2009

It's been a funny old year, starting off with moving house, friends emigrating, more grey hairs appearing and a sleeping disorder. Album-wise, it's also been a bit hit-and-miss. I've not really heard anything outside of the 'hardcore' tag that really jumps out, but that could also mean that I've not really been looking. Within this favoured genre of mine though, there have been some real gems from both home-grown talent and from our overseas counterparts. Here we go :

Albums:

10. Thursday - 'Common Existence'

9. BATS - 'Red In Tooth & Claw'

8. Brand New - 'Daisy'

7. Every Time I Die - 'New Junk Aesthetic'

6. Pearl Jam - 'Backspacer'

5. Future Of The Left - 'Travels With Myself And Another'

4. Alexisonfire - 'Old Crows/Young Cardinals'

3. Mastodon - 'Crack The Skye'

2. The Ghost Of A Thousand - 'New Hopes, New Demonstrations'

1. Converge - 'Axe To Fall'

Future Of The Left is a surprise entry, considering I only got it last week but it's totally fucking killer. They also put on one of the best shows I have seen all year, at the Bully back at the end of November. It was a tough choice between Converge and TGOAT, but ultimately after listening to them side-by-side, you just cannot deny the brutal assault of 'Axe To Fall'.

Tracks :

10. Super Furry Animals - 'The Very Best Of Neil Diamond'

9. New Found Glory - 'Tangled Up'

8. Mariachi El Bronx - 'I Would Die 4 You'

7. These Arms Are Snakes - 'Washburn'

6. Taking Back Sunday - 'Sink Into Me'

5. Converge - 'Dark Horse'

4. Every Time I Die - 'Wanderlust'

3. Cave In - 'Retina Sees Rewind'

2. Pearl Jam - 'The Fixer'

1. Thursday - 'Circuits Of Fever' / 'Friends In The Armed Forces'

Having two choices in the number one spot may be cheating, but the two Thursday songs listed are important for different reasons. First of all, 'Circuits Of Fever' sees Thursday pushing themselves further into shoegazing territory, with one of the most epic outros they have ever written, and with 'Friends In The Armed Forces', the year's finest rock song. Add to that the presence of Walter Schreifels on backing vocals and my decision is easily swayed.

Honorable mentions:

Albums:

Coalesce - 'Ox'

Sonic Youth - 'The Eternal'

Poison The Well - 'The Tropic Rot'

Tracks:

Mastodon : 'Divinations'

Double Dagger - 'The Lie/The Truth'

Dananananakroyd - 'Black Wax'

Gigs / Shows:

5. Future Of The Left, Bullingdon Arms Oxford

4. Hundred Reasons, O2 Academy Oxford

3. Gaslight Anthem (Plus Bruce Springsteen cameo), Hyde Park Calling

2. The Bronx, Camden Electric Ballroom

1. Every Time I Die, O2 Academy Oxford

5-1

5. Glassjaw - 'Worship And Tribute'

4. Isis - 'Panopticon'

3. Rival Schools - 'United By Fate'

2. Sonic Youth - 'Sonic Nurse'

1. Cave In - 'Jupiter'

10-6

10. Every Time I Die - 'The Big Dirty'

9. Garrison - 'Be A Criminal'

8. Deftones - 'White Pony'

7. PJ Harvey - 'Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea'

6. The Cooper Temple Clause - 'See This Through And Leave'

16-11

15. Sun Kil Moon - 'Tiny Cities'

14. The Gaslight Anthem - 'The '59 Sound'

13. Brand New - 'Deja Entendu'

12. At The Drive-In - 'Relationship Of Command'

11. The Bronx - 'The Bronx'

20-16

20. Super Furry Animals - 'Phantom Power'

There are, understandably, a lot of these lists around at the moment and the album that pre-dates this one, 'Rings Around The World' is in quite a few of them. Released after that was this album which I feel is somewhat overlooked. 'Rings' is a strong album, don't get me wrong, but to me 'Phantom Power' is much more enjoyable due to it's more focused 'pop' approach, perhaps the most straight-forward they have been since 'Radiator'.

