Music

Bruce calling Germany

bruceonthefringe 2024, Logan's Close, Music, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Hallo Germany! Have you heard the news? That’s the awesome news that Logan’s Close are heading your way at the very end of April to play seven gigs as part of a European tour! The tour dates were announced last Monday, starting in Odense, Denmark on Sunday 28th April, then on to Germany and Bremen on the 30th; a ten day wander around Germany (with a wee side excursion to Prague) finishing in Munich before heading south to Italy. Get your tickets now!

Exciting for yours truly too – I’m coming over! As luck would have it I’ve been invited over to the continent for a friend’s birthday just as Logan’s Close will be making their way to Odense, well, when the universe dishes out such an opportunity it would be rude to turn it down. Trains, it’s all just a train journey away, I can do this (he says trying to sound positive). Okay, so it’s many, many years since I went Interrailling, no mobile phones, no interweb, yes, we managed perfectly fine, thank you!

As yet I’ve only booked my flights – did that so I can’t chicken out of going! There’s quite a variety of Interrail passes these days, and there’s an app now, of course; there is still a paper version, I’m weighing up the pros and cons, and just how many days travel do I want? The beauty of Interrailling was always last minute decision-making, not committing early ’cause you never knew what or who may be round the next corner. So far I have planes and trains planned, just need someone with an automobile to complete the set 😁

I haven’t seen much of Germany, just Hannover and wherever it was that my school exchange trip went (it was a long time ago, somewhere in Westphalia is all I remember), so it’s all going to be new to me! Certainly I want to see the lads in Berlin and Hamburg; Bremen is tempting, not least ’cause they’re playing in a place called the Heartbreak Hotel! That would be a lot of travelling in a few days, oh I enjoy train-travels, that I’m fine with, but would it all pan out okay?

After Hamburg the Close head to Köln, then Mannheim the day after, I’m reckoning maybe one of those two, for no apparent reason I’m thinking Mannheim. Oo, I loved Prague when I went some years ago, a return visit would be grand. That leaves Ingolstadt and Munich, both or just one of them? From whichever I’d head back to my friend’s to chill for a couple of days before flying home.

I haven’t begun to think of where I’ll stay each night! And those days when I may have to be up early for an onward train! A bed near the train station or near the venue?! Should I cheap hotel it? There’s Airbnb, I guess, or maybe hostels. Oh, my head’s hurting just contemplating it all. Tips on places to stay or avoid, good cafés, cheap feeds, local transport are most welcome. This moose doesn’t really have a scoobies how this will work out! But hey, it’s gonna be an awesome adventure, a magical musical tour 💛

There is a mistake but can you spot it?

Goodbye ’23, Hello ’24

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When I woke up on the 1st it was raining, oh I was so tempted to go back to sleep but no, and sure enough by the time I was ready to head out the rain had stopped. The proof of the pudding is in the picture….

Yes, that is a traffic cone on top of the trig point!

Yay, my New Year tradition completed again, no thanks to the high winds – I was lucky not to get blown over to Fife! My concerted effort to be up there relatively early (about 10am) paid off, the hordes had not yet ascended, probably still their beds. After the annual pic, I found a slightly sheltered spot in the rocks for my brunch (chicken sandwich and christmas cake washed down with whisky), just taking time to admire the view and exchange new year greetings with passers-by.

I mentioned in my last post that The Scat Rats were playing Whistlebinkies at 3 in the morning on the 2nd (or technically the 3rd), I didn’t make it. The soul was willing but my flesh and bones decided otherwise, a shame. And I bet you’re wondering how the LC gig went on the 29th – totally and utterly bloody awesome!! Mind, I wouldn’t have expected it to be anything less.

It’s been many years since I was last in The Liquid Room, nothings changed; nice that the stage has enough height to allow plenty of the audience a decent view of the band. There is a balcony round the sides and back, tempting (I’ve never been up there) but I’d got myself a good spot close to the front, so was fine.

The lights dimmed to four scattered spotlights, SeanKeys started playing the opening bars of Dans Le Jardin over and over as the rest of the band came on stage and readied themselves (to rapturous applause, natch); Carl next joined in with a lush guitar sound, followed by Scotty’s velvet vocals (and a natty new top he got for Christmas). And they were off!

