the high wire are still recording
(captain oates’ final words?)
i may be some time

this is definitely not a garage record
(he didn’t say that)

here are some songs that made 2011 better

sandro perri – changes
i don’t understand it at all, how can it move so much and still
work and what the hell? it is just surely great and beautiful
listen

the war on drugs – best night
a song with a perfect melody sung perfectly
listen

drake – headlines
not really sure i’ve ever listened to what drake’s singing about, but just love that this this manages to be an r & b track that kind of sounds like the rip by portishead with some extra strings and things. i like it, ok?
listen

the horrors – still life
it’s completely obvious, just descending, and it’s just like too many other songs and it’s simple fucking minds! why do i love it so much and keep it on repeat?
listen

tUnE-yArDs – powa
i really know nothing about tune-yards, just this song. but am happy to say, god, well done for making people this talented
listen

girls – vomit
like something off afghan whigs black love. so emotional at the start that when the choir come in at the end you want to thank them for coming to help
listen


some good words part 4

sixteen years
sixteen banners united over the field
where the good shepherd grieves
desperate men, desperate women divided
spreading their wings ‘neath falling leaves.

fortune calls
i stepped forth from the shadows to the marketplace
merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down
she’s smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born
on midsummer’s eve near the tower.

the cold-blooded moon
the captain waits above the celebration
sending his thoughts to a beloved maid
whose ebony face is beyond communication
the captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid.

they shaved her head
she was torn between jupiter and apollo
a messenger arrived with a black nightingale
i seen her on the stairs and i couldn’t help but follow
follow her down past the fountain where they lifted her veil.

i stumbled to my feet
i rode past destruction in the ditches
with the stitches still mending beneath a heart-shaped tattoo
renegade priests and treacherous young witches
were handing out the flowers that i’d given to you.

the palace of mirrors
where dog soldiers are reflected
the endless road and the wailing of chimes
the empty rooms where her memory is protected
where the angel’s voices whisper to the souls of previous times.

she wakes him up
forty-eight hours later the sun is breaking
near broken chains, mountain laurel and rolling rocks
she’s begging to know what measures he now will be taking
he’s pulling her down and she’s clutching on to his long golden locks.
gentlemen, he said I don’t need your organisation, i’ve shined your shoes
i’ve moved your mountains and marked your cards
but eden is burning either brace yourself for elimination
or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards.

peace will come
with tranquillity and splendor on the wheels of fire
but will bring us no reward when her false idols fall
and cruel death surrenders with it’s pale ghost retreating
between the king and the queen of swords.

the changing of the guards – bob dylan

happy new year

the high wire x

the latest album ultrasound is the
first to to have recognisable features
(it’s a girl)

there’s a lot of singing going on right now
drums, bass and keyboards are kind of done
guitars at the ready…

several things have conspired to briefly halt
progress over the last couple of months
(illness, the need to earn money…)
but the most enjoyable forced recess
was having to go to new york last week

we first played there a couple of years ago for CMJ
and the show at the Delancey was our favourite gig ever
(though Lex might not remember it too well
after resorting to heroin to cure the pain of a broken spine)

we fell crazy in love with the city and the people

here are some songs, snippets and stuff to try to bring back
some tastes, smells, sights and sounds of nyc

films

midnight cowboy

summer of sam

american gangster

ghostbusters

eating / drinking
(sorry this may get a bit michael winner for a mo)

bubbys

hudson & north moore. oh fuck i could eat here every day of my (what would be probably well shortened) life and become v fat and v happy. each morning the friend i was staying with would go to to the gym to work out and i would go to bubbys to work my way through the breakfast menu.
and sonic youth were there too, so.

corner bistro

jane & west 4th. the best jukebox & the greatest burgers… put on some creedence clearwater revival, drink a few mcsorleys, have a cheese burger and try to even start arguing that americans don’t have it all figured out

little branch

20 7th ave south. this place mixed the most perfect drinks any of us have ever had (may i recommend an island old fashioned), had totally cool staff, played live jazz and just thinking of it makes me want to booze. all night.

soundtrack

venus – television

across 110th street – bobby womack

53rd and 3rd – ramones

chelsea girls – nico

slide – luna

ludlow st – julian casablancas

visions of johanna – bob dylan

holland tunnel – john phillips

some good words part 3

well I got a job and I tried to put my money away
but I got debts that no honest man can pay
so I drew what I had from the central trust
and I bought us two tickets on that coast city bus
well now everything dies baby that’s a fact
but maybe everything that dies someday comes back
put your make up on fix your hair real pretty
and meet me tonight in atlantic city
well our luck may have died and our love may be cold
but with you forever I’ll stay
we’re going out where the sand’s turning to gold
put on your stockings baby cos the night’s getting cold
atlantic city – bruce springsteen

