Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: WHO

  • WALK-INS

    WALK-INS

    Intriguing, fascinating and most enjoyable Walk-Ins from multi-instrumentalist and composer Sikha Pros, aka Joel Frias, captures the space in between sleeping and waking; that nebulous time when the mind and emotions have already travelled to places still vaguely formed in dreams; a place in between, a special ethereal space that heals, guides and cleanses the senses.

    Earthbound is the body as the time of sleep passes, restful, fitful and full of dreams. Drifting in, the single note of a gong rings out, the breathy sounds of the shakuhachi flute played by Jing Yi, winds through the delicate percussion and piano to create a state of bliss, delicate and light.

    Haunting sounds continue the journey into the Land of No Where with a ghostly overlay, created with a series of oriental instruments used sparingly with a synth basis, which seems to be indicative of the mind drifting, seeking, looking for that state of in-between; that special world where dreams are made. A rather enchantingly beautiful song in its slow, structured melody.

    Who Am I, is something we all ask ourselves at some time in our lives.  Spoken vocals make this an intriguing piece. Once again the various notes of oriental instruments come together, underpinned with a definitive, pulsating beat guiding the song as the soul seeks to discover who! The eternal question is asked: Why am I alive!

    There is much to Mundis Imaginalis to explore. ‘Mundis Imaginalis’ is a concept that dates back to Sufism which captures completely the elements woven throughout this sensitive EP. As the song unfolds, it brings to a completion the minds journey to the place in-between, to reawaken feeling refreshed, relaxed, and at peace once again.

    Walk-Ins: a place in-between in which to get lost in a relaxing, most peaceful and gentle manner.

  • Who Fed Zed?

    Who Fed Zed?

    This well illustrated, hardback picture book Who Fed Zed is hilarious. I suspect that the reader, as well as the listener will finish up in giggles. Part of the humour lies in the way the illustrator portrays the characters. They are larger than life and have a range of facial expressions which are amusing. The size of the illustrations is excellent for conveying the ideas. We have Zed the fish, whose “poo hangs down in one long thread.” Yes, he does look quite smug!

    The text is a good size for reading together, and the important statements such as,” NEVER, EVER FEED ZED BREAD,” are enlarged and coloured. The black text shows up well on the pastel colour pages. The narrator in this story explains that the visitors to the house like to play with the dog, but the dog has been banned to the shed as he has fleas. The three friends listen as the narrator explains how to feed Zed and how to put flea powder on the dog.

    Sadly, there is a mix up in procedures and quick thinking and problem solving is needed. Who Fed Zed is a delightful story with sub plots showing surprises at the end. The text is rhyming, which adds to the humour of the illustrations and the story, “And now all the fleas are dead, Jed’s no longer in the shed.”  This is the language which will help children read, and also help with speech issues. A good read.

  • Thanks A Lot Mr Kibblewhite

    Thanks A Lot Mr Kibblewhite

    As Roger Daltrey of The Who, a famous rock group formed in the 1960’s, has obviously written this book, it asks the question, who then was Mr Kibblewhite, and why is he so significant as to have his name on the cover of what is obviously an autobiography!

    Well, he was the Headmaster who expelled from Acton County Grammar, Roger Daltrey on his fifteenth birthday with the parting statement “You’ll never make anything of your life, Daltrey.” How many times over the years, as Daltrey rose, and rose again to fame on the world stage, did this man wonder at the fickle nature of fate.

    Daltrey takes a walk back through time to growing up in post war Britain at a time when rationing was the norm, kids played on bomb sites and three meals on the table every day was considered high living.

    This young boy, who built his first guitar from factory offcuts paid for by odd jobbing, never dreamed, that he would one day go on to live a life in the public eye as the front man for a group famous for pushing the barriers, trashing their instruments on stage and commencing the new world of Rock music, raising the standard year after year.

    The WHO, a band made up of complete musical geniuses, went on to redefine music in the early ‘60’s becoming more and more outrageous on stage, dependant on the amount and type of drug being consumed at the time. Daltrey talks of the road trips, the rip offs, the many people who helped them rise to the top only to help them crash to the bottom due to poor management, drug abuse and conflict.

    Pete Townsend the other surviving member of the original group was way ahead of his time with his music, often so much so it failed to find an audience to begin with, as in the case of Quadrophenia but previous to this, his work Tommy, captured the audience from the first.

    My Generation is just one of the many famous pieces still played and enjoyed more than forty years after it was first performed in a rage on stage, and is one that rapidly became the anthem for a generation of teenagers redefining what it was to be young, angry and alive!

    Entertaining, enjoyable, humorous and most of all very readable, Roger Daltrey has captured the essence of being young in the years of Post War Britain, when the world was reforming, redefining and ripe for change. He takes a look at what it was like to be broke most of the time, even when the band was earning big sums of money, the deaths drummer Keith Moon and bass player John Entwistle and the separation between Daltrey and Townsend that took years to resolve.

    He also shares his life as a soloist, an actor and family man and through his eyes, he offers a firsthand perspective of what it was really like to live the life, to pay the price and the eventual good times and peace that was achieved later in his life.

    Still performing with Pete Townsend, the band lives on more than 50 years after they played their first note, became a worldwide phenomenon, created a new, loud, wild style of music to join in the revolution that was the 1960’s and 1970’s.

    A definite must read and must have for all fans of THE WHO.