First Aid Kit, Puss N Boots, Frazey Ford, Jenny Lewis, London Grammar and Liliy and Madeliene

It has been well over a year since I last posted reviews on my latest music purchases, so there are quite a few to mention here.

On the 28th January I entered a post about their concert I went to see at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith where First Aid Kit showcased their latest Album Stay Gold. Their music is exactly what I like these days, that crossover between country and folk with the added value of the Soderberg sisters' close harmony. Stay Gold is a more mature recording than their two earlier albums with stand out tracks such as  Master Pretender, the hooligan music of Heaven Knows and a track that is now one of my favourites of all time called A Long Time Ago. 

Catching up with their earlier recordings, their first album The Big Black and The Blue is far more an accoustic folk set. There is one brilliant track called Ghost Town which they sung unaccompanied and unamplified at Hammersmith and which brought the house down. Apart from that, the girls are just warming up for what comes later.

Their second album The Lion's Roar is a development from their first. The marvelous opening title track sets the standard, followed by the equally wonderful Emmylou. Some of their other musical heroes get a mention. The rest of the album doesn't quite hit those heights, but there is not a dud song to be had. But then the final track King of the World is another crowd pleaser, as we found out on the night.

Puss N Boots are Sasha Dobson, Nora Jones and Catherine Popper. These friends got together, wrote five new songs and decided that an album, No Fools No Fun, with seven covers might be good. And it is. Some laid back playing from girls and fine vocals. It sounded as if they were having fun.

The second album from Canadian singer songwriter Frazey Ford is a "warm, breezy, and not surprisingly soulful set of R&B-kissed country-pop confection" (not my words, I found her music hard to describe). Apart from the solid set of songs on Indian Ocean, what I liked about the recording was how the organ and horn section worked so well together. In fact, the instrumentation is some of the best I have heard on record for some time. It makes for a fine album.

The Voyager is the third album from American singer songwriter Jenny Lewis. Produced by Ryan Adams, you can hear is influence many times on this collection of enjoyable, if not outstanding songs. Although Just One of the Guys is clever and the final title track a great way to finish the set.

London Grammar are Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dominic Major. I didn't think that I would like something quite so "modern" and where the orchestration is so electronic. A debut album that came in at No 2 in the charts would seem a young person's recording. But the quietness of the backing on If You Wait together with the plaintive and clear vocals from Hannah make for diverting and restful album. I guess that this is not for the hurly burly of a live gig, but as late night background, it cant be beat.

And finally the album Fumes from Lily and Madeliene is sometimes as quiet. Actually it is almost somnambulistic ( remember Beatrix Potter?). But the uptempo songs are fairly formulaic so it's best to relax with the slower numbers like Lips and Hips. Someone mentioned that you would like the album if you enjoyed those from First Aid Kit. And I did.

John Wick, Cinderella and Child 44

Despite the positive reviews, I found the second half of John Wick just a collection of scenes of stylised violence. This was disappointing as there might have been an interesting thriller to be made from a promising story. Keanu Reeves is back, this time playing a retired hitman. But when he is upset by his old gang, you just know what comes next. The movie is good to look at and occasionally the dialogue makes sense. I think there could be a sequel, but next time a bit more story would be good.

Sandwiched between two violent films came the lovely, sweet and harmless Cinderella. Guess which I preferred. Kenneth Branagh has resisted the opportunity to make something new, and gone back to the traditional story and made it seem fresh and interesting. This is mainly down to the script from Chris Weitz which is both modern and very clever.  As expected, the acting is first class. I found the supposed star turn from Cate Blanchett as the horrid stepmother was upstaged by the British contingent with brilliant cameos from Helena Bonham Carter, Derek Jacobi and Rob Brydon of all people. The cinematography, costumes and set were expertly colourful with no expense spared.

An unremittingly bleak thriller set in the USSR of 1953 at the end of the terrifying regime of Joseph Stalin. The film could have done with more plotting of the detective work undertaken by disgraced secret police agent Leo Demidov played with almost too much restraint  by the terrific Tom Hardy. Instead we get too much of the political intrigue involving the police state, and only in the last third does the movie move more into traditional thriller territory. It may be that it takes too literally the background of Tom Rob Smith's acclaimed novel from 2008 and perhaps the adaptation could have been better. Having said that, the movie never fails to hold your attention. Unfortunately the two endings were straight out of the Hollywood handbook, something this worthy production did not deserve.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Station Eleven and Before She Met Me

My wife's sister Anne brought this book with her when she came to visit a couple of weeks ago. She thought I might be interested, although I would never have chosen it myself. But it turned out to be such an enchanting read. We are in 1946 and the war is only just over, the memories of the occupation of Guernsey weigh heavy on the islanders. But when they start corresponding with London based writer Juliet Ashton, she starts to understand how they feel. A book that is entirely made up of letters between Juliet, her work colleagues, friends and those on Guernsey ensures the plot moves on with quite a pace whilst keeping us in suspense about what happens next. There is a lightness and charm about the writing but always with a dark undercurrent of what happened to some of the characters in the last few years. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I would normally steer clear of a post apocalyptic novel ("The Road" and anything by Margaret Attwood being exceptions) but this book is so cleverly constructed and well written. There is a lot of back tracking before "the collapse" and here we get terrific modern human drama. The story alternates between various characters which, in different hands, would have been a mess. But the author keeps all the threads and swopping of time zones carefully detailed and a cohesive and thrilling plot emerges. Best of all, no Zombies.

