rainbows in curved air (or curves in rainbowed air)

Outside the Dream Syndicate

My earliest memories are of trying to escape from the mundane. As a child I would disappear after school into the hills. Most of the time I was on my own, but if I had company, then that was ok, too.

On the wild & wet & windy days, I would escape into the wonderful world of books. At this stage in my life, I loved travel & adventure, the more exotic the better. I loved reading & learning about faraway lands. ‘This Wonderful World’ with John Grierson was on tv and I had an uncle, who dropped off these magazines, who’s title eludes me, but it was the magazine equivalent of the exotica vinyl covers, that graced the record racks in shops. I have used a variety of the latter, in previous posts.

Shifting forward to the present day. Absolutely nothing has changed. I am listening to Ethiopiques, vol 4, Raymond Scott - Manhattan Research Project, John Cale’s - Church of Anthrax, Joe Meek & his Blue Men – I hear a New World, Elizabeth Waldo’s - Maracatu, Various – Café Samba & lastly, Dorothy Ashby’s - Rubaiyat: an extraordinary piece of jazzy exotica, like a female version of Sun Ra. I am not travelling to far off lands, but I am creating my own piece of those realms within my living room or garden space: an area of wild grasses & bamboo & my current escape route, (if only this rain would stop!).