darthphil.com

Musique de 2009

2009-12-31T14:54:00.000-08:00

Khanate - Clean Hands Go Foul
Wolves In The Throne Room - Malevolent Grain
Animal Hospital - Memory
Everlovely Lightningheart - Sien Weal Tallion Rue
Mass of the Fermenting Dregs - World Is Yours
A Storm of Light / Nadja - Primitive North
James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game
Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
Boom Boom Satellites - Back On My Feet
Portland Cello Project - The Thao And Justin Power Sessions
Bloody Panda - Summon
Greymachine - Disconnected
Jesu - Infinity
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
Grizzly Bear - Vecktamist
Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
Final - Infinite Guitar 3 / Guitar & Bass Improvisations 3
Pyramids With Nadja - Pyramids With Nadja
Nadja - Under The Jaguar Sun
Tyondai Braxton - Central Market
Various - Transmissions From Sinai
King Midas Sound - Waiting For You
Ben Frost - By The Throat

...in case you were wondering

Fennesz @ St Giles In The Fields, London - 3 November 2009

2009-11-04T02:59:00.000-08:00

Fennesz @ St Giles In The Fields, London - 3 November 2009
Originally uploaded by craigboney

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2009-10-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

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Le Sigh...

2009-08-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

Temptation

2009-06-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

Don't need it, probably have most of the music on it, but as someone who owns one or two Japanese import CDs and stupidly limited bits of vinyl I'm finding it really difficult not to preorder. Stunning bit of packaging isn't it?

Weird Coincidence

2009-06-01T04:19:00.000-07:00

Funnily enough I've just finished reading Cat's Cradle so being a proper geek I get this joke.

Synchronicity

2009-05-29T09:06:00.000-07:00

I still want to see Star Trek

2009-05-08T07:12:00.000-07:00

Haven't bought one of these for a while

2009-04-21T04:01:00.000-07:00

A CD! (plus it makes an interesting picture against that background - all gets a bit fractal)

Why I like Black Metal...

2009-04-17T15:57:00.000-07:00

X-actly...

Vinyl Fetishism

2009-04-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

And so it continues...

The above pictures are from Sunn O)))'s vinyl only albun Dømkirke. As live documents go I can begin to understand the good points of releasing these things in vinyl format purely for the fact that the photography and artwork are really given chance to shine. I still don't buy the idea that this can only be listened to via an 'analogue' format.

This is a ridiculously limited companion piece to Larsen's La Fever Lit called LLL. Another live album with really nice artwork - this one seems to have a heavy duty screen print.

Since I am SURE you are aware of Sunn O))) I'm going to post a Larsen tune. This isn't from LLL rather it's big brother La Fever Lit, unlike most of the stuff they do it has vocals so isn't terribly representative, but hey! I like the tune:

mp3: Larsen - LeFrack City Limits

3am music

2009-03-31T17:54:00.000-07:00

This is from the new Fink album (out at the end of May I think). It's a lovely little melancholic number full of half spoken lines and has a slightly... weary but nostalgic feeling to it. Maybe that's just me.

Musically it starts as a fairly simple acoustic number but has this clever trick where it changes style halfway through without you noticing until you're nodding your head, and there is this beautiful little two note piano riff towards the end.

Really nice song, looking forward to the new album.

A new addiction - what could possibly go wrong?

2009-03-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months, despite the steady stream of sulking, procrastinating and general stagnation, I've been slowly and surely downsizing my CD collection. Part of me is using the 'de-cluttering exercise as a means towards content' as an excuse, although personally I think my subconscious is up to something more serious...

So, what's the first thing to do after clearing up a ton of physical space by digitizing the CDs I may listen to again and selling most of the others?

That's right! I buy a record player and start collecting music on an even more bulky and awkward to store format.

The first fruits of this new obsession can be seen above, let's have a look at them in more detail.

Wolves in the Throne Room - Live at Roadburn 2008

This is a live recording of the excellent 'Black Metal'-esque band (or, as has been pointed out by other more informed sites, due to there pro-environment leanings they could be described as 'Brown Metal'-esque) Wolves in the Throne Room from last years Roadburn festival. Two sides of vinyl and a DVD with some extra music all excellently recorded and well worth tracking down.

Nadja/A Storm of Light - Primitive North

I've mentioned this before and in the flesh it's even nicer to own. Two bits of lovely blood-moon coloured vinyl one of which features a beautiful etching and a CD containing all the music so I can fetishize the vinyl properly by keeping it virginal, pure and unplayed.

Everlovely Lightningheart - Sien Weal Tallion Rue

There are two things I'll never understand about this band: first is why they insist on releasing such limited quantities of their music, and second is what they were doing on a heavy metal label like Hydrahead. Anyway, this is their final album - one of the grand total of 300 produced. I've got the 'purple puke' coloured version, along with a meat-based doily collage, a couple of badges and a bit of cloth with unspecified stain (oh yes!). The music has a very much 'geographical' feel, by that I mean the atmosphere created by the songs definitely puts me in mind of landscapes such as the one pictured in the gatefold. Not that the music is particularly static when invoking talk of geography - there is a definite feeling of traveling associated with each track as the musicians subtly shift melodies and instrumentation. BTW Yes I am aware this sounds like bollocks but I'm not a very eloquent person and wanted to say something more than "it sounds nice".

Since so few people are going to hear this I feel obliged to give you a sample, so from the second disc may I present Yarrow Lophophora...

mp3: Yarrow Lophophora

I'm off now to resist the temptation to spend $200 on a Boris album - wish me luck!

The cloying intimacy of profound sadness

2009-03-19T17:43:00.000-07:00

Hmm...

Things that I've been listening to today:

2009-03-13T09:51:00.000-07:00

I think this is the latest release involving Nadja (difficult to say really as the discography is a little bit 'epic' to say the least). Anyway, I've been listening to a copy of the above nadja/A Storm of Light split I *cough* found *cough*and I just needed a way to shout out FUCK ME THIS IS GOOD!!! that didn't involve actual shouting.

If you like your metal to be big, epic, loud, slightly transcendental etc, then you should do yourself a favour and buy a copy. It's available on 2x12" (blood moon or glacier colours *sweet!*) with a copy of the same music on a bundled CD so there is no excuse really - other than the price in these harsh economic times, but what are you going to do?

...

Guess who has purchased a record player so he can start listening to even more of this sort of obscure avante-garde metal? Oh Yes... Yes indeed!

Things that make me happy: The Peggle progress bar

2009-03-12T05:09:00.000-07:00

The "calculating sparkles" bit especially.

I love my hand cannon

2009-02-27T09:24:00.000-08:00

...don't make me use it!

Who needs to go to the real world...

2009-02-26T16:32:00.000-08:00

...to see a beautiful sun rise. And who exactly am I kidding? :-/

Shoshin

2009-02-22T16:58:00.000-08:00

What you see here is the exact point when music takes on a very much real, very much physical and very much spiritual presence - and all you can do is get down on your knees and praise the gods of the Sunn amplifier, the gods of the speaker stack and the gods of the Les Paul guitar. And you will, and it will be good...

Too much?

OK, tonight I have mainly been watching Sunn0))).

It was very loud...

I bought a t-shirt...

That is all...

Things to do at 4:30am if you're bored and stuck outside Waterloo station...

2009-02-21T15:33:00.000-08:00

#31.Explore!

Possibly asking for trouble a bit, but if you've missed the train back home and are a bit drunk, having a bit of an explore seems completely reasonable.

I think this tunnel is where Banksy staged an exhibition last year and is still full of really cool graffiti.

