Me on a discussion panel with a professional comedian and a prospective Labour MP shouldn't really work, but somehow I managed to come out looking like something more than a complete philistine. You can listen to it here for the next seven days on BBC iplayer. It was a truly odd experience. I'm always tentative about forming opinions on fairly complex issues so i couldn't help but cringe at myself trying to form a conclusive answer on whether the second cabinet should be elected or not. At least I knew more about poetry than anyone else. I guess I'm an introvert. That's my excuse, anyhow. The performances went well, i thought, and they had lots of calls, which both moved me and freaked me out in equal measure. It was recorded and broadcast from the lobby of the Lowry theatre, with members of the general public casually walking in and out, which was pretty bizarre, as was playing the three tunes, for the duration of which the place went funereally quiet.
Shaped By War
I don't know how many of you have registered the posters up for this exhibition, but they left enough of an impression on me that I jumped at the opportunity to rush to the imperial art museum and back in the twenty minutes between finishing doing the BBC broadcast at the Lowry and the engineer finishing packing up his equipment. Its a compelling collection of photographs by photojournalist Don McCullin, often harrowing and very compassionate and brave. Its on until the 13th of June and I'd really recommend going to see it. I'm going to go again this week so I can spend more than ten minutes there. I felt like I only really scratched the surface today. His work is very beautiful, incredibly honest and it explored the subject of war in a way that was very human: one that focused on the experience of fear, loss and grief individuals face rather than anything more abstract. It was very raw and often very difficult to look at, but when its brought home to you how many people have lived through such inconceivably hard times, I feel its of enormous importance that its acknowledged.
First Aid Kit
Klara from first aid kit sent me back the Gram track yesterday, with her and her sister Johanna singing harmonies on it. I'm not sure I'm ready to post it on the blog yet, so there will probably be a period where I figure out what the right thing to do with it is. I was happy with what I did, but when I heard Klara and Joanna's harmonies on it my heart just stopped. I love the way they sing so much. Their intonation and phrasing their visceral sense of creating harmonies is really beautiful. Their Dad mixed it and I was really pleased with his style of production. Very characterful and unusual. I thought it added a lot. Keep your ear to the ground on this one, because I'll do something with it at some point.
You might notice also that I've removed the track as it was before from the blog post below. It was deliberate, I admit it. Remember: deprivation breeds appreciation. And with actively depriving you of something you might enjoy soundly rationalised, I'll leave you.
Thanks for reading. More soon!,
Jo
xo
p.s- There's also another new song I'm in the process of demoing. I'll post it up here when I'm done with it. I'll keep that one up, I swear.
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