Halogeon World

As you can see, I have been playing around with different themes of late. It’s like trying on some new clothes and prancing up and down the street. A new shirt or some new shoes for the beginning of the new year. There seems to be an endless array of different themes to choose from. You want it to be cool but not too pompous. The new theme needs to convey the personality with which you feel it presents to the world. The last one was a bit harsh on the eye and it didn’t give any blogroll. “How do you choose your wonderful themes?” …the wordpress reporters will be enquiring of me. Random selection is the only real method that I can admit to. There are some that can totally change the feel of the read for the reader. Did that sound right?
When I browse through different blogs I like to be comfortable with the way its presented before I can continue….hopefully this new theme will give a comfortable feeling to whomever does stop by!!

Yesterday evening I purchased 3 CD’s…old style till the last. When I mention to the younger people I work with that I still buy CD’s in a shop….they look at me with a forlorn frown on their faces as if they cannot believe what I have done. Anyway…what did I buy…
Tracey Thorns new album…Love And its Opposite….
Gregory Isaacs ..The Winner 1968-1978….
Tears For Fears..Tears Roll Down(Greatest Hits 82-92)…(it was cheap)

I had a very rare opportunity to be at home for an hour before the kids came home with Niamh so I proceeded to throw on the tunes. First up was Gregory…good tunes at full throttle. I was preparing the dinner for Niamh while the music played at full blast. Was getting a bit sick of the reggae so I decided to put on Tears For Fears. Now I’m not really a greatest hits kinda guy but boy did this do the trick. It’s not often I get the chance to really play music at the right levels…for it to fill the room…reverberate….let it get to your soul…music that was previously only listened to in passing takes on a different level of interest when it is played at full blast.
The closest you can come to this feeling is when you have a good set of headphones and are listening at abnormal levels. The music takes on new meaning. You hear sounds that were previously hidden. You might be able to mimic this feeling in the car when your alone but the sound system has to be excellent. The generic player in most cars is only ok. However….you can never judge a car by its looks. Just because it is old …doesn’t mean it has a shitty sound system. I remember a time years ago when my buddy and I were picked up by a plumber friend of ours in his old Renault 6 beat up car with all the pipes and putty and brass fittings in the back seat. Looks were definitely deceiving in this case becuase the sound system in the car was worth more that the car by a long way. It so happened that my buddy had a Terry Oldfield CD on him at the time of pickup and when he played it on this system …well…the car was transformed with sound….an array of sounds that did not fit in with the surrounding area or car for that matter but I will never forget that experience.
This is what happened to me last night….the freedom of the sound was released. This was the way music should always be played……

I hope you all feel the same way….

Whats that Sound….

I don’t know what type of gene presents itself within your DNA that makes you just love obscure, distant, slow, unrecognisable, but always wonderful music. Is it in your genes in the first place? I don’t know. The first time that I heard of Mick Karns was through his rolling sound in the form of the band Japan. This was a sound like no other. There wasn’t another sound like this to be found anywhere.

I always found the Japan sound haunting in a far off way and it was when I first heard the Dance album by Gary Numan that I had reached another level. I picked it up in a secondhand record store long after the album had been made. I always come to these things when all the fuss has died down….long after the initial release. In those days i listened to what was cheap but this was by no means cheap. It was special in a kitsch way that made me love it all the more. The cover of the album was tacky in the Gary Numan way that all his album covers were in those days but the music that occupied the grooves of ths dusty somewhat scratchy vinyl record was so special and wholesome. On each listen it became even greater. I tried to get my peers to listen but to no avail. They just did not get it. They could not hear what I could hear. That deep underlay of sound that had many contributrions but blended with such ease and flow that it always gave me the required shivers….Thats why I cherish this album so much. I do not know of anyone who has come across this piece of music. It has become my own in a way that cannot be shared with others. It needs to be listened to in a dark room or on a long journey home in the middle of the night….certain situtations but always alone….like all great music, I suppose!

Because of the fact that it remained on vinyl….I have no idea whether or not if it was issued on cd…..I have not listened to these songs in years. It was with shock that I heard of the passing of Mick Karns. I did not know the man. If he walked passed me in a corridor I would not have recognised him but his bass is a sound that is instantly smile inducing….it makes you warm and makes you wonder at how this sound could be achieved. This man had a talent like no other and must ….should have been listened to in times of extreme stress or when you need love in your heart!!!

Mick Karns RIP
Beggars Banquet do not allow sharing of there music but you can check it out on Youtube….Slow Car to China is the standout track for me…a great example of how gifted he was…”When love walks in” demonstrates his genius with David Sylvian adding his voice for completion of greatness…..