Light and Dark

Here are the last two weeks of Folk Bloke shows. Put aside two hours and ruminate on the dualistic nature of the world. One was recorded outside in the sun, the other inside as it rained. Binary systems, yeah?

 

True Dat

Today I deal in facts. This is the ninth episode of my radio show, The Folk Bloke. It is one hour, one minute and forty-six seconds long, making it the second-longest episode I have broadcast (trailing behind the grotesqueries of the one hour, three minute and eighteen second long travesty that was Episode Five). In it I discuss the dullness of The Vaccines and the stupid manifesto written by new band Sons of Joy. I like it. I like you. I miss you.

Avi Buffalo – Truth Sets In (YSI)

 

Music From A Green Window – One Year Old

Exactly one year ago, I was sitting in this same chair, in the same room, looking out of the same green window, and listening to the same band (Mumford & Sons if you must know) when I first created this blog, mainly to counteract the boredom and loneliness of my lovely girlfriend being on holiday (something else which is the same a year on, unfortunately). Not a lot might have changed in that respect, but I certainly feel a lot’s changed for me. Going to Uni, making new friends and hearing a whole heap of new, brilliant music and trying to share it with you.

So here’s hoping for another verdant year of musical goodness, and a whole lot more to force on any one of you hapless enough to fall upon my page in your travels. I know this is slightly ridiculous, but thank you to anyone who’s leant their support through comments or real-life tangible communication, to anyone who actually reads my posts after getting here from Hype Machine and most of all to Cat for supporting me and knowing when to call me a music snob and stop me becoming even more irritating and self-righteous than I already am. But I still don’t like Lady Gaga

Mumford & Sons – Hold On To What You Believe (YSI)

Jimi Hendrix – Hey Joe (YSI)

Jay Jay Pistolet – Happy Birthday You (YSI)

 

"The Poet That’s Kept Behind The Mic"

When I first heard Jay Jay Pistolet, reviewing the other song from this single no less, I took an immediate dislike to him. His voice was the major factor, it sounds like he’s doing a bad impression of Truman Capote with a comedy giant lollypop in his mouth, and it certainly isn’t your usual dulcit folk lilt. On the more upbeat “We Are Free”, it just didn’t work for me, and I didn’t listen to him for a few months.

How wrong I was to do this. I read about “Holly” elsewhere (I forget exactly where I’m afraid) and decided, as I had it to hand, to pop the CD back into my trusty laptop. The quiet strums of guitar, the occasional plink of the high register of a piano and Jay’s vocals fit together perfectly. His lyrics tell the quietly heartbreaking story of the eponymous Holly, with some wonderful little uses of language (“And whilst I’ve always dreamt of making it in Hollywood/But I know if she’d a second chance then Holly could“) it’s all just an onslaught of distressing loveliness.

I can’t think of any more verbose way of summing up the song other than that I can assure you it’s beautiful. And that’s hopefully all that matters.

Jay Jay Pistolet – Holly