I just got a copy of Leo Abrahams’ new record ‘Scene Memory’ through the post. Much to my amazement he called me on Friday to say that he had dedicated the record to me. I was completely overcome and very emotional. I have a deep bond with the record – it pulled me through some of the hardest days and nights of my life, when L. was very young and I was spending days in the shell of what is now our home, hammering floorboards and listening to an unmastered version on a crappy little stereo. I have to say that listening to it again, its one of the best records I’ve ever heard… the word “perfection” keeps springing to mind.
I love Vangelis’ soundtrack to Blade Runner, as it takes me into a certain atmospheric headspace, and I love the work of Brian Eno, for sheer space and simplicity, but Scene Memory eclipses all of this with a purity I can’t quite describe… all recorded using only electric guitars but with a range of other-wordly textures and sounds that only Leo can get. He’s absolutely incredible, end of story – maybe even a genius, for real, and the only one I know. And this album should be bought by everyone who ever claimed they liked music.
When I listen to a record like that, I toss a spiritual coin. If it comes up heads, I want to start recording and never stop. Tails, I want to sell my gear and become a park-keeper. But this time, against all odds, it has landed on its edge and turned into a rainbow – I have hope, and faith, that if you stay true to your purpose, you can make amazing music and it will find a home, even if that is just one person in one house in one town in one country in the world. Leo made this album because it was in him, with no agenda, no A&R person breathing down his neck… so inspiring. And now its out there.
Now the techie web bit. I’ve only left this in to highlight how much has changed in the past 10 years.
I, on the other hand, have spent the weekend trying to get my head round Spry (note, 2017: pretty much dead tech now, link goes nowhere) from Adobe, basically a JavaScript framework for Ajax. I think they are going to be dedicating quite a bit of time and energy to it over the next few months, so although its far from perfect now, it will be pretty formidable by the time the public release happens later in the year. There are major problems with standards as things go, but the code is simple, and looks so like ActionScript that its an easy transition for me to make. I’ve downloaded ActionScript 3 as well, but when I’ll get to have a proper look at that is anyone’s guess.
What is Ajax? Put very simply, its a new way of making web pages work and update the content in them without having to refresh the whole page. Web pages will start to feel more like applications you use on your computer – when you click something, something else happens, there and then. No long drawn-out page refresh. Its going to be nice, and I suppose that’s enough. People are connecting Ajax with Web 2.0, a topic I ranted and raved about a couple of days ago… but Ajax is just the means, and the concept of Web 2.0 is the end. We’ll see what happens. I just hope to be able to keep pressing on regardless.
End of techie web bit
Its so damn hot. Cider on ice weather. Having wee L. means we can’t really go out in blistering sun – he will just burn up, and you just can’t do that to a wee baby. We stuck him in his paddling pool at about 5pm yesterday and it was just so cute. Having so much cuteness around you every day is fantastic. I however did manage to get the garden sorted a bit – FERNS! Bloody ferns – have you ever tried to uproot a fern? Let me tell you, its a nightmare. They are like meteors that crash into your pots from outer space, they go so deep. And they are like big prehistoric dinosaur knuckles. Took me ages to get two of them out from my roses. Everything in the garden is really suffering with the heat and sunshine… and with the drought order in place, we’re trying to cut back on our water use even more than usual. We recycle L.’s bath water and siphon it out to water them, but its not enough in this climate. Poor plants.
Right… I must tootle on and get on with stuff.