Monday, December 29, 2003
Sunday, December 28, 2003
Damn, I can't sleep...
And it looks like whoever dreams up the early morning television schedules is deliberately trying to fuck with my head. One minute I'm watching a program called The Theory of Everything, it was about Quantum Theory mainly - and it made perfect sense to. Unfortunatly I then made the mistake of switching over to watch something called Boohbah which has now thrown up all sorts of questions about the nature of reality.
I think they're going for an even more surreal Teletubbies vibe, but at least with the Teletubbies you knew where you were: there was the little red one who seemed to spend all his time racing around on his scooter, the obviously gay one with the handbag (the one who liked his 'Big Hugs' just a little too much), erm, and the other two. This Boohbah thing is on another level, I get the impression the Boards of Canada or cLOUDDEAD would love to do a soundtrack to it.
Or maybe I just need to get some sleep?
And it looks like whoever dreams up the early morning television schedules is deliberately trying to fuck with my head. One minute I'm watching a program called The Theory of Everything, it was about Quantum Theory mainly - and it made perfect sense to. Unfortunatly I then made the mistake of switching over to watch something called Boohbah which has now thrown up all sorts of questions about the nature of reality.
I think they're going for an even more surreal Teletubbies vibe, but at least with the Teletubbies you knew where you were: there was the little red one who seemed to spend all his time racing around on his scooter, the obviously gay one with the handbag (the one who liked his 'Big Hugs' just a little too much), erm, and the other two. This Boohbah thing is on another level, I get the impression the Boards of Canada or cLOUDDEAD would love to do a soundtrack to it.
Or maybe I just need to get some sleep?
late comers...
Netmage 04
Another freebie from my Wire subscription - nothing that interesting to report, the usual ambient-esque glitchy electro nonsense. Probably best listened to when not entirely conscious.
Diamanda Galas - La Serpenta Canta
Ms Galas has always been someone I've been aware of, but I've never actually heard any of her stuff. I remember when I lived in Coventry and spent much of my time in a record shop called Spinadisc (now there was a shop! *sigh* happy days) always seeing a few of her discs in the EBM/Industrial section, but I was always too nervous to buy any of them. Anyway, this year she has released two double CD's, this is the quote lighter unquote one, both have been getting very good reviews. Now how scary could this be? Take one fairly stern, but kind of intriguing goth "mom", add a piano and a few blues songs. Nothing too troubling, until she opens her mouth! My god, that is what I call a voice! She can go from Screaming Jay Hawkins to operatic without breaking a sweat, she can do some perfect deep south blues wailing on tracks like "At the Dark End of the Street", but will then makes the classic "I'm so lonely I could cry" sound like it's being sung by something truly demonic. Her piano playing is pretty good too...
Netmage 04
Another freebie from my Wire subscription - nothing that interesting to report, the usual ambient-esque glitchy electro nonsense. Probably best listened to when not entirely conscious.
Diamanda Galas - La Serpenta Canta
Ms Galas has always been someone I've been aware of, but I've never actually heard any of her stuff. I remember when I lived in Coventry and spent much of my time in a record shop called Spinadisc (now there was a shop! *sigh* happy days) always seeing a few of her discs in the EBM/Industrial section, but I was always too nervous to buy any of them. Anyway, this year she has released two double CD's, this is the quote lighter unquote one, both have been getting very good reviews. Now how scary could this be? Take one fairly stern, but kind of intriguing goth "mom", add a piano and a few blues songs. Nothing too troubling, until she opens her mouth! My god, that is what I call a voice! She can go from Screaming Jay Hawkins to operatic without breaking a sweat, she can do some perfect deep south blues wailing on tracks like "At the Dark End of the Street", but will then makes the classic "I'm so lonely I could cry" sound like it's being sung by something truly demonic. Her piano playing is pretty good too...
Saturday, December 20, 2003
Friday, December 19, 2003
Well, I got two out of Pitchforks top ten albums of the year, and eleven out of the top fifty - does that make me hip?
Oh, and since it is apparently the season to be jolly: Merry Christmas.
Oh, and since it is apparently the season to be jolly: Merry Christmas.
Thursday, December 18, 2003
Right you are, I think I've worked out my ten albums of the year. The process has been a fairly tortuous one, I started out with all the CDs I've aquired over the year; anything not released in 2002 was discounted, as we're some fairly obvious reissues and compilations (Sonic Youth's Dirty special edition and the Bad Brains compilation were particularly painful to discard), which left me with about 40 CDs. From these I've chosen the ones I consider to be the most complete works, all killer and no filler! So, without further delay, here they are (in no particular order):
Broken Social Scene
You Forgot it in People
This one came out of nowhere, a Canadian collective releases possibly one of the strongest indie pop albums ever. Stars and Sons has one of the greatest bass lines I've ever heard and the way it kind of restarts about half way through can only be described as joyous; Cause = Time could be a lost Dinosaur Jr classic. The other songs aren't too shabby either!
The Bug
Pressure
I was nervous about this one, Kevin Martin - one half of the mighty Techno Animal - doing a ragga album? Not the sort of music I'm familiar with really. Thankfully he pulled it off, injecting just the right amount of fear and dread without losing the 'riddim', aided and abetted by some heavy weight vocal courtesy of the likes of Toastie Taylor and Daddy Freddy.
Kid606
Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You
Fuck it! I'm a fan. Admittedly it's not perfect, but I think it's as close as you can get to compiling all of his diverse styles onto one disc. Full on dance floor fillers, ruff'n'ready digital ragga, chilled out reflective moments, and some good old fashioned noise. There's more musical ideas on this one disc than most artists come up with over there whole careers.
Four Tet
Rounds
At the time, I believe this was descibed as folktronica. Crap descriptions aside, this was one of the most complete albums I've heard this year working better as a whole rather than it's individual parts.
Hymie's Basement
Hymie's Basement
Another surprise. Andrew Broder otherwise known as Fog, and Jonathan Wolf otherwise known as Why?, both from the Anticon collective, each released mighty fine solo albums this year - but I thought this collaboration between the pair of them was slightly better than each solo effort. Difficult to descibe, it seems to have been recorded really quickly - everything sounds like it's been barely rehearsed, lyrics made up on the spot... it's released on Warp's hip hop label, but it isn't hip-hop - it's basically a really good pop album.
Prefuse 73
Extinguished: Outtakes
In theory this should not be better than the album which provides all the material, but some how it is. Prefuse 73 normally makes music by cutting up other peoples music, here he cut's his own up to create an amazingly intricate musical collage. It's helped by it's brevity, I just really liked it - everything about it sounds and feels right.
Black Eyes
Black Eyes
Re-inventing Washington D.C. hardcore sound by using two drummers, two vocalists and two bass players. Rythmn and space are the main draws, helped by some amazing guitar playing - I loved the way that the guitarist uses his screaming as almost an extra element to the noise coming out of his guitar, sometimes it's hard to tell where the screaming ends and the wailing on his axe begins (sorry about that, that was almost a terrible pun - but somehow worse)
The Twilight Singers
Blackberry Belle
Like on old pair of shoes, this just fit's so well. Greg Dulli returns with what sounds like a lost Afghan Whigs album in places, more soul than most groups have in there collective little fingers. Top stuff, extra marks for the collaboration with Mark Lanegan, which is one of the finest country influenced blues jam you'll ever here.
Themselves
Live
This year has been the one where I discovered the Anticon crew, they seem to produce Hip-Hop so left of centre half of the time it's not even hip-hop. This is almost traditional, in that there are beats, and there is rapping but not like you've ever heard. Apparently the beats are programmed live (god knows how!), and some of Dose-Ones' vocal gymnastics defy belief. Even though most of the songs have already appeared on last year's The No-Music there's a sufficient twist to get this release into my list.
Mogwai
Happy Songs for Happy People
Seeing Mogwai live at Glastonbury was one of my defining musical moments. I'll alway's remember standing in a field as the sunshine came out to dry us all off from the morning rain watching stunned as they gave the crowd absolutely no mercy and plowed through there 'difficult' tribute to a jewish prayer, My Father, My King. I think this album is the finest they've recorded, consistantly appealing, downright beautiful in places.
...anyway there you go, it will be interesting to see how many of these appear in other websites albums of the year. I'll be paying particular attention to tomorrows list on Pitchfork.
Broken Social Scene
You Forgot it in People
This one came out of nowhere, a Canadian collective releases possibly one of the strongest indie pop albums ever. Stars and Sons has one of the greatest bass lines I've ever heard and the way it kind of restarts about half way through can only be described as joyous; Cause = Time could be a lost Dinosaur Jr classic. The other songs aren't too shabby either!
The Bug
Pressure
I was nervous about this one, Kevin Martin - one half of the mighty Techno Animal - doing a ragga album? Not the sort of music I'm familiar with really. Thankfully he pulled it off, injecting just the right amount of fear and dread without losing the 'riddim', aided and abetted by some heavy weight vocal courtesy of the likes of Toastie Taylor and Daddy Freddy.
Kid606
Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You
Fuck it! I'm a fan. Admittedly it's not perfect, but I think it's as close as you can get to compiling all of his diverse styles onto one disc. Full on dance floor fillers, ruff'n'ready digital ragga, chilled out reflective moments, and some good old fashioned noise. There's more musical ideas on this one disc than most artists come up with over there whole careers.
Four Tet
Rounds
At the time, I believe this was descibed as folktronica. Crap descriptions aside, this was one of the most complete albums I've heard this year working better as a whole rather than it's individual parts.
Hymie's Basement
Hymie's Basement
Another surprise. Andrew Broder otherwise known as Fog, and Jonathan Wolf otherwise known as Why?, both from the Anticon collective, each released mighty fine solo albums this year - but I thought this collaboration between the pair of them was slightly better than each solo effort. Difficult to descibe, it seems to have been recorded really quickly - everything sounds like it's been barely rehearsed, lyrics made up on the spot... it's released on Warp's hip hop label, but it isn't hip-hop - it's basically a really good pop album.
Prefuse 73
Extinguished: Outtakes
In theory this should not be better than the album which provides all the material, but some how it is. Prefuse 73 normally makes music by cutting up other peoples music, here he cut's his own up to create an amazingly intricate musical collage. It's helped by it's brevity, I just really liked it - everything about it sounds and feels right.
Black Eyes
Black Eyes
Re-inventing Washington D.C. hardcore sound by using two drummers, two vocalists and two bass players. Rythmn and space are the main draws, helped by some amazing guitar playing - I loved the way that the guitarist uses his screaming as almost an extra element to the noise coming out of his guitar, sometimes it's hard to tell where the screaming ends and the wailing on his axe begins (sorry about that, that was almost a terrible pun - but somehow worse)
The Twilight Singers
Blackberry Belle
Like on old pair of shoes, this just fit's so well. Greg Dulli returns with what sounds like a lost Afghan Whigs album in places, more soul than most groups have in there collective little fingers. Top stuff, extra marks for the collaboration with Mark Lanegan, which is one of the finest country influenced blues jam you'll ever here.
Themselves
Live
This year has been the one where I discovered the Anticon crew, they seem to produce Hip-Hop so left of centre half of the time it's not even hip-hop. This is almost traditional, in that there are beats, and there is rapping but not like you've ever heard. Apparently the beats are programmed live (god knows how!), and some of Dose-Ones' vocal gymnastics defy belief. Even though most of the songs have already appeared on last year's The No-Music there's a sufficient twist to get this release into my list.
Mogwai
Happy Songs for Happy People
Seeing Mogwai live at Glastonbury was one of my defining musical moments. I'll alway's remember standing in a field as the sunshine came out to dry us all off from the morning rain watching stunned as they gave the crowd absolutely no mercy and plowed through there 'difficult' tribute to a jewish prayer, My Father, My King. I think this album is the finest they've recorded, consistantly appealing, downright beautiful in places.
...anyway there you go, it will be interesting to see how many of these appear in other websites albums of the year. I'll be paying particular attention to tomorrows list on Pitchfork.
Pitchfork: Top 50 Singles of 2003: "33: Tatu
'Not Gonna Get Us'
[Polydor]
This could be 2003's greatest love song: a cinematic gem reminding us that tragedy was as much an element of great girl-group music as romance. Our heroes' belief that their love can create a utopia 'beyond the clouds over the mountains' is suggestive of 'Go West', except hightailing it over the Siberian hinterlands isn't as romantic as driving toward the warm California sun. Fittingly then, 'Not Gonna Get Us''s sharp trance-pop cuts and bleeds, mirroring the severity of its consequences. When paired with Tatu's striking vocal performances-- one sweetly optimistic and the other fiercely determined-- and the noble naivete of teenage invincibility, the duo have crafted the perfect exit music (to their own film). --Scott Plagenhoef"
...see, I was right, Tatu are good.
'Not Gonna Get Us'
[Polydor]
This could be 2003's greatest love song: a cinematic gem reminding us that tragedy was as much an element of great girl-group music as romance. Our heroes' belief that their love can create a utopia 'beyond the clouds over the mountains' is suggestive of 'Go West', except hightailing it over the Siberian hinterlands isn't as romantic as driving toward the warm California sun. Fittingly then, 'Not Gonna Get Us''s sharp trance-pop cuts and bleeds, mirroring the severity of its consequences. When paired with Tatu's striking vocal performances-- one sweetly optimistic and the other fiercely determined-- and the noble naivete of teenage invincibility, the duo have crafted the perfect exit music (to their own film). --Scott Plagenhoef"
...see, I was right, Tatu are good.
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Saddam Hussein the fashion icon? or Saddam Hussein the crappy Star Wars character?
I feel the need to comment on the whole Saddam Hussein's shebang, since I did make a bit of a stance at the beginning of the Iraq "War" with the protest song of the day feature, but apathy has been winning. However I think I've got over it now, and I'm in the mood to don my Devil's Advocate outfit and write a few words which may annoy some people...
So, Saddam Hussein... Yes I know he's an evil fuck and the world would have been a better place if he'd been drowned at birth, but the thing is, I'm pretty sure no-one has invented a pre-cognition machine yet, and anyone who claims to have advance knowledge of future events is lying - so the whole drowning him at birth was never an option.
He's now going to get a trial and obviously be executed, but let's be honest will the world be a better place? What's going to be left after he's gone? The country, which could quite possibly be the cradle of civilisation, being carved up and sold to the highest bidder - as long as they are American; probably a few more terrorists - I give it a week after he get's executed before someone claiming to be one of "Saddams' Martyrs" blows himself up along with many other innocent people; and you can pretty much guarantee that Bush Boy is going to walk the 2004 presidential elections. I just can't see the world being a better place after he's gone (I'm talking about Saddam, not Bush here).
