North of the Island and home

Having completed the south of the Island(Brodick – Whiting bay – Kildonan – Machrie – Whiting Bay), today we decided to go north. This involved a very quick reminiscence trip to Brodick Castle, home of many a boyhood woodland and castle adventure:



We then drove past Corrie and down to Lochranza, via a quick toilet stop at North Sannox. I don’t remember the mountains looking so impressive:



Lochranza is much sleepier than Brodick. It too sports a castle, beach and ferry(to Cabletown). Although Brodick castle is rumoured to have hosted Robert the Bruce at some point, it has that kind of country house feel. Lochranza castle on the other hand is ruined, so feels much better when you are an 8 yr old child running about with a plastic sword.



Lohcranza itself has a new distillery since the last time I was here. It unveils it’s first 10 yr old malts next week. I must be getting old!!!



Today is a much slower day, we drive round the top of the isalnd ond on to Machrie, before returning across the middle of the island, which lets you dricvwe througfh the picturesque stirng rioad(It’s windy). I remember it with dread as a child, because it menat a really long drive, but 20 miles is a far shorter drive now, and the views of Goatfell are immense.

I’ve been really lucky with the weather. The light hits on the mountains, making them crisp against the blue sky. Bad weather can also make for some good views, but I’m glad it’s sunny.



I feel sadness at leaving Arran(It took me ten years to come back last time), but I’ve got so many interesting and new trips ahead of me, that I can’t stay long, and another day on the island without climbing Goatfell would’ve done my box in.

Standing Stones - Machrie

Once you are on the south of the Island(On a good day), you look onto Kintyre. Kintyre is the peninsula on the other side of Arran, from the song Mull of Kintyre. It’s so clear today, that you can see Ireland between Kintyre and the island of Sanda.



We are continuing round the island to Machrie. The sun is now high in the blue sky. Arran ignores the cliché of Scottish weather in the summer. In 15 or so trips in early July, I’ve seen more sunburn than I’ve seen umbrellas.

We can now see Goatfell and it’s surrounding peaks. Although technically I think we’re still in Ayrshire, we get a vista more associated with the highlands.



We have now come to Machrie, to see another of Arran’s attractions; The standing stones. Standing stones, most famously at Stonehenge, are extremely old relics of past civilisations. These stones in Arran are from a round 2000 BC.

The walk of around a mile takes you along a dirt path in front of the mountain vistas and through fields of sheep, who look on wondering what you find so interesting about their field.



The Machrie standing stones are the remains of six round burial grounds surrounded on their circumference by boulders. Not all are still standing, but the most impressive are one 3 or 4 meter tall standings tone which stands alone, and a collection of about 3 standing stones.






It’s a mini Stonehenge, very peaceful, and very picturesque, and since it is a short drive and a miles walk, shouldn't be missed. As a burial ground, it makes a pretty good resting-place. It lies on a plain(Machrie means plain in Gaelic), surrounded by mountain vistas.

Kildonan Seals

Once I was on the island and settled, and we’d had a wander along the bay in Brodick to the bakers, we decided to take a walk that my parents take quite regularly. For want of a better name, we’ll call it “Kildonan seal spotting”.

Kildonan is a small village on the south east of the island. Going south on the island is interesting. Brodick has a constant flow of walkers, climbers, cyclists, children and golfers, but going south, you get further away from that.

I’m amazed how short a distance it is from Brodick to whiting bay (where my parents are staying), and then whiting bay to Kildonan. Distances took much longer when we were kids. I remember hours on end in the back of the car, all listening to Queen greatest hits, or playing gameboys. It could be that I’ve been in NL for too long, or that the weather is good, but the scenery is encapsulating. It’s great to be back.



As usual with Scottish weather, although it looked shitty an hour ago, now it’s blue skys and we get to look over a small Island (Pladda) and Ailsa Craig. Ailsa Craig is a dome shaped island low on the firth of Clyde. It’s sometimes called “Paddy’s Milestone” because of it’s proximity to Ireland, but we’ll stay in Kildonan just now.

Kildonan is a sleepy little village, with a few houses, a hotel, a campsite and a beautiful view. We are here because a mile’s walk along the rocky beach is where grey seals bask on the rocks. So we walk along the beach, sand, rocks and seaweed. It’s great climbing over the rocks. Memories abound of running around when the biggest disaster that could befall you was a skint knee.



As we walk along, we see two heron’s on the rocks. I’m pretty surprised. Heron’s are common in NL, but they used to be a pretty rare sight in Arran. Now they are two a penny.

Eventually, we get out to a line of rocks which protrude into the sea. At the end of the rocks there are about 15 seals basking on the rocks. First we have a good look at them through the telescope, and see their curious puppy dog like faces, then I decide to move out across the rocks to get some photos. I’ve done this before as a kid. You need to move from rock to rock, but each time you reach a new rock, you have to stay still for a minute or two so that the seals get used to you. If you misjudge it or move too fast, you lose one. It’s like a computer game, you have 15 lives, one wrong footing requiring a reflex wobble, and you lose one.

Eventually I get down as far as the rocks will let me. I’m not close enough for close ups, but I manage to get a few memory shots.



This is the beauty of digital photography. I take a photo of the same seals from every rock in case it’s the closest I get without them moving away.