Listen to : 'The Piccolo Snare', 'Venus & Serena', 'Slow Life'

19. The Shins - 'Chutes Too Narrow'

I used to watch the shit out of The O.C. I couldn't get enough of it. It was funny, it had hot chicks in it, it was smart, and it had hot chicks in it. It also had a pretty decent soundtrack, title song aside. The Shins were often mentioned by name, and whilst I listened to them before I ever saw The O.C. for some reason their delightful US indie-rock always makes me think of hot chicks. I like hot chicks, so thanks goes out to The Shins.

Listen to : 'Saint Simon', 'Turn A Square'

18. Hot Hot Heat - 'Make Up The Breakdown'

Way back in 2002, I heard 'Bandages' on XFM, three months before it was released. I was somewhat impressed, so much so that I ended up buying this album on import. Everyone knows 'Bandages', it's an indie-disco staple and probably one of the best singles of the 2000's. That song aside, the rest of the album is a huge amount of fun - great melodies, it's somewhat like early Cure mixed with Gang Of Four.

Listen to : 'Bandages', 'Talk To Me, Dance With Me', 'Oh, Goddammit'

17. M83 - 'Saturdays = Youth'

Fans of John Hughes films and Slowdive stand up! Your two favourite things have been brought together! M83's brand of shoegaze electronica has been perfected here, with a healthy dose of classic 1980's synth-pop thrown in. The album as a whole plays out like a soundtrack to an unmade Hughes film. It's both beautiful and melodramatic, an ultimately affecting piece of work.

Listen to : 'Kim And Jessie', 'Graveyard Girl', 'Highway Of Endless Dreams'

16. TV On The Radio - 'Dear Science,'

TV On The Radio has focused their vision here to produce their most cohesive album to date. All elements of their previous work are still present, just more polished and this gives 'Dear Science,' a greater immediacy.



Listen to : 'Halfway Home', 'Dancing Choose', 'Stork & Owl'

Results are in, 25-21

25. Comeback Kid - 'Broadcasting'


Released in 2007, this was Comeback Kid's third album and first with guitarist Andrew Neufeld taking over on vocal duties. Hardcore 'purists' will probably tell you that this album is too 'metal', and that it's not 'Wake The Dead', but some hardcore purists are among the most stubborn, tunnel-visioned people you will ever meet. Yes, there is more of a 'metal' edge here than on previous releases, but there is also a great deal of progression from your standard 4-beat hardcore. Musicianship is tighter, the breakdowns are heavier and the songwriting is more accomplished. Hardcore purists be warned, 'Broadcasting' is Comeback Kid's finest album.

Listen to : 'Hailing On Me', 'The Blackstone', 'Industry Standards'


24. Russian Circles - 'Station'


'Station' saw the arrival of new bassist Brian Cook (he of Botch and These Arms Are Snakes fame) and resulting from this a much tighter, more focused approach. The six tracks here constantly evolve, seamlessly flowing together in and out of blissful atmospherics and crushing metal riffs. Unlike some other post-rock/post-metal/post-whatever bands, Russian Circles seem to know when to change gears and as a result delivered in my opinion the finest instrumental album of the past ten years.

Listen to : 'Youngblood', 'Verses'



23. Red Animal War - 'Black Phantom Crusades'


I'll hazard a guess that not many people have ever heard of this band. I certainly hadn't until this arrived as a 'freebie' a few years ago. Released in 2002 on Deep Elm records, this album is an angular post-hardcore triumph. Reminiscent of Jawbox (particularly where vocals are concerned) and other taut and disciplined DC hardcore, but also adding elements of jazz and shoegazing it's definitely worth tracking down.

