End of 2010 & Jan/Feb round-up

Greetings friend,

How has life been treating you? Done anything interesting recently? Unfortunately, work has been increaingly demanding over the last month or so, rendering me bereft of sufficient energy to put digits to plastic recently.

My dear blog, I am so sorry to have neglected you so much over the last year or so. I feel that we have become estranged lovers, only reuniting for fleeting visits of dispassionate and gratuitious sex. I promise to be more attentive. I know I say this every time, but stay with me. You know I'm good for you.

So...onto my usual ramblings. Although I am on the whole continuing to enjoy work, I really haven't had any proper time off since I started this job at the beginning of July 2010. In almost 8 months I have not had more than 4 consecutive days off (and the times I did this were either to write my Masters diss or rave it up in Berlin - hardly relaxing experiences!). Once work has calmed down this week (I hope), I plan to take a long weekend off very soon - sadly I still do not have an intimate female relation in my life, so am thinking of heading somewhere alone for a few days to read, listen to music, walk, think - I need some catharsis, and sometime soon. Thankfully, music as always, provides me this on a daily basis.

And onto new music. Well, I vowed to wrench myself out of my depression that was creeping and building throughout November and December; can honestly say that I am in a much better place in general - feel in control of work, making (the right) people notice my capabilites, got a pay rise, have been socialising more with friends, and maintaining good relations with family. Just about. OK, granted I am still drinking too much, not exercising nearly enough, and eating crap at least twice a week. But to coin a phrase, at least I'm not a "pig in a cage, on antibiotics." Sorry, I'm massively digressing. Be patient.....I think part of the process of lifting myself out of a low ebb (aside from the days getting longer) is by finding new, and affecting music. And boy, have I found quite a few gems recently.

Pantha Du Prince - 'Black Noise'. God knows how this very talented chap got through my net, but boy, is he a fantastic producer. Black Noise is an abolutely immense album from start to finish. I would say it's quite hard to define PDP's sound - maybe akin to Trentemoller crossed with Isolee perhaps. Essentially this album can and should be listened from start to finish, a rarity these days. Trying to describe the album sound is also hard - crossing micro-house, techno, ambient and minimal. I knew on first listen that this guy is German. There just seems to be a very definite, precise, tuned sound, with lush production values that Germans seem to be able to execute so well. Anyway, this hasnt't left my phone for months and doubt it will for quite some time. My fave track is definitely 'Stick To My Side' which has Noah Lennox (of Animal Collective) on vocals. Absolutely immense.

I have also recently decided to re-visit Atlas Sound's 'Logos'. Having been unaware of Bradford James Cox and his band Deerhunter until about a year ago, this album is wonderful. Definitely not an eletronic album, more indie or alt-pop or even pysch-pop. Has a couple of amazing tracks on there, one by Laetitia Sadler from Stereolab. Melancholy but lush at the same time.

Very new acquisitions....

I have just downloaded Isolée's new album 'Well Spent Youth'. On first listen I can see that this album could be as good as 'We Are Monster' or ''Rest'. Given Rajko Muller's extremely high production values, and level of detail, I will need to give this at least a couple more listens, and on my decent quality earphones before I can really review it properly though. Still, exciting stuff nonetheless.

Finally, I have just downloaded Gold Panda's first full LP, 'Lucky Shiner', having heard good things. And well, it is superb. First impressions remind me strongly of The Field, so if you like quite repetitive but melodic and really well crafted elecronic music, then this might be for you. But then, I suppose all elelctronic music is repetitive so not a particularly useful comment! There's also definitely a strong Four Tet influence in there too. It's currently reminding me of Everything Ecstatic or Rounds. Certainly this album has an immediate appeal, but also clearly has bags of depth. I know I will be re-visiting this quite a lot. Once again, superb production and beautifully put together. I feel there's a very strong sense of nostalia running through this album, which in my current state, is definitely no bad thing.

Well, that's my verbal diarrhoea over for now. I hope that my writing will propel you to check out some of the new music I have been listening to. Or if not, made you think just a little. Would love to hear any of your thoughs on James Blake's new album. Just gave it a first liften on Spotify. I can see he's clearly a precociously talented guy, but don't quite get the hype. Next big thing? Can someone please enlighten me?

As always, thanks for reading. I will do my utmost to keep my blog fitter, happier and more productive. Like a pig, in a cage, well you get the point.

