Where Worlds Collide

The trouble with model railway stuff is the secondhand value is always more if you keep the original box it came in. This means I’m reluctant to throw the boxes away, even though they’re decidedly sub-optimal for actually keeping the trains in when not in use (purpose-designed stock boxes capable of holding entire trains are better for that)

This means I’ve actually had to buy a couple of plastic storage boxes just to hold loads of empty Dapol, Bachmann and Minitrix boxes so I can stick them all up in the loft.

Something makes me think I really should be throwing them out instead.

I’ve updated my last.fm profile, so that it lists the sort of music I like and dislike. I couldn’t fit in the “Everything from Odin Dragonfly to Opeth” line, unfortunately.

Under “I love” I’ve listed the sort of genres where I’m far more likely to like something in that genre that dislike it. I know there are some contemporary prog bands who are a bit rubbish (The Flower Kings?)

• Modern progressive rock
• Symphonic Metal
• Classic 70s and 80s hard rock and metal
• Classic 70s prog-rock
• Anything with great lead guitar
• Male and female vocalists who can actually sing in tune without the aid of pro-tools
• 12-minute songs about Hobbits
• Mellotrons

Under “I cannot stand” I turned the sarcasm meter up to 11. Yes, there are whole genres that leave me cold (Rap and contemporary R’n'B do nothing for me, I’m afraid), but I decided to for the things that really irritate me.

• Corporate landfill indie
• Tuneless scratchy post-punk
• Sausage factory manufactured pop
• Music which is more interesting for pseudo-intellectuals to talk about than to actually listen to
• Tabloid celebrity drug addicts who can’t get their act together
• Bands who put more effort into their haircuts than their actual music
• 3-chord songs about fights outside chip shops sung in fake working-class accents.
• Accordions

So, does anyone know me well enough to say whether or not this sums up my musical taste or not.

Having pre-ordered several months back, the second album by Cardiff-based six-piece was eagerly awaited. I’ve heard several songs live over the past few months; indeed a couple of songs have been in their live set for more than a year, which just heightened the anticipation all the more.

It was well worth the wait.

As is to be expected from anyone who’s seen them live recently, they’ve moved in a more metallic direction, with their twin guitars much heavier and dirtier in many places, but retain their strongly memorable melodies and often complex three-part vocal harmonies that made their debut such a powerful listen. The title track in particular is an absolute prog-metal monster, opening the album with a bang. Up to the point where Rachel’s sublime voice comes in it reminds me strongly of parts of Dream Theater’s dark and intense ‘Awake’. ‘Sharp Sea’, ‘Call Me God?’ and the closing epic ‘A Musing Dream’ are equally powerful, with some intriguing lyrics - I wonder if ‘Call Me God?’ is about any megalomaniac in particular?

It’s not all distorted guitars; several songs show a mellower side, I particularly like Dylan Thompson’s ‘In the Future’, and the ballad ‘Breaking the Fourth Wall’, one of the few songs where keyboard player Gareth Jones had a big hand in the writing. ‘Absolute Zero’ even has a jazzy element we haven’t heard before.

This is really an album where the composition and song arrangement is far more important than musos showing off their chops, which is exactly how it should be. But I have to say that new guitarist Owain Roberts excels himself with some superbly fluid soloing in places, the sort of restrained virtuosity that never descends into self-indulgence.

The Reasoning are certainly not the sort of band that does ‘difficult second albums’. If their debut, “Awakening” was one of the best albums of last year, “Dark Angel” has taken things a stage further. This is a band who I’m sure are heading to bigger and better things.

We’ll probably never know the real reason why Mostly Autumn’s set got cut short at the Cambridge Rock Festival. But I’m wondering if we can blame Guardian hack scribbler Caroline Sullivan, who genuinely seems to believe that all bands should be limited to 45 minute sets.

No band – not Razorlight, not anyone – needs to be onstage for longer than 45 minutes. In most cases, half an hour would suffice. An exception might be made for Madonna and others who stage big, theatrical spectaculars - they’d be allowed an hour, but not a minute longer.

…

I know what you’re thinking. I’m a rock critic who receives free tickets, so getting my money’s worth isn’t an issue. Well, before I did this job I paid for gigs, and even then, I felt exactly the same. I wanted to hear the best bits an artist had to offer, period. Anything more was extraneous, and once past a certain point – say 90 minutes – I’d be bored, because by then we’d be deep into the grim territory of unloved tracks and new material.

So, did anyone see Ms Sullivan lurking around backstage at Cambridge? Enquiring minds want to know…

My pre-order limited edition version of The Reasoning’s new album has arrived. On first listen, this is a good one. But The Reasoning are hardly the sort of band that does ‘difficult second albums’.

Full review when I’ve given it a few more listens.

Arriving at work this morning I met a work colleague who’d just stepped off the same train as me. He’d just got a mobile phone call from his boss saying the office was closed because of a fire.