"But what would you do about him?", I hear the world cry. Well my fantasy solution would involve a bucket of water, a ticket to Iraq and a time machine; realistically? fuck knows! I'm a very bored and apathetic computer programmer, I'm no politician/statesman/warmonger, it's up to them to come up with a solution.
And that concludes today's rant, on a completely unrelated note it has come to my attention that Little Gamers are going to start selling these after Christmas, which is handy - I need somewhere to keep my pr0n ^^
I feel the need to comment on the whole Saddam Hussein's shebang, since I did make a bit of a stance at the beginning of the Iraq "War" with the protest song of the day feature, but apathy has been winning. However I think I've got over it now, and I'm in the mood to don my Devil's Advocate outfit and write a few words which may annoy some people...
So, Saddam Hussein... Yes I know he's an evil fuck and the world would have been a better place if he'd been drowned at birth, but the thing is, I'm pretty sure no-one has invented a pre-cognition machine yet, and anyone who claims to have advance knowledge of future events is lying - so the whole drowning him at birth was never an option.
He's now going to get a trial and obviously be executed, but let's be honest will the world be a better place? What's going to be left after he's gone? The country, which could quite possibly be the cradle of civilisation, being carved up and sold to the highest bidder - as long as they are American; probably a few more terrorists - I give it a week after he get's executed before someone claiming to be one of "Saddams' Martyrs" blows himself up along with many other innocent people; and you can pretty much guarantee that Bush Boy is going to walk the 2004 presidential elections. I just can't see the world being a better place after he's gone (I'm talking about Saddam, not Bush here).
"But what would you do about him?", I hear the world cry. Well my fantasy solution would involve a bucket of water, a ticket to Iraq and a time machine; realistically? fuck knows! I'm a very bored and apathetic computer programmer, I'm no politician/statesman/warmonger, it's up to them to come up with a solution.
And that concludes today's rant, on a completely unrelated note it has come to my attention that Little Gamers are going to start selling these after Christmas, which is handy - I need somewhere to keep my pr0n ^^
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
Sigh...
Boards of Canada - In a beautiful place out in the country
I get the impression from the comments on the front page that buying 160-odd CDs in the space of a year may seem a bit excessive to some. To be brutally honest, I really don't think it is - if anything I don't think it's enough, I've always got this feeling that there is a massive amount of music out there (whereever 'there' is...internet, record shops, hanging around street corners) that I haven't listened to, but would still put half of my collection to shame. This EP from the Boards of Canada, released in the year 2000, is a case in point - 3 maybe even 4 years old and still sounds fresh and new. I've always quite liked there music, but never been fanatical about them, but this is great, pretty stereotypical stuff: sweeping analogue keyboard sounds, lethargic hip-hop-esque beats, spooky childrens voices, and deceptively creepy tunes - but it all just comes together so well.
Boards of Canada - In a beautiful place out in the country
I get the impression from the comments on the front page that buying 160-odd CDs in the space of a year may seem a bit excessive to some. To be brutally honest, I really don't think it is - if anything I don't think it's enough, I've always got this feeling that there is a massive amount of music out there (whereever 'there' is...internet, record shops, hanging around street corners) that I haven't listened to, but would still put half of my collection to shame. This EP from the Boards of Canada, released in the year 2000, is a case in point - 3 maybe even 4 years old and still sounds fresh and new. I've always quite liked there music, but never been fanatical about them, but this is great, pretty stereotypical stuff: sweeping analogue keyboard sounds, lethargic hip-hop-esque beats, spooky childrens voices, and deceptively creepy tunes - but it all just comes together so well.
Monday, December 15, 2003
This is frightening, the complete list of CD's I've acquired over the year:
164 165 CD's (16/12/03 - BOC EP turned up today) - OK some were free, some are singles, but then again one is a 7CD box set, So I reckon that averages out to 164 full length albums - just over 3 a week. That's not quite an addiction, I hope.
Next step, pick a top 10...
!!! - !!! !!! - Me and Giuliani Down By the Schoolyard 2 many DJ's - As heard on radio soulwax pt.2 A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step Aesop Rock - Bazooka Tooth AFX - Smojphace EP Alice Coltrane - Universal Conciousness Amon Tobin - Verbal Remixes and Collaborations Antipop vs Matthew Shipp Aphex Twin - 26 Mixes For Cash Autechre - Draft 7.30 Bad Brains - Banned in DC: Bad Brain's Greatest Riffs Badawi - Soldier of Midian Beans - Tomorrow Right Now Black Eyes - Black Eyes Boards of Canada - Twoism Boards of Canada - In a beautiful place out in the country Boom Bip - Seed to Sun Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People Cex - Being Ridden Instrumentals Cex - Maryland Mansions cLOUDDEAD Coldplay - The Scientist Dan Greenpeace & DJ Yoda - Unthugged Dangermouse & Jemini - Ghetto Pop Life Das Capital - The Songwriting Genius Of Luke Haines And The Auteurs David S. Ware Quartet - Freedom Suite Derek Bailey - Ballards Desert Sessions 9 & 10 Diverse - One a.m. Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner DJ BrokenWindow - Parallel Universe #1 DJ Scud - Ambush! DJ Shadow - Mashin' On the Motorway DJ Spooky - Dubtometry DJ Spooky featuring Killah Priest DJ Yoda - How to Cut & Paste 80's Edition Dose One - The Pelt Electric Company - It's Hard To Be A Baby Evenesence - Fallen Faultline - Your Love Means Everything Four Tet - Rounds Gemma Hayes - Night on My Side Gold Chains - EP Gold Chains - Straight From Your Radio Gold Chains - Young Miss America Gonzales - Z Grand Theft Auto Vice City Boxset Gus Gus - Attention Henri Pousseur - 4 parabolic mixes Hexstatic - Listen & Learn Hymie's Basement - Hymie's Basement Isis - Oceanic Jah Wobble & Deep Space - Five Beat Jay-Z - The Black Album | Jay-Z - The Blueprint2: The Gift & The Curse Kevin Drumm & Lasse Marhaug - Frozen by Blizzard Winds Kid Koala - Basin Street Blues Kid Koala - Some Of My Best Friends Are DJs Kid606 - Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You Kid606 - The Illness Killing Joke - Killing Joke Korn - Take A Look In The Mirror LFO - Freak Linkin Park - Meteora Main - Transiency Manic Street Preachers - Forever Delayed Marilyn Manson - The Golden Age of The Grotesque Martina Topley-Bird - Quixotic Massive Attack - Butterfly Caught Matmos - The Civil War Matthew Shipp - Equilibrium Mercury Rev - Yerself Is Steam Metallica - St Anger Minor Threat - First Demo Tape Missy Elliot - This Is Not A Test! Mogwai - Happy Songs for Happy People Morphine - The Best of Morphine Mr Scruff & Seaming - Beyond Mu - Afro Finger and Gel Muggs - Dust Murs - The Beginning Of The End Muse - Absolution Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - Nocturama Non-Prophets - Hope Noxagt - Turning It Down Since 2001 Numbers - Death Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below Painkiller - Talisman Peaches - Fatherfucker Peaches - The Teaches of Peaches Phil Ranelin - Remixes Philip Jeck - Host Philip Jeck - Stoke Prefuse 73 - Extinguished Prefuse 73 - One Word Extinguisher Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf Radiohead - Hail to the Thief RJD2 - The Horror RJD2 - Your face or your kneecaps S.A.Smash - Smashy Trashy Sage Francis - Personal Journals Scorn - Plan B Sk/um - I Pagu Fallsins Sonic Youth - Dirty (Deluxe Edition) Sonic Youth - Murray Street Sophia - De Nachten Soul Position - 8 million stories Soundmurder - Wired for Sound Spring Heel Jack - Live Spring Heel Jack - Oddities | Susumu Yokota - The Boy and The Tree System Of A Down - Steal This Album! t.A.T.u. - 200km/h in the wrong lane Tes - x2 The Angels Of Light - Everything Is Good Here/Please Come Home The Bug - Pressure The Bug featuring Cutty Ranks - Gun Disease The Bug vs The Rootsman feat. Daddy Freddy / DJ /Rupture The Cinematic Orchestra - Man With A Movie Camera The Curse Of The Golden Vampire - Mass Destruction The Distillers - Coral Fang The Herbaliser - Solid Steel The Mad Capsule Markets - 010 The Matthew Herbert Big Band - Goodbye Swingtime The Powerpuff Girls - Heroes & Villains The Ravonettes - Chain Gang of Love The Ravonettes - Whip It On The Soft Pink Truth - Do You Party? The Twilight Singers - Blackberry Belle The White Stripes - Elephant Themselves - Live Themselves - The No Music Themselves - The No Music of Aiffs Tori Amos - Tales of a LIbrarian U.N.K.L.E. - Never, Never, Land Unklesounds - Big Brother Is Watching Unklesounds - Do Androids Dream Of Electric Beats Various - ~Scape Showcase Various - After Dark Part 01 Various - Branches & Routes Various - Club Transmediale 03 Various - Domino 03 Various - Kill Bill Vol.1 Various - Lexoleum Various - Marke B 03 Various - MDZ.03 Various - Nice Up The Dance Various - Open Up And Say... Various - Paws Across America Various - Playlist Dance & Urban Various - Raster-Noton.Archiv 1 Various - Rough Trade Shops - Counter Culture 2002 Various - The Big Bash Various - The Revenge Of The Robots Various - The Wild Bunch - Story Of A Sound System Various - The Wire 20 Years 1982 - 2002 Various - The Wire Tipper 10 Various - Thirsty Ear Presents: Blue Series Sampler Various - Undercover Cuts Various - Warpmart1 Why? - Oaklandazulasylum Why? - The Early Whitney EP Wings of Desire Soundtrack Yabby You - Jesus Dread 1972~1977 |
Next step, pick a top 10...
I lied, there's still more...
Diverse - One a.m.
You wait for age for one RJD2 produced hip-hop CD to come along, and two come along at once. OK, there is some help from Prefuse 73 and Madlib, but essentially it's RJD2 on the beats. As such I can't help but compare it with the Soul Position album, so how does it stand? Well, erm in second place basically - I can't quite put my finger on it, but I guess the main thing is Diverse's delivery and rhymes just don't appeal to me as much as Blueprint, and it almost seems that RJD2 has turned the funk down a notch or two. Madlib and Prefuse have some interesting backing tracks, but not quite interesting enough to lift it above the Soul Position... I'm making this sound like a terrible album, it's not - it's a damn fine Hip-Hop album, just maybe a little too workman-like?
Diverse - One a.m.
You wait for age for one RJD2 produced hip-hop CD to come along, and two come along at once. OK, there is some help from Prefuse 73 and Madlib, but essentially it's RJD2 on the beats. As such I can't help but compare it with the Soul Position album, so how does it stand? Well, erm in second place basically - I can't quite put my finger on it, but I guess the main thing is Diverse's delivery and rhymes just don't appeal to me as much as Blueprint, and it almost seems that RJD2 has turned the funk down a notch or two. Madlib and Prefuse have some interesting backing tracks, but not quite interesting enough to lift it above the Soul Position... I'm making this sound like a terrible album, it's not - it's a damn fine Hip-Hop album, just maybe a little too workman-like?
Friday, December 12, 2003
Thursday, December 11, 2003
One CD to come before the end of the year apparently...
Mu - Afro Finger and Gel
Album title of the year? Maybe not... Contender for album of the year? Again, maybe not - but it has "grower" written all over it and first impressions are positive. Basically what we have here is the kind of glitchy electronic music I like to think I'm a bit of a conisseur of, with English (spelling mistake intentional there) vocals. I'm loathe to use the term 'electroclash', but for once it's an appropriate term, but here the electro is clashing with just about everything: punk, bossa nova, a few classical flourishes. Very good stuff from a group and label (tigersushi, if your interested) that warrants further investigation
Cex - Maryland Mansions
If you've been paying attention to our boy Cex's website (which you haven't, but should), he's going through a bit of a NIN phase. This album shows, plenty of abrasive samples, introspective lyrics - the letter n of the title Maryland Mansions is even written backwards ala Nine Inch Nails. It's good, however there is a nagging feeling he can do much better - I hope he carries on making music, it would be a damn shame if someone with his obvious talents has to stop due to his financial/personal situation.
Soul Position - 8 million stories
Bit of a fib there since there are only 16 tracks, 17 if you count the hidden diss track - anyway, RJD2 on the wheels of steel (so obviously the beats are flawless) and Blueprint doing the rhymes who I have to say is a bit of an eye opener. Lyrically quite similar to Murs and Mr Lif since he is so damn real, his lyrics to 'Fuckajob' (a song about working in the I.T. industry) are scarily close to my current situation, consider the following line: "The best time of my career was at the start, I was doing extra hours, pouring out my little heart. Now it's hard for me to care knowing I'm just a resource on somebody's chart". Say's it all really...
Mu - Afro Finger and Gel
Album title of the year? Maybe not... Contender for album of the year? Again, maybe not - but it has "grower" written all over it and first impressions are positive. Basically what we have here is the kind of glitchy electronic music I like to think I'm a bit of a conisseur of, with English (spelling mistake intentional there) vocals. I'm loathe to use the term 'electroclash', but for once it's an appropriate term, but here the electro is clashing with just about everything: punk, bossa nova, a few classical flourishes. Very good stuff from a group and label (tigersushi, if your interested) that warrants further investigation
Cex - Maryland Mansions
If you've been paying attention to our boy Cex's website (which you haven't, but should), he's going through a bit of a NIN phase. This album shows, plenty of abrasive samples, introspective lyrics - the letter n of the title Maryland Mansions is even written backwards ala Nine Inch Nails. It's good, however there is a nagging feeling he can do much better - I hope he carries on making music, it would be a damn shame if someone with his obvious talents has to stop due to his financial/personal situation.
Soul Position - 8 million stories
Bit of a fib there since there are only 16 tracks, 17 if you count the hidden diss track - anyway, RJD2 on the wheels of steel (so obviously the beats are flawless) and Blueprint doing the rhymes who I have to say is a bit of an eye opener. Lyrically quite similar to Murs and Mr Lif since he is so damn real, his lyrics to 'Fuckajob' (a song about working in the I.T. industry) are scarily close to my current situation, consider the following line: "The best time of my career was at the start, I was doing extra hours, pouring out my little heart. Now it's hard for me to care knowing I'm just a resource on somebody's chart". Say's it all really...
Monday, December 8, 2003
Locked & Loaded Mo'fos!
