Having a shower when the boiler breaks down is one of life’s little inconveniences. But, as we have phones and repairmen and women who are willing to come out at a moment’s notice (unless you’re a plumber) we can fix things fast. Of course what we really need is mind fixers, people who come out straight away and fix your emotional problems. “Hello, is that the mind-fixer hotline? We have a situation here, one of our family is being traumatised by the loss of their pet goldfish. Could you send over an empathetic representative to help them through this difficult period?” or, “I lost my job, I need an enthusiasm agent to reassure me that everything will be ok” – “Certainly sir, we’ll have someone over within the hour”. Perhaps our most pressing need is to learn how to take life’s unpredictable turns into positive areas. I suppose getting the truth from people in power would be a start, reality is better than false hopes and disappointments.

So, the men were downstairs finishing up. “Can I take a shower?” – “Sure, it’s working now”. I went upstairs and opened the bathroom door. I undressed and stepped into the bathtub/shower. I turned on the tap and waited for the water to warm up (remember, it’s autumn here). I stood there for a little while, the water was ice-cold. I stood there a little longer – the water was ice-cold, you get the picture. So I stepped out of the tub, put the plug in and proceeded to slightly fill the bath. My theory was that it would be more bearable to wash my hair that way than standing under the arctic pneumonia option. So then I came up with the great idea of the kettle. Olivia made a couple of trips to the kitchen for me. In the meantime, I washed my hair in the cold water. In the end, a bit of boiling water made the ice-cold water lukewarm. We are privileged, we have everything when we think we have nothing. Hot water is a luxury – or am I just from up north?

Thanks to sessioneer Brian in Orlando who just sent me a FedEx package with two Connells albums, a brand new copy of Donovan’s Hurdy Gurdy Man and an original copy of Jon Anderson’s first solo album Olias Of Sunhillow. Thank you, Brian. I very much appreciate these donations to the archive and for a moment there I thought I heard the archive purr. One day, perhaps in 2099 and onwards, presuming that my future ancestors can maintain the rent for the building the archive happens to be in, I’m sure the future world will be glad of this collection. I’m also looking forward to the addition of records made by musicians who are not yet born or even albums made by musicians who are already making records and will continue to long after I am gone, I’ve said this before but I’m looking forward to the archive receiving FKA Twig’s tenth album, sadly, I won’t be here to hear it.

I spoke to new sessioneer Malcolm in Sydney today. We had a great talk about it all but one thing that came up was this thing about who your posts get to on Facebook. For example, Malcolm found the Songwriting & Guitar Guidance sessions but had no idea about the ongoing MOAT Poison Stream campaign. So if anybody out there feels like sharing our campaign with their friends and on their own sites, we would very much appreciate it as we hover around 50% of the goal with less than a month to go.

MOAT – Poison Stream Preorder Campaign

Last but not least, it was grim out there today, low clouds, some kind of haze in the air, raining on and off. It was at least warmish, no wind and the only signs of life were bowed heads and shuffling feet, people wrapped up in dull windjammers and macs, shielding their faces from the spotted rain. We saw one scared cat on the street and heard the distant sound of chattering birds but even the pigeons were missing. Dogs were being walked by the owners but you could see on their faces that they weren’t so happy trudging along the wet concrete. “Seasons change and rearrange the textures in the trees, then you arrive like bright sunlight and bring me to my knees” from The Folly by MOAT on the album Poison Stream, available on the mind-fixer hotline.

Music today comes from a CD I got through the post today (with a lovely note). It was Lou Rhodes, lead singer from Lamb’s last solo album with the strange title Theyesandeye. It was released in 2016 and is something of a moody masterpiece, one part folky, one part contemporary, melodic and always exquisitely sung. There’s something Marianne Faithful about her voice and I get the feeling that there’s a lot of people out there that would love this but simply aren’t aware of it – now’s your chance.

Songs Of The Daze