The View from Carpathian Towers

Time for a post....for some time.

2006-03-27T00:25:00.000+01:00

So, that's rather scary then.

I turn over to see what the South Bank Show is doing tonight and it turns out it's a special on PD James. This, in an odd way, reminds me immediately of a certain Mr Banks who'd also like to do a special on the said same person. Only in his case it would be one of those Mortal Kombat moves that she wouldn't write her way out of.

So, this thought in mind, I hop over to his virtual place and end up having a read through the last couple of posts I've missed. They're stupidly readable (or readily stupid, I forget which) but then I spot that he's kindly linked to me due to the Julian Cope stuff I'm foisting on him on an increasingly frequent basis. I'm glad to see the Arch Drude sinking into Rays musical make-up - he's one of those artists that does take a couple of listens before the payoff and many never get that far.

It's all fair though as he keeps me on the Waits and narrow (sorry) too and we do overlap on a few things, especially recently. The Black Heart Procession is one of them, by the way, so go search them out and love them too.

Anyway, I used the word 'scary' at the top and unless I link back to it you're going to think I make this up as I go along. That'll never do.

What's so scary (see, I did it) is that it's been a month since I posted last. A whole gang of weeks or, if you will, a full club of days. I was thinking to myself that I was glad to have posted recently in case anybody popped by.....then I find it's actually been that long.

It's a bit of a surprise. How do you lose that gap of time ? It's not like a tangible thing you find in one of your many trouser pockets after washing them ("Hey, I found those four days - damn they're clean now")
so where do these periods go ?

The only thing I can think of is that they break free and end up going to those people who live to be 140 or whatever. They say 'money goes to money' so I'm guessing that 'time goes to time'. It's a radical idea, and one which I have no backup for, but I'm sticking with it unless any of you provide a better thesis on my desk before the bell. 300 words minimum and no double spacing.

Next time I fail to post for a few days you'll now know I'm just selflessly extending somebody elses life.

The scary thing (yes, I've got a second payoff from one lead line) is that I have PD James to thank for this train of thought.

"Out of my mind on Cope and speed"

2006-02-23T08:57:00.000Z

So, then, Julian Cope at the Northumbria Uni last night ?

Fan-bloody-tastic - I was stood about two feet in front of the Drude himself for the 2 hours of the show !! When they rocked they REALLY rocked (hence the ears still ringing quite badly) and Julian did a little solo bit part way through with just him and a guitar. For the main belly of the set it was a very loud, "goes up to 11", three-piece of Mr Cope, regailing us with vocals, bass and anecdotes, Mr E on drums & facepaint and Dogan (once of Spiritulised) on lead and pulling rock shapes.

As promised they dropped in some old stuff including a few Teardrop Explodes too. Oh, and some great between song banter about Red Bull, kissing girls in the crowd and posing for potential puzzled onlookers at motorway services at 4am in the morning.

In a (just corrected) running order of:-

Nothing To Lose Except My Mind
White Bitch Comes Good
She's Got A Ring On Her Finger [And Another One Through Her Nose]
Books
Double Vegetation
Shot Down
Highway To The Sun
World War Pigs
Mr. Invasion
Sunspots
Hanging Out & Hung Up On The Line
Soul Desert
I'm Your Daddy
Julian H Cope
Out Of My Mind On Dope & Speed
Robert Mitchum
Zoroaster
Hell Is Wicked
World Shut Your Mouth
Spacehopper

I couldn't believe he played 'Robert Mitchum' AND "out of my mind.....' as these were two tracks I love and was hoping he'd play but to get both of them was a most pleasant surprise - I was well happy !!

He was bloody funny when he was rambling on between tracks - a proper entertainer. Oh, and he was wearing the exact same gloves as me and he noticed part way through and smiled.

How good is he still and how much fun was the show ? I bought three CD's at the show and ordered two more online when I got in. That's how good he is/was !

That'll take me up to 23 Cope albums !!

Gleehead Detector

2006-02-21T08:42:00.000Z

So, what have I been doing since the last post ? That's the last post on here not that somebody has played 'the last post', just in case you were wondering.

Well, I've been blogging like mad. Ah. No. I've not been, have I ? Like the above it's an easy mistake to make.

Still, I'm here now as it's a pre-gig mix of nervousness and excitement as I'm off to se Julian "Arch Drude" Cope tomorrow night. I've had his albums on shuffle for the last day or two and I'm realising that there could be no way I can 'swat up' ready for the show.

He's vowed to play a two hour set or more each night, varying what they play from his 20yr history so as to feature as many tracks as possible over the tour. He's even said in a newspaper interview this morning that they'll be squeezing in some rarely play Teardrop Explodes tracks too. I smiled a big "w00t" smile at that bit. Maybe I'll hear 'Perky Jellypop Jean' ?

With 39 albums, some of them doubles, under his belt I know it's going to be a night to surprise and amuse. For all his eccentricity I've always found him to have a pretty genius turn of phrase and the sleight of hand he uses to shoe-horn wordplay into his lyrics is a constant throughout. Add to that the ability to hit the floor as a three piece Stooges wig-out or a gentle acoustic solo and even the nature of the show is up for guessing.

Either way, it's one of the most daunting gigs I've had lined up for a while due to the unpredictability of him. Hmm. If I know he'll be like that, does that make it predictable instead ? I'm confused now.

As for the title, that's something for the Cope-heads out there.

Bat where they belong......Bauhaus '06

2006-02-01T19:13:00.000Z

Bauhaus from Monday night then - I reckon I ought to post something.

Soooooooooo good - far better than it had any right to be.

The setlist included the following:-

Burning From The Inside
In The Flat Field
God In An Alcove
In Fear of Fear
Terror Couple Kill Colonel
Swing The Heartache
She's In Parties
Spirit
Passion of Lovers
Silent Hedges
Kick In The Eye
Hollow Hills
Rosegarden Funeral of Sores
Stigmata Martyr
Hair of the Dog
Dark Entries
Transmission feat St. Vitus Dance
Telegram Sam
Ziggy Stardust
Bela Lugosi's Dead

The cover (and a quite breathtaking one at that) of Joy Divisions 'Transmission' was dedicated to "a dear friend" - the place went ballistic !

This Carpathian is soooooooo happy right now - been wanting to see them since '79 (literally since then) and when I did they were everything I'd hoped.

I stood no more than 4ft from Peter Murphy through the show - (un)dead centre and at the front. The guy is a certifiable genius....or a genius and certifiable ;)

Anybody wondering about going to a gig on the tour or if they still 'have it'....let me tell you they are still as vitally captivating as ever and beyond the scene that spawned them way back when.

Probably in my top five gigs ever.

Lights ! Music ! Carpathian !

2006-01-28T10:15:00.000Z

Right, it seems my list of nights out has just grown again !

I've got Bauhaus on Monday, off in a bit to get tickets for Julian Cope in Feb....and now just heard that Gary Numan is touring up here in April.

This is turning out to be a seriously good year for gigs already !!

Might see what's on in March and aim for a gig a month of some sort !

This Carpathian is very happy !

Music : 2005 - Part 2 (kind of)

2006-01-23T00:25:00.000Z

Ok, so here's the thing.

Since I posted my "Part 1" music thing I've been writing, re-writing, scrapping and altering the "Part 2". It's logical that as I'd done one, there really ought to be the other.

The problem is that I just can't get the damn thing down.

The first bit was quite easy - there was a natural flow to things and a link between some of them. My head could hear some and still be in the same place when writing (and thinking) about the others. Sounds crazy that I've put this much thought into it as it's only a Blog post in what is currently a rather erratically updated Blog.

That is, in a nutshell, the exact issue though.

I love music with a passion. You should all know that by now and if not then you'll have to refer to your revision notes. Making the second part of the list was always tough, pulling a handful of totally separate music down to sum up a year. For every one album I had down, I thought about and juggled with about 3 others. That's probably an understatement.

I can't let one album get treated like the poor relation to another - that's how music gets me. If you knew how many single tracks, EP's and albums I've probably listened to over the last 12 months you'd chuckle then reach for the phone to the brain doctors. Everyday sees my nearly full 20Gb Zen Touch used going to and from work and then things parped out of the PC in the evening, usually whilst finding, buying or grabbing more music too. It's what I do, to an extent who I am, and the reason Nick Hornby would love me.

How do I decide what to include - do I make it heavy on the rock side or waffle on about some progressive tech-house that's got to me ? Even that in itself made me rake through stuff.

So I guess that's my music post "Part 2".

I've listened to so much old stuff, and a surprising amount of good to wonderful new stuff, that I can't make a post from it. If I list 6 albums, two artists, a riff and a breakbeat then that really doesn't sum it up in the slightest...so why stress about it and bother ?

I'm sure that if I can get myself motivated I'll get posting again, even if only silly things to tide me (and you, of course) over until something worth posting comes along.

It will do, I'm sure.

Most likely when I've got some good music on ;o)

Music : 2005 - Part 1

2005-12-30T20:41:00.000Z

Björk - "Drawing Restraint 9"
"Screaming Masterpiece OST"
Sigur Rós - Pretty much everything, but mostly "Takk"
Apparat Organ Quartet - "Apparat Organ Quartet"
Björk - "Gling Glo"
KUKL - "The Eye"

This years theme, in terms of the music making this Carpathian most eargasmic, has been Iceland.

To an extent that shouldn't be a surprise as I've always been a rather slavish fan of Björk since seeing the Sugercubes "Birthday" video on SNUBtv back when it first came out. She was small and her voice was huge, the Icelandic lyrics twisting and turning in my head until I was transfixed and nearly at the verge of tears. Occasionally, I get rendered speechless by something musical - this was such. Over the last few months I've returned to her and expanded outwards from there.

First came her soundtrack to the Matthew Barney film "Drawing Restraint 9", a two hour film devoid of dialogue or obvious narrative. Previously known for works like "The Cremaster Cycle" this film see's Björks most experimental works to date and a role for her within the film. Traditional Japanese instruments and vocal techniques including throat singing meet sparse, almost disjointed, arrangements. Even as a fan willing to lap up anything by her I was a little worried that she'd finally pushed herself beyond the elastic musical boundary she's always leant on. Though still very tough going I'm now, some months on, seeing that she's right on the money as ever. I'm listening to the the hyper-nightmare that is "Storm" as we speak - even that one track, the most Bjork-like, is enough to scramble brains as easily as eggs.

In November I saw that the film "Screaming Masterpiece" was being shown locally and decided to go to the opening night special showing. It was more than the director, Ari Alexander Ergis Magnussen, managed as while we were sat in the cinema waiting to hear his pre-film talk, he was in Iceland having had flights let him down.

The film drew a review on these very pages and sparked off a real push to hear more new music. I'd seen and heard bands like Sigur Rós, Múm, The Sugercubes and, of course, Björk but pretty much without exception the 87mins were filled back to back with stuff that caught my ear from the off. Rock, folk, prog, retro, pop, punk, avant garde - you name it. All there, all present and all very much correct.

One of these pleasant surprises were "Apparat Organ Quartet". Four guys, a mound (if that's the collective term) of old keyboards and a fifth guy acting as the live drummer providing them with a backbone. As a clue to their sound I'd say imagining Kraftwerk signing for Stereolabs label and dabbling with a mixture of dark excessive prog, CAN and the Glitterband. But only if it could be imagined taking place in Iceland. In the 80's. In an upbeat pop fashion.

Hmmm. Didn't really help, did it ? Try this:

Around the same end of the year Sigur Rós, the current darlings of crossover potential, released “Takk” (Icelandic for ‘thank you’) and at a point when the weather was turning for the colder and the world was falling in on itself (both naturally and man-made) along came the aural equivalent of a jumper that hugged you and gave you a toasty feeling like a comfort blanket. Importantly, though, it didn’t smother you with a cloying saccherine sweetness. This was music as at home in the sweaty rock venue as it was the gallery or MP3 player – a huge heartstring pulling sound that managed to be both unearthly and totally grounded in human emotion. Where “Von”, “Von brigði”, “Ágætis byrjun” and “( )” had beguiled, puzzled, and peeked above the parapet, “Takk” stood on it and waved a huge flag. Politely though, of course.

Bringing the year full circle was me heading back into puffin pixie land and finding a copy of "Gling Glo". It's credited, rather wonderfully, to Björk Gudmundsdottir & Trio Guomundar Ingolfssonar. This was a revelation to me as I'd heard about it but never actually got it until now. Back in 1990 she got together with a renowned jazz/swing trio and recording this - the first 14 tracks being in Icelandic with the final 2 in English. With the ever increasing range of styles she's currently exhibiting it's easy to forget that when she sings, especially in her native tongue, she really can knock out a tune and then some. This is just such. It's fun and the language barrier does nothing to stop pretty much anybody spinning this and grinning from ear to ear.

Going further back to 1984, back pre-Sugercubes, Björk (and later cohort, shouty trumpet mugger Einar Orn) were part of K.U.K.L., a shortlived two album band releasing on the now (in)famous Crass label. "The Eye" saw them falling somewhere between a Banshees/PIL swirl, an anarchic collective pulling in five directions at once and the later sound which the 'Cubes would discover. It's as far removed from Björks current music as the jazz workout but equally storming. If you're a Banshees fan that still holds a torch for that era (much against the rather revisionist public taste) then this is a stormer.

Finally, for this first part, a disclaimer: I'm a tiny fraction through this and it's obviously going to sprawl so I'm afraid I'm not going to put in links to everything. God knows that would take me longer than the text. You did get a few pictures so I hope that will suffice.

I just like music, that's all.

2005-12-29T21:23:00.000Z

I'll be the first person to admit freely that I'm not fit to follow "John After Bedtime" but I have to thank Ray over at The Saturday Boy for saying the following of me:-

I have to thank a certain Carpathian for tuning me in on some of these here listed albums. John Peel ain't dead, kidda. He's just working on a Newcastle helpdesk.

Damn, I was touched by that.

In a manly, not going soft in my old age kinda way, of course.......

Have a great day - gremlin free.

2005-12-25T14:06:00.000Z

One day to go - snow no show

2005-12-24T13:37:00.000Z

No tinsel or needles to clear up in January.........

2005-12-22T18:32:00.000Z

So, let's see:

1) I love music.

2) It's Christmas

3) Let's combine the two and see what I can pilfer from the www

Basically I spotted this elsewhere on the web and was impressed enough to make a post just for it. So simple and elegant yet wonderfully mad at the same time.........

Takk. Takk muchly.

2005-12-22T09:37:00.000Z

So, as we reach the end of the year (well, almost) I thought I'd better get at least one post in. Ok, if I'm honest I was cajoled by somebody with a cheery "you'd better get a post done" threat, sorry, advisement. They're right, of course. This place has been a little sparse at this end of the year.

If any of you recall way back towards the start of the blog you may remember I was a little worried that starting at such a pace may have left me open to running out of steam at some point. As it turns out I wasn't far from the mark. It wasn't that I didn't care about the place, more that I just needed to get a nice little break. Very easy for that break to naturally extend itself though. All too easy.

It's still a going concern though and there will be new stuff added as and when. No dates for that though obviously - I'm not stupid. Besides, I was touched when I got the odd email asking me if I was ok or why I'd stopped. If I'd never thanked you properly for sending one then I'm doing that now. Must be the festive spirit - it'll wear off soon, don't worry.

Talking of the festive spirit (what a link - I've still got it, folks) I know it's fast approaching The Time Where All Things Have Snow On Them (tm) as I went out and bought a couple of nice bottles of wine. In case you're looking for some choices to adorn the inside of your stomach (or liver) then I'd say to grab a Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 and/or a Vallade Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2001. Not that I'm being too specific of course *cough*

Oh, what the heck - have some pictures. People like pictures and you are, indeed, people.

The former is just because I've found it to be particularly to my taste and the latter, partially, because I've been to Montepulciano and it's a gorgeous place. Always nice to have a backhanded reminder of a good holiday. In case you haven't been, which is liable to be about 99.6% of you, here's a quick holiday brochure for the place.

So, that's the booze out of the way. What normally comes next - ah, yeah, music !

I've been lucky this year - I think it's a been a time split in two ways. Part of it has been rediscovering old favourites and half finding new things that I never even knew existed. I know you people want details - you're like that - but there will be a "music list" post as the year draws to a close proper. I need to be at home to do that and I'm at my desk at work currently. Sigh.

One thing I will say now is that if any of you have obscenely big music stashes that spill over into having some CD's "offline" (or, in English, boxed up somewhere in a dark corner of the house) then go and make a huge mess by emptying them out all over the floor and pilfering through them. Even if you *think* you know what's lurking in there you'll be guaranteed to find something you'd totally forgotten about. For me, this time, it was The Sugarcubes. More on that in my music list for the year which, against your expectations, I *will* do !

