It snowed the a couple of days ago, woo....



Since I lack the imagination to write anything particularly creative at the moment (or ever if I'm being honest) here's a quick update on the New Years Resolutions:



1.Give up smoking before I'm 30

Well, let's be honest: I'll never be a non-smoker, I'll only ever be an ex-smoker (there is a subtle but important difference which will only be understood by people who have regularly smoked), but it's been almost three weeks now since my last ciggy and all seems well. The physical withdrawal symtons have been OK and the moodiness has almost gone. I had to go to into London yesterday which involved train journeys... and sitting in the smoking carriage - I'm happy to say I felt suitably uncomfortable.



2.Sort my credit card out

I'm kind of sticking to the reducing CD/DVD/Videogame schedule, although have I had a minor binge yesterday on new CDs. Although having said that I only ended up with three, I did have about seven in my hands at one point.



3.Read some proper books

Getting there, although I've only managed to read children's books from the library (Alice in Wonderland and Alice through the Looking Glass - which is seriously fucked up, not sure if it should be read by children). But I've finally finished Hunter S Thompson's Kingdom of Fear (which I may have mentioned before), not a bad book when he sticks to the subject, but has a tendency to go off on one and occasionally get lazy by just posting some of his old letter's. I'm currently reading the fantastically named "The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse" by Robert Rankin, very funny "fairytale-noir" story. After that I've got a couple of biographies: one by the mightly Bruce Campbell, the other a biography of Richard Feynman. I've got a book about String Theory to read after that which could be a bit serious - I've got a basic understanding of most areas of physics and maths that I'm interested in (ie quantum physics, chaos theory, fluid dynamics...), but string theory is something I've never quite got.



4.Get fit

The current excuse as to why this isn't happening is: I've fucked my knee up.

New Years Resolution Breaking...



Manhunt Remixes

Some Videogame music here, this CD contains the main theme music to Rockstars oh so controversial Playstation 2 Manhunt game (I'm reserving my judgement until the XBox version) - which reminds me no end of John Carpenter's early film scores. Then someone has had the bright idea to get in touch with the Aphex Twin's Rephlex label and get various artists from that to do remixes. 17 in total!! All using the same one minute long score as a base. It should be dull, and to be honest it could do with some trimming - but when listened to in small chunks it's pretty good - the Soundmurderer (I love that name!!) and Bug remixes are particularly evil and there are a couple by someone called EDMX which are very good.



Why?/Odd Nosdam - The Split EP

On the slim chance that someone from Anticon reads this can I just make a small request: Tracklistings, please! It makes it very difficult to ramble on about albums when you have to refer to songs as track number x, or that one that goes wibble a bit... Anyway, I digress - the Why? side is pretty god damn awesome as usual, the Odd Nosdam tracks are OK - to be honest I've always found his solo stuff a bit underwealming, and the theme continues here.



Fennesz - Live in Japan

There was a review on brainwashed.com (which really should be one of your weekly website visits) where the review neatly divided the world's population into three groups: the huddled masses who hadn't heard of Christian Fennesz, the enlightened few who had, and the scum who'd prefer to listen to something a bit more boring and dull. A bit harsh, I love his stuff, but along with the likes of Autechre and Philip Jeck I can understand how people could be put off by him since he doesn't exactly do conventional music. Still, it's worth trying out - and the Red Hot Chilli Pepper's guitarist John Fusciante is a fan apparently...

God help me, I've just put my DVD collection into alphabetical order - is this what non-smokers do when they are bored?

OK, I got a new Ninjatune sampler today, I've also got the new Squarepusher single off bleep.com. The thing is, do I break one of my dumb little rules and start putting downloaded releases into the mildly obsessive cd collecting section? I've decided not to: as someone with mild obsessive compulsive disorder I've got to leave that section dedicated to CDs. I'm still not completely comfortable with digital music, even though its by far the most popular format I listen to, and just can't quite lump them in with my CDs. Stupid really...



