Head Space Daily Words...

It must surely be enshrined in law that you can’t have a night out in Bristol without bumping into a member of Massive Attack and that is exactly what happened at The White Bear on St. Michael’s Hill.

We are making the trip horizontally West from London a couple of times every eighteen months or so, with our friends doing the return trip a couple of times themselves. I like the look of Bristol, with its old houses and hilly streets and the place has a good feel to it. There seems to be a lot going on and it is small and compact enough for things to catch on and thrive.

The main issue in driving anywhere in a North, or Westerly direction, from South East London, is the length of time it takes to get across London itself. It took an hour and a half on Saturday morning to travel the 13 miles to Hogarth Roundabout in Chiswick. The following 113 miles to the centre of Bristol were completed in the same length of time. London's network of roads didn't evolve with cars and traffic in mind and the size of the population could never have been envisaged. As the city’s claustrophobic carriageways are unable to deal with the volume of traffic, London is in a permanent state of stop-start, go-slow.

The easy going and non-judgmental feel of Bristol, must to a large part be down to its creative streak, which is surely one of its main attractions. Gigantic artworks by Banksy adorn the whitewashed walls of non-descript streets (see HSD Image,) taking art to the masses, free of charge, in a two fingered salute to the establishment. This encapsulates a sense of not only getting up and doing things for yourself, of making things happen but also of pushing the boundaries and being provocative.

When I think of Bristol, I think of music. Music that moved things forward, sounded new and fresh and which was jaw droppingly profound in its brilliance and originality. The music of Smith And Mighty, Portishead, Roni Size and Reprazent spring immediately to mind but the most influential in my view, was Massive Attack (see HSD Tune.) They were true DIY mavericks, taking the techniques of hip-hop and pioneering a distinctly British and uniquely Bristolian sound, engineering a template for others to follow. The test of great music is its longevity and Blue Lines, which is one of my all time favourite albums, sounds as fresh today as it did when it came out in 1991.

To go out clubbing these days is a novelty and to be doing it with a large group of like-minded people is like stepping back in time. After leaving the kids with babysitters, there was quite a posse gathered at The White Bear, many of who are going to the Green Man Festival in August, which is an event to look forward to. Jamie XX, amongst others, will be playing and his new album In Colour has been regularly flirting with my ears recently (see HSD Tune.) Some local DJ talent kept us entertained in the small room, with a selection of rare groove and soul and Sir Norman Jay was to take it to the close in the main room. As one of the DJs played Change Of Heart by Change (see HSD Tune,) who should walk in? None other than Daddy–G, Wild Bunch original and founding member of Massive Attack. The law had come to pass!!

We danced, drunk and made merry and as I am prone to do, when I see someone I respect from the world of music and am in a suitably intoxicated state - Reuban Nielson from UMO was my previous victim - I shook Daddy-G’s hand and thanked him for the music. What else can you do?

Sunday saw hangovers cured with bacon sarnies from Brunel’s Buttery and a walk around Bristol harbour, before a quick drive, horizontally East to London, which was followed by the stop-start, go-slow, through the city and back home...