In the world of the Blog - Blogworld, if you will - I'm pleased to see that Livewire is not wishing people a happy Christmas from a house that happens to have an engine. That was a major worry for one and all ! Oh and Onkroes, if you're reading this, I was sad to see you go but as with myself many find Blogs can go just as easily as they arrive. Flux and all that. You're missed but were thoroughly enjoyed whilst there.

Oh, and in case you wondered the post title "Takk" is 'thank you' in Icelandic. The island, in many forms, has featured heavily in shaping my year musically so it seems only fitting to title a post accordingly. An end of year one even more so.

More writing for your ears soon but feel free to open the Mince pies in the meantime.

Technology makes geeks happy - simply because it exists.

2005-11-29T17:27:00.000Z

The first holographic storage systems, storing up to 300GB on a single disc, will go on sale towards the end of 2006.

InPhase Technologies and Hitachi are jointly developing the technology, which uses laser light interference to store data in a light-sensitive crystal material.

The technique could be developed to store up to 1.6 Terabytes on each disc - more than 300 times the capacity of a conventional DVD - and offer read and write speeds of up to 120Mbits/sec.

Unlike other technologies, that record one data bit at a time, holography allows a million bits of data to be written and read in parallel with a single flash of light, This enables transfer rates significantly higher than current optical storage devices.

The high transfer speed enables the playback of broadcast-quality HDTV content, of which 26 hours can be stored on a single disc.

Holographic storage works by splitting light from a single laser beam into two: the signal beam to carry the data and the reference beam. The hologram is formed where these two beams intersect causing a chemical reaction in the recording medium. By varying the reference beam angle, wavelength, or media position many different holograms can be recorded in the same volume of material.

The Best player never to play in the World Cup

2005-11-25T14:36:00.000Z

No big sprawling tribute but just a short mention after hearing of the death of George Best today.

Being a long time Wolves fan (now clocking well over 30 years) I remember the former Manchester United and Northern Ireland player saying in his autobiography that through the magic of television he fell in love with Wolverhampton Wanderers. In the book, 'Blessed', he described how he became a Wolves fan by watching the floodlit games of the 50s on a neighbour's TV.

Just a little anecdote, that's all.

A wonderful trip to SynchroniCity

2005-11-22T09:01:00.000Z

I had all sorts of things lined up to post but have been hijacked by another case of an unexpected visit to musical SynchroniCity. If you've never been there I can assure you it's a rather lovely place.

Only a couple of weeks ago I was on a train early in the morning and heard Kate Bush's new album for the first time. As the second disc, based around the passing of a day, built up the sun rose in front of me and it was a stunning moment where everything fitted just so. The sun rose on the album and I was watch it actually happening in front of me. As much as I love music and can be a bit of an aesthete at times this doesn't happen fully that often.

It has this morning though. I walked out of the Metro on the way in to work and things conspired again.

I know it's hard to get a feeling like that across but I'll try. It's starkly winter cold and a heavy fog is blanketing everything. The first Christmas lights were giving the whiteout a wonderful warm coloured glow and as I left the station and the frozen air hit my face "Glasoli" by Sigur Ros (purveyors of some of the finest widescreen music you'll ever here) kicked into gear and I was magically transported to SynchroniCity again.

It's really kind of odd when everything meshes like that - the cold, the mist, the lights, the xylophones, the strings, the vocals et al. You could sit and plan things for a week and still not achieve that sort of feeling.

"It's just music" somebody once told me when I excitedly explained this sort of thing to them.

No it's not - at times like this it's so much more than that.

Mums gone to Iceland

2005-11-19T23:05:00.000Z

Just got back from the film - really excellent.

Although the director couldn't make it for the festival showing (he was still in Iceland waiting for a much delayed plane) we got a nice ever flowing supply of wine and huge comfy seats. Watching a movie on the big screen sunk into a mini-sofa with a big glass of red in your hand - that's very nice, trust me.

The film is amazing though, it really is. Seeing people like Sigur Rós, Bjork, Mum (hence the UK advert parodying post title) et al on the big screen is just amazing, especially with a big surround rig like you'd never have in your home. It's a great mixture of scenery, interview, music video and live footage - the glimpses of very early footage of Bjork and Einar Orn in their respective first bands is mint !

It made me want to go to Iceland. It made me want to start a band. It made me want to walk on a windswept coast. It made me fall for Bjork all over again - god, she's so amazing and that's too easily forgotten. It made me laugh. It put a lump in my throat.

All in 87mins - that's quite some going.

Those of you blessed with a large pocket of musical taste will be really stoked to hear that 90% of the bands in it are quite incredible - seems people like Sigur Rós are no unique fluke there. If anything there are some that are easily as good and could have been there instead.

If I wasn't at work on Monday I'd have gone to the other showing again, that's how good it was.

I'm off to find the soundtrack album online, even if only for "Odin's Raven Magic" by Sigur Rós and Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson.

Don't let this film pass you by - your heart will bless your ears for making the effort..........

Much Ado About Puffin.....

2005-11-15T16:59:00.000Z

I'm booking a ticket for something else tomorrow but, as it's a very international film, I thought I'd mention it. I figure it may appeal to a few of you out there in "everywhere else" land. I'm looking forward to one of my first "film festival" moments where the director of the film gets to blurb a few words before curtain up.

SCREAMING MASTERPIECE (12A)
Gargandi Snillol

An inspirational look at Iceland’s passion for music and how their unique combination of long dark nights, alcohol, a sense of community and self-belief is producing some of the most important and influential musicians in the world. From a population no bigger than Newcastle's, Iceland has given us the ever-brilliant Björk, band-on-the-international-rise Sigur Rós and a thriving jazz, folk, rock and classical music scene.

With lots of footage of live gigs punctuated with informal and informed interviews with everyone from Bjork to the country's head pagan (Iceland is one of two countries that was not touched by Christianity) this film is the perfect opportunity to see some of the leading lights of modern music at their most comfortable.

MEET THE DIRECTOR!
On Saturday 19th November director Ari Alexander Ergis Magnussen will introduce his revealing documentary.

Director: Ari Alexander Ergis Magnusson / Music Documentary
English / 87 minutes / Iceland, Denmark and Netherlands 2005

Undead, Undead, Undead ...........quite literally

2005-11-14T13:44:00.000Z

Peter Murphy
Daniel Ash
David J
Kevin Haskins

Recognise the names ?

Excited yet at what this post might be about ?

If you don't then this will mean very little to you, but if you do then you're most likely sitting up and taking notice with a large number of thoughts going through your head as to why I'm mentioning them.

Yep, it is what you might dare to hope. Swing the heartache no longer.

Bauhaus, one of the few post-punk bands worthy of the label 'seminal', have reformed and plan to make a new album in 2006. More importantly, and why I'm posting this, is that they are playing a 14 date European tour at the start of next year....and I've just got a ticket for Newcastle in January !!!!!

There are some bands you give up ever having the chance to see, let alone in their main line-up. This, for me, was one of them. You can probably guess how big my smile is now.

So, kids, don your best black outfits and join the bats, back in the belltower where they belong.

Undead ?

So it seems !

Like shaking hands with a distant person.....

2005-11-09T19:11:00.000Z

An odd day today.

Last day of my leave before going back to work tomorrow but it was kinda bitty and all over the place.

Rather than just relaxing I had people coming round to upgrade the firmware on my TV, a visit from the gas people to put a new gas meter in and I needed to go to the sorting office to pick up a parcel.

In case you're curious the parcel was lalleshwari 'lullabies in a glasswilderness', a wonderful new lo-fi release by Katie Jane Garside. Some of you skanky types may remember Daisy Chainsaw or more recently have heard of Queen Adreena ? This is she from those.

A cd, a book and a DVD beautifully presented as a package - I had one of the first 100 copies so it's numbered, signed and the book has Katie's handprint on the back a la the pink bits in the pic above. You can feel the veins and marks - it's wonderfully tactile and such a beautiful personal touch. Those people clicking the link above will have the notes in their head for ages - just to warn you and all that.

Also I'm writing something which evolved out of something else - a prose piece which kinda came out of a single sentence and totally took over my head for a while. It might go on here or it might not.

I have to keep you on the edge of you seat, don't I ?

{grin}

Going away is good.......

2005-11-08T17:33:00.000Z

......but coming back is better.

Just got home after a few days seeing friends and family. It was nice to get a birthday shared with them and I'm just home and unpacked. Strange to find myself coming straight here to tell you all - seems The Towers is well and truly back in action. That's quite a nice thought.

To add to the posts for The Young Golds and David Sylvian which seemed to win the "what do you lot seem interested in" post I've now simply GOT to do a post for the new Kate Bush album "Aerial".

Traveling down on the train last week I heard the album right through for the first time as I watched the sun break the horizon. This is a beautiful thing in it's own right but as you may know (if you have it yet) the album deals with this very thing as part of it's subject matter. I've never had such a synergy of sound and vision before - her words and music were drawing the scene that my eyes could see. Quite the most wonderful musical experience I've had for many, many years......

The album is wonderfully, ridiculously out of time. It just seems to sit in it's own bubble, seemingly without a single nod to anything contemporary. In doing so it sounds both like a natural followup work which could have easily been released 12 years ago and something which stands out against, yet works apart from, the music around now.

Who else could make a double album, part concept, featuring a song reciting PI to 112 places which works, an incredibly erotic track based around a washing machine, Rolf Harris as painter as God and singing blackbirds telling jokes that make Kate laugh.

There's been a lot of hype for this, mostly due to the time it's taken to record. There's something about Kate that excites and intrigues in equal measures.

Whichever of the two camps your interest lies in, buy this and fall in love all over again.

Genius is back behind the piano again like she's never been away.

It's only skin deep: "Tattoo"

2005-10-30T00:12:00.000+01:00

Being a huge fan of the darly inventive "Se7en" (sorry, force of habit) I approached the 2002 film "Tattoo" somewhat hesitantly. When things are described as "the best since...." or "for lovers of...." there's a high chance of it being bait to make an average film be more than it actually is.

Still, when the DVD is re-released for £5.99 (albeit without extras as such) there comes a time to bite the bullet, slap the money down and hope for the best. Sometimes you wish you'd had a little more faith and done the buying thing sooner. Luckily, this was one of them.

Firstly, sometimes subtitles put people off a movie but in a case like this they're a positive plus point. Being a German movie (which it is) the language suits the subject matter in the same way that the band Rammstein get a harder edge to their vocals. Nothing fits the seedy underbelly like that hard sound of the language. Not an indication on the country, more on the phonetics. Either way, within about 5 minutes you cease to even notice. Good films are like that.

Secondly, let's get the similarities out of the way. It's not flashy - rather the sort of thing you'd call gritty or urban or just plain dark. It rains a lot in frequent parts of the film too. It's heavy, pounding rain and it adds a wonderfully oppressive mood to the tone of things.

Goodness knows that's something that needs no help, as this gives the aforementioned reference point a very good run for it's money in terms of building a mood, holding it and taking you along downhill with it. Whether you like it or not. I'd be very surprised if anybody could fail to be hooked after even the first scene. There are enough surprises and plot twists - though fortunately nothing unbelieveable - that if the mood doesn't get you then the story will.

You will like it though, as long as you don't expect kittens, sunshine or anything resembling a positive emotion. If, however, you fancy obsession, revenge and the collision of where these meet art on skin then dive in. One thing you'll never do is look at a tattoo the same way again.

If you do then just be thankful you're looking at it while it's still attached........

These chairs are more comfortable than I recalled.......

2005-10-27T19:56:00.000+01:00

If you go and read the comments to the previous post you'll find I'd received a little welcome from Onkroes in the form of an idea for a music related post. I could have linked you there but I have to drive my hit count back up, ok ? It's cheap but, ah, why not ;o)

As they know (only too well) I'm a sucker for challenges music wise, on here or anywhere else. Rest assured that a post about the odd ways I discovered bands I love will appear. I have to write it though, of course. That kinda comes first.

Otherwise it's nearly the end of the week and I'll have managed a huge two (yep, that's 2) posts during that time. It's a start I guess. I'm consciously trying to let myself post when the unconscious desire in me tells me too. God, that last sentence was pretentious, wasn't it. Sorry.

Rather than panic that my dates aren't consecutive I'd rather continue with letting myself rush here when I have a 'blogging idea' moment. That way you get the fun of wondering if there's a new post or not. See, aren't I good to you ? :o)

I have a few ideas for posts building, so I'd imagine you'll get a few coming along bus-wise, somewhat nose to tail.

I have one, for example, which is about the wonderful design of the new Young Gods compilation album. I know it's odd to trail a post...in a post....but it's just something that may cause you to wonder who The Young Gods are and go and find out in the meantime. That, to me, is reason enough for the odd self-advertisment.

Other than that, though that's pretty great, there are a few things putting a smile on my face at the moment. If any of the below catch your eye I may be tempted to post on it. Comments make prizes, my lovely viewers, though they are also a time-wasting exercise for you. Ah, the dual edge of the interest sword. Great, isn't it ;o)

So, taking a deep breath:-

The new David Sylvian album "Snow Borne Sorrow", picking up "Trouble Every Day" and "Tattoo" for £5.99 each on DVD, the new Depeche Mode album being one of the best they've done after all these years, listening to the 21mins of the Can track "Yoo Doo Right" from 1969 and realising it's still near perfect, seeing Goldfrapp live close enough to most likely drool a little at Miss Goldfrapp herself, buying an old Sega Saturn console and a few games and them still being fun.

Actually, amongst everything else going on in my life, there's obviously been plenty of reason to not be around. You'd think I'd set this post up to explain that, wouldn't you ;o)

How quickly dust settles in this place !

2005-10-24T11:36:00.000+01:00

So, morning all.

what's that ? You're surprised to see me ?

Well, I was in the neighbourhood and thought I'd drop in and check the locks etc. You know how it is when you leave properties empty for a while. I'm surprised that the windows are still in one piece, though I guess The Towers location makes it a little less prone to that sort of thing.

Thanks to those who'd dropped messages of support through my letterbox - they'll have noticed that I've collected the post from the doormat and am therefore back to where I left things. I really appreciate the interest and whilst I can't guarantee a post a day, I'm going to see about getting the covers off the furniture and settling back in. It's a nice property with good neighbours so it's too good to miss.

Oh, I did think about having a grand re-opening party but you'd have to bring your own booze....and food.....and, er, party. Hey, I'm still offering a venue though, that's something - right ?

It might take a day or two to get things into a state to be liveable again, but if you see a light on here then worry not - it's only me.

My mind must be very odd indeed.....

2005-09-29T12:52:00.000+01:00

Browsing round the news sites over lunch at work and chuckled when I saw a headline on the ABC News Website:-

EU Ministers to Hold Meeting on Turkey

Am I the only one that now has a very bizarre picture in my head ?

Too...good...to...resist.......

2005-09-16T17:54:00.000+01:00

Banking on quality gifts.

2005-09-15T12:26:00.000+01:00

For anybody reading the post-Bouchercon post(yes, I know, I could have phrased that better) you may have picked up on his generous nature regarding gifts for his esteemed workmates.

To quote:-

Hershey's mini-choccy things. Otherwise known as shit chocolate.
Waxy. Yeah, I think I'll be bringing them into work...

Well, to close the circle on this I can report two facts.

1) He's slightly inaccurate in his description - they actually taste of vomit. Small foil wrapped chunks of milk infused liquid sick. The 'waxy' bit was right though - kinda like dog-chocolate except worse.

2) 95% of the large bag he brought into work has been eaten. This means that even if each person here just took one little bar each, some must have gone back for more. More.

I was tempted to put a picture of the bars next door to a picture of what they taste like but I get the impression this might not be the best incentive to make people return visit.

Kinda like the taste of the chocolate.....

Wickers world Mainely wrong.....

2005-09-14T12:46:00.000+01:00

A few of us in this here blogging circle like our movies and also like the odd rant about things. Sometimes we manage to combine the two in something very satisfying. Here comes another one though, in this case, it's more an air of disbelief and a "let sleeping films lie" attitude.

It's over this remake of "The Wicker Man", the quintessential island-in-a-realm-of-it's-own tale that has been sleeping it's way into cult status over many years.

For those living on the said island, the original starred Edward Woodward as a puritanical police officer sent to a remote island to investigate a young woman`s disappearance, and Christopher Lee as the mysterious pagan Lord Summerisle, in a role many believe to be among his best.

It's crazy enough that all the new promotional material, press releases and official web-sites have got Robin Hardy, the director, listed incorrectly as screenwriter for the 1973 original - Anthony Shaffer was the actual writer.

What's really bonkers enough to cause anybody with half a brain and a heart for movies many sleepless nights is that the new version moves the action to Maine and stars Nicholas Cage with Ellen Burstyn in the Christopher Lee part.

Read that last bit again. Nicholas Craig in Edward Woodwards part and Ellen Burstyn covering the Christopher Lee duties.

