Meander

I’ve had a chance to listen to Riverfolk’s new CD, Meander, and I like it. The music will be familiar to those of us who’ve been seeing Riverfolk at conventions and house concerts over the last few years. One thing that’s interesting about this studio recording is that, unlike the one-dude-with-a-guitar acts that sound very different in a studio recording with a whole gang of backup musicians, Riverfolk, even just the traveling trio that is usually seen at conventions, has a full, complex sound live, thanks to the guitar skills of Becca and Chas and the amazing fiddle and mandolin work of Andy, so the studio recording sounds subtly enhanced but still has very much the same feel as their live performances. The occasional backup vocals, Nate on bass, Roady, and of course the flute (I always notice flutes) are a subtle and nice touch. Having heard them live many times this recording prompts memories of fun times at cons and in Barb’s Basement or Alyse’s home. This CD is like a digital hug from Becca and the gang.

Now, of course, we have to start pestering them about the next CD, with the silly songs.

Oil

Our HP (nowadays “Agilent”) model 1090 HPLC (High Pressure/Performance/Price Liquid Chromatograph) had another one of its bad days. First it looked like the detector or maybe its UV lamp was broken, then it looked more like the pump. I changed the hydraulic oil in the high-pressure pump and bled the hydraulic lines, and once that started working right the detector gradually settled down and started looking better, so I suppose it was just air/whatever in the detector flow cell. I hope. The instructions for changing the oil don’t have a “step 47: get oil all over everything and make a big mess” line, but they ought to.