Guitars guitars.

I write articles for a number of magazines- mostly about acoustic guitars, but also on general health topics. This is a review for 2 prewar D18's I played one hot summer sunday. It needs a good tweak, but most of what I want to say is there. When someone buys the finished article, I'll have to take it off the blog for 6 months.


Imagine.....

Imagine 2 D18's from 1939. Back then,in the shop, fingerboards and bridges were being switched from ebony to rosewood, the necks needed a little more slimming to 1 11/16", but otherwise, the 18's were built with the same mahogany and same adirondack to the same formula- light scalloped braces, thin back and sides, muselin side re-enforcement as they had always been done.

Yet, despite that, the 2 I played, a mere 20 serial numbers apart have turned out to be very different sounding guitars.

But before we talk about the differences, let's talk similarities and assign them names. Okay, Junior and Senior are both from 1939 which means they have serial numbers between 718867-74061. They both have ebony bridges and ebony fingerboards with the standard decoration scheme- dots to the 15th fret, 3 ring rosette and, unusually, tortoise shell celluloid headstock veneers. Tortoise celluloid headstock veneers are rare on Martins and only occur when they were using tortoise shell celluloid- from 1936-1967. Even then, I have only seen them on this feature on a handful of the earlier D's.

Junior is a 90% original D18. Rough, but original. The adirondack top has 2 long cracks below the bridge, 2 from the fingerboard to soundhole and another on the treble bout. The back has a long crack from the bottom and has been oversprayed giving the oil on top of water refraction effect when viewed in good light. Now for the good news, the overspray is limited to only the back and the finish on the remaining real estate is in good shape. The cracks have been fixed and the whole instrument had been recently set up.

It plays like a greased bobsled with good string clearance, enough to avoid dreaded buzz when pushed with a rendition of All Along the Watchtower.

Notes are quick to exit and the response is good for a large body. Fingerstyle is emminently possible on Junior, with a comfortable setup, producing a smooth tonal profile with overtones predominating in pleasing mids and trebles. The sustain was superb with a long, tapering decay. Although I played a large variety of fingerstyle tunes on it, it's really excels in Jazz and Blues. Mama just wants to Barrelhouse makes me want to go to one to grab a long hard drink with effortless transitions between the chords and a mellow, rounded tone.

When I took a flatpick to it, this guitar picked up the pace, pushing out more sound without losing that level, smooth tonal profile. When pushed harder, the bass started to crunch nicely, but the treble and mids retained their character. It's a very credible note to note picker- again he helped by a smooth note transition and the tapering sustain. The treble notes never compressed even when I went all the way up the board, which is impressive. Chord work on it is effortless thanks to good melding of overtones . This is a guitar I would recommend to a backing player as the smooth and mellow chord work blends nicely with bass and adds texture to the rhythm.

All in all, Junior is a good versatile instrument although not the loudest I have heard in a prewar D18. The tone is a little too nice, the smooth profile and tapering decay is pleasing enough, but never got my pulse racing. The lack of higher volume and excitement is the reason behind my tonal scoring of 6.5.

Cracks on the back and multiple very visible and open cracks on the top with cleats and a overspray don't endear me to it's condition. Condition: 5

Overspray yes but original tuners in original case hence Originality: 9.

Senior is unlike Junior, a 70% original D18 in good cosmetic condition. Clean, but messed with. The adirondack top has prominent bearclawing matched symmetically and the entire guitar is crack free except for 2 short keys-in-pocket cracks on the treble side and a small patch repair just in front of the bridge. The whole guitar has been refinished competently, but the result is a slightly thicker finish than what I would consider good.

The bridge had been shaved and the long saddle converted to short. The guitar hadn't had a neck set but the action was acceptable. There was a loose brace inside and on inspection, the bridgeplate was rosewood- clearly a replacement. The luthier workshop beckons!

It plays well with good string clearance, (also enough to avoid dreaded buzz when pushed with my energetic version of All Along the Watchtower.)

Notes are faster to exit and the response is very quick with awesome pop. Fingerstyle is possible, and the notes have great seperation withl ots of snap to the trebles. The bass and mids have a pleasing bell tone and the decay is longer but sharper.

