Light Bear

Someone travelled to eight different countries. In some, he stayed for several weeks. In others, he just spent a few hours dining, talking to one or two people that he would meet, just passing time, briefly getting to know his surroundings. He would often feel more at home in these short stays, maybe because of the easy nature of them. In the longer stays, he would always run the risk of starting to feel the pressures of a holiday, but stepping out of an airport in a foreign land for an hour or two would be very much like stepping out of your own door after a night's sleep.

Everything But The Girl - Birds

No Love Lost

2010-04-26T16:22:00.000-07:00

I thought I saw sparkling crystal lights floating down the wall in front of me. I reached out to touch the cold stone and I felt an easy shiver as my hand touched the light grey bricks. Small drips of clear water appeared over my fingertips, I tasted it and held my tongue there for a little while. I took one step forward, and looked around to see if anyone was watching. Then I started slowly licking the bricks, softly touching the raspy, dewy texture with the tip of my tongue. At first I felt a wet sensation, but it soon dried out, and the dryness grew into an overwhelming feeling. I stopped abruptly, staggered back and looked at my hands. They were light pink, I clenched them until they were red like the inside of my mouth.

Steve Tibbetts - Form

Ruin

2010-01-04T14:54:00.000-08:00

A place full of romance, tearing itself apart. A constructed mass that catches the sunlight and hides the sky. In the light of the stars, small grains of sand shimmer as if they were lit up by flashlights. White doves are sleeping in one of the rooms. It is still but never quiet, cold but not suffocating. We dance over the walls. They are easy to jump. We sit down in a corner where the earth that covers the ground is warm from the sun that has been shining all day long. Our feet are resting on the soft floor, a smile is caught by the sunlight. "You can never see the whole place!"

I smile too, rise slowly, and walk into the next room where the floor is replaced by a dark starry sky. The steps that I take seem to be reproducing themselves and weaken as an echo. I lose touch with the ground and soon the stars are above me. I look into your mouth, it is as dark as the night outside, and just like outside, I see a million stars shining there. The words make me smile again. Your lips stretch and meet my laughter. I turn silent, the gravity heightens around us. A vault seems to be pressing itself upwards with all its weight to the sky. Everything on the inside seems to be weighing a thousand times more than anything on the outside. Once again the floor is a black sea of stars, I can feel it rushing against my feet. "Come, let's go out and look from the outside!"

It looks like a photo I've seen sometime but it's much too dark. On a closer look there are thousands and thousands of stars shining in every stone. Everything here has lasted much longer than us, yet we haven't seen anything. Everything is quiet. We climb a wall. Small pieces fall off and hit the ground as our weight is being pushed against the cold rocks. The beige colours of the stone resemble a pink shade of viloet in this light, I manage to think and you look as if you are ready to jump. We throw ourselves out in the darkness and the stars are not shining brighter, they just continue to carry our hope.

The Edge - The Strange Party

Daniele Losi - Tom Tom Beat

Zulu Gang - I Got A Magic Feeling

Slow Waves

2009-12-08T04:33:00.000-08:00

This lo-fi, sexy slow-motion mix from last summer is now complete with sci-fi ending. Swim deep!

Light Bear - Rosa Nuevas (Raging Bulls Underwater) (Final Cut)

Brothers In Arms (Deep Water)

2009-12-03T16:48:00.000-08:00

Speak to me, tell me all your secrets. Hidden in the water lie a thousand unfinished dreams and wishes, and to dive for them only takes a heartful of courage and a mouthful of oxygene.

Ten City - Nothing's Changed (Acroostic Version)

No Words Left But Whispering Thunder

2009-10-11T13:17:00.000-07:00

Take it easy. A man told me this and I tried to follow his advice. I did the best that I could, and followed a narrow passage down to a hidden rooftop. I tracked a rabbit down and sat with him out in the dark forest. I took the train to San Antonio and talked to the fishermen. I worked as a ferryman on a boat on the Hudson River. I ran with the sheep on an island west of Ireland, where the hills all had eyes and the lungs were filled with salty water. Finally, I sat down on the docks of Albany and listened to the wind. It didn't seem to carry any words, only a crystal sound that bore a vague resemblance to shaking leaves.