Speaking of digital music I've been downloading a fair bit recently. The last lot was from a visit to the official Cranes site on Mr Warren Ellis' tip. Now, The Cranes are a band I wanted to listen to when I was a young whipper snapper (I saw them once on some yoof program, possibly snub TV)- the thing is it was when I was a pubescent Heavy Metal fan, and admitting to liking such bands was not the done thing. The Nine Inch Nails admission did not go down well at the time, if I confessed to liking ethereal indie music I would have been the laughing stock of year 10! Anyway, check the site out, and listen to some good music.

Ninjatune 2004...



Zentertainment 2004

Nice little low price sampler from Ninjatune, instead of concentrating on there big names this showcases some of the slightly less know ninja's. It's got a new track from cLOUDDEAD who I may mentioned once or twice here (/begin subliminal message:buy everything related to cLOUDDEAD you can possibly find!), some great stuff by Diplo, Blockhead and Sixtoo who I'm not familiar with. The other tracks display the usual Ninja quality but don't quite match up, still for £2.99 you can't complain.

Recently, I've found myself questioning the worthiness of my weird vegetarian diet - then I heard about this new film called Super Size Me, it's about some chap trying to live off McDonalds for a month. Apparently vomiting out of car windows is involved.

Went to see a panto last night, Peter Pan at the Woking New Victoria Theatre, jolly good fun it was to. I'd 'review' it but I can't arsed, and I'd probably just dwell on the performances of Tinkerbell and Tiger Lily - who were responsible for a couple of rude thoughts ;-)



Anyway, I'm not a theatre critic - however I've found some people who are: here, here and here, although that last one is written by someone I'd technically describe as a 'miserable fucker'.



By the way, please try out the Peter Pan link... it is beyond belief!

I have a slight feeling that someone is taking the piss today...



Exhibit A: The BBC's experimental music guide has a 30 second clip from 4'33" by John Cage. Just dwell on that one for a moment - a 30 second clip from a composition that is 4 minutes 33 seconds of silence.



Exhibit B: Nintendo's hush-hush top-secret game-thingie that is going to be a dual screen gameboy. Apparently this is going to revolutionise the game industry. Hmm...

Still not smoking...



Still not enjoying giving up...



Anyway, I know I'm risking starting to sound like Warp's marketing department but I'd like to recommend WarpMart - they put some groovy Luke Vibert glow in the dark stickers in with my order of Andrew Broder EPs and I didn't even ask for them.



Isn't that nice?

Proper Hip-Hop vs Lo-Fi Hip-Hop...



Andrew Broder - Modern Hits EP

Interesting one here, Mr Andrew Broder aka Fog - friend, or quite possibly member, of the Anticon crew has taken various acapella versions of big name (well, Outkast and Jay-Z are there, I didn't recognise the others) commercial hip hop and added his own very lo-fi beats as the backing track. Not an entirely original idea, but it does add something nice and organic to the usual mash-up creations out there. Recommended



Andrew Broder - More Modern Hits

Ditto, but with added Missy Elliot

I'm not sure if anyone takes any notice of the list on the right hand side, if you do you may have noticed that the Mr Scruff's Solid Steel CD has disappeared - I noticed it disappeared from Ninjatunes website and come release date the status on play.com changed to waiting for stock. Did a bit of investigating, and it turns out it's been delayed due to licensing problems - which is a shame... In my current bitter, tense, non-smoking mood I could do with some nice cheerful music to listen to.

Well, I made it through a night out without smoking so I must be doing something right. I have to admit that the physical withdrawal sysmptons aren't as bad as the last time I tried quitting - it's the more mental problems that are getting to me. I seem to constantly have a feeling of, well, complete and utter contempt for the rest of the world.



Good job I'm not some sort of all powerful Super Villain or there would be a few countries that would be completely fucked round about now.



Anyway, so far so good - as for the other resolutions: well, I gave up on the Marquis De Sade, I'm already reading a collection of letters by Hunter S Thompson and didn't fancy starting another. I've changed to a slightly easier entry on Grant Morrison's reading list: Alice In Wonderland.



As for the other two resolutions (getting fit and sorting the credit card balance out in case you've forgotten): well I've got an exercise bike and I'm kind of buying less CDs...

