Farewell 2012, it's been a blast!

It's that time again when Bloggers feel the need, just as I do, to sum up the year! In many ways it is a cathartic process, attempting to remember high and lows and gaining perspective on the calendar year...

So, 2012, this is the year that was:

Events / Gigs / Performances:

1. Paralympic Closing Ceremony. Felt so privileged to have been there. I managed to secure tickets early on having failed in the first round of Olympic ticket sales. At the time the 'buzz' around the whole sporting phenomena hadn't kicked off, so was delighted to get the notification I'd been assigned tickets for a couple of the stadium Athletics events AND the Closing Ceremony. Subsequently it was announced that Coldplay were to take a major part, bonus! Mentioned in my blog post here.


2. Gustavo Dudamel conducting the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela (SBSOV) at the Royal Festival Hall. I have to confess that most Classical Music concerts I've attended I've either been longing to get to the piece in the programme I knew or been longing for them to finish altogether! This was completely the opposite, I was gutted it all seemed to go so fast. The blog post was entitled Gustavo Dudamel, let us be numinous... I'm now absorbed in a biography by Tricia Tunstall: Changing Lives: Gustavo Dudamel, El Sistema, and the Transformative Power of Music. Jonathan Evens and I also discuss the power of El Sistema and the SBSOV in our book The Secret Chord.


3. Hope & Social in the Greenbelt Festival Performance Café. As mentioned elsewhere, this band never fails to uplift, inspire and amuse. Having already played their Greenbelt Mainstage slot earlier that day their relaxed and mischievous close to the schedule in the Performance Café was unforgettable, including snatches of songs from Grease (yes, THAT song!), The Proclaimers and the sax riff from Baker Street. My review of Greenbelt 2012 'Mud, Sweat and Tears'.


4. Emmanuel Jal at the Get the Youth Talking event, Camden. This extraordinary artiste and peace activist needs greater awareness. It was an inspiring event which I wrote up here: Emmanuel Jal - Savvy Peace Soldier...


5. Hope & Social at ADVENTurous, Union Chapel. A second, well deserved entry for H&S in my top five. Set in a totally different acoustic and audience environment they turned in some faultless moments balanced by typical charm and chaos! My hope is to see them continue and thrive in 2013 and beyond, read more in my post, Rolling Sideways here and check out this video of Let's be Bold filmed on the night.

Music:

1. Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball. An extraordinary collection of challenging songs with a prophetic voice throughout. Outstanding track Rocky Ground as above.


2. Hope & Social - All our Dancing Days. Another appearance from this remarkable beat combo... favourite track Let's Be Bold.


3. Athlete - Live at Union Chapel. Live recording of their repertoire in a stripped down format. Every song sounds great with this treatment, their everygreen 'Wires' edges it with the uplifting 'congregational' singing during the Coda...


4. Emmanuel Jal – See me Mama. At the event recorded above I purchased an advance copy of this CD, the final edition includes a remix of his We Want Peace song having enlisted an enthusiastic contribution from none other than Daryl 'DMC' McDaniels (of RUN DMC). Great get up and dance grooves, We Want Peace Re-Loaded video here!

Literature (I've read loads again this year, these are some highlights!):

1. The Thread - Victoria Hislop. Loved The Island, reviewed here, struggled through The Return but found I was completely captivated by The Thread, her latest.


2. Itch - Simon Mayo. Absolutely brilliant yarn, ticks lots of boxes, reviewed here, very much looking forward to the sequel, due out February 2013, which will be called Itch Rocks...


3. The Train in the Night - Nick Coleman. His moving memoir revealing the intimate narrative of how he gradually comes to terms with a terrifying and extreme form of tinnitus. Covered in one of my posts about music here.


4. Mutiny! - Kester Brewin. I confess that Mr Brewin kindly sent me a copy for review of his previous book, Other, a more weighty tome which I've only made about 2/3 of the way through to date and have yet to review. This smaller, self published work I found absolutely fascinating on lots of levels, highly recommended, really gets you thinking. Kester's blog right here...


5. This Time Next Year - Liz Hinds. Another inspiration for my own literary work this year with my buddy Jonathan Evens. I adored this book (albeit a somewhat girlie story!) told in a journal form with a great writing style. Be prepared for extremes of mirth and pathos! Check out Liz's blog here... 


6. The Jesus Discovery - Dr A T Bradford. This was a book my good buddy Ishmael gave me back in 2011, written by a colleague of his, that I  finally read this year. This is effectively a study into the missing years in Jesus' life between around 12 years old until he starts his high profile teaching and miracles at 30 years old. Available direct from here.

