Seven wine brides for seven songs
I was tagged not only by Robert, but also Catavino with a totally pointless chain blog-mail asking me to nominate 7 great music tracks that I am listening to right now. But who can resist sharing their music choices with the world?
The rules (please pass on) are:
List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag 7 other people to see what they’re listening to.
Having recently discovered LastFM I decided to look up a variety of stuff – found most of what I was looking for. But this is a wine blog so I couldn’t leave that subject untouched…..
My first choice, In a Rut, by the Ruts – the Malbec of music. Used to be a young punk upstart but nowadays considered mainstream. This London outfit were one of my favourite bands ever, ever (when I woz a teenager – whatever!)
My second choice is the second movement of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major which is surely one of the classiest scores ever written. Shall I compare thee to a premier cru claret? Seasoned musicians might scoff at how common it is – but would secretly admit it is near perfection. If this is the 1961 Château Latour of music then surely that is the only wine in the world that could make me cry.
Led Zeppelin’s 4 symbols was the most seminal of seminal rock albums. Whole Lotta Love’s opening riff is instantly recognisable by anyone who ever watched Top of the Pops, and the jingly jangly arpeggios of Stairway to Heaven will immediately prompt any ageing hippy to reach for a cigarette lighter and point it to the sky. But I am going to choose the opening track from the following album, Houses of the Holy. A song whose title reminds me that almost wherever you mass-produce crappy Pinot Grigio, The Song Remains the Same.
The Sultans can swing on for all I care. I much prefer Dire Straits at their anthemic best  – Tunnel of Love is a big wheel from the east or west coast of England. From Cullercoats to Whitley Bay, a whirligig of a Chilean Pinot Noir. Slightly too alcoholic, but plays a great tune nonetheless.
There is very little modern music that is so different that it thrills me. Mardy Bum from the Arctic Monkey’s first album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not is an acute, acerbic observation of modern life, relationships, and sex. A bit like New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, fresh, crisp and slightly shocking but it rings home with more resonance than the duelling guitars. Any man who has not secretly thought these eloquent lyrics at some point has never been in a serious relationship. Top notch…and proof that young people really do understand life, poetry and words. True genius - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Oscar Wilde, Alex Turner – dream team…. who will reunite them?
Even blokes are entitled to a soppy one. Counting Crows, the 1990’s Bob Dylan wishtheyweres had talent despite allegations to the contrary. Anna begins is a well thought out harmonic haunting construction, and if you can work out the meaning (too many negatives?) it will make you shiver.
For the last of my selections, I could pick something very interesting like a Californian Zinfandel, but instead I have decided to pick an old boring classic. Like a Burgundy Pinot Noir, the Buzzcocks keep picking away at my brain and composting it slowly. We are back in the punk rock era. I always argue that leadership is about vision, energy and determination. Although people generally associate the Buzzcocks with Pete Shelley, their best music came from the Howard Devoto era. Boredom, from the unforgettable and rare 1976 Spiral Scratch EP, is simply a metaphor for my yoof. Devoto went on to form the musically superior Magazine but left behind what could have been punk’s greatest partnership since Vicious and Rotten. Magazine’s Rhythm of Cruelty would have easily been in my top 7 if I thought anyone else might have heard of it…. So was Devoto or Shelley the genius? I think Devoto had the talent, but Shelley had the vision, energy and determination (although he got fat in old age).
Can someone upload some Fish Turned Human to Last FM please?
I now thrust the black spot into the hands of the following people to take forward the meme, all of whom should get a life and ignore me: Edward, Jamie, Simon (who will appreciate the punk choices), Douglas, Gollygumdrops, Ciaran and finally Joe (who should appreciate the guitar music more than most).