Game Music...



New Japan Philharmonic - Smashing... live!

Computer game music is getting more and more sophisticated as game consoles get more powerful, but in the West the music has still not reached the same status that is given to Film soundstracks. However in Japan videogames are treated with a lot more respect, as evidenced by this CD. It's a recording of a live concert by the New Japan Philharmonic orchestra, who may be more used to Schostakovich and Mozart, tackling the soundtrack of Super Smash Brothers Melee. This is a very silly beat-em up game, with character's straight out of Nintendo's most famous franchises: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Donkey Kong, Link, Princess Zelda... they are in it, and they all have there own distinctive signature tunes. Back to the CD - it's pretty good: the theme to the Zelda games is just made for a full on orchestra, but it's quite suprising how well the various versions of the Super Mario theme. Anyway, if you're interested its currently being given away with this month's edition of the official Nintendo magazine.

Here's an idea: How about paying for MP3s? Well, if the idea doesn't worry you too much may I suggest a trip to Bleep.com - basically the nice people at Warp have put there entire catalgue online. Prices are resonable-ish (£1 a track, £7 an album), it's a bit slow at the moment but I've managed to buy a few vinyl only Boom Bip tracks without too much hassle.

Apparently I no longer have any nicotine in my body, Whoopee Fucking Doo...

I'm a bit nervous about posting this since I'm bound to fuck up: I appear to be giving up smoking... gosh it's fun.



I found this chart on the ASH website:

Time since quitting	Beneficial health changes that take place
20 minutes	Blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal.
8 hours	Nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in blood reduce by half, oxygen levels return to normal.
24 hours	Carbon monoxide will be eliminated from the body. Lungs start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris.
48 hours	There is no nicotine left in the body. Ability to taste and smell is greatly improved.
72 hours	Breathing becomes easier. Bronchial tubes begin to relax and energy levels increase.
2 - 12 weeks	Circulation improves.
3 - 9 months	Coughs, wheezing and breathing problems improve as lung function is increased by up to 10%.
1 year	Risk of a heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker.
10 years	Risk of lung cancer falls to half that of a smoker.
15 years	Risk of heart attack falls to the same as someone who has never smoked.

My last ciggy was Monday night, so I should be coming up to the being able to taste and smell stage - not entirely sure I'm looking forward to that, I'm sure there will be some uncomfortable questions about the cleanliness of my flat that will need to be answered.



I currently feel like shite, can't concentrate on a damn thing and my appetite has returned with a vengence - so the big question is: why am I giving up?



Good question, there are the obvious health and financial reasons - OK a bit of extra cash and less mucus in my life would be nice, but there not the overall motivating factors.



I think the main reason is this: Smoking is big, hard and very clever - but only in the context of being on stage in front of thousands of cheering fans and holding a guitar. I've finally got to admit that it is unlikely I'll ever be an international rock god...

New Year's resolutions update:



Well, the reading thing isn't going completely to plan, I've joined the library, but I've discovered Woking library has a really good comic book section! Although I did manage to get one proper book: a collection of letter's written by the Marquis de Sade whilst he was in prison - slightly controversial choice, but I've been interested in him since he's one of the main character's in The Invisibles. I suspect that most of my initial book choices will be inspired by some of the comic books I've read, I'm intending to check out a few of the books based on character's who appear in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen after I've finished with De Sade, but if anyone has any other reading recommendations they'd be welcome.



As for the other resolutions, well a sizeable part of the credit card bill has been paid, but that's about all - an anti-smoking/get fit plan has yet to be formulated.

Dub and Scratches...



Philip Jeck - Surf

This is a re-release of an early Philip Jeck CD, once again showcasing his unique turntable skills. If you're feeling curious about his music I'd recommend starting with Stoke or 7, this CD is a little more difficult than those.



