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Dec 15 2021

TO WHERE I AM NOW

Meeting Fernando and his partner Karen today in the Fumeiro cafe here in the Marquês square. Fernando is a promoter who is originally from Portugal but has been living in America for many years. He’s been in New Haven, Connecticut and he was put in touch with us through Michael Barone who I know from all the gigs he came to over the years and him giving me cool compilation cassettes of his musical finds. Once he even got me an original copy of Badfinger’s Straight Up (1971). So he put Fernando in touch with us because Fernando is here and seriously considering moving back to live in Portugal and we may be able to work with him as a promoter for gigs in this part of the world. We’ll see, but it would be nice to be able to play shows in Portugal and Spain as this is where we live. Is there a demand? Who knows? I remember we used to have quite a crowd in Madrid with the ex-band – but that was decades ago. I was thinking about how the heyday was 1989, more than 30 years ago but I suppose it might be a good thing to have your greatest commercial successes when you are younger. I read about a writer who after years of not being noticed was finally recognised with a major prize for her work as she headed into her seventies. When asked how she felt about the prize, she quipped, “Too late”. Her name escapes me which frankly says it all.

It was warm here today in the middle of December, like 20°C warm. The only thing that gave away that it was winter were the missing and remaining browned leaves on the trees and on the ground. You’d never know we were 10 days from Christmas. Karen had kindly given us some clementines from the north which I passed on to the girls at the pool who were most happy to have them and began eating them straight away – pass on the gift to someone who appreciates it more than you do. I once read that oranges can contribute towards migraines and having had them so badly I gave up oranges overnight. There has been a whole list of things like this from chocolate to red wine, bananas and other scary foods that I have avoided so as not to exacerbate the problem. I’ve recently eaten mild chocolate again, that’s chocolate that’s light on cocoa – chocolate that the Swiss and the Belgians refuse to acknowledge as chocolate, its cocoa content being so low.

The pool was somehow colder today, I asked Sergio, one of the lifeguards, if I was imagining it so he tested the water and told me it was in fact one degree colder than usual. But it was also the room, even though the sun was pouring in, I was cold on my back as I swam. You’d think that 72 lengths would keep you warm but it wasn’t doing so. I left there with the plasters gone from my arms from the jabs and my body telling me that I’d done some serious exercise. I’ve been unable to go there the regular three days in the last weeks – two days closed, a friend in town, booster shot and just busy. Plus the strain in my hands has kept me out of the gym. Although your body remembers (muscle memory) like your hands remember the chords you forgot when you play guitar, you still need to train up.

Music today has been the enigmatic Vanishing Twin and their latest album Ookii Gekkou (2021) which means Big Moonlight in Japanese. It might just be best to quote someone else who remains anonymous to describe who they are:

Beyond the obvious influences of landmark groups like Stereolab, Portishead, and Broadcast, Vanishing Twin marks out its own voice through its meticulous ensemble of deep groove, tonal range, and startling range of sonic textures. If “Age of Immunology” was an immaculate start that promised much, “Ookii Gekkou” is a masterpiece collection of spaces and “zones” (hardly really “songs”) that exemplify the group’s surrealist grasp on structure.

I discovered them after stumbling across their Age Of Immunology album (2019) on one of my musical explorations and I immediately bought it. I will be looking for this new album in Tubitek, the groovy Porto record store. Their first album, Choose Your Own Adventure (2017), still eludes me. This new album has something African something electronic, something cosmic and something psychedelic, what could go wrong?

Music Of The Daze

Written by Marty Willson-Piper · Categorized: Blog

Missing

This is my stolen 1965 Rickenbacker 12-string, serial number EB157. If there's any chance of this guitar coming back to me before I go to meet my maker, then that would be wonderful. Please contact me if you have any information.

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Rockin' the MOAT t-shirt next to the real deal! #m Rockin' the MOAT t-shirt next to the real deal! #moatband #poisonstream 🤘🏰

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Peter Walsh and I getting down at the Heron Tower Peter Walsh and I getting down at the Heron Tower disco 🕺🏻 #heyday
Soundchecking at Birmingham Symphony Hall, 10th Fe Soundchecking at Birmingham Symphony Hall, 10th February, 2001. All About Eve supporting Fairport Convention.

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You usually don’t spend the day in the studio an You usually don’t spend the day in the studio and the night at a gig but if you put the studio next to the gig then there’s a greater chance. So @salimnourallah did just that, he put the gig and the studio next to each other and made it possible for me to spend the day recording and the evening playing live 🎵

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TO WHERE I AM NOW A visit in the studio today fro TO WHERE I AM NOW

A visit in the studio today from old mate Mark Burgess from The Chameleons who has been hanging in Texas recently. I was thinking about the two of us growing up in the northwest of England and all these years later finding ourselves in such an unlikely spot together. We fixed a few issues in the universe and I carried on recording some guitars until Mark had to leave. Mark had played at the Galactic Headquarters next to the studio this year as Olivia and I had four years ago and this reminded me to remind myself to remind everyone to remind their friends that we will be playing there with Salim on Saturday, New Year’s Eve, for the ultimate in intimate performance. You can get tickets here (follow link below).

CONTINUE READING: https://martywillson-piper.com/2022/12/to-where-i-am-now-1045

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TO WHERE I AM NOW Sadness manifested in a buildin TO WHERE I AM NOW

Sadness manifested in a building, today we went to visit Paisley Park. Prince built Paisley Park in Chanhassen, about twenty minutes southwest of Minneapolis. It opened in 1987 and he recorded his later albums there. Apart from Prince, REM also recorded and mixed Out Of Time there, recording Kate Pearson’s vocal on Shiny Happy People vocal. Madonna had Prince play guitar on three songs from Like A Prayer and the two co-wrote Love Song, finishing it remotely due to Madonna not being able to stand the cold weather and the rather desolate location of the studio. Of course, there are things around but it’s not in the city and it’s not in the countryside, it’s in a suburb, no distractions, just what Prince wanted.

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"These are awesome sessions that I highly recommend for guitar players of all levels. Very informative, frank discussions on everything related to guitar and music in general. Definitely a must for anyone pursuing songwriting."
(Stephen G., VA, USA)

"Marty knows how to bypass scales and get to the heart of feel and timing. His musical knowledge spans multiple cultures and genres. Perhaps most importantly, Marty is a cool dude. I highly recommend his guitar guidance." (Jed B., MN, USA)

"Ok, so you’re sitting in your home and Marty is across the world but is actually right here teaching you how to play guitar and write songs. He is a delight to talk to and he is your teacher, meaning he wants to see you get something out of his lessons. You know he’s paying attention and wants to steer you in the right direction. I am so grateful and humbled that he offers his time in this manner. This is an amazing opportunity for anyone who admires anything from his enormous body of work. How often do you get to learn from somebody that inspired you in the first place? Amazing." (Ann S., CA, USA)

Missing

This is my stolen 1965 Rickenbacker 12-string, serial number EB157. If there’s any chance of this guitar coming back to me before I go to meet my maker, then that would be wonderful. Please contact me if you have any information.

11209512_1669022976719710_7288437867089763325_n

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