Occasional Observations

Today was my first time on skis this season and damn! why did I leave it so long? Everything aches, of course, and it will no doubt be worse tomorrow morning when we get up to go again, but it's worth it. Even my tumble on the Garland (always super-steep, today also super-icy) didn't put a downer on things (at least, for very long - only until I'd gotten all the snow out from under my shirt).

Although I can't really work out if we're on it or not, we were on top of the Brauneck at midday when the webcam took this pic.

Labels: ski

As we start the Christmas holidays, I'm sorely in need of a break, with my energies sapped by good old German bureaucracy, or should I say bureaucrazy?

It should have been a pretty simple thing for my firm to lease a company car - we're a GmbH and therefore have EUR25k deposited against potential bankruptcy. But oh no, that was not enough for the leasing company - they wanted a bank guarantee for around the value of a year's leasing. And that's taken the bureaucrats and form-fillers four weeks already.

Everything else is done - and nothing else will do of course. It's going to be interesting to see if
the leasing company tries to backdate the start of the leasing as I'm not going to pay until I get the car: I'm not causing the delays. No doubt this one will run and run.

In the end I went for a new BMW 320 diesel - the right-priced solution that should not lead to too much damage in terms of tax. It was tempting to pick up something two years old and more exotic, but tax on the original list price and running costs were the two factors that decided it.

Labels: petrolhead, rant

This week a little advertising supplement called Guide To Ukraine was inserted into European editions of the Wall Street Journal.

On page two was a handy little map of the Ukraine, and a little insert showing its position in Europe.

Do they know something we don?t?

Labels: odd

It's finally time to reveal that the laurels for my favorite album of 2007 go to an artist who goes straight in at Number One with his first release - at least with under the recording name of Yusuf.

Congratulations to Yusuf aka Cat Stevens, whose An Other Cup has been my favorite album of 2007 by a long mile. I bought it a year back, in November 2006, when it was first out. A year ago, I knew Cat Stevens' music, but not that well. So I decided to buy the new Yusuf album and see if the old man could work his magic.

The verdict: Indisputably yes. This is another album I've given as a gift to others, because it's so gentle, so charming, so relaxed, so simply knowledgeable and worldly-wise. I'm not planning to discuss religion at all, suffice it to say that Yusuf sounds enlightened. I'd love to have An Other Cup of coffee and a chat with him.

Listening to this album has helped me slow down / relax more than once. Then there was the time I let it lull me to sleep when feeling unwell. It's a nice touch that Yusuf has re-recorded I Think I See The Light, one of the tracks from Mona Bone Jakon. It's not just Bowie who can re-arrange old standards. The real achievement is that I like both versions.

Rousing final paragraphs has never been my strong point but in the case of An Other Cup, it's not a cop-out to finish off with a recommendation to purchase at least two copies of this album - one for yourself and one for a friend. There?s even a possibility that it might replace Donald Fagen?s epic The Nighfly as my "standard gift album" for any deserving male music fan.

Talking of Fagen, what's missing from my 2007 Top 10? Some artists / albums that nearly made it, but ultimately missed the cut:

• Lily Allen
• Arctic Monkeys
• The Eagles - although it was a close call
• Fergie
• Happy Mondays - reformed in 2007 and sounding just the same as ever. Uncle Dysfunktional is officially at Number 11 in my top 10 for 2007. The beats are great, and you know that these days, they care even less than ever, if that were possible - the lyrics provide an insight into what's possibly going on in Shaun Rider's drug-addled mind?
• I still listen regularly to The Nightfly, I know all the tunes and all the words, but for the sake of change it's not in the top 10 this year. It probably should have been, but it isn't. That's that. And the judge's decision is final :)

If you disagree with my top 10, all musical tips are welcome and I'll letcha know by the end of 2008.

Labels: mp3, music, top10s

Top 10s for me will never be as exciting as Tuesday lunchtimes at school, listening to the radio for the new Top 40 countdown. Even the fact that Radio One had the irritating Janice Long as their lunchtime jock couldn't dampen my enthusiasm for the newly-minted charts around 1982/3. At that time, not only did I know all the bands in the singles and albums charts, but also I thought most of them were at least "quite good". Albums released in 1981-1984 make up a sizable chunk of my CD collection today although in general the 70s has now overtaken the 80s in the decade-to-decade shoot-out.

Back to the excitement. The most memorable lunchtime chart show ever was in 1983, when David Bowie was hanging in there at Number One with Let's Dance. Dave had been riding high for two or three weeks with his first number one since 1980 (in fact his first decent single in more than two years, and the one that suddenly made it cool to be a Bowie fan, as until then any hardcore schoolboy fans were branded as queers, weirdos, or both). I was of course worried about the threat from Spandau Ballet's True, which was getting more airplay and tipped to displace Dave. We'd find out at lunchtime on that Tuesday - so as the fifth, fourth, third and second-placed records were played, I was holding my breath each time hoping to hear Tony Hadley's "So true, funny how it seems..." and hoping not to hear the "daaah, daaah, daaah, daaaah" build up to Let's Dance. This time around, I heard neither, which caused total confusion. Surely Spandau hadn't misfired and dropped DOWN the charts? But Dave would still be at number two, wouldn't he?

Then the countdown from 40 to number one - and Let's Dance has slipped to SIXTH place - AND Spandau are number one. Oh the pain. I could not concentrate all afternoon, mulling it over ? how could Dave have slipped so far, were Bowie fans doomed to another two years of being treated as oddities like the man himself? Thankfully the infamous China Girl video (look on YouTube if you don't know it) changed all that.

So although I digress, perhaps you get an idea of the excitement around a top 5 countdown?

Labels: mp3, music, top10s

Putting this top 10 together took more effort than I expected initially. A quick scroll through the ever-present albums on my iPod was enough to yield six or seven albums, but as I gave it more thought, I realized there was more to this gig than just making a list.

