Mt Sommers Challange - 30th January 2011

Uncle Roddus Tramping diary:Tramp No. 98

Mt Sommers Challenge - 30th January 2011

3rd year of the Christchurch Tramping Clubs Round Mt Sommers Challenge. 25KM 1600m height gain, not the hardest tramp I  have done, but when you are trying to do it as fast as possible, makes for a challenging day. I can't quite believe it been a year since the last one, where did it go? I don't have a hope in hell of getting near the fastest guys, who tramp it in under 6 hours but I just have to have a crack at beating the good time of 4:46:27 from last year. I wasn't feeling the fittest and was pretty sure I couldn't top that time this year. I did get closer than I thought I would with a time of 7:05:00. I did get held up on Staverly Hill with the gale Nor'west and had to sit tight for several minutes to avoid being blown off the mountain and I was a bit too sore to give it the big downhill effort at the end so lost time there as well. Still a pretty good effort overall and I am suffering for it today.

Soft Machine - Triple Echo UK 1977

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

Side 1:
1. Love Makes Sweet Music (2:27)
2. Feelin' Reelin' Squeelin' (2:50)
3. Memories (2:58)
4. She's Gone (2:29)
5. Why Am I So Short? (1:39)
6. So Boot If At All (7:25)
7. A Certain Kind (4:11)
Side 2:
1. We Did It Again (3:46)
2. Plus Belle Qu'une Poubelle (1:03)
3. Why Are We Sleeping? (5:30)
4. A Concise British Alphabet - Part 2 (0:12)
5. Hullo Der (0:55)
6. Dada Was Here (3:25)
7. Thank You Pierrot Lunaire (0:49)
8. Have You Ever Bean Grean? (1:20)
9. Pataphysical Introduction - Part 2 (7:33)
10. As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still (2:34)
11. Dedicated To You, But You Weren't Listening(2:33)
Side 3:
1. The Moon In June (13:00)
2. Esther's Nose Job (11:57)
Side 4:
1. Mousetrap
2. Noisette
3. Backwards
4. Mousetrap Reprise (8:46)
5. Slightly All The Time
6. Out Bloody Rageous
7. Eamonn Andrews (15:19)
Side 5:
1. Teeth (9:13)
2. Kings And Queens (5:01)
3. All White (6:05)
4. Bone (3:28)
Side 6:
1. Stanley Stamps Gibbon Album (5:55)
2. Carol Ann (3:46)
3. Hazard Profile - Part 1 (9:16)
4. The Tale Of Taliesin (7:14)

Once upon a time, some time in the middle 80s, I think, I just happened to be in what was at that time my favorite record store. This store sold mostly second hand vinyl at the time and use to have rows of the more rare and interesting ones on display along the wall so we could easily see them, without having to flick through the bins. On this particular day I happened to notice this 3 record box set with the cover you see above. The cover appealed to me and although I can't explain the details of how, I was at this time pretty good at buying music I liked  just buy looking at the cover, bands name and date of release. This approach rarely failed to fine me great music that I wouldn't have heard otherwise. I don't remember, now, if I already was aware of Soft Machine, but the Name of the band and the record cover and packaging was enough to convince me to purchase this second hand set. I certainly wasn't disappointed with this purchase, and over time it became another favorite, albeit one of my stranger ones. 

 A career spanning(upto that point) set, mixing early singles, unreleased tracks, live versions and Peel sessions as well as normal album tracks, taking in the progression of the band from early pioneers of psychedelia, through the progressive rock, fusion and jazz of their later works. The track order is mostly chronological, with disc 1 starting with the psychedelic first single and unreleased 2nd single ant the rest of the side culled from the first album. The early stuff, being quite offbeat even for the 60s was the stuff that really captured my imagination when I first had this set but the later more jazz flavors of their later works.was also intriguing but a bit more difficult for me to assimilate at the time. Side two continues with material from the first album and the second album, where the band start to get a bit more experimental and the jazz start to filter in. Disc 2 is from the 3rd album era and we get some really long extended pieces and some pretty awesome work  with the jazz rock fusion played in their own unique style. "Esters Nose Job" is a stand out from this period like "We did it Again" really sticks in my mind from disc one. Disc 3 are straight album cuts from albums 4th and 5th with  "All White" being my favorite.This period is almost straight jazz with plenty of great brass work.