Almost recovered from the weekend, there's some crap pictures of our christmas party here, but to be honest it's not worth the click really - I'm sure there will be some better ones on The Padgett's site soon (hint!). I'm so getting a decent camera phone in the new year.
Almost recovered from the weekend, there's some crap pictures of our christmas party here, but to be honest it's not worth the click really - I'm sure there will be some better ones on The Padgett's site soon (hint!). I'm so getting a decent camera phone in the new year.
Polyrhythmic Hardcore anyone?
Black Eyes - Black Eyes
OK, we're in Dischord territory here - fiercely experimental Hardcore, Ian Mackaye on production duty, two drummers like modern day Fugazi, two vocalists like Fugazi have always had... It's good, a little hard work at times since the guitarist has a way of screaming that makes it quite difficult to tell whether he is playing the guitar or singing, but well worth it.
Black Eyes - Black Eyes
OK, we're in Dischord territory here - fiercely experimental Hardcore, Ian Mackaye on production duty, two drummers like modern day Fugazi, two vocalists like Fugazi have always had... It's good, a little hard work at times since the guitarist has a way of screaming that makes it quite difficult to tell whether he is playing the guitar or singing, but well worth it.
Saturday, December 6, 2003
Thursday, December 4, 2003
Something for you to read in lieu of me actually finding anything interesting to write about: I give you Woebot, the website formerly known as T.W.A.N.B.O.C. Put's my adventures in record collecting to shame...
Sunday, November 30, 2003
I have to say being at Fratton Park to watch Leicester City's victory was a deeply satisfying experiance - I learnt some new songs (I think the "Sit down, Shut up" to the tune of the Pompey chimes was my favourite, although the "Fuck 'em up! Eat 'em up!" one was pretty good if a bit scary), got very wet, watched Leicester win and went out on the town in Southsea (which isn't Portsmouth apprently, but which does seem to be between Fratton Park and the Sea... go figure). A good day out!
What else was I going to write? I'm very tired today, my mind keeps wandering in a very literal sense...
Oh yes, I was having a look at the Sophia website which has a link to a Dutch music site with loads of live recordings in Real format of some interesting bands. I try to occasionally educate people and point them in the direction of what I think is decent music, so if you're feeling a bit open-minded and have a decent internet connection it's well worth a browse. Plus you can listen to Desert Song #2 which is just stunning...
What else was I going to write? I'm very tired today, my mind keeps wandering in a very literal sense...
Oh yes, I was having a look at the Sophia website which has a link to a Dutch music site with loads of live recordings in Real format of some interesting bands. I try to occasionally educate people and point them in the direction of what I think is decent music, so if you're feeling a bit open-minded and have a decent internet connection it's well worth a browse. Plus you can listen to Desert Song #2 which is just stunning...
Last albums of the year?...
Korn - Take A Look In The Mirror
I've got a fondness for nu-metal, I'm not sure why since I really should have grown out of it by now. Korn's 'Issues' is, in my humble opinion, one of the finest examples of the genre, they followed that up with 'Untouchables', a vastly over-hyped, over-produced mess of an album. 'Take A Look In The Mirror' should be there return to form, sneaked out without me knowing about it, rawer and less indulgant. The trouble is they forgot to put any decent tunes on it! Disappointing, but maybe it will grow on me.
Missy Elliot - This Is Not A Test!
Again, a little disappointing - but an average Missy Elliot album is a lot be better than most peoples better albums. There are some good tunes on it, Pass the Dutch you'll be aware of, Wake Up with Jay-Z (who manages to mention David Beckham in one of his ryhmes!) is also worth the entrance fee. But there is also a fair amout of fairly generic R'n'B, and when will Hip-Hop Artists learn that those stoopid Skits between songs suck!
DJ Yoda - How to Cut & Paste 80's Edition
Yoda uses the force to save us from mediocrity with one of the silliest mixes I've heard. Rick Astley, A-Ha, Europe! They're all there and mixed up with some really daft scratching and samples which often don't even try to fit in with the flow. A fun album, it will make you grin from ear to ear if you are of a certain age.
Korn - Take A Look In The Mirror
I've got a fondness for nu-metal, I'm not sure why since I really should have grown out of it by now. Korn's 'Issues' is, in my humble opinion, one of the finest examples of the genre, they followed that up with 'Untouchables', a vastly over-hyped, over-produced mess of an album. 'Take A Look In The Mirror' should be there return to form, sneaked out without me knowing about it, rawer and less indulgant. The trouble is they forgot to put any decent tunes on it! Disappointing, but maybe it will grow on me.
Missy Elliot - This Is Not A Test!
Again, a little disappointing - but an average Missy Elliot album is a lot be better than most peoples better albums. There are some good tunes on it, Pass the Dutch you'll be aware of, Wake Up with Jay-Z (who manages to mention David Beckham in one of his ryhmes!) is also worth the entrance fee. But there is also a fair amout of fairly generic R'n'B, and when will Hip-Hop Artists learn that those stoopid Skits between songs suck!
DJ Yoda - How to Cut & Paste 80's Edition
Yoda uses the force to save us from mediocrity with one of the silliest mixes I've heard. Rick Astley, A-Ha, Europe! They're all there and mixed up with some really daft scratching and samples which often don't even try to fit in with the flow. A fun album, it will make you grin from ear to ear if you are of a certain age.
Thursday, November 27, 2003
Armed Police Invade High School, No Drugs Found
No drugs? Good grief, what sort of school is that? Get some drugs in there now!
No drugs? Good grief, what sort of school is that? Get some drugs in there now!
Sunday, November 23, 2003
One of the websites I try to visit daily is disinformation, a good site for all of your left of centre news requirements, but this article just made me laugh.
Not sure if you noticed but England seem to have got good at Rugby ;-) - I watched the match in a pub in Woking rather than from the comfort of my Sofa (which would have been the sensible option) but you can't beat standing in a Pub at 9am, drinking orange juice because you're driving, and having your hangover shouted at by very loud Rugby fans can you? Hold on a minute...!
If I hadn't been driving I would have probably done some proper celebrating, but that didn't happen. The rest of the weekend was spent trying to lower my DVD to watch pile by ploughing throw a whole series of (the sadly cancelled) Futurama and all three Indiana Jones films.
Speaking of films, here's my take on The Matrix Revolutions: I went in to the Warner Village in Staines (very nice cinema by the way) with very low expectations, and I think it was because of this that I actually enjoyed the film. It's kind of the reverse of the last one in that the events in the 'real' world are really good, but the few scenes set in the Matrix were a bit of a let down. The final battle in Zion was much better than I expected, and Neo's excursion to the real machine City was kind of cool, but the battle with Agent Smith was just dumb and I was a bit dissappointed that they didn't use or explain the Merovingian much - oh, and the end scene was pants. Overall I enjoyed this film more than the last, but that enjoyment is overshadowed by my dissapointment that the final two films in the trilogy, which hinted at some really interesting meta-physical ideas, decended to your usual action film fluff. They should have just stopped with the first one really...
If I hadn't been driving I would have probably done some proper celebrating, but that didn't happen. The rest of the weekend was spent trying to lower my DVD to watch pile by ploughing throw a whole series of (the sadly cancelled) Futurama and all three Indiana Jones films.
Speaking of films, here's my take on The Matrix Revolutions: I went in to the Warner Village in Staines (very nice cinema by the way) with very low expectations, and I think it was because of this that I actually enjoyed the film. It's kind of the reverse of the last one in that the events in the 'real' world are really good, but the few scenes set in the Matrix were a bit of a let down. The final battle in Zion was much better than I expected, and Neo's excursion to the real machine City was kind of cool, but the battle with Agent Smith was just dumb and I was a bit dissappointed that they didn't use or explain the Merovingian much - oh, and the end scene was pants. Overall I enjoyed this film more than the last, but that enjoyment is overshadowed by my dissapointment that the final two films in the trilogy, which hinted at some really interesting meta-physical ideas, decended to your usual action film fluff. They should have just stopped with the first one really...
Nice packaging...
Raster-Noton.Archiv 1
The packaging hear deserves a special mention: The CD comes in a plastic re-sealable silver bag, with a perpex information sheet, but hold it up to the light and it becomes clear that the whole thing is slightly transparent, including the CD itself - which is something I've never seen. I got this with my subscription to The Wire magazine, its basically a compilation from a German record label called Raster-Noton of very minimalistic electronic compositions. All the pieces are constructed from tiny micro clicks, pops and whizzes creating an almost minimal house feel to some of the tracks. It's interesting more than anything, I liked some of the tracks, but a whole CD of them is a little bit wearing. Mainly I had the feeling that this sort of music needs some sort of visual element, or maybe it just needs to be listened to in a more suitable environment, it doesn't work as well as it should in my tiny flat.
Raster-Noton.Archiv 1
The packaging hear deserves a special mention: The CD comes in a plastic re-sealable silver bag, with a perpex information sheet, but hold it up to the light and it becomes clear that the whole thing is slightly transparent, including the CD itself - which is something I've never seen. I got this with my subscription to The Wire magazine, its basically a compilation from a German record label called Raster-Noton of very minimalistic electronic compositions. All the pieces are constructed from tiny micro clicks, pops and whizzes creating an almost minimal house feel to some of the tracks. It's interesting more than anything, I liked some of the tracks, but a whole CD of them is a little bit wearing. Mainly I had the feeling that this sort of music needs some sort of visual element, or maybe it just needs to be listened to in a more suitable environment, it doesn't work as well as it should in my tiny flat.
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
I have mobile phone envy, my poxy Sony T610 has been upsurped by the beast that is the Nokia 6600 as the geekiest coolest phone in the office. I was thinking of one of the new Panasonic X70 as my next phone, but I'm now thinking that may not be enough... What I need is the equivalent of the Deathstar of mobile phones, something completely over the top, with enough power to inspire awe and terror - no not an N-Gage, I'm thinking maybe the Sony P900 could be the phone for me.
New Kid606 album (woo yay!): I like it, so do these people, and someone on Amazon.com seems to like it - but that's all I can find at the moment.
The Progidy's New Album...
Kid606 - Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You
If I gave marks out of 10 for records this would instantly get a bonus point for having a song called "If I had a happy place this would be it". Anyway, new Kid606 album, what does it sound like? Good question, the problem (although problem isn't really the right word) is that pretty much every Kid606 album/EP sounds completely different: For example Down With The Scene sounded like one great big almighty fuck you to the world in general, but then there is PS I Love You, full of minimal techno ambience, and then The Action Packed Mentalist Brings You The Fucking Jams - which is very silly, but great fun. It's very difficult to pin him down. This CD has 5 years worth of recorded material and it's possible to hear influences from all of his releases, making this probably the most "Kid606" Kid606 album you'll hear - if you see what I mean. If I was pinned down and forced to describe this I probably say "it's the album that Liam Howlett wishes he could make", but that doesn't do it justice. OK it's a bit old skool ravey in places (not a bad thing!) and the inner sleeve has a piss take of one of the Prodigy's album, but I think that's where the Prodigy comparison ends. But that doesn't really help me to describe this album properly, all I can recommend is to try and have a listen to it. If you can appreciate music that crams silly amounts of ideas into very short spaces, you'll like it; if you appreciate a good old fashioned junglist-stylee dance tune, you'll like it; if you can admire the someone who seems to have a sample on his powerbook called "try to suck the listener's brain out through his ears-bass scraping noise" you'll like it. Fuck it, you'll like it... trust me!
Kid606 - Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You
If I gave marks out of 10 for records this would instantly get a bonus point for having a song called "If I had a happy place this would be it". Anyway, new Kid606 album, what does it sound like? Good question, the problem (although problem isn't really the right word) is that pretty much every Kid606 album/EP sounds completely different: For example Down With The Scene sounded like one great big almighty fuck you to the world in general, but then there is PS I Love You, full of minimal techno ambience, and then The Action Packed Mentalist Brings You The Fucking Jams - which is very silly, but great fun. It's very difficult to pin him down. This CD has 5 years worth of recorded material and it's possible to hear influences from all of his releases, making this probably the most "Kid606" Kid606 album you'll hear - if you see what I mean. If I was pinned down and forced to describe this I probably say "it's the album that Liam Howlett wishes he could make", but that doesn't do it justice. OK it's a bit old skool ravey in places (not a bad thing!) and the inner sleeve has a piss take of one of the Prodigy's album, but I think that's where the Prodigy comparison ends. But that doesn't really help me to describe this album properly, all I can recommend is to try and have a listen to it. If you can appreciate music that crams silly amounts of ideas into very short spaces, you'll like it; if you appreciate a good old fashioned junglist-stylee dance tune, you'll like it; if you can admire the someone who seems to have a sample on his powerbook called "try to suck the listener's brain out through his ears-bass scraping noise" you'll like it. Fuck it, you'll like it... trust me!
OK, the pictures are shite - but they may give you some impression of the odd grandeur that is the Bush Hall. Especially odd since it's situated in the shittier end of Shepards Bush.
Anyway, I did have prepared a long essay about some of the songwriters I like, and how Robin Proper-Sheppard (who basically is Sophia) fits in with them... then it descended into some waffle about sad songs and 3am moments and "Boo Hoo I'm so alone"-crap. You don't want to know about that...
Instead I'll give you a fairly dry description of the band and the music. Full band tonight, which in Sophia terms means your standard drums/bass/guitar with a smattering of piano and a string quartet. They started off with a couple of early songs: The Sea, and If Only - both sort of country-ish tear-jerkers, then they moved on to some of the new songs. These are quite a bit different, not quite as melancholic and more willing to experiment - the powerbook came out on a few occasions. One of the new songs stood out especially, Desert Song #2, this starts off with a really beautiful string arrangement which then gently gives way to the main guitar riff and some really touching lyrics (which I'm damned if I can remember now!) - then half way through POW! they go all Mogwai with some serious white noise. OK, I'll concide that it was a fairly Partisan crowd but there were audible gasps and cries of "Fuck Me! That's good" after that tune, and damn it is good. If they can capture that song in a recording studio then the new Sophia CD is going to be worth buying for that alone... Remember kids, Desert Song #2.
Anyway, not much more to say - they started late, and consequently I had to leave before the end to get a train home - but all in all a good night out, good to hear some of my favourite tunes played live, and good to hear some of Sophia's new music.
Anyway, I did have prepared a long essay about some of the songwriters I like, and how Robin Proper-Sheppard (who basically is Sophia) fits in with them... then it descended into some waffle about sad songs and 3am moments and "Boo Hoo I'm so alone"-crap. You don't want to know about that...
