Do The Locomotion.

I'm home, in my official home. Finally the January exams are over! Well.. they were for many others before me but i was just unlucky that my last exam was on the final official exam day. Although this gave me the opportunity to have like a lot of my mates a break from uni life before a hard semester begins once more, so i thought i'd try out the trains running from Loughborough to Grimsby. This unfortunately has now cost me the use of my back from carrying the shoulder bag equivalent of a hippopotamus, or a pre-gastric band Fearne Britain with a 10 kilogram crate of rivita's. Silly silly me, but hey i needed to do some washing. I couldn't bare the thought of stinky clothes crying to sleep in my flat.

Was a relatively good journey, initiatively catching the earliest train which went through various stops on the way to Lincoln and finally catching the exchange to GY. As the time went on i was amused by the change in temperature and weather on entering lincolnshire; going from -2 with thick snow patches, to a cold, dry and sunny 1 degree. From last Sunday i'd seen a lot of snow, ice and slush so it was all the more comforting to know it was nice back here and had missed the heavily reported blizzards.. for now (muhahaha).

Most of the way from Lincoln i stuck my headphones in and listened to some complimentary vibes. Ironically i hadn't realised the number of train related songs, so for your pleasure here are the "locomotunes" which uplifted my positive yet extremely knackered mood. Remeber to check them out.

Steps Ahead - Trains (Magnetic)
Mid-80's - fusion band - Michael Brecker! - EWI(electronic woodwind instrument) - tenor god - about trains (i'm guessing).

Originally found this tune from looking up Brecker vids on youtube (yes thanks Tom for below, you know me too well) and Brecker without the rest of SA performed this with a highschool band. As expected he 'ducks' them all up the 'fass' a million times with one tenor solo. Recommended highly even if you don't have a moustache, stone washed denims or a big lovely perm.

"I've told you politely but now you've caused further aggrevation on my part. I can only listen to categorised popular music from 1980 period of Earths history! Your suggestion of this.. 'j-azz' music is quite unheard of, i didn't know daleks liked spontaneous dribble. But i now understand why this is so in relation to your physical appearances." - perhaps a Doctor Who post one day (although the whovianistic knowledge might cause discomfort and similar harm).

Seasick Steve - Prospect Line (I Started Out With Nothin', still..)

Country Blues - Seasick Steve - about waiting for trains - acoustic guitar slides!

Need i say more except i've got my ears down to the ground listening for that a rumblin' sound, deliver me from this town, today i'm gonna be homeward bound.

Medeski, Martin & Wood - The Train Song (Let's Go Everywhere)

Funk - MMW with vocals?! - childrens concept album?!

Surprisingly this whole album although aimed at gaining the attention of younger children to stop them getting into the dispise-worthy current music scene is rather good and highly original. Probably not some peoples tastes but once you get past the simple melodies, voice samples of american kiddies and intentionally humorous numbers (Pirates Don't Take Baths), a lot of the stuff is quite listenable and could be compared to other MMW material. This track even though describing a kid and the fun they have with their trainset, is really quite charming (come on who had Thomas the Tank Engine?), with sections of whistling, harmonica licks and tempo changes echoing train movement. Good blues style tune with a lot of long-hall-hooks to keep you tapping those feet y'all.

E.S.T - Leucocyte 'Ab Initio' (Leucocyte)

Maybe it's to do with the fact the publicity video for this album after Esbjorn Svenssons tragic passing was set to black-and-white footage of trains and moving traffic is why singularly it sticks in my head. And after all it still amazes me that this was all improvised. Effects laiden and verging on heavy metal jazz it is both bad ass yet very graceful; almost like travelling at increasing speed, faster and faster till all you see is a blur. Yet the blur is still beautiful because you see more of the details unlike when you are standing still.

When i remembered i had this song on my phone i stuck it on and the event was almost ghostly. The timing of the song from start to finish matched the length of a station to station journey, all the winter scenery from snow covered countryside to the rusty looking towns and cities, and also the varying velocity of the engine. Perhaps i'm looking too deep into this but i still think when you listen to this album in its entirety, Esbjorn somewhere is looking down upon whoever listens to it. As a testiment to what could've been and where the journey finally ended.

Much like the end of a train journey...