Catching Up

Hello, Dear Friends, I hope this finds you all well. Time for a spot of tidying up the odds 'n' sods, of doing thing that really should have been done already. Sigh, so delinquent, and that clock stares at me with such reproach...

First, Dearest Danielle of the lovely, multisensual blog music is art kindly invited me to participate in the latest instalment of her song/context/result feature. The idea is that contributors describe how a song takes them back to a specific momet, and what it all means to them. A neat, simple idea, but one that yields wonderful insight and revelation. Danielle posted part three exactly a week ago, and I have been far too slow in sharing it with you. So I invite you all to pop round here for a look, a read, and a listen. Though contributors are not linked directly to their contributions, you'll get no prizes for guessing which is mine...

Second, I was flattered, embarassed, humbled, tickled, and honoured to be given (relatively) recently not one, but two Thinking Blogger Awards: one from Dearest Marcy of Lost In Your Inbox, and one from Dearest Ash of Ash BC. Both of these lovely friends said very nice words about how my cyberscribbles make them think, which is the single, sweetly simple criterion for this award. Ash, Marcy, thank you so much for your kindness. I'm so very pleased that you find my little bit of the blogosphere worth coming to!

As a TBA recipient, I am invited to choose five blogs that make me think. Now, I'd like to make it clear that both Ash's and Marcy's blogs consistently stir my brain's thoughts and emotions. So by rights I should award TBA's right back at them. But I don't think that's the way it's supposed to work. Sigh, I always overcomplicate thinks when I'm forced to choose... Anyway, my five Thinking Blogger Awards go to:

Dearest Young Tim of Contrast Podcast fame. As curator of this marvellous cabinet of wonders, Tim has forced me (mind you, I did go willingly) to open my mind further to a host of musical wonders.

Dearest Bryce of Plastic Music is, by his own admission, a sporadic poster. But over time his mix of musical gems, tales of domesticity, and personal commentaries on that which seizes his fancy has been compelling.

Dearest Mentok of Mentok the Mind-taker has misnamed his blog. He doesn't take your mind at all. Rather, he gives it provoking and humourous tidbits to gnaw on.

And now, a newcomer, one that has only just made it onto my blogroll. You see, I only recently began visiting Minge and reading about his Morbid Adventures. But his evocative, wonderfully written pieces on temps perdu, his poetic tropes (see the Fib Sunday), and his fondness for The Pet Shop Boys and Doctor Who have all prodded my grey cells. Oh, and his photos are rather nice too, apart from the one of the vomiting fat lady.

Also hailing from Scotland, whence Minge, is my fifth award-winner, Dearest Colin of And Before The First Kiss. Colin is ace; he's got fabulous taste in music, a compulsion to share it generously with everyone, acerbic wit, firecely held convictions, a keen eye for the old piccies, and the wonderful ability to stitch it all together with lovely words. He is also my original cyberbloggy friend.

So thank you, you Famous Five! And now you have the chance to nominate your thinkingest blogs...

Finally, let me leave you with some songs that I found nestling with the dust bunnies under the sofa. You see, the ancient, creaking turntable that I have hooked up to the PC is STILL choosing to cooperate with me, and I have been taking advantage of this to rip a few tracks from some olde vinyle records. So here's some of what I found:

The Jasmine Minks - Cut Me Deep (buy here)
Coaxed from the grooves of Doing It For The Kids, a 1988 Creation Records sampler. The Jasmine Minks were one of the first bands to hop on Alan McGee's label, and can thus legitimately be called granddaddies of C86-twee. And they're Scottish, but if you didn't know you probably would have guessed it coz the music is so fine...

The House of Love - Destroy The Heart (buy it here if you're keen)
Sticking somewhat to the same vibe, this is the a-side to the proto-shoegaze band's 1988 single, also released on Creation. It's a bit scratchy, so apologies. House of Love split up in 1993, but reformed in 2005 and have been performing sporadically since. Enjoy the texture!