Wouldn't mind going back and taking a few more pictures when I'm feeling a little less... unstable.

Delicious Dump

2009-02-16T15:37:00.000-08:00

I'm going to regret the title to this post...

Anyway, sometimes I wonder if anyone looks at my delicious bookmarks. The link is some what hidden away, except to anyone who looks at my profile on facebook, but does anyone who stumbles across this site look at them? Who knows? Does anyone care? Probably not - but I'm going to stick a few highlights up, they do at least make it look like I'm doing a proper update.

Video: Fever Ray - “When I Grow Up” @ MBV
Really creepy (in a good way) new video from one half of The Knife.

Personal time management software - ManicTime.com
I'm slightly afraid to try this, and at the same time there is sneakily evil part of me that wants to find out exactly how much time I'm wasting at work. I reckon a good 90% ;-)

Spicy Potato Bread
Time to crack out the baking skills.

Microsoft Recite Voice Technology Preview Home
Clever little audio note taking tool for windows mobile, allows you to do an audio search over notes you've recorded. One of the few potentially useful Windows Mobile apps I've found.

Southern Lord Records » sunn 0)))-”Monoliths & Dimensions”
Yay! New doom! And this time with strings... and an upright bass trio? and a Viennese woman’s choir?? Can't wait for the live shows for this one.

Pointui
Another windows mobile tool, replaces the touch flow interface found on my HTC Touch Diamond... and is so much better!

Every Swear Word on Every Episode of the Sopranos, Ever, in Chronological Order. (video) - Boing Boing
I can't watch this till the end - if there is such a thing as too much swearing this is it.

8-bit video game neckties probably won’t pass as formalwear on [technabob]
Don't care if they won't, I want the pong one.

Kinetica Art Fair
Carnivorous art, man-animal-machine hybrids, mechanical drawing machines, subliminal installations, pole dancing robots... I'd like to go to this, but it's over my birthday weekend and I doubt anyone I know will want to go to this.

Mozilla Labs » Blog Archive » Introducing Ubiquity
Excellent idea, it's like an additional command line interface for the internet. I just wonder if it will catch on outside the geek community.

...

Anyway that will do for now.

Shh... you had me at "zen concept of shoshin"

2009-02-05T15:26:00.000-08:00

From the Southern Lord blog:

SUNN O))) Grimmrobes/Shoshin 22nd February 2009 @ Corsica Studios

With honor, SUNN O))) is announcing one exclusive live performances in the United Kingdom, the first since their phenominal Altar concert at The Kentishtown Forum December 2007, to recognize the 10th anniversary of SUNN O)))’s creation. To coincide with the recording of the first album, The GrimmRobe Demos, SUNN O)) will be playing material from it exclusively. It will be a return to their primal origins, and approach respecting a zen concept of shoshin, the beginner’s mind, the yet undyed pure wool, the clarity in initiation upon the untraveled. The attitude of embodying the basics precisely, point by point, line by line, with an immovable faith in the teaching, experience and of beyond the possibility. Of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when approaching, even with much experience, just as a beginner would upon the initial impetus and thirst to seek the path. And so, with this mindset, they will be approaching these live concerts. Pure, raw, uninhibited invocations featuring O)))s core members: Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson ONLY. No guests, no vocals, no keyboards. We hope you will join us!

Corsica Studios
Unit 5 Farrell Court
Elephant Road
London
SE17 1LB

www.corsicastudios.com
www.last.fm/event/904486

Roll on Sunn0)))day

Wolves in the Throne Room

2009-01-29T04:20:00.000-08:00

Behold! Wolves In The Throne Room, honestly...

They play by candlelight so its a tad difficult to take a decent picture with a crappy camera phone. Rather good live, apart from the candles they don't mess around with the usual theatrics associated with black metal so no face paint or spiky gauntlets to distract from the music. And speaking of the music I do like the way that the thrashing guitars, furious drumming and screamed vocals somehow blurs into something beautifully sad - not many bands can pull off this trick.

Art Appreciation Lesson 1

2009-01-27T16:07:00.000-08:00

I don't really get on with paintings, especially old ones. All other forms of art I'm OK with - I love music, a simple chord or a couple of notes on a piano can be enough. I like photography too and have a lot of time for people who have the ability to capture a moment in time successfully. I even like some of the more unpopular forms of modern conceptual art, I like the idea of art which is created because of a new unique idea rather than worrying about skill or technique.

But painting has always left me a bit cold so I've been trying to rectify that with a visit to The National Gallery today.

Can't say it worked. There are too many pictures of Jesus and his cohorts being tortured to death for my liking - don't really care how well these sort of scenes are painted, I just don't enjoy looking at them.

However there are a handful of paintings I can appreciate, thought I'd share them with you:

1. Perseus turning Phineas to Stone by Luca Giordano

Gotta love a bit of Greek Mythology, especially when it involves monsters and people turning into stone. I like the rather silly theatrics involved in this scene, and the stone effect is done very well.

-

2. Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve ('The Ambassadors') by Hans Holbein the Younger

This one is a puzzle and I like puzzles. There are all sorts of objects on the table which are meant to be deeply meaningful but the one thing you can't ignore is the massive distorted skull. There are so many questions about that, why is it there? what does it mean? how did they go about painting it and why hide it in such a weird way?

-

3. An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby

There are some interesting musings on science, religion and magic with this one. Back before we knew about matter at a molecular level no one was really sure what happened in a vacuum. When the vacuum pump was invented and scientists started showing that things such as fire or life couldn't exist in a vacuum it lead to some interesting 'debate' along the lines of 'if there is no life in a vaccum then there is no God in a vacuum'. Of course when the religious lot caught onto this and struck back with the 'but God is omnipresent and must exist everywhere' public displays of this experiment were banned and the scientists had to go undercover so to speak and started showing this in private like a magician doing a private show - hence the painting. Anyway, I like it - I like all of the different expressions on the participants, especially the "fuck you religion! I'm doing science!" look on the face of the man in the red.

-

4. The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her Last Berth to be broken up by Joseph Mallord William Turner

I can relate to the boat... :-/

Best album of 2009 for connoisseurs of doom

2009-01-23T03:58:00.000-08:00

Actually bandying around words like doom is a complete disservice to this album. It is a masterclass in restraint and tension - the last song is 33 minutes long, it takes about half an hour for the song to start in the traditional sense.

I think it is bloody marvelous. Purchased from the ever reliable Inoxia Records.

Best album of 2009 already?

2009-01-22T16:35:00.000-08:00

According to certain sources the album of the year has already been released by Animal Collective. I am going to have to agree with Mr Ellis on this one, in small doses its fine but as a whole its just too - nice...

Or maybe I'm too damn miserable to enjoy it? Cool cover though.

Best Albums of 2008

2009-01-20T06:41:00.000-08:00

2008? Remember that one? Still trying to cling on to it? I certainly am...

Anyway, here is my list of albums/EPs/whatever that were released in 2008 and which are well worth your time in my opinion. This list is culled from my last.fm charts over the last 12 months with some editorialising to make sure certain albums got a special mention

Boris - Smile - Live at Wolf Creek
Fuck Buttons - Street Horrrsing
Ascend - Ample Fire Within
Helms Alee - Night Terror
Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter - Like, Love, Lust & The Open Halls Of The Soul
Jesu - Battle of Mice Split EP
Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV
Sunn 0))) - Dømkirke
Nadja - Thaumogenesis + Thaumoradiance

It's been a very noisy year...

