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UNTRUTHS
An archive of that which was written about.
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Ian's 2012 blog archive:
Sunday, 16 September 2012
What were you doing in 1995?
On this particular day, I was doing this...
Thanks to Dave Jewell
Russian Girl Punks, Pussy Riot, Behind Bars
The prosecution lawyer has labelled them "Satanic, blasphemous, terrorist conspirators", where they'd
barely raise an eyebrow in the West. Putin himself, with the Russian Orthodox Church, appears to be
directing their prosecution for what we'd call a free speech issue (i.e. calling for Putin to go).
Two of the women are new mothers who've been separated from their children since March.
Fortunately, the affair appears to be provoking an international response.
PLEASE SUPPORT THEM HOWEVER YOU CAN.
Sunday, 23 September 2012
When is a Gibson not a Gibson?
Today I went looking at a reasonably-priced Gibson Les Paul guitar -
A 70's tribute Gibson Les Paul.
I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't what I was hoping for
at all. After finding the guitar and
comparing it to some others from the same maker that were far more
expensive, the difference in finish
quality is so staggering that I didn't even bother to take the guitar down
off the wall.
I would rather save for a decent Gibson Les Paul Standard rather than buying a guitar with the Gibson
name on it that is so embarrassing to look at that I could never take it out the door to use it.
The alternative is a non-Gibson, Les Paul type guitar that looks and performs really well.
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
The search for the elusive decent Les Paul.
I went out to see Ultravox the other night in Blackpool and it was a truly excellent show.
I was mightily
impressed by the guitar sound that Midge Ure got from two different Les Paul's.
On checking them out a bit more closely, I noticed that the non-trem Les Paul was a Vintage.
These are
more affordable than some I've looked at and the sound he got from it was astonishing.
Good write-ups
everywhere. I've asked Midge if the guitar is stock, or if he's worked on it.
One to try out.
The photos from the Ultravox shows (BELOW) are mine, by the way.
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
"Sell your rights for sixpence"
The Tory posh boys latest evil class-war wheeze to screw over everyone who is working class in the country,
by
removing the employment rights that have been won by Trade Union members sacrifice over decades is
outlined below.
Only the very desperate and the very stupid will go for this.
From the Daily Mail website:
"Workers to trade rights for shares: £2,000 price tag to stop you from taking your boss to tribunal
under plans unveiled by Osborne
Workers will get the money if they agree not to sue for mistreatment
Osborne says he is doing it for people who 'strive for a better life'
Tax break to persuade workers to give up rights in employee-shares scheme
Mr Osborne seeks to reclaim 'One Nation' slogan from Ed Miliband
A 'radical new tax regime' will exploit shale gas reserves
£10billion in welfare cuts needed to justify benefits system to people in work
Nick Clegg says the Tories are posturing and nothing has been agreedWorkers are to be offered tax-free
shares to surrender employment rights, George Osborne revealed yesterday. Under the Chancellor's plan, employees will receive as little as £2,000 when they agree not to sue their employers if they are
mistreated or unfairly dismissed.
Workers will also be required to give up their right to time off for training purposes, give longer notice
if they intend to return to their jobs after parental leave and lose their redundancy protections.
Under the scheme, ‘employee-owners’ will be given between £2,000 and £50,000 of shares by their firms that
will be exempt from capital gains tax when sold. In return, they will agree to give up their right to claim
unfair dismissal, redundancy pay, the right to request flexible working or time off for training and
will have to give twice as much notice of intent to return from parental leave.
Legislation to bring in the new optional contract will be introduced later this year and be put into law in time
for companies to use it from April next year. Announcing the policy to the Tory conference in Birmingham,
Mr Osborne said it would appeal to new businesses starting up and small and medium-sized firms who need
flexible labour and highly-motivated staff. In a sombre speech, the Chancellor insisted he would not be diverted
from his plans to cut the deficit, despite the double dip recession"
top
Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Well, I tried one or two (actually half a dozen or so) of the Vintage Les Paul's similar to those that
Midge
Ure
was using to superb effect on the Ultravox tour. Horrible things.....
Left the store rather disappointed and sulked off to Manchester and found and bought the real thing.
Now that's more like it
Friday November 2nd 2012
A very productive meeting with a singer guitarist this evening, regarding forming a new band.
More information on
this will come out as things progress. We are going to find a drummer.
Auditions early December.
Sunday November 11th 2012
The Gibson Les Paul has taken over my life. Used it for a couple of guitar parts on a new recording
today
(for this month's Tune of the month on my website). Also used the Zoom B2 bass
processor
I recently
got
from my mate Dave that made my Warwick Steamer sound like Chris
Squire (less the
brilliant playing).
