Song for Sunday

Rose Elinor Dougall – Carry On

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: S Club 7 – Don't Stop Movin' (what happens when the offspring commandeer iTunes to help decide what their favourite song is for Show and Tell ...)

Turbulence

Giles Foden has a knack for unearthing fascinating side stories from real events and using them to construct novels and non-fiction. He's best known for his first novel, The Last King of Scotland, where a young Scottish doctor on a medical program in Africa ends up as the personal physician to Ugandan President Idi Amin.

Turbulence intrigued me for the most part, but was ultimately a bit of let-down. It is a literary thriller, based around solving one the most intractable scientific (or more specifically geophysical) problems of the Second World War: predicting the weather over six consecutive days to allow the D-day landings to be planned and executed.

Henry Meadows is a technical officer in the Met Office who is dispatched to Argyll in an attempt to retrieve crucial information from the reclusive Wallace Ryman. Ryman is an authority on turbulence whose work is viewed as crucial to aid the forecasters in providing accurate and reliable advice to the military top brass. Unfortunately Ryman is a rationalist and a conscientious objector who is indifferent to the project and whatever information he does share doesn't seem to be particularly relevant.

The first two-thirds, set in Argyll, when Henry is trying to befriend and get the information from Ryman works well. Then the story turns on a dramatic event which seems less traumatic than it should be. Henry's breakdown after isn't convincing and the book drifts off. Although events become more dramatic, they also seem less convincing and by the end very little seems to be real.

There is also the added distraction of a tacked-on, modern-day coda running throughout which doesn't shed any light on the historical events or add anything to our understanding of Henry or his actions. The final chapter is billed as an address to a conference about the forecasting for the landings and marking the fortieth anniversary. Again it seems unecessary and contrived, as if he didn't have the confidence in the core narrative and felt that it needed something extra. It is a great story and if Foden had concentrated on getting this right, ditching all the padding and authorial tricks then it would be a far more engaging book.

Song for Sunday

50 Foot Wave – Your Ghost

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: Rose Elinor Dougall – Find Me Out

Song for Sunday

Wild Beasts – We Still Got the Taste Dancin' on our Tongues

Band/artist of the week: Arcade Fire
Song of the week: Arcade Fire – Sprawl II (Mountains beyond Mountains)

Song for Sunday

Clogs – Last Song

Band/artist of the week: Arcade Fire
Song of the week: Arcade Fire – Sprawl II (Mountains beyond Mountains)

Booker longlist

No Amis. No Rushdie. No McEwen. Hurray!

The Booker Prize longlist was published last week and, although I haven't really been interested in it as prize since I stopped working in the bookshop (circa 1996), I had to take a look anyway. Just so that I could be mildly outraged by the judges narrow view of what constitutes literature and chuckle condescendingly at their predictable choices.

The last Booker winner I read was Alan Hollinghurst's The Line of Beauty in 2004 and I didn't rate that much. Life of Pi in 2002 was the last one that I actually enjoyed and before that it was Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha in 1993.

So, this year's list brought on an attack of slight incredulity including as it does two books I have already read that are fantastic (The Slap and The Stars in the Bright Sky), another that I can guarantee will be excellent (and is already on my to-read pile next to the bed – The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet) and another five which I quite fancy (C, February, In a Strange Room, Room and The Betrayal).

My take on The Slap is here and I will be banging on about The Stars in the Bright Sky at some point in the near-future. The bookies reckon Parrot and Olivier in America or The Long Song are in line for the fifty grand, but that only shows what turnips they are. My pick would have to be David Mitchell for The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet because lots of people reckon he should have won in 2004 for Cloud Atlas and although the judges say they 'put aside literary reputations and judge the novels on their individual merits' it is strange how often an author's past near misses help a book's chances.* And if I was a betting man I would put some money on Christos Tsiolkas for The Slap. I just have a funny feeling that it might be his year ...

*The fact that it is historical fiction won't hurt either.

Song for Sunday

Early Day Miners – Comfort/Guilt

Band/artist of the week: Arcade Fire
Song of the week: Rose Elinor Dougall – Find Me Out

Post Tour melancholy

So: now that the sleep deprivation has worn off and the dust has settled on the Champs-Élysées, what to make of Le Tour 2010? Well, for starters my predictions were about as bad as they have ever been. I got the winner right and that was it.

To be fair nobody else I saw managed to pick more than two out of the top five (oh, all right Monsieur Jean-Francois Quenet got three), but even so I would have done better if I had just republished last year's list.

The green jersey list would have been spot on if Petacchi had followed Cipollini's example and headed for the Riviera at the first sign of mountains and you ignore the fact that Robbie was placed below Rojas on a countback. And as for the mountains jersey, well the less said about that the better. I do find it sad that all the real mountain specialists don't seem interested in this classification anymore. They should just rename it the mediocre French journeyman's prize ...

