Uh oh

Just finished reading 'Complicated Game', very enjoyable.
 
The introduction chapter is a tour of Swindon, Partridge's home town, street by street. I went to Swindon College of Art from 1976-1980, and worked in Swindon from 1988-2002, so I could follow the tour in my mind's eye. A real nostalgia trip, as it mentions all the music shops, venues and even Tudor Studios (run by 'Fat Terry', who sold my Simms-Watt amp and never gave me the money..) where my band rehearsed for about a year.
 
One weekend we found XTC's gear all set up in one of the rooms, they were rehearsing for the 'English Settlement' tour..so we used their stuff..and got a MASSIVE bollocking for that!
 
I have to wonder what someone with no knowledge of Swindon would make of that chapter, but I loved it.

jamesg1213
Just finished reading 'Complicated Game', very enjoyable.
 
...

I'm almost done and will review it afterwards.
 
So far, the only thing that is difficult for me, is the choice of songs that are discussed, and I find that some of those songs are not as valuable for me, as they are for the interviewer. I have been listening to some of the albums in order as I read these, out of curiosity, as well. 
 
I happen to like "The Big Express" a heck of a lot, and one of its poorest songs is the only one discussed. I thought "Wake Up" was fabulous, and "This World Over" even more valuable and a hint of a sound that would come a bit later (AV1), but nothing is said about it much. 
 
The stuff about Sodd Hungrun is not a big deal, other than he is obviously not as talented as we think? I'm not a great fan of "Skylarking" and was very disappointed after "The Big Express" by comparison. We had at least 2 very strong and nice pieces to play all the time, instead of an album that was (originally I had the album) ... not that strong even though some things were slightly more conventional, probably thanks to Dodd Tungroon.
 
Best one for me, still is about the notes and chords, something I speak about all the time here. He says that it's not about the notes or the chords, or you do not find any magic or voodoo in the music, and I agree completely. You have to break it up and try different things, and it's not just a note or a different chord, and to me this is one of the hardest thing to tell someone who says he/she is a "musician". Well, they are, but not quite an artist, yet?
 
After this book, off to one on the worst title ... "Krautrock"!

Moshkito
So far, the only thing that is difficult for me, is the choice of songs that are discussed, and I find that some of those songs are not as valuable for me, as they are for the interviewer. 

Whoa!  Now THERE'S a first!  

Thought better of it.