Things I watched, listened to and read this week #9
A film
On my way to a Guitar Social retreat in the Lake District, I called home for a couple of days. Home is Bradford. With an afternoon to spare, I took my mum into Leeds to see Spider-Man. We got there late, bought everything that was on offer because it's a Marvel film and that's just what one should do at a Marvel screening, and then made our way to our seats somewhere at the back, in the dark. I was scared she was stressed, maybe not able to see as we climbed the stairs carrying a huge popcorn and a Diet Coke twice the size of her head, and that the whole idea was a bad one. Why do this when she could be at home watching Gardeners world? Throughout the whole thing, I was worried that maybe the days of me and my mum dashing around town were a thing of the past. When the credits rolled, I asked her what she thought. She loved it. As did I. Like my mum, the Spider-Man franchise remains ever young.
Albums
The Strokes have a new album out. Produced by Rick Rubin and featuring some divisive Auto-Tune, but more importantly, a collection of fun-tunes for your summer. Also out today, Ariana Grande’s new album Petal, and it’s a good one. I first developed the music tastes of a 12-year-old girl when Spotify fed me the opening track to Dangerous Woman from the same-titled album by the same artist. For a moment, it shook me. What was this old soul song I hadn't heard before? I went to Google, and much to my surprise, it turns out the song was brand bloody new! At the time, I was probably listening to Captain Beefheart or something, unaware that there was a whole world of pop music waiting, a type of music I would fall in love with every bit as hard as I did with guitar music in the early 90's. Ariana Grande blew the dust off of my music tastes and I have had a spring in my step ever since, so good one, Grande, and of course, the album is all you would expect from pop royalty.
Something I watched
One night last week, delaying sleep on YouTube, I stumbled across the best Tiny Desk, but also one of the most apparent testaments of an individual’s genius I have ever seen.
Please watch this. Especially if you are sceptical of dance or electronic music. Much like when Ariana Grande blasted the doors open for me onto the world of pop, this astonishing, awe-inspiring performance might induce a pivot upon your auditory taste buds.
A book?
Finally, I didn't read anything this week other than hiking maps, recipes and booking spreadsheets. It's retreat season. Really hopeful I can some reading in in the next seven days.