Rhythm & Sound with The Artists

I've got a fair amount of dub albums which gernerally fall into one of two camps; either the lates 60's to early 70's likes of King Tubby, Horace Andy or the more modern instrumental stuff by Bill Laswell. This CD sort of combines the two, a modern production team with legendary (apparently... I'm afraid I'm pretty ignorant at times) vocalists - damn fine stuff. The first two tracks, King In My Empire and Queen In My Empire are especially interesting. Essentially they are the same song, but the first time with vocals from a male perspective followed by the female perspective.

Well I've finally seen the last The Lord of The Rings film - now, I know some purists may balk at the loss of the Scouring of the Shire from the film and Sam & Frodo's slightly whirlwind tour of Mordor, but I'd like someone to explain to me how anyone could do any better. And those battle scenes... fuck me! I metaphorically doff my cap to Peter Jackson. That is how you do a trilogy, I just hope certain other director's have been paying attention *cough* Lucas *cough*.



Back to reality, although there may be a bit of fiction here. I give you my New Year's Resolutions:



1.Give up smoking before I'm 30

That gives me 2 months, I'm down to single figures per day - maybe there is hope?



2.Sort my credit card out

It's getting a bit out of control, I think the reasons are obvious. So, I'm going to try to stick to one CD, one game and one DVD per week; raid my meagre savings - Hopefully it will be back under control in a few months... unless the P900 temptation gets too strong. Maybe some of the pr0n subscriptions should go too? Hmm.



3.Read some proper books

I'll defend comic books to the death, but let's face facts - they are not quite literature. They are basically very well written and very nicely illustrated storyboards for films that haven't been made. I need to read some proper books, first step: join the library...



4.Get fit

I'm sure it's possible, with a few energetic sessions on dancing stage megamix.



...anyway, there you are. Fairly realistic don't you think?

It's weird medical ailment time! Hand's up who knows what is wrong with my eye? I suspect football was involved, but I can't remember being hit in the face - I'm secretly hoping I'm starting to develop laser beam eyes - then they'll all pay! Oh yes they will!!

So, where have I been for the last, ooh six days? Well I spent most of this evening defrosting my fridge and ironing, the rest of it's been spent wondering why I'm in the job I am... god I hate my life! Post-christmas blues or what?



I'm being melodramatic of course, I've actually been buying tons of CDs.

Christmas presents to myself...



William Parker Violin Trio - Scrapbook

It's Jazz I'm afraid, so I'm at a loss to do this justice as I can't go off and start name-checking obscure jazz musicians since my knowledge of the subject is pretty bad. I know William Parker from his work with Spring Heel Jack, he's a bass player which I guess is one reason that the music is more 'structured' than most free jazz albums I know - I think by there nature Bass players will be more inclined to stick to a rythmn than the more egotistical sax players out there. He's complemented by Hammid Drake on drums, who like the best of them can go off on one - but who knows exactly when to real it in back to the groove Mr Parker is laying down; then there is Billy Bang on violin - not the most 'jazz' instrument in the world, but in the context of such a tight rythmn section it works well. Anyway, that's my take on it.



Philip Jeck - 7

Yet another release from Philip Jeck, I think it's about the 4th one? Anyway, I've gone on about him before - but in case you weren't listening first time, he uses old dusty records, possibly older record players and cheap casio keyboards to create some of the best ambient music I've ever heard. What he somehow manages to bring to ambient music (or maybe minimalist music is a better phrase, some of this CD is quite abrasive) is a sense of warmth sorely lacking elsewhere. I think his methods also lend a feeling of nostalgia to his recordings, I don't want to start going on about returning to the womb, cos that would be bollocks - hopefully you know what I mean. Recommended to people who enjoy listening...



King Geedorah - Take Me To Your Leader

Anyone heard of MF Doom, the MC in the Iron Mask? I'd heard of him, but I hadn't heard any of his stuff, even though (or maybe because of?) he's considered to be one of the Underground Hip-Hop's biggest stars. Well, here he is in an alternative disguise, that of Godzilla's buddy: the giant three headed lizard King Geedorah. The japanese monster film theme is throughout this disc, plenty of samples straight from cheesy dialogue, much of the background tracks sound like they've been made from that sort of sci-fi incidental music. Beats are tight, lyrics suitably dope, damn fine hip-hop album



RJD2 - Constant Elevation: The 'Say Word' Mix

Nice surprise here, I hadn't heard of this mix - I kind of assume if RJD2 is going to release anything, I'm going to damn well know about it - but here he is sneaking his little old skool funk remixes out without telling me. Usual stuff, plenty of classic breaks, he manages something a little different with this mix by going a bit DJ Yoda towards the end with the Knightrider theme, and the other (and better) Tears for Fears tune from Donnie Darko is on this.