This makes for an altogether playing experience- this is a ragtime guitar with a few tricks. The fast exit and long but distinct decay suit it to a T. Modern fingerstyle tunes like Turning- Turning back sounded out very well and even old Celtic standards benefited from the crisp treble 'pop.

When I took a flatpick to it, this guitar matched the pick stroke for stroke. The headroom was good, pushing out more sound and it started to loose some clarity on the bottom but screamed out on the top end. Great stuff for solo chord work and even better for cutting through the mix. Senior .

It's a mean note to note picker- again helped by razor clarity and lots of zip this box held up to fast bluegrass sequences. Treble notes compressed from the 15th fret upwards but retained good volume.

All in all, This is a one for the I would recommend to a soloist who demands clarity and cut. A moderately loud prewar D18, this guitar is still quite tight- I had to push it to get a lively tone. All that zip and cut can grate and it hasn't really a huge amount else to offer- the bell of the bass and mids helps with modern tunes, but the tightness and spring in the treble can get away from you. Tonal scoring 6.5.

A few cracks, refin and a patch isn't horrible but not great. Condition: 6.5

Where do I start? Originality: 6.

Both guitars are good in their own right although they have issues tonal and structural potential owners will need to address or accept. The Junior has more a bounce to it's tone- a smooth even tone whereas, Senior has more pop- a quickfire, quicksilver tonal character.

Madness: Sunsets, Spawning and Swifts

Okay, some randomn madness for you this week.

Swifts are nesting just outside my window and with temperatures approaching 30 celcius, I really need to get that window wide open. However, this obstructs their flight path so they can't feed their chicks. Which means I swelter. Swifts 1 T 0. Altogether now, awwwww.
But then I shot them.

Sunsets are supercool. Infinite variations on a theme, but all good. I snapped these pics coming out from my work place and managed to some decent shots- I know they aren't great but I was in a car driven by someone doing a Fast and Furious re-enactment. In a drop top.

At one point, I was halfway out of the passenger seat camera in hand around a corner and nearly took a cyclist's head clean off. He was pissed but I managed to turn it into a learning experience about how he should have been wearing a helmet. 'It's useless' he claimed. 'Aha', I exclaimed, 'but it protects you from men leaning out of cars brandishing cameras.' He lunged for it but my camera survived and I present you with the results.


Nearby is a great huge clock tower which looks particularly ploretariat especially since they've added neon lights to try to brighten it up.
For once, I got the exposure setting correct on my camera!

The stream behind my flat is alive! The rudd are spawning at the moment and it's like a mass S&M party for the fish- orgy + death as the oxygen levels plummet with algae blooms and warm water. When that was pretty much done for the day, we spotted a lot of wandering fish so decided to have a competition to see who can catch the most fish with a pathetically small net.

I mean small. The fish are about 8-9 inches on average and the net is a superblue, 4 1/2 incher. Madness, you say? I scoff at your disbelief- the score stands at 2 all with photographic evidence.

Insight: Imax, Work and Shakira

Hey there.

I've been into IMAX movies for long time, the overwhelming feeling you get from watching them is really quite special. How many times are your senses saturated like that? Your vision is totally filled, hearing dominated, the rumbling from low frequencies going through you.

IMAX (Image Maximum) was created by the IMAX corporation as a projection system with the capacity to display images of greater size and resolution than conventional film display systems. Developed during the 60's by 3 Canadians, the first IMAX screening took place in 1970 at the Osaka Expo.

In terms of the audience experience, there is projection throughout your field of experience and the technical aspects of the film means that there is high resolution and dimensional stability, which gives a sense of realism. For example, when the screen motion dips downwards, a free fall sensation can be felt.

IMAX is all about the senses and there is no better subject than nature for that. It is a shame that many movie goers dismiss the documentary style of IMAX films. The subjects are light and the information presented in a simple, coherent style. But the visuals are spectacular. Probably the best IMAX director is Greg McGillivary. He's worked on a lot of films including The Shining where he shot the opening helicopter sequence, but his IMAX output is the best. Recently, I've seen Mystery of the Nile, Dolphins, Coral Reef Adventure and the Living Sea.

