tells me the new Paul Simon album is fantastic. I gather Paul dedicated his performance of The Boxer (one of his greats) to Ali the other night. I like Paul and love his music - sonically perhaps the best of our generation.

www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/05/pa...sticated-combination

It is indeed a very good album. Simon's quite intriguing, as - these days - he's primarily a lyricist who tends to wait for musicians to give him riffs and sounds before he starts shaping a song around them. Sometimes, I find, that leaves him compromising his brilliant gift for a great turn of phrase in order to match the often unconventional rhythms that he's encouraged, and it can also lead to a frustratingly messy end product. But there's also a bit of magic there, too. It's certainly more interesting than the kind of self-parody that many of his contemporaries keep churning out - I doubt you'll hear many songs these days that start with a tuba! - and his voice, which was rarely over-extended, has aged extremely well. 'Wristband' is my current earworm, it's such a clever little song.

'The Boxer' is one of my favourite tracks of all time.

PaulB wrote:
'The Boxer' is one of my favourite tracks of all time.

I'll alert the media.

The Only Living Boy In New York is one of mine. American Tune?