaning "The king of the prog gnomes" in Norwegian. Lars Horntveth tells National Post (23 January): "There's six or seven time changes in that song, and it's almost impossible to play the piano and guitar stuff. But then of course, we don't want to make wanky progrock music; we want to make catchy music".
You will be able to find traces of other influences too, and Patrick Lindgren in the Swedish paper Göteborgsposten (27 January) claims that he can hear "influences like Steve Reich, Soft Machine/Robert Wyatt, Tortoise and Squarepusher" (and let´s list Phillip Glass and Terry Riley too), but to be honest they just sound like Jaga Jazzist.
I listened to the previous albums "A livingroom hush" (2001), "The Stix" (2002) and "What we must" (2005) earlier this evening, to freshen up my memory, and the conclusion is they are all different, they all sound like Jaga Jazzist and I recommend all of them too. "One-armed bandit" just might be the best place to start.
The Molde International Jazz Festival and the Øya Festival (Oslo) have played major parts in financing this nice album.

On Jaga Jazzist´s site they list these musicians as band members:
Mathias Eick – Trumpet, upright bass, keyboards + vibraphone
Marcus Forsgren – Guitars + effects
Even Ormestad – Bass + keyboards
Andreas Mjøs – Vibraphone, guitars, drums + electronics
Line Horntveth – Tuba + percussion
Martin Horntveth – Drums + drum-machines
Lars Horntveth – Tenor sax, bass-clarinet, guitars + keyboards
Øystein Moen – Keyboards
Erik Johannessen - Trombone + percussion
I throw in guitar wizard Stian Westerhus too for good measure.

Coverdesign: Yokoland.

If you collect The Thing, you just have to buy "One-armed bandit". They open the album with a 23 seconds long intro, before the fantastic title track starts rolling.

Robert Wyatt 65!


Theatre Royal Drury Lane vinyl
Originally uploaded by svennevenn

Robert Wyatt and Stuff is celebrating Robert Wyatt's birthday today. How about joining the party, by doing some Wyatt music shopping?

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

iPad

New times start this very day. The holy iPad is finally here. Yes, I want one, but unfortunately John Cooper Clarke also entered my brain, singing "The day my pad went mad".

"The kitchen has been ransacked
ski trails in the hall
a chicken has been dansacked
and thrown against the wall
in walks this dumb waiter
with a fountain pen and pad
saying how do you want this alligator
the day my pad went MAD"

Gil Scott-Heron


I'm afraid this blog is turning into a video festival, but I just have to post Gil Scott-Heron's "Me and the devil", taken from his first album in 13 years, strangely enough called "I´m new here" (out 8 February). Watch Coodie & Chike and Michael Sterling Eaton's video to the end, and you will also see Gil Scott-Heron read his rap poetry. Great!

Lol Coxhill & Roger Turner


Battersea Arts Centre recently had a festival of improvised music, and helentonic uploaded some fine videos. Here you get the colourful Lol Coxhill (soprano and vocals) with Roger Turner (drums).

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Some more from All Ears



Some more videos from the All Ears festival 2010 have surfaced on YouTube lately. Prepare yourself for Cunt Rash (Daniel Meyer Grønvold (guitar) and Dag Erik Knedal Andersen (drums)) at the Factory (Fabrikken), and drummer Paul Lytton at Henie Onstad Art Center (here shown together with a skating video!!).

Charles Hayward


On YouTube I found some info on a new DVD with Charles Hayward (This Heat, Clear Frame and lots of others) being released this month. The DVD seems to be a film made by Peter Bromley in 2007.
I heard Charles Hayward do a fantastic solo concert at the Safe As Milk festival in Haugesund (Norway) in 2007. Take a look at a few pictures from the happening.
Hot Chip invited Hayward to join them on their new album "One life stand" (2010), and Alexis Taylor from Hot Chip is on Hayward/Thomas/Coxon/Taylor "About" (2009).