Each seal who has slid off, then sits in the water with it’s eyes sticking out of the water watching you. They look like overweight slobs, but they will move like cats if they decide you are a threat.

The Ferry to Arran

And so to a trip that I first took this week in 1980 when I was about 2 months old; The ferry from Ardrossan in Ayrshire to the isle of Arran. Arran is an island in the firth of Clyde (i.e. an island on the outlet of the river Clyde.) Arran is about 50 miles around, and about 10 miles across. It has it’s own island called the Holy Isle, and it’s most prominent point is a peak called Goatfell (874m). You can see Arran from most of Ayrshire, and much of Scotland (I’m told one of the peaks you can see from Ben Lomond is Goatfell)

It is a popular holiday destination for tourists. Among these tourists are my parents. My family went to Arran every year from 1980 to about 1991. I’ve been back a few times as a teenager with a tent and a case of beer, but this is the first time I’ve been to Arran with my parents since 1991. They are over for 2 weeks, but I’m just taking a visit for the weekend. I’ve realised that 1991-2005 is 14 years. I feel old. That’s pre-Pearl Jam.



The ferry itself brings back so many memories. You get the ferry form Ardrossan, which is barely 45 mins from home, yet once you are on the ferry, it feels like you are going to a different country. Even now, stepping foot on the ferry felt so exciting, the smells, the sounds etc. I remember once you were on this ferry as a kid, you felt completely detached from home life.(This was pre mobile phone).

The ferry to Arran is probably the closest place to my home where you can find a wealth of Scottish voices. It’s proximity to Glasgow, means that it is a feasible day trip. Arran is sometimes referred to as “Little Scotland”, because you can get a little taste of everything – mountains, Lochs, distilleries, beaches, castles, fishing, golf, history – everything.



Slowly Ayrshire disappears in the slipstream of waves behind the ferry, and Arran slowly emerges from the cloud. I am standing looking over the whole of Arran, as the Foo Fighters blast on my iPod. I am full of Adrenaline at this island of memories coming closer to me – I forgot how beautiful it was. This really surprised me – I’ve seen this so many times, that I just wanted to sit down and read my Daily Record, but there’s not time for that. Maybe I’ve got a Scotland deficiency problem due to the flatness of Holland. There must be a herbal remedy you can take – I would imagine it is alcohol.

A bigger Mountain: Ben Lomond

And so with a new found testicular fortitude, I decided to embark on a more challenging mountain. My brother is off to Australia for the summer, so we decided to have a brotherly bonding session by climbing up Ben Lomond, which is the highest peak seen in this picture:



Ben Lomond is a mountain beside Loch Lomond. It takes about an hour to drive to from Glasgow. Loch Lomond is a very popular tourist trap, due to its proximity to Glasgow. A 30 minute drive from Glasgow will take you to the bottom of Loch Lomond, which on a good day has beautiful views of Lochs, mountains and nature. It’s a great way to have a quick drive out of Glasgow and feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, although you are soon reminded that you are not with the mixture of Jet Ski’s tourists, etc, but it does feel a little more exotic than the city.

Anyway. I managed to convince my brother to take some time out of packing for his trip to make a trip up Ben Lomond. I woke up about 7am, and although it had been beautiful weather for the whole week, it was pouring with rain. My bro had been a little lackadaisical about going anyway, and I knew he had been out clubbing the night before, but I headed out to collect him from his flat anyway. Since it was raining, I went to a camping shop and bought two waterproofs in bags, in case the weather turned for the worse.

Luckily when we finally got through the winding roads on the right side of Loch Lomond, the weather had picked up, It was a goof fresh Scottish morning. So with our walking shoes on and a backpack full of provisions, we set off into the woods to start climbing. As with earlier in the week, I was done in from the first step. This then picked up, as my heart rate got used to it. 20 mins in, and all regrets are gone, as you come out of the woodland path and start to get some views.



Loch Lomond is full of little islands, so the views are wonderful. You just see the loch meandering into no where with tree filled islands dotted all over them. To the south you can see Glasgow and further south. They say you can see the Isle of Arran, but I would need a compass and a map.

The walk is now a little more serious, we can see a peak(we thought it was the peak), and its miles away up a steep hill. It’s a hard slog, but you keep going at it, and resting every ten minutes or so and take in the views. The only thing driving you to tire yourself out step after step is that you know when you next take a breather and turn around the view is going to be even better.


To the North of Loch Lomond, the landscape gets far more serious. The higher you get, the more hills you can see poking out from on top of each other to the north. These are serious mountains. As we get further up, the terrain becomes steep and rocky, not quite steep enough to be on hands and knees, and scrambling. It would probably be easier if it was.



Your lungs start to get sore from taking in so much air, you’re face starts to feel the wind and the sun in your face. A guy passes us coming down.(He must have been up early to be coming down now.), He is the typical Scottish hill walker with rugged red cheeks. My brother says he’s a real man, he doesn’t fear nature, he just absorbs it into his cheeks. Maybe it’s just the exercise and the views, but your heart pumps and you feel alive. This is the reason for climbing mountains. Every time we think we can see the peak, there is a bigger one behind it. Eventually, we reach the peak of Srón Aonaich(577m). From here you can see almost vertically up the real peaks. The weather is starting to get wet, not with rain, but with cloud. The wind lashes off your face. 30 minutes go we were wondering if we should have brought sun cream, but now it feels like you are on an oil rig or something. We eventually struggle along a path and can see the peak through the cloud, we decide that it’s time to sit somewhere sheltered and have some lunch..



