Last 20 albums I listened to in their entirety
This is partly for my own benefit to see what I now listen to in its entirety. More often than not these days I find I am listening to compilations of my hand or someone else's.

Metal Machine Music - Lou Reed (and I won't need to hear it again for a while)
Playtime is Over - Wiley
Tant de Belles Choses - Francoise Hardy
God Save the Clientele - The Clientele
If You're Feeling Sinister - Belle and Sebastian
Curtains - Tindersticks
Wincing the Night Away - The Shins
Earth - Hex (or Printing in the Infernal Method)
TNT - Tortoise
Naqoyqatsi soundtrack - Philip Glass

Night Ripper - Girl Talk
Neon Bible - Arcade Fire
6 Shards for Love - Longhorn
Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem
The Brave and the Bold - Tortoise and Bonnie "Prince" Billy
On the Beach - Neil Young
Symphony #5 (Describing Planes of an Expanding Hypersphere) - Glenn Branca
Radio Amor - Tim Hecker

I'm stuck!!! The albums listed here have been listened to in around the last 2 weeks, but I can't for the life of me think what another 2 are... I have to go way back. I am sure Jim O'Rourke was played through a while ago, but talk about going from a "3 main meal a day" size music diet to a bite size grazing diet. If my musical appreciation was a body I'd be overweight with all the snacking...

Is this typical? Why is it that I have changed away from my old habits of listening to records and albums the whole way through? Looking at the above, many of the albums have been listened to from computer, where playlist selection means it's too easy to turn away or off something temporarily offensive. Only a few have been listened to on MiniDisc (I have no iPod nor equivalent MP3 player) and I'm more likely to give a full album a go on this medium. Maybe that's why I doggedly stay with it instead of iPlodding along...

Anyway I'd be interested to know if others were the same. I can't believe I'm stuck on 18 albums. Quel dommage. Doesn't anybody stay together anymore?

Slap and Tickle party...

Miss Zammit and Miss Wilkinson put on a rather fine party... I'm sure you'd like to see some photos... well OK..

Well I just went and got a bottle of 12yo Glenlivet!

Since visiting my good man hUGH on the weekend with bEN we enjoyed a tasting of 5 scotches, Speyside malts they were, and all slightly different characters, some jocular and gentle, some like a velvet gloved truncheon, but all worth the price of admission. Seemed to encourage us to drivel and laugh and think that we were being smartpantses. I took over my Dalwinnie courtesy of Dredgey, and it was a darker less subtle kind of drop, but lovely still. hUGH's knowledge seemed to know no bounds, it's a very new world which throws up unfamiliar nuances and there's quite an excitement with each new taste...

And the feeling dropping it slowly down the throat, it's a nice warming, very right for the wintry nights we have had here, in fact it's cheaper than running a kero heater and smells better too, plus you can feel flushed with the red cheeks, knowing you're being green too.

So, the Glenlivet:

First glass – left it with a dash of water in it for 12 minutes (no I wasn’t timing…) and it made me rather glad and all these smells started to emanate…

My freshman palate could only get lots of honey, such a gentle warmth on the palate and down the gullet, some pepper and a lovely richness with some savoury note there I couldn’t quite put the finger on.

Actually I related the experience to my father in the UK - him being rather partial to the odd tumbler of the single malt.

As the shot went on, suddenly I was less daunted by the scotch, decided that it is more gentle than JB or cougar or the bourbons.

So, go Scotch go!