neon lit city
your broken teeth don’t detract
from your winning smile
Despite the ticket server crashing (probably was put together in the 70s by Kraftwerk themselves), I managed to get tickets for Kraftwerk at the Tate Modern in February. So excited by this. People who say they are cold or emotionless I think just don’t get it. Neon Lights is one of the most beautiful love songs ever written.
hills hide the dragon
his breath crawls from old dark vents
seething in the fog
Whenever I see fog, especially that rolling fog which seems alive, I think of the film Excalibur, directed by John Boorman. Silly really, but it makes me think of the Dragon, which Merlin (the wonderfully cast Nicol Williamson who died this year) uses as his source of power. The film is cheesy but also elemental in it’s impact, brutal, violent, touching, heroic. It’s a great romp which combines both the Celtic mythology and the romantically influenced chivalrous take on the Arthurian legends from such authors as Sir Thomas Malory which came centuries later.
Merlin and Guenevere played by Nigel Terry and Cheri Lunghi (rights to photo- Excalibur movie)
In the film, Merlin is eventually tricked by the beautiful half sister of King Arthur Morgana (played by the timeless beauty Helen Mirren) and beguiled, so she inherits and learns the Charm of Making. It seems the actors were not on the best of terms to put it mildly, which Boorman used to his advantage in filming. There is a very believable (uncomfortable) dynamic between them in their shared scenes.
Merlin and Morgana (Nicol Williamson and Helen Mirren), they both look thoroughly annoyed to be sharing this intimate moment. (rights to photo –Excalibur movie)
So back to Morgana… After stealing the charm of making, she wielded the power of the dragon, the dragon’s breath to make magic and wage war on her brother (King Arthur – the underrated Nigel Terry) with their own incestuous offspring Modred. It all culminates in a final tragic battle, but I’d be spoiling it if I told you more. What I will say is it has a smattering of well respected British luvvies hamming it up to high heaven and uses a fantastic score, Wagner’s the Death of Siegfried and Orff’s Carmina Burana are exceptionally placed. I’d recommend it. Great movie.
But yes, the fog, I drove through it, thick as treacle. Whose to say there was no dragon out there? Belching fog all over Bedfordshire, before retiring to slumber back under Pegsdon Hills (I’ve convinced myself a dragon lives there).
Finally, here is a scene at the beginning of the film where a mortal weary Merlin allows Arthur’s dad Uther (Gabriel Byrne) to go and conceive him with someone else’s wife… tut tut. But despite this displeasure at such mortal lust, Merlin knew, with the power of his “sight” that a great King would be made of this union…
Cleopatra eyes
jump suits, disaffected youth
flowers of romance
Trying to capture (cheesily!) the spirit of the late 70s/ early 80s. Some great bands around then. Siouxsie and the Banshees, PIL (whom I quote in the final line), The Stranglers, Joy Division, Depeche Mode, Tubeway Army and many more. I wasn’t old enough to see those bands then, but with this trend in bands reforming, I’ve had many opportunities to catch up for some of them.
Tonight I saw Ultravox live at Hammersmith, they’re a bit older, greyer, but were still fantastic. This was the second incarnation, fronted by Midge Ure of course, although I love the John Foxx stuff too and saw him live recently (check my other blog).
Shame some nutter lady smashed a trifle/custard pie on Midge’s head during the encore!
Anyway, here is one of the tracks from their 1980 Vienna album. “Mr X”. Not a single, but crazily dystopian with great synth and drum work, not forgetting Billy Currie’s Viola.
eyes closed in Eden
a freedom in solitude
rainbow melts deceit
Went to a gig with an old friend Alex. We saw various acts pay tribute to Talk Talk. For me their two last albums, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock are just sublime/seminal.
Frontman Mark Hollis’ solo album was also beautifully melancholy. Although we weren’t overly enthused with all of the acts playing live, the double covers album of Talk Talk/Hollis songs which was being played sounded amazing.
Although the original albums didn’t do well commercially, the amount of musicians who cite them as influences is impressive, hence the array of talents who have dropped a cover version for the covers album.
I draw on Hollis’ writing themes in today’s Haiku, although I’d never claim to be as good of course.
For your listening pleasure, the incredible Laughing Stock. Stick with its strange mix of rock, jazz, noise and silence. It’s incredibly rewarding. A little known masterpiece.