The scenery is immense, we can now see over the other side, over the trossachs, which seem so much smaller than they did at the start of the week. We are having lunch next to the cliff formation, when we hear a helicopter, and it suddenly appears. It’s the mountain rescue team who we assume are doing training.

Our heart rates settle from our rest, as a supermarket sandwich, a banana, and a mars bar suddenly taste like food of the gods. We are sitting on the cliff with our legs dangling over, top of the world. But mountains don’t climb themselves. We’ve decided it may be time to put on the waterproofs, so we continue up to the peak. It’s now very wet, visibility is very low, and you can’t hear each other because of the wind. We quickly stand at the cairn(Summit marker), realize theres nothing to see and get some photo’s of each other at the top. Then we look at how tough the trip back down is:



The easy way, is to come back the way you came, but there is more scenery on the other side, so we opt to follow a path back down the other side.

We soon realise that this is tougher.. We have to get on our bums and edge down the rocks carefully, you can’t see many more than 10m in every direction.(iPod selection: Misty Mountain Hop) We can hear the helicopter, and as we come down, its getting louder, as a the cloud blows past once, we realise its parked on the oath ahead. Theres a rescue going on. So we have to sit for 20 mins in the wind, rain, and cold, without being able to talk to each other, being very close to a helicopter, but not able to see it. The sobering thought occurs to you, that you are one wrong step away from danger, it seems so long since the only thing that bothered you was how long you could keep running up hill before needing a rest.

I sit and read the guidebook I have in my bag. I got the height wrong, I thought it was just below 900m, its actually 974m, which makes it a Munro.

I was elated at getting to the top, but now that I know it’s a munro, I am even more elated. Munroes are hills in Scotland above 3000 feet(914m). i.e. mountains. There are about 284 munroes, and the sport of climbing them is called Munro Bagging. So having bagged my first Munro, I read a little about them in the guidebook, as we waited for the helicopter to disappear.

Sir Hugh Munro created a list of Munros in 1891 for the Scottish Moutnaineering club. In 1901 Rev. AE Johnstone was the first to climb them all. Since then, about 2000 people have climbed them all, including a Glasgow postman, who cycled, swam, ran and scrambled round them in a continous run in 48 days and 12 hours. Who says scots are hard bastards!!!

Anyway. Back to the mountain. The helicopter eventually goes. The mist clears, and we start to make it down, what is almost a sheer drop of crags and rocks. Between the Helicopter, the weather, and the fact that I’m now a munro-bagger, I start to realise that this isn’t a country walk, but once the ominous cloud parts and we can see green again, I feel much better, elated at having made it to the top, and able to enjoy a beautiful scenic downhill walk.



Well, mostly downhill. First we detour over Ptarmigan(731m), which affords a beautiful view up to the north of Loch Lomond. From here, you can also see the cloud strewn Ben Lomond and feel proud that you were up there. All the way down the hills , and over our last peak of the day, Tom Fithich(499m), you look out on the views you looked back for on the way up. Downhill requires far more skill. You have to watch your feet, as the natural inclination is to run down. It’s also pretty tiring concentrating on your footwork so much. When we have made it to ground level we have a well deserved cooling dip in Loch lomond, which ends our first Munro, another walk, and a great exhilarating day in my holiday in Scotland.

A little mountain

Summer Solstice. Longest day of the year. I'm in Scotland for a holiday. It seemed like the most exotic place possible. I'm in various countries all summer for work, so I thought I’d have a trip to Scotland to see some nature before the trek started.

I've got various trips planned (Not all will happen), but today I'm up a mountain. Well... A kind of mountainy hill. I had to come up alone, everyone was either hungover, working, or packing for a summer trip, so I thought I’d better start with an easy one.

Ben A'an - 461m - 1512 Feet



It's about an hour's drive from Glasgow. I thought it was closer, but I must drive slower in my old age. Or maybe it's the wealth of Sunday drivers travelling round these windy roads at 5 miles an hour. To get there you drive from Glasgow to Aberfoyle and take a right towards Calander and the Trossachs. Ben A'an is in the Trossachs, which are a network of hills, and lochs, not super high, but very picturesque. This is where Sir Walter Scott created our picture of Rob Roy.

When I started off, I forgot how steep it was, the first half mile is probably the steepest part of the walk. I was regretting the bravado of trekking up a mountain. You kind of dodge rocks and trees, find a good foothold etc. This one is easy, and I'm already sweating. I started to regret staying out till 4am last night and opting for a healthy (i.e. unsatisfying) breakfast. Luckily, I have my iPod to get me through this rough bit.(Melloncollie and the infinite sadness - Smashing pumpkins) Eventually you get to the first bridge, and you start to remember why its worthwhile.



It's easy to find forest like this in Scotland, this is nothing impressive, but I've been away from nature for a while. I'm getting into my stride now, mainly because the path is less steep now. Eventually I get through the country path type scenery and it becomes worthwhile. You get to see the peak, and feel good about the fact that you are going to be at the top of it.



