A Lark Ascending

Yes, that one struck me as well. A common right of passage. I can still recall playing on bikes in the woods in Gloucestershire and finding these strange pictures of naked ladies with small furry animals (this was 1968...furry animals were obligatory).

You missed one. One of the fabulous things about the ipod (I never can recall where the capital goes!) is the shuffle facility; not sure if this would have much application for reading books except, perhaps, it might make sense of Finnegans Wake. Interested by medjuk's positives - the immediate look up of unknown words and the ability to retrace where you'd met characters previously would be useful. Especially useful with Furst if you have all his books on your machine as there are characters who sneak in to other books like the mysterious Mr. Brown. I could see this being very useful for studying literature. Imagine doing Othello for your exams and having those facilities. Sure beats pass notes. Can't see myself using one though. Like others I like the ease of the paperback - I even find hardbacks irritating for pleasure reading. Always feel I need to be sat at a table.

I rather liked the list - nicely tongue-in-cheek. The Telegraph is a right-of-centre newspaper and like all such papers in the UK (i.e. most of them) sells copy by incessantly telling its readers what they want to hear - that things ain't what they used to be, that those in charge of everything are clueless and that the world is going down the tubes. So it was nice to read something almost self-mocking.

If you are seeking funky or greasy then you're looking in the wrong place. Most ECMs are coming from a different direction. If you are attuned to that direction there's just as much excitement as anywhere else. I'm someone who often doesn't find funky or greasy very exciting as it can sound formulaic. The problem lies in my expectations, not the music. I think we've got a rich enough world of music for these things to live side by side.

I've been trying to order this from FMR, Alex, but their website insists I am not using the right currency even though I press the UK option, put a in UK address and can see a UK price in my basket! Clearly something is not formatted correctly. Might be costing you sales.

I bought this along with my first CD player in the spring of '85. Marvellous guitar record. There was also one with 20thC pieces from the likes of Turina and Falla but I can't seem to find that on the net. I also like the Brouwer discs in the Naxos series.

Anyone going for these reissues who has not read this might find it a perfect fit: Macdonald (who died a few years back) was one of the best of the British critics in the 60s/70s. The bulk of the book is a song by song study, full of interesting info about who wrote what, the background, context, instuments used etc. But the most fascinating part is Macdonald's opening essay about the 60s, where he suggests that the hippy culture and the free market conservatism that followed were actually closely connected, sharing a libertarian outlook; both were working against the welfare state government control that had dominated Britain since the war. A fascinating bit of social observation. Well written in plain English rather than sociology-ese. Some customer reviews here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Revolution-Head-Be...8270&sr=1-1

I liked the Badal Roy bit at the end...he wasn't having any of the mythology.

Thanks, Sidewinder. Just listened. Found the presenter a bit annoying - a bit too 'hip with the kids' approach mixed with clearly reading a script! But, maybe the approach will work well with a curious, younger audience. The BBC has actually become quite keen on these historic performer/genre/label profiles.

A marvellous rock drummer and all round good chap - he has some wry things to say about both the industry and the genres he's worked in (see the recent autobiography!). I'm old enough to remember the shock Melody Maker front page picturing him with Fripp and co in early 1972 and announcing he'd left Yes for KC. Saw him with that KC three times in 72 and 73 (he liked white dungarees then!). He also played drums at the first National Health gig at the LSE in late '75/early 76. I caught the first Earthworks once and then various versions of the jazzier band in the last ten years. Last time I saw him was in a duet a couple of years back with Michael Borstlap. I've always found him a bit too clipped and precise for his jazzier ventures. I remember seeing him at the same festival as a David Murray Band with Hamid Drake. It was a bit like the difference between something solid and flowing water. Reading the bio I almost felt I could read between the lines a sense that despite all his accomplishments he felt he was starting all over again in jazz and would never really catch up. Great musician, though.

My Delius has notes, details etc plus a extra inset with other discs in the series, Ron. However, I did buy it ten years or so back. They may be economising. The VW I have as part of the Boult 60s/70s VW box so I don't know the state there.

Very much so..something of an English cowpat composer obsessive (see the England's Dreaming' thread!). I think I walk round the countryside with these three covers burrowing in my subconscious:

If that hooks you, blind-blake, don't miss his 3rd and 5th symphonies. The 5th in particular is breathtaking - a slow movement guaranteed to turn you to jelly! I'll definitely check it out! Got the Delius on order from the library and am looking forward to that one, as well. Delius, like VW, sounds very English...yet he spent most of his composing life in France. In his youth his wealthy businessman father packed him off to Florida to run a plantation to see if he could get him interested in 'real' work. Failed completely but the experience impacted on his early music. There's an early choral/orchestral piece called 'Appalachia' with vocal sections that are clearly based on the singing of the Afro-American workers he heard around him. A piece like 'Summer night on the river' on the disc I recommended to you (which includes Appalachia) always has me thinking of a June night on the Thames near Oxford...but he could well have been thinking of somewhere in Florida.

