2024 and radio silence

 It's been a bit quiet on Leith Notes for a while - only two posts before this one, the first in February and the last in December.

Leith Notes opened 2024 with the immensely wonderful Josienne Clarke who I'd been waiting for years to see live - I've been listening to her since before Leith Notes existence. I discovered her through my early days streaming music and probably found her more by accident than design. Did finally seeing her play lead to a deep satisfaction that meant no one else could move me to write about my experience of music, politics or the other things I write about here? 

To be fair 2024 has been a tumultuous year at Leith Notes villa. I worked part of the year as campaign manager for a candidate in the General Election and that consumed what free time had, well almost. I did regularly attended gigs and remained enthused by what I was experiencing. Often it was a welcome balm and release from the difficult and fractious political world. The General Election result did not go well for the SNP leading me to redundancy. That and my partner deciding that it was time to train as a teacher meant that there was change all around. Labour said it was change we needed haha.

I hope in the next few weeks to write about the year, the gigs, the politics, the hope, the enjoyment, the stuff that made me start Leith Notes all those years ago. After the ups and downs of 2024 I'll be looking for the discipline of writing to pull me into 2025. As always with a nostalgia for an age yet to come. 

Television Personalities, Cult Figures supported by Big Lanes - Bannerman's Edinburgh December 2024

I'm always a bit wary of revisiting musical inspiration from my twenties (code for late 1970s early 1980s kids). But there can be exceptions and tonight was one of those. There were two bands that I should have seen when I was young and stupid but didn't because well...

Hooked in by a promised appearance of the legendary 'Cult Figures'. I've got their 'Zip Nolan' single from back in the day that thought that was it, 7 seconds of fame and blam they were gone. I think that was the case at the time but they are out there again. Indeed I had a ticket to see them a couple of years ago only to have them enigmatically cancel the gig. Did they really exist? Were they imaginary Cult Figures? Whatever I've still got the flyer for the gig that never happened. As it turns out they are real and produce an infectious sound that's a lot of fun since you're asking. Because there was never an extensive back catalogue their set was mainly relatively new songs including a few recent unreleased tracks, meeting my criteria of moving on. I could have listened to them for longer and thanks to streaming services undoubtedly will. 

Television Personalities were a bit more real in my memory not least for the 'hit' the instantly singalong smash 'Part Time Punks' and an album with a picture of Steed from the Avengers with Twiggy on the cover. This combo was formed and led by Dan Treacy who is not able to tour anymore and entrusts his creations to capable hands who play them with a great amount of warmth, wit, and energy. There was something touching about the current line-ups dedication to keeping the Television Personalities legacy alive and with a good bit of kick. They were joined onstage for a couple of numbers by the garage band legend Lenny Van Helsing probably best known for legendary Edinburgh combo the Thanes. They ended the set with the 'hit' keeping everyone happy. 

It was a great night filling in some gaps in my musical memories.

Shout out too for the opening act Big Lanes who hail from a more recent vintage and produce a guitar drenched pop sound that is well worth catching.     

Josienne Clarke at the Hug & Pint - a story of storms, sad songs and the reasons for the same

 

You wait for a singer to play somewhere near you and they set a date and of course you get your ticket. The much anticipated day arrives but the weather makes you think twice. It's really bad, though maybe you're a wuss. You decide not to go. And that could have been the end of this story. But then this happened - the singer posts on social media that she's arrived in Glasgow after a ferry journey from Bute and a drive through awful weather - she did write a song titled '(Learning to Sail) In All Weather' after all.

So that profound challenge and an obvious change in the weather saw me depart westwards for the customary getting lost within yards of the venue followed by a chickpea korma with my friend Stewart before the show I was there ready to see Josienne Clarke after years of listening to her music and the occasional interaction on social media.

 Alone centre stage Josienne held the audience in the palm of her hand. Despite a new album in the offing there was only one new song, the rest of the set spanned a selection from across her career. And what a a body of work from an artist who writes lines like 'make your peace with failure/a lesson that you learned' and 'you sing and play and make things/for that is all you can do'. These lines come from 'Chicago' a song born of the disaster of turning up in that fabled city to play in an empty venue.

As a self declared miserabilist Josienne Clarke shows she also has a sense of humour with her between song banter and introductions. She frets that her sad songs are doing no good and might be making sad people sadder. That's probably a subject to discuss in a thesis but the evidence tonight would seem to counter that view as it appeared that these sad songs sung so beautifully made us, the audience, happy.

And there is the essence - the answer to the question do we need music, especially sad songs. Thank you Josienne the wait and the journey to hear you was worth it. More sad songs? Yes please.

https://josienneclarke.bandcamp.com/

Chicago Sun Times Melancholy is a Vocation in Itself