partly fish, partly porpoise, partly baby sperm whale

I know that I'll stop obsessing over the Winterset at some point over the next few days. But until then, here's Robert Wyatt.

you come home late and you come home early

What a weekend; probably the best festival I've been to. It was a really good atmosphere; very friendly vibe - smoke-free stages were pleasant - and there seemed to be fewer turf wars than usual between the sitters and the standers as the larger pieces of camping furniture stayed outside. Very good weather too. A bit muddy underfoot yesterday after a downpour on Saturday night, but very little rain during the music.

Friday: Under One Sky (John McCusker and Friends. "These aren't my real friends. My real friends sell toasters and play football. Which makes for a crap gig."), Show of Hands, Steve Earle, Waterboys. A great night. Especilly when you consider that, between a broken bass string, a flat guitar, a self-unplugging mandolin ("the son-of-a-bitch wasn't plugged into the mother-fucker"), and a forgotten lyric (I'm sure that Yeats' The Stolen Child doesn't start with the word "Shit"), something went wrong for every artist. As it turned out, the broken bass - and the run-around to replace it, allowed McCusker time to include an impromptu accapella interlude from John Tams and Julie Fowlis. Under One Sky was breath-taking in it's ambition - which it just about reached. Highlight of the night was undoubtedly the Waterboys. As brilliant as they were disappointing the last time I saw them. I had to wipe away a tear during The Whole of the Moon. Wonderful.

Saturday: First Rachel Unthank set of the weekend. I'd bought the new album on Friday night - even better than their debut - so I knew it would be good. But not quite how good. The best folk album I've bought this year, a certainty for my best of 2007 (it's s toss-up between Blue Bleezing Blind Drunk and their version of Robert Wyatt's Sea Song for my favourite track); they are a superb live act. The between-song humour gives their set a real folk club feel, but the musicianship - especially the sisters' harmonies, but also the piano and fiddle arrangements - set this act apart. And I never thought that I would find clog dancing sexy...
The rest of the day didn't quite hit the heights of Friday - plus I was knackered and voiceless. Like many around the field, I was sat back reading Harry Potter whilst listening to Show of Hands and Kate Rusby (there are worse ways to spend a Saturday afternoon). The spirits were lifted no end by Bellowhead - the first time I've seen them live, every bit as good as I'd hoped. Still, I got signed copies of Kate's and the Winterset's new albums.
Saturday evening was eclectic - Kate was followed on stage by Fanfare Ciocarlia - the Romanian band best known for their version of Wild Thing in Borat. I enjoyed them more than I did Taraf de Haidouks a few years back. Then Joan Baez - stateswomanlike - but not the most likely warmup act in the world for Toots and the Maytals. Who blew the roof off. A really exciting set to end the night.

Sunday: Martin Simpson with Andy Cutting and Danny Thompson. Great guitar work, a lovely cover of Thommo's Strange Affair, and a gorgeous duet with Kate Rusby. Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain, Rachel Unthank in the club tent, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder - lightning speed bluegrass, Lau, Rachel Unthank again, Toumani Diabate - a great show, Nanci Griffith and finally Bellowhead on stage 2 before heading for home.

So good I saw them twice: Bellowhead, Show of Hands, Rachel Unthank and the Winterset (who I saw three times).

Lowlights: I just don't get the Oysterband, I'm sorry. Dull. Joan Baez ruining a good set by ending with the interminable Imagine.

Unexpected Treats: Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain. Especially Anarchy in the UK in the style of Simon and Garfunkel and Life on Mars, Lau.

Sorry I Missed: Not much really. There was so much good stuff on the main stages that I didn't go to any of the showcase artists in the club tent - which I will probably regret if they become famous. Shooglenifty (clashes with Toots and the Maytals and Bellowhead); C J Chenier (same time as Waterboys); only saw half of Ruthie Foster's set, ditto Bruce Cockburn (though I did see Wondering Where the Lions Are); missed Sharon Shannon on main stage with Steve Earle guesting on Galway Girl. In fact, main stage Friday was pretty incestuous, with Steve and Alison Moorer guesting in each others sets, Sharon Shannon with the Waterboys, and John McCusker, Steve, Mike McGoldrick and Sharon all joining the Waterboys in a rousing This Land is Your Land to close out one of the best nights of music I will ever see.

