The Human League - 'Never Let Me Go' (Video)

Here's the video for the Human League's new single, 'Never Let Me Go'. Someone's obviously been let loose with the video effects machine, but it's a great song and the album is only a week away.

Fra Angelico's Fiesole San Domenico Altarpiece

Yesterday I went to the National Gallery to track down the Fiesole San Domenico Altarpiece by Fra Angelico. It's in Room 53 in the Sainsbury Wing.

The altarpiece is in five parts: the outside wings on each side showing various Dominican worthies in black looking in towards the centrepiece of Christ Glorified in the Court of Heaven; with the middle left wing showing The Virgin Mary with the Apostles and Other Saints kneeling and looking towards the centrepiece; and on the middle right is The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs. The colours are gloriously vibrant and inventive and the golden background and haloes simply glow. Is this how Fra Angelico sees heaven? All five panels are on the National Gallery website.

I'd like to be able to read these paintings properly, by understanding the symbols of their sainthood, but I can't. I was particularly taken with the figure of one man who looks straight out of the altarpiece at the viewer, wearing a red and gold cap and holding a page of writing - does anyone know who this is meant to be and what the writing says? He's the only figure that looks at the viewer and as such is quite noticeable. I'd love to know who he is.


I'm regularly within a few minutes walk of the National Gallery so, now that I know where the altarpiece is, it'll be easy enough to pop in for a quick gawp and top up my internal store of wonder. It's a shame the paintings aren't available as postcards but you can order prints of all five pieces if you fancy it.

Now That's What I Call Nasty

Ms RightNasty is doing her international superstar DJ thang at The Retro on 19 March to, as she says, "play records ... Add N (to X), Cabaret Voltaire, Hercules and Love Affair, Lo Fidelity All Stars, The Fall and that kind of stuff. You can buy me a drink if you want."

I'll be joining the queue at the DJ booth to ask for the mandatory SLADE track and offer a diet Coke.

She really is an international DJ having played in New York last year. Mind you, even I've DJ-ed at that booth in the past so I'm not terribly impressed... Dear reader, you will, of course, remember my triumphant 1972 set from a few years ago?

Still, you might want to drop by and test her DJing skills by asking for a really obscure electro or Northern Soul track. In the best possible taste, obviously, and very supportive.

Beth Ditto - 'I Wrote The Book'

Take a look and listen to the new Beth Ditto single from her solo EP. It's a nice tribute and works for me. The other songs on the EP are just as good. And what a lovely voice she has.

1977 And All That

A casual bit of chatter on Twitter this evening made me realise that there are some important years that (potentially) change the courses of our lives. For me, 1977 was one of those years. It marked the demarcation between hippy and punk and all that that meant.

In 1976 I was 16 and had long hair. I spent the long, hot summer reading 'The Lord of the Rings' and books about the Celtic twilight and how tree-hugging made sense. I wore (and sorry for swearing) flares. The hair got longer ...

In 1977 my hair was cut off, my jeans narrowed and I played loud bouncy music, fast guitars and drums, slower reggae bass and beats and listened to John Peel. I had seen the light.

Most of my peer group at school kept the hair and the flares and played Led Zeppelin, Steve Hillage, Pink Floyd and all that stuff. In the 80s I've got no doubt that they appreciated bands like Dire Straits and joined the Thatcher 'me' generation. Punk does seem to be a dividing line - you either loved it or hated it (like Marmite) and that sent you reeling down through the years. I obviously loved punk and it has influenced me since those heady days way back when. It set me free to be who I am. I don't bounce and pogo much any more but I'm still me and that's part of the essence of punk.

I think there's something going on in my mind. Last year at this time I posted a blog titled 'Who Are You?' in which I talked about my 'punk sensibilities' that made me rebel against black tie culture. I probably ought to work my way back through time to find out why March throws up these soul-searching blogs.

The Unthanks - 'Last'

Anyone who's fallen under the spell of Rachel and Becky Unthank will be pleased to hear there's a new album out next week. 'Last' is an odd name for an album that isn't their last album, but it's a song written by Rachel's husband (and Unthanks pianist) Adrian McNally and it was chosen as the title song. There's a nice write-up about the album and background to it here.

I'm looking forward to this album with a mixture of longing and trepidation - the Unthanks lasses have recorded some beautiful music and, on their last two albums in particular, there's at least one song per album to bring tears to the eyes. Can they do it again?