Out Hud - S.T.R.E.E.T. D.A.D.

Not sure if you've heard but there is a bit of a revolution going on in the world of indie music, indie kids are learning to appreciate a well shaken bootie. There's this lot, !!! and The Rapture (see later) doing some damn fine dance music - and that's proper dance music, not the crap heard in Yates on a Friday night, music made to dance to, not to drown out drunken conversations and to annoy me!



Alias - Muted

Nice, mainly instrumental album from one of the Anticon crew. It sort of reminds of the last Four Tet album, but without the folktronica tag. Although it's mainly an instrumental album



Boom Bip & Dose One - Circle

Very odd album, like cLOUDDEAD (who Dose One is a member of... I'm trying to educate you here people!) the seem to get bored of songs very quickly. There are songs on the album, but it seems to be mainly musical ideas. Still, when you have a producer of Boom Bip's calibre on production duties and the awesome Dose One on vocals they come up with some pretty damn fine ideas...



Jackie O MotherFucker - Wow / The Magick Fire Music

Reminds me no end of Miles Davis, funny since I was expecting God Speed! You Black Emporer...



Wanna Buy A Craprak?

Do I? Go on then... This is a compilation, recommended in The Wire's review of 20003, taken from a label run by a chap called Hrvatski. I know him from this really cool digi-ragga remix of a Kid606 song he did a while ago, but this compilation is nothing like that - a gentle pleasant stroll through some leftfield electronic tunes.



The Rapture - Echoes

Back to the indie dance music, a bit rawer than Out Hud, and not quite as funky as !!! Very eighties feel in places, can't think of much else to say since it's getting too late.



Odd Nosdam - No More Wig For Ohio

Another Anticon (he's in cLOUDDEAD) release which goes all over the place, he doen't even bother naming the tracks. Nice album...



Ry Cooder & Manuel Galban - Mambo Sinuendo

Mambo!! So, where do I start... Well, I've got this thing where I try to pick something from each of The Wire's best of 2003 - this was in the global section. It's fun, definitely adds a bit of a shimmy to your step, and I love the tracks with the Coro singers, no idea what Coro means, but it sounds good!



Basement Jaxx - Kish Kash

Another good album which I spent far too long ignoring - I still don't think they've peaked, but it makes a nice stop gap whilst waiting for the next Prodigy album



Sunn 0))) - White1

The ultimate drone metal album, three tracks - the first one clocking in at 25 minutes. But, maybe because the instruments are slowed to a crawl it doesn't seem that long. This one also has a couple of guest vocals including a fucking hilarious one from Julian Cope. How he can bellow the line "Old mother fucker, she was a cock sucker" with out instantly pissing himself is beyond me

It appears to be 2004... and someone better sort out the whole flying car/jet pack situation soon, I was expecting them about four years ago, my patience is wearing thin.



I spent New Year's Eve in the company of friends and many many dangerously strong drinks. I think I may have drunk too much gin since I woke up feeling what can only be described as faintly annoyed, there's only one drink that will do that to me - the aforementioned gin.



The 'give up smoking' resolution has already been broken, I'm struggling to come up with any worthy alternatives. I'd like a resolution that would improve my quality of life rather than make me miserable, or maybe one that would at least make the rest of the world think I'm a better person (...being the self-centered bastard that I am). I'm going to be 30 this year, although it shouldn't mean anything other than I've been round the Sun almost 30 times, I can't help but think that it's a milestone and as such should mark a point in my life where I need to change - dare I say it? Maybe even grow up a bit?



Or maybe I could stop writing moody blog entries! Gin, don't do it kids!