Craig Peyton - Be Thankful (instrumental)

The Second Moon, Light-years Away

2009-10-01T07:16:00.001-07:00

Jim Capaldi - Some Come Running (Luna Segunda Mix)

Water From A Vine Leaf

2009-09-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

"The dreamers, you know, they are the ones who are really awake!"

"Yes! Or, at least, so I've heard. I can't help but think about a funny thing though, something that happened to me on one of my journeys abroad, a long time ago. There was this funny looking man that I would run into every now and then, and you would always remember his looks, partly because he was always wearing this rust-coloured fur coat that was a bit over-sized. The most noticeable thing about him, however, was that he would never finish a sentence. At first, I didn't notice this, I would just assume that he was temporarily distracted. But at some point, It began to bother me, it became an irritating fact that I couldn't seem to shake off. In one of our conversations, that used to take place in the late evenings at a diner close to where I lived, by the way, I finally gathered enough confidence to ask him about this. When he started talking, I imagined that I could see that he was mostly relieved to meet somebody that he could share this with, to have that basis of trust with someone. He began speaking of this affair he had a few years ago with a woman, they met at a bar, in the afternoon while the sun was still shining outside. And the look of each other blinded them both, so that they soon stopped to take notice of the sun outside. When they left, it was pitch black, and they were helplessly in love. Outside, it had started to rain, and as he was standing really close to her, he looked at her cheeks that were both covered with tiny drops of dark water. They crossed an open field, this wasn't far from the countryside, you know, and then as they were running side by side, she suddenly stopped. -Why do you stop, he asked, feeling nervous about this sudden gesture that seemed so rash. -If you must ask this, I cannot go on. I must leave us here, in this state of affairs, and never come back. She ran off, further into the darkness, causing a wave of black leaves to take off in the dark night behind her. He watched the leaves as they slowly fell to the ground, making no sound whatsoever. From that night, he said, this condition of his had been constant. I had been listening with great interest, but it all seemed a bit fabricated, to tell the truth. He seemed to have been making it up as he went along, really. I'd like to think that he was just a dreamer, like you and me, caught up in a daily whirlpool of love, making it hard to think straight for all its turns and spins, ups and downs. Wouldn't you? Because when it all comes down, it's not so hard to understand."

Colin Blunstone - Andorra

Jon - Is It Love

Doug Kershaw - Willie's Shades

Dee Dee Sharp Gamble - I Believe In Love

Chill Bill

2009-09-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

Charles Earland - Over And Over

Empty phrases sent to the Cranes

2009-08-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

It's a well known fact, what may be work to some is simple and pure pleasure to others. I know I must try to cling to the notion that it is possible to make something out of nothing, and that the level of nothingness is always negotiable. Time and time again.

Kieran White - I May Be Wrong

Daughter Of Light

2009-08-15T07:26:00.000-07:00

Gather up the roses, save one for me. "These things happen, and they will", even after we've gone. So please stay true, now that I trust that you always were.

The Grateful Dead - Unbroken Chain

Greetings from San Fransisco Bay!

2009-08-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

Light Bear - Celebration At Big Sur

A Distant Memory (Notes From A Near Shore)

2009-07-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

I haven't forgotten anything, I can still hear your voice echo from afar, sending chilled notes in the wake of yesterday's dreams and delusions of grandeur. Today, everything appears to be a bit clearer, to the point that it would almost seem like you could reach out and touch the hand that you thought was lost a long time ago. Pick up the pieces, go about your journey and carry on, carry on, what you thought was lost will be found someday.

Theo Parrish - Took Me All The Way Back

Santa Cruz Mountains (My Heart Beats For You)

2009-06-05T16:56:00.000-07:00

If I could, I would give to you the world and more, no pre-conceptions or easy give-aways could ever cover all that I have in mind.

John Stewart - California Bloodlines

Ned Doheny - Get It Up For Love

David Cassidy - Get It Up For Love

Average White Band & Ben E. King - Get It Up For Love

Baleares (La Luna Segunda)

2009-05-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when the night comes, I wish that you would be walking on the beach here with me, looking at the crystal water reflecting in our foggy eyes, wet from tears and laughter. Although I know deep down that it could never be like that, that we will always speak in different tongues and walk our separate ways, that this earth is too small for us and that it can only hold a handfull of all the things we want do. But let's not think about that now, there are far more important matters to take care of right now. A bird whistles in the wind, and feet are clapping against the sand of an empty shoreline where distant voices keep ringing out over the sea.