The set for the evening was Heart-Shaped Jacuzzi in reverse order, so next up was the magnificent Mock Marble Linoleum, yes! Back for the evening was original bassist Ollie Turbitt (he’s definitely acquired some italiano cool), slotting in fine, obviously enjoying himself, sharing plenty of laughs with SeanKeys.

In the absence of Stu, Gavin picked up some of the harmony vocals (there will be four part harmonies in the future, I hear). Great that he was actually visible, and he is a drummer worth watching.

After the chirpy cheeriness of Merry-Go-Round the rest of the band left the stage to Scott and Carl for Calculations + Guesses. It struck me that by the end Scott’s body language seemed to be trying to belie the emotion of the song, distancing himself from it, perhaps? Next, our two troubadours took us way back to an early tune they wrote, very Beatlesque!

The rest of the band returned with two Logan’s Close classics, Lost In You swirling straight through into Give It To Me, what a night!

From there we plunged back into the new album and Curious Terrain, the other grand baroque opus (the studio version is powerful, live it loses none of the nuance and gains from a full-on performance from the band). From there on to the big guns, Babestation then Heart-Shaped Jacuzzi, gotta say this way round really works well live.

It was around this point I get fuzzy, I think it was after the title track that we were treated to a new song (called So Cold, possibly?), I remember a bottle of Buckfast appearing, Scotty saying something like “I’m changing it”, the band going into I Want You which seemed to throw Ollie and Sean a tad. Well, that all happened, though not necessarily in that order!

I do remember the evening ending with Hot Blondes In Your Area Tonight and the whole place going hyper. Oh lordy, what a grand evening! And what a way for LC to end the year! Can’t wait to see what happens next in 2024 ❤️

Oh, if you’re new to this blog, do yourself a favour and check out Logan’s Close on Spotify or wherever you listen to music, hear what I’m making such a fuss over (and see why on my Instagram reels).

Wishing you all an excellent 2024! Toodle pip!

A prelude to a wondrous thing

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“A polished studio album will surely be a wondrous thing” and how right I was! I wrote those words back in February last year in If you don’t ask …… (clicking on the title should take you to the post, should) just after getting my mitts on the Logan’s Close Live at LimbicTV CD. Checking back on that one, led to looking back at my other posts on the LimbicTV recording and on to playing the CD; then playing Babestation and Mock Marble Linoleum back-to-back with the new album versions (well, back and forth, forth and back, a few times – I was having fun).

Nine days and a trip down to Yorkshireland later, I wrote Driving with Elsie appraising the CD. Reading it again I noticed that Mock Marble Linoleum was now “pretty special” – back when I saw it performed on LimbicTV it was “fine but nothing special” (from my blog post So Close so fine). Well, I’d had a 400 mile return car trip to get into it! Now on Heart-Shaped Jacuzzi, it’s been buffed up, not quite so heavy, but richer; a perfect progression.

Babestation grabbed me from the very first – beautiful desolation, Carl’s lead vocals, then Scott’s velvet backing, blimey Charlie! Totally blown away! Much as I love the whole LimbicTV CD, this track stands apart (still), so how happy was I when I heard it would be on the new album (as Larry, Moe and Curly). Back in April 2021 I’d written “definitely put out this track, please, please, like this, nothing added nothing taken away”, well, in some ways they have. The soul and mood are the same, but OMG, the production takes it so much further (Dennis Rux really has the magic touch).

Lucky me, The Scat Rats regularly play an acoustic version of Babestation that sends me every time I hear it. Though mainly covers, the Rats always played a few LC songs, and now there’s the album to promote, oh yay, they spoil us! There’s clips in my Instagram reels, as much for my own keepsakes as sharing their brilliance with the world.

FYI, in case you’re brand new to my blog, The Scat Rats are Carl Marah and Scott Rough, the two founder members of Logan’s Close, and right now their album Heart-Shaped Jacuzzi has been out on sale for a week; it is on Spotify too, check it out do. The Logan’s Close Live at LimbicTV CD is not on Spotify but you can still watch the original on YouTube (it’s about two hours long – there’s plenty banter as well as music!) and the CD (just over an hour of music) is available on the band’s website.

