If you were quick off the mark, you might have secured some gratis tickets for Friday's top gig in Belfast. It's part of the Raw Money series which inspired our 'Hard Times' playlist earlier in the year. The premise, as I understand it, is that by sharing older songs about credit problems that you come to a better understanding of the current anxieties. Allied to this is the chance to speak with financial experts and to learn more about personal money management.
The upside is that this Friday's gig will also go out online, via the BBC NI website. Which means that from 8pm, you can still see Foy Vance, Ram's Pocket Radio, Pocket Promise, Captain Kennedy, Here Comes The Landed Gentry and more. It's a commendably bold idea that will involve Rigsy and Paul from ATL plus presenter Sarah McGlinchey, all winging it with style. I also hear that some mad combo is planning to perform the theme tune to Only Fools And Horses ....
How can you dislike Bob Dylan? His later years have been filled with mirth, broadcasting cheer, some quietly intense records, those barmy chronicles, and now a Christmas album. And what a silly record it is, too. The backing tracks sound like they're rented off a karaoke machine, the songs are worn flat with familiarity, and the sleigh bell player is on overtime.
And yet I found myself grinning throughout. Bob chuckles like a guy who doesn't have to do this at all, My guess is that his work is subject to so much analysis that there's a freedom in being daft. And I don't know if the Zimmerman family ever threw a party on December 25, but there's a loose nostalgia here also. Meantime the phrasing is off the scale, the vocal chords seem to function at random and the inner artwork includes a Betty Page figure, getting foxy in a winter wonderland. Cosmic.
Playlist 02.11.09
The Cure - Inbetweendays (Fiction)
Mumford And Sons - Winter Winds (Island)
Bob Dylan - Winter Wonderland (Columbia)
Paul Curreri - Down By The Water (Tin Angel)
Regina Spektor - Eet (Sire)
Ash - True Love 1980 (Atomic Heart)
Rickie Lee Jones - Wild Girl (Fantasy)
Chuck E Weiss - Fake Dance (Cooking Vinyl)
Slim Harpo - Strange Love (Righteous)
Martha Wainwright - Adieu Mon Coeur (coop)
Choir Of Young Believers - Why Must It always Be This Way (Ghostly International)
Madness - My Girl (Salvo)
Pocket Billiards - Don't Touch My Soca (white)
Bob Dylan - Here Comes Santa Claus (Columbia)
Erin Mc Keown - Santa Cruz (Righteous Babe)
Edwin Collins - You'll Never Know (Heavenly)
Spiritualized -Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating In Space (Sony)
Panama Kings - Judas (white)
Lisa Hannigan - Lili (live) (EMI)
J Tillman - A Year In The Kingdom (Bella Union)
Richard Hawley - Ashes On The Fire (Mute)
Mantler - Childman (Tin Angel)
Willie Nelson - Baby Its Cold Outside (Blue Note)
Cold Cave - Death Comes Close (Matador)
Thursday's adventures finished with a trawl around Camden in the company of Ash and sundry diehards. The band was a third of the way though their A-Z tour of the UK - a night off between between Hastings and Ipswich - and team spirit is high.
Their support act is NI combo Panama Kings, manfully keeping up with the Ash team on a collective budget of £100 per day. They've even determined to play the Jersey date, even though the finances will be mortally challenged. But they're also playing well and selling their new EP en route. There have also been mishaps, and when one band member and roadie fell asleep in the Ash bus, a rock and roll initiation took place. The Ash crew went to work with permanent markers, drawing obscene pictures on hands and faces, even colouring in one fellow's spectacles. They were promptly deposited in a strange town and left to fend for themselves until showtime. It's a merciless caper.
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