Hardy himself has been recently quoted as saying 'I don`t quite understand what they`re doing - it appears that not only is the lady involved, but there are also attacks by killer bees, which sounds like a really old-style horror film.'

Yep, killer bees added to the list. I'm starting to wonder if there will be a "Wicker Man" in it or whether it's be a bronze scorpian or jello Martian.

Sometimes, mainly on days ending in "y", I really despair of Hollywoods seemingly bottomless pockets. It not so much the fact they exist, but more what seems to be found in them......

Small Venue + Big bands = Zero chance.

2005-09-06T22:16:00.000+01:00

"The gigs been moved to The Cluny - it's really small - a great place to see the show"

I should have had alarm bells ringing.

"Have you been to the Cluny before ? It's small in there - damn it's gonna be loud"

Nope, still didn't think ahead.

I turned up pretty stoked for the show but found out about 100 yards that it was cancelled. We nearly turned round and wandered off somewhere else but decided to pop down there for a pint all the same - glad I did.

Incantation
(Joe Lombard, John McEntee, Kyle Severn)

Having nattered with some of the guys from Incantation (Kyle is a gent) and Nile (Dallas's dedication to doing it right rocks) I've got maybe a more chilled view of things than I would done otherwise.

Nile
(Dallas Toler-Wade, Karl Sanders, George Kollias)

Hearing them talk you could tell they really had a genuine desire to play. No bones about that. They were there, the kit was there but the venue simply didn't have the size to get the show going. The Cluny is a nice place, quite easy going and Dallas was even saying as such, but the logistics of getting the kit in place simply wasn't there. Seems the size of the space needed to get the backline setup was never checked fully with regard to the venue when it was moved there.

It was quite nice in a way to hear somebody in a band actually talking about not wanting to take fans money putting a shitty show on, to feel that they were somehow screwing the people who'd turned up for something half-assed. That would have been easy but they weren't into taking the money and running.

The bands hung out there for a good few hours, both in the bar and outside on the grass, talking to fans and generally just meeting anybody who wanted to go up and say hi. They didn't have to but stuck it out. Seemed good people, one and all. Annoyed at not playing but trying to be as chilled about it as they could.

Yeah, if I'm honest, I'm gutted they didn't play but now I've heard their view on the why and what I can see that in the cold light of day it was the right choice.

They'll get some grief from fans who've either not gone or haven't thought it through but I'd say for those fans to think if they'd rather have an honest response or a rip-off gig.

In these days of the money speaking for some bands I know which means more in the long term.

Whirled in action.

2005-09-03T11:56:00.000+01:00

I was feeling a little out of sorts so trawled round what other people were blogging to get some sort of inspiration. I read this post over here and it got me thinking. As ever that got me blogging again. Funny how that works.

Anyway, back to the post itself.

With all that's going on at the moment (war, bombings, tsunami, Katrina, bird flu, etc, etc) I find myself more and more thinking that it's simply the ecosystem finding ways to balance itself out.

You know all those "foxes and chickens" simulations that have been around since the 70's ? That's the sort of thing. Whenever one single thing becomes too big nature finds a way to scale it back. Sometimes it's controlled from within and sometimes from an external force. Always controlled though.

It's all at different scales too. Mould on a surface, families in a street, empires on one or more continents, species.....all subject to the same thing.

As much as we think we're superior enough to have full control over our world we're still animals on the planet. Yeah, we have bikes and cushions and tanks and jello but we're still part of the system and not above it.

With the rising population is it no real wonder that something gives ?

I'm not absolving us from blame though. We're obviously doing all we can to accelerate things happening to us - that is where our stupidly blind human superiority complex comes in. Still though I wonder if even that, our actions, are part of the system in place.

I guess I'm in the sort of period in my life where I'm already looking for pointers towards the what's, where's and how's and all these things - all automatically given the "disaster" tag by lazy media without even checking a thesaurus - focus my view outside my own situation.

Only natural I guess.....like everything else.........

Pictures as words: Cartoon time #6

2005-08-28T13:18:00.000+01:00

Another one - because I can !

Writing fragment: "The Glass Story"

2005-08-27T19:31:00.000+01:00

Sometimes I write something and I get all enthusiastic about it and I then tell a few other people I've had a great idea. Then though, in a slack moment, I start to wonder quite where it'll go. That leaves me wandering 'off topic' and it becomes a little file clogging up my hard drive with a hopelessly uncertain future. This is such a file, a Ronin of my writing attempts..........

He came to, groggy and a little to the left of himself. It felt odd for a moment until he settled back into where he was. A curious feeling indeed.

As he reached for the drink in front of him he realised that everything was almost imperceptibly vibrating.

No. Wait. Not everything was.

Only things made of glass. Tiny, ridiculously subtle pulses moving through them. Almost invisible to the naked eye but causing a very unnatural feeling when touched.

He realised it was stranger still. The pint glass, half filled in his hand, was quivering in this odd way but the content wasn't. Not a ripple or bubble. No sign of anything out of order even though the glass container was all but dancing in his hand.

He put the glass down and watched it. No sign of it running across the table, no noise of rattling against the marble surface. He reached a finger out to check he wasn't losing his grip on things again. The recoil of his fingertip as it found the surface told him all he needed to know.

He stood, shakily, shifting his weight quickly to avoid toppling straight back down again. It was always a few minutes before the effects wore off. It was the one side of it he always regretted.

Because you like them: Cartoon time #4 - 5

2005-08-26T17:49:00.000+01:00

Blame mild insomnia: Cartoon time #1 - 3

2005-08-26T00:28:00.000+01:00

Click on them. Enjoy them. Humour me.

Half full. otherwise empty.

2005-08-25T23:20:00.000+01:00

Strange, this blogging thing.

I read posts on blogs from people in this little group making long rambling posts about how they feel and what it is that's knawing at them and really making them feel painfully mortal.......and they then say they wish they hadn't posted it.

I'm just wishing I had the balls to do one right now but most likely won't.

Ironic, isn't it........

Two ladies with a style of their own.......

2005-08-20T20:35:00.000+01:00

If you have a half decent web connection head over to the new Corpse Bride website. It's pretty graphics intensive but, for once, more than worth the download.

Truly amazing graphics considering it's all Flash done, great sound all through and VERY interactive - loads of stuff to do hidden away in each area. If you love that Tim Burton look and got a kick out of the stop motion charm of Nightmare Before Christmas then you'll be loving this too. Probably.

I'm about 15mins in and still finding things to do or make happen. A lot of these yield extra artwork etc to download and most of it is actually very good quality stuff.

(Hints: try a popular pub game or try your piano skills !)

On the subject of dramatic gothic ladies with pale complexions (ok, it's a very tedious link) I'll be spending a couple of hours in the company of Siouxsie tonight as I got her "Dreamshow" live DVD in the post this morning. Her lovliness herself, Budgie, Leonard Eto & an orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall - Banshees & Creatures tracks in full effect. Even three tracks filmed in the infamous 100 Club amongst the extras.

This, as you may expect, makes me very happy indeed.

Arcade on Fire.......live

2005-08-19T21:56:00.000+01:00

Just watching the full live set by The Arcade Fire over at http://www.pukkelpop.be/ as part of the festival there - some bands are being streamed live to WebLand - who knows, maybe we'll get some of the Pixies tonight or Nick Cave tomorrow, who knows ?

I'd forgotten just how good this lot were - on fine live form tonight.

For those still to get into them just imagine Talking Heads jamming with The Pixies, Bjork on backing vox and all members of the band slightly bonkers.....in a Parisian drinking den......in Canada.....in your head......

Hmmmm, bet that only makes sense to me, right ?

Regular readers will remember my initial reaction to this lot over here......

Gohatto: where the sword doesn't cut the deepest.

2005-08-17T00:14:00.000+01:00

Gohatto
(Takeshi Kitano pictured)

In around 100mins director Nagisa Oshima guides the 1996 "Gohatto" ('taboo', or more literally, 'against the rules') through much more than the Samurai militia movie that cover photo's alude to.

Bringing together, for the first time since 'Merry Cristmas Mr Lawrence', the music and mood setting of Ryuichi Sakamoto with the understated yet on the money (as ever) Takeshi Kitano, Oshima threads together a tale of a garrison of samurai around the time of the decline of shogunate power and an involved murder mystery.

Recruitment brings two new applicants into the garrison. The brash and forthright Tashiro and the beautiful and provocative Kano. As time progresses and the all-male school reacts to the characters brought into the fold, it shows on many levels how repressed love, lust and jealousy can cause ripples that lead to waves through class, honour and even the most the established power structure of the time.

Kano and Tashiro.

What makes this so different from the current crop of sword-and-man themed movies is that this is firmly grounded in very earthly reality. There's not a moment of flying wireplay during the fights, no magic potions are thrown and absolutely no running is done across rooftops. This is fighting with stumbles, trips, brute force sometimes replacing skill and the very human nature of combat, albeit honed.

The same themes are evident in the surprisingly expanded characters - from the new entrants, through to the the highest ranks, nobody is free from the most base of feelings and emotions.

Some scenes are simply breathtaking, especially the entrance by a fully-adorned geisha paid for by Kitano's Captain Hijikata as a method for pouring oil on the troubled waters of the school. Even in scenes like this there is none of the paletted panels of recent epics, reaching for many fewers colours yet painting something more vivid.

Hijikata tests Kano

As a story of death and honour of the period it's very good, but with the many layers of human frailty toning the semi-accepted yet still harshly controlled love of one recruit for another, it lends itself to being quite a unique film.

Anybody out for another "Hero" or "Crouching Tiger..." may be surprised or turned-off by the subject matter, but as a microcosm of man's love for his fellow man, both in honour and lust, this is a restrained gem.

Another Kitano work happily ending up on this Carpathians shelves.

Victoria doesn't Book-em

2005-08-16T15:35:00.000+01:00

Victoria "I'm not posh spice anymore" Beckham has revealed to Chic magazine that she has never read a book in her entire life.

Not at school ?

Not with parents when she was little ?

Not even her own 500+ page autobiography "that she wrote" ??

Strikes me as the sort of dumb unfounded quote, borne of a very selective memory, that celebs love to drip out to make column inches.......

.....or the sort of thing somebody who'd never read a book might say.

So kids, read a book or end up like Stick Spice - the choice is clear !

Pop goes the.........monitor.

2005-08-13T20:45:00.000+01:00

Of course, when you post something on here all cheery about your computing abilities, or their upcoming improvement, the Ying-Yang-O-meter will hear this and home in on you to redress the world balance.

So, I'm sitting having a smurf of the w3 and suddenly........

{pop}

........15% brightness and smeary contents on the screen.

The monitor above is no longer my friend. We have fallen out.

Luckily I had another one available and this works, thankfully proving it's not the base unit itself.

This monitor is old and cranky but works (as such).

Seems I have a warranty replacement to arrange.

{sigh}

Slow news day but getting faster soon........

2005-08-13T14:20:00.000+01:00

As some of you may remember, tucked away in the recent past, I moved service provider from my previous adsl connection over to a 2mb cable service with Telewest.

Well, I'm glad I did.

I spotted a press release today which, in a nutshell, means that my service will get an upgrade from 2mb up to 10mb.....for the same price and still un-capped.

I think that deserves a "woo hoo", don't you ?

Owzat ? Bloody wonderful !

2005-08-07T12:25:00.000+01:00

SECOND TEST - MATCH SUMMARY (Day 4) :
England 407 & 182 bt Australia 308 & 279 by two runs

Wow.

The fourth day of the second Test ends with the sort of nail-biter that would seem unbelievable if it was worked out fictionally. I've seen many Test's over the years but this must be up there with one of the closest, most twisting competitions to have been played, either here or overseas.

'Freddy' Flintoff was a stormer with both bat and ball: 52-3 & 79-4 in the field and 68 & 73 with the willow. That storm of sixes, including the one OVER the crowd and onto the roof.....well, it was a joy to see.

Warne deserves a mention too, of course, for the 46-6 in the 2nd innings.

All over though that was a great England win to level the Ashes.

Bring on Old Trafford on the 11th !

These boots were made for....buying.

2005-08-06T14:50:00.000+01:00

Finally, after about a year of looking at them, picking them up and putting them down again, talking myself out of buying any, I've given in and bought myself a pair of New Rock boots.

Wonderful detailing, a very comfortable fit and, by all accounts, a good lifespan - I ended up just caving in. Walked in wearing my Docs and walked out carrying them.

I have to say that they're damn nice to wear - considering they have to break in a little they're a great fit straight off the shelf (they never even made it into the box)

"Blimey", you'll be thinking, "they must have been expensive ?"

{coughs nervously and avoids tell-tale eye contact}

Er, you might well be right but we don't talk about that, ok ?

This Carpathian is happy......

2005-08-06T00:55:00.000+01:00

This was number 4 and the end of the bottle.

By this point I can just about say the word bottel, er, botteell, urm, bootle......

No mind, however it was contained, I am now officially happy....

.......and can't feel my limbs.

:o)

Ship in a bottle / days in a post.

2005-08-03T18:01:00.000+01:00

Just thought I'd drop a quick update on as I've not posted so much over the last few days.

There's no real reason for the lowered wordcounting, just one of those times when nothing really noteworthy is happening. When I started the blog I pushed like crazy to get at least one post in every 24hours and for a few months it went ok.

Times come round though, as in other things, where this means the effort is somewhat forced. I've seen a few others either fall by the wayside or wipe things and start again, partly (if I'm right) due to the feeling of pressure to blog overiding the actual need or desire to. I got through this myself and now enjoy being able to either post 23 stupidly involved and picture filled things or just an odd thing as the mood takes me. I think it's less of a chore that way.

So, to sum up the last few days or so I'm going to open my mouth (keyboard) and see what sound (things) come out. If you're lucky I'll put some pics in too. You like pics, don't you ?

Anyway, here goes:-

raiding my Siouxsie and the Banshees back catalogue
swooning over pics of Siouxsie Sioux (as ever)

growing to love the latest Queen Adreena album
working on a remix of the Curve track "Unreadable Communication"

leaping about to the Japanese garage rock of Guitar Wolf
hearing the new Opeth album

drinking green tea to relax
making Japanese cold barley tea
trying Korean Kimchee and wanting to try more

.....watching the Tall Ships build up
enjoying the crowds and markets
and watching the Tall Ships dwindle again......

preparing for the new football season by buying £70 of Wolves clothes/merch

wondering whether to clip the climbing roses by the front door
arguing with my old ISP
buying a ticket to go and see Goldfrapp

sending a gift to far away friend.......
.....receiving a surprise from a far away friend

ordering three more Takeshi Kitano movies
saying hi to Sir Bobby on the Quayside
recounting two embarrasing tales from my past to somebody

playing snooker for the first time in ages

Actually, when you condense even a few days like this, you do then realise that there have been quite a few things going on that you pass by without a second thought.

Hmmm. I'm glad I took the time to do this after all..........

Weather lousy but whether too lousier....

2005-07-30T13:26:00.000+01:00

Yesterday: Drizzle, mist, murk, dull, damp, cold.

Today: Rain, dull, misty, cold.

Today is therefore cancelled. Not just my plans but the whole day.

If any of you are having a Saturday at the moment you should exit it carefully at the nearest door and prepare to move straight to Sunday instead. Hopefully that one will be a little more encouraging.

I'm off to catch up on film watching, album ripping, PC cleaning and general under the roof type things.

If you are forced to be outdoors in similar conditions at the moment then be careful how you're reading this - your PC will get wet.

Kienholz: Retrospective.

2005-07-22T22:19:00.000+01:00

Art is a strange thing.

The same piece of work can invoke a myriad of reactions in people, possibly with no two people quite seeing the same thing the same way. Some art brings out the thoughtful scholar whilst other boils the blood of the hateful mob.

I think I have a pretty liberal view where art is concerned. I'm just as at home with paintings, prints, sculpture, installation, performance, modern or classical, direct or oblique. I can enjoy a Dali, a William Blake, an Enim, a Hurst or a Kapoor.

I think the thing that keeps me curious and interested about this sort of thing is that I realised many years ago that not liking or understanding a piece doesn't make it bad or wrong - just that it's something you don't get. To my mind all art is created from the artists subjective view of things so it's no surprise that it's hard to truly take an objective view of what it is or where it comes from.

When I see art I like though, I know it.

This brings me to today, and my visit to the Baltic Centre for Comtemporary Art.

The Baltic - today.

I'd actually gone there to mainly see part of the "History of Disappearance", a selection from the Franklin Furnace archives. Taken from live art ranging from 1975 to the present it included something I'd seen many years ago that had long since stuck in my mind - a work called "The Pedestrian Project" by Yvette Helin. Of course, at the time I had no idea what it was, just that it was people dressed as those figures seen on washroom doors - very odd but very memorable.

The Pedestrian Project

Moving through city streets, mixing prearranged routines with spontaneous movement, they stood for the anonymous nature of people, how things merge into one in amongst the bustle of daily life. The twist is, of course, that when you put a style of figure seen every day in an environment known like the back of your hand it stands out and becomes extraordinary.

