Author Archive
September 28, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: Data In Flames
The platform is more important than the people; structural integrity suddenly strangely malleable, now data inflames emotions.
September 28, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Daniel Davies: Signals
Daniel Davies Signals Sacred Bones Daniel Davies is the godson of John Carpenter. And along with Carpenter’s son Cody, they have formed the backbone of a live touring entity that has taken Carpenter’s music to live performance theatres – rather than just the recorded version in movie theatres; they’re behind the Lost Themes series of […]
September 27, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: Out Living / Us All
So many Warren Zevon songs are here in my heart, I’ve kept them there a while. Sha la-la, la la… The lines that drip with irony and cynicism still sting with so much heart. That was the hardest – and toughest – part in understanding his brand of madness. He knew, more than so many […]
September 25, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Yann Tiersen: Kerber
Yann Tiersen Kerber Mute Yann Tiersen might be one of the most successful film composers without ever actually being a film composer. The French musician makes piano-based albums that reach out to tranquility, take a wee trimming and propagate new minimalist seedlings. But tracks from his first three albums were compiled to form the spine […]
September 24, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Taking Novelty Songs Seriously
Wikipedia tells me that a novelty song is “a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect”. I guess that’s pretty much what I would have said if someone asked me to define a novelty song – but let’s at least take Wiki’s word for it. A few years ago I bought a […]
September 24, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Short Story: Spelling It Out
Advances in science and medicine have meant we can now predict the life expectancy – we can know how long everyone will live. We know if the life will be cut short. Everyone is given a medical passport when they turn 10. It is stamped with an expiration date. The last six months of anyone’s […]
September 24, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: The Fading Lights
Another life might have been different, the fading lights can never signal that. Another world is there inside this one. The lights won’t fade again. They’ll flicker, signal of something new. Something good, something not quite true. Another life is like another TV show. You won’t get through it all – but there’s no harm […]
September 23, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Frank Kimbrough: Ancestors
Frank Kimbrough Ancestors Sunnyside Frank Kimbrough was one hell of a piano player – and he leaves behind a legacy across composition, covers and improvisation. His sudden death at the end of last year a shock, a great sadness and it makes listening to this first posthumous album (recorded in 2017) bittersweet.
September 22, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: Deselfing
Liking isn’t Voting Voting isn’t Doing Doing isn’t Changing Changing isn’t Happening Happening isn’t Stopping Stopping isn’t Starting Starting is a Chance Chancing is a Hope Hoping is a go Going is a plan Planning is a must
September 22, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
In Praise of The White Lotus
The White Lotus. Currently the greatest show on all of television, across any of the formats and platforms. The White Lotus is an American TV comedy-drama, a satire, a dark night of the soul that just happens to have a bottomless mojito and very comforting neck massage attached to it. It’s an HBO show that […]
September 22, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Genesis: The Last Domino?
Genesis The Last Domino? Atlantic Catalog Group Something made me very nostalgic about this – a Genesis compilation that no one actually needs, and maybe hardly anyone wants. This material is available already and has been compiled several times over. But this exists to plug the farewell tour, for it is – basically – the […]
September 21, 2021 by Simon Sweetman