Interesting.

Actually i read a good thing on a fbk page today and fleetingly considered  forwarding it to you but  it was long and i wasn't sure it'd be.of interest. It could have been titled  'why so many vinyl re issues sound ****' but it wasn't.   And the problem isn't confined to reissues.

Online today, in fact.  £60 or so.  Depends how much value you put on the time you spent queueing I guess.  

Fwiw, I actually bought my first vinyl in years the other day (because the band I wanted to hear/own don't have product in any other form - Fflaps, a Cymraeg band)

I got my Strawbs LP, but  this year that was the only thing i succeeded in purchasing on the day.  Online tomorrow, then.

Did anyone else- gasp -  buy a record?  I still find it fun.

Yes, the  list is long - Mr Bowie, Mr Page,  and many others , some of whom were never convicted of anything,  but  one wonders.
I loved John Martyn, in particular, many years before  his awful  behaviour became common knowledge.  I can still listen to  his music,  but there's a distance there which wasn't there before.  I tell myself human beings are complex and imperfect, and there are a handful of things about myself  and what that self has done, of which  i am not proud.

Nice piece on FB from Sid Griffin.  Poor doggie...

Back to Moya Brennan/ Máire ní Bhraonáin... it's brought it home to me how in a small country like Ireland "national treasures" can really be treated as such. RTE News channel broadcast the entire live feed of Moya's funeral from start to finish. And though I haven't a religious bone in my body I found it quite beautiful. No showbiz, no sparkle, just a simple ceremony in a small local chapel.
Yes there were a few big names (U2), but the vast majority were just the local community and friends and family. The music was beautiful but low key, the local choir and musicians singing beautiful renditions of Moya's songs. Daniel and Majella O'D! sang a religious duet and the emotion in Daniel's face was palpable. Similarly with Mairéad ní Mhaonaigh (Altan) - they were singing not to an audience but for a true friend and one of their own community.
The priest found the perfect balance between religion and celebration, while floating effortlessly and seamlessly between English and Irish languages (as indeed did Moya and Clannad).
The image of the seldom-seen Enya there, not as a star but simply as a woman mourning her big sister taken too soon, taking comfort in the embrace of her own community, was heartwarming.
So, sorry for the long ramble but it touched me and made this exiled English folkie quietly proud of the corner of Ireland I've made my home for the last 44 years .

A slight tangent but a conversation I’ve had with friends over the years……can you split the artist from the work.
I love the music of Wagner but his political views are appalling.
I love the poetry of Philip Larkin but his personal views are unconscionable.
My kids loved the books of Roald  Dahl , I was reading them to my grandkids a couple of weeks ago but his views are also reprehensible.
A friend loves the music of Morrissey and follows him from gig to gig. I find Morrisseys political views repugnant but my friend, the most liberal and gentle of men, can seperate man from performance.
I loved the music of John Martyn but his behaviour in his personal life was awful.
Some of Kershaws private life is a dark place but his enthusiasm for music and later particularly world music introduced me to a lot of music I probably  have found.

So I do split man from art but sometimes it is a difficult gymnastic act.

 There's a question of degree here. Where do you draw the line? Everyone has their own line, I''ve no doubt.

I was talking to Mrs B about Andy last night and she observed how on the Isle of Man they will give out custodial sentences at the drop of a hat, bit like in the Falkland Islands. So it's quite likely that if the offence had happened on the mainland Andy would probably have got a suspended sentence or had to do work in the community. But anyway, he did his time and I'd rather focus on the music he introduced to so many people via his radio work.

I for one will always remember him as the guy who brought Ted Hawkins over to the UK. Seeing Ted in concert was one of the most incredible night's music I've ever witnessed.

It gets easier to do that. Think about your own shortcomings, then think how you'd feel if they came to define you.

Jules