Day 279

Yesterday evening, after work, I started recording a pre-record I’m putting out on Radio Stradbroke on Saturday, Episode 4 of my 12-inch vinyl 12-inch singles. Got up at 7 and was recording the rest of it by 07:10, and just uploading it now. And I’ve got a live show to do Friday morning at 10. So many balls to juggle. The reason for the pre-record is that we’re going to London to have dinner with Colonel L and his wife L, who are back in England for a few days, and we won’t get back to Norwich till the early hours on Saturday.

M and I just went for a nice walk, and decided to buy cat litter on the way back, so the last 10 minutes of the walk saw us both clutching a 10L bag of cat litter each. Shows how unfit we are that our arms are now shaking a tad after that little escapade. But it’s nice to do something as unromantic as buying cat litter together. That’s real marriage for you. Little did we know when we got together that being married would involve such activities. Life is a strange and complex and rewarding thing.

It’s now two hours later. I’m sifting through music sites to find new music for my show tomorrow. I have to admit that there’s not much that’s grabbing my attention. I listened to an old Not Nul Points the other day, and the music I heard on it seems much fresher than most of the music I’m hearing now. I do come across some gems, and do have some favourite records this year, but the last few months have been relatively barren, I must say. Perhaps it’s because the landscape in general is fairly bleak for most people, financially and politically. Where are all the protest songs? This is not the time for ambient music, folks.

If there are any bands/artists reading this, here are a few tips. Start singing within the first 20 seconds of your song. Don’t start with “one two three.” Don’t use cliches in your songs. Make sure that you have a hook right at the beginning of the song. Make sure you can sing in tune (seriously). Make it LOUD or moving. If you upload music to streaming services and music sites, do not have 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 seconds of silence before any sound actually comes from your track – I, for one, won’t even wait for the sound to come if there’s that much dead air on your track. And none of this has anything to do with a lack of attention span – it’s all to do with hooking your listeners; like a good book, you need to grab in the first paragraph, and the first 20 seconds of your song are your first paragraph. Even the most experimental music I like grabs me in the first 20. You’re welcome.

AGGIE’S ART OF HAPPINESS – CHAPTER 229