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I don’t like the scenery, I don’t like the set…….

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I’m not exactly known for regular attendance at the cinema and I don’t watch a lot of films.

But when I do I tend to gravitate towards older titles – today’s cinema seems to have very little to offer.

I spent some time this last week with two older films both of which I would recommend – one of which I picked up when it was recommended on my Friend’s Page.

Jean Cocteau’s Orphee and A Matter of Life and Death which stars David Niven and Kim Hunter were the two. Of these, I think Orphee has the edge but I’d recommend you give both some of your time

…… Mostly Average

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It wasn’t just the promise of tickets waiting for me on the door that drew me back for a second night with Mostly Autumn. I’d enjoyed the first night and I was interested to see how the previous night’s shenanigans would effect the prospect of recording a live album at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire (a venue I don’t like but, hey, I live just round the corner). Would Heather’s "scratchiness" (her term) floor the attempt at making a live album? Would the live album be released with a fill-in vocalist or be aborted all-together? Hey, it’s a hard rock soap……… The answers as always fell somewhere in between the obvious guesses.

Tonight, the band have more than adequate space to flex their musical and physical muscles. Unlike in Mancester, they’re not all stood on top of one another, eight musicians on a stage built for three. The audience can actually see Iain Jennings. Not least because he’s lost the top keyboard of the three on his tower. Anne-Marie Helder can get out from behind her keys when she is playing the flute and Andy Smith can wander the stage at will which makes him look just a little more Spinal Tap than he did last night…..

The setlist is the same as last night on the whole with those songs that were dropped because of Heather’s health mostly restored to the line-up. Eye contact between Josh and her is restored and there is even signs of some humour between the pair. Inbetween song comments are kept to a minimum in the spirit of the intention to capture this for a live recording without too many fake fades being required. The band members still have an irritating habit of leaving the stage when the songs do not require them to be there which looks unprofessional but that is their choice, I guess. All is well, the mix is better than the night before and except for one peculiar moment when Ms. Findlay seems to be asking the sound engineer to take her down in the mix (down???) there is none of the problems from the previous night which could have been interpreted as being a little prima-donna-ish……

And then Heather introduces "Above the Blue" from the new album "Glass Shadows". Now this isn’t my favourite song from that set. To these ears, it all sounds a little too much like the Carpenters. But Heather obviously believes in it. She has dedicated it to her baby and her partner and for her it is obvious that this is one of the key moments of the night. Perhaps it all meant a little too much. The band all left the stage except Anne-Marie who plays delicate and sensitive keys and for the first two verses all is well. But Heather has decided that a snare-drum has been left taut and is causing an intrusive echo or click and all of a sudden the song is off and needs to be begun again. There is some yelling and some semi-humorous comments aimed at the drummer who showed no signs of taking it all personally (I think most would have done). The audience are very much on the band’s side and take it in good spirits and the song is started all over again – for the good of the live recording. There is one moment when the security guard at the front of the stage allows his walkie-talkie to go off mid-song second time around and just for a second I think we’re going to have the same problem again but Heather digs down deep and completes her song. Strange.

The rest of the show goes off mostly without incident. The band are tight, energetic and enthusiastic and, most importantly, unphased by what has gone before. Anne-Marie Helder, still battling with her sounds been way too low in the mix, has real talent and charisma. Olivia Sparnenn takes her moment in the spotlight (smaller tonight) with aplomb. And Bryan Josh masters it all, level-headed, thoughtful, talented.

The first encore, Tearing at the Faerytale, which was missing last night is restored and goes very well indeed. The band are all set for "Carpe Diem" from "Storms Over Still Water" which had been a major highlight the night before when Heather shows Bryan "thumbs down" and the song has to be skipped and the bemused band move on to the final encore. The final encore is a cover of Genesis’ "Turn it on Again". The night before with Olivia having to handle lead at short notice and the band overwhelmed by complex timing, they had murdered this. Tonight, with Heather on vocals but the band still a little at sea, it is a little better. It is fun but not the big finish its meant to be.

So over two nights, Mostly Autumn showed themselves capable of scaling "Half the Mountain" but health (and personnel?) issues kept them from any kind of peak. Whether this is a temporary blip or sees the band heading for winter, only time will tell……..  