 The final side is material from the last few albums up to that time and my favorite from this set is the great fusion and guitar of "Hazard Profile (Part 1)" by which time there were no original members left in this band but the music, although far removed from the earliest incarnation, was still very good.

Some serious music which requires serious attention  to get the most out of it and a great introduction to this influential and very progressive outfit across the 3 discs and I suspect quite a collectors item in it's original vinyl form. Wish I still had mine. My Rating 5/5

Absolutely worth a listen Here

Wolf - Ravenous Sweden 2009

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

01. Speed On
02. Curse You Salem
03. Voodoo
04. Hail Caesar
05. Ravenous
06. Mr. Twisted
07. Love at First Bite
08. Secrets We Keep
09. Whisky Psycho Hellions
10. Hiding in Shadows
11. Blood Angel

 Sticking with the hard and heavy tonight is this little beauty from the Swedish heavy metal group called Wolf(one of many metal bands under this moniker). Classic metal in style,  heavily influenced by Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, this is an excellent hard rocking album. Plenty of hot licks and great tunes to rock along too, this album has really impressed me since I saw it listed on Rate your Music.The title track is the best song but they all stand up well to repeated listens and this will defiantly be added to my small but growing list of top metal  albums.Rating 4/5

Check it out Here

GBH - Punk Junkies UK 1997

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

1) Intro
2) Junkies
3) Impounded
4) Harmony
5) Tokyo After Dark
6) Shakin Hands With The Machine
7) Don't Drag Me Back
8) Break The Chains
9) Kangaroo Court
10) Stormchaser
11) Hole
12) Damn Good Time
13) Cryin' (On The Hard Shoulder)
14) Civilized
15) Lowering The Standard
16) Enzo
17) Outro

Back in the days of the early 80s I had missed the first wave of British Punk, being just a bit young and living on the opposite side of the world. But as I entered secondary school, the second wave of  British punk was hitting our shores with the likes of The Exploited, Chron Gen, Infra Riot, Abrasive Wheels and of course the mighty GBH. The music was fast and very heavy but still had plenty of great hooks and melody and I was really into it big time. I didn't go for the image so much(not too much studded leather or mohawks for me) but the music thrilled me to bits and informed my early politics. I came across GBH through the Punk and Disorderly Compilations and they were one of the fastest and most  heaviest of the new punks, a wall of brilliant heavy guitar and great tunes blurring the line between punk and hardcore and metal. Their "Race Against Time" was one of the best slabs of adrenalin fueled punk ever recorded.

 It was another surprise to recently find out these guys are still playing, having released a new CD last year and much to my chargin, played here recently and I found out too late to go. As I have mentioned before, my surprise at these guys still playing this music is that I thought that it had a very limited shelf life and although I still love their early music today I didn't think it was the kind of music to make such a long career out of.

Punk junkies was released a good 15 years after my initial finding of their early music and I wasn't expecting much from it. I think this was another of my Emusic downloads from several years back and I hadn't had the chance to give it a listen. 

 The music of GBH hasn't really changed too much from what I knew. It is still Hardcore punk in the British style I am familiar with  but nowadays I believe they refer to this as Punk Metal which is a good description as this music certainly informs the more heavy and darker forms of the modern metal scene. Although I don't mind a good Metal album, no matter what branch of the family it belongs to, I do find most of them very repetitive and formulaic and essentially boring. Not so with this very good wall of noise. Although it does not fire me as their early music did, GBH have put out another very enjoyable brace of full on punk, just as they did in my youth. A quality head banging menagerie of blistering tunes with the brilliant "Junkies" sending me into the stratosphere. The rest do not quire reach this lofty height but neither do they disappoint. My rating 4/5.

