Dankology

There are lots of grey areas here but perhaps you've hit something key in talking about how you might "relate to" a song. All the ones you mention here are generally positive, feelgood songs and most people would be able to lose themselves in the moment (even if they were listening to the lyrics, which is perhaps questionable in itself) by having similar feelings of community, hope, nostalgia or whatever without having driven on the same road/lived in the same submersible/whatever. But if the song is born of something more negative (eg of racism, the politics of a certain area/era, past personal abuse etc) I think you have to be more careful in what feelings you allow yourself to indulge: you risk being anything from insensitive or crass all the way through to seeming to trivialize the original intent of the song. For me, I find dentists gurning through Chicago blues on PRS guitars a bit cringeworthy but hardly a hate crime, ditto John Power singing Redemption Song, albeit perhaps quite a bit more cringey. At the other end of the scale I think I would very much struggle listening to a privileged white youngster sing Strange Fruit or a current British political protestor (of whatever persuasion) sing Ohio. Which is not to say that I think you can only sing happy songs... but I think you can usually tell the difference between an attempt to share in some sort of cross-cultural community and a crass/cynical/tone-deaf attempt to channel someone else's experience.

Also, if he's intending to vote in a party intent on dismantling much of what makes us great on the basis of having unquestioningly accepted a load of fear-mongering inaccuracies he's going to be called out on it. Because it's not about "differing opinions" - it's about cynical populism being used to serve the interests of the few rather than the many. And that's why it has to be talked about: if grandad thinks we're being overrun with imported paedophiles who are being handed Ipods as they enter their luxury hotels, surely he needs to be disabused of this. If he genuinely thinks people are inferior by accident of place of birth then he's having Christmas dinner elsewhere.

I think it's really important that we talk about stuff like this here, at work, in the pub and anywhere else possible. If we don't, a vacuum forms and only the most vociferous and cynical voices fill it. And in a world in which unmoderated, unchecked, unleavened info comes at us non-stop (and frequently via channels with opaque motives and intetests) we owe it to ourselves to ensure that moderate voices and quiet wisdom are not drowned out. I'm fairly certain there are people who are currently being led down a particular path who would be easily swayed if real data and logic were presented to them in a digestible way. I fear for what may come to pass ultimately on a wave of populism fired up by ignorance, fear and half-truths. Bickering and semantics are a sure fire way to get discussion shutdown.

His Substack is an essential read for me every Saturday morning. Thrilled he's getting what I hope is a good payday here.

How ironic that you should post this on the same day I was readying tracks to send to you for your advice re arrangements etc You're a good man, with impeccable musical instincts. Their loss.

We're playing at what's referred to as an "emerging band night" at a really nice venue in Rawtenstall, Lancs on Friday night. The flyer should be attached here... And then we're at the Darwen Live mini festival on Sunday (Sunbird Records 5.15pm) alongside loads of other good stuff. Music here: https://deadtenantmusic.com/

I didn't pick up on any issues ahead of ordering (apart from a thread here that seemed to be about an admittedly minor finish issue) - I'd be interested to know what sort of problems other people have been having. There was no offer of paying for return postage and my last query regarding what insurance cover he used/recommended has gone unanswered.

Ahh, this is turning into something of a headache. I thought the bass had a couple of issues - the tone controls appeared to do nothing and I was fairly certain I could hear a truss rod rattle on certain notes. Exchanged messages (sloooowly) with the maker who suggested that the best solution was to post it back so he could have a look. I'm not mad keen to spend a further £50 (plus however much more for questionable insurance) to achieve this so took it to a local guitar tech to have a look. He felt that the tone controls were authentically unresponsive and that the truss rod was fine - simply suggesting putting a new set of strings on. I picked up some 120s - went heavier than usual as applying a bit of forward pressure on the neck had seemed to address the rattle I'd been hearing. Then found that I couldn't thread the E through the tailpiece without removing the strings and tailpiece - and then, having done this, found the string was too thick to pass through the tailpiece as far as the ball end. Will pick up some more slender strings this week but any pleasure I had at finally owning one of these has pretty much evaporated.

Another speedy and enjoyable transaction. Thanks for another great book!

A couple of minor niggles to sort but I'm otherwise very happy to own something very close to one of my favourite designs. First rehearsal with it tonight and hopefully it'll be out for our next gig on the 22nd 😀😀😀😀

I think my inherent stinginess had meant I'd expected an even heftier discount. Bodes well for secondhand prices though 😁😁😁

The XR18 is definitely worth the extra money - as well as the ins and outs you have the ability to record everything multitrack to a laptop via USB. I would definitely get an external router if you'll be using it at gigs - the internal one hasn't got fantastic range and only runs on the 2.4 GHz band which tends to get crowded and lead to connection problems. We grabbed a £20 secondhand one on Ebay and I better there are flashier ones available for less nowadays. I keep hearing tales of Behringer digital mixers being heavily discounted in the US due to an imminent range overhaul but I've yet to see it happen here. Will be treating myself to a X32 rack if and when that does hit over here...

Could something like this be pressed into use? https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-power/pp002080/battery-holder-pp3-pcb/dp/BT06531?st=dmx controller Doesn't look massively bigger than a 9v itself. The photo doesn't really show how easily/securely it could be soldered though.