Welcome to episode 169 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T, Yeastie Boys and La Petite Chocolat. Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved in your Spotify library. This one is a conversation with Jon Toogood. […]
All this cancel-culture, I don’t know. That’s the wrong end of the stick as I see it. I want my cultural heroes to be of questionable morals and ethics. I want them focusing their energies on their work. Being the best at the art they pursue, and possibly even the worst human beings as either a direct result of the focus going into one area and the balance not being achieved – or simply because there’s […]
Brodsky Quartet MFC Monday, May 20 Britain’s long-running Brodsky Quartet (formed in 1972 and still with two original members) are known for their regular touring (including at least four visits to New Zealand) and their crossover pop collaborations (Elvis Costello, Bjork, Paul McCartney) as well as their refined chamber work – including a fondness for the string-quartet […]
Van Halen, Diver Down (1982) It’s funny when you love a band so much and your favourites change. Or you just reevaluate the whole catalogue – as I have been doing a lot lately with Van Halen. I can’t say this was always a favourite album, but maybe it was something of a guilty pleasure. Certainly, I loved Cathedral before I even knew what it […]
Francesco Turrisi Northern Migrations Taquin Records As a bandleader and accompanist Francecso Turrisi is a formidable multi-instrumentalist – if he has a musical home, instrument-wise, it’s the piano and this set of solo compositions and improvisations charts his development as a player and his spiritual quest and geographic displacement. He says of his migration-story that though he feels privileged, “like every other migrant […]
When the old man had his best mate in town – guy who’d played drums in his band well, suddenly everything I’d ever done with music – every radio appearance, every interview, and those pesky review controversies, it was all up for grabs. Topics for conversation. Pride too. It was all, “remember when…” and “what about that time…” and “didn’t you also speak to…” and “you saw them didn’t you…” Not […]
Jane Goodall: Rewind The Future MFC Sunday, May 19 It was such a thrill to see and hear Dr Jane Goodall speak. The 85-year-old living legend of science, a primatologist, conservationist, activist, mentor who, Sir David Attenborough aside, is truly without peer, has been in our lives as a voice of compassion and knowledge. Through multiple […]
After attending both the March and then April editions of Poetry At The Fringe I was back for the May run-through. It’s very much the same crowd that turn up for the open-mic, and maybe I’m part of that now, kinda, with three goes in a row. I recognise that many of the poets reading here have been doing so for years, but you know…I’m almost part of […]
David Lee Roth, Crazy From The Heat [EP] (1985) When “Diamond Dave” released this he was still a member of Van Halen – though not for very much longer. This EP was basically his resignation letter. He’d blown the world apart with that band and reconfigured heavy metal – and now he was off to be a silly/wonderful pop star. The motor-mouth of charisma […]
I’m very good at talking myself out of jobs. That should actually be my next job. I wonder if they need someone capable of talking themselves out of jobs… And what value that could bring? And what the hours are? And whether you need previous experience? Anyway, I wouldn’t be good enough at it. It […]
Marcin Wasilewski Trio Live ECM Polish pianist Marcin Wasilewski is a disciple of the great trumpeter/composer Tomasz Stańko – in fact Wasilewski’s rhythm section (Slawomir Kurkiewicz on double bass, Michal Miskiewicz: drums) were former Stańko sidemen too. So this, the trio’s first live album (recorded in 2016, released in late 2018) is dedicated to the memory of their former leader – one of the […]
Wine Country Director: Amy Poehler Paper Kite Productions/Netflix Wine Country is funny and sweet and thoughtful, both light-hearted and subtly impactful – but it’s getting the pass-mark only from a lot of critics, damned by faint praise because the expectation is Bridesmaids.
