During my time in London I spent a lot of time living at Nine Elms Pier, on a succession of boats. Initially, I was on a huge Humber Keel barge called the Charles William, until the owner sold her. I was incredibly lazy about arranging somewhere else to live, but it looked like I was going to have to move off the pier, which I really didn’t want. Then, by some happy accident, on the day before I had to move out someone appeared on the permanently empty little narrowboat moored just next to the Charles William. We got chatting, and I moved in the following morning – he was unable to make any use of the boat due to living a bit too far away, and was glad of the rent.

I loved living on the pier so much I actually bought a narrowboat when one came up for sale later that year, see here, and the picture above. This was, as Sod’s Law would have it, just before I was finally offered a job in Edinburgh to be with Mrs. Toad. The timing was rotten, but I did a lot of work on her and was able to sell on reasonably easily, so I managed to do okay out of it all. I was pretty lucky though. Boats degrade pretty bloody fast and I could have been sitting on a colossal, gradually sinking white elephant if things had gone badly.

Anyhow, at about the time I moved from the Charles William to the Lagom – the tiny little Narrowboat – I was really enjoying reading the independent music magazine Comes With a Smile. It was run by Matt who I think is a graphic designer by profession, and this really showed in the gorgeous layouts and artwork. Every issue (roughly quarterly) he would compile a CD for us which was a perfect combination of new things, with a fine dash of stuff I already knew, just for familiarity’s sake. He had a real love for intimate, mellow Americana and I discovered loads of groups through his compilations.

CWaS folded eventually, and the last issue was in late 2005. Perhaps in this internet age, printing an actual magazine was always going to be an impossible enterprise for so small an operation, but I very much miss my occasional brown envelopes from Matt. There was so much personal thought and emotional investment in the stuff, it was almost like being round at his house while he played tapes for you.

I mentioned this because I have two CDs of highlights from various samplers which I made simultaneously at about the time I was moving between boats, called, not terribly imaginatively, ‘Farewell to the Charles William’ and ‘Welcome to the Lagom’. They are both so full of Comes With a Smile songs that every time I hear them I think of Matt and his ultimately doomed labour of love. He’ll probably never read this of course, but thanks, wherever you are.

Sun Kil Moon – Carry Me Ohio
Micah P. Hinson – Close Your Eyes
Jim White – Static on the Radio
Giant Sand – Brand New Cumberland Gap
American Music Club – Mantovani the Mind Reader

Ah, that felt good. I’ve been so busy trying to catch up with all the music I want to tell you about that it’s been ages since I remembered to prattle on aimlessy about nothing much in particular for an entire post.