Sunday 3 May 2020

Chop’s Journal - 3 May 2020

The weather has taken a turn for the worse this week which has maybe affected the mood in our household a bit. I think the main struggle is the feeling we’re not making as much use of the time as we could do. 


My back feels better now so have been out for a couple of runs & managed my first 5K on Saturday for as long as I can remember. I also started trying to learn how to play the harmonica I’ve had about 5 years via a set of lessons on YouTube. Something else to add to the list of instruments I play terribly. 





New SOTW


Brown Paper - Darren Hayman


Music I’m enjoying


Got quite a lot of new physical music over the last few weeks. And last Friday I did another plunder of Bandcamp during their no fees period which looks like being a regular thing. Bandcamp seem like good people and I’ve been using them more often recently. 


Listening stats show that I’ve been enjoying the new Darren Hayman album quite a bit (22 songs all around 1 minute long). I bought the 7” which you can see in the picture and the digital release includes additional demo & alternative versions. 




I’m also enjoying the new BC Camplight album more than I expected. I struggled a little with his last one but this one flows really nicely. Katie Harkin’s debut solo album as Harkin is excellent too and the perhaps unexpected inclusion of BeyoncĂ© in my stats is a result of listening to James Acaster’s new podcast, Perfect Sound Whatever. 





Other notes


Lockdown thoughts: We’re 6 weeks in (I think) and generally I’m doing ok but it’s been a tougher week at home. I’ve got used to the current restrictions but get a bit cross with people who seem oblivious to what’s going on. I think in hindsight we should have locked down earlier and possibly been more stringent. Some of this is hindsight obviously but I don’t think the government have served us well. 


I worry about how long we may be affected and think whatever we can do to reduce that would be good. I’m missing gigs a bit but I can live without them as long as I know the bands, venues, promoters & people who work in that industry are supported to ensure they are still there when we return to normality. 


Lockdown Top Fives - Week 6


People who follow me on Twitter know I’ve been running daily top fives as a bit of distraction. I figured I should share those over here too. I will go back & post the previous ones on here sometime too. 


▪️Monday 27th: Top 5 Romantic Comedies 

  1. The Apartment (1960)
  2. Some Like It Hot (1959)
  3. Annie Hall (1977)
  4. Bringing Up Baby (1938)
  5. When Harry Met Sally (1989)




▪️Tuesday 28th: Top 5 Gig Venues

  1. The Lexington 
  2. Union Chapel
  3. The MOTH Club
  4. Hope & Ruin, Brighton 
  5. Village Underground 

LINK http://saveourvenues.co.uk 





▪️Wednesday 29th: Fictional Detectives in Novels

  1. Miss Marple
  2. Sherlock Holmes
  3. Philip Marlowe
  4. Dirk Gently
  5. Jack Parlabane





▪️ Thursday 30th: Albums of the Sixties

  1. The Sonics - Here Are The Sonics (1965)
  2. Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You (1968)
  3. Jethro Tull - Stand Up (1969)
  4. Nina Simone - Wild Is The Wind (1969)
  5. The Monks - Black Monk Time (1966)





▪️Friday 1st: Modern Black & White Films

  1. The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
  2. Roma (2018)
  3. Ed Wood (1994)
  4. Sin City (2005)
  5. Somers Town (2008)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_black-and-white_films_produced_since_1970 





▪️Saturday 2nd: UK Punk 7” singles 

  1. New Rose - The Damned
  2. Identity - X-Ray Spex
  3. Anarchy in the UK - Sex Pistols
  4. Suspect Device - Stiff Little Fingers
  5. Typical Girls - The Slits


https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7xJvj9Tj37PH5oqBN1jUcG?si=94M0GgQcQimC2v7e4nlfTQ 




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