Tu Materia Sanctitatis Que deo Placuit
Welcome
once again to another round of festive fun from your favourite fab foursome.
Yes folks! The season is upon us, and with it comes much of good cheer
from the camp of Blyth, from whence came that last full and frank missive
announcing the onset of a great blanket of temporarily enforced inertia
on the part of the band’s constituent parts, most of whom are concerning
themselves these days with matters of husbandry. Just when you thought
we had finally rolled over and gone to sleep for a few years too.
If you want to know what we are alluding to, you will have to read on,
because the most important item on the agenda, which simply must be dealt
with before we proceed with the innuendo, falsehoods, fabricataions and
fairytales, is of course the caption competition, which no doubt you all
guessed instantaneously. If you didn’t then shame be upon you and
all your houses, as it was of course The Astronauts, who pre-date even
Blyth Power, and whose company we have kept sporadically over the years.
Anyone not familiar with the works of Mr. Mark Astronaut should get themselves
an earful of his delightful tunes at the earliest opportunity.
This time round we have moved a little further away from the mainstream
than usual, but we are sure you will all recognise it immediately. Hurrah!
Deus Enim Rorem In Illas Misit De Quo Multiplex Fama Crevit
So let’s have a quick look at what’s happening on the live
music front. As promised it won’t be a great deal, but first and
foremost there will be a chance to see the full band at the Victoria in
Derby on Thursday 15th December. Please note – this is the only
scheduled band show before Tallington at the moment, private parties excepted.
Support will be from Chris Butler, but the usual bit in the middle from
Eastfield won’t be happening this time round, as we wanted to make
sure Blyth play an extra long set.
An early opportunity to be serenaded by Mr Astronaut will come in February,
should you choose to present yourself at one of the performances currently
planned featuring Mr Steve Lake, Mr Astronaut and Red Wedding. Early days
so far, but it seems to be coming together, and lovers of intelligent
acoustic music – and the works of Messrs Porter and Cooper –
will no doubt be pleased to know that several shows are planned.
So, to Tallington then. The bill is full already for 2006, with all the
usual suspects, plus a couple of newcomers. Talking of newcomers, there
will be a new Landlord and lady next year, so many thanks to our outgoing
friends for all their kindness and help, and we look forward to making
new acquaintances next August.
Next year, we promise, we really will fence off a cricket pitch. Honest.
Venter Enim Tuus Gaudium Havuit Cum Omnis Celestis Symphonia De Te Sonuit
And so on to the main burden of this particular mailout, which is to pass
on the great glad tidings that unto Blyth Power a new CD will be born
– cue shepherds, kings, and the celestial hymning of a great choir
of angels etc. Now, don’t get too excited. Tragically it won’t
be ready for the Christmas number one slot – we sadly relinquish
that to Chico – but be of good cheer. This is not going to be one
of those pretend CDs that we dream up to fill in a slow news month, neither
will it be one of those projects we discuss with the best of intentions
that drags on into eternity. This is to be the follow up to On The Viking
Station, for which Trinity Heights Studio – and of course Mr Fred
Purser – have been booked for two weeks in June in order to record
it, so there! It is not only going to happen, but will have Tallington
2006 as its official launch party. There goes the new patio…
Fall of Iron, the thing will be called, and
in order to spread further the good news, here is a current and projected
breakdown of the songs the tedious tyrant has decided to stick upon it
– not in any particular order:
Cynthia’s Revels: Not about a little girl eating chocolate
at all, but an acoustic/accordion song celebrating the utter failure of
Mr Benjamin Jonson to achieve the success he so richly deserveth in the
Elizabethan theatre, while that worthless hack Mr Shakespeare –
whose tortuous attempts at lyrics he doth disdain – hath cleaned
up and headlined at Glastonbury with the turdy bilge he doth call a play.
These sour grapes have, of course, been aired in public for some years,
having been recorded with the Mad Dogs and Englishmen project.
Battle of Naseby: No, it’s not a rewrite of Battle of Nations.