The album is out on Monday 14 March so buy it and play it lots.

Alela Diane & Wild Divine

Out of the blue, there's a new Alela Diane album due for release on 4 April and a gig in London on 12 May (ticket has been booked, obviously). The album is called 'Alela Diane & Wild Divine' where Wild Divine is the name of her new band that includes her husband and her dad. If you head on over to her website or Facebook page you can get a free download from the new album, a song called 'To Begin'.

I've seen Alela three times in the last few years, both acoustic and with a band at Shepherd's Bush on her last tour. She has some lovely songs and is always worth seeing. I'm looking forward to the new album.

Amanda Palmer - 'In My Mind'

Here's a gorgeous new video for Amanda's 'In My Mind' from the new album, 'Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under'. It's an impromptu video filmed in about 90 minutes in Newcastle, Australia, in a dilapidated old ballroom above the venue for one of Amanda's gigs last month. 'In My Mind' is one of my favourite songs from the new album and features Mr Brian Viglione on percussion. It works for me. Enjoy!

Kate Humble & Spices

I've just watched the final episode of Kate Humble in 'The Spice Trail'. Kate has been tracking down the origins of some spices to their exotic locations in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Morocco and Mexico. I love travel programmes, seeing other sides of the world and bits of the world we might nor normally see, so in that respect, I'm part of the natural audience for a programme like this. Kate adds the charm and smile to the programme that made it irresistible for me.

Kate usually presents programmes on farming - sheep farming in the Yorkshire Dales spring to mind - so it's nice to see her in a different environment. Last week she was created as a princess on an Indonesian island and tonight she picked saffron from purple crocuses.

I've enjoyed the series and I hope to see Kate go on more adventures to track down the exotic and the glorious.

Jane Russell, Sex, Genitals and More Sex

Have I got your attention?

It was a surprise to hear of the death of Jane Russell this morning. I won't claim to be a fan or anything, and, to be honest, I didn't even know she was still alive, but it's sad nonetheless. I grew up with Jane appearing in films that were invariably shown on a Sunday afternoon so it was odd to hear the news reports starting off with the words, 'Sex symbol, Jane Russell, has died ...' or words to that effect. It made me think (and that's generally dangerous).

'Sex symbol' is an odd phrase. It sort of boils someone's life down to being a sack of flesh filled and bulging in the right places, nothing about talent or skill, just being born with the right shape. Of course, these days, the right shape can be bought, but not back then, or at least not easily. I think of Jane Russell as an actress with a sharp wit as well as big boobs. Not a great actress, but more than a sack of flesh.

That led me to thinking about my recent trip to Florence and being surrounded by nude statues and paintings all over the city when being naked didn't necessarily equate to sex. The human body can be beautiful without being arousing or sexual. Is there anything more beautiful than the human body?

Thinking about the array of statues I saw in Florence, all were carefully muscled and often presented in motion but none of them had sexual characteristics (for that read genitals and breasts) that were particularly noticeable. Oddly, almost all (if not all) of the men had rather small genitals and all the women had small breasts. Why is that? Is that odd or have we simply skewed our view of nakedness and sexual characteristics due to the availability of modern porn and generic advertising that relies on the body? Am I a victim of advertising?

It did make me start to wonder whether advertising is really affecting how we view the world and the people in it. Now, I don't really expect every woman to have breasts like Jordan but they all seemed so pubescent in the statues I saw - am I unconsciously assuming big equates to 'normal'? Similarly with the male genitals, or perhaps I'm just feeling superior in comparison.

Even I've got confused about what I want to say. But it gives me an excuse to post this photo of Hercules having his testicles grabbed during a wrestling match. Big body, small genitals. I don't know who he's wrestling or why it's acceptable to grab your opponent by the balls before he throws you to the floor, but I felt a need to share. I also felt a need to say 'ouch'.

I suppose what I'm saying is that it's sad for anyone's life to be boiled down to being a sex symbol. Jane Russell was 89 and was a sex symbol - as opposed to being an actress - for just a few years. Despite the nakedness of previous ages, we seem to have perfected the art of naked equating to sex. It doesn't, but it seems to be locked into our minds and that's sad. One of the most beautiful things in the world and we're not allowed to enjoy looking at it - the bodies of our fellow people. I won't include myself in that (you really don't want to see me naked, honest).