The Top 10 doesn't reflect my 10 most-played albums of the year, but my faves of the year. The list has changed several times, too, since the first post on this subject a week or so ago.

It's been said that the tolling of the lonely church bell at the start of the first track on this album signals the advent of Heavy Metal. Almost 40 years after the release of their first album to reach commercial success, the eponymous Black Sabbath album still sounds good - from start to finish. The first track, Black Sabbath, is (as far as I know) the only track on my iPod where the track, album and band all have the same name.

Black Sabbath the album demands to be played loud. Rediscovering it earlier this year has brought back early teenage memories, when this album was part of the soundtrack to my newspaper round. These days I don't get such a thrill from its edgy sound but it brings back memories. In particular The Warning is one of those superb tune-in, rock-out tracks - with a driving bass keeping the song on track.

I've awarded second place to a pair of albums from the Sabs - the second being Master Of Reality. I've played this less during 2007 but every time I do, there are moments when it just grabs my attention - such as Ozzy?s faux choking on Sweet Leaf and the unexpectedly gentle melody of the segue song Orchid, luring me into the start of the heavy set Lords Of This World.

Horrifying to think that these albums are almost 40 years old. As a teenager, anything older than six months sounded old fashioned. Anything from the 40s (40 years ago at the time) sounded like it came from another planet.

Labels: mp3, music, top10s

Gwen Stefani - a younger version of Madonna? Well, probably. She's got a more girly voice and her beats are more hip, more outré than Madonna. She looks good, the sounds make the most of her limited vocal abilities (in comparison to, say, Amy Winehouse) and The Great Escape ? aka Love. Angel. Music. Baby. Again. has been a stalwart on my iPod for most of the year. It's a feel-good album: beats that get my foot tapping.

It's also good for long motorway journeys since it helps the miles disappear under the wheels. There's no need to think when listening to a Gwen Stefani album. But what it does accomplish is that it makes me smile ? either at the sly lyrics or the sub-beats that take the songs off in various different directions before rejoining.

Looking through my top 10, I'd only probably jump at the chance to see three of them live in concert ? Cat Stevens, Bryan Ferry and Amy Winehouse. Almost 10 years ago I saw Kylie live and felt too old then ? goodness knows how old I'd feel now at a Gwen Stefani concert.

Labels: music, top10s

She might be an old dame in the eternally young world of pop music, she might attract vicious comments from the critics, but I?m going to stand up and be counted: I still like (most) Madonna albums. OK, she hit the usual mid-life crisis rut but she's back, and Confessions on A Dancefloor is right up there at number four in my top 10.

Come ON, ABBA purists. Get over it. You can still listen to the original song that spawned yet another Madonna number one. The boys and girls at ABBA got some nice airplay and song-writing royalties, too.

And come on, you naysayers. So what if she's pushing 50? If she wasn?t mutton dressed as lamb, you'd rip into her for being an old dame. What's Madge supposed to do, dress like Shirley Bassey from her 49^th birthday?

And, let?s be honest - until the close-ups of her face, I couldn't believe how fit Madonna was looking. I fancied her in 1982, when I bought Borderline, then The First Album when it was still called Madonna - and Like A Virgin was, at the time, a landmark album for a teenager like me.

Ultimately with regard to Madonna albums, I don't really care who writes the songs, who composes or arranges them, as long as the end product sounds good. It's bubble-gum pop music and I like it that way. Talking of which ?

Labels: mp3, music, top10s

I put the Top 10 countdown on hold for a few days to spend a long weekend in Athens, catching some winter sunshine. My last visit was as an 11-year-old and I don't remember much except being blinded by reflection off the marble steps of the Acropolis, and the roaring traffic. This time I had sunglasses and pedestrianization has largely removed traffic woes from around Athens' principal sights.

So back to the countdown, and at Number Five is Amy Winehouse - with her two studio albums so far, Back To Black and Frank.

Amy is, for me, proof that it's actually possible to ignore the latest happenings on the "famous for 15 MB" front. Just move to a foreign country, stop really listening to pop music radio and ignore the Red Top tabloids (except when in England, when I devour them ? reading them online just isn'?t the same). Occasionally, the stray piece of news filters through, usually when one of the Tier A megastars does something truly stupid (Britney's flash, Paris' spell in the slammer) but it's otherwise quite possible to exist in an area of isolation and not keep up with the latest about "troubled singers" like Amy Winehouse.

But by the fall of 2007, enough had filtered through about Winehouse that I decided to actually find out what the fuss was all about. And, like, DOH, duuuude! What had I missed! A veritable feast: a first-class performer, in every sense of the word. Not too late to play catch up as Amy's only produced a couple of studio albums so far - and she?s still alive and Living Large. NB: I?ve also heard OF the "tragic" Pete Doherty although I've never consciously heard a note of his music (which from most accounts is a wise move).

Discovering Amy's albums Frank and Back To Black was a revelation. I'd heard the single Rehab, of course, but never listened closely enough to find out the performer's name. Once discovered, the Winehouse albums were on alternate back-to-back play. Listening to these albums also brought about a revelation: I?d totally misunderstood the phrase "fuck me pumps". Bowie references them in We Are The Dead, a track on Diamond Dogs, which I discovered at the tender age of 12 - about the same time I learned the American English word for trainers was "pumps". From that info alone, I'd somehow worked out that FMPs were something like a Converse All-Star shoe. But I digress.

Back to Amy Winehouse. Nice tunes, great voice, that's pretty much it. I'm not yet emotionally attached. Perhaps when I rediscover the albums in 20 years' time they'll bring back memories of 2007, golden days when Winehouse and Doherty were still alive.

Labels: mp3, music, top10s