Listen to : 'Still', 'The Day After Yesterday', 'When I Get The Feelin' (Back In My Hands)'



22. These Arms Are Snakes - 'Easter'


Not since discovering Cave In way back in 2002 has a band knocked me out so immediately. 'Easter' is the second full-length album from Seattle's TAAS and in my opinion their best. Picking up from where 'Oxeneers' left off , this record adds more discordant melody and off-kilter rhythm with a more 'proggy' direction. It's not a comfortable listen and probably not recommended for dinner parties/social gatherings, but listen to it by yourself from start to finish and it will make sense. It also contains one of the finest closing sequences on any album I have ever heard.

Listen to : 'Subtle Body', 'Lady North', 'Crazy Woman, Dirty Train'



21. Primal Scream - 'XTRMNTR'


Nearly ten years on, this still remains the best album Primal Scream have ever made. It's filthy, nasty, and seethes with anger and at times seems as though it could fall apart any second. Released at the beginning of the millennium, 'XTRMNTR' is a punk/techno/rock and roll fuckfest. As ever with this being a Primal Scream album the influences are quite easy to spot, but at no point does it seem like a pastiche in the same vein as 'Give Out But Don't Give Up' did of the Stones in 1972.

Listen to : 'Kill All Hippies', 'Accelerator', 'Exterminator', 'Shoot Speed/Kill Light'

Careful Consideration

This is it. After wasting a large amount of mental energy over the past few weeks and doing a lot of listening, I have come to my final decision. In my opinion, the best album of the last ten years is 'Jupiter' by Cave In. This album is important for many, many reasons. Firstly, it's the way in which it manages to mix perhaps my two favourite sub-genres of rock music, shoegazing and hardcore, almost perfectly. I first saw them live, at the Astoria in 2002, supporting Hundred Reasons and to this day I have still not been that 'blown away' by a previously unknown support band. I literally could not believe what I was hearing. It was everything that I'd ever wanted to do in music myself, and more. 'Jupiter' was the album they were currently touring, so I went out and bought it. I'm not sure how long it remained on constant rotation for, but it was probably a good month or two.

The main reason why this album is so important to me is what it eventually led to. Through this I began to check out similar artists, artists on the same label and every single band listed in the sleeve notes. The label, Hydra Head, is/was home to some of the more avant-garde heavy music around and is run by Aaron Turner, vocalist and guitarist for Isis. Bands thanked in the sleeve notes include contemporaries such as Converge, Coalesce, Garrison, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Botch.

Jupiter's real triumph of course is the music. There's everything from dirty, slow, almost doom-metal (the aptly named 'Big Riff'), 3-minute pop-hardcore ('Brain Candle'), neo-prog epics and acoustic balladry all bound together by a strong sense of melody that runs through this album's very core. It is without a doubt Cave In's finest body of work. Following this, they were picked up by RCA records and went on to gain some moderate success with 2003's 'Antenna' before parting company with them and eventually going on hiatus in 2006. Good news though, they re-appeared this summer with the 'Planets Of Old' EP, released on Hydra Head and have begun touring again.

Take the time to watch this live performance of album highlight 'In The Stream Of Commerce', and do yourself a favour and get hold of this album.

In the next few days, once I've worked everything out I'll put up the rest of the list.

Someone needs to give this motherfucker a medal!

This is probably my favourite photograph of all time. This plucky fellow attempted to cross the US border from Mexico disguised as a car seat. You've really got to admire his balls. If I were an Immigration official I'd let him in, just down to the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. In retrospect the execution of his 'outfit' could have been slightly better, particularly where the face is involved, but it is impressive nonetheless.

Slacking

I've just noticed that 10 days have passed since I last mentioned an emo/post-hardcore band from the late-90's/early-2000's. I'm not sure anyone cares about that apart from myself, but here we go. Pay attention to Garrison.

Formed in 1996 in Boston, they are another one of those bands that no-one has ever heard of apart from those who tend to delve a little too deep into a scene, under the impression that that somehow makes them seem 'cool'. At least that's the perception, it's actually stereotypical geeky behaviour. That's why you'll never see 'cool' people listening to bands like Garrison, and typically why 90's 'Emo' as a whole was a genre populated entirely by geeks who can't even get laid. I could go on about this, but I think I'll save it for another time - there's far more to talk about there but this for now is all about Garrison. They signed to the legendary New York hardcore label Revelation (home to Gorilla Biscuits, Judge, Quicksand, many more) in the late 90's and released two albums plus a number of singles and EP's. The one to check out is Be a Criminal, released in 2001.

