Something old, something new, something tasty, something bluesy

 

TAPAS AND JOHN PEEL

D'ye ken John Peel?  Or, more appropriately, d'ye mind o' John Peel?  Not the legendary Cumberland huntsman, but the far more influential Liverpudlian DJ and broadcaster who sadly died in 2004.  Influential?  Well he certainly was in my life, and that impact he made reverberated again yesterday, providing an unexpected experience.

In my late teens and early twenties I was a frequent listener to Peel's late night music programme.  Often I'd end the day in bed, my tiny orange transistor radio, and the single earpiece plugged in.  Lying there in the dark I'd hear an eclectic mix of genres and instruments and styles, some immediately rejected, some diving into my consciousness.  If the latter remained an LP purchase would invariably result.  And my entry into the weird world of 'unusual' acts like Ivor Cutler and Wild Man Fischer.  And one of those LPs was Paco, by flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia.  

Yesterday we had a walk along Portobello Prom, and decided that before going home we'd have a late lunch/early dinner.  The first promising place we came to was a Spanish tapas restaurant, so in we went.  First impressions weren't great.  The waiter waved us vaguely in as he was on the phone.  Lighting was a bit on the dim side considering it was only late afternoon.  And there was a noisy group of young women and their kids at a table.

But the waiter came over and couldn't have been lovelier.  The sun came out from behind a cloud and brightened the place up.  And the loud presences left the building, leaving us as the only two customers.  Which also meant I could hear the music coming over the speakers, and my ears sharpened up immediately.  The unmistakeable sound of flamenco guitar, all cascading ripples of notes percussive rhythms and bright, jumping energy.  In this case with a melody and style I recognised instantly.  Paco.  I hadn't played that LP for years.  I wondered if I still had it, for in downsizing I did get rid of a lot of my old vinyl.  But it was always a favourite, surely it's one I would have hung on to?

The track came to an end, to be succeeded by voices, which I couldn't make out.   Was this a radio station they had on and the immediately identifiable track was a coincidence?  No, this was their Spotify playlist, and what I'd heard was one of the ads.  Yes, it was Paco de Lucia (except he pronounced it correctly!).  Yes he was an icon of Spanish music.  It was clear that the waiter was delighted to find someone who knew of the man, and he talked knowledgeably about the musician's background and relatively recent death.  And asked if I'd like some suggestions for similar artists.

Would I?  Of course I would.  As we ate our (delicious) tapas he found time to scribble down a list, which was duly delivered.  Then we mentioned a Galician folkrock band we're fans of.  Which prompted another addition to the list.  And, in exchange, he took a photo of the name of our favourite band, which was on my tee shirt, and said he'd be investigating them.

I hope he does.  For I'm enjoying his little list, courtesy of YouTube and Spotify, and sooo pleased to find that Paco still sitting on my vinyl shelf and being able to listen to him today.  The years slipped away...

Without John Peel we'd have come away feeling we'd discovered an interesting place to eat.  With John Peel, or at least with listening to him more than four decades ago, we've added the even better discovery of new music to explore.  Or was that down to a butterfly in South America?

There's no idiot quite like a far right idiot

 It was said, back in 2014, that supporters of Scottish Independence were acting as Putin's useful idiots.  That his aim was to do anything he could to destabilise the two most significant opponents he faced in Europe - The EU and NATO.  Breaking up the UK would be a step along the road to damaging both.  And the subsequent move of Alex Salmond to appear on the Russian propaganda TV channel suggests there may well have been links - although also having the arch unionist Galloway on there suggests Putin will take advantage of any disruptive influences he can find. 

In 2014 Putin's aims, if such they were, failed. But in 2016 he struck gold. His main weapon of choice in undermining western democracy is the political far right (so Indy may be seen as an aberration). The full extent of Russian interference may never be known, but Putin must have been delighted to see a fellow anti-democratic narcissist enter the White House, and for one of the larger states of Europe to try and destabilise the EU with a messy divorce.

Fortunately his success in the US was short lived - can you imagine having a Putin admirer running the US right now? Biden is far from being the perfect president, but he is so, so much better an option than Trump. But the UK has compounded it's gift to Putin by electing a hard right government of incompetents, who have become a laughing stock internationally. Yes, we have a Foreign Secretary who gets confused between the Black Sea and the Baltic (can you imagine the feeding frenzy of the UK's right wing media had Dianne Abbott or Nicola Sturgeon said something similarly stupid?), and a PM knee deep in Russian corruption and money laundering.

Putin will continue to use whatever means to further his destabilisation aims. He has made little headway in Europe's big hitter, Germany, but the French presidential election was a big test of resistance. Quite how a country that suffered so much under fascist occupation can now opt to vote in such large numbers for one of Hitler's successors is beyond me, but Le Pen was far too close to taking control of one of Europe's big hitters.  Macron, as in the US, is far from perfect but he's still better than the fascist option.

There are stories emerging that Putin may have overplayed his hand domestically in invading his democratic neighbour, and it might yet end badly for him. Should he go the subsequent power vacuum will be messy, but maybe a friendlier Russia will come out the other side. Until he is gone there will be Russian agencies trying to influence Western politics to their own ends. In 2014 that may have included breaking up the UK. In 2022 that would be pointless. Putin has had his success and the UK has neutered itself, becoming something of a joke state. The far right might not have come directly to power, but their continuing influence on tory policy, and the vile attitudes of many of their MPs, ensures the UK is globally irrelevant.

All of which leave Scottish Independence as a more attractive, and necessary, option than ever. Putin's useful idiots are the fanatical brexshiteers, howling at the EU moon. If they don't care about the possibility of reigniting war in Ireland they're not going to care much about some Eastern Europeans, are they? The break up of the UK could now be seen as a positive anti-Putin action, helping the further decline of a state where the government has embroiled itself in Russian money. Bring it on.