Music – Leeds's Singing Organ-Grinder

Hide the ducks, the musicians are coming

From the DCVB, re pato: —Amagueu els patos, que vénen els músics!: ho diuen per recomanar prendre precaucions davant un perill imminent (Val.). Els músics hostatjats tenen fama de menjar tot quant troben a la casa. One recalls a barbecue gig where all the meat and beer was consumed before the 50-odd guests arrived in…

Raphael tortures Aquarius, Matt Monro destroys Libre (subtitled)

Do Spanish speakers get more excited about “defective” accents than English speakers?

Mysterious Zaragoza nights

Between-wars texts about Zaragoza by Germans who appear never to have visited the place.

¡Viva España!

A drunk-sounding Peacock Band playing accordions, bones, and mouth organs in a pub in Chelsworth, Suffolk the early 1970s.

Viaje a México

Our itinerary, and that of Polo Polo on his Viaje a España.

Link sink for 30/05/2009

Mid-20th century Ibero-American hits, state-controlled media, the personal and the public.

The green of the louse/Lo verde del piojo

An etymological hop from kite-flying with Juan Marsé back to Concha Piquer’s greatest hit.

Seen from Turó de la Rubira, a solitary head louse in light drizzle on Monte Carmelo.

Congolese children singing the anthem of Athletic

Some corner of a foreign football pitch that is for ever Bilbao, and I hope they got fed afterwards: The original strikes me as thoroughly Teutonic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ns2rkb3Wb8 Let’s not kid ourselves any longer: everything interesting, from nachos to nationalism, was invented by the Germans. Fortunately they tend to be generous about using the proceeds to…

The war on arsematrons

After years of shilly-shallying, will France finally stand up to American fartpower?

Misspent lunch with the birds

I hope to post interviews and analysis soon.