These films all escape the usual drole narration, especially the 3 ocean themed titled which have various film stars narrating. I especially like Pierce Brosnan's contribution on Dolphins- I won't spoil it for you, just listen out for the one liners. The crystal clear visuals really do pull you into the screen and I've had friends develop somewhat of a wanderlust to head out to the Bahamas to pristine seas and the sound of dolphins clicking.

I'll give you a review and run down of IMAX films I've seen recently later this week.

Even the older films are great with fantastic (unintended) comedy moments to break up the extremely banal narration. In one scene of the secret of life on earth, a group of very 80's tourists stand on a beach in Australia in an almost exact re-enactment of Jaws.

Anyway, all IMAX films have some special to offer, so I urge you to give it a try if you haven't had the pleasure of experiencing immersion cinema. If you're keen on dropping a few more dollars, why not try it out at home? I've heard that the films have all been remastered for HDTV so you can get via Cable piped into your living room.


Work has been reasonable- have had an unusually large number of patients in, especially some from the post bank holiday rush. Let me just state my postulate again: Tan's Postulate states that the probability of a patient presenting and the probability of the presentation being severe is higher after a long weekend.

Simply put, folks like to stew with a problem over a holiday rather than waste the day off in hospital. Quite understandable actually, but entirely fustrating when something mild has turned into something severe. Acutally, it's quite dangerous as well. But it's a holiday.


My Playlist for this week:

Hips Don't Lie (still)- Shakira - 2 verse wonder- Bm, Em, A, F#m.
First Day of My Life- Bright Eyes
I Drove All Night- Roy Orbison
Angela- DR Auten
Hiji Suru Style- Force of Nature, Nujabes, fat jon

Food: Local bites: Hee's Chinese

Mixed bag on my Sunday morning.

I was feeling a bit homesick, so got a few mates together and we went out in search of local Chinese joints around Hounslow. Now Hounslow is pretty much an Indian/Pakistani dominated area so we had little hope of finding anything near decent and was about to head to New Malden- which is Korea Town for a bit of Soju and Bi Bim Bhap when I saw a place called Hee's.

So we pulled over, admired the location- it was between a Kebab shop and a newsagents and went it for chow. It was actually quite a solid chinese meal- reasonably sized dishes, good sauces, good selection, a find for this part of town. Actually, I went to New Malden for Korean earlier this week, but forgot my camera and my reaction to Soju, so ended encountering a memorably unyielding lamp post. I'm preparing a piece on a cool place there so stay tuned.

Anyway.

We ordered char siew fried rice, ginger lamb, beef in a black bean sauce and a braised tofu dish. I'm always at a disadvantage in these situations because my chinese literacy isn't quite up to scratch and I don't speak Cantonese. Most UK and US China Towns and Chinese immigrants to are Cantonese which makes my superb Hokkien and Teow Chew utterly useless. Usually I can get away with Mandarin, but luckily, my Cantonese mate was with me. So we sorted the ordering and I got down to taking in the place for a proper review. I didn't bring a camera with me, but will do for the next review

Decor: The usual Chinese paintings and characters adron the off white wall paper and the universal Chinese restaurant white table cloth with white plastic chopsticks hold no surprises.

Food:

• Portions are reasonable. A meat dish split between 2-3 provided a good amount on each plate.
  
• Ingredients were reasonable. The broccoli with the Tofu was slightly revived, but the Tofu itself was fresh enough. Surprisingly, the peppers with the Beef were very fresh.
  
• Taste
• Beef in Black Bean sauce. A good balance between the Black Bean and the meat and veg is hard to get and Hee's was dead on. In these smaller Chinese restaurants, you usually get a whooping amount of Black Bean which just overwhelms your palate. Beef was tender and the peppers were fresh and crunchy. 7.5/10

• Ginger Lamb. The Lamb was subtly flavored with just a hint of ginger but not as tender as we had hoped. Hee's fell into the trap of padding out the dish with onions which is a big no-no in my book, although it wasn't that excessive. 6/10

• Braised Seafood Tofu. Hmm, I'm going to grade this one quite high even though it isn't the best I've had. I'm giving it the thumbs up because the sauce is well flavored with oyster sauce without being overpowering. And it had a good consistency, without excessive corn flour added. The tofu was commendably braised to a lovely soft, smooth, texture but they missed the boat on the seafood topping with was pretty tasteless and clearly a mince of flour, sea sticks (shudder) and a token amount of prawn. 8/10
  

• Char Siew fried rice. Enough said. I'm of the opinion that fried rice should be dish by itself and not a rice accompanyment- which it was this time around. Out voted by friends again. Competently done with a good amount of meat and veg inside with loose eggs but nothing special. 5/10 due to nature of ordering

Service was pretty good, we never really had to wait long for anything and the tea refills kept coming.