Listen Here

Butthole Surfers - Locust Abortion Technican USA 1987

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

 

If ever there was an album that the squares could use as a prime example of  the devils inspiration in Rock music, then this bizarre record could be it. I was an avid NME reader back when this came out and after reading some articles and reviews about this band and this record I thought I would give it a go and duly purchased myself a vinyl copy. On first few listens I truly thought this was the end of Rock n Roll and music had truly gone to hell, literally.

 I obviously didn't hate it because I stuck with it, being the most totally weirdest music(if you could call it that) I had ever heard up to that point. I guess I was intrigued by it and it was a genuinely new listening experience. After a while I got to know it better and it soon became one of my most favorite records. It truly was outstanding and amazing and totally unique to me at that time. I have been thinking about reviewing this for a while but have been too afraid to venture back into its sonic wastelands and I had long ago sold the vinyl copy and never replaced it on CD. I am now listening to a digital copy I found some time ago and initially I started to feel that it had dated a bit, but as I listen, the full power of the music still impresses me and blows my mind. Quite possible the most LSD drenched music ever spewed out of the bizarre minds of those that created it.

 I can't even begin to describe the music here but there is the obvious Black Sabbath influence with the bludgeoning guitars and the evil sounding atmosphere, experimental with a bit of Prog thrown in as well, and that's just the first track,things get weirder from there, but it's best to check out this masterpiece for your self. Play loud, your mother will hate it. Rating 5+/5

 Have a listen HERE

Cows - Orphan's Tragedy (USA 1994)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

"Cow Island" - 3:08
"Pussy Is a Monarchy" - 3:59
"Orphan's Tragedy" - 3:16
"Allergic to Myself" - 3:08
"Unrefixed" - 1:16
"The Bucket" - 2:30
"Pickled Garbage Soup" - 4:54
"I'm Both" - 3:09
"Witch Hunt" - 3:29
"Taxi" - 2:47
"Baby Love" - 2:26
"My Bob" - 4:04
"Shot Down" - 4:18
"Smell Shelf" - 6:23

Something a little different from my previous review with this slightly offbeat grunge inspired alt rock from this obscure American outfit. The style oozes alt rock but the guitar sound is very rooted in the grunge sound of Mudhoney. "Cow Island is a strong start with good grungy sound. The bands music isn't quite as heavy as a true grunge band although there is some pretty heavy stuff later on in the mix, especially the very Swanns like "Taxi" and this music certainly isn't at all commercial.. An average record overall that doesn't really hit too many highs. The fast punk of "The Bucket" is quite fun and "Pickled Garbage Soup" has a great bass groove and a bit more experimental sound to help add a bit more variety to the mix. Although I haven't given this album a lot of attention because  I didn't think  it would add up to much, as I review it now I find it more interesting and better than I had given it credit. Not a classic but a worthwhile effort and worthy of a Roddus Rating of 3/5. 

Check it out here

The Gun Club - Lucky Jim (USA 1994)

AN Uncle Roddus Album Review.

1. Lucky Jim
2. A House Is Not A Home
3. Cry To Me
4. Kamata Hollywood City
5. Ride
6. Idiot Waltz
7. Up Above The World
8. Day Turn To Night
9. Blue Monsoons
10. Desire
11. Anger Blues

The last Studio album from the legendary Gun Club is a fairly middle of the road affair on first listens. A more mature sounding work than their earlier country cow punk, with a much more bluesy sound. There is some very good guitar on plenty of the tracks but on initial listens the music doesn't sound very remarkable. On deeper inspection and repeated listening the music begins to impress more with the well structures songs and tight arrangements, showing more of their quiet quality and maturity of the group and the song writing,. I guess I struggled with it at first as it isn't quite like the Gun Club music I am use to and as mentioned it doesn't grab straight away. Another slow burning grower and worth the perseverance. Anger blues is an excellent slow  guitar blues charmer.Over all more AOR than MOR Rating 3.5/5

