List : Miranda July

Without really being aware of it i absolutely love making lists i think i would have done a list of favorite Sinatra albums in the last post but i didnt have enough knowledge to make a comprehensive list! So following on from the Paraphilia list am making a project out of lists starting with today's list that came out of my little trip to Shropshire this weekend. My friend Hannah Black lent me a book called 'No One Belongs Here More Than You'. NoOneBelongsHereMoreThanYou

Miranda July is the lady who directed You And Me And Everyone We Know i think she's brilliant, her work is all about being real and positive even if you are not one of those people who finds their live is happening correctly. I often feel like my life is a bit of a struggle and i dont feel particularly lucky most of the time well maybe i am lucky. the point is, like a lot of people i really relate to her characters. i guess things always happen for a reason and Hannah Black was meant to give me that book to read.

here is my first official list

I wrote abit on the back for her a bit of an explanation, i'm feeling really positive and useful at the moment really enjoying not having a job to go too and being skint is quite nice. I got the chance to go Woofing (working on an organic farm) this weekend it was incredible. sue and mike really made it a brilliant trip for me letting me camp in their lovely garden. Sylvia asked me to go and laughed her way through the entire weekend and Hannah was as embarrassed as any teenager would be of her outgoing and talkative mother. i need more trips like that to keep me inspired. i guess i was very lucky this time. Clun was the best summer holiday i have had in years and years! here's the note on the back of the list; my undiluted thoughts at the time of starting the list, i was actually writing in the rain sat in a tent listening to frank sinatra!


we all went to the clun carnival on saturday morning sue even won some prizes for her vegtables and i got up earlier than i have for a long time to walk dogs before breakfast. Sues amazing cooking kept me energized enough to go for a couple of miles walk before i needed any fuel!



I'm really glad Hannah lent me the book; it sometimes takes one thing to trigger a whole series of realizations and one thing leads to another and before you know it you have a whole series of ideas sprouting. Sylvia Black said "Sharing and giving is a woman thing". oh and here is a pretty cool people interview with Miranda July Link

Frank

ive been listening to a lot of frank Sinatra recently i wanted to write a bit about it on here as i think that frank ... Along with a great arranger is a stunning combination. initially i got semi interested in tracking down the 'No One Cares' LP after reading an interesting article about it in a section of a french music mag . cant find the original article now but anyway the magazine section is called 'cover story'.

so, the crack with Sinatra is basically he's done a load of ok albums but only about 5 are really ace. you find 'come fly with me', 'songs for swingin lovers' and the other assorted UP Sinatra records pretty often. The really great LPs are the gloomy rainy ones. 'No one cares' from is my starting point and has some absolutely stunning tracks on it, my favorite being 'Stormy Weather' i always had a soft spot for Mr Sinatra and since watching a documentary on Quincy Jones a few weeks ago i have been hunting down all the albums produced by 'Q' i found 'It Might As Well Be Swing' the other day , thats Sinatra and Basie and Quincy, Sinatra "At the Sands" is a live album with Quincy arranging it and Basie on the piano it has lots of conversational interludes and some jokes by Sinatra just showing how much of a great showman he must have been in his finest years...

The Best two albums in my humble opinion are along side Sinatra's genius (i dont use this word often) arranger Gordon Jenkins. Gordon Jenkins is responsible for 'No One Cares' and also 'Where Are You?'. i have a couple of albums with Nelson Riddle Accompanying Sinatra and although they are gloomy they are not as perfect and lonely as the Gordon Jenkins albums. 'Autumn Leaves'From Where Are You?

Next on my list to track down is the concept album from 1979 with Gordon Jenkins doing the business on the third vinyl 'Future' it looks like its going to be on the same end of the world tip as the other Jenkins albums. I really enjoy listening to this stuff in the rain sat alone in a tent.