Not so much a novel as a discourse on retrospective jealousy. Graham Hendrick becomes absorbed by the past affairs of his second wife Ann, despite being hugely in love with her and she with him. I find this hard to imagine, although I guess we have all wondered to a varying degree. It's just that Graham takes it to extremes. But it makes for a highly entertaining story, even if there is no plot as such. Only the second novel Barnes wrote, I actually preferred his first "Metroland". Thirty years later his prize winning "The Sense of an Ending" shows how much he matured as a writer.

Goodbye Pyracantha, Hello New Plants

When I started digging over where the Pyracantha had been, I didn't realise what a huge root system I had to remove. And enough stones to form a rockery. But the residual soil wasnt too bad. I added another ten bags of topsoil as the border next to where the Pyracantha stood had been built up over the years. A couple of bags of soil improver and I was ready to start planting.

At the  visit to the garden centre, I found small perennials on offer at three for £10. Hopefully the taller ones will eventually hide some of the new fence. The light green Fuscia Aurea (my only extravagance this time) will probably grow over it's new neighbours and they will have to be transplanted. We shall see.

Tring Book Club - The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

I read this book over five years ago and when it was chosen for book club, I intended just to skip through it. But the first few pages had me hooked and I read every word again. Previously I wrote:

I often search the bestseller lists for human dramas, and The Secret Scripture was there for some time. Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and Costa Book of the Year, I had to give it the novel by Sebastian Barry a try. I have to say that despite the beautiful writing, the first half of the book was heavy going. Written from the alternating accounts of Roseanne McNulty, who is close to her one hundredth birthday, and her psychiatrist Dr Grene, the book picks up when Roseanne memories go from childhood into when she was a young woman. It then becomes a masterpiece of tragedy, and the revelations of a shocking secret lead to an uplifting conclusion. I am so glad I stuck with it.

It was no less harrowing the second time around, but it is such a vivid human story. There are parts that are uplifting, and the device of alternating the ancient Roseanne's story with that of her doctor works really well. I think everyone enjoyed it.

Going, going, gone

In a rash moment, I decided that the twenty year old Pyracanthra prickly shrub had to go. It had become far too big, and basically divided the main border into two. So armed with a long handled secateur and a saw, it took me nearly all day to cut down and bag all the prunings. I was very glad of my (nearly) thorn proof gloves.

Going.

Going.

Gone.

The Absence of War at the Oxford Playhouse

I have always wanted to see the trilogy of plays written by David Hare which examined British Society at the end of the 20th century, but never had the opportunity. After Racing Demon (the church, religion and the clergy) and Murmuring Judges (the law, police and judiciary) came last night's play The Absence of War. This time it's the political system under scrutiny, particularly the Labour party during an election campaign. This was before New Labour when the party was virtually unelectable.

Reece Dinsdale is marvelous as the would be Prime Minister surrounded by his team of advisors all of whom have their own ideas of how he should present himself. Cyril Nri is outstanding as his political advisor, but all the cast are excellent. This is a party in turmoil, even the shadow chancellor may be trying to sabotage the campaign. The director, Jeremy Herrin for the always brilliant Headlong organisation, has put together a modern twist on the writing that is occasionally dated. But the audience (close to a sell out) were universally thrilled with the performance. And I was too.

An Afternoon at Ascott

A glorious Easter Monday and a visit to the NT property at Ascott near Wing. The daffodils were still lovely, although the main area was roped off due to a huge fallen tree.

We stopped a couple of times to sit on benches in the warm sunshine, lastly at the formal gardens. There is now a tea shop there, so this is a welcome addition.

Maidenhead Easter Ten

After bouncing off my bike on the ice early Sunday morning the 4th January, the impact injury to my left knee meant no injury free running until Monday 16th March, a gap of ten weeks. That left me with under three weeks to get fit for the Maidenhead Ten Mile race today. My Smart Coach training plan came to the rescue and with a slow 8 miles just over a week ago, it was just a matter of how my legs would stand up at a better pace.

I managed two Parkruns and although at my slowest ever times of over 32 minutes, they were faster (ten and a half minute miles) than my training runs that averaged over a minute a mile slower. Coming in at 91st position out of 120 runners at Parkrun was a whole new experience.

I did have the benefit a fantastic pacer. Although we were near the back of the field at Maidenhead, the steady pace Alison set meant that the second five miles were only two seconds different to the first five. I struggled a bit between miles seven and eight, but a decent last two miles saw us pass quite a few runners. We came in at just over one hour forty three minutes, inside the target of one hour forty five. Our overall pace was ten minutes nineteen seconds a mile, better than I could ever have hoped for at this stage in my recovery. If it had not been for my pacer, it would have been a lot slower.

The best thing is that I never felt my knee at all, and I was less tired at the end than I had any right to be. If I keep injury free, the Oxford Half Marathon still looks a possibility. But in the meantime, there is the Marlow Five Mile to look forward to.