8 February 2013 No Comment

It has happened: I have crossed the rubicon- I have started borrowing music from my children. It must now be but a short step until the moment that I get asked to be Father Christmas.

Youngest Son got this CD from his friend: Madness ‘Oui, oui,si, si, ja, ja,da,da’ and it is very good.

Madness are a British institution and yet their last two ‘proper’ albums, recorded after many years hiatus, are suprisingly great. They still sound obviously like Madness, but a little older- they are not pretending to be 30 years younger. So a lot of songs on this new CD talk about aging, death and relationship with their children (and grandchildren?). This particular song has advice that I would love to be as concise about to my own children. What advice- from a non faith source- to teach your child to love unconditionally.

And the bass, the beat and the tight playing are a joy. There is also a song that has challenged my mantra that there are no great ‘happy’ songs; something that got even me smiling- a song called ‘Misery’:-

Sometimes all you need are simple songs played well…