Liner notes | 02

1. Spent the first five months of the year studying a lot; sometimes with bluebells and iced coffee

2. 'Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile...'

3.  Another study spot, this time with grapefruit and black coffee

4. From frosty early morning January swims, to tan backs and bright turquoise waters

5. Birthday treats. In May I saw Phil Cook play London's 100 Club. As my friend Isabelle says, his album Southland Mission is 'actual, literal summer'. It's infectious sun-dappled joy.

6. Room At The Top: the first post-exams summer read

'If flesh had a taste, hers, I imagine, would be like new milk. I fell in love with her at first sight. I use the conventional phrase like a grammalogue in shorthand, to express in a small space all the emotions she evoked in me.'

'I got a room at the top tonight
I can see everything tonight
I got a room where everyone can have a drink
And forget those things that went wrong in their life' 

7. It's pretty overwhelming how many places in the US I want to see next year

8. Took my kick flares for a walk

9. Nowhere beats Richmond Park in early summer

And the livin' is easy: songs for summer

June, 2016.

I made a playlist.

A month of midsummer rain, of Brexit despair, of bearded footballers, of Bruce and the best nights of my life, of elks and airports and black leather boots and frozen yoghurt, of political and social combustions, of burrowing deep into rock and roll music.

It's July now. As I type, Federer's about to be blown out of Wimbledon (update: epic comeback!). A crocodile-teared Blair has just had his own reputation blown to smithereens by Chilcot. The Corbyn 'chicken coup' continues, hopefully in vain. Leave politicians are fleeing the stinking ship of xenophobia and bigotry now that it's somehow successfully left port. Next month I move to California. The sunshine is steady again, but the ground, everywhere, feels much less so.

At least there's always music.

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And the livin' is easy: songs for the summer:


  

Glasgow | 02: coffee (and burgers) in the city

After my June trip, I'll always associate Glasgow with three things: Springsteen, sunsets, and coffee. OK, so Springsteen shows may be a rare occasion for the city, but I hear Scotland often enjoys a good sunset, and the coffee in Glasgow is definitely worth shouting about.

Our call for post-Bruce brunch was answered by Spitfire Espresso, glowing on a street corner in central Glasgow. We sat under a cloudless late morning sky at a table on a heat-soaked pavement, with strong dark coffee and poached eggs. While this perfect summer weather was temporary, the independent coffee scene in Glasgow is permanent, and impressive. 

After roaming the West End, we caught the subway back to the city centre and eventually wound up at Bread Meats Bread. What a place, what a burger. I've been vegetarian for a while, but a good burger joint always tests all of my reserve: unless it's so good it actually does a decent vegetarian burger.

I've had three exceptionally good vegetarian burgers in my life: the 'Thom Yorke' at Berlin's Let It Be; the veggie burger at Copenhagen's Tommi's Burger Joint (now also in London!); and the falafel burger at Bread Meats Bread. This burger was so tall I doubt even Andy Murray'd be able to get his jaw around it. Served with a generous basket of sweet potato fries. I swore I'd never be hungry again. 

It's normally the west side of the city that gets recommended, photographed, instagrammed. But the east of Glasgow, home to the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow Cathedral, and the Glasgow Necropolis, is worth a potter too. Papercup Coffee Company, a West End favourite, has another branch in the east; we had sourdough toast and coffee here on our final morning. (I was sat in the window in a Springsteen shirt when a man in a Roy Orbison shirt walked past outside, and we gave each other a smile and a thumbs up, like we were part of a secret club.) 

And of course, a coffee from the legendary Gordon St Coffee at Glasgow Central to accompany the train ride back to London.

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Places mentioned:
Spitfire Espresso
Bread Meats Bread
Let It Be (Berlin)
Tommi's Burger Joint (Copenhagen)
Papercup Coffee Company
Gordon St Coffee

(And yes. I'm still unable to blog without making at least one Springsteen reference. You'll just have to live with it.)