No
vocals on it yet as I have a stinking cold and my voice is
probably going to go
in
the next few days.
Happy anniversary to my lovely wife Lynda. x
top
Sunday November 18th 2012
Very conscious that I haven't done anything else on this month's recording yet. Have spent most
of
the last
week feeling absolutely disgusting and haven't wanted to mess my voice up, as I had a
gig
this weekend
and also had things that I couldn't miss at work. Have spent a lot of time watching
Fringe Season 4 and
Grimm season 1.
The gig was in Worsley last night and it went very well,
thank you.
Wednesday November 21st 2012
Not much further on with the tune of the month, except as far as doing some thinking about it goes, as I
have been feeling a bit less than sparkling recently,
so I may end up cheating and dig something old out of the
archive to terrify you both (both of my readers, that is) with.
On a positive note, I bought a new guitar amplifier today, to make my future recordings sound much better.
I'll be able to mic up the amp and get a decent realistic speaker sound, instead of the processed mush that
you get
from the output socket of a basic domestic guitar amp.
The new amp is a Vox AC15, not quite a Beatles amp, but it would have cost a few hundred quid more to get
a Vox AC30 amp with an extra speaker that wouldn't have any practical
use at home, because you have to
really crank them up to get
them to sound anything like dirty or overdriven. If I used a Marshall stack in the
house, I'm sure my neighbours
would have something to say about it. It's a custom finish model in 'Racing
Green'.
Very fetching.
Monday November 26th 2012
If you go into Eric Clapton's local guitar shop and come out without buying something, you're obviously a wuss.
I really did only go in for some strings..
top
Wednesday November 28th 2012
I had a run through a few songs last night, with the singer-guitarist that I'd been waiting a while to get together with.
We ran through the four songs that we are going to audition drummers with on Sunday. Adding a drummer
and getting some live feel into it will be
the real acid test of whether this is going to work out or not.
I did some work on a new recording on Monday night, using the new acoustic guitar for the rhythm part. It sounds really lovely just mic'd up, so I didn't even need to plug it in.
The tune of the month for November is up now. It's an archive recording that I recently rediscovered and
thought was worth putting up for people to hear.
Sunday 2nd December 2012
This evening, I am going along to audition 3 drummers at a rehearsal room in Manchester. It will
be quite
interesting to
see if a 3-piece hangs together and sounds good, or whether it would need a fourth member.
Here's a picture from a gig I did last night in Wigan with Kee (guitar), Ashley (drums) and Marcus (not in
the
photo).
Friday 7th December 2012
Last Sunday's auditions unfortunately showed that the three-piece band I was hoping to get off the ground
wasn't
really going to work out. I have an amount of work lined up with Kee at the moment and we have been
getting together
to
go
through some new songs to make the set a bit livelier. We both love The Beatles, so there's a clue for you all... I'm going to start playing some guitar onstage, which is a big change for me, seeing as I've bought the Gibson Les Paul and the Vox amp.
I do have an ad up on the net to see if anyone is
looking
for a bassist, but I am quite content to play with Kee
for the time being, as I don't have to do any gig-hunting
and the
music is fun to play and if all works out,
there won't be any problem people in the band.
Tonight's gig in Padiham was pulled earlier in the week, so I don't have to drag my bass rig out all that way
tonight. I'm going to stay in with a bottle of Teachers, my wife and the last few episodes of Season 3 of
the utterly superb
Boardwalk Empire.
Sunday 16th December 2012
Apart from the day job, it's been a lazy couple of weeks. Tonight is put aside a most welcome trip out for a great curry at The Achari in Bolton with my old bandmate Ken (from Bad Habits) and our good ladies. December's tune of the month will be another oldie; a seasonal tune - seeing as Christmas is coming up. In the new year, I will get onto doing what I really intended to with the tune of the month - a newly recorded tune every month.
My next scheduled gig (unless something comes in at short notice) is on December 28th.
Can I also point you to this? Get your recorders set. It's going to be a great evening's TV. The highlight for some will be the showing of their excellent film FLAME, that inadvertently started the end of their career. It was such a good film that people thought the band all hated each other. For me, the highlight will be the Slade At The BBC show, with some unearthed and rare clips. The IT'S SLADE documentary is also a fantastic show.
The credits on the BBC programmes give a full and entire list of exactly who was involved in them.
Saturday 22nd December 2012
Well the world didn't end last night, so back to work next week... Last night's Slade Night on BBC4 was great... And a Merry Christmas to anyone who reads this stark bilge.
All entries text and images in this online diary are © Ian Edmundson
www.ianedmundson.co.uk