Murder Most Foul

A combination of chopped-up newsreel and fever dream, “Murder Most Foul” is Bob Dylan’s most striking piece of work in years. This is the author of “Desolation Row” populating a 17-minute song with a lifetime of remembered cultural fragments, zooming out and panning back and forth from the single pivotal event of the Kennedy assassination, plucking references out of the heavy air.

An eloquent introduction by Richard Williams from just over a year ago. Read the rest of it here – thebluemoment.com.

Frames of reference

Subterranean Homesick Blues

The song was used in one of the first “modern” promotional film clips, the forerunner of what was later known as the music video… The original clip was the opening segment of D. A. Pennebaker’s film Dont Look Back, a documentary on Dylan’s 1965 tour of England. In the film, Dylan, who came up with the idea, holds up cue cards with selected words and phrases from the lyrics. The cue cards were written by Donovan, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Neuwirth and Dylan himself. While staring at the camera, he flips the cards as the song plays… The clip was shot in an alley close to the Savoy Hotel in London. Ginsberg and Neuwirth are briefly visible in the background.Subterranean Homesick Blues

Frames of reference

Chasing Shadows

We’d been told to stay indoors and not go out, except for exercise and if so to stay two metres apart, breathe fresh air, think separate thoughts and cast our own shadows. Stay safe, take care and not go viral. It was the sunniest Sunday I’d seen in ages, the car parks of Epping Forest were overflowing, all of us fleeing the city to escape the epidemic. That’s how it felt, as if there was protection here. Continue reading “Chasing Shadows”

Frames of reference

Fonte Ciane

Two days on the island was playing tricks with my head. Maybe it was the heat. But for our first outing we escaped the endless tourist stroll around the streets of Ortigia and headed for Fonte Ciane, and the promise of a gentle walk upstream along the banks of the river to its source. No more aimless wandering, now we had a goal, what could be more simple? The directions were straightforward, it was listed in all the guidebooks, we crossed over to the mainland and followed the signs. Continue reading “Fonte Ciane”

Frames of reference

A Christmas Album

Matt Wilson’s Christmas Tree-O: NPR Tiny Desk Concert

A seasonal selection of festive favourites, all of which have appeared on our Twitter feed in recent weeks. Please be sure to retweet your favourites by following the links. Continue reading “A Christmas Album”

Frames of reference

Parkland Walk

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This is Finsbury Park Cycle Park on Stroud Green Road, London N4. It’s also the gateway to the Parkland Walk, a four and a half mile stretch of former railway line from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace and London’s longest local nature reserve. Continue reading “Parkland Walk”

Frames of reference