I’d really like to live beside you, baby
I love your body and your spirit and your clothes
But you see that line there moving through the station?
I told you, I told you, told you, I was one of those
Ah you loved me as a loser, but now you’re worried that I just might win
You know the way to stop me, but you don’t have the discipline
How many nights I prayed for this, to let my work begin
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin
I don’t like your fashion business mister
And I don’t like these drugs that keep you thin
I don’t like what happened to my sister
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin
leonard cohen – first we take manhattan

I just wish my life could be as strange as a conspiracy
I hold out home but there’s no way of being what I want to be
The dragons blow fire angels fly spirits wither in the air
I’m just me I can’t deny I’m neither here, there nor anywhere
Oh you should see my trail of disgrace
It’s enough to scare the whole human race
I said, oh you should see my trail of disgrace
It’s enough to scare the whole human race, yeah, eminence
primitive painters – felt

the high wire x

the high wire
are now one month into recording
a new album

passing the time by

playing to death

funkadelic – maggot brain

oh! gunquit – http://ohgunquit.bandcamp.com

gram parsons – gp

getting addicted to

seven fathoms rum
boylan black cherry

clicking refresh repeatedly
to follow

andrew strauss
alastair cook
jonathan trott
kevin pietersen
ian bell
eoin morgan
matt prior
stuart broad
graeme swann
chris tremlett
james anderson

loving

leather – http://jocksandnerdsmagazine.com

hipstamatic

and putting on tape

some vocals

drums

and bass

some good words pt 2 

where are you going to I don’t mind
if I live too long I’m afraid I’ll die
so I will follow you wherever you go
if your offered hand is still open to me
strangers on this road we are on
we are not two we are one
so you’ve been where I’ve just come
from the land that brings losers on
so we will share this road we walk
and mind our mouths and beware our talk
til peace we find tell you what I’ll do
all the things I own I will share with you
if I feel tomorrow like I feel today
we’ll take what we want and give the rest away
strangers on this road we are on
we are not two we are one
strangers – the kinks

you were born on a black day
shot through with starlight
and all the angels singing
just about got it right
cut through with silver
goodness in heaven knows
dunno where we’re going
god bless your soul
baby you set my soul on fire
I got two little arms to hold on tight
and I wanna take it higher
baby you never should say never
I got a hurricane inside my veins
and I wanna stay forever
soul on fire – spiritualized

the best song will never get sung
the best laugh never leaves your lungs
so good you won’t ever know
you can’t hear it on the radio
you can’t hear it on the radio
late greats – wilco

the high wire x

this week the high wire started work on a new album
in a small room
at the top of a studio
called the beehive

it is based on 12 demos recorded over the past few months
whilst writing and recording the demos the high wire have been

listening to
the go betweens
klf
animal collective
plush
guided by voices
lcd soundsystem
shuggie otis
kanye west
fleet foxes
neu!
gorillaz
dennis wilson
bert jansch
inxs
cornershop
pavement

reading
rob young, electric eden
micheal moorcock, the final program
stefan zweig, the world of yesterday
iain sinclair, lights out for the territory
dean wareham, black postcards
sketches by boz
the adventures of sherlock holmes

looking at
london – from parliament hill / the top deck of the 24 / paramount
(worth the telling off for looking too scruffy)

the isokon building

walking
the grand union canal – kings cross, st pancras old church, camley st natural park, the constitution and the engineer (gardens), regents pk……. paddington

drinking
espresso
zacapa 23
anchor steam
god lager
corona in cans (on some faraway beach)

eating
fizzy cherry cola gums

and watching
all watched over by machines of loving grace

eddie izzard dvds

some good words pt 1

all the while
in tribes i played
survived and prayed to be free
delivered sermons to the sea
for the girls of wild strawberries
girls of wild strawberries – guided by voices

my eyes are seeing twice
once for every expectation
and once for what i realise
but i know if you sell your soul to brighten your role
you might be disappointed in the lights
some misunderstanding – gene clark

for now we are young
let us lay in the sun
and count every beautiful thing we can see
love to be in the arms of all i’m keeping here with me
in the aeroplane over the sea – neutral milk hotel

the high wire x