Next post will be my attempt at reviewing Heart-Shaped Jacuzzi haha, it’s chuffing brilliant! Toodle pip!

Love is … a heart-shaped jacuzzi

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Okay, so this isn’t a post, more a quick post-it note. By the time I press the Publish button the debut album by Logan’s Close will be released; that’s Heart-shaped Jacuzzi for those who haven’t been paying attention.

It truly is a thing of beauty, everything about it, I’m in love!! Oh, I’ve had the album since Tuesday late night at Binkies, I’ve had a few listens to it, well, maybe more than a few. I will wax lyrical later about it, I just wanted to say, I’ve got it and it’s extraordinarily fine, exceptionally fine, damn fine.

Yes, I have the vinyl and CD versions.

It’s a gatefold cover with all the song lyrics set out inside around a couple of smart photos of Scott Rough and Carl Marah. Oh, and the lads wrote messages to me in mine, almost brought tears to my eyes, no, I’m not sharing.

Toodle pip!

Notes from my calendar

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It’s Friday the 13th, which means it’s only seven days until the album packed with the juiciest of toons, Heart-shaped Jacuzzi is released into the world. Oh yay! Interestingly I’ve spotted that the single of the title track was released digitally on the 21st October last year, hmmm, I wonder if that’s deliberate symmetry? And there’s not just a new album from Logan’s Close (available on digital, CD and vinyl), oh no, there’s a limited run of a special lathe cut vinyl single with Heart-shaped Jacuzzi on one side and Hot Blondes In Your Area Tonight on the other!! Plenty other new merch on their website, check it out!

So far I’ve got through today without anything bad happening, in fact it’s been a rather fine day (touch wood). As soon as I’ve done this I’m popping out to Stramash to catch Duke Duncan and the Hurricanes. Indeed, this next week is a great run-up to Friday, tomorrow there’s Jed Potts & Nicole Smit in Whistlebinkies at two, then The Breeze at seven. Monday evening Jed and Nicole are at Stramash with the rest of the Back-up Crew. Tuesday The Scat Rats are at Whistlebinkies (true this time), followed by the early evening slot at Stramash on Thursday. So, that’s a Marah triple in the next week, yay.

I’m not impressed about next Sunday evening though (22th) as The Buccaneers are playing Stramash at the same time as Jed Potts & the Hillman Hunters play Binkies, bah. Mind, there’s always a chance the Binkies listing is wrong, haha. Moanin’ Bones are back on the scene now that main man Chris Buckley has returned to Edinburgh, I’m looking forward to seeing them again later this month.

And with that I shall bid you adieu, I shall away to Stramash for a pint of Stewart’s and some fine rhythm’n’blues. Toodle pip!

Once in a blue moon

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Hands up who went out to see the blue supermoon last night? Needless to say, there were plenty moonwatchers in Holyrood Park for it, though early views were looking doubtful with the eastern horizon being swathed in cloud. Of course, the rest of the sky just had nice pretty bits of cloud around.

I headed up on to the Nether Hill while there was still plenty of light, but the evenings are no longer nicely balmy, I decided to head down on to the top road. The views over East Lothian are perfectly fine there, it was getting quite dark enough as I made my way down the hillside, I surprised a few rabbits along the way (haha, autocorrect wanted to change that to rabbis!).

It always surprises me how quickly the moon moves when one just watches it. I couldn’t figure out if the star above it to the right was pulling the moon behind it, or, was it running away and the moon was in pursuit?! I strolled slowly round the road and on to Echo Rock (possibly not a wise move in the dark but by that time I was embolden by the music I had playing in my ears), all the while playing peekaboo with the moon.

I even dared to walk along the ridge leading to St Leonard’s Bank just to prolong my moonlit jaunt; what with the moonlight and music, it was a moment! No, I wouldn’t say I was dancing in the moonlight, just grooving with the beats provided by the likes of Dr Feelgood (staccato stepping with Roxette), Manfred Mann, The Troggs (a spot of dog walking) and, of course, plenty of Logan’s Close in the mix there. Okay, so there may have been the occasional moment when my exuberant hip swaying sauntering may have been mistaken for dancing. Man, it felt good!

