Hello!
First, I want to thank everyone who sent congratulations on our wedding and let you know that I’ll respond to your comments shortly.
We had an exceedingly enjoyable honeymoon, fucking in the daytime and clubbing at night. I’m pretty sure we hit every club in Biarritz and San Sebastian. We returned to Nice thoroughly but happily exhausted and thrilled to find perfect sleeping weather in the 18-20 range with occasional showers. We are primed and ready for the sleep-off to end all sleep-offs. Our clients can wait another twenty-four hours, and if they can’t, fuck ’em. I don’t want to work for people who can’t appreciate the need for work-fuck-party balance.
I should be back in the review-writing saddle in a week or two, with some caveats. Once I settled into a one-review-per-week schedule, I chose Sunday as my publication day so I could spend my Sunday mornings relaxing with crossword puzzles and quiet music. I’ll probably get back to that rhythm, but the first couple of reviews may be released off-schedule.
As for the content . . . be prepared for a few surprises. I wasn’t lying when I said we hit every club in town, and in the process, I heard a whole lot of music that I don’t ordinarily listen to or care for. Whether it was the high I was feeling from the wedding or the high from all the booze I consumed, I embraced every kind of music I encountered. On the flight home, I sampled some of the music I liked during that euphoric phase, and while most fell into the category of “What the fuck was I thinking?” there were several pieces I thought were worthy of further consideration.
Ergo, I have removed some artists from my no-fly list and moved up others that were on the master spreadsheet that I had avoided for various reasons. I’ll begin with albums that I’d already researched and planned to review; the first surprises will appear sometime in June. A few of the reviews in the schedule were inspired by reader comments. The reviews will cover every decade from the early 50s to the ’00s.
That about wraps things up for now. It’s beddy-bye time followed by the three episodes of Succession we missed. I’m hoping that by the end of the series there will be at least one character I don’t absolutely despise.
Cheers!
Re: Your new pic. What is that around your neck? Some sort of bondage collar? 🙂
Kinda sorta. The larger picture (NSFW) shows the two of us linked by a chain, and unless you have one helluva piercing on your neck, you have to hook the chain onto something. No bondage was involved.
CONGRATULATIONS! I can hardly express my heartfelt happiness knowing that my favourite music blogger has married with her lifetime soulmate, and had a wonderful honeymoon! Thank you for the reccommendations of all these wonderful music and splendid articles (maybe i’ll discuss that further in future posts), and may happiness and excitement be with you. Are teenage dreams so hard to beat?
And for that, I’d like to reccommend Dolly Mixture’s “Remember This- The Singles”,a nice ,youthful and not-so-famous sibling to the more beloved Buzzcock’s Singles Going Steady. It’s of youthful spirit, sythesisers-free and powerful as well, and also includes some delicate chamber music. Maybe it’s too sweet for your ears, but i promise the vigourous punk by the three post-punk english girls will give you a satisfying experience.
Best Wishes! Cheers!
Aww, thank you for such nice sentiments! I would love to review the Dolly Mixture album but the problem I run into is that there’s very little information about the band members on the net and the documentary from a few years back isn’t available. I research the hell out of the artists I review so I’m sure I know what the hell I’m talking about. I’ll keep digging and hopefully get to a comfort level where I feel I can pull it off. Cheers!
Well, here come some fresh and lovin’ Dolly-Mixture Mixtures!
https://www.chickfactor.com/the-very-long-overdue-debsey-wykes-interview/
https://www.discogs.com/artist/476840-Dolly-Mixture
https://peel.fandom.com/wiki/Dolly_Mixture
https://thenewvinylvillain.com/2019/09/06/the-not-so-missing-link-between-the-damned-and-saint-etienne/
http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk/2008/11/06/take-three-girls-the-dolly-mixture-story/
As someone put it, add some Stones to your day, add some Pulp to your evening, and add a whole lotta Kinks All Day And All Of The Night. However, don’t forget to have some Dolly Mixtures for your afternoon tea! Last but not least, here’s a slice of one of my favourite Dolly Mixtures, the Dilly Dally Dolly song, a song about how a DIY punk band could get to its end peacefully with real friendship between its members and full commitment in their music:
There we are, sittin’ by the fireside,
and we’re thinking that we’d like some cup of brew.
And we’d like to celebrate, so Rachel’s made a cake,
singing,”Hey, Dilly Dally Dolly.”
Hester dear, will you put the kettle on,
put in PG tips for three——don’t let it stew!
And I’ll lay the tray, while Rachel brings the plate,
singing,”Hey, Dilly Dally Dolly.”
We may fall apart again, still we can gaze into the flames,
coloured red and orange, lincoin green and blue.
While the music softly plays, our very favourite tune,
singing,”Hey, Dilly Dally Dolly.”
Sure would feel very glad if the information above could help you. Thank you for all your wit and effort on this fabulous site! Cheers!
Omigod! This will be incredibly helpful! I’ve scheduled the review for July 9. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
The Honeymoon Series is going to take longer than expected, so my Dolly Mixture review has been pushed back to July 30. As it happens, I have several other reader requests and I like the idea of doing them in sequence, with Dolly Mixture first. Cheers!
Change in plans: since it’s too hot to sleep tonight I stayed up and listened to the Demonstration Tapes. I think that album shows the band at their best and gives me more opportunities to put their music in context, so that’s the one I’m going to review. Cheers!
Good to have you back and, since I didn’t comment on your previous post, I’m super happy for you and your partner, and I’m glad you had a good honeymoon. I’m interested in seeing what music you review next, whether you liked it before this or not. I have more recommendations for you, but I’ll wait to add those until I actually have them all straightened out.
By the way, I just noticed you updated your profile pic. I like it. Any other random changes to the website I’ve missed?
Thank you! I update my pic from time to time with more contemporary shots; this one was part of a pre-wedding shoot that the photographer threw in for free so we could get a sample of his work (it was his first wedding gig). We asked for something “modern film noir” so that’s why the shot is in black-and-white. No other changes; I thought of creating a Progressive menu item but the definition of “progressive rock” is kind of spongy. I’ll figure it out someday.
Though, in general, a bitter, little man, I can sincerely say I was happy to read of you and your partner’s current happiness and hope that it, buttressed by good health, prevail eternally. You deseve it based on the intellectt and soul exposed in your reviews.
Thank you so much for the congratulations and validation!
Happy that you had a great and exciting honeymoon!
Please, allow me to make a suggestion for review. Rita Lee, nicknamed here in Brazil as the Queen of national rock, died a few days ago. She is a giant of rock and music here in Brazil. Great singer and songwriter. She was a member of the rock band Os Mutantes. The band lasted very shortly, only in the late 60s and early 70s, but enough time to deliver albums that became icons of worldwide influence in psychedelic rock, specially their first album, self-titled Os Mutantes and released in 1968. Her solo career was quite successful too, though not as wild as her days with Os Mutantes.
She was also always a figure that embodied the transgression and rebeliousness of rock, at best and at worst (like lots of drug use). A truly fantastic figure.
You read my mind! I read of Rita’s passing and put Os Mutantes on my to-do list!
That’s great! Looking forward to it!