Check it out for yourself  HERE

Orlando Julius - Orlando's Afro Ideas: 1969-1972 (Nigeria)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

1. Home Sweet Home
2. Psychedelic Afro Shop
3. James Brown Ride On
4. Mura Sise
5. Esamei Sate
6. Alo Mi Alo
7. Ketekete Koro
8. New Apala Afro
9. Igebehin Adara 

The hot music style of the moment has been the awesome Afro Funk out of Nigeria from the end of the 60s and through the 70s and first and foremost of the myrid numbers of musicians and bands playing this brilliant hybrid of African rhythm and American jazz and funk is the brilliant Orlando Julius.  This Compilation kicks off with the excellent deep funk of "Home Sweet Home" before blasting us out of the stratosphere with the truly magnificent and legendary "Psychedelic Afro Shop" which truly funks out a brilliant melody and plenty of jazz licks from the brass. Things stay very cool with "James Brown Ride On" acknowledging the huge influence JB had on the development of this incredible music. The sublime qualities of these songs doesn't let up as we progress from one monster afro groove to the next and in my experience only the mighty Fela Kuti(who was no doubt influenced by Orlando) makes better music of this style. The melody's and the grooves all make an instant impression and are quickly recognised on subsequent listens. They weave into your subconscious very quickly. A definite 5/5 rating for this great music.


A must hear, HERE

Mack Sigis Porter - Peace On You (Ghana-Italy 1972)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review.

01. Miles to Go
02. Back Home
03. Peace on You
04. Sunday in Neon Lights
05. The Seventh House
06. Till the Fall
07. Freedom

 "Miles To Go" is a strong start to this ultra rare piece of Italian Prog by the Ghanaian born Mack Porter, with its long folky intro before getting more funky and embellished with some cool strings. I also like the organ build up in "Back Home" as the instrumental breaks build in an otherwise low key track. Plenty of peaks and troughs on this quite serious sounding record as the songs have sparse intros before more instruments chime in to fill out the tracks. A unique sounding record that gets more interesting with repeated and concentrated listening and a more downtempo sort of prog thing, not all blazing guitars but more intricate as good prog should be. A worthy effort and I'm giving it 3.5/5.

Worth checking out from Here

Madd Hatter - Madd Hatter (USA 1984)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review.

01. My Money (4:37)
02. You're In The Real Word (3:15)
03. Better Dead (Than Red) (3:27)
04. In My Nightmare (3:43)
05. Fight The Dragon (3:13)
06. Change Of Heart (3:10)
07. Goodbye Forever (2:35)
08. Radical Mass (2:31)
09. Nowhere Fast (2:49)

This Ultra Rare sole album of hard rock/heavy metal from this obscure Texas outfit fits comfortably into the early 80s metal scene and  wouldn't go too wrong sitting next to Van Halen in any record collection. Not the type of music I particularly listened too back then(except Van Halen) and this platter is a fairly competent but mostly unremarkable set, which is why they have been relegated to a forgotten footnote  in metal history. It's not that the music is awful or anything but it is just average and not really grabbing me and rocking my world like some metal I have heard in the past so I can only rate this 2.5/5.

Listen here at Rare MP3

 

Kirwans Hut - 22/23rd January 2010

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary:Tramp No. 97

Kirwans Hut - 22/23rd January 2010

 