Some notes:

This was going to be a much longer post with reasons why each release was included. However, I kept changing my mind and judging by the rate I was writing it would have been around April when I finished.
Boris managed to release Smile 3 times this year, the live version is the best IMHO as they clearly allowed the songs to evolve over time.
Jesse Sykes sneaks in here as I think the CD technically came out in 2007, but the vinyl was released in 2008.
Sigur Rós win the prize for most expensive album I've ever brought (it comes with a very nice book of photos - one of which I'm using as the background on this site)
Sunn 0))) are in the list grudgingly as they refuse to release this album digitally and hence I wasn't able to get a legal version.
I've included nice legal links to places where you can download/purchase these releases. My general rule nowadays for guilt free purchasing is: first choice - emusic, second choice - get it from the band, third choice - get it from the bands label, forth choice - amazon
... or bleep, or conspiracy
Best bet if you want to go down the illegal route is here

Although getting back to graphs about google results, this is pretty funny:

2009-01-19T03:07:00.000-08:00

...For the love of God do not google that result - unless you are someone I don't like, then make sure safesearch is turned off and go straight to image search.

Actually maybe this is the best graph ever

2009-01-19T03:01:00.000-08:00

...if you you want to get into the spirit of Blue Monday.

Google search results for "KH(Ax)N" for x=1 to 100

2009-01-16T12:53:00.000-08:00

Google search results for "KH(Ax)N" for x=1 to 100
Originally uploaded by flashman

Potentially the best graph ever

Friday Favourites - YouTube

2009-01-16T07:40:00.000-08:00

Since my attempt at automatic posts didn't work completely to my satisfaction I'm going to try a more manual approach. Every Friday I'll dig into my online bookmarks and try to summarize stuff... you know... *sigh*

Anyway, this week I'll just do YouTube,

バカロボ　キントレーZ
In Japan they have these competitions to make 'useless' robots - I like that idea - I am a useless robot... Anyway the execution of this one is suitably bizarre/nightmarish to warrant a click on the favorites link.

Autolux - The Science of Imaginary Solutions
There is something about girls singing whilst hitting things hard that I like... What I don't like is this song was recorded two years ago and is still not on an album!

Autolux - Turnstile Blues
More music from Autolux - I was feeling nostalgic.

Bit.Trip Beat video
Interesting new game for the Nintendo Wii... Looks like a single player take on the rhythm action genre with a healthy does of pong thrown in. Lovely 8 bit visuals and audio.

"The Mother of Invention" Official Trailer in HD
Trailer for a film about an inventors competition. Could be awful, could be 'charming', could be just a bit dull... Might be worth keeping an eye on...

-

Right that's your lot. Onwards to oblivion and all that...

LL Phil-J... virtually

2009-01-13T16:11:00.000-08:00

I've been playing a fair bit of Fable 2 recently, it reminds me of GTA IV - a lot. Not so much because of the wonderfully featured open world, or the creative ways you can dispose of enemies, but because of the importance it puts on relationships. As the videogame industry matures this is something I'd definitely like to so more of.

So far in Fable 2 I've been married twice (at the same time - go bigamy!), had a kid, been divorced once (disappearing for several game years to become a fascist prison guard put some what of a strain on one of my relationships), and as you can see from the picture everyone loves me!

If only the real world was this easy and didn't involve sulking too much and listening to sad songs sung by muppets...

£1 Hat

2009-01-07T06:41:00.000-08:00

£1 Hat
Originally uploaded by cowfish

Favorites of darthphil

2009-01-05T09:50:00.000-08:00

Review - World of Goo - Consolevania Series 4

Posted: 04 Jan 2009 05:50 PM CST

Ryan reviews World of Goo.

New Years Resolutions

2009-01-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

1. Stop Smoking
For this attempt I'm channeling the spirit of Allen Carr through video games:

Basically this involves being told how all the 'good things' I associate with Cigarettes are lies through the medium of really bad mini games.

2. Do something with SharepointTillIDie.com
I do actually own the domain, so it's about time I did something with it - this could involve just blogging about how great/frustrating/bemusing SharePoint is to work with with the odd google AdWords widget to bring in some cash, or it could be the beginning of a rather unique consulting empire... ha!

3. Weird Music Festivals
I subscribe to The Wire, so I'm always seeing adverts for interesting looking European music festivals, why not give one a go? Or at least try to get to one of the ATP Festivals or Supersonic this year, even if this involves a solo trip since my taste in music is so much more awesome than everyone elses :-)

4. Update this blog more often
I'm experimenting with some automatic posts from delicious and YouTube. In theory a review of World of Goo should pop up soon... Incidentally how can you fail to love a game which has these sort of messages popping up:

Just perfect... :-/

I'm tempted to try to get facebook to update this blog too, but since my facebook profile is already being updated automatically when this blog updates there is the possibility of creating a nasty paradox and breaking the Internet, so maybe not.

5. Invent Time Machine
Speaking of paradoxes...

Enlightenment through Cheap Electronic Goods

2008-12-09T14:55:00.000-08:00

This is the FM3 Buddha Machine

...or more correctly the Buddha Machine v2.0 which I purchased from Cargo.

At the most base level it's an electronic box which holds 9 ambient sound loops. Or if you want to be a bit more open-minded about things: it as a unique way to deliver an album of ambient music, giving the listener control of how long to play the loops for along with the pitch that the loop is played.

I've been playing with it this evening and I'm impressed, there is something wonderfully raw about the whole thing. It's very "plastic-y", and the speaker is very easy to overdrive but these things just add to the charm. The music itself is very well constructed, plenty of pleasant string instrumentation and nicely looped so you can get all transcendental if so desired.

If you are intrigued by this very short report then I suggest heading over to the FM3 site where there are plenty of interesting links including mp3s of all the loops and even a link to an iPhone application...

FM3 Buddha Machine

Packaging done right

2008-11-30T10:04:00.000-08:00

I liked this enough to buy one, reminded me of the product placement in Repo Man.

Time to admit defeat - Part 1

2008-11-25T07:10:00.000-08:00

I've been saying for the past few months that when this happens to my 'daily treats', I'll give up...

How to play Guitar Hero properly

2008-11-21T02:10:00.000-08:00

IMAGE_162
Originally uploaded by darthphil

Add one bottle of red wine and a real guitar into the mix.

\m/ !!!!!!

Left Hand Drive

2008-11-02T16:22:00.000-08:00

We have a certain degree of gallows humour were I work - which I can see getting worse if people keep disappearing off BLOODY TRAVELLING!!!

I do play some strange games

2008-10-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

W...

T...

F...?!

*sigh* It's as close as I get these days...

Spam Baiting

2008-10-01T04:27:00.000-07:00

I need this hoodie:

It's not a matter of liking or desiring this hoodie - if I owned it my life would be one step closer to being complete - I would be one step closer to nirvana. It is THAT important.

Unfortunately the Mark Ecko shop won't ship items to Europe, so I am now formally inviting applications from any spambots to bombard my junk mail folder with alternative online stores with more progressive shipping policies.

Here is the link to the item: Star Wars Fett For Real Hoodie By Marc Ecko

Thank you for your time.

Ever had the feeling someone is trying to tell you something?

2008-09-21T13:37:00.000-07:00

change my routine indeed... was the swearing necessary though?

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as observed through incredibly geeky facebook applications - a case study

2008-09-11T07:16:00.000-07:00

Patient tries to deny disorder by choosing a name with a description diametrically opposite to his attitude to the application. Also note the title of the last adventure, medical staff recommend patient is closely monitored for the next few sessions:

Patient now changes character to one with a description denying his current state of mind:

Fun? :-|

Couldn't agree more...

