by Cedric | Dec 5, 2022 | General
Hello and welcome back to three favourites. My apologies for a slight hiatus. I have been very busy with wedding planning and qualifying as a solicitor (next Spring, God willing) and have not had as much time to dedicate to the blog. PI’m afraid I am going to have to move from 3 to 1 favourite going forward. Please see this below.
J J Cale – Troubadour (1976)
This is a fantastic cover. I particularly enjoy the guitar and guitar shaped clouds, as though Mr Cale is imagining guitars in his dreams, which, I suppose, is most likely the case. The treble clef on the head of the acoustic guitar is quite clever. I do not know whether Mr Cale intended to differentiate this from the French clef, or indeed the difference between the two (Nick’s territory). This is a sweet cover, with calm overtones, which match the calm competency of this fabulous artist. I encourage you to listen to this album if you have time.
by Cedric | Nov 17, 2022 | General
I spotted this on the Daily Art app, which I frequent quite often. This 1856 painting was done by early Pre-Raphaelite painter William James Webbe. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy for a time.
Webbe was an early convert to Pre-Raphaelitism. Allen Staley wrote about Webbe in his book The Pre-Raphaelite Landscape (1973), and noted that two of his works dating from 1854–55 are of “Pre-Raphaelite elaboration of microscopic foreground detail pushed to an almost insane extreme”.[1] In 1862 Webbe pilgrimaged to Jerusalem and the Middle East and began to paint Eastern subjects.[2][3][1] Webbe’s journey was probably inspired by English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood William Holman Hunt, who visited the Holy Land in 1854–1856, 1869–1872, 1875–1878, and 1892. Wikipedia
As with all Pre-Raphaelite works, the detail in The Owl is astonishing. The vine leaves on the side, the proud expression, the sheen of the feathers on the head and the varied colouration of feathers throughout the coat make for an excellent rendering of the owl. I particularly love the claws holding onto the wall, as well as the little mouse which has seen better days. The termite holes in the wood are also an astonishing detail. The sheen of the feathers is striking, as is the sheen on the beak. The little varies feathers poking through are quite spectacular.
Overall, I think this is a lovely piece which shows great artistic merit. When it was listed at Christies they included the below poem, which I think is quite lovely.
When cats run home and light is come,
And dew is cold upon the ground,
And the far-off stream is dumb,
And the whirring sail goes round,
And the whirring sail goes round;
Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.
When merry milkmaids click the latch,
And rarely smells the new-mown hay,
And the cock hath sung beneath the thatch
Twice or thrice his roundelay,
Twice or thrice his roundelay;
Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.
Alfred Tennyson
by Cedric | Nov 14, 2022 | General, Tunes
Welcome to the November Edition of ? Favourites. Below are 3 favourite covers this month.
Tame Impala – Currents (2015)
This cover is as excellent as this album. A silver ball or ballbearing is dragged through straight lines, messing up the currents. This psychedelic cover is very impressive in conception and the lines seem to move when you look at them.
Hookworms – The Hum (2014)
My old school friend Louis designed the later covers for this band. My father and I went to see Hookworms performing their new album at the Bundenell in Leeds one year also. I recall they blew the other band, for whom they were opening, out of the water. This cover is slightly creepy but quite well put together. The album itself is quite impressive also.
The Man Machine – Kraftwerk (1978)
This simple 1978 cover is as iconic as the other Kraftwerk covers. It is simple, two tone and effective. Efficient and German as expected. This is one of my go to albums for working.
I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Three Favourites.
by Cedric | Nov 13, 2022 | General, Tunes
A bit late but worth mentioning. ELO’s Out of the Blue is a massive moment in pop history. A double pop album, hitherto only attempted by pro rock artists, Out of the Blue earns its stripes. It is hard to believe this was the band’s seventh album. Unfortunately, with wedding planning, work commitments, qualification, I will not be able to dedicate an enormous amount of time to this review, but the essentials will be covered! The story goes that Jeff Lynne locked himself in a studio in the Alps, with a rented electric piano, tape recorder, and his own guitar. The final two weeks of his sojourn saw him compose 14 tracks of the 19 on the album.