Monday, January 25, 2010

Axolotl Roadkill and other reading suggestions

- Der Tagesspiegel (23 January 2010) writes about ("Axolotl Roadkill"), seventeen year old Helene Hegemann´s first book. The book seems to be peppered with rock references, and Robert Wyatt is in there somehow. In Germany they say it like this: "Hinzu kommen Popmusik-Referenzen mit hohem Retro-Anteil. Einige Kapitel sind nach Zitaten von Pink Floyd, Leonard Cohen oder Steve Miller benannt. Patti Smith, Kim Gordon, Robert Wyatt spuken durch die Dialoge, und ein Hit der britischen Beat-Combo The Zombies ist an einer Schlüsselstelle als emotional aufgeladene Geste inszeniert".
- Paul Morley on the new hyped music. Will it survive, will the artists bloom, will there be another Wyatt (OK I´m pushing it a bit here)? Read all about it in The Guardian (24 January 2010).
- Alec Ounsworth (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) "obsessing about Robert Wyatt"
- Swedish artist Nicolai Dunger names Ivor Cutler the coolest artist ever in ABCNYHETER (in Norwegian).
- Stuart Nicholson interviews Jan Garbarek in jazz.com.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Heavy Metal Fruit


Motorpsycho are at it again! Less than half a year after the only on vinyl album "Child of the future", Rune Grammofon puts out "Heavy metal fruit". It is classic Motorpsycho, and damned good, with stretched out numbers smelling a bit of both prog and Grateful Dead. I wouldn´t have been disappointed if they cut it down a bit (won´tell you where), but as long as they offer a three sided double vinyl edition, with cover by Kim Hiorthøy, and side A etched by the same man, you will not hear me complain.
The band is Kenneth Kapstad, Hans Magnus Ryan and Bent Sæther, and they are joined by Kåre Chr Vestrheim (keyb), Hanne Hukkelberg (voc) and Mathias Eick (tp).
They also had one of the LP sides etched by Hiorthøy on "Timoty´s Monster" (1994).

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Shining


The good men of Shining are touring to promote "Blackjazz" these days. The new album has received rave reviews (in Norway at least), and no wonder the Garage club in Bergen was packed Thursday evening, when they visited. My headbanging days are over (age and hair loss, say no more), but Shining is more of a metal band now, and the manic headbangers were in the front rows. Great fun to look at for the aged (almost like The Muppet Show).
The concert was good, and the record is really good, but I might be the only one who feel Shining were more exciting on "In the kingdom of kitsch" (2005) and "Grindstone" (2007).
The band is obviously a great live band, looking good with Munkeby up front like a rock and roller, even if guitar player Hermansson ruined it a bit, since he had to use crutches after some wild scene behavior i Oslo the previous day.
Grutle Kjellson of Enslaved joined the band to sing King Crimson´s "21st Century Schizoid Man" to end the show. Powerful!

Django Reinhardt 100


Today it is 100 years since Django Reinhardt was born. That should give you all an excuse for some celebration. Let it swing!

Friday, January 22, 2010

A street art disaster movie


Banksy´s film "Exit through the gift shop" will premiere at the Sundance film festival. If this is not just another Banksy stunt, we may be able to see what BBC claim to be billed as "the world's first street art disaster movie".

And talking about Bristol artist Banksy, let me recommend the book: "Children of the can: 25 years of Bristol graffiti" (Tangent Books, 2008). This book is packed with presentations of, and interviews with, Bristol street artists, and just a few pages for Banksy.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Mark Ellidge

Last week Robert Wyatt´s half brother Mark Ellidge died. Ellidge was a photographer, focusing on the performing arts in his work. He photographed Soft Machine in their early days (see "Middle Earth Masters"), and played piano on Wyatt´s solo album "The end of an ear". Read the obituary in Times Online. Sad news indeed.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Sten Sandell Trio