Currently listening to Gold Panda's 'Lucky Shiner'.

Peace.

A Stench of Oil Diplomacy in the Air

Greetings readers,

And how are we on this rather lovely Summer's day? For once I have no complaints about the weather - will hopefully be having a rather splendid BBQ later today!

So onto more serious matters. Well, if you have been following the news recently, then you will already know what the topic of debate is about in this post from the photo and title: the release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi the Lockerbie bomber, from prison this week. Now I'm not quite sure I actually have a concrete position on this, but felt compelled to write something seeing as the whole event has blown up on both sides of the Atlantic, and how I certainly have my suspicions that a little bit of oil diplomacy is going on here.

So, as usual, the Americans have got their noses into something that had nothing to do with them, flexing their diplomatic muscle; the head of the FBI described the release of Megrahi as a "mockery of justice". Indeed, Scotland's former first minister, Jack McConnell also said it was a "grave error of judgement". According to today's BBC article, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Colonel Gaddafi reportedly told a TV station that Megrahi's case was "always on the negotiating table" during trade talks. However, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson rebuked these comments, describing them as "offensive". The sceptic in me however, is not so sure.

Megrahi was apparently freed by the Scottish Government on compassionate grounds due to the fact that he has terminal cancer. Boo hoo. The fact of the matter is that he was convicted of the murder of 270 people in the Lockerbie bombing in 1988; if you believe in the rule of law, and due process, then he is a guilty man. Fact. In my opinion, freeing Megrahi on compassionate grounds makes the Scottish Government, and Scotland as a whole look weak. OK yes, one could argue that the decision makes Scotland look like a compassionate country but ultimately, Megrahi was convicted of killing 270 innocent people. He should have died in prison. Now forgive me for sounding like a Daily Mail reader, but for once I agree with the Americans.

To make matters worse, Megrahi was given a hero's welcome on landing in Tripoli on the eve of the first day of Ramadan. To top it off, Colonel Gadaffi was there to personally receive him. Indeed, many Libyans present were even waving Scottish flags - to be honest I found this particularly disgusting. Apparently a memo was leaked detailing how Gordon Brown requested that Megrahi be received in a discrete and sensitive manner. Surely that's like putting a hungry, fat kid in a sweet shop and asking him not to eat any sweets. Red rag, bull anyone?

I read somewhere that Libya will soon be in the top 10 oil producers in the world. Given this, I have to wonder whether there really were some "under the table" discussions going on behind the release of Megrahi. Or whether this notion is just too sceptical and conspiratorial. If not, then presumably the Scottish were also in talks with the rest of the UK. I mean, Scotland is only a small country and I can't imagine Libya getting that much leverage out of her. No, more likely the rest of the UK were also complicit, with Whitehall surely being a key player in the whole process. Ha, gives a whole new slant on "due process"!

According to another BBC article I have just read, the Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz was in Tripoli on the day Megrahi returned to Libya, and was seen publicly apologising to the Libyan people in a news conference. Why? I hear you ask. Well, in 2008, Colonel Gaddafi's son Hannibal and his wife were arrested and detained by the Swiss police for allegedly beating two of their servants. Surprise surprise, the move infuriated the Libyan governement and it was not too long before Swiss companies and nationals were driven out of the country and the oil taps were half shut. Whoops. It seems that the Libyans have very evidently flexed their oil muscles. Yep, I can see the biceps rippling now.

I do have to agree that many of these complaining British and American politicians are blatantly guilty of "disingenuous posturing". Sadly once again, the rule of law and due process have given way to oil diplomacy so we can all feed our excessively consumptive lifestlyes here in the West (myself included). Unfortunately, this decision has also reflected rather badly on a devolved Scotland on the international stage.

Hey, at least we (the English) had nothing to do with it.

Currently listening to a rather good mix by Trentemøller entitled "Harbour Boat Trips in Copenhagen" - it starts off really folky and downtempo, and then starts to build into some nice 4x4. However, it still remains fairly slow and downtempo, with some interesting EBM, indie and electronica tracks in there. Very soundtrack-y and atmospheric. Definitely one for a lazy Sunday, cotching with your mates. Or perfect for reflective, solitary listening, as I am doing now. Anyway, check it out here.

One last thing - come on England, you can bring back the Ashes. 10 wickets, 2 days. We have the weather on our side....

Thanks for reading.

Peace (in the Middle East),

F.