Now sitting at the foot of the peak, I am having a sandwich and some water to make up for a crappy breakfast, and I'm looking out on loch Katrine, while writing this in my moleskin. Ben A'an sits between two Lochs. A loch is Scottish Lake. One is called Loch Katrine, and the other is called Loch Achray. Loch Katrine provides the drinking water for Glasgow. I set off again and the path now becomes more challenging. You've now got to climb. Hands and feet some times. The view gets more magnificent with every step. People tell you not to look down. I think its more important not to look up. If you look up, you realise that the step you've just taken, which seemed to take so much out of you is one of 200 still to go. The path runs through a small river, so your feet are getting wet as you scrabble up rocks and aim for the peak. Eventually it evens out, and you can look back knowing the worst is over. As I do this, the crashing chord at the climax of Galapagos hits, and i get that lungs full of air adrenaline hit. “And if we die right now, etc…”



Now its just a field of peaty mud and heather to get through before climbing up the peak and seeing the views. I eventually get up there as the last song of the album is climaxing and finishing, which means that from car to peak takes just under an hour. The summit is magnificent. You get a view across Loch Katrine and further north to the mountains. Ben Venue, the nearest peak looks as if you could jump to it.



I sit and chill alone on the peak for a while, and write the rest of this account in my moleskin. The trip down is less tiring, but more difficult. The laws of dynamics involving Scottish beer bellies, gravity and inclines are not taught in schools, but basically you are forced to run down the same steep riocks which you spent all that time climbing.

Hopefully, there will be more climbing next week.

A quick trip

Just a quick post. I met some mates for a drink in Glasgow. I was driving, so wasn't drinking. There were two russians there, who were studying in Glasgow, so like good scots we insisted on showing them Loch Lomond by night(even tho they'd already seen more of scotland than us combined).

So we got in a car, and went a trip, got out and looked at the Loch while being eaten by midges.



It was at this point that one of our number declared the forever quotable:

"If midges are attracted to the light, why don't they all just fuck off and live on the sun."

Billy Corgan in Gent

I’m in Belgium for a conference. Amazingly I’m not in Brussels this time, I’m in a University town called Leuven. Half way through the conference, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins is playing in Gent. I was originally meant to go and see him in Amsterdam, but work meant that I have to make trip to Gent half way through the conference. Usually I moan about Brussels and how its boring for meetings, so this time I’m seeing a little more of Flanders.

Leuven:










Its pretty nice. The university started in 1425, so it’s a very old little city, and the students mean that it’s quite lively. The conference is in a castle, although it looks more like a very old country house, complete with moat and Gardens. Leuven centre is full of little higgledy piggledy red brick buildings. It all feels very old. Tonight I get a walking tour round the centre so, maybe I’ll learn more and have more to tell. My only fact at he moment, is that The KUL(Katholieke Universitiet Leuven) had a bit of a revolt when they got fed up with their lectures being in French and not in Flemish. They threw a wobbly and the upshot was that the new Leuven University was created as the French part. The anecdotal fact is that they split the library between the two universities, A-M in on and N-Z in the other – Genius, collaboration for eternity.

But I’m in gent now. I’ve been to Gent once before, in 2002. Its really beautiful, very old historical, and manages to make its canals look so pretty and appealing. Just looking at these ramshackle ancient buildings leaning into a winding canal makes you want to drink a good Belgian beer. But I’ve seen Gent, I have the photos, I’ve had the tour:









I’m here tonight to see one of the musicians I most respect in my music collection.

Billy Corgan was the singer, guitarist and writer of the Smashing Pumpkins. I consider Gish, Siamese Dream and MellonCollie and the infinite sadness to be one of the greatest runs of albums I’ve ever heard. All three are complete classics. To grab a cliché, “They Rawk!!!”. Theres lots that rocks, though. The reason for these albums staying “up there” in my often played albums is that there is a good bit of intelligence in the Rawk. The composition of the music is genius, I consider Billy Corgan to be as adept as most classical composers. I have often used examples as an argument of my music being as intelligent as music I have studied.

After that there were several more Smashing Pumpkins albums. They were damn good albums, but as follow up to the first three they seemed lackluster. I listen to them less often, but when I do listen to them I enjoy them. Maybe I was that little bit older when I first heard them. Maybe there are less memories of youth and teenage years engrained on the vinyl tracks (Sometimes literally) of the first three albums. Ironically, I probably enjoyed Machina II the most, which wasn’t an official album, but disseminated through the internet and allowed life. Genius again, and I’m sure it took some of the shine(read sales), off the inevitable post break up greatest hits album.


After Smashing Pumpkins, there was Zwan. This was a light side project sounding band, album and tour. It never felt that great for me. I couldn’t see much to like in it apart from Billy Corgan’s voice. I listen to it every know and then, and given the sorry state of music, it is growing on me, but you have to try hard to get the good pumpkins stuff out your mind.