Instead I'll give you a fairly dry description of the band and the music. Full band tonight, which in Sophia terms means your standard drums/bass/guitar with a smattering of piano and a string quartet. They started off with a couple of early songs: The Sea, and If Only - both sort of country-ish tear-jerkers, then they moved on to some of the new songs. These are quite a bit different, not quite as melancholic and more willing to experiment - the powerbook came out on a few occasions. One of the new songs stood out especially, Desert Song #2, this starts off with a really beautiful string arrangement which then gently gives way to the main guitar riff and some really touching lyrics (which I'm damned if I can remember now!) - then half way through POW! they go all Mogwai with some serious white noise. OK, I'll concide that it was a fairly Partisan crowd but there were audible gasps and cries of "Fuck Me! That's good" after that tune, and damn it is good. If they can capture that song in a recording studio then the new Sophia CD is going to be worth buying for that alone... Remember kids, Desert Song #2.
Anyway, not much more to say - they started late, and consequently I had to leave before the end to get a train home - but all in all a good night out, good to hear some of my favourite tunes played live, and good to hear some of Sophia's new music.
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
Monday, November 17, 2003
OK, with the new Kid606 CD in the post (finally!), and now that I've had chance to listen to the new Tori Amos collection and what is allegedly Jay-Z's final album I thought I'd be almost ready to start my "Ten CD's you really needed to get your hands on this year, but did you listen to me? Did you bollocks!"-list.
Well I was wrong, a quick peruse of Play.com's coming soon list and I can still find CD's that I absolutely need to own, so that little feature of joy will have to wait.
...Speaking of Kid606 (whose new album better be good enough to go on my "Ten CD's you really needed to get your hands on this year, but did you listen to me? Did you bollocks!"-list, or there will be a frightening amount of metaphorical trouble), brainwashed.com have a really good interview/feature on his recent Paws Across America tour in wonderful streaming Quicktime form. I couldn't get the pop up window to work, so here is the direct link if you have a sudden urge to broaden your horizons.
Well I was wrong, a quick peruse of Play.com's coming soon list and I can still find CD's that I absolutely need to own, so that little feature of joy will have to wait.
...Speaking of Kid606 (whose new album better be good enough to go on my "Ten CD's you really needed to get your hands on this year, but did you listen to me? Did you bollocks!"-list, or there will be a frightening amount of metaphorical trouble), brainwashed.com have a really good interview/feature on his recent Paws Across America tour in wonderful streaming Quicktime form. I couldn't get the pop up window to work, so here is the direct link if you have a sudden urge to broaden your horizons.
Getting Near Christmas...
Tori Amos - Tales of a LIbrarian
It must be getting near Christmas, it seems that there is nothing but compilation albums in the shops. I'll forgive this one though, since a) it consists of songs that have been remastered and subtley remixed and b) it's by Tori Amos and as such beyond any sort of criticism. OK, maybe a bit of criticism - there's a couple of songs on here that don't deserve to be on a best of album, and a few that are missing, and maybe rather than a free DVD it would have been better to have a CD with some of her more full on dance remixes. Anyway, I'm treating this as a utility CD, it's here to do the job of providing me with a compilation of Tori Amos tunes, as such it does it's job well.
Jay-Z - The Black Album
Some very silly Spinal Tap-esque packaging going on here, but that didn't hurt Metallica when they did it. Anyway, let's get back on track, suprisingly (considering all the obscure crap I buy to try to make myself seem more interesting) I have a lot of respect for Jay-Z. His album 'The Blueprint' has to go down as one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever, he's got Beyonce by his side, and now he's saying farewell to the hip-hop game with this practically flawless album. Great beats provided by big names like The Neptunes, Timbaland, and Rick Rubin (let's not forget he produced Licensed to Ill and Raising Hell, and would 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' sound the same without his influence?), lyrically it's quite brutal and honest: if this is truly his final album then the gauntlet is well and truly laid down for all the young upstarts. And 14 tracks! No skits! In the world of commercial rap and hip-hop that sort of retraint is a fucking miracle!
Tori Amos - Tales of a LIbrarian
It must be getting near Christmas, it seems that there is nothing but compilation albums in the shops. I'll forgive this one though, since a) it consists of songs that have been remastered and subtley remixed and b) it's by Tori Amos and as such beyond any sort of criticism. OK, maybe a bit of criticism - there's a couple of songs on here that don't deserve to be on a best of album, and a few that are missing, and maybe rather than a free DVD it would have been better to have a CD with some of her more full on dance remixes. Anyway, I'm treating this as a utility CD, it's here to do the job of providing me with a compilation of Tori Amos tunes, as such it does it's job well.
Jay-Z - The Black Album
Some very silly Spinal Tap-esque packaging going on here, but that didn't hurt Metallica when they did it. Anyway, let's get back on track, suprisingly (considering all the obscure crap I buy to try to make myself seem more interesting) I have a lot of respect for Jay-Z. His album 'The Blueprint' has to go down as one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever, he's got Beyonce by his side, and now he's saying farewell to the hip-hop game with this practically flawless album. Great beats provided by big names like The Neptunes, Timbaland, and Rick Rubin (let's not forget he produced Licensed to Ill and Raising Hell, and would 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' sound the same without his influence?), lyrically it's quite brutal and honest: if this is truly his final album then the gauntlet is well and truly laid down for all the young upstarts. And 14 tracks! No skits! In the world of commercial rap and hip-hop that sort of retraint is a fucking miracle!
Saturday, November 15, 2003
Waking up on your sofa at 8:00am with a stiff neck and a crappy hangover is officially not fun. Just though that need pointing out and metaphorically underlined with a big red pen. Pics!
Thursday, November 13, 2003
OK, my take on the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre: oh dear... OK, I've never seen the original, so I went in with no preconceptions and an open mind, but that didn't help. This film has pretty much zero suspense, pretty much every 'shock' (I use the term loosely) could be seen about a mile off... in the dark... and looking in the wrong direction, really unlikeable 'good guys', and really obvious 'bad guys'. Still in its defense Leatherface looked quite cool and the lead female character looked very good in a damp vest - and that's about all I can say, sorry for being shallow, but it's a pretty shallow film.
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
OK, my take on Kill Bill Vol.1: a wonderful, wonderful film. It's unlike his previous work for the obvious reasons: less dialogue, more action, slightly more coherent time line, and the obvious nod towards Asian Cinema. This could have gone horribly wrong, there is a fine line between parody and homage, but he stays on the right side of the line even in the more humourous, tongue in cheek moments; the fight scenes are great, plenty of blood and amputations and just enough wire work to keep it exciting but not too silly; and Uma Thurman is just stunning, playing the vengeful Samurai role perfectly. I can't wait for Volume 2...
Ambient Turntablism...
Philip Jeck - Host
I'm inclined to agree with The Wire that the music Philip Jeck produces is a bit special, and this CD doesn't do anything to shift my opinion. I've mentioned him before so I won't wax lyrical too much, I'll just give you the basics. Three tracks here, four if you count the video segment, each constructed using his old records/bit's of sticky tape/delay pedal formula - each track slightly more abrasive than the last, the final track being positively apocalyptical towards the end, reminded me a bit of early Techno Animal. The video track is very interesting as it details a live performance he did for a Belgian radio show, he really does use bits of sticky tape to create loops!
Philip Jeck - Host
I'm inclined to agree with The Wire that the music Philip Jeck produces is a bit special, and this CD doesn't do anything to shift my opinion. I've mentioned him before so I won't wax lyrical too much, I'll just give you the basics. Three tracks here, four if you count the video segment, each constructed using his old records/bit's of sticky tape/delay pedal formula - each track slightly more abrasive than the last, the final track being positively apocalyptical towards the end, reminded me a bit of early Techno Animal. The video track is very interesting as it details a live performance he did for a Belgian radio show, he really does use bits of sticky tape to create loops!
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
Rare and obscure shite...
RJD2 - Your face or your kneecaps
OK, first up in today's "you ain't goning to get any of these in your local HMV"-fest is RJD2's sort of legendary mix CD. Well, maybe legendary is too strong a word, but I've certainly been aware of it's existance ever since I stumbled across his first proper CD - Deadringer. Anyway, back to the kneecaps - what you get here is an old skool soul/funk music mega mix, and a couple of extra tracks which don't quite fit into the megamix heading since they're alot more laid back. It's a good CD, if you want a joyous blast of obscure 60s/70s soul music then you can't go wrong.
Themselves - Live
This one is only available through there website apparently, so once again local record shops aren't going to be much use. I've been kicking myself about missing this group playing live since apparently they put on quite a show: whiteboards, projections, live programming and, according to the Wire, Dose One's devil manifestation routine is quite something to see... devil manifestation WTF! Anyway, this CD has a recording of there Peel Session plus songs and improvisations recorded in various European locations - not sure about the devil manifestation though, I don't think it translates to CD very well :-S.
Dose One - The Pelt
We're into some serious abstract shit here - essentially this is a book of (gulp!) poetry. There is also an accompanying CD with chopped up recordings of various passages from the book backed by tape hiss and general ambience. I find it nicely disturbing.
RJD2 - Your face or your kneecaps
OK, first up in today's "you ain't goning to get any of these in your local HMV"-fest is RJD2's sort of legendary mix CD. Well, maybe legendary is too strong a word, but I've certainly been aware of it's existance ever since I stumbled across his first proper CD - Deadringer. Anyway, back to the kneecaps - what you get here is an old skool soul/funk music mega mix, and a couple of extra tracks which don't quite fit into the megamix heading since they're alot more laid back. It's a good CD, if you want a joyous blast of obscure 60s/70s soul music then you can't go wrong.
Themselves - Live
This one is only available through there website apparently, so once again local record shops aren't going to be much use. I've been kicking myself about missing this group playing live since apparently they put on quite a show: whiteboards, projections, live programming and, according to the Wire, Dose One's devil manifestation routine is quite something to see... devil manifestation WTF! Anyway, this CD has a recording of there Peel Session plus songs and improvisations recorded in various European locations - not sure about the devil manifestation though, I don't think it translates to CD very well :-S.
Dose One - The Pelt
We're into some serious abstract shit here - essentially this is a book of (gulp!) poetry. There is also an accompanying CD with chopped up recordings of various passages from the book backed by tape hiss and general ambience. I find it nicely disturbing.
Saturday, November 8, 2003
Last night's enforced brown nosing session wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, this was mainly down to vast quantities of Stella, which I highly recommend in any awkward social situations
Thursday, November 6, 2003
I like this site, the humour appeals to me...
I've had a bit of a once over with the site, so finally there are some new pictures, new lists and new cds to oggle/despair over/consider to buy.
Got my car back yesterday, I've been driving a 1.6L Astra for the past week - which has hurt me both physically and mentally. Got my 1.6L Puma back, and they appear to have put a new engine in it, cos fuck me! it goes like the proverbial bat out of hell compared to the other car (I use the word 'car' loosely when talking about a *spit* Astra). I swear it didn't do that before - maybe it's just being away from it for a week and the absence making the heart go fonder, who knows?
I'd love a new car soon, since I've pretty much given up on being sensible (unless the right girl comes along...offers here please) the choices are: a Ford Focus RS, a Mazda RX-8 (wankle wankle wankle!) or if I'm feeling particularly silly a Lotus Elise Type 72.
I've had a bit of a once over with the site, so finally there are some new pictures, new lists and new cds to oggle/despair over/consider to buy.
Got my car back yesterday, I've been driving a 1.6L Astra for the past week - which has hurt me both physically and mentally. Got my 1.6L Puma back, and they appear to have put a new engine in it, cos fuck me! it goes like the proverbial bat out of hell compared to the other car (I use the word 'car' loosely when talking about a *spit* Astra). I swear it didn't do that before - maybe it's just being away from it for a week and the absence making the heart go fonder, who knows?
I'd love a new car soon, since I've pretty much given up on being sensible (unless the right girl comes along...offers here please) the choices are: a Ford Focus RS, a Mazda RX-8 (wankle wankle wankle!) or if I'm feeling particularly silly a Lotus Elise Type 72.
Delayed due to leaves on the line...
Hymie's Basement - Hymie's Basement
Why? and Fog get together in Hymie's basement and bang out some wonderful wonderful tunes, and throw in some truely off kilter lyrics. For example, the last tune "You Die": a wonderful melody set off with organs, strings, droning bass and a lazy Sunday Morning beat, but with lyrics which don't make a blind bit of sense: "Hem my pants, On a brand new Earth, Do the Fug, On a speck of dust." eh? I get the impression that these two could bang out a tune you'd be humming all day while making a cup of tea.
Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Strange album, both members of Outcast take a disc each and basically produce a pair of solo albums. Completely overwealming, I haven't been able to make it through in one go yet - Big Boi ends up with the more traditional (for want of a better word) Outcast album, Andre 3000 picks up where Prince left off around about his Lovesexy era.
Marke B 03
Freebie German electronica compilation that turned up with this month's wire, some nice ambient stuff from DubTractor and Monolake, and the fantastically named Jahcoozi do a great little song about Fish.
The Distillers - Coral Fang
Kind of punky I guess, or grungey (hey kids! do you remember that) female fronted band. Good album, although they blow there best stuff in the first four songs - not in the least bit like Hole, honest...
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
I'm all for the concept of bands giving themselves limitations in what instruments they use, look at the White Stripes (drums, guitar, voice), Morphine (two string slide bass, drums, baritone sax), Philip Jeck (Danitone Record Players, Vinyl, and well...dust). But the whole argument that Radiohead were somehow better when they stuck with the traditional rock group lineup is a pile of shite. The last three albums, including this one, are by far there best in my opinion...
After Dark Part 01
OK, a free CD with last Saturday's Daily Star, so expectations were low. Mostly shite, that crappy 'funky house' that gets played in so-called trendy bars full of people who probably think cocaine is a good idea, it's not - it's a drug for arrogant cunts who want to feel more arrogant, stick to the interesting trippy drugs kids! As the late great Bill Hicks once said, squeegee that third eye clean!... anyway. Soul-less crap.
Hymie's Basement - Hymie's Basement
Why? and Fog get together in Hymie's basement and bang out some wonderful wonderful tunes, and throw in some truely off kilter lyrics. For example, the last tune "You Die": a wonderful melody set off with organs, strings, droning bass and a lazy Sunday Morning beat, but with lyrics which don't make a blind bit of sense: "Hem my pants, On a brand new Earth, Do the Fug, On a speck of dust." eh? I get the impression that these two could bang out a tune you'd be humming all day while making a cup of tea.
Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
Strange album, both members of Outcast take a disc each and basically produce a pair of solo albums. Completely overwealming, I haven't been able to make it through in one go yet - Big Boi ends up with the more traditional (for want of a better word) Outcast album, Andre 3000 picks up where Prince left off around about his Lovesexy era.
Marke B 03
Freebie German electronica compilation that turned up with this month's wire, some nice ambient stuff from DubTractor and Monolake, and the fantastically named Jahcoozi do a great little song about Fish.
The Distillers - Coral Fang
Kind of punky I guess, or grungey (hey kids! do you remember that) female fronted band. Good album, although they blow there best stuff in the first four songs - not in the least bit like Hole, honest...
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
I'm all for the concept of bands giving themselves limitations in what instruments they use, look at the White Stripes (drums, guitar, voice), Morphine (two string slide bass, drums, baritone sax), Philip Jeck (Danitone Record Players, Vinyl, and well...dust). But the whole argument that Radiohead were somehow better when they stuck with the traditional rock group lineup is a pile of shite. The last three albums, including this one, are by far there best in my opinion...
After Dark Part 01
OK, a free CD with last Saturday's Daily Star, so expectations were low. Mostly shite, that crappy 'funky house' that gets played in so-called trendy bars full of people who probably think cocaine is a good idea, it's not - it's a drug for arrogant cunts who want to feel more arrogant, stick to the interesting trippy drugs kids! As the late great Bill Hicks once said, squeegee that third eye clean!... anyway. Soul-less crap.
Wednesday, November 5, 2003
For those paying attention this site has been quiet as I'm currently redesigning it. So goodbye black backgrounds, grey text and wannabe arty banners, and hello.... slightly less black, sort of yellowing ancient paper coloured text, and moody grey banners. I don't think I could be more Goth if I tried.
Anyway, enough wallowing: I like hip-hop, I like Star Wars - Put them together and what do you get? Well, this...
Anyway, enough wallowing: I like hip-hop, I like Star Wars - Put them together and what do you get? Well, this...
Friday, October 31, 2003
Saturday, October 25, 2003
I'm sure I've said this before, but I'll say it again: After millions of years of evolution the human race became the dominant species mainly because of the opposable thumb, this allowed human's hands to manipulate our surroundings in unprecedented ways, to create tools, to build shelters, eventually to create stunning works of art... hell, we even got a few men up to the moon. In my opinion because of our hands...
So why is the biggest spectator sport in this country and probably the world based around kicking a glorified pigs stomach around a field? It's fucking stupid.
...this mini rant has nothing to do with Leicester wasting (well I say wasting, I actually mean shitting all over) a three goal lead against Wolves today, no sirree!
Grr.
Anyway, some soothing sounds and images are required. I recommend downloading the video to accompany one of Kid606's more ambient tunes from this site, it's rather lovely.
So why is the biggest spectator sport in this country and probably the world based around kicking a glorified pigs stomach around a field? It's fucking stupid.
...this mini rant has nothing to do with Leicester wasting (well I say wasting, I actually mean shitting all over) a three goal lead against Wolves today, no sirree!
Grr.
Anyway, some soothing sounds and images are required. I recommend downloading the video to accompany one of Kid606's more ambient tunes from this site, it's rather lovely.
Friday, October 24, 2003
As you may have gathered I went to see Mogwai play last night, now before I get to that could I just say one thing about the Astoria... £3.10 for a can of Carling! You're 'aving a laaaarf!!
Anyway, back to the show: I arrived late so only caught the last song of the support band, they didn't seem too bad - very mogwai-ish, but maybe lacking the subtlety. Mogwai themselves were obviously in one of there quiet-loud-quiet moods, with only a couple of full-on, heads-down, white-noise moments. In fact many of the songs started so quietly while half the crowd were cheering the other half were going "Shh!", although having said that my ears are ringing like mad at the moment.
I don't think it was as good as there Glastonbury appearence, my favourite song, Hunted by a Freak, came too early, and where was my favourite 20 minute instrumental Jewish Prayer? Still disappointments aside, a good show, if you want to see some pictures they are over here.
One weird thing, the bloke in front of me kept fainting. I thought that sort of thing only happened at Robbie Williams concerts.
On a completely unrelated note, I've been buying weird hip-hop again.
Anyway, back to the show: I arrived late so only caught the last song of the support band, they didn't seem too bad - very mogwai-ish, but maybe lacking the subtlety. Mogwai themselves were obviously in one of there quiet-loud-quiet moods, with only a couple of full-on, heads-down, white-noise moments. In fact many of the songs started so quietly while half the crowd were cheering the other half were going "Shh!", although having said that my ears are ringing like mad at the moment.
I don't think it was as good as there Glastonbury appearence, my favourite song, Hunted by a Freak, came too early, and where was my favourite 20 minute instrumental Jewish Prayer? Still disappointments aside, a good show, if you want to see some pictures they are over here.
One weird thing, the bloke in front of me kept fainting. I thought that sort of thing only happened at Robbie Williams concerts.
On a completely unrelated note, I've been buying weird hip-hop again.
Hip-Hop...
Non-Prophets - Hope
Solid, but some what, well... average? Not entirely sure why since half of this duo is Sage Francis (kind of Underground hip-hop's Henry Rollins), maybe because of the Anticon connection I was expecting something a little different.
Themselves - The No Music of Aiffs
Remix album where various Anticon releated artists have a go at remixing the last Themselves album. And they all remix it very well, somehow each applies there induvidual styles yet the album flows as a whole very nicely... maybe with the exception of the "what the fuck is that noise!" Hood remix.
Why? - The Early Whitney EP
Kind of a mini version of his last album, so whatever I said about that applies here...
Non-Prophets - Hope
Solid, but some what, well... average? Not entirely sure why since half of this duo is Sage Francis (kind of Underground hip-hop's Henry Rollins), maybe because of the Anticon connection I was expecting something a little different.
Themselves - The No Music of Aiffs
Remix album where various Anticon releated artists have a go at remixing the last Themselves album. And they all remix it very well, somehow each applies there induvidual styles yet the album flows as a whole very nicely... maybe with the exception of the "what the fuck is that noise!" Hood remix.
Why? - The Early Whitney EP
Kind of a mini version of his last album, so whatever I said about that applies here...
Thursday, October 23, 2003
Can someone sort me out with a new job please? I've had enough of this one. Something involving, dare I say it? Yes I'm going to: some job satisfaction. That would be nice...
Sunday, October 19, 2003
Saturday, October 18, 2003
OK, I'm back from Coventry in one piece - just! Some twat hit my car on the way back, not much damage, but it's still annoying since I've kept my motor in a reasonable state. What got me the most was the comment idiot boy gave me: "Oh, sorry I couldn't work out why you were braking". Now call me old fashioned, but when you are approaching a traffic island and have to give way to traffic from the right it's is traditional to FUCKING BRAKE!! Cunt...
Anyway now that I've got that off my chest back to the site. I've had a go at updating pretty much everything on the site; I could do with some interesting questions for the info section, but my inspiration has deserted me. The game and CD schedules are up to date, the game one is a fucking nightmare - up until Christmas I'm on about a two game a week habit (I swear this videogame hobby of mine is worse than having a crack addiction); the CD one is better, looking forward to the Kid606 album in a few weeks.
I've currently got a bunch of Anticon CDs to listen to, but I've found time to update the CD review page to let you know all about the newAfghan Whigs Twilight Singers CD.
If you are after pictures there are a couple of new sets: one from last night and a work colleague's leaving drinks, the other is of David Blaine. I though I'd make an effort to see him, so I dragged Johnboy along with the intention of spending the afternoon hurling abuse at Box Boy - didn't work out in the end, too many people around. Anyway, we came, we saw, we watched him stand up, we watched him change his top and we watched him sit down... woo bleeding hoo...
So, that's all I can be arsed to type. I'll leave you with some links:
Here's the venue where I'll be seeing a band called Sophia play in November, I think I can safely say it's the poshest one I've ever seen - check out the chandeliers! bling blingm motherfucker!
Here's a scary article about one of the American General's in Iraq, obviously not all religious fanatics are Islamic.
Here's some info on a new drug which could mean I could ditch sleeping... Well, I found it interesting.
And finally, some comedy.
Anyway now that I've got that off my chest back to the site. I've had a go at updating pretty much everything on the site; I could do with some interesting questions for the info section, but my inspiration has deserted me. The game and CD schedules are up to date, the game one is a fucking nightmare - up until Christmas I'm on about a two game a week habit (I swear this videogame hobby of mine is worse than having a crack addiction); the CD one is better, looking forward to the Kid606 album in a few weeks.
I've currently got a bunch of Anticon CDs to listen to, but I've found time to update the CD review page to let you know all about the new
If you are after pictures there are a couple of new sets: one from last night and a work colleague's leaving drinks, the other is of David Blaine. I though I'd make an effort to see him, so I dragged Johnboy along with the intention of spending the afternoon hurling abuse at Box Boy - didn't work out in the end, too many people around. Anyway, we came, we saw, we watched him stand up, we watched him change his top and we watched him sit down... woo bleeding hoo...
So, that's all I can be arsed to type. I'll leave you with some links:
Here's the venue where I'll be seeing a band called Sophia play in November, I think I can safely say it's the poshest one I've ever seen - check out the chandeliers! bling blingm motherfucker!
Here's a scary article about one of the American General's in Iraq, obviously not all religious fanatics are Islamic.
Here's some info on a new drug which could mean I could ditch sleeping... Well, I found it interesting.
And finally, some comedy.
Not the Afghan Whigs, oh no...
The Twilight Singers - Blackberry Belle
So let me get this one right: Greg Dulli, of Afghan Whigs fame, has this new band called The Twilight Singers, he's already released one album called Twilight as them. That album was produced by the electronic group Fila Brazilia, the lead vocal duties were split between 3 or 4 vocalists, and had less guitars than the Whigs. On this new Afghan Whigs album Dulli has ditched Fila Brazilia, and the other vocalists, and has put the guitars back... Hold On! This is basically a new Afghan Whigs album, as such should be treated with awe and respect. I've always been a fan of Dulli's work with his previous band, I don't think there is anyone else around who can make the life of a smooth bad assed mother fucker so... touching. The last song is especially good, a duet with Mark Lanegan - it rocks like a bastard, but at the same time is a bit country - very nice.
The Twilight Singers - Blackberry Belle
So let me get this one right: Greg Dulli, of Afghan Whigs fame, has this new band called The Twilight Singers, he's already released one album called Twilight as them. That album was produced by the electronic group Fila Brazilia, the lead vocal duties were split between 3 or 4 vocalists, and had less guitars than the Whigs. On this new Afghan Whigs album Dulli has ditched Fila Brazilia, and the other vocalists, and has put the guitars back... Hold On! This is basically a new Afghan Whigs album, as such should be treated with awe and respect. I've always been a fan of Dulli's work with his previous band, I don't think there is anyone else around who can make the life of a smooth bad assed mother fucker so... touching. The last song is especially good, a duet with Mark Lanegan - it rocks like a bastard, but at the same time is a bit country - very nice.
Monday, October 13, 2003
Off to Cov for the rest of the week (...oh joy). Amuse yourself with some crappy washed out pictures in the meantime
Friday, October 10, 2003
Here's a website to keep you occupied on a slow Friday Afternoon: metaphilm.com. The article about how Calvin and Hobbes fits in with Fight Club is particularly enlightening.
Sunday, October 5, 2003
Saturday, October 4, 2003
I seem to be getting CD's on a daily basis at the moment, three new ones today from Matmos, Jah Wobble and Kid Koala - and I've somehow found time amongst today's zany exploits to post some thoughts on them (they are all pretty good by the way).
No drunken pictures this week I'm afraid due to me being sensible with my cold and not drinking, but if you so wish you can gaze in awe at my new l33t top, witness my victorious erm... victory in Advance Wars 2 on the GBA (incidently, I'm starting to slightly fall in love with Nell who does the tutorials... it's her sexy Stewardess outfit and all her talk about tanks that does it for me!), and see me drink Orange Juice - Heavy Metal or what!
Back to today's zany exploits: buying a new matress. No, don't go! It get's better, honest!
So, basically my old futon matress was getting to the stage where it was only marginally more comfortable than sleeping on the floor - I couldn't be arsed with ordering one, and having to wait around and organise time off work to handle the delivery. So off I went to Croydon's Ikea to pick up a nice new shiny one without all the wainting around...
Upon arrival there I had a minor revelation: Ikea is basically hell on Earth. For one thing, I swear I was the only single person there! The whole place was full of content (translation: fucking annoying) 20-something couples, generally with child (in or out of the womb, that seems to be optional), who all appear to be unable to walk for more than 3 seconds without stopping and going ooh!, and obviously judging the almost 30-year old, painfully single me for not being in a couple! OK, maybe that's just me being paranoid, or maybe it was the infernal machination of the damned torturing my immortal soul!
Then there is the whole having to walk constantly round in circles, sod Dante's Inferno , if you want a proper description of the geography of Hell go to Ikea
And when you do finally find the warehouse bit, where the hell are the trolley's? Queue me wandering up and down aisles folornly looking for a trolley, until I finally turned around to the entrance I came in to see the worlds biggest arrow next to the worlds biggest version of the word 'Trolley' pointing towards the evil little fuckers. Clearly the arrow was a cunning way of mocking me by saying "theyr'e over here fuckwit".
And then there are the queues... my god they are long. And all populated by screaming kids, there may have also been some parents but I didn't notice them due to the constant screeching of hell spawn.
Anyway, I escaped - and I now get to sleep on something approaching soft, so it's not all eternal damnation... which is nice.
No drunken pictures this week I'm afraid due to me being sensible with my cold and not drinking, but if you so wish you can gaze in awe at my new l33t top, witness my victorious erm... victory in Advance Wars 2 on the GBA (incidently, I'm starting to slightly fall in love with Nell who does the tutorials... it's her sexy Stewardess outfit and all her talk about tanks that does it for me!), and see me drink Orange Juice - Heavy Metal or what!
Back to today's zany exploits: buying a new matress. No, don't go! It get's better, honest!
So, basically my old futon matress was getting to the stage where it was only marginally more comfortable than sleeping on the floor - I couldn't be arsed with ordering one, and having to wait around and organise time off work to handle the delivery. So off I went to Croydon's Ikea to pick up a nice new shiny one without all the wainting around...
Upon arrival there I had a minor revelation: Ikea is basically hell on Earth. For one thing, I swear I was the only single person there! The whole place was full of content (translation: fucking annoying) 20-something couples, generally with child (in or out of the womb, that seems to be optional), who all appear to be unable to walk for more than 3 seconds without stopping and going ooh!, and obviously judging the almost 30-year old, painfully single me for not being in a couple! OK, maybe that's just me being paranoid, or maybe it was the infernal machination of the damned torturing my immortal soul!
Then there is the whole having to walk constantly round in circles, sod Dante's Inferno , if you want a proper description of the geography of Hell go to Ikea
And when you do finally find the warehouse bit, where the hell are the trolley's? Queue me wandering up and down aisles folornly looking for a trolley, until I finally turned around to the entrance I came in to see the worlds biggest arrow next to the worlds biggest version of the word 'Trolley' pointing towards the evil little fuckers. Clearly the arrow was a cunning way of mocking me by saying "theyr'e over here fuckwit".
And then there are the queues... my god they are long. And all populated by screaming kids, there may have also been some parents but I didn't notice them due to the constant screeching of hell spawn.
Anyway, I escaped - and I now get to sleep on something approaching soft, so it's not all eternal damnation... which is nice.
Saturday's Delivery...
Kid Koala - Some Of My Best Friends Are DJs
The best word I can come up with to describe this CD is charming. The fact that it comes with a comic (well, CD inlay with a comic strip, but it's the thought that counts) and a cut out and keep chess set adds to this, you don't get that with Kazaa! Musically we're in New Orleans but with a hint of Jazz and Ska, solo instruments are skillfully scratched via the kids turntables, never anything too fancy, always just enough to make you go 'eh? that's not right". And it's nice and short!
Jah Wobble & Deep Space - Five Beat
The artists name here is a damn filthy lie! It should be Jah Wobble and Philip Jeck, I bought it for the latter's involvement, I've mentioned him before (check the archive, the cd is called Stoke), basically he produces amazing minimalistic ambient music with a few old record players, a couple of guitar FX pedals and a bunch of obscure vinyl LPs with stickers on them to produce loops! I was a bit wary about how is gentle approach to music would work with Wobbles beat heavy dub workouts, but I need not have feared - it works very well. What you get here is 6 very long songs of ambient dub, it sounds like it's all been recorded live without any overdubs. Even with the fact that most of the songs pass the 10 minute mark using basically a single bass line it never gets boring.
Matmos - The Civil War
On one hand Matmos are a very left-field electronica group who have had a career producing CDs where they restrict themselves to a limited approach to sampling (there last one used samples produced from plastic surgery operations - squelchy!). On the other hand they are Bjorks live backing band, so they have the potential to break out into the wider electronica scene. I'm not sure they will with this CD which is a strange mix of Medieval folk music and electronica - it also has a song constructed entirely by sampling a rabbit's pelt. Just don't ask me how.
Kid Koala - Some Of My Best Friends Are DJs
The best word I can come up with to describe this CD is charming. The fact that it comes with a comic (well, CD inlay with a comic strip, but it's the thought that counts) and a cut out and keep chess set adds to this, you don't get that with Kazaa! Musically we're in New Orleans but with a hint of Jazz and Ska, solo instruments are skillfully scratched via the kids turntables, never anything too fancy, always just enough to make you go 'eh? that's not right". And it's nice and short!
Jah Wobble & Deep Space - Five Beat
The artists name here is a damn filthy lie! It should be Jah Wobble and Philip Jeck, I bought it for the latter's involvement, I've mentioned him before (check the archive, the cd is called Stoke), basically he produces amazing minimalistic ambient music with a few old record players, a couple of guitar FX pedals and a bunch of obscure vinyl LPs with stickers on them to produce loops! I was a bit wary about how is gentle approach to music would work with Wobbles beat heavy dub workouts, but I need not have feared - it works very well. What you get here is 6 very long songs of ambient dub, it sounds like it's all been recorded live without any overdubs. Even with the fact that most of the songs pass the 10 minute mark using basically a single bass line it never gets boring.
Matmos - The Civil War
On one hand Matmos are a very left-field electronica group who have had a career producing CDs where they restrict themselves to a limited approach to sampling (there last one used samples produced from plastic surgery operations - squelchy!). On the other hand they are Bjorks live backing band, so they have the potential to break out into the wider electronica scene. I'm not sure they will with this CD which is a strange mix of Medieval folk music and electronica - it also has a song constructed entirely by sampling a rabbit's pelt. Just don't ask me how.
Friday, October 3, 2003
The B3ta newsletter is a good one this week. My top choices: the bear on a trampoline, and a very clever version of Van Halen's Jump video using graphics from MAME. And this is really funny
I've updated various dull and boring lists, and got bored of trying to write CD reviews. That's the fun-filled rock'n'roll lifestyle I lead for you...
I'm toying with the idea of an alcohol free weekend, which just plain scares me, not only that - maybe even a proper full on redesign of "chez site de darth phil".
And, it may just be Knights Of The Old Republic (top, top game) on the XBox rekindling my interest in the force, but I'm seriously considering the purchase of one of these bad boyz.
Oh, and B3ta have finally got round to doing ninjas... about bleeding time!
I'm toying with the idea of an alcohol free weekend, which just plain scares me, not only that - maybe even a proper full on redesign of "chez site de darth phil".
And, it may just be Knights Of The Old Republic (top, top game) on the XBox rekindling my interest in the force, but I'm seriously considering the purchase of one of these bad boyz.
Oh, and B3ta have finally got round to doing ninjas... about bleeding time!
aargh... can't really be arsed!
U.N.K.L.E. - Never, Never, Land
Less patchy than the last proper album, which is kind of a shame - I always liked the whole eclectic nature of UNKLE. Still some good stuff though, Eye for and Eye and the sinister sounding Safe In Mind are paricularly good.
Kill Bill Vol.1
Soundtrack to the new Tarantino flick, some funk, some soul, some RZA and a bit of full on Kung Fu action film sountracking... As with his other soundtracks put together very well.
The Herbaliser - Solid Steel
Pretty much as expected: solid, cinematic hip hop - not as good as the DJ Food effort!
Desert Sessions 9 & 10
Josse Hommes (?) and Polly Harvey go to the desert, invite a bunch of mates and knock out a fair few mighty fine Rawk Toons! If you like Queens Of The Stone Age it will be physically impossible to dislike this CD.
Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner
Deserving winner of the Mercury Music Prize. It's not Garage, it's more hip-hop. His MC-ing can come across as a younger, cleaner Ol Dirty Bastard, but the beats are like nothing I've heard - pretty brutal! Which is good. I like it, it deserves a listen
Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
How the hell do I describe this? They are sort of an indie collective, Mogwai with more vocals and less gloom? But sometimes they remind me of Interpol, then they go off on a Dinosaur Jr trip, other times it all gets almost... well, I don't know. Damn fine album though
U.N.K.L.E. - Never, Never, Land
Less patchy than the last proper album, which is kind of a shame - I always liked the whole eclectic nature of UNKLE. Still some good stuff though, Eye for and Eye and the sinister sounding Safe In Mind are paricularly good.
Kill Bill Vol.1
Soundtrack to the new Tarantino flick, some funk, some soul, some RZA and a bit of full on Kung Fu action film sountracking... As with his other soundtracks put together very well.
The Herbaliser - Solid Steel
Pretty much as expected: solid, cinematic hip hop - not as good as the DJ Food effort!
Desert Sessions 9 & 10
Josse Hommes (?) and Polly Harvey go to the desert, invite a bunch of mates and knock out a fair few mighty fine Rawk Toons! If you like Queens Of The Stone Age it will be physically impossible to dislike this CD.
Dizzee Rascal - Boy In Da Corner
Deserving winner of the Mercury Music Prize. It's not Garage, it's more hip-hop. His MC-ing can come across as a younger, cleaner Ol Dirty Bastard, but the beats are like nothing I've heard - pretty brutal! Which is good. I like it, it deserves a listen
Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People
How the hell do I describe this? They are sort of an indie collective, Mogwai with more vocals and less gloom? But sometimes they remind me of Interpol, then they go off on a Dinosaur Jr trip, other times it all gets almost... well, I don't know. Damn fine album though
Wednesday, October 1, 2003
...still ill. And intending to milk it for the forseable future.
CD's seem to be arriving on a daily basis, and I'm struggling to come up with any meaningful comments about them, or to keep my schedule up to date.
I finally got round to buying the Dizzee Rascal CD, in case your memory is failing (my advice is lay off the Special Brew - ho ho) this won the Mercury Music Prize - 8 tracks in and I'm of the opinion of "Well done Dizzee, and well done Mercury Judgey People for being brave enough to vote for it". This isn't a pretty CD, it's dirty, gritty, full of serious baaaaaaaasSSSS! , like The Streets album it is in no way garage, but I have to say I'm very impressed with it. Proper opinions will follow once I've given it (and the other 5 new CD's in my possession) some more time.
CD's seem to be arriving on a daily basis, and I'm struggling to come up with any meaningful comments about them, or to keep my schedule up to date.
I finally got round to buying the Dizzee Rascal CD, in case your memory is failing (my advice is lay off the Special Brew - ho ho) this won the Mercury Music Prize - 8 tracks in and I'm of the opinion of "Well done Dizzee, and well done Mercury Judgey People for being brave enough to vote for it". This isn't a pretty CD, it's dirty, gritty, full of serious baaaaaaaasSSSS! , like The Streets album it is in no way garage, but I have to say I'm very impressed with it. Proper opinions will follow once I've given it (and the other 5 new CD's in my possession) some more time.
Monday, September 29, 2003
I'm ill - my throat hurts, my ears hurt, my kidney area feels odd and I haven't had more than an hours sleep since Saturday night. And yes, I'm going to moan about it - it's spoiling my enjoyment of Soul Caliber 2!
first season inspired one line reviews...
Bad Brains - Banned in DC: Bad Brain's Greatest Riffs
My slightly skewed introduction to the US hardcore scene: Rastafarian Punk Rock!
Branches & Routes
Kid606 does gentle and plently of interesting left-field groups to investigate.
Peaches - The Teaches of Peaches
Hirstute lady does electro filth.
A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step
Byronesque metal, and rather good at it too...
The Wire Tipper 10
Adventures in Modern Music, includes excellent collaboration between Dalek and Faust.
Thirsty Ear Presents: Blue Series Sampler
Includes taster from El-P's forthcoming jazz album.
Aesop Rock - Bazooka Tooth
Stunning new Def Jux release, El-P executive produces - not sure what that means.
Peaches - Fatherfucker
More filth!
Muse - Absolution
Apocalyptic Baroque Rock?
Bad Brains - Banned in DC: Bad Brain's Greatest Riffs
My slightly skewed introduction to the US hardcore scene: Rastafarian Punk Rock!
Branches & Routes
Kid606 does gentle and plently of interesting left-field groups to investigate.
Peaches - The Teaches of Peaches
Hirstute lady does electro filth.
A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step
Byronesque metal, and rather good at it too...
The Wire Tipper 10
Adventures in Modern Music, includes excellent collaboration between Dalek and Faust.
Thirsty Ear Presents: Blue Series Sampler
Includes taster from El-P's forthcoming jazz album.
Aesop Rock - Bazooka Tooth
Stunning new Def Jux release, El-P executive produces - not sure what that means.
Peaches - Fatherfucker
More filth!
Muse - Absolution
Apocalyptic Baroque Rock?
Saturday, September 27, 2003
Friday, September 26, 2003
In case anyone is wondering Darth Phil exists in the real world - not Hollyoaks... he does not cope very well with melodramatic crap from over emotional people (even if they are under the influence of alcohol). This is definitely something worth remembering if you feel the urge to start being abusive about anyone Darth Phil knows.
Wednesday, September 24, 2003
"And where the hell have you been! Your dinner's gone cold!"
Well, I've been in Coventry for pretty much the whole month - and oh how I have enjoyed that, it's been...a...blast...
So, anyway between fun filled trips up North I've been to my company's belated tenth anniversary get together (ate lot's, drank more, spoke to a few old chums, didn't take enough pictures), watched Glenn Hoddle's last game as manager of Spurs (after three everybody! We're the Park lane!... sorry, minor slip of the tongue there), and acquired plenty of CDs (and there are a hell of a lot more on the way!).
And that's about it I'm afraid, not much else to say really. Managed to finally watch the last episode of Buffy, which was frankly a bit shite. I mean, come on folks! Where exactly was the ending? OK, Sunnydale go boom, Xander goes a bit pirate, Angel pops up for about 30 seconds and a couple of half major characters kick the bucket - but in reality not that many loose endings were tied up were they? (...I just spoiled the ending there, didn't I? Oooh! little old evil me!).
And speaking of major events in motion picture history (yeah yeah, screw you I'll be as tenuous as I damn well like) can I just say a few words about Citizen Kane, which I finally got round to watching on DVD recently. Now I agree it's an important and influential film (although in a fairly dry technical sense), but can I be controversial here and say that it is by no way the best film ever. Casting aside the obvious Star Wars obsession in this neck of the wood I can think of plenty of films which are better: Laurence of Arabia, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Matrix, even the Muppet Christmas Carol! All those film critics who put Kane at the top of there lists are so wrong it hurts.
But getting back to the Star Wars obsession, the DVD has a documentary presented by, well I'll be blunt: That Twat Barry Norman who has the nerve to get all cynical about the original Star Wars trilogy. Now I'm only going to say it once: You do not diss the Holy Trinity! It is a sacred thing and as such beyond criticism... except maybe for the Ewoks, and the crappy bat things in Empire...
Ok that's enough I think, nothing else to do except welcome Phall Master to the fold. Nice comment, I liked it.
Well, I've been in Coventry for pretty much the whole month - and oh how I have enjoyed that, it's been...a...blast...
So, anyway between fun filled trips up North I've been to my company's belated tenth anniversary get together (ate lot's, drank more, spoke to a few old chums, didn't take enough pictures), watched Glenn Hoddle's last game as manager of Spurs (after three everybody! We're the Park lane!... sorry, minor slip of the tongue there), and acquired plenty of CDs (and there are a hell of a lot more on the way!).
And that's about it I'm afraid, not much else to say really. Managed to finally watch the last episode of Buffy, which was frankly a bit shite. I mean, come on folks! Where exactly was the ending? OK, Sunnydale go boom, Xander goes a bit pirate, Angel pops up for about 30 seconds and a couple of half major characters kick the bucket - but in reality not that many loose endings were tied up were they? (...I just spoiled the ending there, didn't I? Oooh! little old evil me!).
And speaking of major events in motion picture history (yeah yeah, screw you I'll be as tenuous as I damn well like) can I just say a few words about Citizen Kane, which I finally got round to watching on DVD recently. Now I agree it's an important and influential film (although in a fairly dry technical sense), but can I be controversial here and say that it is by no way the best film ever. Casting aside the obvious Star Wars obsession in this neck of the wood I can think of plenty of films which are better: Laurence of Arabia, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Matrix, even the Muppet Christmas Carol! All those film critics who put Kane at the top of there lists are so wrong it hurts.
But getting back to the Star Wars obsession, the DVD has a documentary presented by, well I'll be blunt: That Twat Barry Norman who has the nerve to get all cynical about the original Star Wars trilogy. Now I'm only going to say it once: You do not diss the Holy Trinity! It is a sacred thing and as such beyond criticism... except maybe for the Ewoks, and the crappy bat things in Empire...
Ok that's enough I think, nothing else to do except welcome Phall Master to the fold. Nice comment, I liked it.
Friday, September 19, 2003
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Monday, September 15, 2003
If you know me, and have been on holiday recently, where's my present!
And if you've been away and want to know what I've been up to, well I've been up to this.
And if you've been away and want to know what I've been up to, well I've been up to this.
Friday, September 12, 2003
...and here's another one: "Why can't you just masturbate like the rest of us?" (said by a girl! the sort of girl I want to marry!)
I swear this is the only way to watch Buffy properly, how people watch one episode and then patiently wait a whole week (or more!) for the next one is beyond me.
I swear this is the only way to watch Buffy properly, how people watch one episode and then patiently wait a whole week (or more!) for the next one is beyond me.
The Buffy binge continues, although I'm alternating with Angel... Another quote that deserves being immortalised on a web page: "Come on, Everybody loves foetal pigs!"
I'm just having a bit of a Buffy binge, and Spike has come up with a quote which I may adopt as my new personal mantra: "get up, get out, get drunk. Repeat as needed"
Back from Coventry with the distinct impression that this month is a bad one. Last Tuesday a car landed on it's roof about two metres away from mine, not a very pleasant experience. I'm stuck with having to work in Coventry, and this Sunday... which... sucks... ass... hard, and my sister's cat (Oh God no, I'm writing about cats on my website, sorry!) got ran over.
Still, maybe some sort of karma will kick in and the rest of the month will be more tolerable.
Still, maybe some sort of karma will kick in and the rest of the month will be more tolerable.
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Tuesday, September 9, 2003
A bit late, but finally here are some thoughts on the Prefuse 73, cLOUDDEAD, Cex and Why? CDs I got the other week.
bit late...
cLOUDDEAD
Someone has already described this album perfectly on the Amazon.com user reviews, I'll quote from that review now: This album has a blender solo. If that frightens you, avoid this at all costs. ...it bloody well does too! Probably one of the finest examples of kitchen equipment based solos I've ever heard. Seriously though, this is an astonishing CD from the Anticon crew, specifically Dose One, Why? (more of him later) and Odd Nosdam. It has tracks - but often these will contain several completely unrelated tunes; it has rhymes - but they are more like another layer of ambient texture, the lyrics appear as a stream of consiouness, often the vocals are reversed making the lyrics even more obscure; it has beats, but never too harsh to take away from the gorgeous ambient layers used elsewhere in the songs. Anyway great CD - if you need a quick dirty frame of reference, think Boards of Canada with vocals.
Why? - Oaklandazulasylum
Why? is one of the vocalists in cLOUDDEAD, in some respect this CD is even further away from hip-hop territory than the cLOUDDEAD one - it's more in the realm of the vaguely singer/songwriter world of Fog, maybe due to the use of instrumental samples it could be described as folktronica. Frankly, who cares how it's labelled? It's good, a proper album that needs to be appreciated in one go - and it has some great lyrics, my favourite has got to be "I just found out today, the girl I have a crush on is a lesbian"... Says it all really.
Cex - Being Ridden Instrumentals
This is more like it Rjyan! As much as I like Cex's vocal talents, they are far more suited for live freestyling and I think can detract from his instrumental work. There is some great stuff on this CD, most of the songs are lead by an acoustic guitar riff while various beats, clicks, whizzes and pops fill out the background - I get the impression most of the tracks have been composed on the guitar which gives the whole collection a much more melodic structure to many recent 'electronica' (for want of a better word) albums.
Prefuse 73 - Extinguished
The previous Prefuse 73 CDs I've owned are characterised by a very much cut and paste attitude to sampling, this CD answers the question of what happens when you take this methodolgy to the next level, basically this is the previous Prefuse 73 album and all of the out-takes cut up, re-arrranged. This CD contains 23 tracks spread over about 35 minutes, although essentially the number of tracks is irrelevant, this CD needs to be listened to in one go - I'd go as far as saying it's better than the album it's remixing.
cLOUDDEAD
Someone has already described this album perfectly on the Amazon.com user reviews, I'll quote from that review now: This album has a blender solo. If that frightens you, avoid this at all costs. ...it bloody well does too! Probably one of the finest examples of kitchen equipment based solos I've ever heard. Seriously though, this is an astonishing CD from the Anticon crew, specifically Dose One, Why? (more of him later) and Odd Nosdam. It has tracks - but often these will contain several completely unrelated tunes; it has rhymes - but they are more like another layer of ambient texture, the lyrics appear as a stream of consiouness, often the vocals are reversed making the lyrics even more obscure; it has beats, but never too harsh to take away from the gorgeous ambient layers used elsewhere in the songs. Anyway great CD - if you need a quick dirty frame of reference, think Boards of Canada with vocals.
Why? - Oaklandazulasylum
Why? is one of the vocalists in cLOUDDEAD, in some respect this CD is even further away from hip-hop territory than the cLOUDDEAD one - it's more in the realm of the vaguely singer/songwriter world of Fog, maybe due to the use of instrumental samples it could be described as folktronica. Frankly, who cares how it's labelled? It's good, a proper album that needs to be appreciated in one go - and it has some great lyrics, my favourite has got to be "I just found out today, the girl I have a crush on is a lesbian"... Says it all really.
Cex - Being Ridden Instrumentals
This is more like it Rjyan! As much as I like Cex's vocal talents, they are far more suited for live freestyling and I think can detract from his instrumental work. There is some great stuff on this CD, most of the songs are lead by an acoustic guitar riff while various beats, clicks, whizzes and pops fill out the background - I get the impression most of the tracks have been composed on the guitar which gives the whole collection a much more melodic structure to many recent 'electronica' (for want of a better word) albums.
Prefuse 73 - Extinguished
The previous Prefuse 73 CDs I've owned are characterised by a very much cut and paste attitude to sampling, this CD answers the question of what happens when you take this methodolgy to the next level, basically this is the previous Prefuse 73 album and all of the out-takes cut up, re-arrranged. This CD contains 23 tracks spread over about 35 minutes, although essentially the number of tracks is irrelevant, this CD needs to be listened to in one go - I'd go as far as saying it's better than the album it's remixing.
I swear they should put a limit on the number of times I'm allowed to visit play.com, or at least add some sort of time limit to how long I'm allowed to stay there for. I've just spent £137 £145 on Cds... However I've got a small degree of justification: first the releases of all the CD's I've ordered are spread over about two months, to put that into perspective I'm looking at an expenditure of about £17 a week - less than I spend on nicotine, and half as much as I'd spend on alcohol on a Friday night out.
Secondly all of the CDs are completely and utterly necessary, and I will obviously suffer psychological damage if I don't own them all... Sad isn't it? Anyway if you want to know what I've beenwasting spending all my hard earned wages on, the details are on the newly formatted future CD page.
Secondly all of the CDs are completely and utterly necessary, and I will obviously suffer psychological damage if I don't own them all... Sad isn't it? Anyway if you want to know what I've been
Sunday, September 7, 2003
Tuesday, September 2, 2003
Sunday, August 31, 2003
A few links to try to get my mind off the fact that the young upstart Padgett has gone and upstaged me with the photos on website front - I give you Mr Michael Madsen.
First up here's a new activity for the friday night binge drinking session: hipster bingo!. However this may need updating for Woking... Pikey Bingo anyone?
Then there is this site. I particularly like the animals on drugs and Jesus being a git.
And for anyone with an XBox (well, those who are familiar with Halo - which basically means every XBox owner in the world), can I recommend downloading the videos from RedVsBlue.com.
First up here's a new activity for the friday night binge drinking session: hipster bingo!. However this may need updating for Woking... Pikey Bingo anyone?
Then there is this site. I particularly like the animals on drugs and Jesus being a git.
And for anyone with an XBox (well, those who are familiar with Halo - which basically means every XBox owner in the world), can I recommend downloading the videos from RedVsBlue.com.
Saturday, August 30, 2003
First it's New York, then London... and now Woking is hit by a power cut. It's a sign, the end of civilisation is obviously on it's way - well maybe that's being a tad over-dramatic, but it did manage to knacker my Freeview box (I've got a new one now, the Panasonic TU-CT20, it's much better than my old one).
This meant that the early part of the evening's socialising was done in the dark, without crappy pub music, and at £8 for a round of three warm bottles of Stella. For the rest of the evening it was business as usual, I'm pretty sure I didn't piss off too many people this week, except maybe for those people in Virginia who learned a few new Anglo-Saxon swear words over XBox Live.
This meant that the early part of the evening's socialising was done in the dark, without crappy pub music, and at £8 for a round of three warm bottles of Stella. For the rest of the evening it was business as usual, I'm pretty sure I didn't piss off too many people this week, except maybe for those people in Virginia who learned a few new Anglo-Saxon swear words over XBox Live.
Thursday, August 28, 2003
Four (count 'em homeboyz!) new CDs turned up in the post today, I'm going to take my time with the 'reviews' for these since they are all so good! Yes, I know that I tend to go on about all the CDs I get with nothing but praise, but you probably get the impression that some of my purchase I could probably live without... a very small minority, but never the less it's there.
So first up is Cex with Being Ridden Instrumentals, short sharp acoustic driven tunes well up to the standard of his excellent Oops! I did it again album. Then Prefuse 73 with Extinguished, this is described as outtakes from his recent One Word Extinguisher album but I think of it as more of a companion piece - as a listening experience I'd say it's better. Finally two Anticon based CDs, from Why? we have Oaklandazulasylum - very good, but even better is the cLOUDDEAD CD. Damn this is good, I was expecting a hip hop album, but this is closer to what the Boards of Canada do. Damn it's good!
I also recieved a new comic book called Y the last man, it's based on the idea that all the males in the world have died from a sudden plague except for Yoric, an escapologist and Ampersand his pet monkey. The characters aren't as interesting as what I'm used to reading, but the story is fascinating and I'm looking forward to the next issue.
Other news, has anyone seen what's going on over at Johnboy's corner of the internet? I'm quite proud of this ;-)
So first up is Cex with Being Ridden Instrumentals, short sharp acoustic driven tunes well up to the standard of his excellent Oops! I did it again album. Then Prefuse 73 with Extinguished, this is described as outtakes from his recent One Word Extinguisher album but I think of it as more of a companion piece - as a listening experience I'd say it's better. Finally two Anticon based CDs, from Why? we have Oaklandazulasylum - very good, but even better is the cLOUDDEAD CD. Damn this is good, I was expecting a hip hop album, but this is closer to what the Boards of Canada do. Damn it's good!
I also recieved a new comic book called Y the last man, it's based on the idea that all the males in the world have died from a sudden plague except for Yoric, an escapologist and Ampersand his pet monkey. The characters aren't as interesting as what I'm used to reading, but the story is fascinating and I'm looking forward to the next issue.
Other news, has anyone seen what's going on over at Johnboy's corner of the internet? I'm quite proud of this ;-)
The original Police Academy is one of the finest examples of comedy committed to celluloid. Discuss.
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Some of the regular visitors to this site may have notice I'm a bit of a fan of the pop music mash-up/glitch-up/bootleg - they fulfil my need to listen to the more leftfield of the music industry and my dirty sordid love of pop music. I've already pointed you in the direction of dsico that no-talent hack, but here's another one (recommended by non-other than Strictly Kev of DJ Food fame!). People I give you Poj Masta, go and download his stuff, it's good!
The annoying thing is the little sod is only 16 years old! I'm a bit embarressed, I'm about to be 30, have a full version of Cool Edit 2000 (although it seems I need an upgrade now), and helpful instructions from Dsico's site... why haven't I had a go? Hmm, what's that sound? The comic book 'ting' of a light bulb appearing above my head?
The annoying thing is the little sod is only 16 years old! I'm a bit embarressed, I'm about to be 30, have a full version of Cool Edit 2000 (although it seems I need an upgrade now), and helpful instructions from Dsico's site... why haven't I had a go? Hmm, what's that sound? The comic book 'ting' of a light bulb appearing above my head?
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
After Leicester's poor result tonight Darth Phil needs cheering up, and what could be better than a bit of Jackass. Yes I know it's puerile and immature, but hey, it's funny and in this day and age when world events are getting far too serious these fine upstanding Americans should be cherished!
I'm really busy at work today - honest!
But I've some how found time to note down my thoughts on this lunch time's CD shopping. Found a good photography site called jenyk.com while I was looking for pictures of Sharin Foo to go with the review of The Ravonettes CD. Jenyk.com seems like the sort of site that may inspire you to go off and explore some new music, which is thoroughly approved of round these parts.
But I've some how found time to note down my thoughts on this lunch time's CD shopping. Found a good photography site called jenyk.com while I was looking for pictures of Sharin Foo to go with the review of The Ravonettes CD. Jenyk.com seems like the sort of site that may inspire you to go off and explore some new music, which is thoroughly approved of round these parts.
Smells like Monday to me...
The Ravonettes - Chain Gang of Love
The Ravenettes original mini album, Whip It On, was a classic rock'n'roll album - short, sweet and clearly in league with the Devil. On this album, not much has changed, Sharin Foo (phwoar!) and Sune Rose Wagner are still firmly stuck in a 1950's teen rebel film, still recording in glorious B flat Major and there music so needs to be in a Tarantino directed torture scene - but... they've cheered up a bit, which is kind of a shame. Still, this is a damn fine Rock'n'Roll album...
Kid Koala - Basin Street Blues
A little taster of his upcoming album 'Some of my best friends are DJs'. Basically two tracks, the first one being a New Orleans style funeral march with the turntable taking the lead, the second track leads on from the music he did for his book 'nufonia must fall' with a little tune about Vacation Island (that won't make a blind bit of sense if you haven't read the book). It's nice, I look forward to the album.
LFO - Freak
Anyone else remember LFO? Or am I the only one around here who does? OK, back to the old skool - techno beats, evil speak'n'spell vocal samples...nice! And the last tune on this three track single is brutal.
The Ravonettes - Chain Gang of Love
The Ravenettes original mini album, Whip It On, was a classic rock'n'roll album - short, sweet and clearly in league with the Devil. On this album, not much has changed, Sharin Foo (phwoar!) and Sune Rose Wagner are still firmly stuck in a 1950's teen rebel film, still recording in glorious B flat Major and there music so needs to be in a Tarantino directed torture scene - but... they've cheered up a bit, which is kind of a shame. Still, this is a damn fine Rock'n'Roll album...
Kid Koala - Basin Street Blues
A little taster of his upcoming album 'Some of my best friends are DJs'. Basically two tracks, the first one being a New Orleans style funeral march with the turntable taking the lead, the second track leads on from the music he did for his book 'nufonia must fall' with a little tune about Vacation Island (that won't make a blind bit of sense if you haven't read the book). It's nice, I look forward to the album.
LFO - Freak
Anyone else remember LFO? Or am I the only one around here who does? OK, back to the old skool - techno beats, evil speak'n'spell vocal samples...nice! And the last tune on this three track single is brutal.
The effects of this weekend's excessive boozing seem to have almost worn off - all I'm left with now is a screwed up sleeping pattern (well, a bit more screwed up than usual), and the fading memory of a dream from last night which:
"Involved Willow from buffy the vampire slayer dressed in a star trek uniform, and something about a man who could not exist in the present - only the past and the future"
Let's see what this internet doo-hicky has to say about that...
Well, dreamstop.com had these comments:
We're working on a definition for vampires... it's pretty complicated, so check back later.
Now, first up: the vampire thing is not complicated - vampires = shagging, simple as that. Sigmund Freud probably had a field day on the subject, but knowing him he'd want your Mother in on the acr. It's the Star Trek uniform I'm curious about:
When you see a uniformed person in your dream, it denotes that a wealthy friend may help you out. If you are wearing the uniform, it may indicate that your country is on the brink of war-- but more likely, you are warring with yourself about a matter you do not want to face.
...well as far as analyzing my deep dark secrets that pretty useless.
Next up freakydreams.com, they fair a little better, but not much:
You fear your own feelings
...stating the obvious there I'm afraid.
Spiritual awakening
...well, I can take the Invisibles far too seriously
Need to identify yourself with others or to break free of rules..
...erm, does that sentence mean absolutely nothing or is it me?
You are curious about something going on around you.
...hmm
Finally it's hugemagazine.com and there Dream Analyzer V1.0:
"You must have had some really spicy food last night!"
Aha! That's where your wrong, I had pasta! Still I think I prefer that explanation the best.
"Involved Willow from buffy the vampire slayer dressed in a star trek uniform, and something about a man who could not exist in the present - only the past and the future"
Let's see what this internet doo-hicky has to say about that...
Well, dreamstop.com had these comments:
We're working on a definition for vampires... it's pretty complicated, so check back later.
Now, first up: the vampire thing is not complicated - vampires = shagging, simple as that. Sigmund Freud probably had a field day on the subject, but knowing him he'd want your Mother in on the acr. It's the Star Trek uniform I'm curious about:
When you see a uniformed person in your dream, it denotes that a wealthy friend may help you out. If you are wearing the uniform, it may indicate that your country is on the brink of war-- but more likely, you are warring with yourself about a matter you do not want to face.
...well as far as analyzing my deep dark secrets that pretty useless.
Next up freakydreams.com, they fair a little better, but not much:
You fear your own feelings
...stating the obvious there I'm afraid.
Spiritual awakening
...well, I can take the Invisibles far too seriously
Need to identify yourself with others or to break free of rules..
...erm, does that sentence mean absolutely nothing or is it me?
You are curious about something going on around you.
...hmm
Finally it's hugemagazine.com and there Dream Analyzer V1.0:
"You must have had some really spicy food last night!"
Aha! That's where your wrong, I had pasta! Still I think I prefer that explanation the best.
Monday, August 25, 2003
...and now I'm finally sober! yay!!
Today's sobering up exercise involved watching the majority of my new Will and Grace DVD boxset. For some strange reason I have an urge to change the colour scheme of this site to something pink and fluffy.
Today's sobering up exercise involved watching the majority of my new Will and Grace DVD boxset. For some strange reason I have an urge to change the colour scheme of this site to something pink and fluffy.
Sunday, August 24, 2003
PS I'm drunk...
Note to self: the word 'yes' is one of the most powerful words in the English language. It should be used carefully... especially by people who may be under the influence of people who may be under the influence of what could be descibed as too much alcohol...
Equally people should not bare there deepest darkest secrets to mother fuckers who may have been exposed to too much alcohol... Such deep dark secrets will invariably be leaked to people who are not meant to know about them... Although maybe that is the plan?
Note to self: the word 'yes' is one of the most powerful words in the English language. It should be used carefully... especially by people who may be under the influence of people who may be under the influence of what could be descibed as too much alcohol...
Equally people should not bare there deepest darkest secrets to mother fuckers who may have been exposed to too much alcohol... Such deep dark secrets will invariably be leaked to people who are not meant to know about them... Although maybe that is the plan?
Friday, August 22, 2003
And you can tell that maybe time is out of joy my love
So this is maybe just a SOS shrapnel, an echo of dead sentiment
Measurement across the nothing for no one awaits that effort to shrug
Or maybe resident incurable romantic defunct in the face of fact
Blackboard formula waits by the next class
with the outlines still intact, and I see it
And I'm still not sure of the meaning
But I'll say it, write it down, and read it for you...
Sorry, I've just been watching the new Def Jux DVD and felt the urge to quote, it's very good...
By the way the pictures are here
So this is maybe just a SOS shrapnel, an echo of dead sentiment
Measurement across the nothing for no one awaits that effort to shrug
Or maybe resident incurable romantic defunct in the face of fact
Blackboard formula waits by the next class
with the outlines still intact, and I see it
And I'm still not sure of the meaning
But I'll say it, write it down, and read it for you...
Sorry, I've just been watching the new Def Jux DVD and felt the urge to quote, it's very good...
By the way the pictures are here
This is the sort of sick twisted amoral nonsence that makes me proud to be a member of the human race...
Woo to the mutha funkin Hoo! My new Definitive Jux DVD has arrived, and it comes with a free CD! I've had a quick listen to it and posted some thoughts in the usual place, along with opinions on the Warpmart compilations and Henri Pousseur CD's I was listening too a few days ago
bonus CD
Various - The Revenge Of The Robots
This is a bonus CD which comes with the new Definitive Jux DVD. Four tracks, first up RJD2 takes us on a 15 minutes trip through the definitive jux discography with his megamix. The next three tracks are live ones, El-P does Stepfather factory, RJD2 does a live version of The Horror and Mr Lif does front on this. The first two I've already seen as video clips on The Horror EP, and to be honest without the visuals they fall a bit flat as does the Mr Lif tune. Still, this CD is a freebie that comes with the DVD, that has over 3 hours of Def Jux goodness! I haven't seen it yet (it only turned up today), but I'm looking forward to it.
Various - The Revenge Of The Robots
This is a bonus CD which comes with the new Definitive Jux DVD. Four tracks, first up RJD2 takes us on a 15 minutes trip through the definitive jux discography with his megamix. The next three tracks are live ones, El-P does Stepfather factory, RJD2 does a live version of The Horror and Mr Lif does front on this. The first two I've already seen as video clips on The Horror EP, and to be honest without the visuals they fall a bit flat as does the Mr Lif tune. Still, this CD is a freebie that comes with the DVD, that has over 3 hours of Def Jux goodness! I haven't seen it yet (it only turned up today), but I'm looking forward to it.
arty crap
Henri Pousseur - 4 parabolic mixes
Henri Pousseur is a Belgian avant-garde composer, this CD is a live recording where 4 artists, Robert Hampson, Philip Jeck, Markus Popp and the composer himself attempt to create a parabolic mix based on Pousseur's 8 ètudes paraboliques. So as you can guess we're up against some seriously pretentious nonsense, chances of finding a tune or a rhythm are going to be slim, an I'm sorry I've no idea who Henri Pousseur is, and I'm damned if I can work out what a parabolic mix is, does the tempo or structure follow some a basic parabolic curve? I'm not sure they do here, anyway I'm not any sort of mathematician or wire journalist so I'm not going to go into details. All I'm here to do is describe what they sound like and if I like them. Well Henri Pousseur version is the least interesting in my opinion, too chaotic - basically he mixes effects with a couple of sound sources playing randomly generated mono-synth samples. Hampson's is much better, more ambient but with teeth and he's not afraid to mix in a few extra sound sources such as towards the end when a brass instrument is heard in the background along with general crowd samples. Jeck's is my favourite, normally he uses old battered record players and vinyl - I'm assuming he's doing the same here - ambient music at it's most sinister. Last mix is from Markus Popp of Oval, my only exposure to Oval is from playing Rez on the PS2, I can hear the connection here - Popp mix basically transforms the original into his own. So, my opinion on this CD? Well, it's hard for me to recommend since I find it quite hard work to listen to so I know other's will have more trouble with it. It's interesting... and good to listen to semiconcious...
Various - Warpmart1
This is a sampler from Warp Records online shop, I recommend a look at it since they stock plenty of other CDs from obscure record labels (the Pousseur CD is a case in point). Anyway on to this compilation, well it's difficult to review for one major reason: track 14 - Closed Shoulders (cLOUDDEAD Remix) by Boom Bip. It is so fucking good! The sort of song the Boards of Canada would kill for! I haven't really listened to the other tracks as much, not that they are bad: tracks by Ardisson, The Gasman, and Intricate are all very good... just not as good as that damn cLOUDDEAD mix!
Henri Pousseur - 4 parabolic mixes
Henri Pousseur is a Belgian avant-garde composer, this CD is a live recording where 4 artists, Robert Hampson, Philip Jeck, Markus Popp and the composer himself attempt to create a parabolic mix based on Pousseur's 8 ètudes paraboliques. So as you can guess we're up against some seriously pretentious nonsense, chances of finding a tune or a rhythm are going to be slim, an I'm sorry I've no idea who Henri Pousseur is, and I'm damned if I can work out what a parabolic mix is, does the tempo or structure follow some a basic parabolic curve? I'm not sure they do here, anyway I'm not any sort of mathematician or wire journalist so I'm not going to go into details. All I'm here to do is describe what they sound like and if I like them. Well Henri Pousseur version is the least interesting in my opinion, too chaotic - basically he mixes effects with a couple of sound sources playing randomly generated mono-synth samples. Hampson's is much better, more ambient but with teeth and he's not afraid to mix in a few extra sound sources such as towards the end when a brass instrument is heard in the background along with general crowd samples. Jeck's is my favourite, normally he uses old battered record players and vinyl - I'm assuming he's doing the same here - ambient music at it's most sinister. Last mix is from Markus Popp of Oval, my only exposure to Oval is from playing Rez on the PS2, I can hear the connection here - Popp mix basically transforms the original into his own. So, my opinion on this CD? Well, it's hard for me to recommend since I find it quite hard work to listen to so I know other's will have more trouble with it. It's interesting... and good to listen to semiconcious...
Various - Warpmart1
This is a sampler from Warp Records online shop, I recommend a look at it since they stock plenty of other CDs from obscure record labels (the Pousseur CD is a case in point). Anyway on to this compilation, well it's difficult to review for one major reason: track 14 - Closed Shoulders (cLOUDDEAD Remix) by Boom Bip. It is so fucking good! The sort of song the Boards of Canada would kill for! I haven't really listened to the other tracks as much, not that they are bad: tracks by Ardisson, The Gasman, and Intricate are all very good... just not as good as that damn cLOUDDEAD mix!
Thursday, August 21, 2003
My respect for Keanu Reeves has just plummeted after reading this quote about the upcoming Hellblazer movie:
"[It's] his anger. He's angry, but he's got a good heart,"
No! John Constantine is a complete and utter bastard! He might feel guilty afterwards, but he will fuck you over given the opportunity. I smell another ruined comic book film...
"[It's] his anger. He's angry, but he's got a good heart,"
No! John Constantine is a complete and utter bastard! He might feel guilty afterwards, but he will fuck you over given the opportunity. I smell another ruined comic book film...
Those of a nervous disposition may wish to turn away now.
...
I've been in two minds about this post all week, but I think it's important.
I have a personal website, if you read it you'll get to know I'm a big music fan who likes the more difficult end of the music spectrum, I play a lot of videogames which I take far too seriously, I like my comic books with deeply troubled heroes, I'm not that inspired by my job, and without fail I'll be drunk on a Friday night. But the other stuff, my more personal thoughts don't get documented - which is a shame, if this website is going to do the job it's meant to do, certain things need to be mentioned, no matter how uncomfortable.
Let's get back on track: 19th August 2000 was a big day in my life. It was the day my Dad died, it should go without saying that I miss him terribly and that he was a big influence on me. His love of cheesy 1950's Science Fiction films is probably responsible for my Star Wars obsession, my music tastes developed by being brought up listening to everything from Roy Orbison to some early New Order, with a bit of Led Zepplin and Blondie mixed in - and the Leicester thing is his fault.
He was diagnosed six months before he died with a form of cancer called Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, it's like Leukemia but it effects the lymphatic system, it's what Joey Ramone suffered from. If your feeling generous I remember cancerbacup being pretty helpful and the Lymphoma Association have a new website called LifeSite , which seems a worthy cause to support.
OK there you go, sorry if that was a bit too much, normal service will be resumed shortly...
...
I've been in two minds about this post all week, but I think it's important.
I have a personal website, if you read it you'll get to know I'm a big music fan who likes the more difficult end of the music spectrum, I play a lot of videogames which I take far too seriously, I like my comic books with deeply troubled heroes, I'm not that inspired by my job, and without fail I'll be drunk on a Friday night. But the other stuff, my more personal thoughts don't get documented - which is a shame, if this website is going to do the job it's meant to do, certain things need to be mentioned, no matter how uncomfortable.
Let's get back on track: 19th August 2000 was a big day in my life. It was the day my Dad died, it should go without saying that I miss him terribly and that he was a big influence on me. His love of cheesy 1950's Science Fiction films is probably responsible for my Star Wars obsession, my music tastes developed by being brought up listening to everything from Roy Orbison to some early New Order, with a bit of Led Zepplin and Blondie mixed in - and the Leicester thing is his fault.
He was diagnosed six months before he died with a form of cancer called Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, it's like Leukemia but it effects the lymphatic system, it's what Joey Ramone suffered from. If your feeling generous I remember cancerbacup being pretty helpful and the Lymphoma Association have a new website called LifeSite , which seems a worthy cause to support.
OK there you go, sorry if that was a bit too much, normal service will be resumed shortly...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)