5, 4, 3, 2, 1

 I've always held a firm belief that my records talk to each other when I'm out of the room. "Why does he play you all the time? He hasn't played me for ages; do you think he's fallen out with me?"

Far fetched? Only as far fetched as the idea I had as a kid that if all my 33s & 45s came fitted with a meter that told me how often I'd played them then I would have the raw data to go up to certain platters that were perhaps feeling a bit unloved, put my arm around them and give 'em a spin. Which is precisely what Spotify does. I know some of you probably look down on your noses at such streaming platforms in the same way I recoil whenever anyone mentions Wetherspoons, but every year I've subscribed to their service the personalised end of year roundup has been not only an antidote to my piss poor memory but also validation that good tunes will always rise to the top.

I shan't bore you with everything I've been listening to this year (the complete playlist is 100 songs long and, anyway, you'll find tons of 'em in posts passim), instead I'll just give you my Top 5. However, if your appetite is whetted, then I'm sure I can shoehorn some (or indeed all!) of the remaining 95 into a follow up post (or two) sometime in the New Year.

So what's at the top of the shop? Anyone not familiar with the work of Joy Orbison might want to use this track as a jumping of point. All I can tell you is that it will probably be playing at some point on my American rail holiday next year; you'll see why when you hit play... 

Joy Orbison - Transition 2 (2018)

Think I'm Alright Now

Felix Bechtolsheimer is Curse of Lono. He writes and sings the kind of songs I like. I only know this because the last remaining music magazine I subscribe to dropped on the doormat over the weekend and, within its covers, was a full page ad for an album called People in Cars by the aforementioned Curse of Lono. I had absolutely no idea what he/they/it sounded like; but I knew from the album cover alone that I would love it (who said you can't judge a book by it's cover?). And so it came to pass; after listening to it twice on the bounce initially and a further couple of times it is now, as I write this late on Tuesday night, lodged squarely in my brain. (Don't you just love it when that happens?) This is the new single.

Curse of Lono - Think I'm Alright Now (2021)

Cupboard love

This weekend was spent in the company of James and Janneke up in Manchester. Although Janni is still suffering from the effects of Long Covid she was in fine form yesterday and today. Both she and James get a kick out of up-cycling old pieces of furniture: James has recently restored an old 1960s stereogram and given it a brand new lease of life, c/w blue tooth connectivity, whilst Janneke is in the middle of bringing this retro kitchen unit into the 21st century; with a little help from Lily.

We go again

Following our hugely successful first night at our new home last month, Monday Vinyl returns to The Carousel in Hockley at the end of this month with an absolute blinding record: Steely Dan's Countdown to Ecstasy is, you'll not be surprised to learn, in a rather splendid tome that lives on the bookshelf in my local entitled 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Yet another reason why The Abdication in Daybrook is one of my favourite pubs of all time. Blowing the froth off a sensational cask ale while delving in and out of what I can only call the musical bible (I lose all concept of time when I open its pages) is, for me, the perfect way to spend an evening. Feel free to come and join me. Likewise, there's an open invite to anyone reading this who happens to find themselves in Nottingham on the 29th. What could be better than listening to (and talking about) the Dan in convivial surroundings with like minded coves?

Steely Dan - King of the World (1973)

A big thank you to Ben and Christos for looking after us so well at The Carousel - the perfect hosts; as too are Matt & Lucy at the Abdication.

The Carousel, 25 Hockley, Nottingham NG1 1FH

The Abdication, 89 Mansfield Road, Daybrook, Nottingham NG5 6BH

Scottishish

Matthew (left) - Portpatrick, 30.10.21

My friend Matthew has lived and worked in Scotland for 28 years. His two grandchildren are called Hamish and Angus. He eats square sausage and even has a Scottish bus pass - you get them when you're 60 north of the border. But even though he's probably more Scottish than Rod Stewart (in some quarters he'll always be a feb - Matthew, not Rod; though Rod technically is too), Matthew isn't Scottish. But when I took this photo of him on Saturday in Portpatrick he came pretty close.

And here we both are. It was taken in 1986 at Warwick University by our mutual friend Richard Rigg. Matthew and I are going to Los Angeles in March next year where Riggsby now resides. I may ask him to recreate this photo (whilst Matthew and I are both still able to climb steps unaided).

JM (left) & Matthew