For four years, I wondered if I was the only person on the planet with a tie-dyed suitcase. It have taken it with me on tour with Isildurs Bane in the US, Canada, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Italy. I have looked at airports in these and other countries, but nowhere have I seen a suitcase like mine. Which is fine, because I can find my Carlton case at once on conveyor belts, luggage racks and in lounges all over the world.
Then, all of a sudden, I spotted one while waiting for a bus in Malmo during a snow storm only a month ago. And today, I saw yet another while sitting on the train to Halmstad. So to sum up: not a single sighting for more than three years, and then all of a sudden two tie-dyed suitcases appear out of the blue.
In Halmstad, Mats and myself had a good meeting with LE of the local council. We discussed planned IB activities for 2006 in Halmstad and agreed that we will do three projects in alliance with the local council:
1) Workshops in the autumn
2) Music at the inauguration of the library in Halmstad on April 22
3) IB Expo 2006
Mats has rediscovered Yes, and we listened to some of the old stuff: Fragile, Close to the Edge, Relayer, Yessongs and The Yes Album. I suggested to Mats that one thing that separates a good prog band from a bad one is if the music swings, grooves or whatever you want to call it. You can tap your foot to Bill Bruford but hardly to Mick Pointer. Also discussed which CDs I am to bring to the Gouveia Art Rock festival at the beginning of April. I was there last year, met nice people and sold lots of DVDs and CDs. It will be great to go back!
Mats played me some of Mariette's songs he has added his magic keyboard touches to. I wasn't too impressed, but I will wait and see what they sould like when they're finished. A lot can happen between the demo stage and the end product.
After a while, Mats discovered that he needed a power supply for his computer and phoned Jonas, since he has the same computer. Jonas appeared after finishing his sushi and joined the Yes discussions. Jonas has now moved most of his recording activities to his flat since he bought a laptop a few months ago. On the other hand, Mats has moved some of his gear from his Ataraxia studio, because it is too cold during the winter and also because his son Xerxes has moved into the Ataraxia premises.
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One of James Brown's best known songs, Papa's got a Brand New Bag is quite a funky little number, one of Brown's first really funky songs based mostly on one chord. I have heard many unfortunate covers of this track, but no cover has even come close. It's like they don't get the main features: the grooves, the sounds, the grain of Brown's voice. Ain't it funky now?
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NP: Mick Karn - More Better Different
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