12:00 – 12:40
Radiohead – The King Of Limbs (whole album, but I only listened to tracks 1 to 3)
How: CD
Where: cottage kitchen / morning room / bathroom
With: me and partner
Played while I tidied up and did the dishes, then I wandered outside to start work on the garden towards the end of track 3 and left the CD playing. K commented favourably on the album when we played it in the car on Monday morning. I didn’t think he was paying it any attention today, but I later discovered that he tweeted about it: “The King Of Limbs is giving me goose bumps“. We sometimes communicate in the most roundabout ways.
13:05 – 13:45
Katy B – On A Mission (whole album)
How: CD
Where: cottage kitchen
With: just me
The right music for the right time of day / weather / mood.
13:50 – 14:40
Ripperton – Niwa (whole album)
How: CD
Where: cottage kitchen
With: just me, occasionally partner
One of my favourite electronic albums of 2010, which deserved greater recognition than it got. I wandered outside during track 5, to continue the gardening. Caught snatches of the rest of the album, depending on how near I was to the open back door.
18:30 – 18:37
Radiohead – The King Of Limbs (whole album, but I only listened to tracks 7 and 8 )
How: CD
Where: cottage kitchen / morning room
With: me and partner
I came back inside from the far end of the garden, to discover Radiohead playing again (track 6 was just ending). This is the first time all week that K has chosen the music!
19:00 – 19:40
James Blake – James Blake (whole album)
How: CD
Where: sitting room
With: me and partner
Played this while we sat and read. K said that he liked this new fashion for more “textural” music. We both enjoyed the album, although K was occasionally perturbed by some of the bass frequencies. (He had only heard it in the car before today, which edited out a lot of the bass.)
19:40 – 20:20
Jamie Woon – Mirrorwriting (whole album, except track 1: Night Air)
How: iPod connected to main hi-fi
Where: sitting room and kitchen
With: me and partner
I decided to retain the “textural” mood. We enjoyed it, but K thought it wasn’t “in the same league” as the James Blake. The album continued to play while we ate a fine roast chicken supper.
20:50 – 23:30
Soundtrack: There Will Be Blood (Jonny Greenwood, Arvo Part, Johannes Brahms)
How: DVD / TV
Where: sitting room
With: me and partner
We were both struck by how superbly well the soundtrack worked. While K took a toilet break, I Googled – and found to my surprise that it had been scored by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. K recognised Part’s Fratres, and Brahms played over the end credits. I haven’t been logging incidental TV music, but this experience was of a different order.
23:40 – 00:25
The Weeknd – House Of Balloons (whole album)
How: iTunes on laptop, hooked to external speakers
Where: kitchen
With: just me
Played while I tidied up and did the dishes; downloaded earlier from http://the-weeknd.com/ (official free download). Plaintive, downtempo, R&B-tinged Pitchfork-indie from Toronto. Reminded me a lot of last year’s Gayngs album. Much discussed of late, which piqued my curiosity (although I stopped short of actually reading any of the discussions). Liked it.
Favourite track of the day: no particular standout, but I enjoyed Katy B’s “shout out” track Hard To Get, particularly for its jazz-funky backing track.
Worst track of the day: not applicable, as I enjoyed all the music I heard today. Result!
troubled diva 