Hector

...well, it is his house, after all. This is how Hector looks at me when I'm putting my boots on: I'm in my chair, he might want to come on my knee, he might want feeding, he might just want me to scratch his head - who knows? Not me, that's for sure. He certainly wants something, though. I'm not even entirely sure he knows himself... (I promise he's not drooling, by the way, only he's just had a drink of water and he's not got the best table manners, and he tends towards messiness...)

Much excitement today, with the arrival of my pre-ordered copy of the new Allo Darlin' album from Rough Trade. Of course, this being the age of the internet, I already know it's a cracker, but I was looking forward to my limited edition 'Covers' CD. Very good it is, too, despite the non-inclusion of their version of The Just Joans 'If You Don't Pull' that closed their set when I saw them recently in Leicester. It does include this song, though, which is officially the most played track on my ipod and I think probably my 2011 Song of the Year. It's a Darren Hayman song, and whilst the album it's from originally ('Local Information' by one-off project The French) is not a patch on Hayman's pretty wonderful work with The Secondary Modern (2009's 'Pram Town', in particular, is a great record) this particular song is very good, a moving evocation of the power of music to conquer loneliness. Elizabeth Morris, who has a habit of managing to sound like she's singing every song right to you at the best of times, doesn't just make this song her own, she absolutely inhabits it - really aching and quite fabulous!

Went to see 'Marley' at Broadway last night - and a popular choice it was too! It's heartening to see such a decent turnout for a two and a half hour reggae documentary, even if it is about the mighty Bob himself. Mind you, it was a pretty engrossing couple of hours, and a very well made film. The editing together of archive footage and some beautifully shot new material was powerful and illuminating and there were some fascinating characters, too. Highlights included a montage of characters explaining how reggae developed out of ska - with the accidental discovery of the upstroke, a mysterious delay machine at Studio 1 that non-one knew how to operate, a dropping of the third beat in four and a marvellously syncopated tap-dancing demonstration from Bunny Wailer - a fabulous 'cousin' of Bob's, propping up an outdoor bar in rural St. Ann and explaining how the 'mento' music that Marley was exposed to as a child worked, and a recording of Peter Tosh referring to Island-head Chris Blackwell as 'Chris Whitewell' because of the way he toned down the Wailers' early rootsiness for the mass-market (though it's interesting to note that this didn't stop Tosh putting out his own 70's classics through the label...!) I'd maybe not go so far as to say that 'Marley' would suit everyone - if you don't like reggae at all you're certainly going to struggle - but for anyone with even a passing interest I'd say it's well worth the investment.