Alone With Everybody… with tracks by… A Melting Mood, Volfrmio, U.M.M, Leg Puppy, Starfrosch, Secret Archives of the Vatican, Dubioza Kolektiv, Vietnam II, Scop, Terranigma, FloatingMind, Mixtaped Monk, Have The Moskovik, Alone With Everybody.
There’s plenty to be pessimistic about. We’re all locked up in our homes, many of us have been “temporarily” laid-off, and the NHS front-line staff still has no PPE and have not been treated against coronavirus.
But, as I said earlier, 2020 is going to be a POSITIVE year for me, even if it kills me ….. no wait, that came out all wrong!
I’m used to social distancing. So are many IT, home based, freelance workers. It’s getting out and actually meeting a person that’s weird! So the last couple of weeks have been no different for me. I’ve been focused on helping a couple of local businesses get their shit online. It doesn’t matter what that shit is, everyone seems to be getting it done online …. especially using zoom or pre-recorded videos.
I’ve been blown away by the way in which businesses (and customers) have risen to this challenge. Older people (yes, even people older than me!) are busy zooming into to their Swoove, Zumba, Fitsteps, Yoga or Pilates classes. They are doing stuff with websites that I did not think possible and my regular get together of Swoovers is just as strong online via Zoom, WhatsApp and other social media tools.
Instructors have been recording videos in their lounges, kitchen and bedrooms for their students … in their lounges, kitchen and bedrooms, and it’s all been tickety boo!
I’m loving being part of this creativity and (hopefully) doing my bit to make it happen! It’s been a blast!
Twitter is alive with the notion that “we will never be the same again” and although I’m still mightily pessimistic about this I do believe it’s clarifies the important people in our society: NHS workers, Bin Men, Delivery drivers, Supermarket staff to name but four. These people are worth far more than they are paid – far more than Bankers, Lousy Chief Executives, Politicians or City Traders. What will happen when this is all over? Pessimistically, I suspect we’ll go back to normal, but I HOPE I’m wrong.
We’re even being kind to the homeless for once. OK it may be in our self interest to protect our own species, but at least people now recognise they are the same species!
On the home front I’m becoming adept at the “what can I cook with this…?” shopping model. Dammit my son’s partner has gone vegetarian and he’s joining in! These are incredible times.
Sadly we still have The Daily Mail spouting filth. This week they’ve blaming foreigners for infecting us: Michel Barnier for infecting Boris Johnson, or the entire Chinese nation for infecting everybody! We need to see through this bullshit.
Some things will never be the same until this time next year: My usual festival, The Great Escape, like many others has been cancelled; My usual holiday to the sun will be cancelled soon. But 2021 will be upon us soon and we will recover. At least I’m going for a virtual pint with some mates this evening. I wonder what a virtual hangover feels like?
Pandemonium… with tracks by… Kavalier, Oàlafur Kram, King Elizabeth, The Dissonant, Fatima Spar Und Die Freedom Fries, Les Desaxes, Ex-Echo, John Duncan, Salomè Lego Playset, Guido Bisocoli, Khoe-Wa, Echo Doppler, Vlasta Popic, Myoptik, Wheatley Afton.
Sorry I’m too busy to podcast at the moment. I will be back soon. In the meantime why not relive the excellent music year that was 2017 in this three-and-a-half hour mix? I hope you enjoy it.
Best of 2017 ….with tracks by …Crush, Mystic Braves, Blushing, Gurr, Black Fjords, The Vivisectors, Dokkerman and the Turkeying Fellaz, Principe Valiente, Friends And Lovers, Wapisimo, Silent Forum, We Were Cheerleaders, Billy James and His One Man Band, Amyl and the Sniffers, Las Trampas de Lily., October Bird of Death, Nosilla Musicales, Street Violence, Pasukan Penjaga Pohon, Penumbra, Plastic Light Factory, Rusty Tea Makers, Beyond The Borders, Spiedkiks & Timothy Wisdom, DreamReaper, Aaron Dictor, Dirtwire, Low Down, BeatMyth, Death By Drums, Deephno, UnSuB, Riot, The Hempolics, Concealed Sequence, Oxygenfad, The Dolomites, Gradu Minimo & Raz Ta Mama, Chopteeth, Kimo Watanabe & Rebel Zion, Red Star Martyrs, Massive Dub Corporation, Forest Of Fools, Massimo Ruberti, Rogue Emperor, The Madpix Project, LukHash, Waitapu, Portobello, Candids, Explosive Ear Candy, Alvin Baskoro.
Songs To Keep You Stimulated - Best of 2017 (again!)[ 3:29:07 | 192.43 MB ]Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1624)
Social Distancing… with tracks by… Leg Puppy,K.óla, HEXN, Gramski, Ill-Esha, TangerineCat, Full Dub, El Búho, Branski, Dubioza Kolektiv, Inhale Ashes, Marta Co´ias, D-Echo Project, Emerald Park, OKGB, Starfrosch.
Coronavirus this. Coronavirus that. In-out-in-out-sneeze-it-all-about! The media is fully of the same stories at the moment. The new C-word. It’s an epidemic, it’s a pandemic, and we’re all doomed!
A few things worry me about this…..
It’s creating panic. I was at my local Sainsbury’s yesterday and the car park was full. As I put my usual selection of comestibles into the car the click-and-collect guy was surprised I’d got everything I wanted. Why I asked? “Panic buying”, he said. “The first customer of the morning bought 16 packs of 6-pack toilet rolls.” Does anyone need that many toilet rolls? I suggested we’d be OK because we could just re-cycle copies of the Daily Mail – it’s already full of shit, but I didn’t get a laugh. Perhaps he was a Daily Mail reader? Either way its pointless being so selfish. If you are going to self-isolate for 14 days you still don’t need that many rolls, or hand-sanitizers do you. If you take them, then everyone else will be without them, the virus will spread further and you’ll be surrounded by the infected.
