Kiwanuka

My wife has been going well after the first lot of the trial – none of the tests have shown anything, and apart from some weight loss, and being tired she is doing OK. This week she had the round of CT scans and MRI scans, and we will know next week what they show (if anything).

So that mean on Tuesday we sat down to watch the Brit awards. As anyone who knows me will testify, I love my music, but the Brits tests me recently. I’m getting older I know, but I like music to be challenging, to kick out the jams (mother f**kas!), and nothing really appealed to me on the show. Dave I thought was excellent, railing against the world, and Stormzy puts on a good show, but it seemed to be a night of ballads (even Lewis Capaldi and Harry Styles sounded like they were singing the same tune at times), while Johnny Marr was too quiet with Billy Eilish.

But I do like one act who was nominated for Best Album – Michael Kiwanuka. His album of last year is truly amazing – it sounds classic but fresh at the same time, with some brilliant guitar playing and warm sining. It is an album to luxuriate in and play in one go – small tracks link the major tunes, and while the singles (Hero and You Aint The Problem) shine, they sound even better in the context of the whole. To think he scrapped much of the work going into it, and had a crisis of confidence, makes the feat even better. I highly recommend listening (or even better support artists and click on the link to buy it –

I still try to buy most music I listen to – I think that a CD or record has a better sound (even when converted to MP4) over streaming, especially when driving.

Any, please listen at least to Hero – it has helped me recently through everything that is going on in our lives.

I will start putting up more recommendations of albums I like here, interspersed with updates of my wife, so please let me know what you think.