Louis Chedid - J't'aimerai Toujours

Forgotten Lore, New Found Love

2009-05-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

Old friends, standing ready to dive at the sound of a seagull calling. They met by the shore, with sand cracking under their feet, and sympathy was far, too far away. Then, a lone dove comes flying over the water and all that they thought was lost is now lit through by bright rays of sunshine. They slowly regain their balance and take each others' arms before they jump into the dark sea below.

Jim Capaldi - Last Day Of Dawn

Alan Price - Sell Sell

Jim Capaldi - Daughter Of The Night

Revelacion - House Of The Rising Sun

Better Days

2009-05-05T01:56:00.000-07:00

Ronaldo Reseda - Marrom Glacé

Too Much Psyche

2009-04-29T16:47:00.000-07:00

Keep the fuzz going, all this hippy stuff with sand blowing in the wind.

The Nick Haines Band - When I Come Down

Joe Erickson - Take Your Time

The Charlatans - The Blues Ain't Nothing

Old Town

2009-04-26T14:28:00.000-07:00

I passed through the old latin quarters today, where smoke and dust made my eyes foggy and sweet noises kept ringing in my ears. I hope I will go there soon again, swirling down a whirlpool of old memories and forgotten tales, ancient mysteries of love and theft.

Danny Williams - I Love You

John Martyn - Over The Hill

Danny Kirwan - Midnight In San Juan

Late Night Thunder

2009-04-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

I went to the beach at night, I can't remember why but I think it was something that I felt I just had to do. I dug a hole near the shoreline, the sand was wet and heavy, and way down there I placed one muscat, one apple-seed and one piece of ginger. The most beautiful things can be seen at this sight today, and I can't help but feel that I have a small part in it.

Climax Blues Band - Listen To The Night

Willow Springs

2009-04-22T03:47:00.000-07:00

Free And Easy

Hot Sun Melting Your Worries Away

2009-04-18T11:18:00.000-07:00

Step outside in the sunshine, talkin' 'bout Happy Feelings and Murky Eyes. Everything is hazy and mellow but the liquor is strong, so strong, and the wine tastes better than ever.

Alfredo De La Fe - Hot To Trot

Simple Minds - Seeing Out The Angel (Instrumental)

Bewildering Feelings

2009-04-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

The summer of love!

The Band - Don't You Do It (live Jersey City 1973)

The Bamboos - Voodoo Doll

The Dream Syndicate - 50 In A 25 Zone

Days Spent Drifting On A Road

2009-04-07T16:03:00.000-07:00

A blind man crossing a desert, and an old woman sailing on the rainbow. They met halfway, fell in love instantly, and now they live together somewhere along the south pacific train line.

I saw them when I was heading for Reno, they stood in the doorway, really close to each other, probably feeling the warm summer breeze running through their curly, silver grey hair.

I miss that scenery, the cold nights with nothing but the wind shaking the trees, and the hot days when every footstep felt like a mile.

Buckingham Nicks - Long Distance Winner

Claudine Longet - Who Needs You

Secret Place

2009-04-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

My old man used to take me to the treehill, there we would make our own whistles and dance with the squirrels and the snails.

The Doobie Brothers - Flying Cloud

The Windtalker

2009-04-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

I will fall in love a thousand times tonight, and whisper to the wind before I go to sleep.

The Cure - Pictures Of You (Extended Dub Mix)

Jesse Colin Young - Four In The Morning

Jesse Colin Young - Evenin'

Slow Togetherness

2009-04-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

Peace!

Juluka - Two Humans On The Run

Alabama

2009-03-22T16:50:00.000-07:00

If I could I would fly to Alabama and marry a waitress at a diner. We would go to church every Sunday and we would go shopping at a supermarket. At the parking lot, the windows on all cars would shine in the sun, and the air would smell of rubber and asphalt. The car would have fake leather seats that would stick to the clothes a little, and I would wear a press-button shirt. My American wife would drive a little faster than I'd dare, and we would always use our seatbelts. We wouldn't feel that we were at home all that often, we would always have different projects to run to. We would sleep in one bed, but just as often at a motel as in our own. We would both love to go to places where palm trees grow, and we would get butterflies in our stomaches whenever we went into town. Both of us would find it a bit uncomforting to step out of the car, but when we'd been sitting in the café just outside for a while, we would soon have forgotten all about it.