Sten Sandell Trio´s new album is out on Paal Nilssen-Love´s record company PNL. "Face of Tokyo" (PNL 004, 2009) is 70 minutes of hot improvisation (2 tracks), recorded in Tokyo in February 2008. The trio is Sandell himself (piano, voice), Johan Berthling (bass) and Paal Nilssen-Love drums. Sometimes I think I hear a koto in here, but I guess it´s just Sandell inside the piano. Some guttural singing and samurais on the cover, adds an eastern feel to the album. Play loud, and enjoy. If you find it, that is. I bought my copy at the All Ears festival, but sometimes it is pretty hard to find where they sell some of the great records made. The PNL albums are not on iTunes or eMusic either. Suggestions?

In addition to this album, there are three others on PNL, all of them with covers designed by Lasse Marhaug:
Magnus Broo/Paal Nilssen-Love: "Game" (PNL 003, 2008)
Nils Henrik Asheim/Paal Nilssen-Love: "Late Play" (PNL 002, 2007)
Lasse Marhaug/Paal Nilssen-Love: "Stalk" (PNL 001, 2007).

Fred Frith directing

O.M.E.GA en Concerto con Fred Frith from Xe val on Vimeo.

I am fascinated by Fred Frith as guitar player and noise maker, but haven´t seen him directing before! He looks quite cool in front of O.M.E.G.A. (ORCHESTRA MUSICA EUROPEA E GRUPPI ASSOCIATI).

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Links

- Did the Beatles nod to Robert Wyatt and Soft Machine on Abbey
Road´s “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer”? Then Play Long write: "The “pataphysical” reference may be a nod to Robert Wyatt and Soft Machine (who were busy recording their second album, including the track “Pataphysical Introduction,” at Olympic Studios in Barnes at the same time that the Beatles were doing preparatory work for Abbey Road)".
- The Swedes in Thus:Owls on Robert Wyatt´s "Sea Song" in Club Circuit: ..."There’s both beauty and harshness in he’s music as well as in he’s voice. Like life i think..".
- On choirs and health in "The Choral Cure".
- All About Jazz on "Soft Machine: Live At Henie Onstad Arts Centre 1971".
- Paul Morley interviews Brian Eno in The Guardian: "On gospel, Abba and the death of the record".
- Is Knackered Hack partly responsible for Robert Wyatt leaving Twickenham?
- Macchine Soffici E Talpe Perseguitate: IItalian interview with Robert Wyatt, recorded September/October 1979 published at Luca D Majer´s site.

Gold


"Gold" must be one of Peter Blegvad´s most beautiful and melancholic songs. It was originally on "King Strut & Other Stories" (1990), a record not easy to find perhaps, but "Gold" is on the sampler "Choices under pressure" (2001).
Here is a live version ( a quite new recording I guess) with Syd Straw (Golden Palominos). Check out her her latest album ("Pink Velour" 2008), where she sings Neil Young´s "Harvest" (it´s on Spotify).

Monday, January 18, 2010

All Ears 2010 (4)


All Ears 2010 is over, after the last concerts were held at the Henie Onstad Art Center Sunday afternoon.
First one out this day was Paul Lytton (picture), doing a 45 minutes long set on his 130 kilos drum set ! Strange stuff, and very fascinating. I really wanted to see Lytton´s hands as he was working, but he was partly hidden behind his equipment most of the time. This might be just the way he wants it to be of course, but a video projection on the wall behind him would have been cool!
Next one out was John Tilbury giving us a very relaxing and beautiful improvisation on grand piano. He had to cheat with notes inside the instrument, telling him what notes NOT to play.
According to a message on the door, some of this might end up on a record too.

More of my pictures from All Ears here, and check out Tarje´s too (he´s cheating, using a better camera).
Svennejanson uploaded some videos here (and some of them quite lousy too, not being the fault of the musicians).