It was really good to watch the whole piece finally, including some behind the scenes footage of the suits getting prepared and fitted.

As good as that was, though, it wasn't the thing that really caught me. What did was one of the best things I've seen in many years and has really fired me up to find out more. I'll most likely go back agin in the next week or two.

Over two floors, also including a viewing gallery overlooking one of them, is the Kienholz exhibition - work from Edward and Nancy Reddin Kienholz.

I'd heard the name before but never seen anything by them. Now I have I'm very glad - there was stuff in there which I'll remember for a long time to come.

How to describe it, in theme and style, is very hard. As I mentioned before I find art to be a very subjective thing so my view of it is just that - what I've taken from it.

Imagine a mix of 50's circus sideshow, the beauty of found art, sharp sexual and political comment and a capturing of both a zeitgiest and nadir of Americana as viewed from the inside. It is really, truly tough to explain what some of the pieces feel like or the emotion they seem to invoke.

There are a couple of pieces which draw you in and implicate you into their world. One - "The Bear Chair" - turns a childs teddy bear into a figure of sexually predatory menace over a small female figure made of various doll parts. When you first enter the small room it's located in you are somewhat let down and it seems nothing special - the full situation is only realised when a sentence scratched into the desk is read on moving in close to the piece. By that point you're there, in amongst it, and too late to get away again. It goes from being an initial let down to horribly chilling - even now the hairs are standing up on the back of my neck as the thought of the actual subject matter it covers hits home again.

I can't bring myself to include a picture here but just knowing the phrase used is enough in itself:-

IF YOU EVER TELL I'LL HURT YOUR MAMA REAL REAL BAD

Other pieces include 73 versions of Jesus on the cross, spanning a whole wall of a gallery, each made of pram parts and other found objects from around the world.

76 JC's Led The Big Parade

A large number of the items over the many areas are war related, stretch from the first world war through to Vietnam, and Hitler through to the nature of war itself.

The Big Double Cross

"The Ozymandias Parade" is a huge tableaux mounted on a giant flashing arrow, skeletal bastardised figures of a generic President and vice-President caught up in a chaos of a bolting horse. Tiny third-world figures flank them and within the melee there are allusions to nuclear threat, US poverty and futility.

It sounds bleak and disaffecting but totally captures your attention and holds you, much like every other piece there.

The Ozymandias Parade

{detail}

A skewed fairground ride, "The Merry-Go-World Or Begat By Chance And The Wonder Horse Trigger", saw me spinning a wheel and once inside seeing my possible other life have being that of a small black girl in bleak poverty. You go in chuckling at the lights and come out with a totally changed mood. This is work as both art and comment, but with neither getting in the way of the other.

The Merry-Go-World

The Caddy Court

"The Caddy Court" sees a version of the US supreme court lodged in the middle of, as the name suggests, a 1978 Cadillac. Odd touches are subtley hidden around the car but pulling aside the curtains on the court itself sees you face to face with nine justices in skeletal and animal form, dark and merciless. Again you find yourself drawn in on one pretext and spat out with another, implicated into the Kienholz world without recourse.

The Hoerengracht

It's Not My Fault

These are only a small part of what is on offer and those in the northeast of England should take the chance to go and experience this slice of other peoples heads before it finishes at the end of August and relocates to Sydney, Australia, in December.

Sometimes you seek art out because you know it's what you'll like.

Other times, like this, it finds you and grabs you.....and I'm very glad it has.

The one where Carpathian lies on the couch.....

2005-07-19T08:46:00.000+01:00

So, last night I met my match.

I should, all things as they are, have been talking to somebody after an enforced break of a couple of days. Only a couple of days but after regular conversation it was a long time and it really would have been nice to catch up on the events of those 48 hours. They know how I feel about not doing this straight away, and were wonderful about it, but still I should have been there sooner.

That isn't the point of this though. Although it is. A little.

Instead I spent some time helping a friend troubleshoot his home network setup to work out why he was having a few glitches. Turns out that he needed to alter his NAT to drive a certain IP through the DMZ.

Again, not the point of this, but just helpful associated info towards why I'm sitting at my desk at work typing this into a blank notepad ready to blog later.

The point is that I didn't manage to work a solution for him and, this morning, I still feel very low about it.

I realise that I'm not some sort of super-brain and can know everything to do with every electronic device out there, nor am I trying to say that I'm some sort of know-it-all that can solve everything the world puts in front of him with a snap of the fingers and a witty catch-phrase. Well, maybe the catch-phrase bit. Mostly.

Usually though, over a day or two, I can suss out the right things to try and make my way via a few dead ends to a solution. I liken it more to detective work that any sort of techie knowledge. I've done it for nearly 20 years now and have got an instinct for sorting things for friends, family and my job at the time.

This time though, I bailed out and suggested they call tech support.....and it's really got to me.

Unless you know me really well you're probably thinking "What's the problem ?" and wondering why I cut up enough about it to be posting a blog about it. After all, I don't normally post internal turmoil on here - I'm the one that does pictures of boots and comments about wacky Japanese snacks.

I guess that it's my turn to use the blog format to expel a demon rather than let it fester internally - most of you, at least in my little current circle of BlogFriends, do it at some point and it seems to be a therapy that works.

It's the realisation of defeat so easily that pains me. The fundamental inability to help that person in the end that I'd set out to do. They're the feelings that needle me still from last night. Helping people do stuff is a great thing and I thrive on it. Always have. Setting up timers on videos, working out why somebody can't install "Super Whizzy Thing #3"

For the most part it's being an ear there when a friend needs somebody that is where you'll find me. Even if that friend tells me they don't want to talk I'll force them in a subtle and underhand way to let the stress out somehow. It's as much a part of me as the little beard or the love of music. People make my world go round and helping them puts a nice little 1% tilt on it's axis.

So bailing out on something geeky is very poor show to me as it's failing to help them - not the silicon side but the human side.

Is this making any sense at all to anybody but me ??

Carpathian enjoys a little sun......

2005-07-16T14:07:00.000+01:00

What did you expect, shorts and sunglasses ??

"The public gets what the public wants, but I don't care........."

2005-07-13T08:52:00.000+01:00

I really have no sympathy for people at times, I really don't.

For ages now those of us that watch TV, yet have diverse interests and a thirst for knowledge, have wondered why primetime doesn't put in more stimulating shows. You know things that entertain but also inform or cause a person to question or go off to find out more.

I was therefore dismayed to find that BBC2 has lost three million viewers in the past year after cutting its number of lifestyle and entertainment shows. The decision to replace them with more arts and current affairs in peak time has led to a 'significant fall' in audience, the BBC admitted."

This worries me.

It seems therefore that we now have a viewing public that no longer wish to stretch their brains but would rather see this years 'in' paint colours or whether somebody will get on better with another persons wife.

As people like Ray will tell you, we don't need TV in our lives. The sad thing is that used well it can be an aid, a tool and a route for discovery.

People don't now seem to want this though and the implications for a general mood change in the thirst for the new don't bode well.

Chicken nuggets and house-swapping anybody ?

Random questions yield very random answers....

2005-07-12T20:05:00.000+01:00

So, I got tagged - in return for that I'll point my magic 'blog tagging' finger (no, it really does exist) at the dwellings of 'Livewire', 'Luke' and 'Onkroes'. I've used apostrophes around their names as, surprisingly, they're actually all anagrams of their real names !

Anyway, on with the fun bit - me getting tagged.

(1) Imagine it’s 2015. You are visiting the library at a major research university. You go over to a computer terminal (or whatever it is they use in 2015) that gives you immediate access to any book or journal article on any topic you want. What do you look up? In other words, what do you hope somebody will have written in the meantime?

This question has so many possible answers that I'd need to look up if the QWWW (Quantum World Wide Web) had been invented. I'd then have a look at all the answers I could have used, check the comments for the most popular one and use that....thus proving the paradox of self-fulfilling things.

(2) What is the strangest thing you’ve ever heard or seen at a conference? No names, please. Refer to “Professor X” or “Ms. Y” if you must. Double credit if you were directly affected. Triple if you then said or did something equally weird.

I'm not a conference goer, per se, but have frequented training courses and expo's in the past. I'll choose from one of those, if I may. The people I tag will have to stick to the rules though - whoever said life is fair.

Travelled from Shropshire down to Cirencester for some database software training. I'm purposefully keeping the techie side down to save boring you before the punchline. So, it seems an average bunch - couple of lookers, an octal of geeks and a handful of others including myself: part led by knowledge and part driven by beer paid for on expenses.

So, we sit down in front of the admittedly shiny training room PC's and the instructor/trainer/boffin pushes his switch to take control of all out monitors.....and nothing. Black as you like. A frantic call is made by him to get 'the fixer' up to sort it.

Door opens and in walks one of my best buds from college, a guy I've not seen for about 9 years !! This is the guy that could rig free credits on arcade machines with a kitchen gas cooker lighter, a guy who got me into remixing via Depeche Mode on a 4 track reel-to-reel....the list goes on. Needless to say much falling down water was drunk on the nights there and bad heads were learnt through.

(3) Name a writer, scholar, or otherwise worthy person you admire so much that meeting him or her would probably reduce you to awestruck silence.

It's somewhat ironic that I'd pick Jeff Noon, a man with his own style that makes words feel like slithery things that you never quite feel you have control over. The thing with the Noon is that whilst others attempting this loose fluid style can often come unstuck he manages to always keep a heavy thread running through, something to hold onto like a safety rope. His first two books, Vurt and Pollen, are probably the books I've read more than any other. I actually own three copies of the former, one signed, and would still buy another if an unusual one comes around.

The irony comes from the fact that his way of writing has, over the years, done more to inspire not keeping within the dotted lines in many written or spoken ways and yet if I got the chance to speak to him I'd clam up and become the user of language as wild and swervy as a plastic chopstick.

Any writer worth his or her salt, of any genre or style, should check out his Cobralingus project. Imaginary word-circuitry that takes and re-forms language into something it is yet never was - a genius yet simple method for encouraging thinking outside of the style you normally fall into. Regular readers will know of the results when I applied the idea on Ray's "Big Blind" - still one of the things I'm most pleased with results wise.

(4) What are two or three blogs or other Web sites you often read that don’t seem to be on many people’s radar?

Every now and then I pop over to WWiTV, a collection of streaming TV from around the world. Fast connections help but there are some for most speeds. Anything that features amongst it's ranks such things as Latvian fighting sports or Mongolias first commercial TV station is worth a dabble.

Another love is JBox - a site where you can buy or, in many cases, stare with disbelief at pretty much anything Japanese. Food, drink, clothes, toys, novelties, films....you name it. I've ordered from there, as previous blog posts have testified, and it's very efficient. Where else can you buy things as diverse as muscat grape juice gummi sweets, a Chronological Table of Rice Prices as a wall hanging or, wonderfully, a tshirt bearing the slogan "You must be 20 Years Old to Purchase Tobacco and Alcohol".

You're it.

2005-07-12T19:46:00.000+01:00

'The Banks' of TheSaturdayBoy fame has 'tagged' me in an ongoing game of Blog Tag.

I shall be posting the fetid, over-ripe fruits of this at a hopefully close point, once finished and polished such that it shines like a left handed frog.

It's been a long, hot day at work - forgive me a little oddness.

Art, film, oriental drinks and the prelude to counting sheep........

2005-07-10T00:29:00.000+01:00

I'm keeping this short today as I'm basically really, really tired and meant to be heading to bed to get some z's. I fell asleep watching the tv this afternoon which is something I never do so I'm taking my bodies advice and only burning the candle at one end.

Just chance for a quck round up of the last few days:-

Go and look at some of the art created by Livewire over here and more recently, alongside a musing of hers, over here. I'm hoping to see more as time goes on.

Get your hands on the "DiG!" rock-doc - seven years in the lives of the Dandy Warhols / Brian Jonestown Massacre. Even if you don't like the bands or, as is possible, have never heard of them then it's a hoot of a watch and one of the better examples of the genre. Watch the human condition, both good and bad, unfold by turn. Also some great drug-addled oneliners and fights.

Seek out bottles of "Honey Green Tea" - found a new Oriental shop (surprisingly NOT in the Chinatown part of Newcastle) and tried one icecold from the fridge on a stupidly hot day. Wonderful. The store also sells Pretz and Koala biscuits as seen is this earlier post of mine and a whole load more things I'm curious to try.

Oh, and you'll notice I've not commented on the obvious news from the week after the events in London. Enough has been said already by many more qualified than I and anything else, especially from this end of the country, is somewhat redundant.

This Carpathian is now heading to bed.

Goodnight one and all, even if it isn't night where you are........

Everything she touches turns to Gold(frapp)

2005-07-06T23:57:00.000+01:00

Carpathian is happy.

No. Strike that.

Carpathian is really rather excited.

Both a new Goldfrapp single and a new Goldfrapp album in August, and a live date in Newcastle in October.

While I run around the room and calm myself down, here's a picture of the owner of one of the sexiest voices in music, always a captivatingly coutured vision and one of the few women to make severed wolf heads intensely sexual - a certain miss Alison Goldfrapp.

The album, "Supernature" seems, from the samples I've heard, to be more in line with the bands previous ("Black Cherry") - funked-up electrosexual sleaze pop. See, they now even have their own genre description due to my happiness.

Here's the oddly alluring cover - however sensual she always is , it always manages to be something slightly wrong where 'Auntie' is concerned........

Head over to the new version of the bands website for sneaks of all the tracks on the album, the full video for first single "Ooh La La" and a menu built around a semi-naked bird-headed creature riding a horse made of white light.

Oh, come on, you don't get that every day, do you ??

:o)

explodingdog 2005

2005-07-04T16:44:00.000+01:00

Another period of time goes by and, as predictable as ever, my link to 'explodingdog' comes round again.

For those unitiated into the madness it's a guy that invites words or phrases to be sent to them and draws something....in their own very, er, unique style.

So if you want to see how the phrases "remember back when we were small?", "how do i look in your eyes" or "did you know, cats can read?" look in somebody elses minds-eye then go and have a look.

As an example, this has frequently been my works PC desktop over the last year or so:-

the glass is half full

For poverty think Pink.....

2005-07-02T23:24:00.000+01:00

Will the Live8 idea help with the triple whammy of debt relief, fair trade and elimination of political corruption ?

Who knows - seems there's already been some rumour of movement during the day but the real results could be years off.

What I do know now is that the old hippy in me, the one that hides behind loud music and crazy goodness knows what, is sitting here just mesmerised by the Floyd, playing live in public as the original line-up for the first time in about 22 years.

"Wish You Were Here" nearly had me in tears - the emotion and atmosphere there is tangible.

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee............. !!!!!!!!!!!!!

2005-07-01T09:11:00.000+01:00

Excuse me if I'm a little off-target this morning.

Tried a stick of the "Black Black" Japanese chewing gum while walking into work this morning. A warming taste somewhere between cinnamon, pepper, root beer and antiseptic cream. Shouldn't work but does.

Only problem is that I literally have the shakes now and finding it hard to concentrate. Couldn't work out why I just wanted to keep chewing.

Searched online and found the why - it's loaded with caffeine..............

Configuration without the 'con'

2005-06-30T14:37:00.000+01:00

XBox Live! now recognised - just need to test it "in action" but it seems ok as far as the ultra-geeky stupidly-hidden diagnostics go.

eMail configured AND the ISP's webmail service tested too.

It seems, ladies and gentlemen visitors to The Towers, that I'm jolly well back in action.

I'm off to treat myself to some Green Tea candy........

Hello - it's the cable guy...............

2005-06-30T12:16:00.000+01:00

"Cable Guy" was here early, was here for no more than maybe 10mins and in that time laid the cabling, connected up the modem and left no mess. Very friendly etc.

Some 5 mins after that I'm online {big grin} - just tested the speed and I got 20mb down in 1min 45secs. I think that should be fine {bigger grin}

Now just got to get my email and xbox configured..........

Wonka-san, welcome to the Towers - for real.

2005-06-29T19:47:00.000+01:00

I know people are waiting for the Wonkatastic new film, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", but I'd point people to look out East - the joys of wild and wonderful confectionary already exist in Japan.... and now in my house. For all the things in the film, some of this stuff matches it in every way.

As some of you may know, I recently sold my car. Actually you *all* should know as it was in this very Blog. In order to deflect feelings of guilt something had to give.

I thought I'd treat myself to a visit over at jbox.com, a route into the oft baffling world of the Japanese world, and it's inner sanctum of sweets and treats. I've always been interested in everything over there, from the social etiquette through to cinema, and the food and drink through to the music. The chance to sample some of it for real was far too tempting.

So, just under two weeks later, the parcels arrived in perfect condition here at The Towers.