Satoshi Tomiie feat. Arnold Jarvis - And I Loved You (Classic Club Mix)

Full Moon Fever

2009-03-19T12:11:00.000-07:00

Run to the sky, swim in romantic circles around a sympathetic moon in total disguise.

Planning By Numbers - Lightning Strikes

Rudolph Dietrich - Liquid Talk

Epic Days

2009-03-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

His voice is not meant to be worn out, and there is no need to worry at all, because it probably won't.

Richie Havens - Nobody Left To Crown

No Holding Back, No Letting Go

2009-03-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

This season should be like an anthem, with every day ringing true to your ears.

Pete Jolly - Seasons

Richie Havens - What About Me

Vernon Burch - And You Call That Love

Keep Your Dreams

2009-03-07T17:24:00.000-08:00

I was caught dead, and I watched death on TV, it was the most truthful thing I've seen, at least for now. There was hope in it all, too, a sense of idealism. A belief that the world could end at this moment, and it probably will, it will end every second you're awake. I guess that's why I don't always know what to say, I'm terrified just by trying to keep my eyes open and not fall asleep. But still, there is so much to love, and faith is a terrible thing to lose.

International Music System - Mojave

Richie Havens - Fire & Rain

Richie Havens - Tightrope

In The Forest

2009-03-05T16:25:00.001-08:00

Catch me while I'm falling, I won't expect it but it will probably make us happy, you know.

Keep up your high spirits, and set them free in the wild forest close to where we live.

Light a candle for the bushman, take him by the hand and join his nightdance into a sky of dark leaves.

Roland Bautista - Elena

Matthews Southern Comfort - And When She Smiles

Roland Bautista - Night After Night

Spring Rain

2009-02-24T16:32:00.000-08:00

A soft, hazy shadow settles over my body as I lie down in the grass, waiting for the night to come. I have a vague memory of something that happened to me earlier today, I will try to remember it as soon as the sun rises. I keep telling myself to be patient, even though I know this won't help my sleep, but still, will these eerie sounds go away when the night comes crawling up my spine?

Nicolette Larson - Lotta Love

Daniel Wang - Let's Go To Mars

Chaz Jankel - You're Too Funky (The Yam Who? Rework)

Get It

2009-02-22T15:07:00.000-08:00

Uncatalogued and out of context, that's how I would like to remember it. I left it like that last summer, and when the winter came I still didn't have a clue.

Dave Edmunds - Thread Your Needle

True Romance

2009-02-18T15:40:00.000-08:00

If you're swimming in a pool of dark yellow water, seeing people's legs all around you, try not to get stuck down there. A friend told me this, I can't remember his name but I can see his face very clearly. He was thin, with pale blue eyes, and always wearing a blue bandana. He used to take me to the movies, and we would sit there and laugh secretely through the whole movie. Then he would take me to the beach where he used to go when he was a kid. It was all kind of romantic, you know, it even seems a bit unreal now, looking back. But it was as real as anything I know.

Phil & Friends Band - Giving In Up

Leonard Adair - That Smile Upon Your Face

Ancient Rural Area

2009-02-17T17:19:00.000-08:00

Stay Up.

Don't Sleep.

Catch A Fire!

Daniele Baldelli's Dream: Another Take

2009-02-11T15:51:00.000-08:00

"Reach for the inner depths, keep the faith open wide and never cover the sores, even when they are bleeding like crazy", I thought as I was walking home late one evening. On the way to my door, I met this crazy-looking man who stopped me and asked me for a moment of my time. "Time," I said. "Time. That's one thing I got plenty of, I guess." He looked a little uneasy as my words began to wander over to his side of the street, but as soon as my eyes met his, our words seemed to be walking side by side, holding hands, in the soft light of a hanging streetlight. Rain was pouring down, and our voices just kept floating through the night, not worrying over any tomorrows.

Mudcrutch - Lover Of The Bayou

Al Stewart - Year Of The Cat

Giuilio Camarca & Trinidad - Berimbau

Mulato - Vamos A Pasarla Irie

2009-02-09T08:45:00.000-08:00

Putting shadows behind you, you move across the floor to another setting. No one can really seem to tell you what the costs are, but it seems clear to you that they are both extensive and understated.

