Surfing far and wide

Spending far too much time surfing on the net (who doesn’t given the chance!)

Out there is just about anything you want to find out about. A few years ago, if I wanted to know what had happened to a particular band or musician it was near impossible to find out. If there was no recent material in the local record store, there was no other easy way to find out.

Thanks to the web, I can find out about anyone. So, I set out on a search to find out what had happened to The Residents. This was a band that a mate of mine was in to when I was a teenager – we used to listen to their albums when they came out, and were usually impressed at just how weird, imaginative, and downright strange their music was. The album I remember most vividly was ‘Eskimo’ which was presumably put together in a studio, but sounded like an on-location recording in deep dark cold eskimo country. It was odd – no songs as such, but a fascinating listen. Then there was the take-off of The Beatles with ‘Meet The Residents’. Well, a quick search with Google, and I found www.theresidents.co.uk which tells me that there is a whole heap of material out there – the band carry on working, producing mysterious material underneath the cloak of anonymity. Their work continues to display everything dadaist, avant garde and post-modern. And it has all become available again thanks to the advent of CD technology. Time for some real exploring I think!

Meanwhile, my musical indulgences continue with recent purchases of albums by Tom Waits (www.anti.com) ‘Blood Money’, Steve Hillage ‘L’, Morrissey ‘You are the Quarry (excellent new album!), and Wire’s ‘Chairs Missing’ (with the superb single ‘Outdoor Miner’ from 1979). Great music all round. I’m also listening to Miles Davis / Gil Evans ‘Complete Columbia Recordings’ borrowed from the local library. Stunning music – older than me!

Thanks to the internet I have discovered that Steve Hillage has been working for the last decade as a duo called System Seven with Miquette Giraudy (www.a-wave.com) and has produced 7 albums. Worth an exploration, I think.

Language – I’m working more on ‘the alice conversations’ poetry sequence which has now reached 11 poems. I want to get on with this and complete it soon. It’s shaping into an interesting poetry sequence. Final push…