Category Archives: Pop Music

Last Christmas

December 28, 2016Death, Pop MusicGeorge Michael, Heaven 17, LGBTQI, Orgreave, Wham!ricky

Every so often, something happens in the world and you can suddenly see the teenage girl inside the fortysomething professional pol.

So after a lovely family Xmas day, this 80s teen is off to bed feeling a bit sad, but listening to this masterpiece pic.twitter.com/tg2OujWLyO

— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) December 26, 2016

Or for that matter, the snarky fortysomething stroke bloke.

Last week’s post on chairs was meant to segue seamlessly into a post this week about a musician who – like chairs – features surprisingly little on the blog yet has a chameleon-like ability to adapt to the times. Then George Michael died.

[Check out the Apoplexy Tiny Letter for more Scottish humour formulated along classic lines.] Continue reading Last Christmas →

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Our Christmas Gift to You

December 12, 2016Birds Fate, Composed Music, Nerd Bait, Pop MusicAlanis Morissette, The Fall, Wet Wet Wetricky

Well, nobody found the Birds Fate Ruins Xmas EP during the past week. Which is hardly surprising, given the story of its creation and deletion. Besides, Prof Paul, Mouthsounds Steph and I have made a point of scouring car boot and stoop sales, second-hand record stores, and record fairs for Birds Fate material for more years than I think any of us care to remember.

It's Broken Mirror or nothing, man. — “Get outta my store, losers!”

But you know how it is with your favourite bands – you don’t listen to them for ages, and then you put ’em on and remember why you loved them in the first place. So it was that the Prof went back to his Birds Fate archive after reading last weeks post.

[More whimsy, more material, more secrets at the Apoplexy Tiny Letter.]

Continue reading Our Christmas Gift to You →

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Birds Fate Ruins Xmas

December 6, 2016Birds Fate, Composed Music, Nerd Bait, Pop MusicCliff Richard, Joan Jett, Sonic Youth, William Hungricky

I’ve just opened the doors on my advent calendars for the sixth of December. “Tobacco” beard oil, a jasmine green tea light ale, and a piece of chocolate bearing the countenance of an appropriately sceptical elf, since you ask.

I swear, I’m not making this up!

He sees when you don't upcycle — You better shop local/Hipster Santa’s coming to town

[For more festive good cheer, sign up for the Apoplectic newsletter.]

Continue reading Birds Fate Ruins Xmas →

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Dark Web

November 21, 2016Mental Health, Nerd Bait, Pop Music, US ElectionsDark Side of The Moon, Eclipse, Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, Syd Barrett, Tom Stoppard, Yankee Stadiumricky

The other day, apropos of something, Prof Paul asked Mouthsounds Steph and I

How well 1-10 do you guys know Dark Side of the Moon? I’m about 12.

That's not a moon – that's a space station — Er, it’s this one, right?

[Read on – it’s not about conflict, greed, the passage of time, and mental illness. Promise!] Continue reading Dark Web →

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The Partisan

November 14, 2016Death, Poetry, Pop Music, US ElectionsJeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen, Lloyd Cole, Phobophobesricky

Let’s just ignore the elephant in the room for a moment, shall we? Yes, for someone who has the ability to speak out against racism and misogyny and homophobia (dons Stroke Bloke hat – or ablism) to choose to stay silent on these matters is the same as condoning them. So let’s be clear – I’m against these things here, in my life, and in my art.

Does that make me a phobophobe?

Help Ricky figure his shit out in the Apoplexy Tiny Letter. Continue reading The Partisan →

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Madness

September 12, 2016EU Referendum, Great British Strokes, Pop Music, Stroke2 Tone, EU Referendum, Madness, Prince Buster, ska, The Specialsricky

The Brexit referendum could have been an invigorating exercise in participatory democracy, addressing important issues about subsidiarity, regulation, and the like. Instead, it was presented as a discussion of a post-Brexit wishlist in which dues no longer payable to the EU could be spent on [insert cause of your choice].

