Friday 15 March 2024

Phil Collins recut

This week we're looking at a couple of things that came for my birthday which are a bit special.

As part of the celebrations marking the 75th anniversary of Atlantic Records, some 75 albums are being re-issued in special audiophile versions by Kansas based Analogue Productions in association with Atlantic records.

They are in every sense premium editions from the high quality jacket printing and finish, the use of acclaimed mastering engineers to cut the grooves and that they are 45 rpm allowing more room for all the notes to be fully accommodated with less of the compromises required especially with long albums.


I have always liked Phil Collin's solo albums but they were bought straight to compact disc so I decided to pick up two titles of his in the series starting with Face Value, his first album from early 1981 issued after Genesis's Duke which saw the use of horns and use of intricate drum sounds on songs like In The Air Tonight and I Missed Again.


It also has an interesting version of Tomorrow Never Knows, originally written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney for their Revolver album of 1966. 


In late 1982 having issued Abacab and Three Sides Live for Genesis Phil returned to his solo material and issued this, Hello, I Go Again, the follow up.

This had a massive smash cover version of the supremes song You Can't Hurry Love that keeps much of its soulful qualities and is beautifully recorded and Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away, a hit on early 1983.

The sound quality of both these albums is absolutely stunning with lots of detail, atmosphere and dynamics coupled with excellent tuneful bass.

It is unfortunate that each is restricted to just 2,000 copies each with no ability in the license to repress because already the first one is very hard to find despite being issued in October last year.

 

Friday 8 March 2024

Birthday edition

Normally I do a kind of special day post on here but as it's similar to that of the other blog it's just an altered version really as any individual items will have their own one of posts  and I certainly wasn't gonna be talking about the budget today. 

There were cards as much as cards got crowded out last year with the events of just under three weeks before everything was on pause so the small number cards wee just in a bit of a corner rather than a central position.

That one fills the girl of the family slot doesn't surprise most given the craziness of our family, doing stuff and trying to smooth things over.


While I don't know about any other presents and they can always be added as an update I do the know the Super Audio cd of Genesis's Selling England By The Pound by Analogue Productions as part of the Atlantic 75 years anniversary delayed from last November is here.

Given the record version was acclaimed, I'm looking forward to spinning this disc.

There is a copy of the special 45 rpm 75 years anniversary issue of the first Crosby, Stills and Nash album that alongside Abbey Road and Let It Bleed heralded the new and in many ways more modern sound of rock than the more sophisticated pop of just a few years back.

I'm rebuilding a bit of the collection so a few new to me original lps came too ready to clean up and resleeve.





There will be a fuller write up around the 2004-2005 installment of Now Millennium but this gathering of notable tracks from those two years will help bringing back the sounds of that era coupled with a book about the artists and times.

I'm sure there will be some money to put towards a few other purchases looking towards Easter and Summer get together and unlike last year we'll have a small meal together at a local pub, something we always did when Mom was alive and something that didn't happen last time as that's been booked.

Friday 1 March 2024

Gearing up to a marker and just being me


 Things were different last year for a variety of reasons such as the period the year before where I was seriously ill had rather messed my head up, tending to forget things significantly worse than is usual for me given my short term memory issues.

This was impacted by my and Mom's covid infection at the end of year and her death that dominated to a large extent the whole period going into March which rather left traditional birthday arrangements really messed up as even the cards given nothing else much happened just melted into the many bereavement cards that took up much of the front room so it was in many ways a non event.

The other thing was the stresses and strains really took me backward to my most "littlest" side as your world seemed to no long appeared to be recognizable at the very time you needed that comforting sensation and associated emotions.

Things that had been bought to spend time away "more little" in 2022 spent more time on me in 2023 as I just felt more settled as that little and indeed when last week an Aunt called in, I was dressed very much as that little.

Sometimes it's best to be true to yourself and just let things be.

This year it well be marked closer in spirit to how it always was even if one face may not be at the table because life continues even as the loss is still felt but the drift over time more towards this life is just there, we talked about it in 2016, and if I still sit with my stuffies then so be it.