Ah, it’s just after midnight, goodbye August, gonna miss you. Time for good mooses to head to bed, more musings tomorrow. G’night, all!

Is it a compliment?

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I reckon so, see what you think. I was told this a few days ago by a friend, we were having a long catch-up conversation on the phone.

My friend picked up his mum so she could do a big supermarket shop (she doesn’t drive). Some way down the road he thought to turn the music down as it was quite loud, apologising to his mum for not turning it down sooner, but to his surprise she was fine with it, actually rather enjoying it. Indeed, as they drove along she began tapping her feet, her fingers caught the rhythms too. Apparently, the music fair took her back to the beat clubs she loved to go to in the early ’60s.

She couldn’t figure out who the band were, but they were awfully good! Oh, they’re not an old band, my friend explained, they’re a current band but with 60s sensibilities. A search on YouTube was called for, once back home (hmmm, I never asked if they watched Babestation), still impressed, so reminiscent of the bands back in her day.

Yes, the band was Logan’s Close, the CD playing was their LimbicTV session. My friend didn’t think that praise from an octogenarian, well, could it really count as a compliment?! Let’s see, the lady in question went to lots of clubs, saw lots of bands, the Stones, the Beatles, Jerry Lee Lewis, included (sounds like she was my type of gal!) What a time that was to be young!

Yep, I’d say such praise from one who was there, is a true compliment, and it surely indicates how just good Live at LimbicTV really is!

Sounds and Visions

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Easter weekend and the sun has been shining today!! The forecast is more of the same tomorrow and Sunday, anyone would think the rain gods aren’t paying attention. As the sun was out I popped along to Waverley Bridge in case there was anyone playing – there was, and they were rather good (There’s snippets of evidence on my Instagram).

I was meaning to check out Ol’ Times as they’re playing the 9.30 set at Whistlebinkies on Sunday evening, no need to check online now, that was them this afternoon. I may wander back that way tomorrow or Sunday as they do intend to play there some more, yay. Binkies is the first gig of a swift tour around the UK for Ol’ Times, if you like energetic bluesy Irish rock they’re worth a shot; and if you like them, they have a CD and a card reader for those who don’t carry cash any more.

The lead singer has a great voice, reminiscent of someone, took me a while but, and you’ll have to be old to get this one, a mix of the singer of April Wine early 80s and a young Geddy Lee with a twist of Irish. The band sounds like they could be from the late 70s, no bad thing in my book, some amazing music around then.

Oh yeah, on amazing music – the lads have put out another video! Half & Half is the latest visual treat from Logan’s Close shot in the Voodoo Rooms by their go-to film maker James Gilhooly. Rich sumptuous colouring with a slight haze and strange white clouds bobbing around, it reminded me of tv shows from Eastern Europe back when I was a nipper; and the light from the glitterball was such a great effect, sweet.

I’m not really sure what the song is about but hey, the words pour like honey from Scott’s mouth and mixed with the sparse guitar and bass work, awesome – seductive with a dash of melancholy. Half & Half will be on Heart-shaped Jacuzzi but it’s not out as a single, just a little treat for the fans!

In other news, the Jolly Judge is having a cider festival just now. Technically it’s on until Easter Monday but hey, any ciders still left will be need to be drunk up. My favourites so far are Windfall from Iford (6%) and Barn Owl from Perry’s Cider (5.5%). That’s from six that I’ve tried, there’s at least another six to try and I intend to.

Now if I’m going to be up in time to get to the Farmers Market before CoCo Co‘s Easter eggs all sell out, it’s time I hit the sack. I’ll leave you with a couple of pics of the most unusual portable twin decks I’ve ever seen….

The only thing a DJ needs is a suitcase….
….. and some 78s (talking about the ol’times!)

A good score and mellow beats

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Another rugby weekend is done, the Welsh will all be back home, plenty probably still nursing their hangovers. They do like to party, it’s always a great atmosphere when the Welsh are in town for the Six Nations Rugby. Even at noon when I was just heading to the Farmers Market on Saturday, the Three Sisters pub was already busy with a queue waiting to get in. I suspect some of them may not remember anything about the game, not after five hours drinking before the match got under way!