Lowrell - Overdose

Pier Bucci - Hay Consuelo (Samim Remix)

Damian Schwartz - 1568 Drexel AV

Time Bird

2009-02-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

"Missed out experiences", you say, "my life is full of them!"

Yes, but close to your heart, you carry a strange but beautiful bird that prey on these lost moments of time. And for every missed opportunity, the bird just grows bigger and bigger, until one day it will have the strength to carry you far away, farther than night and day.

Courtney Love - Shaniko

Hans-Joachim Roedelius - Mr. Livingstone

Mourning Town

2009-01-28T08:37:00.000-08:00

We walked across the valleys of our dreams, holding hands, and everywhere we went, giant stonebridges rose under our feet. The sad thing was, even after you left and I fell down, the bridges were still standing there, as tall as ever, and I was left walking among monuments of silver grey, lost in a city where empty cries echo in the dark.

Kongas - Why Can't We Live Together

Joe Walsh - Life's Been Good

I Hear Voices In The Dark

2009-01-25T08:15:00.000-08:00

I caught a glimpse of that inner darkness you said you always carry around. I didn't know then, but I can see now what it means.

Gazneva - Special Agent (Instrumental Re-Edit)

Richard Gateaux - Shadows pt. 1

A Flock Of Seagulls - Quicksand

Coastal

2009-01-22T11:19:00.000-08:00

"The daylight traffic should be lighter than this", he thought as he was driving south to an unknown coastline. Love was creeping up on him from both sides now, he tried to stay focused but kept slipping into daydreams of burning palm trees and smooth martinis, all the things he thought he was way beyond.

Gasper Lawal - Kita Kita

King Sunny Ade & His African Beats - Ja Fun Mi Dub

Get Into Magic

2009-01-21T09:23:00.000-08:00

Wild horses race the sky searching for someone to share their crazy voyages with.

"I'm right here", you say. "Well, come along then, don't let us wait."

Peter Thorogood - Haunted

Evening Feel

2009-01-20T12:44:00.000-08:00

Don't get lost in the fog, I promise you we will wake up early.

Cristal - La Nuit Pour Nous

KC - You Keep Me Hanging On

Arrogance Gave Him Up

2009-01-18T14:20:00.000-08:00

He lost his arrogance years ago, traded it in for a broken heart and lines from books he never finished reading.

George Tindley - Wan Tu Wah Suree

Best Friend Around - It's So Good To Know

Simple Minds - Glittering Prize

An Odyssey In Delight

2009-01-16T02:59:00.000-08:00

A land of Heartattack & Vine, it's nice let's leave. Wake up beneath the Shiny Mosquitos of a Lost Swamp in moonlight. Rhythm guitarists stalking us in the night, making love to strangers; nobody else would ever care.

Night greetings,

Nice feelings.

2009-01-12T10:13:00.000-08:00

The following day, on his daily walk through the centre of the town, he saw the sparrow playing with another bird. The sight of his friend made him happy, and he watched how they were chasing each other, flying side by side close to the ground for a while, then taking off to the sky until they were forever lost in sight.

Always - Lord Mayor's Show

Always - Western Avenue

Always - Temptation Of The Angel

Always - Window Without A View

Always - London Times

2009-01-08T08:24:00.001-08:00

"The air feels much lighter in the Mid-West", he was thinking as he entered the street again, carefully avoiding any unplanned encounters with disconcerting locals. "Perhaps it's the dew from the Ouachita mountains, or the magic breeze of Hot Springs, I couldn't tell. In any way, it makes my heart feel lighter, too."

Colenso Parade - Fontana Eyes

Alan Parsons Project - I Robot (Pilooski Edit)

2009-01-06T11:27:00.001-08:00

John F. Updike was sitting in a small café, quietly resting his legs as a soft noise caused him to turn around, only to see that the small grey sparrow he had just been studying closely had taken off, leaving him alone by the table with thoughts of the sky above and why birds behave in such strange ways.

14 Iced Bears - Hay Fever

Torn Calendar

2009-01-05T09:44:00.000-08:00

Alison Statton & Spike - Romance At Sea

Barclay James Harvest - Mr Sunshine

Seaside Disco, Part 2: Daniele Baldelli's Dream

2009-01-03T05:45:00.000-08:00

Tripping on tall grass, wet from outbursts of soft rain and moonshine. I listened to your voice, you were saying something beautiful. All I could do was to scream, but it seemed right at the time.