Between them were pastries, biscuits, candies, drinks and gums. Most would have baffled me if it wasn't for the very detailed descriptions on the site - trust me, the pics on the front of most of the packets convey about 10% of what's inside.

Here's the full list, in all it's fantastic glory:-

Toppo -- Baked Chocolate Snack
Petit Soup Bread Snack -- Minestrone
Lotte Black Black Gum
Glico Maple & Butter Pretz w/Cinamon Sugar Pack
Pocari Sweat Powder
Meiji 100% Grape Juice Gummi
100% Juice Gummy -- Green Apple
March of Koala -- Melon Soda Cream
Morinaga Okinawa Black Sugar Caramel
Mugi Cha (Barley Tea) - 52 cold water tea bags
Lotte Pie no Mi -- Custard Pudding
Meiji Mini Assortment -- 5 Set of Various Candy Box
Sugarless Green Tea Mint Candy ~ Nodo Ame
Bourbon Petit Snack - Fried Mayonnase Rice Cracker
Ci-Ma Puccho -- Muscat
Sweet Green Tea Aulet
Mikakutoh 'Hero' Shigekix -- Victory Cola Flavor
Mikakutoh Charcoal Roasted Coffee Candy
Morinaga Green Tea Caramel
Matcha Ame -- Green Tea Candy

It's the invention and flair for combining the least obvious things in the world that catches my eye. Where else could you find "Minestrone", "Black Sugar" or "Fried Mayonaise" as flavours ?

Also the packaging alone deserves plaudits - it's colourful, unique and very eye-catching. I've picked a few examples for you to feast your eyes on - whilst I get to feast on the real thing ;o)

I've so far tried a couple of small cubes of the green tea candy. They're chewy like Starburst but tasting of freshly brewed Chun Mee tea. Also the genius Fried Mayonaise crackers. Even just opening the packet gave out a warm, savoury smell to make the mouth water. Whether you can actually fry mayo in the first place is a bit of a pointless question. It works and it works damn well.

Ray, you're lucky and will get to taste some when I grab a few samples for the office on Friday, but the rest of you will have to just imagine what's inside the packs.

Actually, having opened a couple, that's really not going to be easy ;o)

Sailing the seas of change..........

2005-06-27T14:30:00.000+01:00

Just a quick note of things happening here at The Towers in the next week or so.

Having been with my service provider for about 10 years or more I've been paying each month for an "unlimited, unmetered account" and quite happily smurfing the W3 quite happily.

Suddenly, out of the blue, I get a letter telling me I'm using more than my monthly allowance. This isn't after the first month of doing so by all accounts - they waited three months then tell me I've been over for that period and that I'm a very naughty boy and they may cut my legs off at the knees (cancel my account).

Hang on, wind that back and just think about that for a second...... more than unlimited........

How can you use too much of something that supposedly has no upper limit ? Struck me as kinda odd so I phoned to find out which guest celebrity comedian was working in their office this week, sending out the joke letter and such like hilarious pranks.

Seems like they have clowns, no less, working in their planning department too.

With as little warning as possible they decided to levy a cap on adsl users unmetered accounts, only mention it in tiny small print changes to the terms of service, not notify anybody if they tripped over the new rules AND charge people the same as for the previous service as well.

I've decided to therefore give Wanadoo (such an ironic name in the situation) the heave ho and set sail for the distant shores of Blueyonder. I'll be starting the swap to them in the next few days.

Anybody mailing me on my GMail account will still be read with no hassles but I expect a little downtime blogwise whilst I migrate my smurfability - I'll be moving from dsl to cable so I'm sure there will be some sort of confusion and calamity in the swap. Anything involving two men in a van running fibre-optic cable is just sure to fail on the first attempt.

The moral of this tale ?

The grass CAN sometimes be greener on the other side, especially when somebody slides concrete silently under your feet where you stand.....

I'm apologising to myself...but not meaning it for one minute....

2005-06-24T19:49:00.000+01:00

Just caught the first two tracks of tonight's creaking-under-it's-own-assumed-coolness that is Top Of The Pops.

The weird thing is that the two tracks are things that, in principle, this Carpathian should abhor.....but I didn't.

First broke my golden rule of dance acts lifting parts of old tracks and trading off them now. the Audio Bullys featuring Nancy Sinatra doing "Shot You Down" is, frankly, mesmerising. Her voice is as amazing as ever on that haunting track and the crunching cut-ups and beats don't for some reason distract from it in any way. Just the opposite in fact - the drop outs leaving her even more in the forefront.

Second one was even more of a shock as it broke both Carpathians first rule (see prev mention) AND added the fact it was a rap artist. Kanye West performed "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" complete with {draws breath} the use of Shirley Bassey singing "Diamonds Are Forever" and some stupidly big strings. How in the name of all that's audio does that have ANY right to work ??

Both did though and I'm most surprised. I've always told everybody that'll listen (and many that would rather not) about my varied taste in music but even I'm raising an eyebrow at myself right now.

It's the thought of what could be the next thing to surprise myself with that worries me.....

Update - it's a music thang......

2005-06-24T10:23:00.000+01:00

Just a quick update on the whole music thang.

Thanks for the fevered communication from various sources this morning - your words are appreciated. Good to see a little mini whirlwind of a debate opened up, resolved and closed so easily !!

It seems, above all, that I was right that music matters.

Watch this space, people linked {below-right}, for a new place we can ALL go and post our musical spewings........

Music Matters: Volume One

2005-06-22T21:11:00.000+01:00

As promised, here's my first post regarding a few CD's or, to be more exact, artists that have sat with me over a good few years now and still succeed in bring many emotions on every single listen.

They aren't meant to be exhaustive write-ups of the artists entire life and recorded outputs - this is the W3 and a few Googles away are far more words about them than I'm liable to fit in a month of these. Also, don't take the fact that some get one album pictured and others a number as a qualitative statement of overall rankings - these are routes into the collection, all hand picked with Carpy-tastic skill and judgement.......

Julian Cope
http://www.headheritage.co.uk/

peggy suicide

jehovahkill

autogeddon

Recently a newspaper review described him thus:-

For all his eccentric behavior, Julian Cope has never been convincingly weird. The more he dons turtle shells or turns in 10-minute Krautrock epics about boulders, the more he comes over like a regular man wearing a wacky tie at a party.

It's actually a very astute quote - anybody on the outer rings of Planet Cope is liable to think it too strange a place to land but, beneath all the traffic cone hats and "turn left at out-there and keep going" loose musical style, there are things to rival pretty much anybody.

How this guy got from the 80's pop of Teardrop Explodes to the self-confessed "Arch Drude" (dude + druid, get it ?) I have no idea.....but I'm very glad he did. Out went direct, obvious stomping pop and in came guitar strums, psychedelic epics, cosmic krautrock jams and acid-fried campfire singalongs. Only with a stomping pop hook. There's that contradiction again.

Among the wealth (in quantity AND quality) of albums the three above stand out as a trilogy of sorts. Covering love, emotions, the Earth, religion, alien life, transport policy and numerous other things they are sprawling collections which take many listens to really sink in.

The simple ones are way more complex than you realise and the fully realised ones are far more basic than they have any right to be. Somewhere in the middle of these two the Cope exists and prospers, being both a minstrel for the third eye and, probably to your surprise, the countries leading mind on stones, relics and areas of (pre)historic interest around Britain.

In the same way Cope is more than willing to have opened his mind to things outside the stoic norm, so it's worth doing the same with the contents of his albums.

Prince

around the world in a day

Lets get the obvious comments out of the way first, shall we ?
He's short. He once scrawled the word slave on his cheek. He changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and then back again. He has a flamboyant choice in clothes.
There, done - now on to what I wanted to write.

The small (purple) one has during a quite ridiculous number of releases gone everywhere - funked up rock, glammed out funkadelica and perfection in pop bliss. One day a huge chart classic for Chaka Khan, Sinead O'Connor or the Bangles - the next day a grinding funk jam workout or a pop-rap radio friendly singalong.

For all the love and apathy that exists for the wee (purple) one, there also exists at least something for even the most skeptical audio traveler. I'd go with the cloud suited Around The World In A Day, back from when he was nestled in amongst the Revolution. Pop and psychedelicious arrangements mingle pretty much perfectly together in, for me, still one of his towering moments.

If you've never dabbled due to thinking he's just a bit too odd for you, then maybe hit the back catalogue in order to get a handle on the fact for all his star tantrums and press-baiting stunts, maybe in this case the devil doesn't have all the best tunes.....

I'd also have to mention the track Sometimes It Snows In April from the Parade album - if this record doesn't cause emotion to well forth then your heart is liable to be common or garden stone.

Tricky
http://www.trickyonline.com/

maxinquaye

pre millennium tension

nearly god

angels with dirty faces

blowback

Drug addled spokesman for the wasted generation ? Spokesman for weed psychosis effects ? Mumbling chancer ?

I guess anybody could pick one of these and assume that was the case.

Personally, I'd take those as maybe 25% of him. Even with the rasped whisper of a delivery his lyrics are stupidly clever. Urban poetry, phonetic raps, drawn out tirades....all hit the spot with what feels like a consummate ease. I pretty much blank 90% of rap from my ears due to finding it a seriously vapid waste of breath but somehow, in slowing it down to the speed of thought, this stuff hits home.

The thing about Tricky though, to me, isn't purely about his vocal style.

Having started as a member of Massive Attack it's fairly obvious where the basis of his sound issues from. Trip Hop. There, I said it and the world didn't stop spinning, did it ? For many it's a sound been and gone, something of a whole dropped musical age. What there is here though is music that evolves between albums, and manages to hold the attention during each too. Many years after it was the in album "Maxinquaye" still sounds very fresh, very sensual and like drowning in something very sleek.

Aside from the music there's also a serious, and surprising, role call of guest partners in crime - the (ir)regular contributions of Martina Topley-Bird through to Terry Hall, Alison Moyet, Bjork, Alison Goldfrapp, P J Harvey, Cyndi Lauper and even the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Each rises to the occasion, somehow having the best drawn out of them with the ease Tricky himself enjoys a reefer.

Want something contemporary but still quite unique ?

Tricky, isn't it.....

Notes to self on notes from others......

2005-06-18T00:27:00.000+01:00

What with myself confessing to yet more musical re-discoveries in a recent (ie just below this) posting, and with the mentions by onkroes in recent ones of his here and here, I just had to get myself round to yet another musical post.

Like music itself I'm going to steal a flavour from elsewhere (for this read whole idea) and drop in a few bands/artists that I've been listening to both recently and pretty much off and on over the last many years. Buying a bigger MP3 player can seriously put smiles on a persons face when trawling the shelves to rip stuff to load onto it.....

I'm wondering if I can convince others to do the same ??

With this making at least two of us doing it in this quadrant of the blog-map then surely that's tempting you all to grab your keyboard any down some thoughts and recollections from your (oh, the pain) collections.

C'mon - you've only your facades of coolness to risk......?

Nostalgia Status: Def.Con.One

2005-06-14T18:16:00.000+01:00

So, I'm quietly sitting at my desk at work and wondering just what defines "sexy dalek pictures" as requested by a regular visitor to The Towers.

A sexy Dalek ? A picture of a Dalek that's sexily shot ?

Strangely enough though, this post has nothing to do with said Dalek-mania, aside from posters now realising that I do read and occasionally act upon the comments added by people out there.

No, this is about what hit my ears and made me smile as I was doing said thinking. More exactly, the age and style and the music and what it made me realise more than ever.

We all realise that clothes come in and out of fashion, that methods of cooking food wander in the door marked "favour" and out of the door marked "cliched", only to sit outside and wander back through again more than once.

Flares ? Tracksuits ? Blackforest Gateau ? Fondue ? Crepes ?

In amongst a "random" clump of tracks I hit upon a blast of samples, raps, guitar and general lunacy. Causing the grin was Pop Will Eat Itself or, if you will, P.W.E.I.

Knocking the random option off I listened to most of "This is the Day, This is the Hour, This is This......"

For those of you not in the know or old enough to have caught it first time round - you really should hear just how good sheer enjoyment can sound when untethered by either taste or commercial greed. These were the days before sample clearance royalties, when skinny white Brits could rap in a very quirky British Way.

Songs about James Brown car chases ("Not now James, we're busy..."), TV satellite porn, lists of totally unconnected favourite things, the joy of guitars....you name it and the Poppies worked it into their music - usually all on the same track. I defy anybody, no matter how many anoraks they wear, to get where every sample on this album comes from - there are just sooooo many and so skillfully used.

The weird thing is that one point they really were de-rigeur for any crusty leather jacketed grebo, the beats could be heard bounding off the walls at everything from indie clubs to flat/squat parties and the god that was (and is) Clint Mansell was just about the coolest name to drop.

Over time, as is the way of the world, people decided that times had moved on and kinda left the Poppies and their "Beaver Patrol" behind, declaring them yesterdays news and, inevitably, they faded from site.

Many years later and Clint is now a seriously respected soundtrack writer/compiler, the perfectly targeted "PI" techno clattering and the soul devouring Kronos Quartet work for "Requiem for a Dream" coming to mind.

Lo and behold I've recently heard odd Poppies tracks being played and it now seems that on the coat tails of his current success it's cool to be a new, old PWEI fan again.

"Ok Carpy," I hear you ask, "whilst I appreciate the history of English Grebo-dance from years gone by, what has that actually to do with flares and crepes ?"

Somebody asked me a few days ago if I had anything embarrassing in my CD collection. I mentally scanned through all 1500 and, with a knowing look, simply said no.

Wait long enough and watch the rise again of those CD's and artists that the world sees fit to turn their collective noses up at. Hearing this PWEI album again today really struck me at how fresh it sounded, totally unlike anything around now. Not, for once, in a dated way, but simply from the spontaneous sound and unbridled energy - something every record company in the land would most likely kill for a shot of.

In the words of Mansell himself, dig out the old stuff in your collections and "Wise Up, sucker !"

Who's afraid of the big "Bad Wolf".......

2005-06-11T20:02:00.000+01:00

The Doctor meets "The Controller"

I realise some of my posts on this a while ago annoyed some of you as you're either not getting it or think that you have no chance of getting it, but I've just watched "Bad Wolf", the penultimate episode of Dr Who and the ending floored me.

From a beginning with a spoof on "Reality TV" and gameshows, on through more than one surprise, the episode darkened until the revelation of 500,000 daleks aboard 2000 ships, circling above the earth. Yes, you read that right - half a million of the rolling attitude-laden wastebins.

In the trailer that followed for the grand finale, it seems like war. To see literally 1000's of Daleks on screen at once is still, after all these years, a real sight to behold - the fact they're fighting makes it all the more exciting.

To hear a building "Exterminate !" issuing from so many of them is chilling.

Oh, and yes Luke, I'll find you some good piccies.........

15min writing challenge: The Gathering.

2005-06-09T22:07:00.000+01:00

He grimaced as the bar struck him across the ribs. Rather than chiming to the floor as physics would dictate it clung to him as if on a mission, jamming itself in with the building pile of items threatening to envelop him.

A chair frame pulled it's wooden seat begrudgingly across the wooden floor, scraping it's protest until breaking itself free and flying to hit him in the back across the kidneys. He fell to his knees again, each time finding it harder to lift and balance the load around him.

As he stood, the metal nails holding the floor boards down came up with his knees and rolled around his legs in the oddest of ways, always clinging to him with a zeal for the task.

He knew there was little chance of getting outside - the door handle had flown free of the door and struck him in the stomach as he'd been trying to escape the onslaught of the inanimate.

Even if he couldn't physically escape, his mind tried to wrench him free of the ever more desperate situation. He had to think his way out of this before the weight crushed him or an item didn't stop when it hit him and in the end passed right through.

He thought back to anything that may explain things......

He couldn't work out what he'd been doing wrong. There he was in the trendiest bars and clubs, with his finest suit broken out into action. A subtle aftershave used on just the subtlest hint of stubble. Italian shoes shined until he'd swear they'd ceased being black any more.

Yet nothing.

No action.

No interest.

All the most thought through witty reposts and flirtacious come-ons and not a single glance beyond the norm.

What made things worse was seeing other guys around his age with women dripping off them like it was the most natural thing in the world. These were guys without, to his eye, an ounce of style between them. Work clothes, old casual jackets that had seen better days, shoes that need to look polish up in the dictionary.....they had nothing on the effort he'd made each and every night out.

There they were though, every time. Everywhere in the room swarming with beautiful, laughing women....everywhere except where he happened to be.

He'd taken to going out less. It wasn't rejection that got to him but more the fact it didn't seem to get so far to even have the chance to fail. He'd have done anything for even the scraps from the others that weren't having the same trouble. It destroyed him to find himself thinking like that.

It had been at that moment that he'd uttered that request under his breath. It didn't seem like much and he could have thought of many more greedy things. Still though, he had asked, albeit subconsciously. Maybe life really was part of a grand joke after all - there was clearly something with a sense of humour behind this.