This was my second visit to Kirwans Hut, the last being a club trip I led there in the middle of winter 09'  and seeing as we didn't actually make it onto Kirwans hill last time, I made it a priority to do this again so I could enjoy the great views from the tops. The weather at home was going to be crap all weekend so it was looking very promising for a couple of fine days in Westland for us to complete the trip. Honora and Myself arrived at the start of Kirwans Track at about  11:15am on a stunning West Coast day to find the new shingled car park(which wasn't there last time, it was just an empty paddock) chocka full of vehicles and a helicopter ferring mountain bikers up to the hut so they could do the ride down the track. It was apparently part of some organised festivities happening in Reefton that weekend and 65 bikers paid $80 each to get flown to the top for a fun ride down Kirwans track. It wasn't a problem for us keeping out of their way as they all came careering down on what is an excellent ride, but I guess with dollar signs in their eyes, the organisers didn't seem to care whether the people they took up were actually capable of doing it and some of the one at the back of the group didn't look like regular bikers and the last two(a mother and her daughter) had street bikes, couldn't even begin to ride them down this mountain tramping track and were having to walk their bikes out, carrying them over slips and windfall etc... for what probably took them many hours to get out. Although they were in reasonable spirits when we passes them, they weren't really enjoying them selves and still had a long way to walk. The young girl said she would never do it again. Shame on the organisers for taking them up, you could  tell just by looking at them and their gear that they had no experience or idea what they were getting into.As far we know they all got out safely. 

Anyhow, Honora and I left the carpark just after 11:30am and started along the 13km's to Kirwans hut, around 1000m above us. The track follows the beached route the miners used to cart all their mining equipment up to Kirwans Hill, where some bloke, oddly enough named Kirwan, found some gold containing quartz in 1896 or there abouts. I think, from memory, from the info at the hut that they extracted 11,000 ounces of gold before it ran out, so not a particularly large find. The track climbs up through stunning red beech forest, with plenty of ferns and other small trees. I just love this walk, the forest is breathtaking and of course the scenery changes as you climb higher towards the hut. We also got to have a little chat with some quite friendly little birds as we traveled through their territory. As we got higher the moss just got prettier and changed colour and more thicker on the trees as we got closer to the hut. The silver beech trees around, and below the hut were thickly covered with moss on their wonderfully twisted and contorted trunks and branches. We arrived at the hut in 4 hours 50 minutes, including a visit to the old mining hut site and chatting to mountain bikers on the way up. The hut was opened in 1988 according to the plaque in the door and this 12 bunk hut is one of the best I have stayed in so far. I especially liked the large framed windows at the western end. After checking out the hut and the views from the hut clearing, at 1294m, setting out our bedding, having dinner, and chatting with the family of five who arrived a couple of hours after us, we headed off for the 30 minute climb up to kirwans hill to enjoy the views and the sunset. I am not nearly literate enough to describe the great views of all the mountains surrounding us on almost all sides and the pretty tops we were sitting upon  enjoying a lovely sunset, so check out the photos and movie below to get a better idea of  our wonder. 
Sunday dawned fine and clear and we set off from the hut about 8:30am and headed down the track to the Montgomery river, stopping at the remnants of Kirwans Reward mine and the battery  further down the hill. The forest in this valley is slightly different than the track in but just as magnificent with some huge specimens of native tree for our enjoyment. Stopped at Montgomery Hut for a slightly early lunch, it having taken us about 3 hours to get there. The stay was pretty short as the sand flys were diabolical and the bees not much better. The trip out along the Waitahu is a 13km slog along an old four wheel drive track which had some extensive washouts from some serious recent floods a couple of weeks back. Significant damage was also done along the Montgomery as well but not any that caused us any delays. The last hour consisted of the short hop over the hill from Gannons Road bridge back to Capelston with a total trekking time of around 7 and 3/4 hours  and about 24km.

These pics are not in any sort of order as they got a bit mixed up when I renamed them and the Blog editor is too frustrating to work with to be bothered to rearrange these as i uploaded them. This is one of the friendly little birds that checked us out as we passed by.

this one is of the lower reaches of Kirwans Track, taken on Saturday.

The track from the old hut site looking back to the main track just below kirwans hut.

A shot of me looking out over the mountains waiting for the sunset.

The Sun reflecting on the hills behind us just before it went behind the Paparoas

From the Hut looking towards Greymouth.

One of those rather large trees I mentioned heading down to the Montgomery on Sunday morning.

This lovely tree sits on the junction of the two branches of Kirwans Creek.