Most visited blogposts (taken from Google Analytics):

1. The Art and Christianity Meme - Part One - Artwork 
2. Make love your goal...
3. Athlete's Union Chapel Anthems...
4. Mud, Sweat and Tears - Greenbelt 2012 review...
5. Making me loud and proud - 1980-f
6. In Memoriam, Pete King, missed, never forgotten
7. Wellington Bomber raid October 1941
8. The end of the C of E as we know it...
9. Seven Deadly Social Sins...
10. World War Two aircrew training day one

That about wraps it up! Thanks for your kind comments and all the very best for 2013.

P

Athlete's Union Chapel Anthems...

Athlete are one of those bands that, whilst successful, have not managed to scale the higher strata of music business status despite notable awards and plaudits. Indeed, although there musical output is relatively compact, it is definitely a matter of quality rather than quantity. There anthemic approach to songwriting, recording and their live performances have inspired both loyal fans and appreciative listeners. Their strength relies on producing songs that have intelligent, yet charming, lyrics and memorable melodies that readily induce the Old Grey Whistle effect.

This latest release is a snapshot of the last night of their 2011 'Stripped Down' tour, a subset of the full setlist, but all the songs have that sense of familiarity from airplay and the TV broadcasts of their festival sets. Last night I settled down, donned my headphones on and treated myself to an uninterrupted listen. Unlike many first CD auditions I found myself happily riveted, encapsulated by the mood of the event and, as each song ended, smiling broadly in appreciation.

With a consummate line-up that knows these songs every which way, it is a delight to hear the re-inventions played with such ease and feel. And there is plenty of imaginative re-invention, with drummer Stephen Roberts combining percussion with beat boxes as well as kit. The balance and sound is approached differently, too, yet nothing is out of place or overpowering. Bassman Carey Willetts has a couple of starring parts along with a little out of tune passage, which, of course, makes it all totally authentic!

Singer Joel Potts makes a point of complementing keyboard player Tim Wanstall for his contribution, rightly so, as his playing throughout is sublime (even though there's what sounds like one little fluffette just before Joel's introduction!). The vocals are excellent throughout, too, although I suspect there has been some minor tweaking as I am sure I can hear some harmonies sung by Joel ;-) Mr Potts has one of those singer's voices, very distinct, easily identifiable and the way he phrases the lyrics is special.

The CD album captures those live gig moments, introductions and banter have been left in without detracting from the overall production, the atmosphere builds as they launch into 'Flying Over Bus Stops' gently, then building with a Jónsi-esque 'Grow Til Tall' climax. This is then followed by the closing track, 'that' song, 'Wires'. As per when I enjoyed their set at the Greenbelt Festival in 2009, the song is reprised after the tumultuous applause, culminating in just the 'congregation' singing with gusto and conviction, wonderful!

ATHLETE - LIVE AT UNION CHAPEL will be released on 27th Feb 2012 - purchase direct (as I did!) from Athlete HQ here.

Joel closes his anecdotal sleevenotes with this:

It's pretty nerve wracking playing in such a setting. I mean, everyone sitting in the pews and God is somewhere at the back.

And God saw that it was good... very good...

P

The shuffling first fifteen meme...

 

1) Turn on your MP3 player or music player on your computer.
2) Go to SHUFFLE songs mode.
3) Write down the first 15 songs that come up–song title and artist–NO editing/cheating, please.

1. The boy with no name – Travis
2. Are we alright? - Show of Hands
3. Bring 'em all in - Mike Scott
4. He never said - Martyn Joseph
5. Blood red sky - Seth Lakeman
6. Why does my heart feel so bad? - Moby
7. Superhuman touch - Athlete
8. I grieve - Peter Gabriel
9. Black swan song - Athlete
10. Also Sprach Zarathustra - 2001 Space Odyssey
11. Chasing cars - Snow Patrol
12. You (Live 2008) - After The Fire
13. Somebody told me - The Killers
14. '40' - U2
15. Walking into battle with the Lord - Chumbawamba

I supposed I am slightly puzzled this list is relatively contemporary yet my overall library is substantially more varied Intriguing that over 50% are bands that have played at the Greenbelt Festival over the years...

Thanks for the tag Phil, if you haven't been tagged yet, go for it anyway (that's you, that is!).

We remember them...

.

In 1944 Major John Pott was shot on the battlefield in woods near Arnhem. Struggling to write what he imagined was a final letter to his new wife he was discovered nearly 20 hours later by German troops and subsequently incarcerated for the rest of World War Two in a Prisoner of War camp until released by American in 1945. His grandson, Joel Pott, lead singer of rock band Athlete has penned Black Swan Song which the band will be performing at the Royal British Legion Silence in the Square event on the 11th Nov 2009.

I saw Athlete perform at this year's Greenbelt Festival 2009 and when they performed this song it was one of those special moments when, despite the conflict of emotions the song deals with, you are lifted up to another place. This morning I read the lyrics as a form of Intercession in our Family Service which preceded our main Remembrance Day service.

P