music
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Brighton Folk Choir at Ditchling Apple Day 2023
On a worryingly hot October morning, I cycled over Ditchling Beacon for Apple Day 2023, a fun event on the village green for which my folk choir was providing the traditional element. The kind of gigs the Brighton Folk Choir get invited too are always brilliant, local and mildly eccentric, and Ditchling Apple Day was… Read more
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Is it a duel or a duet?
I’ve a bit of a changing-seasons cold today, but I wished to make a blog post to mark the first official public material of the band I’ve formed with fellow Brighton resident, Martha Casey. She has described posting a 30 second clip of a demo to instagram as a “soft launch”, which is apparently the… Read more
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Losing Your Affection – Future Bible Heroes cover
The Magnetic Fields cover over the weekend sent me tumbling across the meadow and head first into a rabbit hole of other beautiful songs written by Stephin Merritt. Future Bible Heroes – one of the perfect band names – was an electro pop side project of his, of varying quality but leaving us, at least,… Read more
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Come Back From San Francisco- Magnetic Fields cover
It’s been 25 years since 69 Love Songs came out. From weddings to eternal indie discos, the finest and certainly most absurd Magnetic Fields album became a huge part of my life. The first song I ever learned to play was off that album, Come Back From San Francisco has three chords and lots of… Read more
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Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd cover
Yesterday I attempted one of the most covered songs of all time, Wish You Were Here. This is a song beloved by buskers everywhere, who, let’s face it, aren’t about to have a crack at Careful With That Axe Eugene or One Of These Days I’m Going To Cut You Into Little Pieces. Pink Floyd… Read more
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Review: Howlin’ Fling 2023, Isle of Eigg
Hello! I had a lovely time on Eigg, thanks to everyone there, punters and artists alike. This review originally appeared in the Morning Star newspaper. I’ve added some photos; some of the festival, and some of the various fun walks I was able to do while on the island. From the ferry, Eigg comes into… Read more
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The Wheels Are Coming Off
Another demo. Lyrics happily explained to anyone interested. —- Carnard’s a duck without conscience It all acts like a sweet machine The input / output is unruly But has that keen positronic sheen And I’m not sure if this is real yet I hedge my bets oh either way You’re running late, you’re running empty… Read more
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Radiohead cover: Subterranean Homesick Alien
Full cover below. I particularly enjoyed messing up the penultimate chord. Read more
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Singing into the ether
Mid-afternoon sun. A piano. Three chords. Singing whatever comes into my mind. A heron. Read more
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Brighton Folk Choir at Jack in the Green, Hastings
May Day is a day for socialist action, and for folk adventure, as we celebrate the end of darkness and the beginning of the summer months. In more recent times, the folk tradition of May Day is, in the public imagination, a rather genteel thing: kids dancing around the May Pole on some village green… Read more
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