After a month of having a headache, it’s been two days without. Has it all fixed itself? Did the ear drops from the pharmacy work? Was it something else caused by the water being sucked into those sensitive channels? Was it nothing to do with blockage or infection and it just needed time? Let’s hope so because I need to get on with that long list, organising moving the archive, sessions, projects being released and learning the home studio. There’s a lot to do without the added distraction of pain. So if this continues tomorrow and I wake up to the hot Portuguese sun blazing through the crack in the window where the shutter is slightly raised open to let in some air, pain-free, then I’ll be gratefully back to unabashed living and making things happen. Who was it that said, “Death is nature’s way of telling you to slow down”?

I had two seshes and an interview today that all arrived out of nowhere after a domestic day of hoovering, showering and imbibing. Another day where I didn’t get out of the house even though the sky was as blue as bright marbles and the sun was high in the sky warming up the street corners and the outdoor cafes, lovely to sit, relax and watch the world go by. So lucky, so peaceful for us here far away from the war zones and the trouble spots. Both seshes today, first with Craig in Atlanta and then Fred in Minneapolis, were with two guitarist/singers-songwriters who have just bought a Rickenbacker – Craig a rare blue one from the early 2000s and Fred a rare red one from the sixties. Even acoustically there’s that unmissable sound. They’re such beautiful instruments, unique, characterful but not for everybody. They’re special and make you do things that other guitars don’t. They are challenging but when they find their place they are the one and only.

Also tonight I had an interview with Joe Matera in Victoria where we touched on many aspects of the past and the present. We will let you know when that video will be available for viewing. If you check out his site you’ll find some interesting interviews to peruse. On the subject of almost interviews, in ten days time, we will be having the Space Summit – Life This Way listening party. We listen to the whole album with you and then take some questions. We’ve done it before with MOAT’s Poison Stream, see you there. The CD will be released on September 10th and the limited blue vinyl early next year.

ZOOM link for the LISTENING PARTY

Jerome Froese and I had a conversation today about the release of our upcoming album. There will be a whole lot of announcements coming soon about Arktik Lake 12-inch vinyl with four tracks, very limited to 200 aquamarine copies, and Afridi/Willson-Piper which at this stage will be digital-only – all are imminent with Space Summit arriving first. The album I made with Brix Smith, Lost Angeles, is expected in October. I also had a text conversation with our drummer Eddie John today. He plays on the Space Summit record, Noctorum, and MOAT. What I’m hoping for is to see him here in Portugal in the studio working on future projects and why not?

Music today has been the inimitable funky soul and social conscience of Curtis Mayfield after he left the doo-wop, soul and gospel of The Impressions. His sweet voice, catchy tunes, brilliant grooves and warm beating heart are a constant pleasure. His first four solo albums, the classic Curtis (1970), the timeless Move On Up, the classic soul of Roots (1971), the Blaxploitation movie Super Fly (1972) and the anti-Vietnam war album Back To The World (1973). Mayfield continued to make records into the seventies, eighties and nineties until in 1990 there was a terrible accident when a lighting rig fell on him leaving him paralysed. He made one more album after that, another great album, New World Order (1996). It was made in very difficult circumstances with him lying down to sing, sadly he could no longer play guitar. He died in 1999 aged 57.

Music Of The Daze