Ten songs of angular post-hardcore expertly produced by J. Robbins of Jawbox fame, this album is a perfectly executed body of work. The track listing reads like the description of a crime - 'Recognize an Opportunity', 'Know The Locale', 'Dump The Body', and the final track 'Accept What You've Done, Accept Who You Are' and makes for a concept album of sorts. Influences from a wide range of Rock/Indie history can be found here, from Drive Like Jehu style noise, shimmering Shoegaze to Smiths-y guitar jangle. This album contains pretty much everything I love about rock music, and I would even go as far as to include it in my list of the finest albums released in the last ten years. Unfortunately there is not much available online and it took me quite some time to track this album down, but it's worth searching out. Watch this video below

Retail Hell

The Westgate Centre. There's a lot of weird shit that goes on in there. It's like a haven for bargain-hungry freaks. Everything in there is either discounted, minus that horrid 'upmarket' streetwear shop John Anthony (or as I like to call it, 'Cunt's Paradise'), or just cheap to begin with. I must say that I have never been in to Cunt's Paradise, just one look at the staff puts me right off, but my friend Matt quite enjoys going in there just to look at the customers. He plays a little game where he tries to guess who can actually afford to shop there, and who has saved up money for weeks on end. I think it's mostly the latter.

Recently they have started putting small stands set up along the centre of the main 'strip', offering sweets, calendars, Sky TV and other generally pointless toss. One stand of particular note is a hair styling company called 'Herstyler'. If I were in charge of this venture, I'd like to make sure that the people running it had made some sort of effort themselves. You really should go and have a look as this disheveled bunch of clowns. A girl who appears not only to have not brushed her hair, but the thought has clearly never crossed her mind? Check! Two effeminate 'dudes' with plasters on their faces? Check! A whole gaggle of gimps, standing to attention with hair straighteners in hand, ready to pounce on some unsuspecting chump? Check! If I was the sort of person interested in that sort of thing I'd at least expect the staff to look as if they knew what they were doing. You wouldn't trust a spotty dermatologist, would you?

Just last week, as reported in the Oxford Mail it seems as though the re-development plans have been shelved until at least 2014, as no-one has any money. This really is a massive shame as I was looking forward to this shitty monstrosity of discount tat get razed like a Vegas casino.

Back to school with you, Sonny!

'Numpty', that's a good word. It's fun to say, and it's a rather inoffensive way of calling someone a fucking moron. It's almost affectionate. It's a shame it can't be applied here though, I'm afraid something I witnessed earlier today requires a word with far more weight, disdain and cruelty.

Whilst walking through the delight that is Oxford's Westgate Centre* this morning, en route to Sainsbury's, I caught a glimpse of a particularly simple-looking man. His first mistake was wearing just a T-Shirt. It's November, it's cold, and it has also been raining. Put a fucking coat on. I think the reason behind it was probably so he could show off his shitty tribal tattoos. As our paths drew nearer, I noticed the words 'Lesbians' in large type on this T-Shirt, and naturally my interest was piqued. Above said word was written the phrase 'Dip Me In Chocolate And Feed Me To The'. This statement annoys me for a number of reasons :

1. It's not funny

2. I don't really know what he is trying to achieve by wearing it. Is it that people will read it and think 'Haha! That's pretty funny. I bet that guy's a real fucking character!', or worse still, does he think that someone will read it AND ACTUALLY MAKE IT HAPPEN?

3. It's a bit arrogant to think that he, as a man, once dipped in chocolate will suddenly become desirable to 'The Lesbians' as an entire group of people, that just because he is covered in chocolate, suddenly every one of 'The Lesbians' fancies a bit of cock.

