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(The Blue Aeroplanes - People still talk about their 1992 Glasto gig)

Going back to 1994 tonight. The Blue Aeroplanes. They've been kicking around on and off since 1981, have gone through various labels and incarnations, have broken up, gotten back together and still have a large and loyal following (in Europe and the UK). As always, or at least seemingly for the past twenty or so years, they have a great reputation overseas, yet are virtually unknown here, save for the ones who do a lot of digging and reading and exploring.
Given the current state of affairs in mainstream music, that seems to be a virtue with just about anybody who cares anything about music. Digging, reading and exploring is almost a necessity if you don't want to drown in mediocrity . . . okay, don't get me started.

The Blue Aeroplanes are still around, planning on releasing a new album in 2010 and gigging extensively in the new year. Check them out if you can, visit their website and find out if they're playing someplace accessible.

Here's a track off their 1994 album Life Model, (I'm A) Smart Drug.

Hear what you've been missing or remind yourself when you first heard them.

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(Fields - Just one album. One very rare album)

Heading into Prog territory this week. Fields is probably not a recognizable name, unless you're a big fan of early Rare Bird (oh, haven't heard of them either?)

Both bands have one person in common; Graham Field who has been probably one of the more neglected keyboard players in the 1970's Prog-rock scene. Field was a founding member of Rare Bird and left when the band decided a change in direction was called for. He regrouped and formed Fields and was quickly snapped up by CBS Records in the UK. The result was one album and a couple of singles before CBS lost interest and Fields broke up.

Field went into semi-retirement, but is rumored to be getting active again.

But in the meantime he did leave a very auspicious first (and only) album in 1971, which has seen a brief reissue on CD in Europe and Japan, but nowhere else.

A Friend Of Mine is the track you will hear when you hit the play button.

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(Capability Brown - GREAT singles. But albums . . . . well . . .)

Capability Brown were one of those bands who had all the elements of being great. Amazing vocal harmonies, good instrumental licks, great up-and-coming label (Charisma came about as the brainchild of former manager of the bands Creation, Bonzo Dog and The Nice Tony Stratton-Smith) with lots of positive Press. And Capability Brown had a couple of great singles, like this one "Windfall".

But when it came to putting an album together, that was another story. The material was just bland and not well produced. And that spelled disaster for anyone trying at the high-stakes rock n' roll game and perplexity for reviewers who were anticipating their albums, based on the positive reaction to their singles.

Like I said, the singles were another story - and "Windfall" was everything the albums weren't. Capability Brown is largely forgotten now. their first album never issued on CD and their second album issued briefly on CD in Japan and the singles only issued as part of anniversary compilation in 1973. By that time the band had split and Charisma was reaping the benefits of Genesis.

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On The O'Reilly factor Dick Morris is asked how the United States should deal with the North Korean's latest aggressive actions and his solution is...get the Japanese to threaten to change their constitution and develop a nuclear weapon themselves.

So of course like any good neocon, Morris' solution to our problems with North Korea is nuclear escalation and promoting an arms race.

Just a reminder that yes, this is a global recession:

Japanese electronics group Panasonic is to cut 15,000 jobs and close 27 plants worldwide as it seeks to reduce costs.

The world's largest maker of plasma TVs said it expected a net loss of 380bn yen ($4.2bn, £2.9bn) for the financial year to 31 March.

The company has been hit by a stronger yen and falling sales amid the global economic downturn.

Also on Wednesday, Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi forecast its first annual loss for three years.

It said it expected a net loss of 60bn yen for the year to the end of March, compared with a profit of 34.7bn yen a year earlier.

Amid a slew of downbeat news, Casio Computer, a maker of cameras, digital watches and mobile phones, also cut its outlook for annual net profit to 1.5bn yen from 13.5bn yen, reporting a 87% drop in net income for the April-December period.

This is absolutely fascinating:

Kamikatsu, Japan - Tucked almost imperceptibly into cedar-blanketed mountains an hour's winding drive from the nearest metropolis, Kamikatsu seems an unlikely spot for a revolution.

But try to throw even a candy wrapper away here, and it's quickly apparent that residents are radically reshaping their relationship to the environment.

This is a town singularly focused on banishing waste – all waste – by 2020. The 2,000 people of Kamikatsu have dispensed with public trash bins. They set up a Zero Waste Academy to act as a monitor. The town dump has become a sort of outdoor filing cabinet, embracing 34 categories of trash – from batteries to fluorescent lights to bottle caps.

Kamikatsu has probably pushed the recycling ethic as far as any community in the world. But it's just one small indicator of a national drive by Japan to position itself as a leader in the world's urgent quest to live greener.

The momentum cuts across a broad base – from individual recycling to factory efficiency to trading in electronic trash.

Yes, corporations are in on it, too:

At Toyota's Tsutsumi assembly plant in Nagoya, Japan's answer to Detroit, evidence of a more environmentally sensitive car industry is on display before you even walk through a door. What was once a vast, gray expanse of industrial might has come to life – literally.

Large trees – 50,000 were planted in May – dot the visitor parking lot to offer a soothing greeting, says the plant's "sustainable initiative" manager. Insulating vines wend their way up the outside of an employee locker building. Some 22,000 square meters of ex-terior walls are coated with photocatalytic paint that, Toyota says, mirrors the ability of 2,000 poplars to absorb nitrous oxide and process oxygen.

The roof of the visitor center is a mat of grass, designed to reduce waves of heat by 3 degrees C. Solar lights dot the streets and 800-kilowatt solar panels blanket the tops of buildings. Even the red roadside flowers were genetically engineered to absorb noxious emissions and help evaporate water.

Behind Tsutsumi's face lift lies one of the globe's most visible bids to lighten the automobile's carbon footprint: the Prius. Hundreds roll off gleaming Line No. 2 here every day

So it can be done. The only question here is, are we too late to make a difference? Hope not!