Friday 23 February 2024

Site issues

 


This week apart from dealing with what felt like flu I was reminded of a number of experiences I had in the past on this online life where an individual owns a website and leaves it still running until one day it ceases to.

In this particular instance the issue revolves around the death of the owner and things such as the failure to transfer that or there being a plan too pay any hosting related costs such as quarterly bills as it is rare for them to be set up as group concerns with a appointed successor who would take that responsibility one.

What happens is after say the bill isn't paid, the host suspends the site with a "contact us" banner overlaid and when that happened with two sites because nothing was set up, it wasn't that the domain was lost, so was all the hosting.

They became ex-sites.

Potentially it was looking late Wednesday a site I've been at since 2011 was going that way but it seems a payment was made in time so the bill has been settled although other issues such as outdated and hard to transfer into newer site software do need to be addressed in the near future even if the current content is just kept in a read only mode for posterity.

Friday 16 February 2024

Visits

This week I did visit Framingham castle whilst away on a littles break.

Framlingham Castle is located in the market town of Framlingham in Suffolk. It was built by Roger Bigod, a knight, after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

Mary Tudor, the daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon, was proclaimed the Queen of England here on 19 July 1553. Thomas was released from the Tower by Mary as a reward for his loyalty, but retired to Kenninghall rather than Framlingham.

After Mary's patronage, the castle lost much of its prestige although using a brick add on, it did serve as a Workhouse for the poor until the 1834 Poor Law act and a more centralized "Union" system was established 8 miles away.

It had an interesting display about the history of the town and its people over the century's.


Friday 9 February 2024

Band On The Run Redux

There are anniversaries that you may quite enjoy and there are others that just remind you of how many tens of years have gone by such as the recent anniversary of the 1973 multi-million seller, Band On The Run which was marked on February 2nd with the release of full original album and extended versions on lp record and compact disc.

Too bad there wasn't a limited edition 8 track as as those of us around then will recall there was and indeed I did own the UK edition which sounded rather good where it was played at home and in the car player a lot.


I opted for the single lp version as I have little use for a disc of demos as much as musicologists get a buzz out comparing songs as they evolve and for another this uses the US track listing that added Helen Wheels, a 1973 single to the second side of the UK album.


It came pressed by Optimal in Germany with the original poster plus OBI.

Being cut using a Half Speed mastering system from high resolution files from the original analogue tapes allowed it to sound much better than the original US Apple edition and even challenge the UK which was really good with strong bass.

I was delighted with this edition.

Friday 2 February 2024

Shini is the Blue Peter 43rd presenter!

 


It has been announced who the 43rd Blue Peter presenter will be.

Shini Muthukrishnan, pictured left, aged 22 from Stafford, will go live for her first show on CBBC at 17:00 GMT on Friday.

She will co-host the world’s longest-running children’s TV programme alongside Abby Cook, Joel Mawhinney and BP pet, Henry the dog.

Blue Peter will be the first TV presenting role for Ms Muthukrishnan whose lockdown videos on TikTok celebrated her British, Indian and Malaysian heritage.

Ms Muthukrishnan, who played badminton for Staffordshire county, recently graduated from King's College London where she studied philosophy, politics and economics.

She said: “Being part of the Blue Peter team is such a surreal and exciting feeling.

“I have really fond memories of Blue Peter. As a kid, I looked up to Helen Skelton, she seemed fearless on screen. She took on incredible challenges with such a headstrong attitude that made me think 'I can be fearless too'.”

Her first challenge will involve taking part in aircraft aerobatics while also on the live show, she will also be attempting to bathe Henry the dog and cook up a tasty treat.

Blue Peter editor Ellen Evans asked about her qualities said "Shini is an exciting new talent, who impressed us with her adventurous spirit, sense of humour, determination and aspiration to have a positive impact on kids’ lives.”

As a Staffordshire resident and West Midlander, I'm delighted.