2008-09-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

Monthly Update

2008-07-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

New Phone purchased: ✔
Grand Theft Auto IV completed: ✔ (well... the storyline anyway)
About ready to pack in work: ✔

That's about it...

Bit obsessed with this at the moment:

The trailer is a classic example of how to get me interested in a videogame - pick an interesting soundtrack and Boom! I'm interested.

Also helps if the games looks (and you can put this on the poster) "fucking beautiful", appears to play a bit like Ico, and has a female sidekick who looks like Natalie Portman. I really hope the game is as good as it looks...

Best message from an on-line store - evah!

2008-06-21T03:39:00.000-07:00

We shall now embark upon our ceremonial shipping ritual to ensure that you receive your product in a timely fashion! Indeed, we feel we have to warn you that upon receiving your order, you may be moved to tears by the sheer joy of it all.

From this site incidently

Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust

2008-06-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

To show our gratitude to you for your support in ordering the Deluxe
Edition we want you to become a part of it. We are going to credit you and
all the people who have purchased the Deluxe Edition so far by listing your
name in the book. That way you will become part of this unique document.

- Sigur Rós

What can I say, thank you for mention... and thank you for the album so far

My Next Phone

2008-06-04T05:54:00.000-07:00

I've done a post like this before, and I'm man enough to admit I was wrong about that phone, but this time I think I'm on to something.

Ladies & Gentlemen, my next phone:

There is something vaguely sinister about it, which I thoroughly approve of! Proper details over here if you are interested in this sort of thing.

Life lessons in three panels

2008-05-29T14:48:00.000-07:00

I love this comic...

So much better without the cat.

Heavy Metal Home Furnishing

2008-05-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

I'm currently on an enforced Grand Theft Auto IV sabbatical due to self-induced RSI, so before we get back to that subject let me show you one of my recent purchases, behold the Heavy Metal pillow case!

Completely pointless and OK, it's not really metal what with being bright pink and merchandise for a band who aren't really metal (you can listen to their new album here, try to see if you can work out a categorization - I'm inclined to put them in the "very good" category).

It was ordered from Hydra Head Records (along with the CD from aforementioned band) and it has an animal skull on the front and we all know that animal skulls are the preserve of only one sort of music...

Tourism

2008-05-14T01:40:00.000-07:00

Yes I'm at that stage of Grand Theft Auto - ignoring the story and looking for weird crap... and Ricky Gervais.

Things that suck, and things that don't suck - part whatever

2008-05-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

Let's start with something that sucks:

Leicester being relegated into the third tier of the English Football league for the first time in over 100 years

Yes I know I'm a crap football fan: I don't own a season ticket, I don't get pissed every other weekend and spend my time in the company of thousands of other like minded fans, I follow Leicester in a way that could be described as 'ambient' at times - through a brief few seconds of reporting on Sky Sports News here and there, or through hopelessly optimistic Leicester supporting websites - by all rights I shouldn't care.

But I do, and watching them go down to the delight of a pub full of Coventry City fans was pretty much the least fun thing I've witnessed this year...

Things that didn't suck? This:

A brand new, completely free (both financially and guilt speaking) Nine Inch Nails album. It's ace, and you can download it in a variety of formats here.

todo.txt

2008-04-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

I have a text file on the desktop of my laptop at home (well embedded into it using Samurize as I like to show off my geek credentials occasionally) called todo.txt. For the past few weeks all it has said is "dry clean suit, play Lost Odyssey."

The suit thing is fair enough, it needs cleaning - but what is Lost Odyssey and why play it? Well, it's a Japanese role playing game for the XBox360: it tells a story about a thousand year old immortal character, was produced by some of the minds behind the Final Fantasy series and spans a story crossing 4 DVDs. It's very nice to look at, has some good old fashioned turn based RPG mechanics (which I like - I'm old, sue me!), and a pretty good story for most parts.

Sixty hours of game play later and I'm done, you would think I'd want a rest after that, but oh no! I have two little problems: Number one is the back log of over a dozen unfinished games that normally squats accusingly under my TV,but looming large (quite literally) over all of those is this beast of a game:

I may be some time...

BORIS, definitely the capitalised version...

2008-04-25T06:58:00.000-07:00

The above picture is from Wednesday night,

Support was from Growing whom I'm still not sure what to make of - they made some interesting sounds, but I was a bit thrown by the fact that I couldn't work out how the actions they performed on stage related to the noises I heard. Have a look at this video to see what I mean.

Boris went down the more traditional route, which is fine by me. \m/

The most god awful picture you will see of Portishead, ever!

2008-04-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

The headline is another example of what I like to call a 'lie', I have far worse pictures on my phone...

So, I went to see Portishead last night (ner, ner ner! he said making silly faces in your general direction). The support act was great, if you like East European folk music - and accordians... hmm.

Portishead were... comfortable. I think that describes them best, still trying to warm to the new material, it does seem to miss a certain je ne sais quoi. I think it may be the lack of slightly psychotic obsessing over lost love that I'm just not getting from the new album.

Anyway, can't be bothered to describe it in detail so why not have a look at some more crap pictures of said gig over here.

Lies & porn

2008-04-15T03:09:00.000-07:00

I will update my website regularly and I won't make a big song and dance about a swanky new redesign then let it stagnate for at least a month. Pah!

Anyway, about those pornographic comic books:

The book is called Lost Girls written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Melinda Gebbie, it comes (fnar) in 3 volumes, and according to Wikipedia: "Lost Girls is an erotic graphic novel depicting the sexual adventures of three important female fictional characters of the late 19th and early 20th century".

I've got my hands on it as I'm, well - not a fan as such, but someone who recognises Alan Moore as one of the most important writers in the comic book industry, plus due to the nature of the content you have to snap this book up quick before it gets banned.

So what do I think of it? Well, I'm not sure - the language does seem a bit "Ooh more tea vicar! Don't mind if I do" etc, but with more reference to orifices, and the story is maybe a bit thin if you take all of the incessant shagging away.

As a piece of pornography I'm not sure about it either, probably due to over exposure of the internet - I mean, we've all seen pretty much everything that is to be seen haven't we? Or maybe because there are some fairly distasteful elements to the story (incest, bestiality it's all here!), or maybe I'm just not into comic book characters shagging.

However as an objet d'art I think it's fantastic. Each panel is painted beautifully, the books themselves are proper hardback editions with dust covers painted like old children's books and the three volumes come in a nice sturdy box.

...

And now I've just realised I've resorted to talking about the box that, possibly one of the most groundbreaking pieces of comic book work, comes in. I'm giving up now! Have a read of what Neil Gaiman wrote about Lost Girls, it's a much better read.

darthphil.com 2008 - a user's guide

2008-03-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

So, at least someone has noticed the new design. I thought I'd do a quick post to explain some of the intracies of the new layout, there may be a couple of tricks worth stealing...

First things first, the 'crap all over the floor' background image - I've had that idea stuck in my head for some time but had difficulty getting a decent image using the constraints of only ever using a camera phone. Although it would be nice to say the image is one which carefully describes the complexity of my moods I think what it is really showing is a sad indictment that my life can be reduced to the contents of a hard drive, an ipod and a couple of game controllers. Then again, it could just be a pleasant background image...

I've kept the flickr badges as I think they are quite a nice touch, if you are into your HTML and CSS I've added a very subtle filter/opacity effect to tone down the brightness along with the worlds most subtle drop down shadow effect. The drop down around the main blog is a complete cheat by the way, have a look at the background image if you are interested in this sort of thing.

As for navigation, well as you may have noticed there isn't one! Let's be honest, I don't update this site enough for it to merit one, plus according to the stats most people just drop in to read the front page. If for some reason you do need to find an old post there is a fairly unusable search box for you to play with in the top right corner.