Pricing was moderate, meat dishins going at around 9 sterling.

Overall, it's a solid place, earning itself an entirely arbritary 7/10. In real terms, that means that it's a good place to chow if you live around here but not something to look up if you're in the area.

Hee's Chinese Restaurant
476-478, Great West Rd
Hounslow Middlesex
TW5 0TA
Tel: 020 8577 3817

Music: This Month's Picks.

Life has been busy- I'm doing 3 people's job at the moment, but it's managable, except when my 2 pagers go off simultaneously!

This month's picks are:

Dance, Dance - Fall Out Boy

Great song with the catchiest bass line I've heard so far this year. The lyrics are pretty reasonable, much more inventive than the usual punk-rock drole. The phrasing is odd, but it works, which can be hard to pull off. Especially the -ro-man--e-tic- -mat-ter-re-ss lines.

The music video is standard Fall out boy stuff with a storyline behind it- set at a senior, homecoming prom night, a bunch of loser/geek guys find their place on the dance floor. Not a super classic, but good fun none the less.

• File under: Punk Rock you like
  
• Recommended if you like: Green Day, My Chemical Romance
  
• Lyrics: 7/10
  
• Musicality: 8/10
  
• Catchiness: 8/10
  
• Repeatability: 7/10
• Overall: 7.5/10

Sinnerman- Nina Simone

Nina Simone sings a traditional American Folk/Gospel tune, to a very different beat. The song itself is overtly about the apocalypse. It explicitly and graphically describes -- "the sea will be boiling ... the rocks will be melting."

Actually, more specifically, it refers to folks who are guilty of sin- sinnerman. It describes how the sinners are turned away (rocks, sea, river, God) and with no refuge, head towards the devil- hell. Upbeat, no?

Admittedly, how much you like the song will depend on which version you hear. I'm reviewing the most famous verion which tips the scales at 10.19 and is most prominent on the soundtrack for 1999 remake of The Thomas Crown Affair.

I have heard some recordings at a slim 7.47 and one which was just under 13 minutes. Often maligned for being too long, the full on Sinnerman experience is really a track best reserved for folks who like live improvisation. With lots of interludes with piano and guitar solos accompanied by the most syncopated, scatty clapping I've ever heard, it takes a bit of experience to appreciate it.

However, the slimmer 7 minute version is very accessable but most folks can't seem to look past the repeating, simple lyrics and the timeframe. True, Simone does have a 30 second self-indulgent screech at the end, but the remainder is musically, very, very good. The beat is tight and the solos are very loose, which gives an impression of a live, 'in the zone' track.

This is one of my most played songs and I recommend sitting back, after a hard work day, with a cold beer/ hot coffee in hand and giving this one a try.

• File under: Folk meets Jazz
  
• Recommended if you like: Nina Simone... who else.
  
• Lyrics: 8/10
  
• Musicality: 9/10
  
• Catchiness: 9/10
  
• Repeatability: 8/10
  
• Overall: 8.5/10

Simone Sinnerman versions:

• Recording live session 1961 Apr., New York, Village Gate -- (LP At Village Gate CD 1998 At Newport, Village and Elsewhere West Side WESD 210 [7:47])
  
• Recording live session 1965, Washington, Cellar Door (not issued)
• Recording studio session 1965 May 19-20, New York -- (LP Pastel Blues, LP 1969 Best Of Philips, CD 1999 Thomas Crown Affair [10:19] )
• Recording live session 1975, USA (LP 0000 Portrait of Nina Festival 189 [12:50])

Blue- Pete Teo

Yeow-zha. I heard of Pete Teo from a mate of mine in Malaysia who knew I am a big fan of acoustic driven indie-folk-jazz music. Well Pete Teo is the first Asian performer who is real deal in my opinion. He's done the big gigs around the region, the big deals in Hong Kong and yet he's totally focussed on the tone and sound.

