August 16, 2004
Rehearsing for retirement?
Although the lack of diary entries may have suggested that I’d taken a permanent vacation to Lowestoft or Florida, behind the scenes there’s been a lot of recording and writing that’s yet to find a suitable home, meaning that 2005 still feels like the year that’s waiting to happen.
This, alongside a ‘community arts project’ that I’m currently participating in, has meant my diary entries becoming even less frequent than usual.
A good thing, of course.
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Allowing me to live out my idiotic adolescent dreams of being a ‘proper’ guitarist, Henry Fool’s July sessions for our very delayed second album were as exciting and intense as our first in 2001.
Andrew Booker proved the ideal replacement for Fudge Smith, bringing a controlled aggression and admirable intelligence to the band’s sound.
The only man I know who actually looks forward to being presented with a 29/8 guitar riff, the Booker boy has been an excellent addition to both my own live band and the Fool.
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The My Hotel Band sessions in June were as good as we’d hoped they’d be, but with no gigs in sight, there was a slight feeling of anti-climax in the air.
The distinctive MHB overhaul of Make Me Forget and the epic and atmospheric 10 minute version of Days Turn Into Years (a song that seems ever-evolving) were particular highlights.
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Sadly lardy Lord Chilvers is no more. Well, the lardy bit, anyway.
Once the Jabba The Hut of the British aristocracy, the man’s recent crash diet has meant that he looks more Christian Bale in The Machinist than Demis Roussos after a doughnut binge.
Strange times indeed.
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On the immediate horizon, there are forthcoming Shed releases for Roger Eno and Krimson News diarist Andrew Keeling, and Snapper Classics reissues for the No-Man albums, Flowermouth and Speak.
The new Flowermouth comes complete with extra tracks, a magnificent Carl Glover reappraisal of the original artwork and some fine sleeve notes from Stars Die essayist, Dann Chinn.
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This will probably be my last Krimson News diary entry, as I’m moving this and all my previous diary entries over to www.timbowness.com, which has been subject to several additions over the last few days in a futile attempt to ditch my luddite mindset.
Listening:
Lori Carson – The Finest Thing (2005)
Brian Eno – Another Day On Earth (2005)
Rickie Lee Jones – Duchess Of Coolsville – An Anthology (2005)
Watching:
The Jacket
The Machinist
Reading:
Dave Eggers – Short, Short Stories
Stuart Maconie – Cider With Roadies
Ali Smith – Ali Smith’s Supersonic ’70s
HG Wells – The Time Machine/The War Of The Worlds