4. It's not funny.

I've never been a big fan of 'slogan' T-Shirts (apart from my own one - wait for the public airing of that) at all. They appeal to the exact sort of people I dislike. There's quite a wide group of people I dislike by the way, and no rules as to categorize them, it's almost autocratic. Stupid shit like 'You're Just Jealous Because The Voices Aren't Talking To You', and my favourite of all time 'You Laugh At Me Because I'm Different, I Laugh at You Because You're All The Same'. I have seen at least 5 Goths wearing that T-shirt in the past 2 years, mostly when they are in a group, all dressed the same. I don't think they quite got the irony.

So, I'm still trying to come up with a word to describe this douchebag. Or I could just let it go. He's done me no harm, apart from causing me to think about something so trivial for far too long. But that's my problem, not his. If I ever see him again, I'm sure I won't recognise him. Unless he's wearing that fucking T-Shirt.

*Does anyone remember when the Westgate Centre used to be the 'nice' one, and the Clarendon Centre was the shit one? My, how times have changed. That Westgate Centre needs to step up it's game. It's all budget retailing. I'm surprised there are not more empty shops in there. One particular phenomenon I have noticed recently is the closure of one cheap bookshop, and the immediate opening of another one. They co-existed for roughly a week. Maybe it had something to do with the lighting. The original shitty bookshop was illuminated like a cave. It was horrible, dank, nasty, and the sight of a staff member sat by the door picking his nose is not very inviting. The newer one is brightly lit, and has a really, really hot girl working there. Next time you go to Sainbury's, have a look. She's not there every day so if you happen to chance upon an ugly skank, that's not her!

BIG THINGS!

Small Brown Bike are working on new material. This is extremely good news, as Small Brown Bike are fucking excellent. One of the more forward-thinking post-hardcore/emocore bands of the early 2000's, they were often mentioned alongside Hot Water Music, but whereas HWM where more straight-ahead punk Small Brown Bike had a more expansive vision. The musical progression from their early 7" releases to final album "The River Bed" is evidence of this. They sadly split at the end of 2003 at the height of their success, after receiving glowing reviews, regular rotation on MTV2 and increasingly successful tours. The last two releases, the 'Nail Yourself to the Ground' EP and 'The River Bed' are among the finest post-hardcore releases this decade, somewhat ahead of their time. Listening to 'Table For Four', there are shades of what Thrice have been trying to achieve since 2005's 'Vheissu' onwards. Check out this video

Fuck a Duck!

Holy balls. This slice of pure tight-banging gold is probably the most underrated 90's Hip-Hop tune apart from Souls of Mischief's '93 'Til Infinity'. I first heard it on a Scratch Perverts radio session in 1998, then it turned up on a Hip-Hop Don't Stop compilation. I tried to track it down for years (11 to be exact), and finally found a rapidshare link a few months ago. To say I got a boner would be somewhat of an understatement. This tune is so huge it's unbelievable. I have only managed to find this one link, which features the 'A' side to this single first. That has a pretty good beat, but the DJ Spinna mix of 'Verbalise' is the real prize. It starts at 3:36, so please listen and enjoy. It's marvellous.

Still smelling FRESH

This is fucking awesome. I've not listened to it in about 6 years. It's Lootpack, which features DJ/Producer/Genius Madlib. I'm not sure about the accompanying video, but this is the best sounding version I could find. It's off their 1999 album 'Soundpieces : Da Antidote'

The height of laziness

I like a nice cup of tea, most people I know do. Most people I know who make tea will dispose of a used tea bag in it's rightful place - the BIN. Unfortunately the people I work with do not fall into this category. They also seem to have a great deal of trouble with the milk. If you take the milk out of the fridge, surely you'd put it back in afterwards? Or, in one particular case, if someone has left the milk out of the fridge and you make yourself a tea, would you not then put it back where it belongs? No. If you're this particular person you'd put it back where you found it. You might then get asked by somebody WHY you haven't put the milk back in the fridge, only to respond 'I didn't take it out. I was just putting it back where I got it from'. WHERE'S YOUR FUCKING COMMON SENSE!?!

