In a world where things are free

We’ve just returned from a couple of days in Brighton where when we arrived, there was a mad sea mist which engulfed all of the seafront. It lifted late afternoon to reveal a wave-free sea that looked like glass as there was zero wind which made for a very out of this world sunset (above).

On the evening we witnessed an appearance of the one and only Tunng. This was after having a couple of pints in a pub which was from a long lost world where The Incredible String band and psychedelia were playing from a free juke box. The barman sat on a stool behind the bar rolling a couple of roll-ups (and one for ron of course), brought your pint over to your table with the card machine and popped out for a fag every now and again leaving the bar area unattended. A different (pub) world all together.

As for Tunng they were excellent, playing tunes from their new LP “Love you all over again” (an LP well worth investigating here) peppered with some old favourites. Acoustic guitars, a banjo, a melodica, woodwind instruments and some very strange sounds thrown over the top. Wonderful stuff!

The day after we found a market we never knew that existed which had a free shop. That’s right, a shop where all things were free. As the owner told us “I was so fed up that the charity shops were charging so much we decided to give things away” and as the sign says on the wall “Please don’t be greedy”.

There’s a simple rule: “No drugs. No guns. No animals. No BIG things. Everything else is welcome!” We picked up a handful of small pots which will come in handy at Weeds HQ and an old-school ladle. A super place to visit and more on the shop here.

Hope everyone out there is enjoying this great weather we’re having at the moment!

 

Before the snow came

We had a night away in Brighton on Thursday and were treated to some sunshine the next morning, makes a change don’t it? Sunny but still on the nippy side at 5 degrees.

This afternoon we spent just over an hour in the back tidying up a couple of beds and it seemed a lot colder than yesterday and we’re supposedly having some sleet and snow tonight too. Winter eh?

What was nice though, was that we spotted a flowering camelia hiding away with lots of buds on it. We may have to get that net curtain tent out.

That wonderful (scratched second hand) sound

Earl Brown – Get Together – Jericho
A lovely bit of Curtis Mayfield tinged Jamaican soul, tucked away on a B side to a reggae version of Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne”. Produced by Herman Chin Loy at Aquarius in the early 70’s, this was found while trawling a bunch of seven inch singles in a House/Techno record shop in Brighton about five years ago. When I asked the owner did he stock second hand records, he replied “We don’t usually do second hand but I do have a box of old scratched soul and reggae I was using to sample for a house tune last week and now finished with. Are you interested?” Am I interested? Not half!

http://soundcloud.com/weedsuptomeknees/earl-brown-get-together