Anne-Marie Helder

Iain Jennings

Bryan Josh

Andy Smith and Heather Findlay

Goodnight and Thank you


(Combined) Set list for the last two nights

Fading Colours
Caught In A Fold
Flowers For Guns
Unoriginal Sin
Simple Ways
Evergreen
Winter Mountain
Dark Before The Dawn
Answer The Question
Last Bright Light
<<Above The Blue >> second night
Half The Mountain
Close My Eyes
Broken Glass
Never The Rainbow
Pocket Watch
Spirit II
Heroes Never Die

 

<<Tearing at the faerytale>> Second Night

<< Carpe Diem>> first night
Turn It On Again

Moderately Autumn………

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Friday night found me in Manchester, considering another writing gig and checking out the possible subjects – Mostly Autumn. I understood Saturday night’s show in London was to be recorded for a live album and I wanted to catch this band when they weren’t just so – and it proved to be a good decision.
Mostly Autumn. They are the band who really define what it means to be "indie" and internet-driven. "Indie" not in the sense of any contrived musical style – I’m never sure what that label means in that sense. It seems its possible to be "indie" and the slaves of one of the corporate giants although the equally unpleasant term "britpop" seems to be back to the forefront at the moment. And internet driven not in the sense of Lily Allen who had a large budget to ensure she was discovered on "MySpace" and not in the sense of Sandi Thom whose discovery seems to have lasted for approximately one song but in the sense of a band who have independently launched a succession of reasonably successful albums via that medium and who have created a niche audience for themselves who are clearly with them for the longhaul.

Mostly Autumn. Darlings of the prog rock scene who, thankfully, aren’t really prog rock. Mostly Autumn who gather fans who’d rather watch Pink Floyd but have found the Floyd are Mostly not around anymore. Mostly Autumn – who seem to have passed their peak without ever charting an album – can they ever be more than a second division band?

Friday night at the Manchester University Academy. Eight musicians on the smallest stage of three. All busy tonight. Mostly Autumn are (having gone through a number of personnel changes which perhaps hints at their problems) :

Bryan Josh. band leader. lead and rhythm guitar. vocals. old-style rocker and the one they audience feel is their friend.
Heather Findlay. vocals. guitar. whistle. tambourine. Dresses like Stevie Nicks, looks like Christine McVie.
Anne-Marie Helder. Keyboards. flute. harmony vocals. Her sound is too low in the mix.
Olivia Sparnenn. Vocals. Youngest member who finds herself with extra duties tonight.
Iain Jennings. Keyboards. Didn’t play on the most recent album but is back in the touring band.
Andy Smith. Bassist. Looks like and dresses like Bill Nighy when he was a strange fruit.
Liam Davidson. Acoustic guitar, 2nd lead and rhythm guitar. Another returnee to the fold.
Henry Bourne. Drummer. Solid.

The show, on Friday, got off to a solid enough start with "Fading Colours" but it soon becomes evident that all is not well. There is a sharp exchange of words between Heather Findlay and Bryan Josh and then an announcement that Olivia Sparnenn will stand in for Findlay for the bulk of the rest of the show. Now, Olivia is a strong vocalist (some would say stronger than Heather – check out her own band, Breathing Space) but it is Heather that the audience have come to see and this should have been sorted prior to the show with the show perhaps cancelled until all were well. But this show has been rearranged once already and there is a consideration about that live album show tomorrow night (and the income that will generate) and it seems that Heather has unilaterally decided that her voice must be rested. Certainly there is no eye contact between her and Josh for the rest of the night and it seems that there is a tension amongst the camp.

Internal issues aside, this is a tight show and the fill-in vocalist is more than up for it. Highlights? "Unoriginal Sin", "Evergreen", "Broken Glass", "Carpe Diem", the vocal version of "Spirits of Autumn Past", and a number of others. There are one or two moments when the band get bogged down in their own boogie and you’re caused to think that this is what it might have been like if Saxon had hired Stevie Nicks as their vocalist but they transcend that most of the time.

Josh is not quite the vocalist he is in the studio (where his sound reminds me of the late-Genesis and sometime-Stiltskin vocalist Ray Wilson) but is guitar work is interchangeably forceful and dynamic then thoughtful and provocative. Smith, Davidson and Bourne are a solid backline and rhythm section. Helder is a real talent and Sparnenn handles the change-overs like a pro and excels herself.

All-in-all, a difficult night but a good night. It remains to be seen whether the band can overcome those tensions and these setbacks.

Bryan Josh

Heather Findlay

Olivia Sparnenn

Live in Leeds

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A periodic update on the fortunes of my football team, Leeds United

When I first visited Elland Road in 1972, Leeds were the best team in the old Division one of the English Football League (what we would now call the Premiership). At that time, Cheltenham Town were in the old Southern League Division One (a non-league team, in short). Somewhere along the line, history changes things and now both teams are in the Football League, League One (third division, when I was a boy). All these name changes make it very hard to describe historical development in the life of football teams but to cut a long story short, they got much better, we got much worse.

