Went across to Harley Street this morning to have my hearing re-tested by Capital Audiology, recommended by David Grayson. Very impressive consultation, one part of which involved establishing the approximate frequency and volume of the whistling in my ears – and then playing that sound back into one ear. After three minutes, the tinnitus vanished in that ear, for about 10-15 minutes. But looks as if I’m headed for hearing aids.
Then across to HMV in Oxford Street en route back to Volans, to look for some new music. Bought a bunch of things: two CDs by Madeleine Peyroux (Half the Perfect World and Bare Bones); Bob Dylan’s latest, Shadows in the Night; Brian Wilson’s Jukebox, which compiles the music that inspired one of my favourite musicians; Solo by the Mavericks; The Essential Paul Simon (many of the tracks I have on LPs or even CDs, but a nice compilation); and Carl Perkins & Friends, with the likes of Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Dave Edmunds) – which is the audio track of a concert we watched way back in 1996.
Am also listening a fair amount to Psychedelic Cambodia, a CD that rescues music that pre-dated (and whose sources were largely wiped out by) the Khmer Rouge. Given to me by Gaia and Hania: profoundly moving. Weirdly, one of the tracks is a Cambodiazation of a track I first heard in extraordinary circumstances in 1970 in Greece, Venus by Shocking Blue. We arrived in a garage in the Landrover, got out and were stretching, when a huge truck pulled in behind us, the driver opened his door above us, and the first chords rang out.
Maybe that’s where the tinnitus comes from? Certainly bands like Fairport Convention were pretty loud in the day. But today brought home how much I love music, not just the Desert Island 16 I highlight elsewhere on this website.
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