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Pitman - It Takes A Nation Of Tossers


I've read comments from those who don't regard this as a comedy album but I find it difficult to sympathise with that. The central concept of a rapping miner from the north of England is inherently funny even before you hear him rapping about bringing Les Dennis back to Family Fortunes (incl. an impression of Mavis from Coronation Street. Remember Dennis used to do that. This album is nothing if not parochial.)

Word commented this month that this could be a Steve Coogan character and I can definitely hear that. There's something in his accent that sounds very like Coogan and there's something very Paul Calf about him too.

Most of the joy in this album is the parochial nature of the raps. We're so used to hearing American's rapping about situations that mean something to them that it's refreshing and shocking to hear rapping about very British topics. Lenny Henry, Minstrels, 5p beans from Aldi and On The Buses certainly aren't going to mean much to an American audience.

As with most comedy music albums I'm not sure this is going to get listened to a great deal once the initial novelty has worn off but for now it's a fun listen. And remember as it says on the sleeve, if you're going to impersonate Pitman on Stars In Their Eyes or for a fancy dress party remember and use British coal.

22:14 | 0 Comments, | permanent link

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Piano Magic


My teach yourself piano book has arrived from Amazon so I'm all ready to start learning to play (I've also just got a keyboard btw which always helps. We don't want to repeat the painful occasion when I tried to learn to dive without remembering I needed a swimming pool). It'll be nice to start on something constructive because the last couple of nights since I got the keyboard have just been spent unenthusiastically picking out a few melody lines from some of the guitar sheet music I've got.

This was probably worthwhile so I could get used to where things are on the keyboard but really I'm looking for something more structured to start with. The book looks pretty good too although I suppose that's hard to judge until I get properly into it.

When I first started to learn the guitar I knew I would be at a reasonable standard when I could play 'I'm Looking Through You' from my Beatles song book (not sure this turned out to be true but it was something nice to aim for). This time my aim is to be able to play any Ben Folds (Five) song all the way through. I'm guessing it'll be a looong time before I'm there but at least it's something to aim for.

12:59 | 0 Comments, | permanent link

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Meta


Really having problems writing this blog and finding a style that doesn't sound really stupid. The blogs I enjoy reading seem to settle into a conversational style that's easy to read and feels really natural. They don't usually feel like magazine pieces which is a good thing, but I seem to have to fight to stop it sounding like that.

I suppose it comes from years of writing things for work or university and now suddenly I have to write in the first person. No doubt if I start to post more regularly this will become more natural but right now it feels like a struggle and it's probably one of the reasons why I haven't posted here too much.

All the entries I've composed in my head and not commited to type sound really good though - maybe I need some kind of brain/keyboard interface.

12:45 | 0 Comments, | permanent link

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I watched Top Of The Pops ('All New' missed of on a point of principle) on Friday as I still religiously do despite my advancing years. It was interesting to see Maroon 5 on there performing their new single. These guys were called Kara's Flowers in a previous life. Not a remarkable band but they released an ok album a few years ago that featured Roger Manning on keyboards. I heard that they had changed their name and had also changed their sound to be more commercial. It looks as though that's paying off with the TV appearance and a mention on the Top 40 on Sunday night. Just a shame that commercialising their sound had to go hand in hand with them becoming dull, dull, dull.

12:39 | 0 Comments, | permanent link

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Things I Have Learned


Just spent a couple of weeks in Denmark and apart from realising how good the two EP's Ben Folds released this year are and also finally getting a chance to listen to some of the 2003 albums that I hadn't had the chance to explore fully, I learned two interesting facts.

1. Dave Rowntree, the drummer from Blur appears to read the news on the main Danish TV channel DR1.

2. I was listening to Danish radio and it turns out that the song Superstar that was released by Jamelia was actually written by a Dane. Not only that but it was originally recorded by the girl who finished 3rd or 4th in the Danish equivalent of Pop Idol. That kind of information getting out would do wonders for someone who's trying to get set up as the British RnB singer. Or, maybe no-one would care. Still interesting though. Wonder what song the winner released?

14:45 | 0 Comments, | permanent link

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