John Forde - Atlantis

John Forde - Don't You Know Who Did It

Peter Brown - Dance With Me

Another New Year Disaster

2008-12-30T10:14:00.000-08:00

Cold Sun - Here In The Year

Don't Be Cruel

2008-12-29T14:01:00.000-08:00

Psyched-out melodrama, for your mind exclusively. Be careful who you let inside, for he may cause you confusion and delusion.

(Confusion, however, is something beautiful.)

Luv Machine - Everything

Beside The Seaside: Yvonne Cloud Variations.

2008-12-28T05:42:00.000-08:00

"Yvonne Kapp (née Mayer) was born in London on April 17th 1903, to a German Jewish family from the Rhineland, her father being engaged in the vanilla trade. She was briefly at King's College London but in 1922, at the age of 19, she married the considerably older (by thirteen years) artist and and musician Edmond (known as Peter) X Kapp, who personally knew, drew and painted most of the literati of the day. (The "X", seemingly, signified nothing more than an attempt to distinguish himself from his father, who had the same name.)

The Kapps led a bohemian life, travelling around Europe and earning their living through art and writing, staying extensively on the Italian Riviera, on Capri, and in English country cottages. Whilst engaged in this literary milieu, she encountered many famous people, including Quentin Bell, Rebecca West, Paul Robeson, John Heartfield, Melanie Klein and Herbert Morrison, to name only a few. Some, such as D H Lawrence, sat for a portrait by Edmond. She also edited "Pastiche: A Music-Room Book", which conained 28 illustrations by Edmond X Kapp.

She found heself bringing up her daughter effectively as a young single mother, as Edmond Kapp periodically disappeared, arising from psychological disturbances from his experiences in the First World War; Yvonne Kapp turned to journalism and writing to support herself and her child. In the late 1920s she was employed as the literary editor of Vogue in France and, under the pseudonym of Yvonne Cloud, she wrote four novels, all outspoken social Comedies. (...)

...............................

"In addition to a number of works of non-fiction, she published four novels under the name of Yvonne Cloud. If her choice of name is significant, it is that the silver lining she offered became more tarnished with each publication. The novels all had a satirical streak, but outrage swells in successive books. By The Houses In Between (1938) Kapp was ostensibly a "political" writer.

Her first novel, Nobody Asked You, was self-published in 1932 after its contents had caused the projected publisher consternation. One reviewer observed: "she shows remorselessly, as life does, that to have no purpose, no standards, no altruism, no idealism, is to be damned to a hell below ordinary pain". Kapp lacked none of these qualities in the varied career that was to follow her literary apprenticeship.

In 1936 she visited the Soviet Union. The sights she saw there, and a long conversation on the voyage home with Harry Pollitt, secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain, led her to joining the Communist Party. From this time on, her life was to be politically active. (...)"

.............................

"Born Yvonne Mayer, 1903; educated at King's College London; married the artist, Edmond Kapp, 1922; joined Communist Party of Great Britain, 1936, following a visit to the Soviet Union; worked with Basque and Jewish refugees, 1937-1938; Assistant to Director, British Committee to Refugees from Czechoslovakia, dismissed from her post by the Home Office, 1940, and wrote pamphlet British Policy and the Refugees, 1941; Research Officer, Amalgamated Engineering Union, 1941-1946; worked for Medical Research Council, undertaking field work in the East End of London, 1947-1953; editor and translator, Lawrence and Wishart (publishers), 1953-1957; died 1999. Publications: four novels under the pseudonym Yvonne Cloud, including Nobody Asked You, 1932 and The Houses in Between, 1938; Eleanor Marx, (2 vols 1972, 1976"

..............................

"Beside The Seaside: Six Variations. Six writers comment on the seaside towns which they were allocated to write about. An interesting aspect of social history. Yvonne Cloud wrote the introduction and also the chapter on Margate. Kate O'Brien covered Southend, Antonia White covered Brighton, Malcolm Muggeridge Bournemouth, James Laver Blackpool and V.S. Pritchett Scarborough."

Bibliography, as Yvonne Cloud:

Short Lease (1932)

Nobody Asked You (1932)

Beside The Seaside: Six Variations (?)

Mediterranean Blues (1933)

The Houses in Between (1938)

Seaside Disco, Part 1 (Prelude).