On Saturday, we met at Elland Road. Cheltenham are struggling to stay in League One without much success (they are bottom of the table). Leeds are fighting to get out of League One without much success (we are well out of the automatic promotion places and four points below playoff qualification at the time that the game kicked off). Both teams could have used a win but in the end Leeds came out on top by a two-nil advantage. Jonny Howson, a player that I would have left out of the starting line-up, scored both goals. I was there and I’ll take a moment to review the performance of the Leeds team, player by player, and look at what I think this means for the future.

Goalkeeper

1. Casper Ankergren. Leeds United’s Danish goalkeeper is hardly the safest pair of hands in the division. He seems to lack confidence and seemed to be anticipating losing control of the ball – which he did on a couple of occasions. He conceded a goal which was disallowed but the clean sheet he maintained probably had more to do with Cheltenham’s ambition to play for the draw. 4/10

Defence

22. Andy Hughes. Injury to club captain Frazer Richardson left midfielder, Hughes, playing out of position at right back. An innocuous performance which saw him withdrawn in the first half. Nothing wrong here but not much right. 5/10

5. Rui Marques. The African central defender seems to have lost confidence since he was a target for some Premiership teams a year or two ago but he is faring much better now than he was at the tail end of Gary McAllister’s time as manager. He marshalled the limited resources he had around him well and made few mistakes. 6/10

36. Richard Naylor. Recent signing, Naylor is club captain in Richardson’s absence and there are whispers that might become permanent. Despite this Marques seemed the more significant influence on those around him. Naylor produced a solid but decidedly unspectacular performance. 5/10

19. Ben Parker. Injury and the end of Carl Dickinson’s loan period has handed the left back slot to Parker who is 21 and has some promise. On Saturday, he did enough but no more. 5/10

Midfield

4. Jonathan Douglas. Douglas is probably capable of playing at a higher level but is temperament is a little suspect. He keeps the midfield organised allowing Delph room to roam and be creative. 6/10

15. Fabian Delph. Talk in the transfer window had Delph departing from the Premiership for anywhere from £2.5 million to £8 million and to anyone from Fulham to Arsenal. In the end, he went nowhere and to be honest, he is far from the finished article. His ball control is good and he is inventive and skilful but too many of his passes go astray. Having said this he is still far better than most of the meagre feast on display. 7/10

14. Jonny Howson. Two goal Howson skied a few other chances but didn’t seem to do very much else. A game to remember for him because of the goals but he will need much more than enthusiasm to stay in the team. 7/10

Attack

18. Andy Robinson. Ex-Swansea man, Robinson began wide on the left but moved to the right when Hughes left the field. Last time, I covered a Leeds game, I mentioned his suspect temperament and his tendency to drift out of the game. He has conquered the second of these. He looked like the most committed and dedicated man on the park on Saturday and he was involved in everything that was good about Leeds. However, he was also involved in a running battle with ex-Leeds man, Ian Westlake which saw him gain another yellow card. A player of real passion, skill and ability. 8/10

10. Lucian Becchio. The big Argentinian is at his best with his back to the goal, holding the ball and laying it off for his strike partner. Problem was that on Saturday, he was the only natural central attacker in the team. Options to partner him were Trundle and Grella who were on the bench for the majority of the game. Becchio though is determined and did well in less than ideal circumstances. 6/10

23. Robert Snodgrass. Better as a wideman, Snodgrass was drawn in a little to provide help for Becchio. This didn’t really work but Snodgrass still had a good game when he could use his speed and flair to good effect. 7/10

Substitutes

8. Neil Kilkenny. Usually out of favour under new manager Grayson, Kilkenny had most of the game to impress. However, used out of position, he was little in evidence in this game. 5/10

35. Lee Trundle. After missing a penalty against Hereford, Trundle (on loan from Bristol City) was left out of the starting eleven. In the short time he was on the field, he had a couple of chances and gave the impression that things might have been better if he’d have partnered Becchio from the beginning and Snodgrass had been given more room to get out on the flank. But then Howson would have been left on the bench so who knows……. 6/10

13. Mike Grella. Grella entered the game in time added on and touched the ball once. A pointless substitution.

I really don’t think this team is good enough to get us into the playoffs. When Jermaine Beckford returns from suspension, and provided he can remain fit, we will have a better chance but it will still be an outside one.

Another season in the third division (I can’t get away from the old terminology) seems a dire prospect but most likely. Perhaps then Grayson can add some new faces – permanent signings, please – and better times might lie ahead.