Of course, all the pubs in the Grassmarket were busy as I walked along to Castle Terrace, red-topped folk everywhere, not all would be heading to Murrayfield later in the afternoon, some do just come up and watch in one of the many pubs that show the games. Six Nations Rugby weekends are great for pubs, especially the home game weekends; Stramash had a band on at noon to attract folk in before the first match.

It was a gloriously sunny morning, a tad chilly but hey. The Farmers Market was nicely busy, Annanwater had almost sold out of fresh produce but they usually have some frozen cuts too, just as well when I’m so often quite late getting there. I got the last fresh lamb fillet which I had for tea tonight as a pasta sauce (with enough leftover for another meal) and some frozen lamb’s liver for later in the week.

Next to Brewsters Smallholding to stock up on more honey for my daily morning porridge, plus eggs and chicken thighs. I was tempted by the Hometown Cheesecake stall, but held off as CoCo Company were finally back (first time this year), back with some gorgeous new chocolates for Valentines Day. I say gorgeous, they look yummy but haven’t actually tasted them yet, I just take it for granted they’ll be as excellent as I’ve come to expect. Yes, I bought myself a small box, well, they do say you have to love yourself before you can love others (that’s my excuse, anyway!)

Once home, I stayed in to watch the rugby, I was saving myself til the evening to have a drink. The final score of 35-7 to Scotland ensured a very lively night out, the town would be buzzing! I’d seen that the seven o’clock band at Whistlebinkies were called The Breeze which I correctly guessed was a reference to the JJ Cale song Call Me The Breeze, I love that song, his original version and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s, so I was intrigued enough to pop along. Oh my, they were good, the female singer (and guitarist) has a great voice. I don’t really know too much about JJ Cale aside from his album Naturally but I do like his kinda lazy mellow sound.

Indeed, Binkies was hooching, god knows what it was like by late evening! I was quite happy to quit the place after The Breeze finished their second set as I was feeling peckish, so wandered home grabbing a chicken shawarma for my supper on the way, humming Cocaine (a hit for Clapton but written by Cale) deciding to go with that theme – I would finally get around to watching the boxset of Breaking Bad that I received, oo, a couple of Christmases ago. Just three episodes so far, yeah, I can see why folk rave about it. So, a pretty good day, all in all!

G’ night, sweet dreams!

say it with scrumptious chocolates ❤️

No, it wasn’t chianti

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If someone told my young self what I cooked for my tea tonight, my response would definitely have been “Yeuck, no way!” Even my teenage self and probably mid-twenties self would have reacted the same; and what is this terrible dish I served up tonight? Liver, a bain of children’s lives, we’re told it’s good for us, certainly the version dished up at school dinners wasn’t!

Mind, I still wouldn’t particularly want liver and onions old-fashioned British style, mine has tomatoes, oregano, garlic, paprika, a generous slosh of red wine and a dod of double cream in there. Sometimes I have it with rice, tonight it was accompanied by sweet potato mash and broccoli. Scrumptious! Oh, and some more of the red wine to wash it down. My young self would not have known what to make of my plate, how times change.

And tonight when I pop along to Stramash, I wouldn’t dream of having a cider, whereas twenty years ago ale would have been my last resort. Umm, it’s over three weeks since I was in Stramash (wow, yeah, that long), there was a very nice new ale from Stewart’s, I do hope it’s there again. Tonight it should be Chris Buckley with the Handsome House Band, then at ten it’s that dynamic, edgy duo The Scat Rats, yay! It’s a fine weekend when I get to see them twice!

They were on the four o’clock slot at Whistlebinkies again yesterday. Now that afternoons are shorter before the darkness descends and temperatures have finally dropped, more folk seem inclined to seek a warm pub much earlier on. Binkies is well placed for people coming or going from the town, music from four is a good enticement to have another drink, especially when it’s this good! Last week Jed Potts & Nicole Smit were dishing up the goodies, and I do believe they’ll be back next Saturday at four, sweet!

I suppose I should do the washing up before I head along. It won’t get done when I get back in, that’s for sure, so I’ll bid you adieu.

Adieu!