Most of the kitchens I have ever been in tend to contain the both a sink and a bin, normally located fairly near to each other, in close proximity to the kettle. I'd hazard a guess that the average distance between sink and bin is somewhere around a metre. In some cases, like my house, the bin is closer to the kettle than the sink. I would imagine that this has somehow evolved over time since the introduction of the electric kettle.

It really amazes me how lazy some people can be. I will freely admit that I am not the most dynamic person you'll ever meet, but you'll never catch me leaving a tea bag in the sink. It's just fucking nasty.

THE HOTTEST SHIT AROUND!

They're back with a new album, 'Geneva' just 18 months since the last one. That's right, suckers. It's everyone's favourite instrumental 3-piece from Chicago, Russian Circles. It's heavier than 'Station', more melodic than 'Enter', it's their best work to date. Bassist Brian Cook (he of Botch and These Arms Are Snakes fame) commands a solid groove throughout the album, most notably on the title track where his pulsating rhythm fights against Dave Turncrantz's tribal drumming, creating an aura of tension before Mike Sullivan enters with some lush spidery guitar. The musicianship on this record is simply stunning, not that it ever takes focus away from the album as a whole. Post-Rock/Post-Metal/Instrumental Rock/Whatever you want to call it can be a tricky beast; songs have a tendency to drag on, losing the listener's attention. Thankfully Russian Circles manage to avoid this through the taut discipline of their songwriting. There's not a single passage that outstays its welcome.

Knob of the Week!

Look at the smug grin slapped across this chump's face. That's the smugness brought on as a by-product of selling over 30 MILLION albums worldwide. Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, it's everyone's favourite drive-time dickhead, Chris Rea. It's hard to put into words my particular dislike of this artist without reeling off an infinite stream of expletives, but I shall try my best.

Chris Rea's well-honed brand of 'Soft Rock' has been polluting my ears for longer than I care to remember. I can recall growing up during the 80's, on road trips with my family listening to one of three tapes : Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours', Dire Straits' 'Brothers In Arms' and Paul Simon's 'Graceland'. All of these albums still hold a lot of memories for me, some good, some bad but mostly they make me think of motorways. Dire Straits and Chris Rea are often lumped in together - both have that lazy-blues-mid-tempo-boogie-woogie element to their music, but where Dire Straits tend to employ that only on about half of their output, Chris Rea doesn't hold back. This gimp applies it liberally over nearly EVERYTHING he has ever produced. Both have that same 'Is he singing or is he speaking' vocal style. Maybe they should have teamed up, and called themselves Dire Rea. That's enough about Dire Straits. I quite like about 4 of their songs, so we'll leave them alone. Back to the main focus.

It's the mid-paced tempo that really offends. It's almost as if it has been purposefully used to soundtrack the drive home after work as you sit in your Mondeo, crawling along some A-road with a thousand other middle-aged wankers like yourself somewhere in Berkshire. Listen to how shit this is! It's unbearable.

Knob Of The Week!

Oh, Chris Cornell. I remember when you used to be cool. Well, not 'cool' as such, I never looked up to you in the same way I did to Eddie Vedder and Kurt when I was all about THE GRUNGE. You were slightly better than Layne Stayley though, and at least you got off the drugs, but I never thought you'd become such a giant douche. From Soundgarden to where you are now, I hope you're proud of yourself. You shouldn't be.

Your first couple of solo outings showed some promise, expecially

'Seasons' from the Singles soundtrack, and 'Euphoria Morning' wasn't

that bad, but what the fuck was up with that James Bond theme? And

don't get me started on fucking AUDIOSLAVE.

This is good :

Do us a favour. Grow your hair again, patch things up with your old band members,

just pretend it's 1992 again.

Vitamin Water, Coffee, Bacon Sandwich

Sometimes I like to remember that I once did a degree in Graphic Design. It was quite a few years ago, so you may forgive me for my memory loss. One day I may even get around to using it for a career.

Super Exciting Hot New Jams!