I've kept a few links to other parts of the internet where I maintain a presence, I think most people are net savvy enough to recognise the icons (incidently, for the web developers out there, I've tried using the CSS opacity effect to produce a sort of mouse over effect - and yes, I know - it doesn't work in Internet Explorer). If you are someone who is frustrated by the lack of updates on this site you may want to keep an eye on my youtube and del.icio.us pages.

OK, I think that's enough for now. Next on the agenda: either pornographic comic books or more reason why my taste in music rules!

Hmm...

2008-03-12T18:08:00.000-07:00

Seems like there is something different at darthphil.com

Amsterdam, sans tulips

2008-03-07T06:24:00.000-08:00

I've finally got round to uploading my pictures of last weekend's jaunt to Amsterdam, don't worry all pictures of 'herbal' cigarettes have been removed (although there does seem to be a few damaged rizla packets hanging around) so everyone should be able to keep their jobs.

Here is the link to the flickr set.

Jesus loves you... maybe a bit too much.

2008-02-24T06:31:00.000-08:00

So very wrong... So very funny.

I am working on a new site design for what it's worth - a leaner, meaner one with a slightly more relevant background image to reflect my lifestyle (the current car thing came from a brief Forza 2 obsession, which is very much over). So, there is the possibilty that these silly little posts will stop soon and be replaced with some good old fashioned procrastinating - watch this space I guess...

This one is going out for the Arvo Pärt massive

2008-02-13T16:42:00.000-08:00

live recording of Stars of the Lid playing Arvo Parts "FRATRES"
recorded in Utrecht, the Netherlands(DEC.2008)

...that could quite easily move me towards religion

Wisdom

2008-02-06T10:52:00.000-08:00

If McDonald's "Happy Meals" are named after the emotional state children experience while consuming them, shouldn't the adult versions be called "Self-Loathing Meals"?

I didn't think of that btw, this chap did.

Beautiful, isn't it?

2008-02-01T15:34:00.000-08:00

The reason why I will buy a PS3 at some point...

2008-01-10T02:07:00.000-08:00

Namco have decided to put Star Wars characters into the next Soul Calibur game, Yoda is in the XBox 360 version and Vader is in the PS3 version and you know which side of that fence I reside on.

More info and some fairly funny fanboy comments here.

Christmas

2007-12-30T14:27:00.000-08:00

...was all about one person this year.

This is Rose trying to climb up my brother - bit of a problem when you are only 6 weeks old and as far as motor skills go you have only just figured out how to smile.

This is my completely unflappable and brilliant Mum with Rose.

Here is Rose with my brother, Wee Willie Winkie, and my sister in law.

And here is Rose with our family's Uncle Buck - me!

Top 20 albums released in 2007 that I seem to have listened to a fair amount:

2007-12-18T15:26:00.000-08:00

In alphabetic order!

Apparat - Walls
Beautiful techno/glitch/pop album from Germany.

Battles - Mirrored
One of the few bands around that can honestly be called unique.

Big Business - Here Come The Waterworks
The business half of The Melvins, quite literally.

Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City
Out of place in this list, but I don't care.

Boris with Merzbow - Rock Dream
Not as big a head fuck as you probably think if you are aware of the separate careers of these two.

Burial - Untrue
Sad but strangely not depressing, true urban music.

Chrome Hoof - Pre-Emptive False Rapture
Think Black Sabbath meets Funkadelic for an easy point of reference.

The Cinematic Orchestra - Ma Fleur
Sparse and wonderful - true soul music.

Fink - Distance & Time
This years Sophia, but not as depressing.

Jesu - Conqueror
Justin Broadrick goes pop? Get the Japanese version for the bonus Sundown/Sun Rise EP, which is stunning!

Jesu - Pale Sketches
More pop music? But for the fans this time.

KTL - 2
Music for dead children, scares me silly.

Larsen - Abeceda
Tribute to the work of Czech typographer Karel Teige... No! Come back! It's really good!

Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
Trent Reznor discovers his social conscience - and writes some pretty good tunes in the process.

Om - Pilgrimage
Devotional Stoner rock via drums, bass, vocals and nothing else.

Oxbow - The Narcotic Story
Oxbow are a decent, honest to goodness Rock Band with lots of interesting ideas.

PJ Harvey - White Chalk
Sparse and honest, to the point of being uncomfortable.

Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War
Melodramatic and romantic, but in a good way.

Weedeater - God Luck and Good Speed
Sweet, sweet, stoner sludge.

Zozobra - Harmonic Tremors
As close to an Old Man Gloom album as I'll get this year.

Coming next, my top songs of 2007.

It all getting a bit Danny Dyer

2007-12-16T10:34:00.000-08:00

This is Tom:

He is a Portsmouth fan.

He is also a very naughty boy...

If I could spend 8 minutes 2 seconds of this year stuck in a loop...

2007-12-13T13:40:00.000-08:00

It would be this one:
I might be getting a bit obsessed with Jesse Sykes.

Altar

2007-12-10T16:30:00.000-08:00

I've just seen Boris live...

and Sunn O)))...

and Boris and Sunn O))) on stage at the same fucking time!

Some pictures:

Boris are amazing! They started slow, gentle even, until half way through their set when they must have hit a weakness in the tectonic plate under England, it honestly felt like being in an earthquake.

As for Sunn O))), I'll be honest I think they were a bit quiet - this is the third time I've seen them live and I just haven't had the whole "my god - my nose is vibrating" - moment as I did the first time. However, their new singer Attila outdid himself today, basically going for a look which was a cross between a corpse, a pagan god and a tree.

Now Boris and Sunn O))) together? Fuck and indeed yes! Unfortunatly I had to leave early due to trains so I only got to see a couple of songs (although I don't think they were going to do the full version of Altar) but what songs. They surprised me and started off with a ballard, The Sinking Belle... I was almost in tears in the end. They played it perfectly... Then they followed with Etna! Now if Boris managed to hit a tectonic plate during their brief set, together with Sunn O))) they managed to drill right through, it was like a volcanic eruption. They so need to play together again.

And in other "can music get better" - news. Have you heard What Portishead are up to? This is a video from this weekends ATP festival:

They have turned into Nine Inch Nails! Joy!

Warning: the following bassline is dangerous

2007-12-09T13:50:00.000-08:00

The Bug featuring Warrior Queen - Poison Dart

Absolutely massive! As some other people seem to think...

This weekend sucked, I have evidence

2007-12-02T16:09:00.000-08:00

I knew this weekend was going to suck I could feel it in my bones last week, and these old things never lie.

Friday was cold and wet; I got drunk too quickly, went home early and ended up watching Requiem for a Dream. One of my favourite films, but a classic example of a film which should never be watched whilst feeling a big emotional. It's about four people and their collective and individual descents into addiction, none of the stories end happily. Doesn't sound much of an endorsement does it? It does have a really good soundtrack, and mentioning the film gives me an excuse to post an mp3 to break this post up a bit.

Clint Mansell - Summer Overture

On Saturday I got up too early, ended up in work for half the day and found out that a distant family member had died - which of course made me think of how much I miss my Dad again. Not helped by a storyline in 52 (a comic book series I'm reading which I should talk about in a future post as it's very interesting) where a character dies of lung cancer - the descriptions of the noises people make in the last few days of a terminal illness, and the use of morphine was a bit too close to home to be comfortable.

And then this:

Not that I'm in any way equating the death of someone you know to a console breaking down as that would be crass. I just want to point out another way that this weekend sucked.

Support your local improvisational DJ + punk rock guitarist duo!

