10 Midsummer Spells, 22 June

Grimy Channel 4 Glastonbury, Jarvis remembers 1995, Sarah Dempster, Estonian folk and Alesha Dixon on fire

1. I’ve been on a bit of a Glastonbury nostalgia trip this week, thanks to seeing Pulp in Birmingham (see my Friday Flashback for more – pun intended). Remembering my first time led me to discover these videos online of Glastonbury 1995, when Channel 4 provided the gritty coverage.
   
   One day, I want to spend hours watching these, to spot myself in the crowds...

   
   My six Glastonbury experiences in summary:
   1. 1995 - Pulp-Polly in shocking pink (above)-Orbital-Elastica-Supergrass, sunstruck, unsuperpassed.
   2. 1998 - Pulp-Portishead-Blur-Bentley Rhythm Ace, mudbaked, baked.

   3. 2000 - Bowie-Black Box Recorder-Pet Shop Boys-Elliott Smith, warm-ish, unfortunate incident with a Tiny Tea Tent truffle.
   4. 2004 - Macca and fireworks-Orbital-Tindersticks, showers, first year with the Word gang and my new boyfriend (now husband, who somehow survived).
   5. 2005 - Looking at the lineup, I have no idea who we saw, apart from The White Stripes, who were a bit shit. Surely I saw Brian Wilson?? My second year with the Word gang and my best mate Dan with a torn muscle in his foot, on crutches, in downpours. The cinema tent sank, I recall.
   6. 2007 - Writing reviews for the Guardian, and last time with the Word gang. Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Amy, liquid mud inside waterproof trousers, escaped Sunday morning in car to Bristol. Sofa viewer ever since.

   

2. Back in the present, catching Candida Doyle on Radcliffe and Maconie yesterday morning on the way to buy the paper. She played Donny Osmond and Funkadelic, and saying how much she enjoyed the gig on Thursday. She’s on from 1 minute 33.

   

3. Finding this Penguin Books video from Jarvis’ promo of his Good Pop Bad book. It’s wonderful. Includes Jarvis’ memories of playing Glastonbury in 1995 (I remember him pretending to read from his shopping list so well), his only work with Jonny Greenwood (in a wizard supergroup in Harry Potter), and how French TV doesn’t mind the C-word.

4. Thanks to Joe Muggs for sharing this with me – Alesha Dixon in full flow in King’s Cross last week. Baking hot.

   djagonline

   

   A post shared by @djagonline

5. Estonian duo Duo Ruut, who are my folk album of the month picks for June (I also recommend checking out Jennifer Reid, Brighde Chaimbeul and Hekate in the also out section). Here’s a great video of them to get you going.

6. Fergal Kinney’s very sharp and funny multi-review of all the Oasis books coming out this summer, for The Quietus. The first and last paragraphs are worthy of a chef’s kiss.

7. The return of Sarah Dempster – one of the funniest TV writers ever – to the Guardian after five years, on Noel Edmonds, naturally. I hope this means she’s back permanently.

8. Instagram dishing me up Ian Wright at the Royal Albert Hall in 2024, reading out Albert Camus’ letter to his teacher, Monsieur Germain (a letter Camus wrote after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature). If you don’t know why Wrighty was absolutely the man for this gig, watch the video that follows. (If you do know why, I know you’ll probably watch it again).

9. This gorgeous photo of Julie Christie in the Glasfryn pub behind Theatr Clwyd, keeping me company earlier in the week.

   

10. And Barry McIlheney’s obituary (see my June 8 newsletter) making it into the printed paper on Friday. I hope he would laugh that he’s in there with Steve Martin and Pepsi and Shirlie. They should be honoured.