On Tuesday this week I decided to set myself a challenge; listen to nothing but Van Halen for the next week. I was only familiar with a small portion of their output - 'Jump' (obviously), 'Panama' and that one that that big-beat/dance/techno group sampled. I got hold of all the David Lee Roth-era albums and got down to business. That Eddie Van Halen shreds like a motherfucker! 'Women and Children First' is probably the best one in my opinion. Nasty guitars, Diamond Dave talking about going to parties and banging chicks, it's all rather good. The same can be said for all of their albums really, but this one seems to be the most concise, and the most fun.

All the early albums are recorded with just EVH in the left-hand channel which makes for interesting listening. If it gets a bit too much for you, take one earphone out. After three days it has started to grate, and I have failed. Mostly because of this.

It's a track recorded during the sessions for their album, 'Tail, Swallower and Dove', released last year. It's the fucking TITS. I don't think I could love this band any more if I tried. This track is available from iTunes, so do yourselves a favour and get all over it.

Hangover cure!

No, not eating a bowl of cables.

Urgh. I had a few drinks yesterday, down at the James Street Tavern. Watched a skate DVD, listened to some bald guy singing depressing songs, had some macaroni cheese. It was a pretty good day. This morning has been fairly rough though, but I think I have just discovered something that maybe no-one else has ever thought of before. You've heard of Lucozade Sport? You've heard of Berocca? Put that shit together! Break a Berocca open in two, put it in your 'Zade. Boom! It tastes pretty fucking good too.

This is that bald guy I saw yesterday. He is quite talented it has to be said. His album, 'The Animal' comes out on September 28th. You should probably buy it.

Franking Shinfo

Here we have the Pitney Bowes DM50 Letter Franking Machine. Very exciting I know. This fucking thing is the bane of my life. Recently, we have started receiving information from a company called DataServe Direct who somehow manage to get hold of planning permission applications from local councils, and are allowed to sell that on to businesses. We do a lot of custom installation, so this data can be quite useful. The problem is, however, I'm the chump who has to deal with it. Every two weeks we get about 2-300 names and addresses. This involves stuffing however many envelopes are necessary to fulfil the quota, sticking the label on the envelope and then franking the envelope. This process will generally take me about 4-5 hours, due to customers, phonecalls, having other things to do etc. I'm not really sure why I've written this down, this is quite possibly the biggest piece of SHINFO you're ever likely to read.

Dinner Shinfo

Mmmm...tasty chicken. Normally I will have some form of Chicken and Potatoes for dinner, at least 4 times a week.I really, really like chicken, as some people who I have lived with will attest to. Since last Monday however, I have not eaten it ONCE. This is very out of character, and is some I plan on rectifying VERY soon.

Valve Shinfo

New Hopes, New Demonstrations

If there were any justice in this world, The Ghost Of A Thousand's debut album 'This Is Where The Fight Begins' would have overshadowed Gallows' 'Orchestra Of Wolves' as 2007's UK Hardcore album of choice. Where Gallows' live show is raw, visceral, and exciting, I have always found them rather tame on record. TGOAT on the other hand, are quite the opposite. 'This Is Where The Fight Begins' is everything you could want from a hardcore album. 30 minutes of pure unbridled punk rock fury. Perhaps had they been picked up by Warner Bros for a reported £1million advance things may have been different? Well, instead of that The Ghost Of A Thousand became the first UK band to sign to Bad Religion's legendary label Epitaph., which brings us to the second album 'New Hopes, New Demonstrations'.

Once again, there is no doubt that Gallows' recent offering 'Grey Britain' will shift more units, but hopefully TGOAT will capitalise on the excellent reviews this album is receiving and get the attention they deserve. From opener 'Moved As Mountains, Dreamt Of By The Sea', the pace rarely relents, and even when it does on standout track 'Split The Atom' it exposes a new-found swagger and groove that any band would be proud of. And so they should - Ghost have delivered to us one of the albums of the year so far. We should be proud of them.

www.myspace.com/theghostofathousand

Budget Holiday #1

Get down to your local shop, pick up a Bounty and a can of Lilt. Instant Carribean.