2007-11-13T16:10:00.000-08:00

...and you get nice little thank you notes like this one when you buy their new CD.

Rose

2007-11-11T15:09:00.000-08:00

The young lady you see above, kicking some serious Bruce Lee moves, is my new niece. Her name is Rose and clearly she is awesome.

Games wot I is playing - Part 1

2007-11-04T12:46:00.000-08:00

The Orange Box

This contains 5 games: Half-life 2 and it's two episodic add-ons, Team Fortress 2 (which I doubt I'll play as it involves genuine social interaction), and Portal...

Half-Life 2 is a fantastic game, that goes without saying if you know anything about games, and episodes one and two do a brilliant job of continuing it's legacy. But Portal, what a game!

The premise is simple: you are placed in a room with an exit. You have to get to that exit by navigating various puzzles. You have a gun which can fire two 'portals', these 'portals' can attach themselves to certain types of surface and when they do you can move between these portals. The trailer probably describes this process better than I do:

Although I completed this game in a single sitting, which implies that it is too short, I have to say it was one of the best games I've ever played. It starts as a simple puzzle game, but as you play through it you start seeing hints of a darker world hidden behind the main game world, until you end up 'breaking' the game world and confronting this completely deranged computer who has been making your life miserable. It's at this point where the game's script peaks, for example:

"There was even going to be a party for you. A big party that all your friends are invited to. I invited your best friend the companion cube, of course he couldn't come because you murdered him. All your other friends couldn't come either because you don't have any other friends. Because of how unlikable you are. Its says right here in your personal file. Unlikeable. Liked by no one. A bitter unlikable loner. Whose passings shall not be mourned. Shall not be mourned. Thats exactly what it says. Very formal. Very official. It also says you are adopted. So thats funny too."

Now that is comedy!

They even manage to tie in the Portal universe to the Half-Life 2 universe, which hopefully means the portal gun will make a re-appearance in Half-Life 2 Episode 3. I kind of hope they don't make a proper sequel to Portal as it could tarnish the sheen of this almost perfect game.

Friday Morning Devotional Music

2007-10-19T01:38:00.000-07:00

If you are an aficionado of the work of Justin Broadrick you'll be more than aware that this year has been a good year: by my reckoning we've had 2 albums, 2 full EPs, 3 remixes that I know of and a split EP from his Jesu project and the year isn't over yet. It wouldn't suprise me if he slips another EP in on the sly before Christmas.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, keep up! I go on about this sort of stuff all the time on this blog, plus if you peruse my last.fm stats it would appear that Jesu is my second favourite band, although the fact that Justin Broadrick releases music under several different projects complicates matters - if you add up all his other stuff he probably gets bumped to the top.

Anyway this post is for people who haven't been drawn into this music yet, I have a couple of mp3s for you.

First one is from Pale Sketches, an album of tracks that for one reason or another didn't make it to a full release. I'm damned if I'll call it an out-takes compilation as the stuff on this CD is far too good to be described as such. If you want a frame of reference, if you like Boards of Canada, but also like guitars I think you would like this. This is the first track:

MP3: Don't Dream It

The piano line has a hint of Coldplay about it, sort of, and there is a wonderfully positive vocal sample tying the track together - which seems to have been lifted from a very unlikely source. Anyway lie back, look to the heavens, think positive thoughts and let the bass line wash over you that's my advice.

Second track is from the Lifeline EP, it features the legendary Jarboe from Swans fame, and as a track seems to be universally hated by other Jesu fans:

MP3: Storm Comin' On

I really don't understand why, it's a perfectly good song and I really like the idea of trying some different vocals; plus Swans are my third favourite band according to last.fm - and criticising anyone connected to them is pretty much blasphemy.

Anyway, hope you enjoy these. If you do you can buy the CDs here and here.

Illness

2007-10-15T00:59:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it's just my age, or that I've finally destroyed my immune system through alcohol abuse, but whenever I have a heavy night out (in this case Saturday - celebrating various England victories) I end up the next day with what can best be described as man-flu.

In other news, once again I'm getting bored of this website. To be honest I'm toying with the idea of replacing it with a simple 'about phil' page as facebook, and various other web tools seem to be handling my internet presence quite nicely.

* EDIT * Actually, everyone at work is ill so it wasn't just me begin old.

Dexter

2007-10-01T15:07:00.000-07:00

Possibly my favorite TV series at the moment...

And I'm spent...

2007-09-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

It seems fitting that the game to push my gamerscore over the 10,000 mark was Halo 3.

Fantastic game, even though I've completed the single player campaign on heroic difficulty (I normally plump for normal difficulty on these sort of games as I'm a bit crap at first person shooters, but I got shamed into playing through on a harder level as heroic was described very firmly by the developers as the way Halo is meant to be played) I'm yet to try any of the multi player modes.

One mode I really liked was the theater mode. Every action you perform is recorded and you can go back and watch yourself play through the whole game if you like. Not only does it provide evidence about how much I suck, it also lets you take really pretty screen shots and upload them to the bungie website. Pictures like this:

Anyhoo, thats one game down - now I just have to somehow cope with the next couple of months. The videogame release schedule gets really silly during October & November, I've managed to get my wishlist down to 9 games during October & November - and by god that's making a few sacrifices (goodbye Eternal Sonata, farewell Skate I just can't see how I can fit you in). I'm such an addict aren't I?

Geek with game - a self portrait

2007-09-26T02:21:00.000-07:00

Me, about to finish the fight.

I wasn't sad enough to attend any midnight release parties, but I am sad enough to take 3 days off work to spend some quality time with Master Chief.

My incredibly well thought out opinion of Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof

2007-09-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

One word sums it up nicely: tosh.

There is one school of thought that sees Death Proof as a load of puerile sexist nonsense and then there is another school that sees the film as a tribute to a long forgotten era of cinema history.

Personally I just thought it was incredibly dull, the dialog didn't do a damn thing for me - I kept drifting off a bit, how the hell did that happen? It's a Tarantino film, it's meant to be full of snappy quotes for annoying students to memorize. And for a two hour film about a psychotic stunt driver how the hell do you only end up with two actions scenes?

Plus am I the only one who thinks this whole idea of Grindhouse cinema was just something Tarantino made up on the spot in some interview and the 'genre' never existed...

Mystery Song

2007-09-21T06:54:00.000-07:00

Just found this mp3 in my iTunes, I have no idea who it's by and that is really bugging me. The only info on the mp3 is it's track 2 and the filename is woodpecker.mp3 - anyone got any ideas?

Wednesday Alien Invasion News

2007-09-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

Why isn't this story about a so-called Meteor making people sick in Peru getting more attention? If that isn't the first sign of an alien invasion I don't know what is...

I for one welcome our new Alien Overlords - let the probing begin!

Friday Booze News

2007-09-14T03:06:00.000-07:00

My feeds in Google Reader seem to be informing me it is Friday, as there were quite a few interesting alcohol related posts today. As I'm lazy I'll regurgitate a few here with some witty commentary...

Did you know the world record for drinking a litre of beer is 1.3 seconds - it is in wikipedia so it must be a FACT! (note the explanation mark). There is your reason why I don't live in a world filled with flying cars, jet packs and robots, right there! As a species we have far more important things to do.

However we are making some serious technological advances in the world drinking. There is a new bar in London (which I will never be allowed in as it will be hideously expensive and I'm not one of the beautiful people) that has a touch sensitive bar to summon bar staff - I predict this will be switched off by pissed off bar staff within five minutes of the bar opening.

Drinking at work just got easier, here is the proof.

