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October 2023 Archive
29.10.23 > New Video: Closest Thing To Crazy (Remastered version)
The build-up continues towards the impending 20th anniversary edition of Call Off The Search. The latest video to get a bit of spit and polish is the big one—Closest Thing To Crazy. Yes, the song that launched Katie into the stratosphere and blew our collective minds. It's a sweet little video but if I'm honest the real benefit of this whole 4k remastering is in the pristine audio. There isn't a great deal that can be done with the video and it retains the original soft-focus look. Still, it reminds you how good Katie could have been as an actress since she looks completely natural in her role.
You can watch the video by clicking the image below.
28.10.23 > Quick Facts
The longest studio track Katie has recorded, by some margin, is Millions Of Things from the album Aerial Objects. At 6m 49s it is more than a minute longer than the previous record holder, No Better Magic (5m 46s), from Acoustic Album No. 8. The shortest recording is Cradle Song from In Winter at 1m 43s, just pipping The Little Swallow (1m 46s), also from In Winter.
27.10.23 > Playlist: Halloween
Goodness me, this is getting ridiculous! It seems like I'm posting about this playlist every five minutes but somehow another year has passed by and once again we are into the spooky season of Halloween. I make no apologies for posting this every year for one simple reason—this playlist is banging! There is a slight pang of disappointment that Love & Money contains no suitable additions to the list but that doesn't detract from what a wonderful selection of tracks this is. And now you have a choice of platforms: Spotify or YouTube Music. You pays your money...
Play on:
22.10.23 > New Single: Tiger In The Night (Remastered version)
The latest remastered single from the upcoming re-release of Call Off The Search is Tiger In The Night. These remastered versions sound stunning and they make you realise just what a special album Katie's debut offering was. And whilst the included bonus demo versions of these tracks seem to give Katie equal amounts of amusement and embarrassment, real fans find them fascinating and still entirely listenable. Whilst they demonstrate the amount of refinement the recordings underwent they also show just how much magic there is in Katie's voice, even in those raw early efforts. This re-release is also a wonderful opportunity to own an iconic album on vinyl at last.
You can listen to the pristine track and the original demo on Spotify or YouTube. and other streaming platforms.
19.10.23 > Song Title Generator
A quick reminder to check out my random song title generator, which can be found in the Miscellany section of the site. This was created for a bit of fun, and often throws up funny or weird results but now and then comes up with some pretty good suggestions. Despite the name, it works equally well for poems or novels. Have a play, and if you end up having a massive hit or best-selling novel then I'd appreciate a gentle nod to Craggie's Song Title Generator!
15.10.23 > New Video: Crawling Up A Hill (Remastered version)
The stroll down memory lane over the imminent 20th anniversary of Call Off The Search has now turned into a brisk walk, if not a light jog. Crawling Up A Hill is the latest release from the newly remastered album and the video is available to chuckle at, I mean admire, on YouTube. If you'd forgotten why you'd fallen in love with Katie then these early videos will bring it all flooding back. Fresh-faced and innocent—I was both of those things back then, but Katie, well, she looked more at home in the music industry than she does now. Though, it has to be said, she looked less at home posing as a humble office worker, bless. You can watch the wonderful video by clicking the image below.
Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for the pic of Grumpy Cat on the wall at her desk. Genius.
13.10.23 > The Katie Melua Collection 15th Anniversary
Happy 15th birthday to The Katie Melua Collection, released on this day in 2008. Although early in her career, this was more than just a Greatest Hits compilation. It gave us the new tracks "Two Bare Feet", "Toy Collection", "Somewhere In The Same Hotel", "When You Taught Me How To Dance", and "What A Wonderful World" (a duet with the great Eva Cassidy). Worth the price for those alone, but there was also a stunning DVD in the package which contains a live concert from her Arena Tour 2008 and is an absolute gem. If you never bothered to buy this CD/DVD you really should hunt it down.
08.10.23 > New Single: Call Off The Search (Remastered version)
November 3rd will mark the 20th anniversary of Katie’s stunning debut album, Call Off The Search. Hard to believe isn’t it. Social etiquette seems to demand we say she hasn’t changed a bit but in this case it is pretty accurate—if you don’t believe me then compare the still below from the video, when Katie was nineteen, to the album cover of Ultimate Collection in the previous post, where she was thirty-ahem-something. One thing that has changed is the pitch of her voice, which is now much lower (as happens with most people as they age). This is one reason why I am hoping to hear her re-record this album at some point—her sultry lower register is ideally suited to these jazz-oriented songs—but for now we will have to make do with a remastered version of the original album. Perhaps ‘make do’ is an unfair phrase, since I’ve listened to the new single, the title track, and it sounds about as perfect as you could ever hope for. I haven’t directly compared it to the original album version but it is so crisp and clear and perfectly mixed it sounds like it was recorded yesterday (apart from the aforementioned higher pitch of Katie’s younger voice). It is enough to convince me that the remastered version of the album will be a worthwhile addition to the collection, though the deal-sealer is the inclusion of previously unreleased tracks. Some of these did appear on the B-Sides compilation but September Song is something I’ve always wanted to hear Katie sing and here it finally is after being hidden away on a shelf for twenty years—that track alone should make the entire package worth purchasing, but the opportunity to own this iconic album as a gatefold double-album vinyl is a further compelling argument. You can watch the video for the new single by clicking the image below.
You can also pre-order the 20th anniversary edition of the album from Katie’s online store by clicking the pic below.
05.10.23 > Ultimate Collection 5th Anniversary
Happy 5th birthday to Ultimate Collection, released on this day in 2018. There are a few notable anniversaries this autumn, the most significant being the 20th anniversary of Call Off The Search which Katie, thankfully, is celebrating with a new release of that iconic album on November 3rd. That will be an unmissable opportunity to own Call Off The Search in a double-album gatefold vinyl, which is THE way to own music.
01.10.23 > Asteroid 25131, aka Katie Melua
I haven't mentioned this for a while and perhaps some of you are unaware that Katie had an asteroid named after. I steadfastly refuse to make any kind of comment about heavenly bodies, though I can think of a few that might not be so restrained. Anyway, if you are a science geek you can see considerably more data on Asteroid 25131, Katie Melua by visiting its web page. Yes, Katie's asteroidal namesake does indeed have its own web page.
The inner rings are the orbits of the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Asteroid Katie Melua orbits Earth every 4.51 years and is located between Mars and Saturn. It is represented in the diagram by the yellow and blue line, where yellow means it is above the ecliptic and blue below it (which you can visualise as being in the Northern hemisphere or Southern.) I'm sure you'll be relieved to know that because it is so far away and in a steady orbit there is no chance of Katie Melua wiping out life on earth.
