On The Player Now II

Introduction

Ten months ago I published this playlist of what I was listening to, so I thought it might be fun to do another one:

I share the songs on Instagram with the hashtag #OnthePlayerNow and you can follow this link, and I think I am the only person using that hashtag and have shared over 650 on Instagram/Facebook with 90 seconds of a song from the album on the Instagram post.

So I will share a few of my current posts with links to the songs and albums that they are from. These are just things that I have picked out of the CD pile, although some are CD boxed sets.

David Bowie - "Ziggy Stardust" from "Platinum"

Actually, it is originally from "The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars" probably the album where Bowie hit paydirt. I loved this for that brilliant D Chord riff that is so simple to play (and yes I can play the song, so anyone can do it). I know that you will know this song well so I am just easing you into some of the strange music that I listen to as a matter of course.

Quiet Sun - "Sol Cliente" from "Mainstream"

Quiet Sun were Phil Manzanera's band before Roxy Music and the opener from this album is massively ponderous and threatening. Although it's fifty years old, I still play it a lot and this is a piece I don't think I could ever play myself.

I know this is one that you have probably never heard after the familiar opener to this playlist.

Tony TS McPhee - "The Hunt" from "The Two Sides Of Tony (T.S.) McPhee"

I wondered whether to include this piece as it is twenty minutes long and a vicious take on anti The hunt. It is frightening and intense. Tony is an amazing guitarist at home with acoustic blues as well as electronic heavy metal which you can hear in his work with the Groundhogs.

This was the reason I bought the album, although the first side is good, this absolutely floored me, like nothing I had ever heard before. Absolutely relentless.

Mike Heron and John Burnside - "Song For Irena" from "Ballads Of The Book

This song opens the album and the piano is just such a haunting repetitive motif, but though it is thirteen collaborations it is beautifully coherent.

The collaborations on 'Ballads Of The Book' stem back to lyrics Edwin Morgan wrote and sent to me in the summer of 2005, wondering if they could be of any use for new songs we were writing. We'd collaborated with Edwin before, putting music behind his words as he spoke them, but this time we tried to turn his poetry into pop songs.

After playing a few attempts in concert and being encouraged by the reaction, I started mentioning the idea of getting other writers to pen lyrics for a few friends in bands who seemed equally eager and enthusiastic to have a shot.

With Edwin's help and Don Paterson's suggestions, we slowly assembled a group of Scottish writers, poets, singers and bands that were keen to try out the idea. When songs started appearing, we approached the Scottish Arts Council who, excited by the idea of the album, kindly offered to help fund the project. Chemikal Underground took over the organising of the album at the start of 2006 and turned it into the record you're now holding in your hands.

These songs are all rooted in their own kind of Scottishness, and they sing out in their own way.

Best regards,

Roddy Woomble. IdlewildIntroduction

The Amazon link tries to display Kindle copy but it's an album, not a book, so you can check it out here

Traffic - "Rollright Stones from "Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory"

I have always been a fan of Traffic and the solo efforts of its members, but I was writing a piece for a painting by The Glittering Fox (Angie Livingstone) that featured the Rollright Stones and then I found that Traffic had written this amazing song about them, so I bought a vinyl copy of the album. This is twelve minutes of absolute brilliance and you can see the painting and read the poem here:

Conclusion

There are only five songs, but a lot of supporting information, and two of the songs are very long. I hope you have enjoyed these and thank you for reading.