Finally here is a picture of a dog in a sock which has nothing to do with drinking, you may want to save this one for a particularly depressing Monday.

*EDIT* I've created a public view of my Google Reader feeds which shows a selection of sites here, for those people scared of RSS readers.

Weekend Activities

2007-09-09T14:59:00.000-07:00

Sleeping - I seem to be averaging about 5 hours a night during the week, so generally weekends involve some catching up. So Saturday was pretty much dedicated to sleep.

Watching Comedy, specifically Joe Rogan. He is the sort of drug fuelled American comedian I enjoy listening too, he practically had to be dragged off stage due to going spectacular over time, and he does a very unique impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Finishing off Bioshock on my XBox360 and feeling very smug with myself when I got the 'good' ending by making life difficult and not killing any of the 'Little Sisters'. It's a good game Bioshock, but not perfect. The art direction is fantastic, but at it's heart it's still just a shooter and not the greatest game of all time.

Spotting Chris Eubank driving his big shiny truck through central London:

...and yes I know, I'm posting this on a Wednesday and the weekend is long gone

Feeling my age part 1

2007-09-06T03:07:00.000-07:00

Blimey, Napalm Death's Scum is 20 years old - that doesn't half make me feel old. Let's remind ourselves why this album is so influential with all 1.316 seconds of You Suffer.

Ah, happy days...

Best book title in the world ever?

2007-09-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

Fight: Or, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass-kicking But Were Afraid You'd Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking

It's written by Eugene Robinson, the vocalist in Oxbow - dare I use the Henry Rollins comparison? Why not? They are both singers who have been known to strip down to their pants while performing, both write, and have both expressed an interest in fighting; plus if I mentioned he is in Oxbow I have my doubts that the few people who do read this blog will know who I'm going on about.

Anyway, judging by some of his previous writing, and of course that title, it could be an entertaining read.

What's in Phil's bag?

2007-08-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

I've got new laptop bag, it's made by the same people who make Swiss Army Knives so has some extra unique features such as a secret pocket to keep your knife in and that all important clip so you can hang it off a mountain - obviously that's what swung my decision to buy it...

Anyway, this gives me an excuse to play around with some of flickrs' features and join the thousands of geeks exposing the contents of their bags. If you want to know the sad truth about the somewhat shocking amount of drugs being carried around by yours truly have a look at the far too detailed tagged picture after this link.

Things that I have been doing over the last week

2007-08-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

Watching Transformers: I heard a review on the radio that described it as the best film ever if you could take out all of the dialogue; my personal thoughts are to think of it in the same way as a roller coaster ride, that is it's fast, exciting and has pretty much the same narrative flow as a theme park ride. Just to be clear though, I thought it was fun.

Buying lots of obscure CDs that nobody else I know would like and books that I won't read for month - I'll save details of those up for one of my "I really should write something here"-posts

Spending way too much time playing morally questionable games on my XBox360.

Attending a wedding.

Playing with my Facebook profile too much

Not sleeping properly, not that this counts as news in any sort of way.

Oh look! A flurry of activity

2007-08-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, it's just me going on those strange CDs I ordered...

Here is my new Sunn O))) CD 'Oracle':

As you can see I got a free poster, a nice big cardboard sleeve and a 12" piece of vinyl too - apparently people used to play music from these.

It has two 'kind of new' tracks; the first one is really a remix of a remix which appears on the Jukebox Buddha compilation. This compilation was based around musicians remixing the loops created by something called the Buddha Machine - think of it as a really lo-fi iPod. for the original remix SunnO))) amplified the crap out of this small plastic box, added some more drones and a hint of Buddhist chanting. For the first track on Oracle 'Belülrol Pusztít' they add some more chanting courtesy of Attila Csihar and some jackhammer courtesy of Joe Preston.

I believe the second track on the CD is a re-recording of a composition they performed originally in a gallery space where the audience was only let in after the band had finished playing... :-|

Anyway, good CD.

Next up: Everlovely Lightningheart - Particles and Fields

This contains a CD-R with one 16 minute track consisting of a gentle mixture of drones, bells and piano. The CD case is hand sewn, covered in dirt and apparently some saliva - you can practically smell the elitism can't you!

I'm not going to post any mp3s from these two CDs as it would be taking the piss slightly, instead I'm going to post some music from these ones:

So, from the top: Hawkwind... No I haven't become a total hippy. There was a fantastic documentary on BBC4 (which you can now find on youTube here) a few weeks back which opened my mind up to this band. The early stuff they did contains plenty of elements I can appreciate: a bit of stoner rock, some very lo-fi experimental electronics, a good old fashioned relaxed attitude to taking heroic amounts of drugs, and Lemmy! So when their live double album Space Ritual got the deluxe reissue treatment and a favourable review on Pitchfork I took it as a sign to dabble in a bit of seventies rock. If you fancy joining in have a listen to this:

MP3: Hawkwind - Born to Go

In the bottom right we have Recoil. Recoil is the solo effort of ex-Depeche Mode band member Alan Wilder, this may seem a bit too clean and clinical for some people but I've always liked his stuff. It's sort of Mississippi Blues with a bunch of samples thrown at it - god help me, a bit like when Moby did Play... but better, obviously

MP3: Recoil - Prey

Finally: Weedeater. This band have either listened to a hell of a lot of Sleep, or consumed many many drugs - the name of the band gives it away I think, plus their Bass Player/Vocalist is also in a band called Bongzilla - I'm fairly sure they may have been influenced by something other than a misspelled Japanese movie monster. The following song may be my favourite, it's quite short, but very loud and the use of the phrase 'Wizard Fight!' is the best battle cry in the world EVER! (capital letters and poor use of the explanation mark are intentional). They also get bonus points for starting all of their loud songs with a wall of feedback.

MP3: Weedeater - Wizard Fight

Stag Weekend

2007-07-30T13:18:00.000-07:00

So, I've been on my second ever stag do. Obviously, not mine, I'm still no closer to any sort of meaningful relationship let alone marriage.

We went to Cardiff along with pretty much every single stag and hen party in the country, I think we made the biggest impression though by dressing up as priests. I got to convert lots of sinners, and had a heated debate with someone who though he was Jesus (I'm sorry, but Jesus did not have a perm mate! right!).

As per normal I completely overdid it, I'm covered in bruises (not just from paintball - which we played earlier in the day), and I seem to have permanently damaged my immune system. Still, it was worth it - pictures can be found here. None of me looking biblical unfortunately...

Dan & Emily

2007-07-24T14:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a blast *sniff*. Here are all my pictures - they are not very good I'm afraid.

Strange CDs I have ordered off t'internet

2007-07-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

sunn 0))) - "Oracle" LP (gatefold sleeve)

Two brand new exclusive sunn 0))) tracks available officially on vinyl only!

ORAKULUM was originally composed for a live performance collaboration with the New York sculptor Banks Violette at the Maureen Paley Gallery in London, June of 06. Violette created sculptural representation of SUNN O)))s entire backline in cast resin and salt, including amplifier stacks, instruments, effects & accompaniments. In addition, black laquered stage platforms and sound panels were created as a basis for the groups actual backline setup, and a selection of drawings were presented within the context. The result of this performance and collaboration, which was conducted in a sealed gallery space, was intended to generate a feeling of absence, loss and a phantom of what once was.

The A side of this lp: BELUROL PUSZTIT was also recorded at this session. Initially this song was created for the "Jukebox Buddha" compilation as it features the use of the tone generating Buddha Boxes within the track. In the style of sunn 0))) these boxes were run through the sunn backline and recorded at maximum volume which of course yielded maximum results! BELUROL PUSZTIT " also features extra "instrumentation" from Atsuo Mizuno (Boris) on drums and Joe Preston (Earth, Melvins, Thrones) on jackhammer (!!!) !!!!

