October

October already- 2025 continues to hurtle by. Some October songs for the first of the month, a blogging October fest. 

First, wonderful electronic pop by Chris And Cosey, originally released in 1983 but here in its 1986 version, two former members of Throbbing Gristle making something light and lilting but profound too. 

'You took my hands on the stairs/ No one was around/ You said we could be lovers/ I just had to say the word...'

October (Love Song) '86 Version

Fast forward to 1991 and Neil and Chris, the Pet Shop Boys, released their October symphony, a song inspired by Neil Tennant reading a book about the Russian revolution and a composer writing a symphony celebrating the October revolution that brought the Bolsheviks to power. Written in the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall and break up of the USSR Neil has his composer wondering if the symphony if the work is still valid. Johnny Marr contributes some lovely little bursts of guitar. 

'So much confusion when autumn comes around/ What to do about October?'

My October Symphony

In October 2000 The Gentle Waves released October's Sky as part of an EP, Falling From Grace. Brass, organ, an off kilter rhythm and sound and Isobel Campbell's softly sung vocals on top, a slightly off centre love song. 

'When will we stop feeling haunted?/ For our ancient love must die/ Never have the stars shone brighter/ Underneath October's sky'

October's Sky

Lastly, from April this year, Maria Somerville's October Moon- drifting in with ambient drones and noise, recorded in Conamara and Dublin in 2021, gradually becoming a song, acoustic guitar and a vocal so soft and blurred its only half there, a song blown apart by the wind... 

The lyrics are difficult to make out, maybe 'I look away/ Somewhere I can...' 

October Moon

October's Sky

I took this photo outside the front of work on Tuesday night, late September skies in north west England. It took me by surprise a little- it had bene a wet, grey day and suddenly this light show was going on in front of us. It also made me think of how people in the Middle Ages must have been convinced of the existence of a god who resided in the clouds when huge streaks of heavenly light burst through the clouds like this. 

Back in 2000, twenty one years ago, singer/ cellist Isobel Campbell branched out from Belle And Sebastian and recorded as The Gentle Waves. This song came on a four track EP called Falling From Grace, a single to support her album Swansong For You. October's Sky is a bit under three minutes long and comes in quickly with a descending piano part and a cacophonous brass/ woodwind riff that jars at first but soon becomes hypnotic. Isobel sings softly on top- all very left of centre 60s pop/ exotica territory and none the worse for it. 

October's Sky

Four Thousand

This is post number four thousand at Bagging Area, the four thousandth time I've written a few words about pop music. Without wanting to blow my own trumpet too much, that's a lot of posts and some kind of achievement- possibly also a sign of an obsessive nature and as Drew sometimes points out a tad self indulgent too. But still, four thousand.

Some musical maths for you. I was thinking about trying to do a Countdown style randomly selected set of numbers (in song titles) and seeing if anyone could use them to calculate 4000. But I've just spent 48 hours living in a field in Lancashire with a group of 14 year olds as an end of the school year experience and I'm quite tired so the maths is staying very simple and involves these artists- Massive Attack v Burial, The Charlatans and The Gentle Waves.

 Four Walls

Let The Good Times Be Never Ending

Hold Back A Thousand Hours