"We packed up all our troubles, in our beloved bubble"

"A STRANGE KIND OF MYSTERY IN THE AIR" - Pete Roe

In March last year, I ended up going to three Laura Marling shows within something stupid like five days, and her opener for that tour was Pete Roe, who you might remember also plays in her band. I remember how the first night I was happily surprised by a support act that I enjoyed and just politely nod along to with an air of impatience. The second night I found myself singing along, and by the third, I was a fully converted fan, knew each song and had bought some of the music.

The way that Pete Roe plays guitar, effortlessly plucks and slaps the strings to create so much dynamic, reminds me at times of Marling too, of Ben Howard and even Leonard Cohen. It's clear from watching him on stage that he's a comfortable showman and has a lot of charisma, he's an exceptional guitarist and his studio recordings incorporate strings gorgeously.

"A Strange Kind of Mystery in the Air" is the first single from Roe's newly released album, "Our Beloved Bubble", and is written about the various occurrences in a Bristol pub that he used to live above.

"Our Beloved Bubble", recorded in Nashville is 2012, is out now, and you can check out some of his upcoming tour dates here.

Recommendations: February and March

"THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER" - Stephen Chbosky
I'm definitely not the first to write about how brilliant this book is, and I'm coming rather late to the party but I can't go without mentioning it. Sometimes you read a book at just the right time: "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" just sums up all of the weird events that occur during the "growing up" period, and doing things for the first time. Also one of the smaller plots related to a situation I've found myself in, and Charlie reminds me of one of my friends to a ridiculous amount of detail. It was just really close to hope.
And I love that line: "We were infinite."

"POST OFFICE" - Charles Bukowski
It took me the first few chapters to get used to the narrator's voice in this novel, because Bukowski's writing style is so unusual, as well as him using a certain amount of what I guess was jargon, but all of that's a good thing and once I did this novel was really good and like nothing I've read before. I ended up liking Henry Chinaski in a twisted kind of way, despite how unkind and lazy and for want of a better word, pathetic he is - I think there's maybe a little bit of him in all of us. A great summation of the "white trash" culture, from a point of view I haven't come across much before.

WHITTARD'S TEA: DREAMTIME
I think I've expressed my love for ridiculously sweet instant tea drinks before. Apricot and honey flavour. Perfect if you have a cold. www.whittards.com. I believe they deliver.

PENGUINS
It was actually from a Laura Marling concert the other night that I learnt that here you can watch penguins at a zoo in California via live webcam. I don't really think I need to explain why this is amazing.

PETE ROE
If you hear from me anywhere else on the internet you probably know this, but I went to see Laura Marling last week... possibly three times. I'm broke but it was brilliant and worth it, and one of the guys who opened for her was Mr Pete Roe, who also plays piano and guitar in her band later on in the set. He's a really great guitarist, by the third night, I could sing along with several of his songs. I think this one below is my favourite of his.



I don't think he's released any music yet, but I'm sure it won't be long.

***

Sorry for forgetting Wednesday again. I won't make promises but we'll see what happens next week...
Aside from that, I hope all's well your end and I'll be back soon.

Lizzie x