I saw the Pumpkins on their last tour. Bearing in mind, there had been 2 albums which I didn’t like that much, I thought that Billy Corgan had lost his edge, his intelligence, his drive etc. Nothing could be further from the truth. They started, dressed in pink, playing acoustic renderings of some of there songs for about 45 minutes. It was interesting, but not “The Pumpkins”. It was in quite a large venue, so it kind of rattled around and had no punch, no power. Many people left early. The smashing Pumpkins left the stage, and a lot more people went home. Then the drummer came back on. Jimmy Chamberlain, had been a heroin addict and had been kicked out of the band to clean up. This was his first tour since kicking the habit and replacing it with what I can only assume was a rigid routine of weight lifiting. This skinny junky had been replaced by this hunk of muscle. He came back on stage and a spot light hit a new kit which was on the stage.(Previously he had a cymbal and a snare drum). He start playing under a spot light on a kit that would make Kiss look subtle. This was RAWK. The the previously pink dress clad corgan came out in a ankle length leather dress thing. Black eyliner and they launched into classic pumpkins. They then played for what seemed like hours(Bearing in mind this was the encore to a 45 minute gig), there was soloing in unison between James and Billy iron maiden styleee, the scream in bullet with butterfly wings had so much reverb and delay and overdrive that it nearly took the roof off. Oh and Mellisa Auf der Mar(Bass), was a sexy bass playing red head, who over played her role just enough to be cheeky, which was just the cherry on top of the cream

All in all it was one of the best gigs I’ve been to(I’ve probably been to 150-200)

So it is with this in mind that I was wandering through the winding streets of Gent wondering which of the many buildings which said vooruit on them the vooruit concertzaal(Concert hall). I eventually found a little stair which went down to the canal where there were a suitable number of Black clad teens to suggest that one of the greatest genius’ of 90’s rock was about to play. I wandered down and went in. It was quite a strange venue. The hall is just a standard theatre, but there are windows at the back, so in the European summer evening, there was daylight.:





A strange thing for a concert. As usual I had arrived far too early. I’m always guilty of doing this. It’s the 14 year old kid in me who’s scared to miss some wonderful moment by arriving late. As a result, and especially in the case of coming alone, I had a lot of sitting around to do watching the crowd and the goings on.

It was a very mixed crowd. A lot of older people, mixed with younger people. A lot of couples. The smashing pumpkins are really good, but they also have that goth following so it’s a strange audience.

The first band on were called Gliss. They were interesting I think Billy Corgan(If he chose them), had decided to give us some old school pumpkins style acid fuelled psych rock. Three piece who started with a drum machine. Girl on Bass, and two guys. The girl on bass, did a kind of “I’m on acid, look at the pretty flowers” dance while she played. At first(There supporting billy corgan – I’m insanely jealous), I thought it was pathetically fake. Then I wandered if she actually was on acid. They had a great light show. Very simple, but spot lights at there feet and a black back sheet. So they had these long silhouettes of themselves at the back. Quite simple, but quite effective. There sound was quite heavy, reverby loud guitar, layers etc. Quite pumpkinsy, but with a more modern British influence(I don’t yet know if thyey are US or Uk – or something else – from the accents I think they are US – wifi is down – I’ll google later. After the first(maybe second) song the singer/guitarist moved to the drums. I used to play in a three piece with a singing drummer, so I found this quite interesting. It worked quite well. It completely changes the dynamic of what you are watching, which is interesting. The other Guitarist then swapped with the drummer/guitarist. This is a little too simple to be interesting, but it does give me something to watch, which is different from usual with a support band. They are pretty good – I’ll listen to there CD later and see what I really think. Eventually they had moved around in just about every combination. The strangest combination was that the girl settled on the drums for a while. I’m not being sexist, but this is a very strange event. I’m not saying women can’t play the drums, just that not many do. Although she hits with her arms(As opposed to her wrists), and holds the drumsticks tight in the middle, she did a damn good job, and proved once and for all, that the acid bass playing was due to watching D’Arcy(Pumpkins Bass player) in too many videos and not to a dodgy Mushroom pizza before the concert. I don’t know how long I could cope with the swapping about if I saw them again, it kind of challenges your idea of how to rate a band, when nothing appears to be their core instrument. But certainly one of the more interesting support bands I’ve seen.

So then there was the inevitable wait while they set up the various equipment for Billy Corgan. I took this time to sit around and listen to the Flemish accents in an attempt to further my Dutch.(I didn’t get very far.)

I went back into the auditorium, and low and behold, it wasn’t the normal roadies. A normal roadie requires a faded guns n’ roses or iron maiden T-Shirt or a Beer belly. Most of the roadie activity was in setting up a 20” iMac on the stage. The iMac was actually part of the stage furniture.

So after a long wait. A curtain gets taken down at the back of the stage which reveals what looks like a concave tiled toilet wall. This is then turned on, and starts a kind of gridded 8-bit colour light show. On comes Billy, wearing a cap that looks like a gendarmes, and a black jacket. He plays the first song hidden under this cap.

The light show is quite impressive, and the sound is a very dense electronic sound, thicker than the pre release single and the examples on billy corgan’s mysapce. It makes for quite a heavy electronica. I originally didn’t like what I hear of his upcoming album, I couldn’t hear much guitar. But having seen him live, there is some pretty rocking guitar, which I’ll listen out for. Its just in a slightly different context.

