There is a Light That Never Goes Out

[catherinem]

Really I should be going to bed, but I have no inclination to sleep whatsoever, my body is slightly tired but my mind is still in overdrive. It has been for a couple of days now after been very low and delicate. Actually my hearing has taken on new superpowers today. At this very moment I’m listening to one of my favorite albums, and it’s never, ever sounded the way it does tonight ever. Tonight The Smiths’ “The Queen Is Dead” en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Q... is like... the only thing I can compare it to is when I visit my Mamgu and go outside in the dark. For anybody who doesn’t know, the dark for country folk is DARK, it’s clear and sharp, and it’s not that orangey smog stuff in the town. It’s black and the stars are bright. That’s how this album sounds tonight, every single note is clear and sharp (that’s sharp in the clear sense, rather than the musical sense - #) I’ve listened to the album over and over since it was released in 1986. My brother took over the task when I left home for uni. I only found this out a couple of years ago when I found it on his shelf. I had the singles on vinyl, I had the album on cassette and now it’s been replaced on CD. It would be nice to have it on vinyl, just for ornamental vinyl junkie reasons. The production on this album is perfection (but has this got to do with Tourette’s) everything is crystal clear, I had a friend like that (it drove me nuts, probably my ADHD tendencies) spending a loooooonnnnnggggg time in the studio with him and the rest of the band. Him at the desk, the rest of us playing, and playing again…and again…and again in-between breaks that seemed eternal where he tweeked, and twiddled and asked to listen to this particular bit and that particular bit through different but identical effects by which point the wine has clouded our judgment. Comparable to having your eyes tested, but listening instead. “Whatever you think is best Clive” was the usual answer unless we did have a clear cut opinion. I’m sure like my hearing tonight his hearing was permanently like that, I’m sure here he could hear every little characteristic nuance his Hammond would throw out at him. But then again I could be guilty of the same, but without the luxury of my own studio I had to rely on the times I was allotted in the uni studio, that the media students coveted (they had no chance) however many times I rerecorded something to me my own never sounded quite right, particularly if it was played be me, awful in reality – the nice thing about being a composer rather than a performer is that you compose it, then pass it on to the performer(s) and see what happens, at this point they might add something to it – a certain something, their “andante” maybe a littler quicker than yours. What I’m getting at really is that I think us ticcers, the musical ticcers have this innate ability to hear things sharply, and Clive, but he isn’t a ticcer, he’s a genius keyboard player that’s been round the block and played for lots of bands (The Primitives, The Lightning Seeds…..etc..etc..) And had an encyclopedic knowledge of music “What have you been listening to this week?” “A lot of Sly and the Family Stone” “A lot of bass players like Sly and the Family Stone”. Today my sharp ears have realized why, the production compared to The Smiths is somewhat “rawer”. I should really try and capture this new renewed sharp hearing - rather than dancing around, whilst cleaning listening to said Sly and the Family Stone. (I notice from this youtube clip, it’s different – for starters there’s an extra keyboard (fender Rhodes??) and extra guitar. What I am saying here folks, particularly parents, sit your child in front a piano, give them a guitar. Get them playing, who knows where it could lead (the next Nick Van Bloss??) I doubt I’ll ever be famous; I’ve never wanted to be, but to have people appreciate music that you’ve written is priceless – even if you can hear all the flaws.

I should now really try and sleep, as I need to be somewhere tomorrow – off to do voluntary work, I’ve been getting into painting, but more on my drive for perfectionism another time.

youtube.com/watch?v=TdorgC9...(Not working as expected?)