No More Shall We Part

One of the most hauntingly beautiful, yet hauntingly sobering wedding songs ever. And yes, sadly this is the best version I could find with a video.

Here’s the “real” (album) version, if you don’t need moving pictures. (Which I feel you actually do for blogging purposes.)

I heard this on an electronic dance radio show (I know, you do the maths) I was listening to in the lab, and I found that it was a welcome break from the beepy noises, which was actually something of a surprise, because I thought that I was quite enjoying the beepy noises.

Wildfire

Another new video from Seafret – just in time for Christmas.
Here are the moving pictures which accompany their new single Wildfire. Great tune.

I wonder if it will work? I wonder if we will ever find out?
If it does, my money is on the Barcelona / Manchester combination.

She needs a bit more excitement in her life, and it’s either the beardie from Barcelona or a beagle.

I hope they get together. For her sake.

Pre-order the upcoming album here. (I have)
Read Arthur Aron’s methodology and preliminary findings on The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness here. (I’ll get there)

Oops, I did it again…

How long have you been reading 6000 miles…?

If it’s more than *weep* 6 years, then you may remember this post from Christmas 2009. It was when my amazing wife bought me amazing tickets for a-ha’s amazing last ever gig in Oslo.

There was much excitement. So. Much. Excitement.
I had almost a year to plan and anticipate my trip, I was going to meet friends and family on the way through. It was going to be amazing. I couldn’t stop smiling for 11 months. I even made a category on here for the whole thing.

But then… then this:

5230643297_8ce7b2ae10_bAnd this:

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And the rest, as they say, is history.

Really, really expensive history.

But then, on a happier note, a-ha reformed, announcing one last album and one last tour.

It wouldn’t be like me to do something daft and use the a-ha fan club pre-sale link to buy tickets for their last ever gig in Bergen next May, would it?

Would it? Er… yes. It would.

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Oh crap. Here we go again.

As impulse purchases go, it was ridiculously expensive and both wholly unthought-through (hence impulse) and yet somehow carefully considered (in that this concert will sell out and I can certainly pass the tickets on should I need to).

Accommodation is sorted too, thanks to a remarkable hotel flex deal meaning that I pay nothing til I get there and don’t have to decide whether to I want to stay until 1600 on the day I check in. 1.4km from the train station, 700m from the concert venue (including a ferry trip). And cheaper than a hotel in Cape Town. I know. You do the maths.

There are a few minor things to work out. Childcare, flights, trains, annual leave and a million other potential stumbling blocks.
But suddenly some bare bones, bare bones which I hadn’t even considered this morning, are in place.

And look, Google is chilled AF about the whole thing:

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Or as the Norwegians would say “Weekend i Bergen”.
Ja. Let’s go play. Possibly. Maybe let’s tell my wife first though.

Shapes

Music this morning, because I need some cheering up after Mrs 6000’s car nearly killed me twice on the way to work. It stalls SO easily, leaving you a sitting duck when, for example, turning right across oncoming traffic on the appropriately-named Main Road. My issues probably stem mainly from the fact that I don’t drive the vehicle very often. I’m sure it’s one of those things that you learn to avoid when regularly driving it. Otherwise, it’s a simply lovely car with some emissions problems that we didn’t know about when we bought it. Because no-one did. Apart from those devious Germans in the software lab.

I digress. Back to 1994, and the theme for the Lillehammer Winter Paralympic Games.

This song was a massive flop for Morten et al., reaching number 27 in the UK charts, and doing nothing anywhere else. That, together with the tensions within the band indicated that it was likely to be the last single from a-ha. Oh noes.
History shows us that this wasn’t to be the case, but it was a bit scary at the time. Anyway, because of the hiatus which followed, this remains the only single released by a-ha that doesn’t appear on any of their studio albums. You’ll thank me when that question comes up at your next pub quiz.

Still, with the 20/20 vision of hindsight, this is a nice, positive song. I’ve almost forgotten that I’ve got to drive home again this afternoon.

Tell Me It’s Real

I’ve been following Bridlington-based duo Seafret for a while now, and they’ve made it onto the blog on several (or more) occasions, so I was delighted to learn that they have finally sorted a release date for their debut album Tell Me It’s Real.

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And that release date is 29th January 2016. Say Jack and Harry (for it is they):

Each song on the album expresses a different part of this amazing journey we’ve been on so far. From moving from our little town in Yorkshire to the big smoke, missing home and loved ones and meeting some amazing people on the way.

And that January release cunningly leaves them safely out of the extremely challenging running for the 2015 6000 miles… Album of the Year award (a-ha, Dry The River, Ludovico Einaudi et al.), while also putting them as early frontrunners for the 2016 version. Clever.

Listen to Sinking Ship – my favourite track – here, and/or enjoy widespread pre-orderage options are available on their website. Heads up: it’s R99.99 on SA iTunes – that’s less than half the £9.99 UK price.