The road outside the station was indeed filled with fire engines, but it turned out that the fire was at the pretentious wine bar next door. Although all the surrounding roads were still closed, including the main A34, the fire brigade allowed us through to our undamaged office. By that time they were damping down the embers, and there was no danger of it spreading to our building. (It’s the building you can see in the background of the photo)

Too early to speculate as to the cause, but the whole upper floor was completely burned out. It’s just four days after the grand opening, and there are mutterings about arson. Which is probably what you’d expect when the owner had recently done jail time for GBH.

Although I’d been in the building a few times under previous management when it was called “Brasingamens”, the refurbished establishment was not the sort of place I’d ever be likely to frequent. It was squarely aimed at the footballer’s wives market, and the only time we’d ever be likely to go there was to laugh at the prices (Eight quid for a glass of wine, so I hear). Perhaps they should rebuild it as a real ale pub with live music every Friday night.

At the moment I have to go all the way to Crewe for that sort of thing.

Update: BBC News is now reporting it as suspected arson. Which is pretty much what we all thought.

I guess I’m not the only person playing Pink Floyd tonight.

The one currently playing is “Is There Anybody Out There”, the live version of The Wall from Earls Court in 1981. I know The Wall isn’t generally reckoned to be the high point of the career 28 years on, but it marked the point where I came on board as a fan, so that work still means a lot to me. And I saw that show, polystyrene bricks and all. It was the only time I ever saw the Floyd live, and the first really big gig I ever attended.

The relationship between Rick Wright and Roger Waters may have been strained at this point, but Rick’s playing is superb on this live album. His style was always understated, never flash, but he was always a key element of Pink Floyd’s sound.

Pink Floyd’s Richard Wright has died at 65

Rest in peace, Rick, and thanks for the music. You were one of the greats.

This was the eleventh time I’ve seen Breathing Space live, and the seventh time this year.

It’s amazing how far this band have come since I first started following them; I first saw them live playing in a pub in York last February; that night wasn’t a terribly good gig, as they struggled with serious technical and sound problems, but I could see they had potential. Towards the end of last year they released the superb album “Coming Up For Air” which surpassed my expectations. Then at a small club in Mansfield this June they played an absolutely spellbinding gig which for me was the point where it became clear they were playing in the same league as their fellows in the ‘York/Swansea scene’.

Bilston continued this progress. Having seen some small crowds at Breathing Space gigs I wondered what sort of audience they’d attract on a Sunday night. But while the place was by no means full, they pulled a healthy sized crowd.

As at the Mansfield gig, the support was a semi-acoustic set from Mermaid Kiss, this time playing as a four-piece without Jon Edwards on keys. While they were good, I didn’t think they quite had the edge they’d had the last time I saw them; the sound was a bit muddier and I missed Jon’s keys. Still, Evelyn Downing was on fine form, even though her distinctive vocal style is not to everyone’s taste, and Wendy Marks’ assorted woodwinds gave some excellent backing.

Breathing Space’s performance was up to the standards I’ve come to expect, everyone on top form as usual. With only two albums worth of songs, there wasn’t much in the way of real surprises in the setlist (No return of “Shades of Grey”), except for the live première of a new song, “Butterflies and White Feathers”. Difficult to judge on one listen, but it’s an atmospheric beginning and some great Hammond organ at the end. It’s interesting different from anything they’ve done before, while still sounding like Breathing Space. It augers well for their next album, which they plan to record next April.

It’s September, so the annual N gauge exhibition has come round again. Last year’s was the official N-gauge Society one in Kettering, this year it’s the turn of the ‘unofficial’ one. This is held at the grandly-titled Warwickshire Exhibition Centre, actually a converted cowshed in the middle of nowhere somewhere outside Leamington Spa.

As usual, it was showcase of the best of N gauge modelling, an opportunity for manufacturers large and small to demonstrate their wares, and an opportunity to meet up with friends who descended on the place from far and wide. In that respect it’s a bit like some prog gigs; although the only overlap was Andi Dell, manning the DEMU stand, who I’d met earlier in the year when he was doing the lighting for Mostly Autumn at Gloucester.

Star layout for me was Graeme Hedges’ magnificent slice of urban south London, “Stoney Lane Depot”. I’d seen it in bare baseboard form, and seen photos in two magazines, but it’s different seeing it ‘in the flesh’ in three dimensions. This is precisely the sort of thing where N-gauge excels; superb architectural modelling where the urban landscape dominates the trains.

The big manufacturers had their latest ‘in development’ models. Bachmann’s painted 108s looked superb, and their class 42 “Warships” looked good too, even if there was something not quite right about the full yellow end ones. The 150 looked superb; I can’t wait to see a fully painted versions. Over on the yellow and purple Dapol stand we had their sprinter, the 156, along with some new “Megafret” intermodal flats, and their Mk3 DVT. The InterCity DVT suffers from some livery errors, which I trust will be corrected in the production version.

As usual at this sort of show I ended up spending far too much money; I didn’t buy any locomotives this time, but still managed to emerge with a significantly lighter wallet. And there were no impulse buys are all - Everything I bought was on my shopping list, the most significant purchase being the Dapol dummy Voyager “Dr Who”, where I managed to get my hands on one of the last ones - they’re now completely sold out from Dapol.