10 years ago today, release day. I finally got my hands on this album. I’d been anticipating since its arrival since the single release in November ‘15. Two months of counting down the days, all available headspace consumed by wondering; hope, & fear of what it could be. The record arrived in my house, in my hands, & I began a familiar ritual, once relatively frequent, but now rare & precious. Hold it, feel it’s weight. Acknowledge that it exists. It’s real. A new communication. A unique transmission. Then forensic examination of the sleeve art. Picking up the clues. Bittersweet moment of slitting the plastic wrap along the open edge of the sleeve. Take out the 12” vinyl disc in its clear plastic inner sleeve. There’s no feeling like the feeling of holding a pristine unplayed piece of vinyl in your hands, seeing the grooves & wondering what secret magic they hold. Tilt it in the light to see what might be etched into the run-out groove. Check the brand-new stylus cartridge for dust, just in case. Then put the record on the deck. It’s an action, a physical interaction with the work. The turntable is old, there’s a switch to flip to 33, and another to set the deck revolving, the arm rises from it’s cradle, swings across, hesitates a moment as if to check yep, this is the start. And then it drops, smooth, and the needle locks into the groove & there is brief, warm, living noise, and then signal floods the air and overflows into my ears, my heart, mind, brain. Straight from him to me. Tears flowed from the first notes of’Blackstar’. At ‘I Can’t Give Everything Away’ a sob rose from somewhere deep & so painful. I didn’t want to believe it, but what he was telling us was unmistakably True. The album stayed on my turntable for the next 2 days. I haven’t been able to listen to it since January 10th 2016. Thought tonight might be the night, but it’s not
Finally got the wreath on the door. It’s 100% plastic, not homemade from foraged pinecones. And I love it, an honourable Christmas elder round our house. A mid-nineties purchase from Tokyo Hands in Shibuya, in use almost every year since. It’s a touchstone, chock-a-block with 30 years’ of Christmas memories & meaning. It’s magic. A talisman. Happy Christmas to all of you lot everywhere, & to your own Christmas talismen, be they physical, ritual, or metaphorical 🤶🏻♥️🎄✨🥰
I’ve given up all pretence of understanding how to Instagram, but I want somewhere to put this & in our weird atomised world, Instagram is that place. The other day I received my physical PGA award, 9 months after accepting it in LA on behalf of my fellow producers @lionelrichie and @julian0ttingham . It felt like getting a very cool early Christmas gift. And it helped overwrite the memory of the night itself, which was, contrary to appearances, not a great memory at all. Appearances. Huh. But the award is real. It’s very pretty & heavy & real. Also real, some of the realest, @lena.mesiano & @christopher_polito . Thanks for so much, including but not limited to enabling me to Keep Up Appearances, also documenting me digging thru trash cans. Love to another real one @mgrbabe (I know you know why ♥️)
I had to repost this because it actually made me properly laugh. On the inside. But that’s the most I’ve laughed since 2022 #funnycausetrue #I♥️LA #eventhoughitsthemostridiculousplaceonearth&evetythingthatswrongwiththe21stC
