London in the rain....

This formed part of my 'Soundtrack to living in Africa' - i was introduced to Hotel Costes by a 'Spring-Fling' before leaving the country (he gave me great emotional diversion from all the stuff that goes with moving overseas - emptying and renting my beloved flat, coping with my step out of the corporate fast lane, saying goodbye to the beloved family dog - Shannon,  and stepping into the unknown) and my leaving gift from him was a series of Mini-Discs (who knew the iPod would storm in so soon?) with both my favourite albums (which he mocked!) and some new introductions - The Dandy Warhols, Fun lovin' criminals, Hotel Costes ... amongst others.

He made me up my little box of 10 Mini Discs (around 50 albums - so not a bad selection) which gave me the confidence as i left the country that no matter where in the world i pitched up - i could turn on some music making the very unfamiliar feel instantly like home.

It worked - he made me some inspired selections

• The 11'o'clock selection - Perfect for late at night after an evening out - it's tracks built up a party and then chilled down .... 
• The Driving selection .. 
• The Chill Out disc 
• The Party tracks - which seemed to perfectly warm up a party to dancing, keep it going for a while - and then chill down again ... 

I stored some stuff in his attic and flew away - knowing that we had been what we were meant to be and he'd held a lovely space in my life...  

There were times in 'oh so hot' Africa that i would yearn for a cold wet blustery London day - and more than that - i'd yearn to walk into a pub with a roaring fire and a group of friends who knew me of old. The perfect 'London in the rain' kind of day.

A la prochain x