Lee Thompson’s Ska Orchestra at the Jazz Cafe

Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra
Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra
Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra
Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra

What a great night out this turned out to be. I really enjoyed seeing this band. The sound was lovely, and atmosphere was fun and pretty lively at time. Ska has never been a big thing for me, but perhaps I should do a little more digging to find out a bit more and do some more listening.

Gawain Hewitt at the Roundhouse

Gawain Hewitt at the Roundhouse
Gawain Hewitt at the Roundhouse

I was really pleased to be invited to this gig by my friend Gawain Hewitt. It’s always a lovely experience to see new music, and also to visit the Roundhouse. It was a really interesting performance. Improvised and based around field recordings of water that Gawain had taken in London, Norway, and Bangladesh.

It was at times very interesting and beautiful. I’m so glad that I got to go along.

Attempting to listen to the Wire’s top 50 albums of 2015

I sort of do this every year, or at least try to anyway. It has become a little ritual with me. I leaf through the Wire’s top 50 to see how many (if any) of these albums I’ve heard and then try and find them all on Spotify so I can listen to them. Of course not all of them are ever on Spotify so it isn’t really a comprehensive system, but it does most of the job, and that’s ok.

This year is no different. I’ve actively listened to just a handful of these albums in the Wire’s top 50, and only own 1 of them I think. So I’ve added the lot, or at least the lot I can find, into a playlist and I’ll attempt to listen to the lot. Probably next year I’m thinking.

That’s the plan. That’s been the plan for a few years now, and it seems to work.

Old fashioned Cassette Recorder (biscuit tin)

Old fashioned Cassette Recorder (biscuit tin)
Old fashioned Cassette Recorder (biscuit tin)

I had one of these years ago. In fact, I had a number of these. But one that was very like this one. I think it was the Ferguson that was almost identical to this. It was excellent. Ok, not excellent, but really good for its time. I used it to record all sorts of things and amassed a huge cassette collection, and have very little of it left.

Even so, now I have a nice tin. I’ve decided to use it for field recording accessories. That seems like an appropriate use for it.

The OP-1 Antenna

OP-1 Antenna
OP-1 Antenna

I’ve always wanted to try out the FM radio on the OP-1 for sampling, but, until now, I’ve not had the actual antenna to do this. Not so anymore!

OP-1 Antenna
OP-1 Antenna

This is an awesome Christmas present, a tiny box with delicate tissue paper inside.

OP-1 Antenna
OP-1 Antenna

And nicely wrapped up inside was the FM antenna. Small, neat, functional. Just what you’d expect from Teenage Engineering.

OP-1 Antenna tissue paper
OP-1 Antenna tissue paper

But the tissue paper itself was a revelation! It is beautifully printed with all the OP-1 accessories. Really nicely done.

OP-1 Antenna tissue paper
OP-1 Antenna tissue paper

And here’s the antenna sitting on the tissue wrap.

OP-1 Antenna
OP-1 Antenna

And finally in the OP-1 itself.

I’ve only had a brief try with this in the OP-1. Recording some random FM radio and using it as drum samples. It’s pretty good though, so expect a few strange OP-1 drum kits in due course.