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Let other pens dwell on pain and dentistry...
In any case, 'pain' would be overstating it. I spent 40 minutes with the dentist this morning, preparing for a crown to be fitted on a tooth that is broken beyond repair, and that's not a pleasant way to start the week, but I lay there and thought about Matin Simpson at the Sage last night, and I got through it.
The Sage billed the show as 'The Martin Simpson Trio'; that's Andy Seward on bass, Andy Cutting on melodion, and Martin Simpson on a variety of guitars and banjos. I hadn't heard this line-up before, and wasn't sure what to expect -
Well, it's been a while since we've heard Martin Simpson. Once we wouldn't have missed a chance to hear him play, have travelled silly distances and gone to ridiculous lengths to catch a show, and felt it was well worth while. Then there was a period when his playing was technically as stunning as ever, but what had always made him really special was the emotional intensity he somehow channelled through that extraordinary musical precision. He seemed mellower, more laid back, and it was hard to begrudge him that, but I felt there was something missing. Others disagreed: this was the period when he was winning praise and exposure for his song Never Any Good (which I've just seen described as "fast becoming Martin Simpson's Strets of London" - well, yes). He's a great interpreter, and makes any song he performs sound good, but I think his own song-writing is - oh, not terrible, but mostly not quite there. Interesting anecdotes and fragments of his own life and other people's, but you know when you're doing a jigsaw, and the picture's all there, there are only a couple of pices missing, but somehow when you add the last piece it all looks completely different? I don't know what that last piece is, but when he finds it, his songs will be completely different.
I'm delighted to report that our trial separation has worked wonders, and some of the old magic has returned to our relationship. The mix gave more prominence to the bass than I would have expected, and less to the melodeon, and the result was a very full and rich sound, with lots of impact but which didn't drown the guitar. YouTube has their version of The Lakes of Ponchartrain, which sounds as if they arranged it sometime in the 1950s in the hope that Elvis would sing it. And Martin Simpson's website offers a video of his version of Sir Patrick Spens, which is good, but the trio version last night was better, tighter.
I don't think it's going to be as long until the next time we see him.
In any case, 'pain' would be overstating it. I spent 40 minutes with the dentist this morning, preparing for a crown to be fitted on a tooth that is broken beyond repair, and that's not a pleasant way to start the week, but I lay there and thought about Matin Simpson at the Sage last night, and I got through it.
The Sage billed the show as 'The Martin Simpson Trio'; that's Andy Seward on bass, Andy Cutting on melodion, and Martin Simpson on a variety of guitars and banjos. I hadn't heard this line-up before, and wasn't sure what to expect -
Well, it's been a while since we've heard Martin Simpson. Once we wouldn't have missed a chance to hear him play, have travelled silly distances and gone to ridiculous lengths to catch a show, and felt it was well worth while. Then there was a period when his playing was technically as stunning as ever, but what had always made him really special was the emotional intensity he somehow channelled through that extraordinary musical precision. He seemed mellower, more laid back, and it was hard to begrudge him that, but I felt there was something missing. Others disagreed: this was the period when he was winning praise and exposure for his song Never Any Good (which I've just seen described as "fast becoming Martin Simpson's Strets of London" - well, yes). He's a great interpreter, and makes any song he performs sound good, but I think his own song-writing is - oh, not terrible, but mostly not quite there. Interesting anecdotes and fragments of his own life and other people's, but you know when you're doing a jigsaw, and the picture's all there, there are only a couple of pices missing, but somehow when you add the last piece it all looks completely different? I don't know what that last piece is, but when he finds it, his songs will be completely different.
I'm delighted to report that our trial separation has worked wonders, and some of the old magic has returned to our relationship. The mix gave more prominence to the bass than I would have expected, and less to the melodeon, and the result was a very full and rich sound, with lots of impact but which didn't drown the guitar. YouTube has their version of The Lakes of Ponchartrain, which sounds as if they arranged it sometime in the 1950s in the hope that Elvis would sing it. And Martin Simpson's website offers a video of his version of Sir Patrick Spens, which is good, but the trio version last night was better, tighter.
I don't think it's going to be as long until the next time we see him.