Lovley green moss covering everything on the track down to Montgomery.

The Stamping battery on Kerwin's Creek. All the large beams are new since my last visit. DOC have been very busy restoring the old hardwood timbers which had rotted away. Last time I was here the battery was held up with scaffold pipes.

Honora Leading the way.

Kirwans hut.

Part of the View from the hut.

My attempt at photographing the Sunset from Kirwan hill

Another curious friend.

lovely shop on kirwans track on Saturday.

Phew, I made it.

more moss and ferns.

The 4 wheel drive track down the Waitahu.

Looking towards Kirwans Hill from point 1315.

got to the top this time.

More sun on the hills.

Another shot from the hut clearing on Sunday morning, Mt Cook way off in the distance on the right of the shot.

Uncle Roddus enjoying the view just after arriving at the hut.

The very cool trees around the hut.

Below is a short very unprofessional video I made of the panoramic views around point 1315.

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Electric Frankenstein - How To make A Monster USA 1999

An Uncle Roddus Album Review.

I Was a Modern Promethious (Intro)

Cut From the Inside

Speed Girl

Use Me

Friction

Feel The Burn (Chronic)

Don't Know How to Stop You

My World

Up From the Streets

Pretty Deadly

I'm Not Your Nothing

Something for the Pain

Phatty Boom Batty 

Loud , Foot to the Floor, balls out, garage Rock N' Roll from the band who put together the

"A Fistful Of RockN' Roll" compilation series of like minded bands.  The album stars of strong with the excellent "Speed girl " and  "Use Me" and pretty much stay in the same adrenalin fueled pace for the best part of the rest of the album. The songs also tend to blurr into each other as the style also stays the same throughout and it is probably good that the record only goes for 33 minutes. The songs do improve with additional listens and familiarity which means this album is stronger than initial reactions suggest. So for a rockin' fun time check it out. Rockin' Roddus rating 3/5

Listen Here

Blues Creation - Blues Creation (Japan 1969)

An Uncle Roddus Album review

01. Checkin Up On My Baby (4:54)
02. Steppin Out (2:54)
03. Smoke Stack Lightning (5:31)
04. Double Crossing Time (7:04)
05. I Can't Keep From Crying (4:38)
06. Spoonful (8:14)
07. Rollin' And Tumblin' (4:03)
08. All Your Love (4:03)

Lo-fi psychedelic blues a-la Yardbirds, John Mayall and Cream(I mean just check out the songs they cover) is the order of  the day for this wonderful Japanese offering from 1969. The Japanese pronunciation of some of the English lyrics is a bit of a giggle and the singing is not the strong point nor, is the originality of the how they play these tunes but the dedication and passion thy have for these songs and the excellent out front guitaring makes for a quality listen. This is a great example of late 60s English white boy blues played By great Japanese boys. Rating 3.5/5

Check it out Here

Abdullah Ibrahim(Dollar Brand) - Soweto ( 1975)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

1. Soweto

2. African Herbs

3. Sathima

This recent find is totally grooving out my Afro jazz world right now. Three extended pieces are rooted in jazz but oozing wonderful melodic South African grooves and the brass soloing over the backing groove is also very African inflected, Although "Sathima" is more conventional sounding. Serious but fun and one of the best African records I have heard since Jasper Lawel. Although all the songs are over 10 minutes each, they never get boring and I have to rate this 5/5.