 

Sereyna (my daughter) and Darren

Lee Trundle and Sereyna

The Pleasures of Electricity

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(Ignoring the snow outside)

One of my favourite arists, John Foxx has come up with three new albums for the first half of 2009

The first on the 23rd of February (just in time for my birthday) will be "My Lost City"

Track Listing:

01. Imperfect Hymn
02. Holywell Lane
03. Magnetic Fields
04. Just Passing Through
05. Barbican Brakhage
06. Hidden Assembly
07. Hawksmoor Orbital
08. Piranesi Motorcade
09. City of Disappearances
10. Umbra Sumus
11. Scene 27 – Intro to The Voice Behind The Wallpaper, Trellick Tower 3am

It will be released on Metamatic Records META21CD

_________________________________________

His second release will be a collaboration with Steve Jansen (brother of David Sylvian and formerly percussionist with Japan) and Steve D’Agostino (who joined Foxx on his recent "Metamatic" tour.

The album entitled A Secret Life will be released on the 23rd of March also on Metamatic META22CD. Track listing:

01. A Secret Life (Part 1)
02. A Secret Life (Part 2)
03. A Secret Life (Part 3)
04. A Secret Life (Part 4)
05. A Secret Life (Part 5)
06. A Secret Life (Part 6)

No artwork yet.

_________________________________________

The third album will be another collaboration, this time with former Cocteau Twin, Robin Guthrie. The album will be on Metamatic and will be distributed by Universal. Released on the 4th of May, it will be entitled "Mirrorball".

Pettitte and the Yankees ….. the story continues

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A few weeks ago I said:

"I’d like to see: Sabathia – Wang – Burnett – Pettitte – Aceves."

In another post I said:

"I think he (Pettitte) should swallow deeply, remember last winter and all the damage that did to his reputation and take the $10 million that the Yankees have on the table. He would be a good no. 4 or no. 5 starter."

Yesterday, Pettitte accepted far less than that offer – albeit in an incentive-laden deal that could net him more than that if the season goes well.

Another piece falls into place in the puzzle.

All the Merry Little Elves Can Go and Hang Themselves…….

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Bob Dylan learned everything he knows about film-making on the set of Sam Peckinpah’s "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid".

That’s not to say that Dylan is a good film-maker and certainly not to imply that he is the equal of Peckinpah. But the episodic nature of Dylan’s two feature films is drawn from Peckinpah’s masterpiece. Dylan appears as the mysterious and enigmatic "Alias" in the 1973 Western – a film where there is no narrative and our understanding of the film’s plot requires the outside knowledge of the Billy the Kid story to help us follow the plot development. In Dylan’s two cinematic efforts – 1978’s messy "Renaldo and Clara" and 2003’s beautiful mess "Masked and Anonymous" – we do not know the progression of the story and so we go away with more questions than answers.

James Coburn’s magisterial performance as Pat Garrett is at the heart of so much that is good about "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid" which I viewed once more this evening as part of the British Film Institute’s Peckinpah series. His Garrett is a man in transition. In his younger life, he has trod the same road as William Bonney (Billy the Kid) but now as the West is changing, he has taken the shilling of the rich landowners and become a sheriff on their behalf to track down Bonney, played here by Kris Kristofferson. It is Garrett desire to survive the changes that is society is going through and to live to a good old age but he has failed to calculate how much this will cost him. At the culmination of the film when the Sheriff shoots Bonney in cold blood, he is panicked and also shoots at his reflection in a mirror as he sees something move. The inference is obvious – in killing Bonney, he has killed himself. We see nothing else of his life but know that he, himself, is ambushed and killed in like manner several years later. The landowners’ tolerate murder and rape and something inside of Garrett has died long before he takes that bullet. Garrett has become their man, their servant, their hired hand.

This is seen in two telling scenes near to the conclusion of the film. In short span, we see Garrett in bed with four prostitutes in a scene that is titilating but without love. A sexual longing is fulfilled but there is nothing more. By contrast, Bonney is involved in a scene of real tenderness and passion with the woman he holds dear. He is true to himself and still able to feel.

It is a film where the Sheriff doesn’t wear a white hat and the villain is not in black. The West is inhuman and murderous but Bonney is the one with some signs of redemption still sparking within him. Garrett will be the one to survive for a time but he has ceased to live.