The 180 gram vinyl is packaged in a thick printed innersleeve and thick cardboard gatefold jacket. Stark, stunning photographs of Banks Violettes' sculptures adorn all sides of the gatefold, innersleeve including a drawing by Banks on the innersleeve! The vinyl version will be the only "official" release of these recordings.

Any cd versions of "Oracle" are limited versions (mostly tour only) and will not be readily available.

The initially pressing of "Oracle" is 7,777 copies (2,000 on clear).

First 1000 orders of clear vinyl will also receive a Oracle poster with their album. Both versions are available via mailorder. As stated above all mailorder customers will receive a free "Oracle" cd (with rare misprinted cover!) with each order. Limit of 1 order of each color per customer. $17.77

(MAILORDER CUSTOMERS WILL RECEIVE A FREE SINGLE CD VERSION OF THE ALBUM!)

That's right, I've ordered a vinyl version of an album which I won't be able to play due to the slight problem of not having a record player, thankfully they give you a CD version too (wtf?)... And it's an album that has a jackhammer (or 'pneumatic drill' for civilised people) as an instrument. (again, wtf?!)

You can order this one here

Second one I've ordered:

Everlovely Lightningheart: Particles & Fields

"Particles and Fields is an amalgamation of detritus assembled as a precursor to the new album Sein Weal Talion Rue due to be released later this year. The packaging was formed from saliva, liquid polymer and dirt, each being the only one of its kind and hand sewn."

Yes, you read that one right. The packaging includes saliva and dirt - this may be the first CD I've ordered that could actually be contagious.

This one can be ordered here. It is a bit limited, only so much spit you can put on your CDs I guess. Joking aside I'm looking forward to this one, the chances to listen to this band are horribly limited.

You know you have been playing too many video games when...

2007-07-16T15:24:00.000-07:00

...you get a receipt like this:

...and your first reaction is "Fuck yes I am!" (it's a video game thing - lets allow Wikipedia to explain the significance of the number)

Another sign that you are playing too many games could be when you start using game controllers as paper weights...

Speaking of games I've changed the banner for a brief time to reflect my current obsession with Forza MotorSport 2. If you have been anywhere near a PlayStation you may of heard of Gran Turismo: the petrolheads game of choice, Forza is Microsoft's attempt to woo this demographic.

The game has hundreds of cars modelled to a frightening level of detail - you can turn on a telemetry system and see exactly how much pressure is being put on each individual tyre as you go screaming round each and every corner. You can play it online (I haven't tried that yet, I get scared off by the whole social interaction thing), you can tune the cars to your hearts content by fiddling with things like gear ratios and what not, and if you are really patient you can create some very nice custom paint jobs.

I like to look at it as a little bit more than a game; the never ending slog to acquire as many cars as possible, the fruitless attempts at being creative with the paint jobs, all punctuated by a fair few disastrous crashes as you attempt to take corners too fast ending up with you limping home as everyone one else overtakes your shattered vehicle... If that's not one big old metaphor on life I don't know what is!

BTW, the car in the banner is my 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, I think it is my favourite as it is easily the loudest car in my collection.

Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology.

2007-07-12T15:19:00.000-07:00

Well, we have:

One wobble board - I've got to practice using this until I can stand on it one foot without falling over. I can't stand on my right foot normally, let alone on an unsteady surface, so I'll be very pleased with myself if I can get to this stage
Two orthopedic insoles - they are kind of like normal ones except with a molded bit where the arch of your foot is and two blocks under the ankle that make it feel like you are wearing high heels... not that I've ever tried such a thing *ahem*
Three pilates bands - just three big sheets of rubber really, probably quite good fun if you are into 'that sort of thing'.

I'd prefer to be prescribed some sort of bionic foot or a peg leg, but these are what the doctor ordered. The idea is to strengthen my bad foot so the muscles in it stop complaining and waking me up at 4am every sodding morning!

Pop Music?

2007-07-11T06:22:00.000-07:00

I finished The Darkness by the way. Good game, it had some clever ideas which set it aside from regular first person shooters. There were little things like that fact if you looked down you could see your character's feet and the way the loading screens were hidden by having short monologues from our boy Jackie - I liked those touches.

Then there are the other ideas like being able to eat the still beating hearts of your enemies (which did not once get boring) and the way that guns in this game took a back seat to events; in the first person shooter genre that is quite a brave thing to do - I had way too much fun sneaking up on people using The Creeping Darkness.

Plus getting Mike Patton to provide the voice of The Darkness was an inspired bit of casting.

Anyway, this is all getting away from the original intention of this post.

Let's have some music! And dare I say it: some quite nice music - which in my book verges on pop. People will disagree with me here; this song is pretty much instrumental and full of glitchy electronic effects and comes from a Berlin techno producer who goes by the name of Apparat.

But, it has an undeniable melodic quality, it is a reasonable length (just pushes over the four minute mark), and most importantly can be listened to many times over without getting dull.

Apparat - Limelight

I'd recommend getting the whole album if you feel like you are becoming maybe just a bit too metal (and not in a good way).

Romance through violent computer games

2007-07-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

One of the many many games I'm obsessed/playing at the moment is The Darkness, a charming little number based on a (not too bad at all) comic about a mafia hit man possessed by a demonic avenging spirit called, well guess what: The Darkness.

However just because it's an incredibly violent game doesn't mean there isn't room for a bit of L'Amour! May I draw your attention to the second achievement I've acquired in the list below (ignore the last one, actually ignore the last three).

Yes! It's now official, my non existent love life is officially being catered for by my Xbox.

Oh crap...

My Shame...

2007-06-22T02:35:00.000-07:00

This post needs a soundtrack:

The Angels of Light - Shame

OK, onwards to my dirty, shameful confession:

After years of moaning about iPods being essentially wrong I have succumbed and I'm now the owner of an 80GB iPod. After drowning my old mp3 player I've been trying to get through the last couple of weeks with a 1GB memory card and my phone and frankly it's not working. I'm constantly having to shuffle mp3s to and from my phone, and the battery life is crap.

So why an iPod? Well, I have about 55GB of music on my hard drive, I buy over 100 CDs a year and download almost as many, I need capacity! As far as I can see there isn't anyone else making mp3 players with anywhere near my storage requirements.

Good points so far:

Syncing with iTunes went very smoothly
It does look lovely
It is very loud, which is useful as I seem to be half deaf.
The 'On-The-Go' play list thing is a good idea.
Sounds better than my phone

Bad points:

I have a feeling deleting content will be a pain
The EQ setting is a complete waste of space, none of them are any good.
Sound quality is nowhere near as good as my old mp3 player.
Whilst the 'On-The-Go' play list is inherently a good thing, why can't you add things to it from the Now Playing screen? (this could just be ignorance on my part)
You can only change the volume on the Now Playing screen as far as I can work out.
Very easy to skip over the item you wanted to select with the wheel thing.

Da Da Daaaaaaaaa!

2007-06-21T04:53:00.000-07:00

Instructions:

Get a glass of milk or some other drink that is not completely clear.
Take mouthful of your chosen liquid - do not swallow!
Make sure sound is turned up on your PC
Click on the above embed flash movie a couple of times to get it going.
Laugh so hard that liquid squirts from your nose.
Clean up mess.

My Foot

2007-06-20T04:40:00.000-07:00

Apparently I have Pes Cavus - the exact opposite of flat feet. Another deformity for the collection.