Contador didn't seem to have the same form as last year and I would have loved to seen Schleck really attack him in the mountains. You also have to wonder what would have happened if Andy hadn't lost 42 seconds to Contador in the prologue. How could a serious GC contender lose so much time over 8.9 km? He even lost less time than that to Contador in the 52 km on the penultimate day.

Anyway, I seriously underestimated Schleck's form and if everything goes well for him you have to imagine him winning in the next year or two. And I drastically overestimated how strong Armstrong and Wiggins were – both were a big disappointment. Armstrong looked like he couldn't quite believe that his legs wouldn't keep up with the younger generation and he was unlucky at crucial points, but as Phil or Paul said, when lady luck gives up on you she really gives up. As for Wiggins he just never looked like a serious contender this year. I think the miscalculation on the opening prologue hit him hard psychologically and it will be interesting to see if he can get back in the top ten next year.

Rogers was an even bigger disappointment than Wiggins and Armstrong and, as he said himself near the end of the race, he just isn't cut out for the three week grand tours. Unlike a true GC contender who seems to get stronger as the race goes on you can just see Rogers fading away. Kreuziger did pretty well and I reckon you will see him on the podium before too long.

Song for Sunday

Laura Marling – Rambling Man

I am usually fairly immune to waify, singer/songwritery types, but this is rather lovely and has snuck in behind my defences over the last few weeks. The video reminds me of an old friend who lived in Brighton for a while, but only because of the swimming in the sea thing not the rambling or the suitcase or the birds or anything like that.

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: Rose Elinor Dougall – Find Me Out

Song for Sunday

Blondie – Union City Blue

A golden oldie as they used to say when I listened to the radio. Even after 30 years I still love this song. They don't make videos like this anymore – interesting to see where the design for the Guantánamo jumpsuits came from though ...

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: Rose Elinor Dougall – Find Me Out

Song for Sunday

Emma Pollock – Red Orange Green

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: Rose Elinor Dougall – Find Me Out

Song for Sunday

Sambassadeur – I can try

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: Dot Allison – Message Personnel

Tour de France 2010

Winning three Tours de France puts you in special club of cycling greats, joining Greg Lemond, Louison Bobet and Philippe Thys. Doing it at the age of 28 probably gives you another five or six attempts and a shot at all out legend status; looking towards the five Tours of Indurain, Hinault, Merckx and Anquetil and onwards to the dizzy heights of Armstrong's seven wins.

So, the question is can Contador win it again this year and join the club of greats? My answer would have to be ... probably. He is still the strongest rider, his preparation has been good and the course is so suited to him you almost have to wonder if Christian Prudhomme wants anyone else to win.

But. And there are a lot of buts. His team is nowhere near as strong or tactically astute as last year, the tensions and conflict will be gone, but will he have the support when he needs it? I doubt it, but even so I still can't see anyone else managing to get ahead of him. The tough Belgian stages in the first week will also be strange and unfamiliar, with the other favourites doing all they can to make him suffer. Even so, the lack of team time trial and just one individual time trial will play to Contador's strengths, as will the tough Pyrenean stages a few days before the end.

Until the race gets to the Pyrenees I think it is going to be one of the most open and interesting Tours we have seen for many years and there are more genuine challengers this year than I can ever remember, so who else will be joining Contador on the podium?

I think Armstrong will be next. He is looking stronger and more dangerous than last year. Radioshack is also a much stronger team than Astana and you can guarantee that they will work for Armstrong like no other team in the race. Also it is his last chance and if he has enough time on Contador before the Pyrenees, he could just hang on to make it eight. Unfortunately, unless Contador and Astana make mistakes I just can't see where he is going to gain enough time.

And moving up one place on 2009, I think Bradley Wiggins will be finishing on the podium for the first time. He looks ready, thinks he is in better form than last year and Team Sky are hungry to show that they can compete at the highest level with the best in the world.

After that there probably another ten riders that could round out the top five. The Schleck brothers still look strong, but I think Andy is not quite on his best form and Franck just isn't strong enough in the mountains. Cadel was very strong at the Giro, the lack of team time trial will be an even greater relief for him than Contador, but I think he will struggle to crack the top five. Michael Rogers on the other hand looks like he is in the form of his life and, although Columbia will be working hard to put Cavendish into the green jersey, I still think he will have enough support to strongly challenge for yellow. And in fifth, Roman Kreuziger, will show how much potential he has as well as wresting the white jersey from the shoulders of Andy Schleck.

Yellow

1 Alberto Contador
2 Lance Armstrong
3 Bradley Wiggins
4 Michael Rogers
5 Roman Kreuziger

Green
1 Mark Cavendish
2 Thor Hushovd
3 Robbie McEwen

Mountains
1 Carlos Sastre
2 Luis León Sánchez
3 Cadel Evans

Fozz for Oz

Down to the last eight ... 75% hit rate on my group stage predictions ... still looking good for Argentina, but sadly not against Spain in the final as I thought. Could it be an all South American final? Quite likely ...