The last ELO album to make a major impact on popular music, Out of the Blue was of a piece with its predecessor, A New World Record, as the most lavishly produced album in the group’s history, but it’s a much more mixed bag as an album, suffering from overkill in several departments. For starters, it was a double LP, a format that has proved daunting to all but a handful of rock artists. The songs were flowing fast and freely from Jeff Lynne at the time, however, and the idea of a double LP was probably tempting as a chance to release an album that was irrefutably substantial. Allmusic
This album has some of ELO’s best tracks on it: Evil Woman, Birmingham Blues (inspired in part by Gershwin’s An American in Paris, don’t you know) and of course, Mr Blue Sky. The album opens with Turn to Stone, which is overproduced (as the rest are) but overall very fun and catchy. Probably the best song on the first side is Night in the City – which I think of often while out in the city.
In the end, every one of the 19 tracks on Out Of the Blue were composed and produced by Lynne and the album was on the shelf in mere months. Out Of the Blue was a great success, reaching the top five on album charts in seven different countries and becoming the most highly regarded album by ELO. The album also benefited from being highly relevant to its time, having some disco-friendly sounds in the year which brought us Saturday Night Fever and spaceship-centered artwork in the year that brought us Star Wars. Classic Rock Review
The third side is called Concerto for a Rainy Day, which Lynne wrote after a long spell of rain in his Swiss chalet gave way to radiant sunshine. It ends in the sublime Mr Blue Sky which is the shining star of the album (aside from its cover).
Overall this is a superbly fun and engaging album which will live in mine and Charlotte’s hearts. We listened to this one evening and it lifted our spirits wonderfully.
by Cedric | Nov 7, 2022 | Food and Drink, General
My darling fiancée and I went to Bath about two weeks ago for a wedding reception (preview of coming attractions). One of the many places we visited was a charming historic house, founded in 1680, which served all manor of buns. These buns were an old recipe used by the original owner of the house, a Huguenot refugee who ended up in Bath. Sally would make these buns to earn her living in Bath. They are now world famous.
Sally Lunn’s is much more than a world famous tea and eating house in the centre of the wonderful city of Bath England. Our historic building is one of the oldest houses in Bath. Our kitchen museum shows the actual kitchen used by the legendary young Huguenot baker Sally Lunn in Georgian Bath to create the first Bath Bunn – an authentic regional speciality now known the world over. Sally Lunn’s
We ordered two buns (which effectively made up one whole bun); the salmon bun and the lemon curd bun. It promised to be the finest lemon curd tasted to date, however, I would contend that a batch of lemon curd which Charlotte and I made in France was far superior. Nonetheless, the quality of the buns was superb, they were both soft and savoury, being perfectly versatile for any topping. The salmon bun contained Gold Medal winning premium Scottish smoked salmon direct from the smoker, lemon, dill and cream cheese. This was the real winner of the two buns. The smokey salmon was just divine, thick cut and beautifully cold. The whole Lunn experience was delightful also. The waiters were attentive, the food was delicious and well priced, and the location, next to Bath Abbey, could not have been improved upon.
A winner, I say!
by Cedric | Nov 6, 2022 | Art, General
November 1st saw us celebrate the Feast of All Saints, a Holy Day of Obligation where Catholics around the world are mandated to go to church. All of the Saints are venerated on this feast day. We celebrate each and every one of the thousands of saints which are present in the body of the church. A painting which adequately reflects the splendour of this image is the Adoration of the Trinity by Albrecht Durer. Sometimes referred to as All Saints, Allerheiligenbild or Landauer Altar (Landauer Altarpiece), this 1511 masterpiece captures the scripture (below) beautifully.
The Great Multitude in White Robes
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
16 ‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’
The swarming multitude in their great white robes are captured exquisitely in this painting. People from all nations are gathered around the crucified Christ, with fronds in their hands signifying martyrdom. Christ is suspended above the ground, on a rainbow as the below scripture suggests he would be. He is upheld by God and above both figures is the Holy Spirit. This truly Trinitarian feast of a painting is enhanced by the brilliant colours and variety of those present. In reality, the saints of the Church come from a huge variety of places, which confirms the universality of the One Church. the word catholic indeed means universal. This painting is a joyous celebration of the myriad saints of the Church.
The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow. Revelation 4:3
As we celebrated All Saints day earlier in the week, we are reminded of the importance of aspiring to sainthood in everything that we do while we have time on earth.
