A monumental week for all of us.
So I cleared the desk, put the laptop in its case, HD camera combo in its box, packed the files into a bulging Aldi bag, noted in my diary that yet again 12F had not handed any of their work in but also smiled at the sense of anticipation building before tomorrow when I could bollock them face to face.
When I built the shed it was for music, carousing, self-reflection, evenings of staring at stars to a soundtrack of cosmic Americana and possibly to write a book (the curious can search Amazon for the result of that particular venture), I never dreamed that I would be taking registration or cajoling students from within it BUT…. it has worked. Despite all the technical hassle, the lost documents, the screaming into the abyss as students log in and sod off, the laggy criticisms, the inept assemblies delivered while muted and the sense of disconnection; it has for the most part been successful at still holding the fabric of school life together and allowing many students to retain a sense of community beyond their Insty accounts and WhatsApp feeds.
I shall miss sitting amongst my vinyl, tapes and CDs whilst holding forth on Brecht and his ilk and watching the dog trying to catch sparrows as they swoop to gather nesting materials and… to a certain extent writing these postcards from the frontline. Let’s hope it never has to happen again… ever!
So the three tracks for this week are different but all equally worth your time. First up a gorgeous missive from the new William The Conqueror album ‘Maverick Thinker‘ which is out this week, secondly a dive into some deep songwriting steeped in a family tradition from the Nelsons (lovely video too) and finally the Christmas number one that received no publicity at all. It’s not perhaps musically on message for the site but it certainly is politically; all profits to Kent Refugee Action Network and bloody good it is too! As ever take from them what you want or need.
Good
Beautiful
Ugly
