The end of... what exactly?

The end of summer perhaps, the End Of The Road Festival maybe, but nothing is really quite as simple as that.

These are not abandoned, or merely washed-up like the sea-weed.
They are above the tide-line while their owners take some time away from the rat-race.

Music still has something of a hiatus over the summer too although arguably much less of one than it did a decade ago, and the four weeks on the run up to Christmas are still pretty poor, but the three months between them are usually good. It is more appropriately a time to consider the beginning of what comes next. It just goes round and round, albeit with very different durations and influences, but ultimately returns again at least in essence.

Nothing starts and nothing ends and so 'Ellipse', the latest album by Imogen Heap, would be a very good place to pick up the thread.

An eponymous anagram...

Yesterday I mentioned the album 'Speak For Yourself', the second by UK singer/songwriter Imogen Heap. I have now discovered that her début solo album I Megaphone (1998) - for long hard to find or, if you did do so, very costly - can be found again at a reasonable price even though it might have to ship from the US.

It is now on my wanted list and is available for £5.75 (US $ 12), including delivery to the UK.

No excuses...

If you think that I mostly like old, or new but less well known, albums then while is it true that I might mention them more often here that is not the whole story.
On my way home from work tomorrow I'm going to go to the nearest store and buy a copy of this album:

I can't pretend I don't want it and I'm not remotely ashamed about that. I'm soon going to be in places that might bring back mixed emotions and I'm going to take it with me. White on Blonde is excellent, more imaginative and surprising even, but it was not the one that I then wanted to listen to!
Late last August the album I really wished I had, but wasn't with me, was 'The Hush' by Texas and I'll take it with me this time.

This is another fine, but criminally under-rated, artist/album that is also well and truly on my current play list. I've had this since it was released in 2006 and it never fails to impress me more with every listen!

The music is truly special of course, but then so is the 'digipack' (MEGACD001). It consists of four illustrated sections that fold in on each other and also a lavishly illustrated full-colour booklet that contains all the lyrics.

Goodbye and Go, c/w Speeding Cars, on clear vinyl 7".

If I had made a list of 'My Top Ten Singles' in 2006 then this would certainly have been included...

Whatever happened to Amy Studt?

See latest update (4 March 2009)

The album False Smiles (2003): do you remember it? Probably not and I'll forgive you if you don't so we need an update on another artist who, much like Fefe Dobson, was apparently ditched in the mania that accompanied the realisation that downloading was for real.

Well although the above is an image from her 2003 incarnation, the one at the top of this post is not. She will be back in 2008 with a new album - My Paper Made Man - and Guy Sigsworth (sometime Madonna-producer and, with Imogen Heap, half of Frou Frou) seems to be involved with it too, which is no bad thing in my mind.