I’d moved Bob in Boston’s sesh from last week to this week but forgot to adjust the time for an hour later in the wake of the US time change. So that meant I got up an hour earlier than I needed to, tragic. I whiled away the time by watching a show on Discovery+ about restoring old bikes and steam engines as you do until the sesh proper. I was done in time to leave for the second appointment of the day – the doctor. That place where prudence tells you that regular visits and checks might just save you from the frightening ‘too late’ scenario. Having said that Olivia’s aunty is 104 in nine days, some people are just indestructible.

Everything is fine except some preventative cholesterol tablets (statins) and aspirin are prescribed, which are supposed to keep your blood thin and are safeguards. You seize up as you’re reelin’ in the years, muscles become more rigid, bones wear out, organs need help and swimming might be one route to longevity. The doctor was impressed by my 39 years as a non-meat-eater, a non-drinker and a non-smoker. I wonder if he was as impressed by my commitment to buying vinyl. As you know, I’m sure that’s something that keeps me alive.

It was pouring with rain all day and getting to the doctor’s office and back home was ugly. Olivia’s trousers were soaked at the bottom, but as the only bloke in shorts in Porto today, that wasn’t a problem for me. I’m just not cold, it seems that I’m the hottest-blooded creature in the street. Everyone else is wrapped up in jackets and scarves, layers, but rain doesn’t mean cold and I’m just not feeling it. I’ve lived in Sweden, I know what cold is.

The Archive was sent a nice surprise addition to the collection today – a compilation CD of Japanese garage bands from the sixties. So thank you to JG Palmer at Newsstand. It was too wet to hit the record store today as the rain continued to fall. Across the street, a drain problem had the café worried as water was building up and the ladies of the day were all cramped in their doorway. A river was forming below the kerb and once we were in, we locked the gate and as far as I was concerned, I wouldn’t be going out again. Olivia then surprised me by coming into the room dressed in yoga gear and she was out again risking the elements. When she returned, she said that only two people showed up.

Music today has been Julia Holter’s debut album for Domino Records, Loud City Song (2013). Wonderfully strange and catchy at the same time. This is only the second album I have explored by her after Have You in My Wilderness (2015). In 2018, she released Aviary and she has a new album in 2023 called Behind the Wallpaper with classical composer Alex Temple and the Spektral Quartet. I also need to investigate her pre-Domino releases, which I’m sure will be intriguing.

Music Of The Daze