All he'd asked for was a magnetic personality.

As the thought struck him so did something else and the room faded out of sight.

The police found him cold and crushed. A metal covered address book embedded in his forehead.

A cruel irony considering the situation.

............................

Inspired by this picture.

This is a new 15 Minute challenge, brought to life by Dinesh and noticed by me over at ten miles beyond the city.

The rules are as follows:

1. Click here and choose any image you like.
2. Compose your piece in less than 15 mins.
3. Post it to your blog.

The Yellow Peril.

2005-06-09T00:33:00.000+01:00

Give in and try not to sing along

This is not my site.

This will drive you mad.

You need sound on for this.

If you are at work do not click unless you wish to attract the attention of your entire workplace.

I predict that as annoying as this is you will both venture back after you have closed it for the first time AND listen to it for far longer than makes any reasonable sense.

Macro Millennium Moments.....

2005-06-08T16:19:00.000+01:00

It's funny how you take things for granted.

I work, as I've mentioned far too often, within a stupidly short distance of the quayside in Newcastle upon Tyne. Urban regeneration, leisure features, art gallery, music venue and the bridge - all available to use when needed.

The strange thing is that I tend to spend my lunchtime at work at my desk. It's a regular round of having a bite to eat, checking up on blogland and places like "Google news" or "News Now". It's pleasant enough and it distracts me enough to give the impression of not being at work for that hour.

For a change, however, I decided to get out of the office and into the glorious sunshine we've been enjoying today. With my lunch in hand, and my ears filled with far more music than I'll ever need, I sat for 45minutes on Millennium Bridge and soaked up the sun whilst watching the world go by.

There's something great about actively doing nothing for a period of time. Time passed a lot slower than staying in at work and the mixture of real life and music made for a great break. You suddenly notice little things that you'd miss when just concentrating on getting from A to B. Odd details on buildings, combinations of clothing, the fact there are more colours in the river Tyne than you'd noticed.....all the minutiae that pass you by.

It went along the lines of:-

Sits down and realises metal seats are REALLY hot
Switches player to random for a change

Type O Negative

Get mesmerised by the way the gulls circle round as if on strings

Depeche Mode

Ooooh look, some American tourists !

Johnny Cash

Shall I eat the apple or the banana ?

Tom Waits

Aaaaaah, look at the little tug boat !

Queen Adreena

Still 30mins left ? Wonderful !!

Devin Townsend

Ha ! That kid fell over !

The Arcade Fire

Wish I'd brought my shades today.

...and it carried on like this for the best part of the hour.

Now to many of you this may seem incredibly banal, possibly verging on boring, but the point is that it's very easy to take things for granted when they're on your doorstep. I've crossed the bridge twice a day for many weeks now when going to and from work, but never actually sat there and used it as anything other than functional.

When Mondays are more sane and balanced than the weekend before....

2005-06-06T11:48:00.000+01:00

For those of you following the exciting world that is mine (yes, I realise that was said with tongue very firmly in cheek) I thought I'd drop a little update on recent things. Those of you new to The Towers may wonder what I'm rambling on about.

{stops to think}

Actually, for that matter, most regulars wonder that on a regular basis so welcome one and all to a new week at Carpy's Blog'o'Confusion !

Friday was weird. Busy at work, selling my car and then getting very drunk on Absinthe. I've not drunk the stuff for a week or two and hitting it hard on a pretty empty stomach was maybe not the best bet. It's lovely stuff though and not a difficult thing to drink to excess of an evening.

Managed to catch up with a friend online very late into the session and was pleasantly surprised (and a little proud) that some of my fingers still worked at that point. The brain was flying, the fingers were holding together and the body was asleep about an hour before. Such fun when even the simplest of words "kidna cone otu lik thsi".

Saturday morning was weird - waking up really early due to the sun streaming through the window and realising that my head felt about the weight of Mars. Yes, that's the planet and not the chocolate. Though if it was the latter it would have been the Kingsize version.... but wrapped in a lead wrapper.

For those of you that haven't drunk the green stuff before the morning after is always a little...odd. No hangover in the traditional sense but you feel that your brain has a few seconds of satellite delay combined with one of those television "wobbly screen" effect. Yet you also still have a brain racing at a higher speed than normal. Strange and neither unpleasant nor pleasant. I remember going shopping in the same state a few months ago and catching myself thinking "Am I actually shopping or still asleep dreaming this ?". So strange.

Wandered into town in my befuddled state and grabbed my new MP3 player. From the state my head was in from the green fairy's after effects I may well have got home and found it was a cabbage or a spaniel that I'd just bought - I really wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer all day. More the cutting intellect of a sponge.

So my new ear-filler is a Zen Touch, a natty white block that's part iPod and part "touch-sensitive stripe-thing". I'm sure there's better ways to describe it - can you tell I don't work in the ad industry ? I've so far crammed 166 albums onto it and still have nearly 15Gb out of the 20Gb left.

I think I'm (a) going to like this and (b) will be glad I sorted my CD's out last week !

Famous ? Infamous ? Googlicious !!

2005-06-03T20:15:00.000+01:00

Yep, it's my time to join the Googlism train - choo choo !!!

carpathian is an oil
Slick. They're trying to say I'm slick.

carpathian is not in possession of any information that would be required to be disclosed under subsection 713
If only they knew how much I'd found out about subsections 712 and 714......

carpathian is a invention? i want more information if possible
I hide the springs and cogs well, don't you think ?

carpathian is a fascinating notion
Some would say best left at that too

carpathian is both upsetting and fascinating
One before my first coffee and the other just afterwards....

carpathian is identifying new gold
...and when I do...It's all MINE I tell you...!!!

carpathian is
Whoa...that's like heavy and stuff....

carpathian is blasted with positively energized slime
Makes a change from the usual mudbath....

carpathian is a historical region with many important touristic point of interest
Maps of me available at the front counter.

carpathian is a right gentleman
Finally somebody notices !

carpathian is largely involuntary
Yep, I'm all knee-jerk reaction and puppetry

carpathian is about to drive byron crazy with his rap music and untried skills
The Lord does not my turntable skills appreciate..

carpathian is a species of people coexisting with humans
...only until the time is right to take over....

carpathian is her every reason for living life just like she is his
Sweet words but awful grammer

carpathian is a being of a timeless existence
Makes it tough to calculate my pension payments though....

carpathian is your ideal lifemate? take the quiz
Q1) Yes or no ?

carpathian is killed by his subjects
{strikes "collection of subjects" from his masterplan checklist}

carpathian is called eli
That was only for tax purposes....

carpathian is a reminder of bygone whaling days
Blubber, folks, that's where it was at...

carpathian is formed by hard crystalline rocks with deep ravines and clefts
yeah, and 14 tubs of moisturising cream a day to get this 'younger than the hills' complexion

carpathian is the descendent of ambrose carpathian
Ah, daddy !

carpathian is for reconnaisance
Just haven't learnt to come back after nosing, that's all....

carpathian is named vigo
Misdirected post again...{sigh}

carpathian is the dog the romanians have developed from ancient times
It was the final addition of rear shocks that really brought the breed into the modern day....

carpathian is a cool villain
When you lose to me it'll be in style, baby...

carpathian is the first operational virtual airline of romania
My emergency exits are here, here and back there....

carpathian is forming slowly
....and worth waiting for.

carpathian is your personal favorite?
Of course ! Is there any other choice worth considering ?

carpathian is also legendary
To have 'legendary' as your 'also' - now that's cool !

carpathian is close by
I'm in the shadows.......

carpathian is a "big meanie"
Only if you catch me before breakfast....

carpathian is now available on cd
...but not available in the shops

carpathian is not a vampire until he starts attacking both human and vampire and loses all human feeling
I'm on my way - my left leg is already all conquering evil.

carpathian is very inconsistent for me size wise
Doughnuts or salad - so difficult for a Carpathian

carpathian is a private company constituted under the laws of the british virgin islands
...and my profits are all under my mattress

carpathian is also slightly higher as published data for similar rocks
I was standing on a chair when calibrated.....

carpathian is also a vampire she could become a killer like him
Just the first in my new army.....

carpathian is examined largely because this is potentially a volatile area now experimenting with efforts to create transboundary regional cooperation
I'm hoping they don't find my hidden compartment. I'll show them volatile if they do !

carpathian is dismissed even as he staggers away
Story of my life !

carpathian is to attack
...and you won't see me coming until it's too late.....

carpathian is doing full steam
...and showing no sign of ever stopping !

carpathian is no more
Don't speak too soon !!!

carpathian is back
See, told you so !

Wheels today, gone tomorrow: Lucretia2 leaves home.....

2005-06-03T16:54:00.000+01:00

A car is simply a means to get from A to B

A car is a simple mechanical device

Cars do not have feelings

I have hardly driven my car in the last 2 years

All this time it's been sitting around doing nothing I have been paying road tax, car insurance, breakdown cover, MOT's and services and will therefore be both saving money each month AND easily afford a hire car or train ticket as needed in the future

So why therefore, with all the above being true, do I now feel really, really terrible sitting in my place after just coming back from selling my car ?

I've not missed it all the last 2yrs when I've not been driving it because I've known it's there. I know it's the right move but it's the first time in about 18yrs without a vehicle.

So, to Lucretia2, the Ford Ka2 that could, I say goodbye.

{Oh, and I'm now going to be buying a new mp3 player tomorrow - selling the metal lump isn't all bad news ;o)

Think before you open your mouth........

2005-06-02T14:05:00.000+01:00

There are some quotes that have to be quoted again....and again....and again....until everybody has seen them.

As such:-

"640k ought to be enough for anybody"

Bill Gates

Fractured Buckley.......

2005-06-01T12:57:00.000+01:00

Just been reading a playlist over at Fractured Memories and it's led to a lunchtime with "Grace", er, gracing my ears.

No matter how good you remember that album to be it always seems better when you listen to it again. I know many albums are hyped up as the "big thing" but so very few manage to live up the crown placed upon it once time has taken it by the hand.......I think this does though......sigh....

So, Onkroes, I thank you for indirectly giving my ears some joy and bringing back a million memories attached to this album. Music really does transcend pretty much anything, doesn't it.....

Stringed planks playing on new boards.......

2005-05-31T13:38:00.000+01:00

In further developments over at The Towers, I've just had word from a friend that a local building is being turned into a new music venue, to open in October this year. Being a fan of live music I'm exceedingly glad to get another possible place to go and see people.

This is part of the "Carling Academy" chain and as such mean that we'll almost certainly be getting some good named acts trundling around as part of their tours. We have plenty of small college/bar sized venues and a hulking great arena but little inbetween - this may help fill that gap

We've already booked two tickets to go and see Cradle of Filth in December so expect some reports of broken/bruised/mangled limbs some time after that point. This being the band that helped give life to the "Carpathian" side of my name, I'm somewhat especially pleased.

The Carpathian is happy now - it's always the case with a live gig on the horizon.

A very practical weekend over at The Towers.........

2005-05-31T11:45:00.000+01:00

"So, whats been going on with you, Carpy ?" I hear you mutter under your breath, feigning interest......

Well, seeing as you asked, I'll fill you in.

The "Great CD sort of 2005", as it's never been called, is nearly done. I've read the advice given by the posters to my previous entry on this and tried to think of a happy medium.

So, here's the plan as it stands. All the CD's are now back on the shelves in alphabetical order...but random within each letter. That way I'll know roughly where to look for any album but can still chance upon something within that section.

This still now leaves me with about 50 compilation albums which, although they came off the shelves amongst the others, now don't fit back on there ? How does that work ? Answers on a postcard to "Hey, that's very strange...."

Also over the weekend I finally took the decision to get rid of my car. Although very attached to "Lucretia", a Ford Ka 2 (in rare Mica Stone colour, no less) I'm driving it on average about once every 8 months. Yep, you read that right. When I get in to drive it you can sense the car going "Hmmm, and you were whos exactly ?".

All this time I'm paying breakdown cover, car insurance, road tax, yearly MOT's and all those other things where you pay stupid amounts of money to get a small piece of paper. Well, it's time to be sensible and stop that here and now. With the money I save each month I can afford a train ticket or hire a car when needed and STILL be up money wise each year.

I'm sad to see it go though - it's a great little mover and, of my varied assortment of Fords, probably the best I've had - 6 CD changer, electric tinted windows, power steering and a 1.3i engine in a very light car. Now though, I really have to stop torturing myself with thinking how good it is - there isn't an "is" now , just a "was".

I'll be posting a goodbye photo on here later in the week. Yes, I realise that's very sad behaviour but after this many years with it and it being the first time in about 20 years I've not got a car, well, I think that it'll be nice to give it a send off.

Oh, and for those of you wondering my first car was a Ford Fiesta which, due to rhyming, a friend named "Uncle Fester". Hence my next cars also got Addams Family names......

The Mother of all Superior information sources.....

2005-05-27T10:30:00.000+01:00

The internet is a mine of information. Regardless of your view on the information thats there it's not really something that can denied. I do sometimes wonder how much of it can be taken at face value though and how much you need to weed out the gold from amongst the shiny foil.

Have a case in point.

Was talking to Ray about nuns, as you do, and happened to mention I had a book to let him borrow and that I'd bring it in. To give him an idea of what he'd be getting I fired up my 'Fox and searched for it. What I found surprised the hell out of me.

The book in question is the weighty 320 page AntiCristo: The Bible of Nasty Nun Sinema and Culture by Steve Fentone. An exhaustive trawl through the use of nunsploitation through media - sexy nuns, drug nuns, rock'n'roll nuns...heck even spark spitting, wind-up nunzilla toys. All there and all in fine form.

I bought it direct from Purgatory films, an off shoot of the Salvation stable (note: hey kids, thems got naughty pages - lock 'em down). They've got it still for just £17.99 of your earth pounds

However, one of the first places my search brought up was over at Amazon and whether you looked at the UK version, US version or the Waterstones site, well, you're in for a surprise. They have people selling the same papercover copy for three figures, between £170 and £260.

Am I missing something here ?

Buy a few from one place, sell them at the other, go on holiday. Sounds too easy, doesn't it ??

I get the feeling that somebody, somewhere is chuckling at things like this - though I'd imagine it's not the Mother Superior.......

If music be the food of love, pass me the blender.......

2005-05-27T09:34:00.000+01:00

The time has come, the Walrus paraphrased, to sort out many things......

When I moved house a couple of years ago I made a snap decision to do something seemingly foolish, but ultimately brilliant.

I let my CD's get horribly mixed up and then stacked them as such onto my shelves.

Yeah, crazy eh ?

There was logic in my apparent madness though. I came to the conculsion that when you know where all your favourite or regular listens are, and you fancy something to put on, you're more likely to grab something from that and let the others languish away. The thing about this is that most of those in the second division of being chosen are as loved as the ones that are like old friends - it's simply that they don't get the listens. Pick one up and play it and you realise how much you like it and wonder why it's taken so long to play it.

Therefore, mixing things up like I did was great for looking for album A and accidently browsing past album B and grabbing that instead. I couldn't tell you how much fun I've had rediscovering artists I've just not got round to over the last few years.

All good things come to an end though.

Now the novelty has worn off and the thrill of the new has faded, I'm left with the downside. If I really want a certain album it takes me an age to find the bloody thing. Last night was the final straw (cd) that broke the camels (Carpathians) back (patience).

Trying to find "Themes from Williams Blakes 'The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'", the avant-garde metal poem-reinventing sprawl-fest by gods of bafflingness Ulver, took me nearly 15mins.

Now, there's a point where "fumbling music related fun" becomes "annoying scrabbling searching" and this, I think, was a musical foot crossing the line. I've concluded, therefore, that having around 1200 CD's out of order is a little, well, out of order.

This three day weekend will see this Carpathian littering The Towers with piles of CD's in what I'm going to call my yearly homage to Nick Hornby.

Wish me luck, folks - I think it's going to be a busy weekend. Still, I'm not going to be short of music to see me through.

It's just where I'm going to find it, that's all............

Taxi for a vegetable..............

2005-05-22T14:58:00.000+01:00

You know how taxi cabs always arrive either very early or very late but never on time ?

Well, a certain space-carrot whose blog has been linked from here has had their cab, er sorry, near Earth object arrive some years early and they've headed home after soaking up life here for a while.

May I just take this chance to wish them well and advise they tip the driver else he may be dropping them off a few light years early and making them walk the rest.

With carrots that walking may just take a while....... ;o)

Just another manic.......Saturday.

2005-05-21T11:26:00.000+01:00

Saturday.

The day everybody looks forward to at the start of the weekend.

The day is obviously sabotaged over here at The Towers.

Firstly I'm woken up at some stupidly early time by either building work or road repairs (look, I'm no engineer but it's noisy, nearby and is banging/drilling) which lasted just long enough to wake me enough to not be able to get back to sleep again.....then stopped.

