A lot can happen in a North Yorkshire minute....

Wednesday 4 August 2004

So tired today. Real lack of energy. Went to work. Did some research on my MS2000 during lunch which was rewarding. Will really try and take the manual to bits so I can fully utilise everything. Taught Little Timmy after work. He's only 8 but he really winds me up. He's on his summer holidays at the moment so he's always tired. Having said that, he's always tired anyway, as he never eats during the day. Sue knows about it as well. How can a child function with no energy? He can't. The result is that when I come to teach he can't muster the energy to play. So he sits there moaning that he 'can't do it' and lowers his head in a mock show of tiredness. What a waste of my energy. I have to sit in rush hour traffic on the M6 for half an hour to teach him. Am I too harsh? Didn't get back until 2040hrs.

When I did get back I tuned my Auto Harp. The strings are really old and so they go out of tune fairly quickly. Sounds great though. There is no A major chord though - just an A7 which is a little frustrating. Will have to continue my research in order to get the best out of it. Also had a quick go on my synth. The new things I had found earlier in the day really helped - so many new things to explore on it. It’s a great machine. Really want to use it for my own music. You can really experiment with it and get some great sounds. If I can fuse the sounds with my songs and beats then I think I can really achieve some new music. I have to try at least.

Spoke to promoter CM. He's asked me to play his venue again. Will ask if I can play my synth I think. I don't the think the audience will be all for it but fuck 'em. Will definitely play my Auto Harp.

Last time I played there a guy (JP) was playing. The promoter told me he was playing solo 5-string bass in a jazz style. Fuck! I thought, this should be great. When I introduced myself I asked him what he was going to play. He replied "Bit of jazz, bit of blues...I sing as well....oh, and I use a drum machine." Alarm bells rang. I decided to prolong the agony by asking what jazz bassists he was in to. The all time classic response accompanied by a cheesy, sheepish grin was, "Oh you know...all the good ones..." Still undeterred, I continued to probe....I told him I had just finished reading Mingus' autobiography (a lie). Vacant look matched with concurring noises. Told him I’d seen Ron Carter at Birdland in New York last summer. Same response. If this episode wasn't bad enough, he chose to play some songs off his forthcoming self-funded release. Two cracking tunes were entitled, 'The Politician Shuffle' and 'Commercial Blues'. I won't bother to explain the complex themes dealt with by the song's lyrics.

I hope Lambchop, or more to the point, Kurt Wagner doesn't continue to write instrumentals. Listening to a tour-only CD of recent recordings. He keeps singing in a really low voice. One of my favourite bands. I love the way he keeps trying to push the barrier. My widely-derided view is that Is A Woman was the ultimate Lambchop album. Its so good, its hard to top. Aw, Come On and No, You Come On were a little disappointing. They weren't that good live either. Its a disturbing feeling i've got at the moment. I've had so many positive feelings towards Kurt et al, but now.....a few negative ones.

Still reading Murakami. Its really not as good as his later stuff. Here's a nice quote though:

' "I wonder if you need to unclose your mind. I do not understand things of the mind very well, but perhaps yours is too firmly sealed. The old dreams need to be read by you, and you need to seek the old dreams"..... Then she reaches out accross the table and places her hand on mine. She smiles. A smile that promises Spring.'