Now that's what I'm talking about. Blue was a track on Rustic Living for Urbanites with traditional musical accompaniments. I thought then that the lyrics and music itself was fantastic but the various instruments took away from that core. In another words, contents were very good but the packaging was a bit off.

Since then, Pete passed me a copy of a live acoustic version, recorded live at the No Black Tie. Man, this was a different beast. The heart on a sleave personal narration takes form and you feel Pete's memories, nostalgia and longing.

'this city makes me tired, sycophants and liars' is the most poigniant line. Here, on the live version, it feels like he's right up there, telling you. You can almost hear the weariness in his voice.

If you've lost touch a bit with everyday stuff, or if you think things are getting a bit ordinary, give Pete Teo a listen you. You'll find that maybe there are more things to experience from the ordinary.

• File under: Folk-blues soundtrack
  
• Recommended if you like: Danny Gatton, Sountracks
  
• Lyrics: 8/10
  
• Musicality: 8/10
  
• Catchiness: 8/10
  
• Repeatability: 7/10
  
• Overall: 8/10

• Note: You can get the No Black Tie version in this review at Pete Teo.com
  

Mad Tom of Bedlam- Jolie Holland

Here's another modern version of a traditional song. Jolie Holland has recorded an anonymous seventeenth century English popular ballad 'Tom o' Bedlam's Song'.

Often intepreted as a love song from a man (Tom) who was gone insane from his love (Maudlin), reflecting the then, popular contempory notions of the causes of insanity - lovesickness, drunkenness, lunar influence. This is one of several anonymous ballards reflecting the Elizabethean fascination with madness. This version is actually one of 2 seperate songs involving both Tom O'Bedlam and Maudlin more on the other song later.

And the lyrics express a manic poetic energy and a savage poignancy with a bawdy knockabout tavern rhyme. Take:
My staff has murdered giants/ and my pack a long knife carries/ for to slice mince pies from children's thighs/ from which to feed them faeries

Holland has edited the song to achieve a phrasing which is so perfect that only the lyrics can distract you from it. The music is very betting the mood- the syncopated drums the sole source of beat and tune.

Not the prettiest tune in pack, it can jarr the senses, but that's what it's meant to do. You need to listen to it to grasp the beautiful nuances. Highly recommended.

• File under: Punk Rock you like
  
• Recommended if you like: Green Day, My Chemical Romance
  
• Lyrics: 8/10
  
• Musicality: 9/10
  
• Catchiness: 7/10
  
• Repeatability: 8/10
  
• Overall: 8/10

• Note: The other song, is a reference to the male and female adult mental hospitals of Bethlehem (Tom O'Bedlam) and Mary Magdelene (Maudlin). This tale involves a truly insane chap suffering from the 'French Disease'- he has tierary Syphylis from a prostitute (a Maudlin). In some versions, there is a strong suggestion of beastility - 'the palsie plagues my pulses/when i prigg your pigs or pullen/ your culvers take or matchless make/ your canticleers, or sullen' Aren't you glad folks gave up singing this song?

• What we term neurosyphylis includes a syndrome called General Paralysis of the Insane with progressive Dementia, Tremor and Paralysis. Don't tend to see this today was antibiotics treat syphylis. Thank goodness.

Madness: Picture update.

Well I'm back sooner than I anticipated as I had the weekend off- I read the rota wrong. Lucky you. So I've updated the Vodka receipes blog with some pics and added an Apple receipe.

The other plus, whilst messing about trying to get good shots, I found some I took on a plane trip over Asia. I can't say which part because I bummed a lift from a friend who flies regularly out there and you aren't really supposed to be shooting ariel photography. Huts and banana plantations are all very hush-hush you know, but it's not like my zoom can get that sort of resolution. Just click on pics for high res. image.

Land

Clouds

The other great thing about being in a plane is that you get to shoot pics of some great clouds up close and personal. I never tire of clouds and they seem to have an inifite number of textures, shades and shapes. And they all look so carefree. Sigh. Anyway, enough of me. Here they are:

These 2 shots are of the same spit of land, 3 days apart. The cloud formations looks exactly the same. I checked out the meteorological conditions on both days and they were, surprise, surprise, the same; virtually no wind, same humidity and temperature. You'll see another shot of the same spit on an upcoming travel write up.