The weekend seemed to go on forever; hearing Ruthie Foster singing Up Above My Head and Nanci Griffith singing Speed of the Sound of Loneliness, it seemed an age since I'd heard the Alabamas sing them on Thursday.

And maybe I wimped out by not camping - especially since the weather was remarkably well behaved - but it was nice to sleep in a warm bed, wear clean clothes, have a hot bath and stock up on better than average picnic grub, and bottle conditioned City of Cambridge Brewery beers from Waitrose each morning.

The only regret is the feeling that next year's festival can't come close to this. Not much does.

it's been so damned long since we sung this song

Back from the first night of the Cambridge Folk Festival. That's the first time I've done the Thursday night - the low-key night before the festival proper. But, as part of what is a very strong lineup this year, there were couple of acts playing tonight who I really wanted to see.
I was a bit late getting there - though a beautiful rainbow over Shelford told of a weekend of sunshine and showers to come - so missed the start of "the brilliant, the unique" Seasick Steve. And even though I was stuck outside the tent in the mud and the drizzle, I knew I was listening to a great blues guitarist. Foregoing the chance to pick up a signed copy of his album, I pushed down to the front for Kris Drever; another from the Rusby/McCusker stable - a good guitarist, but not where I needed to be tonight. I needed to get back to church, and the Alabama 3 Acoustic set didn't disappoint. I was up front and in centre as Larry, Devlin, Rock Freebase and Harpo Strangelove took the stage. A very different set from St Albans - and perfect for a festival crowd. A lot of Exile - Converted, Woke Up, Tekno, Speed and ending with a great version of Peace - together with Johnny Cash, Two Heads, Folsom Prison Blues and Up Above My Head. It was nice to be part of the crowd down the front singing along; there's something special about being in a festival crowd listening to one of your favourite bands. A great start to the weekend; looking forward to Steve Earle and Sharon Shannon tomorrow. I'll probably try to catch Bruce Cockburn too. Not sure about the Waterboys; Mike Scott was so disappointing last time he was at Cambridge. And there's Zydeco on stage two at the same time.
Now to get some sleep in a nice warm bed.

your biggest blunder's that you all look the fucking same

Everyone seems to be falling over themselves to be amongst the first to discover Poppy and the Jezebels. So I'll confess to the middle-aged, middle-class route buying the mini-album (with a free signed print no less) after the rave review in the Guardian last week. Alex Petridis is wrong when he says "it doesn't really sound like anything else" - because it does. It all sounds brilliantly trashy and naive, and could have been on the CD86 compilation that I copied for Tom last week. Basic drumming, fuzzy guitars, and vocals straight off an early Creation release; kudos to Reveal Records for discovering them, and to Kramer for his production. The Lips of Cleopatra is on repeat at this very moment.

when you love someone but the thrill is gone

The Mercury Music Awards shortlist announced this week showed an all-time low score of two in albums I own; Arctic Monkeys - OK, but does nothing their debut failed to achieve (and I was tired of that by this time last year), and Amy Winehouse - a really enjoyable album - but not as enjoyable as the Lily Allen album the Arctics beat last year. Much of the rest, I'd either never heard of or wasn't interested by. The exception was Bat for Lashes - I'd at least heard a track of theirs (or, more correctly, hers) on a Mojo freebie a couple of months back. I thought she was an OK female singer song-writer; nothing remarkable, and recording under a really bad name - so looked no further. But since the critics say Ms. Khan (related to the Pakistani squash-playing dynasty) is the artist most likely to "do an Anthony", and having heard comparisons with Bjork and Kate Bush, I gave her another listen. And I have to say, I like it. Trophy, The Wizard, and Horse & I are all good tracks, but I'm particularly enjoying What's A Girl To Do?, with it's spoken lyric, reminiscent of Black Box Recorder, and it's totally insane video. Could be a winner.

"ever feel like you've been cheated?"