Check this out here

Kings Of Leon - Come Around Sundown USA 2010

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

I didn't know that one of my favorite contemporary rock groups had released a new album late in 2010 until I unwrapped it on Xmas day along with the very cool KOL coffee mug that I was given. I was a bit nervous about this new disc since the enormous success of their last album "Only By Night," with my least favorite KOL song 'the pompous "Sex On Fire".  As much as I enjoyed "Only By Night" , I was disappointed with it compared with how awesome the first three are. This album continues on with the more commercial sound of it's predecessor with its full and bombastic stadium rock sound and I would compare it with latter day Red Hot Chilli Peppers for its production and its stylistic approach.. "Come  Around Sundown" is still the sound of KOL and is totally recognisable as such as well as the fact that all their albums grow om me as I get more familiar with the songs and this is no exception. An overall enjoyable album and a supremely confident sounding group at the height of their success will make this a successful album. Not much stands out in the context of the record as a whole but neither are there any weak songs. This music also works well both as quietly played atmospheric background music to impress friends as well as turned up loud to rock out to its full depth of sound, I know that sounds strange but it works both of those ways for me, which is rare for a rock album. A Roddus rating of 3.5/5.

Toshiko Akiyoshi - Interlude USA 1987

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

1. Interlude (4:41)
2. I Know Who Loves You (4:57)
3. Blue And Sentimental (4:53)
4. I Ain't Gonna Ask No More (5:40)
5. Pagliacci (4:47)
6. Solitude (5:38)
7. So In Love (4:45)

Another album that I believe I downloaded from Emusic quite some time ago and has been buried in my hard drive awaiting rediscovery and boy am I glad I have rediscovered it. This excellent jazz album played by a trio of  bass, drums and  Toshiko Akiyosh leading on piano has impressed me no end and is defiantly my album of the month. Awesome sound quality, great playing and a good selection of melodic numbers on this conventional contemporary jazz classic. Nothing new or ground breaking here just great music from great musicians and Toshiko is one of the few women in jazz playing at this level of excellence. My rating 5/5.       

Check this deleted masterpeice out Here

Wharfedale hut - January 15/16th 2011

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary:Tramp No. 96

Wharfedale hut - January  15/16th 2011

This was the very first time Aunty Roddus has done a tramping trip. We had been talking about it for quite some time and had purchased a pair of new boots for Aunty Roddus several months ago in anticipation of this trip. I chose the wharfedale hut because it is very close to home and it is a relatively easy 4-5 hour walk to the hut with no major hill climbs or rivers to contend with and I hadn't been back to it in several years. We were going to do it a couple of weeks earlier but the weather forecast was rain, so I decided to hold off. It didn't rain  that weekend at all of course. Any how this time as she had the full weekend off work again we were determined to go. We left home about 11:30am on Saturday and were on the track just after 12PM. It was warm and slightly windy in the Nor'west direction. The forecast was for possible rain overnight and maybe in the morning. There were plenty of vehicles at the View hill car park but we were hoping the hut wouldn't be full as a lot of them would be mountain bikers. 

Off we set with me carrying most of the food, all the cooking gear and the tent etc... with Aunty Roddus struggling with my other pack which is a bit to large for her frame. She was carrying her bedding and warm cloths etc.. and managed the pack very well. I let Aunty lead the way so she could set her own pace, we had plenty of daylight and could take it slow if needed. She did pretty well setting a reasonable pace for the whole trip, reaching the hut in just under 5 hours. We were disappointed to find the small hut almost full, with just two bunks left, but we decidede to camp out behind the hut on the river as there were some great tent spots there and she was keen. With all those people in that small hut as well as the heat from their cooking and the fact that the hut has almost no windows that open and it was already a warm evening, the temperature in the hut was quite oppressive, so it was much more enjoyable camping on the river. Poor Aunty was pretty knackered after her walk but was in good spirits. She went to bed soon after dinner at about 7:30pm. Although the wind had been  fairly  strong during parts of the day, after dark the nor'west really started to blow and the sound of the trees roaring in the wind kept me awake hoping we wouldn't get blown away, but the site I had picked  under some small trees by the bank afforded us such excellent shelter that the tent hardly felt the wind at all. Got up around 7am with Aunty feeling a bit sore and stiff but I knew she would be fine once we got moving again. After breakfast I packed her pack for her and said if she wanted to make a start I would catch her up after I had packed the tent and cleared our camp site. We were going back out the same  way we came in and the track is very well used and easy  to follow so I felt confident to let her carry on ahead. She got a good 15 minute head start on me but I was very surprised to find that  I didn't catch her until we were nearly at the Black hill turnoff. She had done really well and was feeling ok and had enjoyed walking in the forest alone. We got back to the car, after avoiding the many mountain bikers on the track, in 4 hours and 10 minutes. A great effort by Aunty and an enjoyable trip had by both of us. she is already asking where next.

and we saw a few plants and trees.