The blue balance on this photos is just great. I had to photoshop it only a little- just some cropping, and a bit of tweaking the brightness.

Well, I got the contrast and brightness dead on here but I did have to touch the colours up a little. Just a little, to get it the way I like. I need a bit more experience to get both the colouration and lighting the way I like.

I did pretty much get it right on this one- I like that bold, slightly over exposed look for shooting clouds, but alas the cockpit window didn't do wonders for the lower part of the shot.

-Misc-

Insight: Supernatual, Turfing, Apologies

Last things first...

Apologies for the distinct lack of pics on the posts. I'm just firing up the digital camera and the results aren't really up to scratch but they are improving. You can expect reasonable pics next week.

Okay, my friday was busy with a capital, bold, italic B, U, S, Y. Had a grueling 5 hour stand in surgery and a whole load of turfing.

In case you haven't heard of turfing, it is a phrase that came to prominence in the novel House of God by Samuel Shem. Turfing is the art of making your problem become someone else's. It's fun, it's addictive and it sure beats working. Unfortunately, those pluses only apply when you're doing it. We had a couple headed our way of which I spent most of the remaining daylight hours after the surgery fending off. Not fun.

So anyway, I've started watching a new TV series, Supernatural. It's a reasonable series, half Millenum and half x files with more attitude thrown in. The 2 protagonists are brothers hunting evil spirits on an extended road trip.

The most impressive thing about the series is the cinematography and editing. The wonderful shades of greys and drab olives with a washed out almost sepia tone. The black Impala in that setting just looks mean.

The plots themselves are quite passable but having been exposed to X-files and Japanese anime series, I would have preferred a bit more explainations. Still, a very credible effort from Warner.

Whilst I'm here, here's my playlist for this week:

Dance, Dance- Fall out boy
Sinnerman- Nina Simone
Blue- Pete Teo
Mad Tom of Bedlam- Jolie Holland

An update coming soon to you will give the low down on these tunes. Later folks.

Food: Vodka receipies

So I lied. I said I'll post up details of my Singapore trip this week, but it's hit thursday. Thursday is depressing for me because it's when I get a whole load of ill patients and I have to do my laundry. It's mostly the laundry.

So, to brighten up my day, I'll take you through one of my Vodka receipes. I've been making flavored vodka for sometime and it's a great way of taking that using the leftovers of cheap, paint peeler vodka (own up, it's in the back of the drinks cupboard from when you were drunk and passed a shop on the way home...).

Blueberry Vodka & Drunk Ribena Berries

Basically, you need:

1. Vodka
2. 200g of blueberries to 300ml of vodka
3. another 200g of blueberries to 300ml of vodka
4. 1 Air tight bottle
5. Patience

I don't add sugar to my fruit vodkas. I find you get too much acids forming which can take away from the natural clarity vodka offers. Remember you're flavoring vodka not making it.

Wash and dry the blueberries. Then using a toothpick, punch about half a dozen holes in each berry. Place the berries into the bottle and add the vodka. Ensure the bottle/jar is air tight, seal and leave for 1week. You will find the vodka has 'bleached' the berries by this time, taking on a nice rose to claret color. Maybe vodka isn't so great for us huh?

Give it a good shake around, open the container to allow the carbon dioxide to escape, reseal and leave for another 2 weeks. After a total of 3 weeks, you will need to strain out the original berries (but don't throw them away!). Repeat the original process with a fresh batch of blueberries and original vodka. Leave the new mixture to sit in a dark, cool place for another week before enjoying.

The perfect compliment to this drink is what I call Drunk Ribena Berries. Take the original, bleached blueberries, punch another half dozen holes in each. Place in a small, air tight container and add Ribena to just cover the fruit. Leave for 1 week in the fridge, giving the occasional swirl. Serve on a small plate dusted with castor sugar.

Apple Vodka

Basically the same as the Blueberry Vodka but with apples. You'll need to go through the same process but with half an Apple in conversion and half a cooking Apple. I've found through exhaustive studies that this is the best combination of tart acidity and palatability. (well okay, I tried 3 different combinations, but I think that pretty exhaustive.) Best results achieved with finely sliced apple segments.