One by one they come
swift sorties tight to the hedge
insect gathering
So I’m at Electric Picnic, a great music festival, but I’m inspired by birds again. Swifts loading up for their massive migration to Africa by acrobatically flying against the hedges, elegant twists and turns in mid air to catch unknowing flies or spiders floating on gossamer.
agitated wait
bloodshot pacing, night walking
depart in darkness
I should be in bed. Early early flight in the morning. Off to Ireland for Electric Picnic.
broken memories
snippets of cloudless skies form
as the cool air rolls
I don’t remember doing much, my senses must’ve been dulled today. But it was nice and I drove with the air con blasting and my music playing.
light splatters the walls
wildebeest throng grunt and grind
flesh pressed in the swill
Maybe I’m just getting old. As designated driver, I could watch the pub fill up with cold sober detachment and observe the behaviours of human wildlife, much like David Attenborough would be, commenting on migratory wildebeest on the savannah. It was bloody carnage just trying to get to the loo. These smooth dance music places just aren’t for me! Glad I had a seat!
Far from home I long
for a familiar face
and she obliges
Stuck in Warrington for work. Nice sunset from my hotel room window. I took a pic. And below the pic is a beautiful song by Jon Redfern, called “I love the sun”. Deeply melancholy, to me it talks of passing seasons and lost loved ones, how the sun can revive you in times of sadness and reflection. Much lovelier words than my Haiku.
“I love the sun, I love the sun
It shines down on everyone
I count the days, I count the days
Winter comes and daylight fades
Where are you now, where are you now
Friends I've seen go to the clouds”
The riders gallop
hooves pale death billow poison
a blind man’s visions
I found this song by Aphrodite’s Child. The Greek super group containing both Demis Roussos and the composer Vangelis, prior to them going their separate ways and becoming successful in their own right.
They wrote a crazy concept about about the book of revelation called 666. I believe it was written whilst under the influence of several illegal substances and by the look of their wonderfully portly physiques… cake.
What a tune! Totally crazy! I love the whole pidgin English going down in the lyrics too. And what a guitar solo by Silver Koulloris too. The whole arrangement / song makes me laugh and rock out at the same time! Brilliant and mad! \m/ \m/ raaaaarrrr!
Faded indigo,
Whispered constellations glow,
Honey stained by smoke.
Went to see the Mark Lanegan Band at Shepherds Bush, with the Bossman. Great gig. I’m inspired to write a Haiku about Lanegan and his music (and his hands). Do you think it sounds like I love him? Well, I guess I do, a little bit, in a chest bump, knuckle tap way.
(photo source is noisebloc)
Near dark, Hand held tight,
The restless shadow crawling,
Praying for morning.
I watched an old favourite horror film of mine “Near Dark”. Didn’t get to bed till after 1am last night (this morning). It’s a road move and a vampire movie, Lance Henriksen is in it and with that timeless lined face, you really do believe he fought in the American Civil war. I say ‘watched’ because the volume was switched off. I was listening to Sinoia Caves at the same time, it gave the film a weird soundtrack. And even without dialogue, it worked. Freaked me out a bit.
A track from Sinoia Caves album The Enchanter Persuaded.
Near dark has fantastic imagery, it was a ground breaking vampire film, took them out of castles, they’d adapted, they lived amongst us, they drove cars. They sucked us in with their confidence tricks. They were drifters. And of course they killed us. Some of the imagery is captured in this video. The actual score for the film was written by Tangerine Dream which gives it a cold electronic edge too. Although a bit dated now, it’s still a great film and groundbreaking in the “vampires in the modern era” genre.
And if you like Sinoia Caves and horror films, then this film sounds like it will be a paranoid psychedelic nightmare. Beyond the Black Rainbow. It’s set in 1983 and Sinoia Caves (Jeremy Schmidt working under an alias, who is the Keyboard Player of Black Mountain) have written the soundtrack. The trailer gives you more questions than answers. Unsettling. And it’s full of the vintage sound of old analogue keyboards. Moogs and Mellotrons aplenty.
Finally, I wrote. I’ve started a blackly comedic (well I think it’s funny) short story in the “Paranormal Romance” genre. The music by Sinoia Caves and the visuals from Near Dark helped it along. I’ve nearly finished the first draft too!
Who says dudes can’t multi-task?