Sunday, January 17, 2010

All Ears 2010 (3)


The third evening at All Ears brought a new series of good concerts.
First ones out were Kristin Andersen (tp), Anna Zaradny (sax) and Inga Margrete Aas (bass), with some relaxing impro, and then Cunt Rash blew it all, by delivering a perfect 10 minutes long set of pure blow out powernoise. You better watch out if you meet Daniel Meyer Grønvold (guitar) and Dag Erik Knedal Andersen (drums).
Anla Courtis came all the way from Argentina, and he insisted that it was summer outside! That guy must have a pretty wild imagination, and he proved it too, by using what he found lying around to make music. The instruments were clothes hangers, clothes lines and beer cans, and of course, drinking beer and drying clothes are summer activities!
C. Spencer Yeh (vocal, violin and microphone stands) and Okkyung Lee (cello) delivered a great set too, and the evening ended with Paul Lytton (dr), Johannes Bauer (tb) and Jon Rune Strøm (b). Some free jazz at the end was just perfect (for me, at least).

If you check Maja Ratkje´s Twitter, you will see she might be planning a record with two of the people mentioned in this blog post, Okkyung Lee and Kristin Andersen.

And now they say it was NO EARPLUGS in the All Ears urinal.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

All Ears 2010 (2)


On the second day of the All Ears festival the boys in Basshaters (Tony Dryer and Jacob F. Heule) proved they could make some more noise than in Projecting Surface (see day one), but the highlight of the evening was next artists out, Stine Janvin Motland (vocals), Dag Magnus Narvesen (drums) and a smiling (and quite impressed?) Johannes Bauer on trombone. What a great trio! (Check out for some videos on YouTube later).
I met a shocked Bauer during Robert Piotrowicz´s (picture) concert. We were both hiding just outside the concert area. I was afraid my heartbeat was going to change into the wrong rythm. So far this year, the Polish artists have made the real noise (see Anna Zaradny day 1).
Last pair out was Stian Westerhus and Zach Hill with their brutal rock & noise.

Puh, just a couple of hours and I´m off again for more. I´m hoping for some country or americana tonight, but I might be disappointed there.

Friday, January 15, 2010

All Ears 2010 (1)


All Ears 2010 is happening in Oslo, and on Thursday evening we were served a mixed dish indeed.
Projecting Surface (picture) started the festival in a relaxing way. The band is Tony Dryer/Jacob F. Heule (Basshaters) and Kyrre Laastad/Håvard Volden (Dallas Wallpaper). Quiet and meditative impro, could be a fitting description, and quite nice atually.
Polish Anna Zaradny was the only one giving the ears a shock this night, with her computer and brutal sound. Too tough for me, while others rushed to the record sellers to buy her music. Just the way it should be!
If Projecting Surface were quiet, Lucio Capece and Werner Dafeldecker were hard to hear at all, after Zaradny´s noise sculpture.Pretty strange stuff. This was the second time Capece and Dafeldecker performed as a duo.
Note to self: Bring both ear plugs and hearing aid when visiting All Ears.
And then it was party time with Han Bennink and Frode Gjerstad in great shape. Gjerstad on clarinet a lot of the time, and Bennink on drums, shoes, floor and teeth as usual. Amazing (again)!

Four concerts, and finishing just after midnight is well done, but the venue was freezing cold.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Kevin Coyne box

A new Kevin Coyne box with 4 CDs is just out: "I Want My Crown. The Anthology. 1973-1980". You get several songs from "Sanity Stomp" (1980), where he worked with Robert Wyatt (Wonderful wilderness, Loving hand, New motorway and You can´t kill us).

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

All Ears vorspiel


UTMARK (in Norwegian) had a mini All Ears festival Tuesday night.
First we got Han Bennink & Frode Gjerstad with a fine free jazz set (no accidents this time). They were followed by C. Spencer Yeah doing noise music on violin, and also using the microphones as instruments, and then Zach Hill and Stian Westerhus finished the evening with some heavy powernoise. That duo is tough enough, and OK, Zach Hill is the must-hear-drummer people tried to tell me he was.
I had to run for the last bus, and lost half the Hill/Westerhus set, but all of these artists are playing at All Ears in Oslo this weekend. See you there?
Svennejanson uploaded some dark videos with abrupt endings on YouTube, but if you dig high quality filming and magnificent sound quality, you just might want to watch something else?