I've cautiously welcomed the return of the Jesus and Mary Chain - although I find it hard to think if there is any difference between me going to watch Pixies, the Pogues etc and blokes in their 40's heading off to watch the Shadows and Marty Wilde during the 1980's - and I know how tragic I thought that was.
The picture in this month's OMM of Jarvis Cocker alone on the front row of the Festival Hall during Meltdown, watching the Mary Chain whilst his wife takes photos of the band, is just a great fan image. But having missed the boat for Meltdown, and being in the wrong country for Connect, I've been looking out for any more dates this autumn. And now they're playing Brixton Academy - one of my favourite venues - in September.
So far so good. But I'm left resenting the use of an Agency who charge a £2.75 booking fee for a £25 ticket - and a further fiver to post it to me - a 31% mark up. Yes, I'll probably end up paying up. Reviews of their shows this year have been universally strong. But it's still a rip-off.
And on the subject of being cheated, is there any difference between Things Change "the long awaited debut album from soul duo Fried" - and Fried the 2004 "eponymous debut...a rare gem of an album"? I liked the first album; When You Get Out of Jail was one of my songs of the year in 2004 (although the rest of the album struggled to match it). But why does it seem that no reviewer has even heard of the earlier release?

it's been a while since I saw your ultra-violet smile

I'm still on a buzz from Alabama 3 at the Alban Arena last week. A really good night. It was far from a full house - and the crowd had a large proportion of 40-ish blokes (well that described the six of us pretty well). The crowd seemed to take a little while to get going; the mix at the back of the hall was very bass-heavy, making a lot of what D Wayne was saying indecipherable. And I think a lot of us were just astounded that a band this good was playing a half empty hall in our home town. It got a lot better when Jon and I followed Tom & Jim (who took the pictures) and got down to the front. But the band looked great and sounded even better.

Some great versions of old songs, and I really liked the new stuff they played in the encore. Larry Love and Devlin have a great stage presence together; I really enjoyed the version of Up Above My Head from Outlaw with Devlin on vocals (closer to The Last Train to Mashville Vol 1 version I purchased on the night). The St Albans Chapter of The First Presleyterian Church Of Elvis The Divine (UK) will testify again in October - although I'm seeing the acoustic lineup in Cambridge at the end of the month.

miserere mei, Deus: secundum magnam misericordiam tuam

We got hold of the Tallis Scholars' new recording of Allegri's Miserere last week, after seeing a local choral society performing it in the chapel of All Saints Pastoral Centre at London Colney (see the photo on the website, and you'll realise what a great setting it is). Miserere is very possibly my favourite piece of music, sacred or secular. The mythology and mystery which surround it, the beauty of the music, the feelings evoked as the soloist repeatedly hits top C (remarkably not part of the original setting). It is also one of the few pieces of music that could be claimed to have changed my life - or at least my perspective of music. A friend of my father gave me an original copy of the - arguably definitive - Kings College Cambridge recording from 1963 when I passed the voice trial to get into the Minster Choir when I was 10 (unfortunately, if you give a potential collectors item to a 10 year old, it may not retain it's value. I still own it, but it's been fairly well trashed). I recall the shiver down my spine as I listened to it - I came close to tears as I often have done since. This is the point at which I fell in love with sacred music and began to understand the feelings of transcendence which it can induce. No wonder the Pope tried to keep it for himself. The Devil doesn't always have the best tunes.

our house was filled with many birds. she said to me "I understand their words".

It was a frustrating week last week; I was out of the country all week with a dead ipod. 55gb of songs on the hard drive, but the pod couldn't see any of them. Later in the week, it seemed to have died completely. I've had an extra 6 months out of it since it first started playing up, so maybe I should be pleased for small mercies.
I'm thinking of using this as an excuse to buy a Nano, just to keep me going until I fork out on a new one. I'm flying through Hong Kong next month; I need to check if they're cheaper there.
So I haven't yet listened to the new Art Brut album which I added last Monday. If it's as good as the first one, it's going to be good.
I am enjoying the new Frank Black compilation 93-03. I already had a lot of it, but the additional live disc was worth buying, and it's a good overview of his post-Pixies career. I've also downloaded a superb live recording of Jeff Tweedy playing a solo acoustic set in Chicago a couple of months back. Lots of stuff from the new album, but also some older Wilco, Uncle Tupelo and Golden Smog songs. Some great audience banter too. Read more about it here.