Some of you older readers may recall in the dark old days when Blyth were
still ‘cricket loving anarchists’ that Mr Porter was wont
to launch into a stirring poem during string-breaking pauses. This, on
occasion, was Macaulay’s Battle of Naseby, a lengthy but stirring
tract written from the Parliamentarian viewpoint on the defeat of the
Royalists at Naseby in 1645. So stirring, in fact, that Mr Porter came
very close to having his legs broken by an angry monarchist who misunderstood
the verse when he declaimed it at Warwick University one night while supporting
the Guana Bats. Anyhow, the old fool has stripped it down to six verses,
turned one into a chorus, and intends to record it in June. You have been
warned.
Salmon & Gluckstein: A new song – so new the Aged One
hasn’t quite finished it yet – based on the wartime memoirs
of Patrick O’Brien, and in keeping with the CD’s general theme
of dropping bombs on people. Salmon and Gluckstein was a contemporaneous
chain of tobacconists, and also the nicknames given to the Scharnhorst
and Gneisenau by those aircrew unfortunate enough to be invited to assault
them in Brest harbour.
Endgame: If you haven’t yet had the pleasure of Red Wedding
playing this, then come along in February for a preview. It’s the
final revenge on the Raggle-Taggle Gypsies, with a chorus that goes not
only whack-fol-a-day, but also fol-a-diddle. Nasty, vicious dirge.
Bomber Harris: So far only released on the Live Caesar recording,
this time round it will get the whole bang shoot. This is going to be
an epic piece of stadium rock, again, keeping to the ‘Sky’
theme of the CD – you will, of course, have remembered that this
is the second collection in a trilogy. Yes and Genesis fans rejoice. The
triple concept album is just around the corner.
Fall of Iron: There has to be a title track of course. This was
released as a solo piece on a Dutch anti-war compilation – which
was mildly ironic as it isn’t actually an anti-war song. It’s
more of an acknowledgement of a certain sequence of events, and the role
of some people caught up in them. In this instance, the gentlemen dropping
the bombs, who are more concerned with getting their mail than with the
consequences of their actions which they have decided are the responsibility
of someone somewhere else. Written in part when Kosovo was bombed. The
Ministry is satisfied that a case can be proved/So it’s time to
start turning the screws…
To Whose Gods: Formerly from the Old Man’s solo set, this
has now found its niche in the band’s live performance, and will
jolly well stay there.
Born In A Different England: Another unreleased song from Mr
Porter’s solo set. This is about how horrible the 1970s were, and
is a celebration of the misrepresentation in the media of one of the most
violent, ugly, gaudy and tasteless periods in British history. Who were
those men on the News at Ten last night/Was it the Birmingham Six, the
Guildford Four or the Jackson Five? Noisy punk rock please.
Farewell to Forties: This is an ancient song that never quite
got recorded, set in either the North Sea oilfields or Wigan Springs Branch
TMD – no one can quite remember which ‘Forties’ The
Idiot meant, and the lyrics give no clue whatsoever. Featuring a cribbed
instrumental, which only Guardian Readers will recognise.
Heart of Me: This is another Jonson song, which should confuse
everyone who hears it. Not very nice either. Swallows fly from everything
you do/angels keep their distance/summer suns are glowing over everyone
but you/ and you and I had fish to fry/ but now we’ve only bitter
leaves to chew
Fang Over Lip: Which was, of course, the name of the fox in Henry
Williamson’s Tarka the Otter. Steven’s favourite book ever!
This was on the Red Wedding CD. It rocked then, and will do so sevenfold
here.
The Glorious Vanquished: Another track from the Death Went to
Bed CD, which will now be able to realise its potential with the band.
This is going to be the scapegoat track – the one that all the fretwank
and indulgence gets piled onto, that leaves the rest free of it. Every
CD has one…
So there you have it. Twelve songs, no secret hidden track this time,
but seven completely unrecorded. Remember where you heard about it first.
Cum Processit Factura Digiti Dei
Well, maybe not from the finger of God precisely, but certainly through the digital realm. This is a quick note to advise all you owners of MP-I-Pod 3s that Blyth Power can now be downloaded for a modest fee via www.wovenwheatwhispers.co.uk No one here is quite up to speed enough with modern ways of enjoying music to know what it’s all about, but this can only be a good thing for those of you who are having trouble finding spare parts for your worn out gramophones.
O Felix Anima
O fons purissimus, in quo considerate, quod Deus alienos colligit et perditos requirit. O lorica vite et spes compaginis membrorum omnium et o cingulum honestatis salva beatos.