Lonepilgrim

It were all ring modulators round here

I love that (brief) moment of joy from “Laughing on the bus..” to “his bow tie is really a camera”, where the words break free of the rhythms and rhyme of the song before settling back into more measured, less optimistic phrases

YouTube video by SimonGarfunkelVEVO Simon & Garfunkel - America (Audio)

#ALL50RTS Day 34
America - Simon & Garfunkel 1968
This featured inevitably on a mixtape I made to listen to on my Walkman as I drifted around the US on Trailways buses after Camp ended in 1985: the song capturing the process of creating a narrative from snapshot glimpses to paper over my loneliness

I visited Hever Castle on a School History trip. The highlight was that The Goodies were filming an episode there.

YouTube video by Grace Jones - Topic She's Lost Control (Long Version)

#ALL50RTS Day 33
She’s Lost Control - Grace Jones 1980

Featuring many of the same Compass Point musicians as yesterday’s selection, this is an extraordinary version of the Joy Division song with an increasingly deranged performance from Grace.

furthest i've been

N: Oslo
S: El Paso, TX
E: Vienna
W: Flagstaff, AZ

The Second Coming

They moved the factory to Atlanta The Breville went down to Georgia.

Stone sign for the Norfolk town of Diss - birthplace of the Diss track

Diss town is coming like a ghost town

I have copy that I paid full price for at The Whitechapel Gallery - if only I had been more patient

Toasted fish finger sandwich with glass of water

Fish finger sandwich at Magee Street Bakery

Things would never be the same again

YouTube video by RastaChaka Black Uhuru - Slaughter

#ALL50RTS Day 32
Slaughter - Black Uhuru
This was the last track on an NME tape celebrating Island records. I took it to Summer Camp in Ohio in 1985 where it boggled the minds of the other counsellors who were still adjusting to Bob Marley : Legend.

Gorgeous, spacey Dub

Are those….MAGIC lutes!!!???

I remember an interview with him at the time where he said he’d been prompted to record the instrumental tracks by listening to Brian Eno

YouTube video by Creedence Clearwater Revival - Topic Born On The Bayou

#ALL50RTS Day 31
Born on the Bayou - Creedence Clearwater Revival 1969
The precise interplay between the musicians produces a motorik groove ahead of it’s time - punctuated by John Fogerty’s defiant vocals - I would be happy if this went on forever

As someone old enough to have seen Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream play live in 1975 I’m going forward with the Dream

I was always impressed by one of the guitarists who played on Bob Dylan’s Time Out Of Mind album: Cindy Cashdollar

That’s what I liked about Semana Santa in Granada where you would see penitentes with their pointed hoods pulled up so they could have a cigarette

He is introducing the French to ‘Le Core de Jel’

YouTube video by Aphex Twin - Topic Xtal

#ALL50RTS Day 30

Xtal - Aphex Twin 1992

Back in the day I would often drift off listening to this track, which somehow pulls off the trick of being an ambient banger

Yeah - that was my feeling too.

OK - apologies if I posted spoilers

YouTube video by John van Someren Rickie Lee Jones - Last Chance Texaco (w/ lyrics)

#ALL50RTS Day 29
The Last Chance Texaco - Rickie Lee Jones 1979
I could have chosen any number of her songs but I hope this might get some traction with other voters. RLJ draws on a deep well of sadness and longing

‘We’ll always have Cleveland’

The scholar who knows his complete works knows Fück all.

I was disappointed how quickly Parker’s crew were swept from the board and then just as RiRi benefits from letting friends & family help her she seems to forget them and consider ‘an alternative power source’

“Either Jim Morrison counts or no one counts”

YouTube video by Steely Dan - Topic Your Gold Teeth

#ALL50RTS Day 28
Your Gold Teeth - Steely Dan 1973
A favourite song from their most consistent album combining inscrutable lyrics, world weary attitude and precision playing