However, my attention is going to be elsewhere come Saturday as the greatest annual sporting event gets underway in Rotterdam. Plenty more to come on that over the next few days, but first I just had to throw my considerable influence behind the push for the FFA to appoint Craig Foster as the next Australian manager. Yes, I know he didn't really play at the highest level, has never coached anywhere and it would be terrible to lose him from the SBS team of experts, but (and most importantly after the Verbeek fiasco) you have to admit that he has the hair to take Australia at least as far as the quarter finals. I rest my case.

Song for Sunday

Tracey Thorn – Why Does the Wind?

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: Black Box Recorder – Seasons in the Sun

Song for Sunday

Stars – Fixed

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: Black Box Recorder – Seasons in the Sun

Here We Go

Just over one week in, time to look at the World Cup good, the bad and the predictions ...

Good: Slovenia's Charlie Brown shirts, England's failure to get it up on the big stage (twice), Ally McCoist sounding wise and knowledgable alongside the rabidly partisan Martin Tyler, SBS's coverage (it is worth emigrating just to avoid the awful BBC and ITV pundits), German red cards, German penalties being saved, France's blanket for their subs bench, Maradona in a suit and The Guardian's Lego match recreations.

Bad: getting North Korea in the work sweepstakes, the Coca-Cola and Macdonalds adverts every ad-break, Australia's away strip, Australia's home strip, trying to explain the concept of a draw to number one son, Maradona's suit, bad puns about Honda being Japan's engine, Harry Kewell's groin and all the bollocks about watching games in 3D.

Predictions: Still on track for the final (wish I had put money on Argentina).
Group A – France can still qualify, but it looks like Uruguay will accompany Mexico into the knockout stages.
Group B – Again, mathematically Nigeria can still qualify, but at this stage you have to think that it will be Argentina and South Korea.
Group C – I am sticking with England and the USA, but that won't stop me cheering on Slovenia on Wednesday morning.
Group D – Yup, still Germany and Ghana.
Group E – Cameroon and The Netherlands. Check.
Group F – Italy and Paraguay. Check.
Group G – I'd like to see Ivory Coast go through, but suspect that Brazil and Portugal will make it.
Group H – Chile and Switzerland? I just can't see it, I'm afraid. Chile and Spain as predicted.

And the 64 million dollar question: can Australia beat Ghana? I actually think they can. And will. I am still not convinced they can get any points from the Serbia match, but with everyone in the group apart from Australia on three points at the moment who knows what will happen.

Song for Sunday

Rose Elinor Dougall – Find Me Out

See also the excellent Start/Stop/Synchro ...

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: Rose Elinor Dougall – Find Me Out

First time since April 11 that Song of the Week isn't by The National! Even so they still get the overall prize, but for how long?

Black Box Recorder

To be honest, I thought they had broken up years ago. Sometime back in the mid-2000s after the Passionoia album. But no, they were still hanging around, not quite calling it a day in amongst side projects for Sarah Nixey and Luke Haines.

Then two new songs appeared last month and for a moment I thought maybe a new lease of life was on the cards. But then the title of the EP sunk in and after a bit of background checking it is confirmed that Black Box Recorder are no more.

Jude Rogers sums them up much better than I ever could over at The Quietus, but here is a small-scale tribute to commemorate one of the most interesting and incomprehensibly overlooked bands of the last decade and a bit. Enjoy.


Black Box Recorder – England Made Me


Black Box Recorder – The Art of Driving


Black Box Recorder – Seasons in the Sun

World Cup

For the first time in three years I missed taking a punt on the Giro d'Italia final standings, so to make up lets have some ill-informed predictions for the World Cup:

Group A - France and Mexico
Group B - Argentina and Nigeria
Group C - USA and England
Group D - Germany and Ghana
Group E - Cameroon and The Netherlands
Group F - Italy and Paraguay
Group G - Brazil and Portugal
Group H - Spain and Chile

Likely to be fewer upsets in the group stage this time round, but I still reckon that the USA can finish on top of group C and that's not just wishful thinking.

Unfortunately I can't see Australia getting through to the knockout stages this time – the team is lacking in goal-scoring ability and Verbeek is the sort of coach who is too obsessed about not losing to actually win games. I would be delighted to be proven wrong, especially as a second place in the group could set-up the succulent prospect of knocking out England to progress to the quarter finals. Not going to happen, but for another couple of weeks we can at least dream ...

And the final? I think we'll have Argentina v. Spain with the South Americans winning out 3 - 1. (Now where did I put that Argentina shirt from 1986?)

Song for Sunday

The Dø – At Last

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: The National – Afraid of Everyone

Song for Sunday

The Mynabirds – Numbers Don't Lie

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: The National – Afraid of Everyone

Song for Sunday

Besnard Lakes – Albatross

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: The National – Afraid of Everyone

Pre-internet search

I know it is only just over ten years ago, but how did we find out about stuff before Google?

Ironically, even though I searched on Google, I am not sure who the creator of this ingenious spoof was. Thank you whoever you are.

Song for Sunday

The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio

Beautiful. One day I will be able to grow a beard like that.

Band/artist of the week: The National
Song of the week: The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio

Funny that!