Tag Archives | Music

The Def Leppard song Wasted, from their debut album On Through The Night, has always been one of my favourite rock songs. Probably due to the the context of my life when it was released. Lots of good stuff happening like parties etc. 😉 I bought the album on tape originally. I think it’s still lying in a box somewhere. I’ve been checking the iTMS periodically waiting for it to appear there so I could download it. I know I could have went a got the CD – but I didn’t. Anyway, I noticed tonight that it was available on iTMS UK. Happy days. Listening to it as I type this. An excellent album. Wasted is the best track though. I never liked any of their stuff after this. Went a bit “American rock” for my tastes. Still, they did release a damn fine album as a debut.

I was planning on getting my 1993 Guild BHM Signature Pro guitar rewired and having new pickups fitted as it was very noisy when you turned the volume or tone controls. So as insurance, in case it went pear-shaped, I picked up one of the current Korean made Brian May guitars (formally marketed by Burns). After ordering it I was able to clean out the pots on the Guild so that the noise problem has gone away. So I probably don’t need the new one. Having said that it’s really nice to play. If anything I like the action better than the Guild. The finger board is slicker and the frets are prouder (it is new after all). It’s much easier to do string bends on the new one. Sound wise they are almost identical. So I might keep it! And maybe sell the Guild.

Jenny Wilson did a version of List of Demands by Saul Wilson with Robyn Carlsson. The video is not longer availabe.

The first single, Silent Shout, of their forthcoming album can be previewed online at the Rabid Records MP3 site. That uses an interesting method to stop people copying the tracks. It plays them in about 30 second segments that fade out at the end. Nice idea.

You can also buy Jenny Wilson’s album from that site.

Lots of people are raving about the José Gonzàles song that is featured in the Sony Bravia advertisement that’s on TV and in cinemas. The song in question is called Heartbeats. His version is good, I bought it myself from iTMS. But lets not forget the original version by the inestimable Swedish duo, The Knife. It can be purchased on iTMS as well.

Blast from the past. Queen’s A Day at the Races was the first album I bought on my own, with my own pocket money. I’d been given A Night at the Opera for Christmas in 1975, along with most of the rest of the UK! I can still remember going into Belfast on the bus to get ADATR. 30 years ago this year. It’s still bloomin’ brilliant and fresh to me. Tie Your Mother Down has to be the best rock song ever written. Been listening to the album for the last hour or so. Marvellous. I’ve had 30 years of joy from the 10 tracks on that piece of plastic. Thanks guys!

I’ve been playing a cheap Westfield acoustic guitar, that I bought to learn on, for the last few years. I decided to buy a good quality replacement now that I’m sure I’m going to continue playing. Doing research into what are good quality acoustic guitars I came across the usual suspects like Martin, Takamine etc. I also kept hearing about a make called Lowden that are made in Northern Ireland. People kept singing their praises and saying that Lowdens were brilliant guitars. Looking into it I discovered that what was the Lowden company had split, with the former company taking the name Avalon Guitars, located in Newtownards, and a new company called Lowden Guitars formed by George Lowden located in Downpatrick. There is also at least one other Northern Ireland based guitar maker with a connection to the former Lowden company. This is McIlroy Guitars located in Antrim.

I really liked the idea of getting a guitar that was actually made here in Northern Ireland. As long as it sounded okay. I wanted an acoustic with a lightly coloured wood top and without any electrics installed. I got the chance to play an Avalon guitar in a shop in Bangor a few days ago and it sounded really nice and looked good as well. But it was from an Avalon range that was made overseas. Not that this would have stopped me buying it, but I wanted to try some of the locally made ones as well.

I went to the Belfast Guitar Emporium to see what they had in stock. Wow. This is a wonderful shop. If you are are looking for a guitar of any type then this shop should be on your list of places to visit. They have loads of guitars in stock and they are very friendly and knowledgeable. At the back of the store they have a separate acoustic room with about a dozen Lowden guitars and a big couch to sit on and try them out. I spent time in there trying out the models available. Four of the guitars fitted the criteria I had. I quickly narrowed the ones I was interested in down to two. An O-32 and a S-12c. I spent quite a bit of time A/B’ing these two. They were both bloody marvelous. One of the guys from the shop said he thought the S-12c was the best Lowden he had heard. He was excellent playing it. He is certainly a better guitarist than I am 🙂 I liked the sound from the O-32 better, though it was a close call. The O-32 had a deeper sound that I really, really liked. Ironically one of the things I told the guys in the shop was that I liked a more treble sounding guitar. The O-32 changed my mind!

So after playing both for a while I settled on the O-32. I hadn’t asked the price of the two I was thinking off as I didn’t want the price to colour my choice. I wanted to make the choice based on sound and feel. It turned out that the O-32 was the cheaper of the two so that was a bonus. So I bought the O-32. Here is is:

Click picture for larger view

I really like it. It looks beautiful and has a wonderful tone. The top is Sitka Spruce and the back and sides are Indian Rosewood. The neck is Mahogany/Rose and the fingerboard is Ebony. Other woods, in addition to those listed above, like Walnut and sycamore are used for inlay and detail. There are more pictures of he guitar here. It has a wonderful wood smell too.

Hopefully this guitar will last me for the rest of my life and that that will be a very long time.

Just heard a wonderful album. It’s the debut solo album by Jenny Wilson from Sweden. I first heard her when she was a guest vocalist on You Take My Breath Away by The Knife. Her new album is not available in the UK yet as far as I can see. It can however be listened to it in full via a Flash-based player at her web site. It can also be ordered via mail order. I really like it a lot. She has a brilliant voice. I’ve ordered a copy. It’s on the same label as The Knife so hopefully, it’ll be on the UK iTMS soon as well.

The Knife will be releasing a new album in March 2006. Happy days.