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Frank Rosaly


The other day we had a dramatic message in the blog, according to Scorch Trio and Frank Rosaly replacing Paal Nilssen-Love on drums.
There are lots of new videos on YouTube now, with Rosaly and sax man Dave Rempis. Check them out!
New album "Cyrillic" on 482 Music.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll


And then the film about Ian Dury ("Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll") is in the cinemas (some places at least). Dave Matcross is director and Andy "Gollum" Serkis is Ian Dury . Read The Guardian and BBC for some more on the movie.
I don´t think I ever owned "New boots and panties" (until recently), but must have heard it hundred of times in the late 70s. I heard the band at Hammersmith Odeon too in 1978, but where the hell is my Kilburn & The Highroads 12"?

Sunday, January 10, 2010

June Tabor


I have mentioned June Tabor a couple of times in this blog, but not often enough! In "All our trades are gone", she shows how to introduce and sing a song.

Wyatt links

- Robert Wyatt is on Dave Formula´s (Magazine, Visage) new album ‘Satellite Sweetheart’ (15 February 2010).
- On Hot Chip´s album "One Life Stand" (1 February 2010) in musicOMH. "..Hot Chip's most obvious musical antecedents on this record aren't the likes of Daft Punk or Depeche Mode but eccentric, intelligent pop acts like Scritti Politti or Robert Wyatt (the latter connection was cemented by the band's collaboration with Wyatt on a 2008 EP)".
- On Wyatt and the Domino box in Welt Online. "Schimäre aus Diogenes, Karl Marx und Weihnachtsmann. Das musikalische Lebenswerk des Eremiten Robert Wyatt ist endlich wieder verfügbar".
- Listen to Rimbaud´s "A season in hell" here. Wyatt is singing, and I have mentioned this earlier too.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten has got himself a new web site. You will find great music there, and some interesting news too:
- A new album by Atomic is scheduled for March 2010, in connection with an US tour. (And All About Jazz finally reviewed Retrograde too).
- Scorch Trio recorded a new album at Bill Laswell´s studio December 2009, with drummer Frank Rosaly,not Paal Nilssen-Love!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Vandermark Five


See some fine videos of Vandermark Five on YouTube "live at 25eme Europa Jazz Festival // a film by Jean-Francois Lebosse // Ken Vandermark - saxophone / Dave Rempis - saxophone / Jef Bishop - trombone / Kerri Kessler - bass / Tim Daisy - drums"
(7 parts).

And don't forget "Annular Gift" (Not Two 2009)

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Pocket Corner


I was a bit lightheaded after new years eve, and started a series on personal black holes in music (with Jazzmob), and even promised myself not to check everybody else´s best of 2009 lists, and buy too many records again. But you know promises. Over at blogger Steinskog (Norwegian) I found Didrik Ingvaldsen Pocket Corner: "4010 Local Time" (Checkpoint Charlie Audio Production 2009).
Didrik Ingvaldsen and Pocket Corner are new to me, but the band started in 1986, and Ingvaldsen has been a long time part of the Stavanger jazz scene. Today the band is Didrik Ingvaldsen - trumpet, Glenn B. Henriksen - alto-sax, Vidar Schanke - guitar, Mikaell Olsson - double bass and Ståle Birkeland - drums.
Reviewers claim this is music in the land of Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, and that might be so. I just say it´s good jazz music, and you may download from eMusic and iTunes (quite cheap in Norway at least).

