Head Space Daily Words...

Currently in freelance no-man’s land, I am looking to attach myself to a suitable creative battalion in need of a renegade pair of hands but after six weeks without work, I am starting to enter the semi-retired/unemployed/when will I work again? state of mind. Things always work out eventually though and the attitude of whatever will be will be, must prevail. Speaking of whatever will be will be, I am off to Wembley on Sunday with my two boys to see the mighty Aston Villa take on Liverpool in the F.A Cup Semi Final. It may only be the semi and not the showpiece final but a day out at Wembley is a day out at Wembley and how many times will all three of us be able to go and watch Aston Villa play at the home of Take That, Ed Sheeran, AC/DC and the NFL? It may never happen again. In any case, semi finals are often a lot better than the finals. Liverpool will be firm favourites but it is all about enjoying the day, the occasion and the atmosphere. As long as the team put in a performance to be proud of, you can’t ask for any more.

Recently, we have discovered a great way of getting away, which is to stay at a friend’s house whilst they are themselves on holiday, or in this case visiting relatives oop North. The favour will be returned of course, when the opportunity arises. The weather was good last week and we spent time on the beaches of Deal, Broadstairs, and Walmer. It is good for the soul to sit on a beach every now and then and in this case, listen to the sea rattle through the pebbles, as they get sucked back into the ocean. Or to eat fish and chips, (from Peter’s, of course,) in the ocean’s mist at Margate, or to discover ancient chalk monuments, towering out of the water, at Botany Bay, with graffiti scraped into their surface like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics (see Head Space Daily Image.)

“How’s Annie? How’s Annie?. . . How’s Annie?” I can remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday, as a seventeen year old, watching the final episode of Twin Peaks, just before Agent Dale Cooper smashed his face into the bathroom mirror, possessed by Bob, the evil spirit of the woods and dark overlord of The Black Lodge. Recently, I finished watching the box set. Many of my memories from watching Twin Peaks the first time around, are rooted in the quirky, humorous elements – the damn fine coffee and cherry pie, the dancing dwarf - and of course the beautiful cast. Sherilyn Fenn was a massive crush. On second viewing, the show is truly sinister, full of lost souls looking for something to hang on to, set against an aura of hopelessness and underlying evil. The dwarf is a devil. The first season is incredibly sinister and unnerving and whilst it loses its way slightly in season two, that final episode is one of the most weirdly wonderful, abstract and disturbing pieces of television ever made. As Laura Palmer says backwards to Dale Cooper in the surreal depths of the Black Lodge, “I’ll see you again in twenty five years,” lets hope the new series, which is due to be shown exactly twenty five years on, actually happens.

I was writing this edition of Head Space Daily yesterday, sitting on a bench in Blythe Hill Fields, the left side of my neck slowly burning, as I looked towards Canary Wharf. With the sun to my left, high above me, a group of people at the bottom of the hill were playing a game of Boules, which was well, very French...

Now for a music update:

The mass conversion of my vinyl to MP3 is gathering pace. I have eleven compartments rammed full of records and have almost completed the upload of music from the first one. In some cases I am quite literally rediscovering records that I have not played for ten to twenty years. Yesterday it was a pleasure to reacquaint myself with the Yam Who? reworks of various artists. There is plenty to be heard in todays Head Space Daily Tune. . .

ALBUM OF THE WEEK:

An album to have caught my attention recently, is Lustmore by Lapalux, which is on Ninja Tune, who are on a roll at the moment. This to me is best played late at night, in the nether world between darkness and light, as it captures a semi conscious, slightly twisted, dream like state. Perhaps his music should be used as part of the soundtrack for the new Twin Peaks series. Lapalux meets Angelo Badalamenti, now there’s an idea.

CHARITY SHOP CORNER:

My latest charity shop vinyl discoveries – from the Kent coast – have been Marvin Gaye, I Heard It Through The Grapevine; Willie Hutch, Brothers Gonna Work It Out and a Ray Charles collection. Not bad for £2.50.

OUT AND ABOUT:

A couple of weeks ago I saw Andreya Triana at Village Underground. She has a beautiful voice and was accompanied by a string quartet on this occasion. Having seen her eight times now, I need a Triana break. You can have too much of a good thing and she is now moving in a slightly different direction. The bar just off the main room was quite rowdy, with it being the Thursday before Good Friday and the noise clashed with the performance but Andreya handled it with good humour, a laugh and a joke. I can see her having a long career and envisage seeing her at Ronnie Scott’s twenty years from now.

A fully fledged Ronnie Scott’s regular, Carleen Anderson, who sang on one of my all time favourite albums, Road To Freedom, with Young Disciples, is playing Jazz Café in May for which the tickets are in the bag. Before then, I will be seeing Sharon Van Etten, in a couple of weeks time, at Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Hearing her voice fill that space will be magical. Following those two, comes Unknown Mortal Orchestra at Islington Assembly Hall, towards the end of May, after which, it will be nada until more work arrives and more funds can be earned on which to have a life. Until then que sera, sera...