There was a guy who near me almost immediately started to heckle. He was shouting that it was a boring. But from the first chord. That’s a real passion. Paying money because you know its not the pumpkins and you want to go and complain. That’s how good those early albums are. People are so pissed off that there wasn’t more. Maybe a 4 album run of supreme genius would be possible, but how long could it go for. You eventually have to move in a direction that some people don’t like.

Anyway. The band was comprised of billy on guitar and vocals. Two keyboard/synth players. One who also worked the loops and sounds coming from the iMac, and one a woman who also handled backing vocals and dancing around a little. And to the right was a man playing electronic drums. It took me a little while to get used to some one playing drums standing up.(I didn't go to many concerts in the 80's)




I had to drive back to Leuven, so all the way through was about ready to leave. But I stayed, not because I never leave concerts early, but because it was genuinely quite enthralling and good. At one point, Billy Corgan did an acappela song(well acappella to a simple loop.), I think he felt people were getting restless so apologized for not playing loud music anymore. So the heckler, asked for his money back. The Dutch and I presume Flemish have a word for this; “eikel”. It means heckler or something like that. Billy’s response was that if you want loud rock music you should go off and make it yourself, which I thought was a great response. He’s on his particular musical trip at the moment, if it doesn’t fit with yours, find something which does.

After this, as if on cue, the music seemed to get angrier, the visuals depicted fire, and Billy was getting pissed off with the microphone.(Or taking out his pissed off ness at the heckler) The irony was that, while not the 120 Decibels of a video I’ve seen of the pumpkins, it was a very loud dense sound. What I think the nay sayers wanted was fast. The sound is dense slow dirges.(But not that depressing) There was a lot of guitar. Billy Corgan proved he could still noodle with the best of them.

I can’t comment on all the songs, cos I don’t know the names of them. They were a little samey. But I would say the same about Siamese dream or gish if listening to it for the first time. Its an interesting sound, It also includes a Bee Gees cover, which is beautiful and sad.(It’s a very different representation!!!). I’ve always wondered how much of what Billy Corgan does is tongue and cheek. There are many songs he could cover, but for some reason he found(Or I think injected), beauty into this Bee Gees song. I wonder if Barry, Brian, Bernard, Maurice(I have no idea how many there are what they are called) will ever appreciate what an honour this is.

So all in all. Some very well crafted music, with dense slow progressions. Its rock but not as we know it, and I think its pushed the envelope too far for most people.

Photos to follow – if they turn out – I forgot the battery for my digital camera, so had to use one of those disposable cameras.

Keukenhof

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Originally uploaded by furbyx4.

It's that time of year again. The tulips are in bloom which means that the best thing you can do between the 24th of March and 20th May in the Netherlands is go and see the fields upon fileds of pretty colours:

http://www.keukenhof.com/

A Subdued weekend.

Friday night passed without event with a few drinks in bars with some colleagues. I was planning to go out with The Kiwi when I got home, but he was knackered and so was I so we convinced each other that an early night was in order. I think the winter depression of Amsterdam is setting in.

Saturday I as up early catching up on washing, tidying and cleaning. Through a friend I had a ticket to the Tommy Hilfiger sample sale, so The Bulgarian Bride the Kiwi and I were soon cycling out to the sticks near Sloterdijk to go to a factory sale.

It's good fun cycling in Amsterdam, you potter away quite slowly and get a good chin wag on the way.

Robert Plant - Mighty Rearranger



Straight off, we got kind of world drums, tribe, world music. Then Robert Plant's voice kicks in. It's not his fault, we just know him so well. Its tattooed on my brain from childhood. He's just raised my expectations of the album. And straight off, its not too bad. The guitars are quite tasteful. That's the second bit of Robert Plant's voice, I immediately expect to hear Jimmy Page side by side. Every now and again you hear a little mannerism in his voice, and you say to yourself "holy fuck. That nearly sounded like led zep, who are these new people", but then you remember, this is a 1/4 of the holy grail of rock; You will get tingles. The danger is that a watered down version of Led Zep sounds like a watered down Robert Plant. That's called David Coverdale, but thankfully so far, we're doing okay.

In the first few tracks it reminds me of Euphoria Moon by Chris Cornell of Soundgarden. Not a bad album, but it feels like someone pushing the envelope away from Rawk. It has smatterings of pro tools stuff in the same way as Chris Cornell did. What a shame for Robert Plant, 25 years after the breakup of Led Zep, I find it impossible to listen to his voice and take it seriously as an innovative artist.

I'm starting to get into this, I caught a bit of less-world-music guitar. The end of Freedom fries sounds like Dave Navarro. What a bizarre notion, who is plagiarising who? Freedom fries on first listen ain't a bad track.


Now Tin Pan Alley. We start with moog type filter sounds. Robert Plant has done quite well. He blends what he wants to do - world music - with some modern stuff, and he manages not to make it cringeworthy. Compare this to some of the dabblings Mick Jagger has made with contemporary music. Or pink Floyd. Robert Plant! Tasteful????

Then it kicks in. Its protools and modern, but it does approach rocking.

Track 5. Fingerstyle acoustic folk. All the kings horses, fairly standard, a bit close to some Led Zep to be good, but acceptable.

Now I'm settling into it and getting on with work. I'm quite impressed.