It’s the perfect opportunity for the Government to bury bad news. How many stories have gone unreported in this media frenzy? How many Brexit problems will now be blamed on the virus? It’s already started with the Flybe airline collapse.
They say the world of work will change forever. As more people are encouraged/told to work from home a popular daytime political chat show was suggesting that this will change the face of normal work. We will never return to the old ways. What utter bullshit! Once this is over the return to work will be mandatory. Those wishing to remain at work will be labelled ”shirkers” (The shirker-in-Chief Farrage has already started this). Remember when WWII was raging? Women were “forced” into wartime production. They were required to “do their bit”. But when the war ended they were required to return back to the home and give their jobs back to the men. Capitalism decides what happens with the world of work, and once the virus is vanquished, so will working-from-home. Enjoy it while you can suckers!
Obviously I’m not advocating we just put on our famous British stiff upper lip, keep calm and carry on. We need to be sensible. But being sensible is not a panic response. This is not the zombie apocalypse, and we’re not the walking dead.
Panic on the streets of (Enter name of your town here)!Pete2020-03-07T11:00:57+00:00
Songs for Self Isolation… with tracks by… In Vitro, Louis Lingg and the Bombs, MC’JaZzZz, Tangerinecat , Zoltan Sultan, Honey Cutt, Osiris4, Faultress, Ether, Divahn, Trials, Aftenging, S. Araguaya, Meraki, Octo&Shark.
I’ve not written an “opinion” piece for a while. It’s not that there hasn’t been enough to write about. Far from it, The government have been making my blood boil on a daily basis, but it’s just that shit has really got in the way.
My wife and I are now the oldest members of the family. Its taken 11 years, but the last of our parents have now left us and it’s an odd feeling. We keep saying “Mum would have liked this…” or “When do you have to phone your parents…?” Obviously we still remember them, hear their favourite words, repeat their regular phrases and smile when we think of their reactions to situations, but it’s been a long slog as they all got older and needed more of our time.
“We’ll be next” we keep saying. Duh! That’s obvious innit? But how do we want to go? Holding on to the last breath, whilst still saving for a rainy day, wearing old clothes and starting every conversation with the word “Oh my back!”
I don’t think so. It’s time to grow old disgracefully, and I like to think I’ve been working up to that for a while. I still want to be the oldest bloke in the mosh pit (although there’s a lot of competition for this down in Brighton!) and give it up to the max at Swoove, my dance fitness exercise addiction! I still want to see more cities of the world, meet more interesting people, drink more interesting drinks and eat (and cook) more interesting food. So now is the time to do it.
My parents always seemed old to me, even when they were the age I am now. They never had friends round for dinner. My Dad never wore jeans. The only gig I went to with my Dad was one I took him to (Stéphane Grappelli). But now that I’m older I do realise one thing – they were young in their own heads. Just like I still feel like I’m 15 at my first concert. It’s just seeing the reflection in the mirror that reminds me, perhaps I’m not. Who is that old bloke anyway?
The world at the moment seems a very scary place. The lunatics have taken over the asylum and, in some Orwellian sleight of hand we’ve been reminded that Trump is the best president, Johnson is running the country instead of Cummings, the NHS is not being sold off to American corporations and there’s no such thing as global warming. Is this a good time to be alive? Was it a good idea to bring children into this world? Is it a good idea that Johnson himself is producing another heir?
Well, my parents much have wondered the same thing. Shortly after my birth the US and Russia went head to head over the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. During my years at school we were told about “Protect and Survive” and the 4 minute warning. Was that a good time to bring children into the world? Didn’t my parents suffer enough with WWII? Were they as scared as we are now?
If we take this point of view we are lost. We give in to doubt and the people that want to ruin the world get their way. We must resist, even though my default position is pessimistic. So I’ve determined that in 2020 I’m going to be more optimistic and engage in optimistic endeavours.
Stage one was joining (or becoming a “fellow” as they say, of) the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) , thanks in part, due to the optimism of my old mate, Peter Clitheroe, who joined to make the world a better place for his grandchildren.
It’s the “encouragement” bit that inspires me the most. Encouraging people to be the best of themselves, to make their mark on society, and not just in the fine arts, but in manufacture and business. This is what I really loved about my working career – encouraging people, teams and organisations to make real change.
And I’ve started with a bang, helping create a new network for grassroots musicians, which is in beta-test at the moment and I will tell you about in due course. It’s been good for me because I found out long ago that I’m crap at creating a “vision” but I’m pretty darn good at helping create and fulfil other people’s visions. Just tell me what you need and I can help. This plays to my strengths and does create a sense of optimism that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Hopefully more projects like this will emerge!
So, as 2020 is now officially 17% over, I’m looking forward to the other 83% in a positive state of mind. Champion!
Too old to Rock and Roll?Pete2020-03-01T10:50:02+00:00
Altered States… an exploration of ambient and minimalist music… with tracks by… Angelina Lambrikht, Fahmi Mursyid, Bing Satellites, Ethereal Ephemera, Lee Rosevere, Rangga Purnama Aji, Chris Zabriskie, Cousin Silas, Kevin Lyons.
Songs for Sleepless Lovers…with tracks by… Wonderflu, Aleckat, Voi Vang, Leg Puppy, Dakha Brakha, GROA, Fm Outt, Colour Me Wednesday, OX, Seine, Smooth Genestar, Minds of Infinity, Federico de Gennaro, Volfoniq, Kh3rtis.