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Robert Wyatt stencil


Rob
Originally uploaded by snurrerundt

Check out this three layered Robert Wyatt stencil, made by Norwegian street artist SNURRE. I´ve been waiting for a Wyatt portrait like this. Looks great!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

The Festival Season 2010 - The Beginning


A new year and a new Norwegian festival season is on! Next week All Ears is happening, serving ear warming impro and noise music in snowy Oslo, and towards the end of January Geilo is the place, with it´s ice festival. At Geilo Terje Isungset will present his new album "Wintersongs".
There might be even more winter festivals, but here I´ll jump to Bergen and the Borealis festival in March. Later this month there will be Borealis satelite events in London, starting with Geir Jenssen´s controversial "Schhoktavoski" (commisioned for the 2009 Borealis festival) 23 January and a Borealis London Launch 25 January starring (among others) MoHa!.
This is (as you all appreciate) a non commercial blog, but today I´ll illustrate this post with two versions of Michel Gondry´s fantastic commercial for Levi´s (1995), with it´s soundtrack by Biosphere (Geir Jenssen).

Monday, January 4, 2010

Jazzmob


Sometimes (or pretty often) I get a bit upset when I realize I have missed out completely on some bands or artists. Why on earth have I never listened to Jazzmob until now?
After reading an interview with Jon Klette (Crimetime Orchestra) in the latest Jazznytt (Norwegian jazz magazine, no 6, 2009), I got my hands on "Infernal Machine" (Jazzaway 2006) and "Flashback" (Jazzaway 2008). Both of them are great albums, with what everyone seem to call hard swinging jazz, and that describes the music well. It smells good of Coltrane and Miles, and a reviewer in AAJ even find some Soft Machine here, but most of all it´s Jazzmob. Choose "Flash" if you want only one, it´s an energetic live album.
There are two more Jazzmob albums on Jazzaway: "The Truth" (2005) and "Pathfinder" (2003).

The band members are: Kåre Nymark (tp), Jon Klette (as), Gisle Johansen (ts), Anders Aarum (keyb), Per Zanussi (b) and Andreas Bye (dr).

I already run a classics series in the blog, and this may just be the start of a series on my black holes in music.

Brothers in Arms


I had a long walk in the snow after work today, looking for new street art. Believe it or not, but near a place in Bergen we call Florida, I met these two brothers in arms! As you know, Obama was in Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize not long ago, and now street artist N-Joy have brought him to Bergen together with Bush.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Mark & Lard present... The Brian Eno Story!


Info from YouTube (only audio this): "Another rockumentary from their classic 1FM Graveyard Shift show. This time Brian Eno, "ambulance" music pioneer, is under the spotlight.....
Includes Eno's seminal production on U2's I Still Haven't Found Who I'm Cooking For".

Robert Wyatt Box Set


Not exactly the latest news this, but Domino´s Robert Wyatt Box Set is a fine package. I must admit I had plans to skip this one, owning all the music on several different records already, but there it was, shouting for me from the shelf of my favorite independent record store in Bergen.
Since it is important to support independent record shops in these days of illegal downloading, I consider this - and feeding the birds in the snowy weather - my first good deeds of the year.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

The Angry Boy


It is freezing cold in Bergen these days, and no wonder this little fellow is angry. I´ve seen this stencil in Oslo, but today caught it in Bergen for the first time. It is a picture of Gustav Vigeland´s "Sinnataggen" (The Angry Boy). If you want to see the original, you have to visit The Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo

Today yesterday

Robert Wyatt was guest editor of BBC Radio 4´s "Today" on 1 January. Some of the themes touched were Honduras, life in town centers, author John Berger and a talk with Jerry Dammers (Specials) on what makes a good musical cooperation. Here you may listen, and follow a link to the material sent by amateur choirs Wyatt wanted in the program. A couple of podcasts here.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Kevin Ayers - Taverne De L'Olympia, May 1970



A couple of days ago I got a friendly email, reminding me that I had not yet blogged some great Kevin Ayers videos fresh on YouTube. They are from French POP2, and have probably never been broadcasted.
More French Ayers here.