If that hooks you, blind-blake, don't miss his 3rd and 5th symphonies. The 5th in particular is breathtaking - a slow movement guaranteed to turn you to jelly!

The ruin is a tin mine - you find these dotted all over parts of Cornwall. Normally thought of as a rural idyll, Cornwall was actually one of our earliest large-scale industrial areas. The island is St Michael's Mount near Penzance which was, indeed, founded by monks from Mont St. Michel, a (not so) short boat ride away! Enjoyed those NY shots - it is such a photogenic city. Must go back! Love the cow too...I hate to think how many 'cows in a field' photos I've taken. Can't resist!

Must be about book number eight. This one is set in Paris in late 1938/early 1939, revolving around the anti-fascist Italian emigre community and the attempts by Mussolini's secret service to silence them. As gripping and atmospheric as ever.

Can't wait to hear him do "Here comes Santa Claus". Though I hope he avoids 'Little Donkey'; even Emmylou couldn't prevent that one sounding mawkish. He could, however, cover a fair few things off that marvelous 'Blues, Blues Christmas' double album on Document. I could imagine a take on 'Death Will Be Your Santa Claus.'

Strikes me as a bizarre release, especially with current changing technology. Too big for a new listener. How could you ever digest it? Those already with extensive collections of Miles will see little new there. Which leaves a market of those who have to have every release or can't live without the packaging. Can't see that being economically viable. The era-related boxes that Columbia have put out have been exemplary - old stuff (in better sound), unreleased music, all in reasonable number of discs to get your head round. But 70 discs!

They were done by achap called Pete Frame in the 70s for a wonderful little magazine called Zigzag that came out irregularly and focussed on album-type rock. One was spruced up for the cover of the first Fairport Convention compilation: The inner gate of this had one too from around the same time:

I have the Vaughan Williams and Finzi disc on the originally released single CDs. Good performances but from the early days of CD - like quite a few classical CDs at that time it sounds like it was recorded in a large warehouse! I think they were trying to get a sense of the spacious possibilities of CD. Wouldn't be my first choice for this music...but it makes a really nice overview. Thanks Bev. Incidentally, what would be your first choice? There's a wide range of music there. Elgar , Cockaigne Overture Delius , Summer Evening Butterworth , A Shropshire Lad Butterworth , The Banks of Green Willow Finzi , Suite from 'Love's Labours Lost Vaughan Williams , The Lark Ascending.flac 55 Mb202 Vaughan Williams , Oboe Concerto Finzi , Clarinet Concerto Parry , Lady Radnor's Elgar , Introduction & Allegro, Op. 47 Bridge , Suite For String Orchestra Vaughan Williams , Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Vaughan Williams , Fantasia on Greensleeves. Holst , St. Paul's Suite op Warlock , Capriol Suite Britten , Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge It depends what you are looking for. If you are after an introductory overview, then this is good value. I'm not the best person to ask as I don't go in for comparing different versions - if the copy I've got sounds good then I tend to stick to it. I'm also wedded to the people I first heard play this music on records in the 70s - Boult, Barbirolli etc. They might sound a bit limited sonic-wise to modern ears. In modern recordings you can normally trust Hickox or Handley (both sadly no longer with us). You can also find many of these pieces of music on various discs on the Lyrita label - a treasure trove of English music. And don't overlook Naxos...they've done some great recordings of this music at budget price. These three are glorious discs:

I have the Vaughan Williams and Finzi disc on the originally released single CDs. Good performances but from the early days of CD - like quite a few classical CDs at that time it sounds like it was recorded in a large warehouse! I think they were trying to get a sense of the spacious possibilities of CD. Wouldn't be my first choice for this music...but it makes a really nice overview.

Sounds like a good exercise to do for insurance purposes as well. That was why I did it originally - so if things got stolen or washed away by a tidal wave (very common in central England) I'd know what needed replacing. It's also a quick reference if I'm not sure if I have a particular recording.

No basements in the UK...just cellars. I don't have one...I'd probably run into old mine workings if I tried to dig one. All irrelevant anyway. We'll soon be storing everything on our external hard drives. Or one of those 'cloud' things people talk about but I don't understand.

It is indeed...one of my favourite places. And, unlike Stonehenge, free and rarely crowded. I spent a wonderful day in Avebury about 14 years ago. That part of England is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Indeed! From Wiltshire to Cornwall is my heaven.

Sorry...completely misread that. I thought the list was sites with similar traffic. Does seem odd that Google is not at the top. I've never heard of any of the others (honest!).