But now, the reformed Vote Leave, called Change Britain, have dropped their pre-referendum pledge of a £350m-a-week spending bonanza for the NHS.

Happy Han-UKIP-ah! GEDDIT?! — “How are we maintaining this bonfire with so few manifesto pages?”

Don’t worry – this post is actually about awesome ska legend Prince Buster… Continue reading Madness →

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Way Too Blue

September 5, 2016Death, Edinburgh, Lists, Pop MusicEdinburgh Blues Club, Howlin' Wolf, Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, Nick Drake, Robbie Hill, Robert Crayricky

Do you know the way to blue? This guy does.

What? The Canadian rapper guy? — Not that one. The other one.

Like Nick Drake, I’ve got to assume that most people who’ve suffered the effects of a stroke – and their loved ones – are familiar with the blues. And some of them may even look out the Blues as a form of therapy. I can’t locate the exact quote, but someone once said

It’s a sad music that makes you feel happy.

So it was that Mrs Stroke Bloke and I went along with a couple of friends to a show put on by the Edinburgh Blues Club on Friday.

[Extra time to waste on Labor Day (US)? Get more apoplexy here.]

Continue reading Way Too Blue →

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A Northern Soul

August 29, 2016Books, Edinburgh, Pop Music, ReviewsEdinburgh International Book Festival, Gerry Loves Records, Johnny Mae Matthews, Linda Jones, Northern Soul, Stuart Cosgrove, Young Soul Rebelsricky

Tonight, the Edinburgh Festival and the Fringe will be over for another year. Once again, the shows I went to see for The Edinburgh Reporter were never less than interesting, and the second half of the month was no less thought-provoking.

In addition to the stuff I mentioned last week, Daniel Kitson at the Traverse was great, and AL Kennedy at the Book Festival was a masterclass on how to take an audience with you when reading off the page.

Put on a proper suit, do up your tie, and sing the Star-Spangled Banner — This year’s recommendation for the NYC apoplectic massive

Blog hero Paul Morley on Bowie didn’t translate well to the inherently conservative milieu of Charlotte Square, but perhaps the most gripping night of August was… Continue reading A Northern Soul →

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Cairnpapple Hill

August 1, 2016Classical Music, Composed Music, Mindfulness, Movies, Politics, Pop Music, Relationships, TravelBob Dylan, Cairnpapple Hill, David Cameron, Day of the Dead, I'm Not There, Morrissey, PM, Shostakovich, Spinal Tap, The Grateful Deadricky

Tiny Letter readers will know that Mrs Stroke Bloke and I visited Cairnpapple Hill in central Scotland last weekend. It was an enlightening trip, in light of last week’s post on ’80s movies. Like Withnail and Marwood, we came across a bull in a field. And turning to an obvious omission pointed out by Atletico Marcelo in the comments, Cairnpapple was the site of a little henge.

Beneath the haunted moon/For fear that daybreak might come too soon — Where the little children danced, no doubt.

Continue reading Cairnpapple Hill →

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Democracy

July 4, 2016Books, Classical Music, EU Referendum, Fiction, Jazz, Mindfulness, Politics, Pop Music, ReviewsDemocracy, Kamasi Washington, Michael Frayn, Willy Brandtricky

Sometimes, it feels like the blog is being hounded by an abstract concept.

Wile E. Coyote takes a break from The Anvil Chorus — Gravity: not just a good idea – it’s the law!

The land, maybe. Or mythical creatures. Or The Onion‘s conception of Joe Biden. Right now, though, it’s something else. Maybe you can guess what?

[Get more whimsy and free gin* at the Apoplexy Tiny Letter.]

Continue reading Democracy →

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Apoplectic Me

the scribblings of a bloke who had a stroke…

Category Archives: Pop Music

Last Christmas

Our Christmas Gift to You

Birds Fate Ruins Xmas

Dark Web

The Partisan

Madness

Way Too Blue

A Northern Soul

Cairnpapple Hill

Democracy