I am Ashley Elsdon

someone who's doing some things

Category: Listening

I do a lot of listening. Whether it’s music, audiobooks, or just to what’s around me. Stopping to listen is always a good thing. We often miss the sounds around us. If you’re interested in field recordings then check in the menu under field records for some interesting sounds.

The Langham Research Centre at Cafe Oto

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I first saw the Langham Research Centre at the Barbican last month. I was really impressed by them. So when I got an email from Cafe Oto sent an email about them playing I decided I should go. Cafe Oto is a lovely place to see music, and I even played there once myself.

The LRC were great, as expected, and I also managed to have a quick chat with Robert Worby about sound and the words we use to describe sounds, or rather the fact that we have very few words that actually do describe sounds. It’s an interesting subject and one that needs some thought.

Next I think I need to probably buy some of the recordings. There is plenty on Bandcamp, which is where I will start. I am especially drawn to their piece ‘Gateshead Multi-storey Car Park’.

Fifteen years of Nouvelle Vague

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When I first heard Nouvelle Vague I was really amazed. I remember it clearly. It was at WOMAD and they were playing ‘Blue Monday’. Of course it didn’t sound like ‘Blue Monday’. I knew all the words but I could not for the life of me think of what the song was.

Since them I’ve seen them a few times live and have always enjoyed their music, or rather the music they play. So I was looking forward to seeing them again, especially at Union Chapel, which is such an amazing venue.

But I’m sad to say I found them less than inspiring. Firstly there were only four of them and no bass player at all. Their selection of songs was poor. There were some good songs, and in fact they made a good start, but after that it was a little dull. I have no idea if anyone else there had similar thoughts, and there were a lot of people there.

I still like a lot of what they’ve done over the years, but for now, I doubt I’ll go to see them again.

Survivors: New Dawn 1

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Firstly, I have to say that is great that Survivors is back. I am really pleased that Big Finish decided to revive the series. I thoroughly enjoyed the nine box sets that they produced over the years, and, even if they had finished there it would have been excellent. I think I’ve listened to them about three times so far. I expect I will feel the urge to listen to them all again at some point.

New Dawn is exactly what it says it is. A new start for the Survivors series and set some years after the last set of stories. More than that I won’t say, as I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you if you do plan to listen to it.

Without giving anything away, what I can say is that the production values on this set of stories are just as good as all the previous ones, and the same with the performances. I am looking forward to hearing New Dawn 2 in a couple of months.

Here’s to more Survivors.

The Wire top 50 albums of 2021

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Every year I listen to all of the Wire magazine top fifty albums of the year from their rewind issue. Some years I might have heard of a few of them. Some years I might have even bought one or two of them. But on the whole it is rarely more than one or two.

Usually I find very little that I would want to follow up on, occasionally an artist will stand out for me and I’ll find something new to follow. But more than anything I am pleased to find so much music that, whilst I may not enjoy it, is being created by people who are pushing the boundaries of sound. I find that quite a comforting thought.

I have been a subscriber of the wire for a long time. Probably well over a decade, possibly longer. I like the fact that there is so much going on on the fringes of the world of music. Even if it is music that I don’t like. That is not the point. I just like that it exists, that there are people creating this stuff, having these ideas.

Anyway, if I do find anything that I think is worth noting, then I might just post about it. Who knows.

Uncommon Deities

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This is undoubtedly my favourite album of all time. It is a work of tremendous and rare beauty, and every time I listen to it I am stunned by just how complete and unique it is.

I listen to it only when I have the time to devote myself entirely to listening to it without distraction, as it just isn’t the kind of music that you can listen to in the background. At least that’s my opinion.

However, I’ve recently just sat down and read the poems that are an integral part of Uncommon Deities. On their own they are incredibly beautiful. As a part of the whole they’re even better. But even so, I really enjoyed reading them in isolation.

John Foxx the Quiet Man

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I finally finished listening to this. I’m not entirely sure how to describe it. It isn’t really a book or audiobook, it’s more of a poem or piece of art or something different entirely. What I can say is that it is a thing of somewhat rare beauty and I can recommend it to anyone who likes John Foxx’s work or is at all interested in different and beautiful art which is both mesmerising and entirely thought provoking.

Some thoughts about Chromecast Audio

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Chromecast Audio
Chromecast Audio

So I’ve had this device for a little while. It works. It does exactly what it says it would, I can use it for Spotify and it works just great with that. But that’s not the problem. Not at all. The problem is that I don’t really have a use for it as yet.

Now I only got this device as it was on sale, down from £30 to £15, which I thought was a good deal, in fact a great deal. So I got it. Now I don’t know what to do with it really. Since getting it I’ve only used it on a couple occasions. Granted, it’s worked fine both times, but both were to test it out to see how it worked. Now I know. I also know that I don’t really need it either.

I know it’ll be useful for something, or if I get rid of it it’ll become useful straight away. That’s happened plenty of times before too. So I won’t just get rid of it for the sake of it. But it does need a reason to be kept about.