Then, thinking I may as well get up and use the extra time, I find the milk I had left has mysteriously decided to die - whilst still sealed in the bottle. Lovely. Luckily milk hit cereal but cereal didn't hit mouth. Otherwise vomit would have hit, well, most likely everything.

Things come in threes, right ?

Yep - that seems to be the case.

Opened the post to find a final reminder for my gas bill. This bill being the same one I have a direct debit setup for just so that this sort of thing never happens. Called the gas company to hear that "it may be a problem their end and they'll look into it for me and will let me know at some point".

"...at some point" !?!?

Erm, would that be "some point" be immediately then, seeing as you've just put the possible-gas-cancellation-in-error fear of god into a customer on a morning before he's even had his breakfast ? I should bloody think so !

Their hold music is the tune "Happy Together".

Yeah, I'll be happy together with you, me and a blowtorch powered by your own gas...then lets see how "at some point" you'll sort this rubbish out.........

UPDATE:

Oh, and I now find a certain orange vegetables blog has vanished too.

Maybe four is the (not so) magic number in this case ?

More spam in my box please !

2005-05-20T12:48:00.000+01:00

What a mine of helpful souls there are out "in the cyber-web".

Only today I've had a bunch of unsolicited emails arrive from people positively overflowing with advice and ideas for me. It makes me wonder what I've done to deserve such random acts of kindness. In fact, as I feel to modest to take these on for myself, I'm going to share them with you. Well, it's the least I can do.

Firstly, it seems people are falling over themselves to offer me business advice.

Freda Pineda Investors, Microcap Profile for You FEJINE

Ginger Daley Shooting Stars Stock Report 3vFUFO

For all you investors out there Freda and Ginger (so nearly dancing partners) have some thoughts on where to place your money. It's always good to get these insider murmurs - even better when I don't even have to ask for them !! I note that Ginger has included a reference should I decide to follow it up, and Freda seems to want to call me feline. Such a sweet thing to do, apart from the slight spelling mistake.

BinoCam Blow-Out Digital Binoculars that take pictures - On Sa|e Now

Another great one in the inbox today - an offer of cheap binocs that also have a camera in !! Not only that but they've helpfully drawn attention to the fact they're on sale by using a | character in the word. So thoughtful.

Ariel Emerson you wont find anything better Veronica

I'm guessing this one was mis-sent. I'm wondering if Ariel had seem the Binocs offer himself and was trying to pass on the good word to another lucky recipient called Veronica ? Nice to know other people are profiting from this sort of email-gift.

Ned Turnbull It is scary to check the high prices on tablets at the local store.

kirby sandholm Start spending less on tablets. All the items are price-reduced for a weekly special.

Ah, very true Ned - I'd imagine that finding expensive prices for something you buy could catch you out from time to time - scary indeed. It's lucky that people like Kirby are around to help ! Not only does Kirby want to help me find good offer, they also seemed to have done research on how much money my tablets normally cost and can therefore advise me how to be spending less.

Isn't it great to be told when weekly specials are on ? To think I may have missed it otherwise !

Ramon Don`t buy her flowers, give her milk...

Ah, not only are random individuals bothered about my financial aspirations but it seems I'm due for advice on all aspects of my life. Here's me thinking the world was a cold dark place and I find this sort of thing sent to me each day. Kinda makes your heart swell, doesn't it.

If it wasn't for Ramon I'd have been ordering flowers to send to a loved one not realising a dairy product is actually what a lady of the day would prefer. Such an easy mistake to make !!

Deluxe Wills & Trusts Toolkits Don't Wait to Create Your Will

Slightly more sobering advice from this company but very sagely all the same. I'd not written a will out to this point and now they make me think of it I really should. It's very admirable that they didn't shy away from broaching such a delicate subject. What fine people.

{Yes, before you ask, this is written with tongue firmly in cheek and boot firmly in the ass of the #!"$%^$ that keep bloody spamming me !}

What dark, forboding sound is this ?

2005-05-17T15:15:00.000+01:00

Hyatari
"The Light Carriers"
CODE:BREAKER Records

Help me, for by the sound leeching into my ears I am truly in hell.

The monolithic riffs that assault my ears cannot be made by the hands of man - I fear the source of such eminations of noise. It pulls the darkness down around me, wrapping me with it's impermeable form.

Each behemoth of aural abomination, heavier as the last. A force which can not be seen but still felt.

I hear the tortured voices of others truly damned but away, flung back behind the sound until my ears strain to catch a single word. Their hidden meaning drawing me into the centre of the sound even more - tempting me in to risk losing myself completly in it's dark rapture.

I'm sure I'm not the first to experience this - I can only guess at the fate of the previous victims of it's lure.

The occasional slivers of light in melody form that drip from it's core are beautiful and shine like a salvation out of reach. The waves of sound batter my hands away from reaching to it's glinting.

....and still it builds.

If only I could conjure up a manifestation or two to really show to you the full nature of this unearthly yet entrancing sound of which I describe.

Just as I feel the pulsating air of menance can't get any more oppressive so it does, goodness only knows to what end. More passages of light in the darkness only serve to bring home the power of the blackness that teases me with glimpses of air in musical form.

Wait.

Fractured silence, broken only by the fluttering of crackling remnants......then peace.

I'm drawn somehow to reach out and start the noise again - what madness is this that infects me and brings on the doom of my own making. Am I to be truly destroyed by my own hand ?

This album review brought to you by the spirit of H.P. Lovecraft - maybe you have a spirit guide to write a review for you ?

The Arcade Fire - "Funeral".

2005-05-15T14:46:00.000+01:00

Thank you, Uncle Jools, for yet again springing a surprise on me.

Yes, another new series of "Later....." hits the airwaves and somehow an artist you've never heard of before hits you between the eyes and makes you realise you really must have been taking your eyes off the radar far too often over the last year.

This time it's The Arcade Fire, a six piece hailing out of Montreal, Quebec.

I'd describe how the band came to be but the official site bio does a far better job than I could:-

"The Arcade Fire reside in Montreal, Quebec. Win [Butler] moved to Montreal four winters ago, as a panther moves from jungle to jungle silently, with rocking shoulder blades. Looking for musicians, he found Régine [Chassagne], who combed his sleek fur and removed the thorns from his paws.

Régine had secretly learned to sing, play piano, guitar, accordion, mandolin, flute, drums, and harmonica while her parents werent watching. Her family fled Haiti (under the dictatorship of Duvalier) in the 1960s for Chicago, New York, and then finally to Montreal, where Régine grew up."

Over the course of recording their debut album the band members had the deaths of three family members and a wedding to cope with and "Funeral" was released in 2004.

"Ok, Carpy", I hear you ponder, "that's all very well and good, but what do they sound like ?"

Ok, let's try it this way.

Imagine the humour of Jarvis Cocker on full form, combined with the directness of Kings of Leon...but sounding like neither and both.

Take the boldness of The Pixies and the pop leanings of Pulp....but then throw in a piano ballad to melt the heart and wrong foot you wonderfully before you hit Talking Heads territory.

Build up a track like Mars Volta (if they made decent tunes) and not be afraid to use xylophones or an accordian. Layer lush strings in front or behind the sound and somehow make them work for a bar with disco shuffles.

These are what Conor Oberst would be doing if he had the sound and songs to backup the hype and a load of his friends happened to pop round for tea at the same time. And they'd brought whatever instruments they'd fished out of the loft.

So, that's already Pulp, Kings of Leon, The Pixies, Talking Heads, Mars Volta, Bright Eyes...and I'd add Flaming Lips and Radiohead in the mix too.

Damn, this is a really weird album to pin down and yet the tracks all fit together like a very oddly designed jigsaw that can only end up being itself, and uniquely so.

I'm gushing now, aren't I ? I'm doing the pretentious music journo-speak that we all love to make fun of. Well, maybe I can see why that sort of thing issues from peoples typing fingers when things like this appear.

I'm going to regroup for a moment so have another picture - people like pictures.

Oh, and you want lyrics ? Real lyrics that can mean a million things to the same person on every listen, delivered straight to the heart but through the ears ?

Yep, tick them boxes cos they have them in spades.

You want examples, pulled screaming from the completeness from which they hail ? God, you're a tough bunch.

Here you go:-

When daddy comes home you always start a fight,
so the neighbors can dance in the police disco lights.
The police disco lights. Now the neighbors can dance!
Look at em dance.

Ice has covered up my parents hands
dont have any dreams dont have any plans.
Growin up in some strange storm,
nobodys cold, nobodys warm.

They say it fades if you let it,
love was made to forget it.
I carved your name across my eyelids,
you pray for rain I pray for blindness.

If the children dont grow up,
our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up.
We're just a million little gods causin rain storms
turnin every good thing to rust.

I am waitin til I dont know when,
cause I'm sure its gonna happen then.
Time keeps creepin through the neighborhood,
killing old folks, wakin' up babies
just like we knew it would.

All the neighbors are startin up a fire,
burning all the old folks the witches and the liars.
My eyes are covered by the hands of my unborn kids,
but my heart keeps watchin through the skin of my eyelids.

Sleeping is giving in, no matter what the time is.
Sleeping is giving in, so lift those heavy eyelids.
People say that you'll die faster than without water.
But we know it's just a lie,
scare your son, scare your daughter.

360 degrees of Minty magic.....

2005-05-13T18:55:00.000+01:00

Goats.

Camels.

Sheep.

Hippies.

Next-gen games consoles.

Can you spot the one that's out of place ?

Well, that's the exciting thing - there isn't one.

Much to my pleasure I've heard today that the forthcoming Xbox 360 games console will feature a graphical front-end for watching whilst playing CD's, MP3's and WMA's. This, in itself, is nothing unusual - after all every PC has that built in as part of Windows Media Player.

What warms these Carpathian cockles is that Neon, the tool in question, is designed and built by none other than Jeff Minter and Llamasoft.......

Yak and Llama.

Yes, you read that right - the hairy hippy from the late 70's who goes by the name of Yak and addled the brains of many of that generations home computer users. Tucked away in the firmware of a super-console.

For some of you that name will mean nothing but for others it's probably already conjuring up images of spliff smoking animals, flying camels and laser-spitting death llamas.

I for one am absolutely overjoyed.

Deus ex Machina.

2005-05-12T12:25:00.000+01:00

Reproduction.

{stop sniggering at the back}

It's what we can do that robots or machines can't. It's why we are so much better than them. Actually, that may not be the case in the future so I wouldn't be saying that too loud right now.

You know when you think of moments in films and then real life does a tiny little step towards it ? You know, things like the scanner that looks inside people to diagnose things in Star Trek. The one that you suddenly see on the news in the form of medical scanners that take multiple slices to form a 3D, multi-layered form that can even pinpoint calcium deposits on bones ?

Well, folks, here's another one.

Randomly smurfing the w3 and spotted a story starting to crop up in a lot of places - for example at Wired News. It features small modular cubes that can connect to others by means of self-controlled magnets on each face and a twisting mechanism through it's centre.

Each cube is aware of it's position and it's place in the group it's involved with. It can therefore coordinate towards a given task - in this case moving other self-aware blocks to spawn a second active 'form' like itself.

Not only does it do this but the one being built moves itself around to aid the other, even when only half built.

There's something really creepy about the short video clip on the site - I'd strongly suggest you take the time to watch it - the sudden movement of the one being built is just so....wrong.

I'm a real geek when it comes to AI, shiny things and, in the words of Python, 'machines that go ping' but this is the first time I've had hairs stand up on the back of my neck when viewing something of this ilk.

In Chinese philosophy 'even the longest journey starts with a single step'.

Ever get the feeling you've just seen that step being taken ??

Are you playing with me ??

2005-05-11T13:09:00.000+01:00

Seems to be a good time for me at the moment where bumping into good/bad/unfortunate quotes and descriptions are concerned.

Eurogamer has today run a story about how a videogame version of "Taxi Driver" is being made. Ignoring for a moment how specific the film is and how it really doesn't lend itself to any sort of free-exploration away from the plot, I give you their knowingly wacky recap of the film for those not sensible enough to have seen it:

"For those who are too forgetful or too wickle to recall, the movie follows the adventures of Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro), a psychotic New York cab driver with a penchant for guns, knives, washing all the scum off the streets and wacky haircuts.

He experiences a series of zany mishaps involving a child prostitute (Jodie Foster) and her violent pimp (Harvey Keitel) before embarking on a gun-crazed killing spree in an attempt to win over the lovely Cybill Shepherd, with hilarious results."

So, that noise sounded like what exactly ?

2005-05-10T22:10:00.000+01:00

With the new Napalm Death album firing up the Carpathians ears at the moment I was trawling around the web and happened to spot the following on the Relapse record label website. Whether you like or hate the band or their music I just thought it was a wonderful description....and, it must be said, pretty accurate.

"What does Napalm Death sound like, exactly? Well imagine 2 binliners full of rabid, three-headed mutant rottweiler puppies stuffed in a metal dustbin and kicked down the stairs of a multi-story tenement block during a riot whilst overhead souped up B52 bombers flown by screaming demons drop grand pianos full of roaring crack babies into a dynamite-packed quarry of one-armed born-again Christian steel-drummers. On drugs. They sound exactly like that. Only madder.

Do you get it? Do the down-tuned guitars, ultra fast blast-beats and gruff throat cancer vocals make any fucking sense whatsofuckingever!? As a recent letter to the Guardian newspaper pointed out - "without the correct critical tools, Napalm Death and Wagner both sound shit". Have you got the ears?

If you approach Napalm Death expecting the leopard-skin print poodle fakery of LA's cod-metal wank bands then you'll be savagely disappointed. If you come to Napalm Death seeking the dry wit of Belle and Sebastian then you'll run home screaming with your bloody and shattered brains spurting out of your ruptured eardrums. And serve you right."

Whoever said the art of writing was dead...... ;o)

Long live the Grind. Have some noise.

2005-05-07T17:53:00.000+01:00

Oh, go on then, have a taste of the noise screaming out from The Towers right now.......

Napalm Death
"Silence is Deafening"
(Taken from 'The Code is Red...Long Live the Code')

Rant long and loud
Repeat 'til you're blue in the face
Ever get the feeling you're always on a losing streak ?

Their silence is deafening
From the havens of thieves and kings

Empower those who serve to deflect suspicious minds
Action and answers as likely as a reversal of time

Their silence is deafening
From the retreats of tamed apologists
Their disdain is crippling
For those whose crises they have fixed

I am your 'untermensch' - a trace of filth to be scraped off
A trace of filth to be scraped off

Yet when it's you who's in their debt
the strong-arm brings you to your knees
So much for 'progressive authority'
A trace of filth to be scraped off

Power for the powerless - well, where ?
Screaming at the wall to make more sense...

...I melt back into indifference

The silence is deafening.
The silence is deafening.
The silence is deafening.

Because somebody asked me about the pink ones.....

2005-05-07T17:11:00.000+01:00

KARMIC SUTURE

Trust the Doctors. They know how the needle can pierce and they
know the threads that will match your blood. Bright lights and
sanitised air, white coats and forceps are wielded by the trained
plasti-coated hands of the Hooker Medics.

They know what to do, trust the Doctors.

Status : A special dark Pink from Chimera’s Sade Marquee.

Which feather suits your mood today ?

Phones, grindcore and pickled cabbage fish.

2005-05-07T16:28:00.000+01:00

Ying and Yang.

Night and Day.

Mike and Bernie Winters.

Yes, many things have halves that you either love or hate, sometimes within a short time of each other. Today was one of those days

Not a good start to the day. Struggling with a shiny new phone that joyfully announces a new text message like a small puppy yapping hello. Then, a short while later, it brings me the same one again. And again. And again. And once more. Etc bloody Etc.

Trailed into town to get a replacement SIM card, fitted it and....well, nothing. Just the same. Seems therefore it'll be a case of new shiny phone going back into the darkness of it's box and being sent back for a replacement.

This actually makes me very sad. Partly for the hassle, partly as the phone is damn good but mostly as I've realised just how materialistic AND geeky I truly am. It's only going back for a replacement - it's not dead or kidnapped or lost a leg - and I'm actually sad. Sigh.

Aside from this we have Lucretia sounding like the world is getting her down, Retarius removing his blog, Ray winning nothing and another blog-buddy working for the next few days and mostly out of contact. Now that pile of things I have no embarrasment being sad about. These are things featuring real people. Well, I assume they're all real.

"So where is the other half of this cosmic see-saw, Carpy ?" I hear you ask.

Well, to cheer myself up some shopping took place. Some people call it 'Retail Therapy' but I prefer to think of it as 'buying stuff that makes you smile'. More honest, don't you think ?

So, in a musical double-whammy I grabbed an old Napalm Death shirt and the new Napalm Death album, The Code Is Red... Long Live the Code (featuring guest vocal cameos by Jello Biafra, Hatebreed's Jamey Jasta, and Carcass's Jeff Walker)

Napalms unapologetic anti-Nazi classic

Loud and proud - the new album....

