Monday 29 August 2016

TOPPED UP WITH SAD STUFF

Well it has to go somewhere and this morning it has 

The selection entitled OUT THERE SOMEWHERE, which has been on Bandcamp since last year, has taken on a few more of the 'unruly' words which I had lying around And having them on there is another part of the consolidation process

The words are either tenuously or directly associated with HAIDA GWAII 

Also, in the text alongside the tracks, on Bandcamp, I have said that they are about loss - and they most certainly are! What I initially forgot to mention there and here is that the selection consists of two songs (the first and the last tracks) and in between them are eight of spoken words

The link to the revised and topped up version of the selection is https://sheilakcameron.bandcamp.com/album/out-there-somewhere



There is mention in the words of 'the roads you walked' and below is one of the roads



There is a sign nailed to a tree on the right of the road It has the word bread written on it and it lets you know that you are about to reach a cafe called MOON OVER NAIKOON

And ending this post with something happier; here is Wendy Bread (as I refer to her) making pizza alongside some of the bread you will find there



PS There was a problem with the tagging on the selection which meant that no one was told of the re-issue This has I think been rememdied

Saturday 27 August 2016

CON SOLLY DATING

This selection of nineteen spoken word tracks entitled IF IT HAD NOT BEEN SO DARK has been on Bandcamp since 2013 They have recently been improved and provided with a new image - see below The link to the words is the same

The title of this post is a reminder to me that I am presently consolidating as much as possible of my accumulated and somewhat unruly material i.e. both songs and words


The proposed next consolidation involving the re-issue of fifteen love songs was overtaken by a revised and topped up version of OUT THERE SOMEWHERE 


Sunday 21 August 2016

THE POETIC STRANGER

Fulfilling the oft mentioned desire to discover that some of my songs had been heard and liked by a complete stranger -  along came Ian D Hall - and this is surely the best liking I could have hoped for!

Below is his photograph and below that is a link to a review for Ian Hall's recently published book Black Book: An Anthology, 2003-2015 




And then there is what Ian D Hall said about MORE LIKE A RIVER THAN A ROAD 

And as it provided so much pleasure I hesitated for only for a few moments before deciding to print it in full 

'It is the voice, the spoken word narrative that entwines itself between the songs on the More Like A River Than A Road mini album by Sheila K. Cameron, that brings out the sparkle in the recording. The pleasure of the songs is enormous but there is something about the spoken word employed to very decent effect by Ms. Cameron that suggests the music is only half the tale, that the grip on the attention of the listener is enhanced by the monologue that weaves like a stream through fields and pastures in the ceaseless search for the ocean.
The road is one that comes from a human desire to shorten the distance between two points, it is efficient, practical, engineered so the flow of the country can be seen as perfect; yet somehow, like a well performed song, the real beauty resides in the course of the river, the turns, the twists and the sense of inner hidden beauty that runs underneath. It is a beauty that Ms. Cameron exploits and develops in this, the first in a series of re-issues of her work.
More Like A River Than A Road sparkles with the light touch, the smallest pebble found on the banks and yet thrown with dramatic force plumb centre into the onward current, it is the shock wave of the pebble that makes the music spread out, the wave spreading outwards and increasing the range in which it is heard and felt. The river is ongoing, it is natural and so is the appeal of Sheila K. Cameron, the resonance in the voice, the authority of her delivery and the songs in which tales she weaves, never once disappoint.
In the passages and songs, Where The Pebbles Grind And ScrapeSomehow (Everything From My Suitcase Has Got Scattered On The Road) and the wonderfully thought out but also daring, The House With The Windows, the feeling of innocence and warmth parade in view but there is also the undercurrent, the pull of the undertow which threatens to take the listener down into the murky depths to see what truly stirs beneath.
More Like A River Than A Road is a release of great emotion, one that cannot be avoided in life, Sheila K. Cameron bridges the gap between vocal and spoken word superbly.'
PS About reviews On receiving several of them for my book BALANCING THE REQUEST TO BE GOOD I realised that they said much more about the reviewer than the book (and by the way that book is probably more worthy of interest than any of the songs and words that I write) And surely this one from Ian D Hall is an example

Monday 1 August 2016

SONG DONG AND THE SON OF THE MAN IN THE TRAM

In May 2015 I posted some comments which can be read using the link below
The title of the post was JONI, THE SAP, THE MAN AND THE TRAM
http://sosaidthesap.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/the-sap-man-joni-and-tram.html

And recently as I was walking down Huntly Gardens in Glasgow I remembered holding the hand of a small boy aged about three who pointed out to me that the word Grosvenor in one of the street signs was the same as in Grosvenor pie 

I knew nothing of the pies then and I knew nothing of SONG DONG until this morning, but they both now belong for me with the son of the man in the tram And if you follow the link below you might work out why

The image belongs with a Grosvenor pie 


And as i was looking around for other connections I came across the following comment 
'I have always wondered how Grosvenor pie is made. Can anyone explain how the egg goes all the way along?"

If I were the head of the Department of Philosophy at a leading university I would insist that the above was a compulsory question on the final examination paper. I would also award first class honours to anyone brave enough to answer it'.

As for a connection with songs it belongs with one word only and working that out should be easier