Track 6 - not bad dancey vibes, but the drugs that that man has been around this should have come as expected. I have to enter the disclaimer here, that I'm not a big dance fan. I kind of know what I like, I'm not very consistent. There are probably people with a good handle on this music who think he is being cringeworthy. Maybe I've become too old to have my ear to the ground on what is cringeworthy. Ah. I'm an adult!

there's also the elements that are just too close to Led Zep. Glassando Strings, Tabletop guitars etc.

Now I'm settling into it and getting on with work. I'm quite impressed. It's on the iPod, so time will only tell if it gets played enough to become a good album.

Queens day continued

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Originally uploaded by furbyx4.

A particularly Orange Canal boat.

Queens Day

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Originally uploaded by furbyx4.

Ah. Queen's Day in Amsterdam. People selling crap on the streets, people buying crap on the streets, everybody partying everybody drunk, canal boats all over the prinsengracht, compulsory wearing of orange, something to do with the queen mother's birthday.

The photo is Vondelpark which was absolutely packed. A friend's kid was selling old toys, so I became the lucky owner of a burst tennis ball.

Soma

Yes. Yes we all know. Its early 90's grunge, so we'll have the quiet bit then the loud bit then the noise guitar solo. It's a cliche, but this wrote the cliche and broke the mould. Compositionally, Orchestrationally I think Billy Corgan is a genius.

Soma - Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins



If I ever want an adrenalin hit of the extreme sport level, I have a button which gives me a direct hit. As with ost of the stuff of this period from smashing pumpkins, we start with a nice slow spacey riff. Now to call this the quiet bit would be an understatement, This isn't where the structure lies. As with most smashing pumpkins riffs, they are an intricate blend of about 5 guitars doing very similar things. Corgan is (I believe) anally retentive about orchestration. And when it works it really works. Here it works. He treats multiple guitars as an orchestra, the good thing is that the guitars aren't perfect(i.e. they are grunge, not some not perfect, sound perfect inhumane treatment.)

After a nice spacey trippy start, we get the trademark wall of sound. But this isn't the same as Mr. Cobain suddenly jumping on a distortion pedal, this really gets us off. We get(at 3:24) the quiet before the storm. Its pure aural masturbation for me, I've been listening to this album for over 10 yrs, I know what's coming, that's why I come back for the hit. At 3:24 you float, at the top of a hill (sometimes literally in the case of iCycli-podding). Then PLUNGE - wall of sound - diving into ice cold water, whatever floats your boat. Then the rock devil comes out, a wicked smile appears on your face and your heart beat feeds on the adrenaline. Then BANG, it get s better and better, BANG, big solo. Not a normal solo, this is the sound of 20 guitars dying all at once with some kind of melody being picked out of them in the studio(Think of a late turner painting, but in a kind of multi-tracked noise guitar grunge kind of way.

Then 5:04 there is one note which just rips through everything. It is pure adrenaline, if i am free to really listen to this note, no distractions, no one talking, i can float away and time doesn't exist. I often say it is my favourite recorded note. If someone bottled adrenalin for you, you would like it too.

Maybe i just like going back to being a teenager when i first discovered this music, and its impossible to turn someone onto it who didn't at least grow up to the same music. Theres other stuff i enjoyed when I was a kid, that doesn't do it for me anymore, but soma and smashing pumpkins does it for me every time. I didn't used to consider smashing Pumpkins one of my favourite bands, i listened to them religiously, but the fan base kind of put me off. It was songs for disgruntled teenagers, a bit like the goth kids in south park.



The whole "Hate myself and want to die" bit of grunge. That wasn't what it was about, but for some reason they people who needed that outlet found it in the Smashing Pumpkins. I always found those people to be spoiled little brats who couldn't moan about not getting all the my little ponies anymore. I wasn't disgruntled at being a teenager. I was disgruntled at other teenagers, cos they didn't like Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins but i loved being me. I had pearl jam and smashing pumpkins.

This said. I think that every thing after Melloncollie wwas lacklustre, and I didn't find the same power in it. I respect Billy Corgan for continuing to tray and innovate, but I don't think he really hit the button as well as he did on the first three albums.

For further iCycli-podding fun. Test your bike by listen in to Siamese dream. At 2:57 during GeekUSA, most "Non-Grunge certified" bikes will break due to adrenalin powered pedal as fast as you can part o the song.

Haggis chop suey

One large step for a haggis, one small step for Scottish cookery. Saturday, I had promised some friends some haggis. One German and a Filipino family. My Filipino friend insisted on cooking something(she's very motherly), so we ended up with Haggis, potatoes and chop suey vegetables. It was quick bizarre, but strangely worked. Haggis, which is quite a dry meal was complemented by the juice vegetables.

Although Scotland have embraced Asian food(Its arguably more popular than British food) I think it could be a while till it catches on:

Google Clicky

Exile on iCylcli-Podding Street

iCycli-Podding, the brand new sport. I do it every morning, its an extreme sport in that its dangerous. What is it? Listening to your iPod as you cycle to work in the morning. I do it most mornings, don't advise it, and its probably illegal.

This morning was a lovely crisp sunny morning. It feels like summer is just starting to break, and I was listening to Exile on Main street. The weather combined with the upbeat music almost made my hangover completely disappear.