This is a tour-de-force of a film which whilst you are unlikely to catch it in a cinema as I had the pleasure tonight, is well-worth picking up the Director’s cut on DVD. It is one of the truly great artistic moments which reflects on the transition from civil war to the Old West. In rock and country music, there is the Eagles’ Desperado and Paul Kennerley’s White Mansions and Legend of Jesse James (which interestingly both feature prominently the Eagles’ Bernie Leadon). On TV and much more light-heartedly, there is Alias Smith and Jones which can now be found on DVD. In film, there is Gods and Generals (for the Civil War) and …. Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (for the Old West).

Meanwhile, watching carefully and observing is the curiously out-of-place figure of Bob Dylan, who produces a soundtrack which has all the sentimentality for the Old West which the film lacks. Perhaps, the actor goes away and broods until the day he can produce his own cinematic vision…. albeit with less consistency and recognition.

Yankees in 2009 – Where does it look like they’re going?

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Having finally laid to rest the 2008 Baseball season, from a Bronx perspective,  a week ago, we now begin looking at the team as it will line-up for 2009 or at least as it looks like it will this side of Spring training.

Here are the players that I would expect to dominate the roster:

C – Jorge Posada 
1B – Mark Teixeira
2B – Robinson Cano
3B – Alex Rodriguez
SS – Derek Jeter
LF – Johnny Damon / Xavier Nady
CF – Melky Cabrera / Brett Gardner
RF – Xavier Nady / Nick Swisher
DH – Hideki Matsui / Johnny Damon

Infield Bench – Cody Ransom / Juan Miranda
Outfield bench – Brett Gardner / Nick Swisher
Catchers on bench – Jose Molina / Francisco Cervelli

SP1 – CC Sabathia
SP2 – Chien-Ming Wang
SP3 – AJ Burnett
SP4 – Joba Chamberlain
SP5 – Alfredo Aceves / Phil Hughes

Long Relief – Alfredo Aceves / Dan Giese

Middle Relief 1 – Jose Veras
Middle Relief 2 – Brian Bruney
Middle Relief 3 – Phil Coke

Left handed specialist – Damaso Marte
Closer – Mariano Rivera

Other pitchers in the running: Ian Kennedy, Andrew Brackman, Jonathan Albaladejo, David Robertson, Humberto Sanchez.

I’m reckoning that they’ll only carry one of the back-up catchers I’ve mentioned – very probably Molina. Aceves is in the forefront for two spots but could miss out all together. The bullpen, as always, is the least settled prior to the Spring. Nick Swisher could move prior to the start of the season.

The Twilight Dawning 1st Annual Yankees Baseball Awards

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That’s TWI-D (Twilight Dawning) not TWIB (This week in Baseball)

Using the rules I explained so clearly yesterday, here are the Yankees players who fared best according to my bi-monthly updates during the 2008 season:

Batter of the Year 2008: Alex Rodriguez
Pitcher of the Year 2008: Mike Mussina
Bench player of the Year 2008: Wilson Betemit
Relief Pitcher of the Year 2008: Mariano Rivera

Most appearances without getting mentioned in the Twilight Dawning reports:
Jonathan Albaladejo (7 games) 

For the record, here are the total points gained:

Batters

 

A. Rodriguez                6

B. Abreu                      3

J. Damon                      2

D. Jeter                        1

X. Nady                       1

R. Cano                       1

H. Matsui                     0

J. Posada                     0

J. Giambi                      -1

I. Rodriguez                  -2

M. Cabrera                  -3

J. Molina                      -4

 

 

Bench

 

W. Betemit                   6

B. Gardner                   2

C. Ransom                   2

C. Moeller                    1

J. Miranda                    1

J. Christian                   0

M. Ensberg                  -1

A. Gonzalez                  -2

S. Duncan                    -2

R. Sexson                     -2

 

Pitchers

 
M. Mussina                  6

M. Rivera                     5

B. Bruney                     4

J. Veras                        4

K. Farnsworth              3

J. Chamberlain             2

A. Aceves                    2

D. Giese                       2

P. Coke                       2

C.M. Wang                  1

Andy Pettitte                0

Carl Pavano                 0

E. Ramirez                    -1

H. Sanchez                   -1

B. Traber                     -1

R. Ohlendorf                -1

S. Ponson                     -1

D. Marte                      -2

C. Britton                     -2

P. Hughes                     -2

L. Hawkins                   -2

K. Igawa                      -2

D. Robertson                -3

I. Kennedy                   -3

D. Rasner                     -5


There’s the odd anomaly (Rasner simply wasn’t that bad, he was just simply left on the roster longer than other struggling pitchers!) in this but I think it is surprisingly evocative of the way the season went.

It’s fifteen years since my first trip to Yankee Stadium. It was a privilege to be there again this season and particularly to be present for the final game at the old Stadium. Hopefully, next year will see them back in the post-season.