2008-12-27T13:52:00.000-08:00

Feet standing on a knife's edge, you watch them turn red as you jump in the water below. And the feeling is alright, as you start swimming, coloring the water with that same colour: Red.

France Joli - Gonna Get Over You

Jocelyn Brown - Somebody Else's Guy (Extended)

Sharon Redd - Beat The Street (Francois Kevorkian Mix)

Play It Again, Sam

2008-12-26T03:09:00.000-08:00

Words spoken softly from a distant shore. Carried away through the night, guided by the steady hand of Slow Romance.

The Balearic Hemingway

Light Bear Wishes You a Merry Swingin' Christmas...

2008-12-24T09:46:00.001-08:00

With The Ol' Folks At Home.

The Band - Up On Cripple Creek

If you like making love at mid-nite.

2008-12-22T11:24:00.000-08:00

Dancing on a Dark Star...

With Moonlight Friends.

Lazy Sunday's Theme: The Aged Gentleman's Story.

2008-12-21T06:43:00.000-08:00

They have been to faraway places, yet they still find the right words when encountering...

The strange feeling of home.

Neil Diamond - Another Day (That Time Forgot)

Roger Rönning - På Samma Tåg

Reader's Digest, Saturday.

2008-12-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

The best sleevenotes ever:

"The spirit of St Etienne resides in several select sites and states of mind. The smell and sheen of a dismayed seaside town the day after summer; anticipation, the straight, shiny, swinging hair of the perfect sixties girl as she jumps ceaselessly in slo-mo into the perfect MG; sorrow, often so sumptuos that it feels like pleasure; the lonely splendour of the first Model Home in Milton Keynes; The sheer heart-stopping unimpeachable joy of waking up in the morning and still being English.

Add to all this the fact that they are the music heard on the edge of sound, and it always was a foregone conclusion that you would surrender to this most mellifluous of menage a trois. Because if God truly is in the details, then St Etienne sit at his right hand holding his slide rule.

Pop music, in all its squalid splendour, has always had a horrible habit of making one less than one is, boiling you down to the lowest common denominator of the big black throbbing bottom bass-line; what's his name, what's his number and how do I get him? But St Etienne always made you more. You'd put on the Saints and sit around for hours musing on what it meant to be a girl, to be of the English blood royal, to be alive, to be duplicit, to be living after the fall of Communism, to be living at the end of the century, to be human. And then, and only then, would you genuflect with L'Heure Bleu and leave the house by the fire escape when all were sleeping to meet him by the Waltzer and snog him on the beach.

Long before the current and thoroughly admirable habit of Brit beat bands writing soundtracks for films no one would ever make, St Etienne were writing the new improved soundtrack for the once and future cinema Renaissance. They sound silver; silverer than any screen could ever be. And they cast a giant shadow, a Pale Movie itself. Like A Motorway expands on Two Into Three Won't Go; Hug My Soul sees into Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush, You're In A Bad Way blows the whistle on Billy Liar; Hobart Paving collects the debris outside the L-Shaped Room. Just close your eyes and you can see Pearl & Dean's eternal blue sky.

Like coming from a cinema matinee into daylight, St Etienne strand you blinking and disorientated, but happy. And already you miss them, before they even leave. And yet you want them to leave, so that you can get on with the serious business of missing them. Too late to say goodbye, but too young to die; remember them this way.

Julie Burchill"

Tony Orlando - Don't Let Go

2008-12-19T19:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, words were to be read, words that stood out in the dim light as lovers on a bridge. They talked about music, and they moved across lips into oceans of longing. As they moved on, a silent thought came to mind: Will they ever pass this way again?

Gladys Knight & The Pips - Claudine (Instrumental)

Buckingham & Nicks - Don't Let Me Down Again

2008-12-18T09:46:00.000-08:00

One day in mid-June, a young man walks into a bar. His eyes gaze at the ceiling as he enters a tall room, almost empty, displaying only a few chairs, also tall, and a wooden desk crammed with dust and fingerprints. As the young man starts to walk towards this ragged scene, he detects a worrying feeling that he, as he recalls it, never felt before: Age.

Chateau Flight & Marie Daulne - Superflight (Maurice Fulton Remix)

2008-12-17T13:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday We Were Lost In The Misty Fog Of Mad Romance And Love...

...But Today We Are Running Far, Far.