I don't know if its just that I discovered this album at a particular age or stage in life, but none of the rest of the Stones stuff comes near it. I know its the "Classic Album", but I didn't discover it like that. I was probably about 17 and my mum asked me for a list of CD's that I wanted for my Birthday. I was pretty up to date with my wishlist, cos I had a saturday job and absolutely nothing to spend my wages on. I was enjoying some of my dad's stones records, and I thought, yeah here's a list of the stones albums I don't have, told her to get me one and she found exile on mainstreet. What astounded me was that it wasn't a stones album at all. At that age I always thought of the Stones as writers of some pretty good pop rock songs, which were generally performed better by your average pub rock band. I could play the drums and thought Charlie Watts was simplistic and boring. Keith Richards was cool, but not as obvious a guitarist as Hendrix. I was never into Van Halen twiddle, but at that point, I never associated a kick ass riff with being talent in a guitarist, I considered that song writing. But probably most importantly, I couldn't see much teenage angst in a 50 yr old Mick Jagger.

Little did I know, that this Gem of an album existed. One of the first "Albums" I ever "heard". Its almost impossible to grow up in the UK and not experience the Beatles or the Stones as a collection of specific songs. As a child of the 80's I knew the riff to satisfaction from the Marathon(Now snickers) advert before I could tie my shoe laces. These songs were such pop classics, that if you were lucky enough to listen to a stones album, and not a greatest hits collection(Could be a future rant), it was very difficult to learn to see the "unknown" hits which hadn't been over played. I expected to find a few new songs on exile between the hits I knew. Unfortunately there are no hits, on exile, there aren't even any songs. Theres only one unit - The Album. The coherency across the whole album is unlike most(especially with modern recording techniques). The studio, the atmosphere, the time is the instrument in itself, that the stoned musicians tag along to. Far less obvious, very few hooks, few stand out tracks. Charlie Watts drumming; Essential!!!. The simplistic riffs of Keef; The life blood and heartbeat. And Mick Jagger's cod-old-bluesman-I'm-not-a-white-middle-class-Londoner; Bizarrely not cringeworthy.

It all comes together wonderfully. If asked now, I don't think anyone would know who played on what takes of what tracks, and I don't think it would have made a difference to the album. The album is a frame around a specific moment in time, and its been done wonderfully. Pre-Concept-Album, I think it is a concept album, the concept is that the album isn't just a collection of songs.

MacExpo Amsterdam

Went to the MacExpo Amsterdam. It was shit. Basically just a few stands of mac toys which you can see in any highstreet apple shop.

Oh well!!

Rant about the music Industry

I was bored at a workshop, and thought it would be a good time to write my blog. I think I took the rant cliche a little too far. With the amount of wireless connections at conferences now and the content of said conferences being of questionable entertainment value, there might be a few more of these this summer. Maybe one day I'll extend that into a coherent argument rather than a rant.


Returning from a recent event where one of the major focuses was that of DRM in the music industry.

One of the buzz words that the industry have taken up is “fair use” and its implementations. They request that internet users give them a break a little bit and use content in a way which will not detrimental to the industry.

Obviously outside my official capacity, the following occurred to me; Why the fuck should we? This is the industry who have repeatedly shafted just about every player in their supply chain.

The Artist
The artist, based on whichever cliché, doesn't’t get a very good break on the supply chain. Fine we know they take drugs and shag groupies for a good while when they’re at the top of their career, but if the actual figures are calculated, you have about as much return from the interest on a savings bank account. The industry have set up a situation where they take none of the risk and reap almost all of the rewards. This is fine, it’s a corporate world. The “fair” agreement is that this is the filter to ensure that the record companies provide fodder for the public to embrace or reject.

The consumer
We will assume that the consumer who has so callously fucked over the nice family business record industry is from about 15 – 30. Now anyone from the age of about 20-30 grew up in the nineties. The record company were pushing wonderful content at us such as 2Unlimited, and other dire pop, they were paying similar dross to be in the charts so that gullible teenagers would feel that they needed to buy the stuff. We had the ticketmaster feud as led by Pearl Jam(Fat lot of good that did), we still have a monopoly charging concert goers an administration charge. If you grew up in these years, is it really any surprise, that there was no moral highground that you felt you should take or guilt which forced you into a nervous breakdown when file sharing came along.

The solution
The record industry, the mobile phone industry, the consumer electronics industry and the film industry have all stood up and proclaimed that there are holes in the iTunes/apple/iPod. Of course there are holes. But until something better comes along it the best solution out there. What's the difference, the difference is that Apples core clients respect them. And this bleeds through. On one hand you have the big corporate bully(they made that stereotype, and now back pedal), who are saying, “please…. Be nice to us, its unfair”, on the other hand you have a company who make demonstrably good hardware, usable software which is a joy to work with providing a damn good service. This is what the DRM solution is This is what the music industry must realize, not moan.

Brussels

Day in Brussels for a meeting.



Nice as Brussels is, 9 times out of 10, I'm here for a meeting in the bit which has only concrete buildings and building sites. Yawn!

Caledonia

Loch Lommond
Originally uploaded by furbyx4.

In Scotland for the weekend. Here's a gratuitous Loch and mountain picture

March

March was a slow month. No trips anywhere, very little in the way of exciting developments at work. I moved house, which was hectic, but gives me a change of environment.