B & Q?

I’ve got some time off work soon and I am keenly looking forward to a break. Out in the real world, fellows are planning DIY jobs and a touch of car maintenance for the hols; in my world, I’m working out what to read and what new sounds to cotton onto. I like it my way. I’ve actually just started to read David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars and I’m already appreciating its measured and intelligent prose, gently sustained tension and array of closely observed characters. It appears to be a courtroom drama with some very effective flashbacks lending the varied events a deal of depth. I smell quality.

I’m quite interested in Astronomy for Dogs, the new album by The Aliens. The reviews have been generally excellent and the former members of the marvellous Beta Band appear to have regained a decent amount of form. I’ve also added a few folk albums to my Amazon wishlist. With Starless and Bible Black, Vetiver and Tunng playing the Green Man, I want to hear some of their stuff. I’ve also been leafing through last December’s Mojo which lists dozens of epoch-making folk long players and have added a couple of albums from the 1970s by Trees and Clive Palmer.