Senator Andrew Bartlett
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
 
I'm back in Adelaide again for a meeting of the Senate team. It's the first time we've met face to face since the election, as we wanted to wait until the Senate results were all finalised. It will also be the start of the long haul back for the party and we'll have to put in place the first few bricks of that path.

I might try to get a spare half hour to drop into Big Star records again. I've mentioned this place before, but it's definitely worth looking at if you're into alternative music. I'm trying to spend some more time listening to music to help sooth my soul and this is a good place to go – even poking around shops like this without buying anything brings back good memories for me. It's got a good second hand section downstairs and a wide range of new material upstairs.

It seems to me that there used to be a few more places like these around 10 years ago – I don't know if it's the impact of the large chain stores like Sanity and HMV, or if it's just me getting older and more out of touch. Last time I was in Adelaide I had a bit of a browse – there's always a few different (older) artists I look for just in case there's something I haven't got. I saw the new one from Marianne Faithfull. Most of the songs on it are co-written with either PJ Harvey or Nick Cave, so I figured I should buy it. I've had a few listens to it so far and it hasn't grabbed me yet, but it may well at some stage.

I also came across a compilation of stuff by The Scientists. There's one song of theirs I've always loved and never had a copy of – Swampland. I've been looking on and off for this on CD or vinyl for ages and it was wonderful to finally find it. The full disc is called Blood Red River and features a bunch of songs from 1982-84.

Luckily my hotel room had a CD player, so I was able to put it on straight away. There's some other good songs on the CD too that had long since slipped out of my memory, but it's worth it for that song alone. It must be well over 10 years since I've heard that track, but it came rushing back to me like yesterday – in my heart there's a place called Swampland, nine parts water, one part sand.

posted by Andrew Bartlett @ Tuesday, November 02, 2004
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