A very well used track.

A lovley carpet of ferns.

This interesting structure we found on the Saddle.

Lucifer's Friend - Lucifer's Friend (Germany 1970)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review

01. Ride In The Sky – 2:53
02. Everybody’s Clown – 6:10
03. Keep Goin’ – 5:24
04. Toxic Shadows – 6:59
05. Free Baby – 5:26
06. Baby You’re A Liar – 3:53
07. In The Time Of Job When Mammon Was A Yippie – 4:03
08. Lucifer’s Friend – 6:09
09. Rock ‘N’ Roll Singer (Bonus) – 4:17
10. Satyr’s Dance (Bonus) – 3:15
11. Horla (Bonus) – 2:50
12. Our World Is A Rock ‘N’ Roll Band (Bonus) – 3:18
13. Alpenrosen (Bonus) – 3:53

Now this is more like it, a real monster of an early 70s rock album from this heavily Led Zep and Sabbath influenced German rock group as well as more Deep Purpleish progressive learning's. I got turned to this band from hearing the mighty "Ride The sky" on the "Music for Your Brain" compilation and was so impressed I had to check them out some more. I am not disappointed, as this is a solid and rocking effort throughout and although they are bloody obvious in their influences, they have the talent and imagination to make some interesting and totally enjoyable music. Stand out tracks for me are the above mentioned "Ride the Sky" and the very riffatastic "Baby your a Liar" A classic rock song. These guys should have been big with this release.

The bonus tracks here are quite different from the original 8 tracks. A lot quieter without the bludgeoning guitar licks and they have a more commercial pop sound with a touch of jazz. They are very good tracks but don't quite go with the rest of  the original album, though "Horla" is a fantastic guitar tour de force. A roddus rating of 4.5/5.

Check this beauty out here

Radio Heart feat. Gary Neuman - Radio Heart (UK 1987)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review.

Another from the recesses of the hard drive and one I had no Idea I possessed. Frankly it too belongs back from whence it came, forgotten in the back files of hard drive oblivion. I will probably delete it instead. Although totally not with out some merit, this album will probably appeal to hardcore Gary Numan fans and completists and it is pleasant enough late 80s synth pop with some ok guitar parts but generally doesn't excite too much and sounds well processed. Like the last post there is much better music to enjoy from Gary than this album and as for Radio hearts, well, Who? 2/5.

John S Hall - Real Men (USA 1991)

An Uncle Roddus Album Review.

1. Enjoy Your Tea
2. Things
3. Clarity Transcending Choice
4. The Birds
5. My Life
6. How Much Longer
7. Mr. Story
8. Wind-up Toys
9. Knowledge
10. Garbage Party
11. The Spanish Armada
12. Hide the Knives
13. Shit
14. Everybody Screams Inside
15. Pain & Pleasure
16. The Party
17. Columbus Day Weekend
18. My Personal Life
19. Francis Bacon
20. Empty
21. The Trees
22. The Absolute
23. Real Men
24. Water

Got a brace of  albums that I have dredged out of the deep dark recesses of my hard drive for review this month, starting with this one which I may have had on CD at one stage or I downloaded it from emusic when I had a subscription with them several years ago. I only have time for a quick word on this one, especially as it ain't worth much more than a quick dis. I have enjoyed the music of  King Missile and also of Kramer when he was in Bongwarter, but this record totally fails to move me at all any more. I was once amused by Johns off the wall commentaries on this record and the infantile music samples Kramer backs him with but there is much more important and enjoyable music to explore from both these guys than this . My rating 1.5/5