Goodbye to Rosemary Lane

Maybe I'm just imagining a poetic reference to Bert Jansch there in the lyric. Certainly sounds like it. As much as I was partial to the twisted folk of Richard Olson's previous outfit, Eighteenth Day of May (fortunately being able to catch them live twice prior to their demise), The See See seemed even further up my musical alley, with their sonic allusions to the best West Coast '60s pop/psych.

Up The Hill, a little-heard limited edition 45 released in 2008, floored me from a single airing on the sadly-missed evening incarnation of the Radcliffe and Maconie show. If the shimmering first two and a half minutes aren't great enough (had this been on the turntable one wonders?), what follows for the remainder - a heads-down orgy of acoustics, echoey multi-layered "ah"s and some decidedly Richard Thompson-esque lead work - is even better...

Play loud.

1971 ♥ / 3

One of the beautiful people

More than a decade after George's passing, Klaus Voormann talks about their last meeting... 

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In the middle of a cloud

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What became of the people we used to be...

Well, they kept it very quiet, but I'm beyond pleased to learn there will be a third chapter in the story of Celine and Jessie, the strangers who met on a train and fell in love over the course of 24 hours in Vienna. I loved Before Sunrise, and its follow-up set in Paris, Before Sunset, its intriguing final scenes in Celine's bohemian apartment leaving a giant 'What now for these two?' hanging Graduate-like over the closing credits. So now (well, later this year), we find out.

In much the same way I look forward to regular catch ups with the lives of Seven Up's Neil, Bruce, et al, these films have managed to resonate deeply. Perhaps its due to being of a broadly similar age as the protagonists; more importantly, it's the evident chemistry between Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, as they linger over conversations veering from pretentious to tender, often over the course of a (long) single take. That takes a special partnership.

Fab Friday / 4