Also, in a smile-inducing lack of self control I've been weak and ended up buying more wacky oriental goodies alongside a tray of seafood sushi. Cold fish and sticky rice - doesn't that just make your mouth water ?

Noodles with flavours that scare at 30 paces....

Why don't we get "Sichuan Pickles Instant vermicelli", "Original Hot and Sour Sweet Potato Noodles" and the classic "Pickled Cabbage Fish Sweet Potato Noodles" ?. We should, because there are some days tomato or french onion just don't do it for me.

Some delicious Sushi rolls and a fresh batch of savoury Mung Bean pastries.

Also ended up with a Hung Fook Tong Sour Plum Drink and some Unif Green Tea with Jasmine Flower. Oh, and some Hometown Egg Rolls.

I'm off to write a quick email to somebody and drown my sorrows in a giant mug of sticky toffee hot chocolate.

I wasn't heading to Georgia......

2005-05-05T15:37:00.000+01:00

Journeying home from a works night out last night (beer, curry, talking far too much shop - you know the score) I ended up catching the 'Midnight Metro', the last one of the night, back home.

Whether it was the late hour, the sort of day he'd had or just the fact he was a few stops from finishing for the day, the driver was seemingly in a little comedy world of his own.

For the handful of passengers being carried home he decided to embellish on the normal dry station announcements with the following joyous stupidity:-

"Welcome to the magical mystery tour. It's not a mystery where we're going but it is when it comes to how we ever get there."

"We're now pulling into Cantral Station. For those of you who are fans of "Thomas the Tank Engine" this is where the big chuff-chuffs live."

"Can those of you on the train please wish goodnight the the guard who's been travelling with me tonight. Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has now left the train."

"We'll now be entering a long dark tunnel - for those of you afraid of the dark I suggest putting your hands over your eyes. For those of you scared of tunnels please forget I said that. Oh, and those of you with "Attention Defecit Disorder" you most likely already have."

Hat ? Chocolates ? Flowers ?

2005-05-02T19:35:00.000+01:00

Time to big-up another post out in blogdom currently getting peoples interest aroused. Amongst other things, no doubt.

Stop by a non-stop cavalcade of fun to find out about a gift for all seasons with satisfaction (in all meanings) guaranteed......

Grinning like a cat with NIN lives......

2005-04-30T16:39:00.000+01:00

Oh, and Trent fell onto my doormat this morning.

Carpathian is happy.

It's the szechuan that you wanted.

2005-04-30T16:36:00.000+01:00

As I've had at least one person ask me to let them know what I end up buying I guess I'm honour-bound to drop something on here to that end. I'm shocked that people seem to read even my most mundane posts ;o)

Spring onion crackers
Szechuan pepper salt & Seven spice
Gold Plum chinkiang vinegar
Woh-Hup extra-flavour oyster sauce
SanTian sesame oil
Sunfood savoury seafood sauce
Cold oolong tea

Sugarcane and able.

2005-04-29T20:05:00.000+01:00

Funny how you can shop in a city for near 4 years and still be surprised from someone's recommendation as to where to try.

Step forward Joe, one of my colleagues from work, who mentioned about a small Chinese shop/stall/hut/thing in the Green Market in the centre of Newcastle.

Went there this afternoon after work for a little look-see and will be going back tomorrow cash-in-hand to supplement my kitchen as there's some serious stuff to be tried. Spices, drinks, snacks, sauces and something resembling baby octopus tentacles. Guess which one in that list I'll not be buying. It's a wonderful little gold mine of odds and ends and it's about time things like seven spice found their way back into my cooking.

It being a hot day my slightly unhinged ability to grab random things I've never heard of (because I'm basically stupid) took over when I hit the drinks fridge. A random glass bottle was chosen - a green one because, well, green is good, right ?

(Click for even more green)

Turns out I'd picked up some "Sugarcane Juice" from Hung Fook Tong which, I now find out, promises 'promoting fluid generation' and to 'regulate function of stomach'. That last bit is just as well - my stomach has been far too rowdy of late.

I have absolutely no idea of how to describe it. You can tell it's fruity and it's obvious that it's basically a natural sugar but that's where my ability to put the flavour into words ends. The smell, taste and aftertaste are all entirely different and I'm not sure whether each sip makes me want to vomit or dive straight back in for another slug of it. This is exceedingly odd.

As you'll see from this traders page it's just one of their range and I'm now dying to try the 'Common selfheal fruit-spike' to see if it does 'Quench fire in the liver' and 'clear internal pathogenic heat'. Expect that on my list for tomorrow.

Not the tentacles though - I'm not that adventurous.

McDonations towards food for thought.....

2005-04-28T23:09:00.000+01:00

There's been a lot said and written about it but I finally got to see it tonight - just about a lifetime behind everybody else.

Yep, tonight was my first portion of "Super Size Me".

At this precise moment, as the credits roll, I basically feel like not eating pretty much anything ever. Well, obviously not literally, that would be the most extreme idea when it came to losing weight...permanently.

It's more that even though I've been losing weight slowly and reasonably sensibly over the last 10 months (around 35lbs) I'm already thinking of my fridge contents and wanting to throw stuff out. Even things that are maybe average health wise - it just makes you rethink even the good practices you have for NON-fast food.

With around 30mins to go, there's a change of tone. For those yet to see it I won't say how it moves but you can probaly guess that Morgan Spurlock wasn't turning cartwheels and planning to run the NY marathon. To say this ends up compulsive and compelling viewing really is an understatement.

The thing, I'm guessing, that many will miss is that this is not a film about McDonalds. You could insert any chain or type of over-processed, 'easy' food in place of the arches and get a similar result. The scary thing is the rising number of people doing pretty much that normally, without a documentary to make.

Having typed this I'm not entirely sure what it's made me feel like or just how much I'll take from this over the next days, months or whatever but I'd imagine it'll pop into my head when going for that extra portion of something or feeling like just grabbing something to tide me over.

Either way, I think it's safe to say that the only thing to super size is more programming like this.

Nine Inch Nails: With Teeth.

2005-04-27T21:19:00.000+01:00

A lot of other people in Blogdom are doing it and I've never been one to let a comfortable bandwagon drive by without hitching a ride to see if the seats are comfortable.

Here's my track-by-track for the new Nine Inch Nails album "With Teeth" - god knows Trent has made us wait long enough so it's worth at least a small song-and-dance for the fact it's nearly here.

To hear it legally and in full ahead of it's release, go to http://www.myspace.com/ninofficial

With Teeth

1. All The Love In The World.
A track of two very distinct halves and something very different as a NIN track and especially as a NIN album opener. A stumbling electronic beat, very Warp label in sound, starts with a simple vocal and backing wash and a warm yet ominous piano run. Very simple and mid-paced. Then, around half way, a dramatic change. A solid four-to-the-floor beat, an almost house piano, a prominent tambourine and Trent multi-tracked in lots of repeats of the track title. After a bar a fuzzed bass kicks in and it becomes an almost uplifting stomp. Very different and, initially, not very NIN sounding. After a few spins though it makes perfect sense. Just be prepared to be wrong footed for the rest of the album.
Quick Review (QR): Schizophrenic uplifting rattler.

2. You Know What You Are.
There's always one track (at least) on each album which is the distorted, grimy, stomping shouter. You know, the real big sledgehammer to the senses that Trent always seems to find favour with. This is said projectile weapon. Fast, hard and heavily programmed aggression behind him Trents distorted bile is spat out with some force, and the chorus only lifts this a notch further. A break-down hits and a subtle rolling guitar line takes over before climbing back up for the almost Prodigy like last bar or so finish.
QR: Venom spitting rusty cobra.

3. The Collector.
You could put this pretty easily on "The Downward Spiral" and it would be quite at home. A little "March of the Pigs" in it's production, with a faster riffed chorus and a more paced verse. Very insistent drums and a pretty live sound. A piano line, loose and wandering, comes in late on and adds a strange edge to the feeling of it. Fits well on what would otherwise be a typical NIN track, though some would argue it as exactly the sort of track they've not been doing enough. No surprises but pretty much nailed, if you'll excuse the pun..
QR: Drive-time music for cars that run on black leather.

4. The Hand That Feeds.
The lead single and a track that crept up on me over a few listens. Very direct, very little in the way of obvious post-manipulation - will work seriously well live. Having avoided leaks up until then heard that the video was up on the NIN.COM website, grabbed it and sat excitedly with a friend to watch. Rather underwhelmed and left with an "Is that it ?" kind of feeling. The weird thing is that over a few plays, and as part of the album, it actually works really well and I'm realising now that I actually quite like it. Very direct and totally obvious why it's the first track released. C'mon - you've heard it by now. I'll move on.
QR: Infectiously direct.

5. Love Is Not Enough.
Tears for Fears "Mad World". Yep, that is the first bar's lone beat - to all intents and purposes. Some long, low slung guitar and running drums back Trent almost-singing. Some heavily distorted lines popping in before a fully backed chorus before dropping back to the sparse verse again. Lots of very subtle but effective touches tucked away. A strange almost analog sounding line cuts in for some bars towards the end but I can't place where I think I've heard it's like before.
QR: Deceptively hook-laden.

6. Every Day is Exactly The Same.
Trents so-nearly-broken piano comes out of the cupboard to start things and is followed by a pounding yet measured drumming and pulsing synth. Reminds me irrationally of "The Day The World Went Away" for no apparent reason. Breaks down around the mid point and build back up again but fairly one-paced. Very much a grower and has only made an impact after a few plays.
QR: Fragile impact.

7. With Teeth.
Growling bass, a stumbling live drum pattern and an almost Frippian distorted guitar. Could be equally be described as sparse AND loud - the patterns used are very disjointed yet hold together well. As title tracks go it's quite odd. None more so than when it drops to just about the quietest possible piano/vocal break....then, as your ears are just adjusting, crashes back in - don't turn up the volume folks or Trent will be owing you a new set of speakers.
QR: Lurching monster.

8. Only.
The bastard love-child of "Pretty Hate Machine" and where Trent is now. Could be the offspring of "Down In It". Very old-school spoken word vocals with that "inflection that's almost a note" that Trent does. Opening drums are wonderfully old-school and the down-and-loose bass that joins it will stick in your head for ages. This is current NIN doing NIN retro, and doing it easily well enough to be a massive new anthem for the "Head Like A Hole" kids to latch on to. Oh, and you'll finally get to find out what "the dot" was from "Down in it" - a nice touch. Wonderfully managing to be dirty, broken and infectious.
QR: NIN doing NIN. The pretender to the 'Hole' throne.

9. Getting Smaller.
Probably the most stripped down track I've heard by them. Very fast and energetic and very much a 'band' track, at least in sound. Almost straightforward enough to be recorded as live. The most Grohl-ish the drums sound - very fast paced and carrying buzzing guitars as the track crashes away almost threatening to run away at times. Expect bruises in the pit when this gets played live.
QR: A pit-pleaser firing straight down the middle.

10. Sunspots
There are some tracks that have that certain something about them, something more of an undercurrent. This has something somewhere between creeping menace underpinning the lyrics and an almost stalking eroticism. A stalking bass line and simple drumming back Trents half whispering vocals in the verse with only a raise for the short chorus. Lyrics like "Fuck in the fire and we'll spread all the ashes around" only serve to keep the heat theme running. A wonderful analog siren wail squelching insistently through the later half - like something off the Human Leagues 1980 Travelogue album. A current favourite.
QR: smoldering sex-music for human torches and pyromaniacs.

11. The Line Begins To Blur.
I'd probably describe this as the most NIN sounding track on the album. Distortion, feedback, pulsing synth lines - very heavily programmed. Almost broken plaintive vocals interspersed with an almost yelped delivery. Another track with feet in past work - this time with the first half more Spiral and the second more Fragile. Very dirty and gritty yet somehow managing to lift itself during the latter half.
QR: Gritty swaggering insistence.

12. Beside you in Time.
Trent zones out and we'll most likely be joining him during this - luckily in a good way. A totally hypnotizing repetition of My Bloody Valentine / Space Men 3 guitars - heavily treated and layered over the simplest of almost click-track electronic beats. Treatment gives it a really off kilter style which just makes it mess with your head more. Seems to do very little musically for the first few minutes but there's odd little movements in the sound as the track plays which you miss on first listen - amazing on headphones. Trent speak-singing through most until towards the end when it breaks down before ramping back up with a new energy and more insistent guitar riffs. Fades into atmospherics.
QR: Utterly mesmerising Trent experimentation at it's best.

13. Right Where It Belongs.
If black can be described as 'the new black' then I guess it's ok to call this 'the new Hurt'. Raw, contemplative lyrics and a simple piano backing slow build until a short sampled live crowd breaks through and lifts the vocals resolution (literally lifting it in the mix) towards the end. Very much a step on from the live version of the aforementioned "Hurt". Expect black eyeliner to run for the gathered when played - most liable to join the 'affecting black and white footage' brigade. Once this track sinks in you'll not be shaking it anytime soon.
QR: Deafeningly soft emotional voyeurism.

14. Home.
Opening with an almost ethnic pipe sound and a pounding drum run this is another of NIN's simple sounding yet deceptively busy builders. Trents vocals are soft and allowed to lift with emotion as he bares that tiny bit of his soul not freed in the previous track. Breaks down into purely drums at the close. Short and a bookend to make the albums exit.
QR: Emotional closure made aural.

A Partly Political Broadside.

2005-04-24T19:27:00.000+01:00

You do wonder if people in politics were ever living in anything remotely like a normal life. Yes, I know, we see old snapshots of them in university or doing something embarassingly hilarious, but did they ever really take in life before having a colour and slogan against their name ?

"But Carpy", I hear you cry as one, "why this sudden outburst ?"

All thieves to be moved into houses made of glass so that the public can eye up what they own !

Well, I guess it's watching the election campaign over here on the small island around The Towers. I've always been a keen fan of actually paying attention and voting, to make use of the voice a democracy gives.

Honestly though, what the hell is the crap peddled as "Campaigns" this time round ?

Kill the dead and force the rest to carry on living by law !

The two main parties seem hell-bent on doing all they can to turn people off, to sap their interest and drive them into a permanent "undecided" state. Virtually ever single day of the last week or so has been earmarked for things like health, economy, immigration and those sorts of topics.

All dogs to be sprayed yellow so they can be seen better by cars !

So, given the chance to spout forth on why we should draw a little cross against them, they head out and tell us.....well, nothing.

What they do grace us with is what they see as the faults with all the other parties and how that isn't as good as they would do given a chance. We're expected to place a vote based on the fact that a party isn't as bad as the other ones. There's always been an element of this in politics as when done right it's an integral part - show your hand and dismiss the oppositions - but this time it's the whole campaign.

Free beer for drunks to keep them off the streets !

I can do this, that's the point. I could sit here, look at each less-than-vague pledge and rubbish it without really saying what I'd do in return. I want to know what people are aiming to do, where their focus lies.

If it wasn't for the fact that, as I said, I value the fact that I have a vote I could almost be tempted not to bother. I'll be there though, trotting out with a most likely reduced percentage of the population and I'll therefore get my right to moan like hell at the outcome.

People who don't vote to have their hands stitched behind their backs.

Read my shiny helmet.....

2005-04-24T16:53:00.000+01:00

There are so many Blogs now - a big sprawling mess of them.

Every now and then something appears on the end of a randomly clicked link. Ok, bad choice of words, the link is clicked on with a mouse. You know what I mean.

This time it appealed to the film/geek/humourist sides of me - yes, that's three-sides. Heck, I'm multidimensional. Isn't that a relief.

Take a journey over to The Darth Side: Memoirs of a Monster and catch a feeling of what it must be like for the 'black-is-the-very-old-black' wearing, Asthma spokesman from a certain sextuplet of films.

Personally, it makes me chuckle. Unforced laughter is good.

Mix The Hand That Gives........

2005-04-23T10:13:00.000+01:00

nine inch nails: current

Further to Lucretias mentions of the man Trent here's some more nuggets for anybody interested.

TheReznor (as nobody has ever called him) has now released lead single "The Hand That Feeds" in Apple's Garageband format, so fans can remix and deconstruct it to their liking. According to the readme file that comes with the .sit download, Reznor explains a few things:

"I've been interested in the idea of allowing you the ability to tinker around with my tracks - to create remixes, experiment, embellish or destroy what's there. I tried a few years ago to do this in shockwave with very limited results."

And here's info on what you can expect in the download:

"What I'm giving you in this file is the actual multi-track audio session for "the hand that feeds" in GarageBand format. This is the entire thing bounced over from the actual Pro Tools session we recorded it into. I imported and converted the tracks into AppleLoop format so the size would be reasonable and the tempo flexible."

So, although not a Mac user I have the tools to convert and will be starting work on an attempted remix, rehash or, more likely, tuneless unfinished lump over the weekend.