reviews

While 'repairing' my mother's computer, I find some cool links to stuff on Youtube. So here we go, from the Bodhran Championships:

A crazy crazy manic week it has been! I have some exciting tales to tell, but not today. Today we shall talk about music. I have recently powered up my playroom at home with some proper speakers, so I can really let rip (when the GF isn't in, of course!) and have been enjoying all sorts of wonderful noises.

Lou Rhodes: Bloom

Lou Rhodes' first solo album, Beloved One, is a thing of beauty, certainly. It's one of those acoustic girly singer albums that just makes your spine tingle, helped in no small measure by Lou's gorgeous, deep husky voice. Where Beloved One is gentle however, Bloom is much more adventurous. It is still primarily acoustic, but many of the songs have a darker edge to them, there are some outright bizarre chord changes and the whole thing is more upbeat. Personally I prefer the other one, but there are some good tunes on here.

The Mars Volta: Bedlam in Goliath

I can't say that much about this one really, it is 70 minutes of unrelenting full on rock, prog jams and pure choas, although compared to their last effort Amputechture it is positively sedate and tuneful. The general impression here is that there is a (slighty) more coherent vision, as if the band have started to work out where they are heading at last, whereas I was worried they had lost it completely! Um... Easier to let them explain it really, this album is excellent!

The Mars Volta: Goliath:

I play chicken with a dark-faced man down Toronto Road. Sure, I'm on a bicycle and he's in a car, but who cares right? He'll have insurance, I have the moral high ground, he wouldn't actually run me over, would he?

Would he?

He CAN see me, can't he?

...

At the last minute I realise that yes, he actually would, in fact I think he's speeding up, perhaps veering a little towards me? Oh well, I'm committed now.

I don't really understand why someone in such a small car is driving in the middle of the road, there is at least a metre on the other side! As we pass each other, with millimetres to spare, I chance a glance at his face. He looks asleep! Resolutely avoiding looking at me, as if he doesn't know I'm even there.

But this is not what I wanted to write about. A friend of mine was talking to me about a kind of music called Crunk. Us mere mortals are used to calling it Hip Hop, or That sort of hip hop with rnb type choruses and stuff.

Crunk is a genre of hip-hop music. Unlike the East Coast and West Coast style of hip hop, crunk has a high-energy and club-oriented feel. While other hip hop styles might involve a more conversational vocal delivery, crunk usually involves hoarse chants and repetitive, simple refrains. Lyrics are based on a rhythmic bounce, which is very effective in a club environment. (Wikipedia)

So here are a couple of videos we watched to illustrate it, hope you enjoy 'em! First up, Chamillionaire and Ridin' Dirty:

And Weird Al Yankovic's version White and Nerdy:

Yeah so I miss one Friday due to work (which is where I normally write all my rantings) being a nightmare and this week hasn't been any different! Sorry about this, normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. Anyway, as a result of all that I have been mainly listening to stories, we now have all of Terry Pratchett's books as MP3's and I recently discovered a download of some Roald Dahl stories from the Telegraph, of all places! They're pretty good too, the odd annoying song, but some of the favourites like Matilda and The BFG are there.

I am about halfway through Phillip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass, mentioned a few Fridays ago - which is my soundtrack to and from work.

As you can see below, we have finally built some CD shelves in the 'Play Room' in our new house and filled them up with our combined collections. We both put a LOT of CD's in the charity box and I am in the process of ripping another load - to be disposed of, once they are safe on a NAS (for the awesome Sonos system).

I install some tasty speakers (see pic, above) into our bedroom ceiling - the room will be almost completely wireless once our cupboards are built in and the bathroom also has a waterproof ceiling speaker connected to the bedroom system via a switch! Now we can pipe hideous noise into the bathroom while you're trying to have a quiet poo.

I try to sell a load of equipment too, like my tasty Line 6 Amp and my Yamaha SY77 Keyboard (it's a CLASSIC!) - but there are no takers as yet. I steel myself to attempt to sell them on Ebay, to get hideously abused and mentally destroyed by the awfulness of online bidding. Or something. Anyway, I'm writing all this in a rush before I finally escape this place for the weekend...

(Leaves)

Oh dear, this is going to be so lame. I've been really busy at work, shouty shouty blah blah - (juicy details to follow) and pretty busy at home - well, we have new carpets and built some shelves. So. This week, I've been putting things on shuffle, haven't really had the time to concentrate on any one album or anything, so here's a rushed list of some stuff that's been caressing my aural membranes lately:

The Complete Glenn Miller

Louis Armstrong - Gold Collection

Arch Enemy - Rise of the Tyrant

Bad Company (drum and bass NOT dadrock!) - Digital Nation

Underworld - Second Toughest in the Infants

Terry Pratchett - Soul Music (read by Nigel Planer)

Logistics - Now More Than Ever

Shapeshifter - Soulstice

Manowar - Gods of War

Chopin - Nocturnes

This morning, the sun rose: