The best Morrissey interview ever…

All too often people dismiss Russell Brand, despite him a) being really quite funny and b) having done really good things.  This is one of them good things. Without a doubt, this is the best interview i’ve heard with Morrissey, and the most i think he has been engaged by an interviewer. He’s notorious for not really doing interviews and when he does it’s usually rubbish as the interviewer is a twat or fails to interest Mozza… it’s just boring really. Whilst at times this one strays into sycophancy- Brand is clearly a huge fan and makes no effort to hide this, he actually ends up getting more out of Morrissey than those who try to ask awkward questions. When he isn’t giggling like a schoolboy fan that is. 

Government Warning, Wasted Time, The Shitty Limits & Hello Bastards @ Westhill Community Centre, Brighton, 30th May

 

This is the first live review I have posted on here in about 6 months. So it is somewhat apt that I would resume with Government Warning, one of the finest hardcore bands around today. Thinking about it I’m not sure why that would be any more apt than any other band, but fuck it, opening sentences always suck. A couple of shows in recent weeks have rivalled it, but this was without doubt one of the best shows I’ve been to all year.

Nick Cave, Jello Biafra and Henry Rollins onstage together

I dont really need to explain why this video fills me with so much joy do i?

My favourite Bad Seeds song, Jello Biafra, Nick Cave and Henry Rollins TOGETHER. AND the fact that Jello is dancing like he is at a wedding, AND Henry looks like a giddy child, AND does the awkward thing that people do when they get on stage…. despite probably having spent a significant proportion of his life on a stage of sorts.

Here is Henry talking about that moment, at one of his spoken word shows. His impression of Jello is brilliant.

Wonderful.

Mastodon- the reviews of their new album

pretty shit cover art really

are by all accounts bit stupid… now i haven’t heard it so i’m not sure whether the reviews are accurate.  Being honest i think i’ve only read a couple of full reviews at the most. I saw an advert for the album on MySpace and some of the quotes on there were fucking stupid, so i’m entitled to comment, okay? My problem is not with Mastodon using the quotes to get people to buy their album, its more the fact that they were written in the first place.

NME- ‘thuddingly impressive’

Is ‘thuddingly’ a word? Well yes, but what does it mean? The dictionary tells me it means… ‘verb (used without object)  to strike or fall with a dull sound of heavy impact.’. So in the context of how it has been used what does it mean and what does it tell us about the album? Absolutely bollocks all.

Rocksound- ‘fucking stunning’

oooh get those rebellious tykes over at rocksound! they swear! wooooo. boring.

Metal Hammer- ‘Prepare to be blown away’

How can you prepare to be blown away? Surely its an oxymoron? I would say its deliberate on the part of the writer, but its for Metal Hammer, so it’s definitely not.

I’m aware its quite to harsh to judge a review based on a couple of soundbites, but when they are that stupid, can you blame me? Jesus christ.

If you want to lose faith in the human race

http://weeklyworldnews.com/2009/06/25/michael-jackson-faked-his-own-death/

read the comments to that. absolute fucking idiots.

Matt Groening- Will and Abe’s Guide to the Universe

 

When I first started writing a review of this comic book, I thought that despite being a huge fan of Groening, this work wasn’t up there with his most notable achievements. The Simpsons and Futurama are two of my favourite programmes ever, to the extent that when I was 13/14, it was my ‘thing’ to be obsessed with The Simpsons. Life in Hell in itself is actually a very successful strip on its own merits, being carried by over 250 weekly newspapers, and predating both of the above TV shows, as well as being popular amongst fans and critics alike. This was the first time I had actually read at any great length the strip, and as I said, to begin with I was distinctly underwhelmed. But the more I thought about it when writing this review, the more I realised that my initial conclusions were wrong, and this was a far more successful strip than I gave it credit for.  

Kurt Vonnegut- Slaughterhouse 5

 

‘There is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre.’

Probably the best known of Vonnegut’s work, this is the first of his novels that I have read. It’s not difficult to see why it is held in such high regard, transcending boundaries in a way which cements its status as one of this century’s classic books. Whilst it is a complex multi faceted novel, with true depth, it is often simplified and attributed as having two main purposes. The first, probably the most commonly mentioned of the two is as an anti war novel. It’s not quite what you might expect though based on this assumption, as the points made which are interpreted as ‘anti-war’ require some elucidation on the part of the reader. It’s not simply a book which says ‘war is bad and this is why.’ The second obvious message that underpins the book as a whole is Vonnegut’s questioning of the nature of ‘life’ as we see it and the incomprehensibility of time and the human condition, which often intertwines with the anti war aspects.

Dorian Gay

I know it’s essentially bad form to promote your own band on a music blog that you run… but fuck it, if you don’t like it, stop reading this blog. But you won’t because its awesome.

Anyway, I sing in a band called Dorian Gay. We have just recorded our first proper EP and it’s pretty cool. If i was thinking of a band to compare us with, i’d say maybe Circle Jerks. That’s rather complimentary, but what the hell. We also made up a genre, called ‘litcore’. Its called that because its hardcore, we like books, and use the name of books when we can’t think of anything better to call a song.

If you fancy listening to us, you can hear a couple of new songs over at www.myspace.com/doriangayhc

The Road to Wigan Pier- George Orwell

So before I get into talking about this book, I thought I might explain why I am talking about a book in what, up to now, has been a music blog. Well…  I use a facebook application called ‘Visual Bookshelf’. On there I update what I have read/am reading/want to read next pretty regularly, and review most books that I have read, occasionally writing 500 words, sometimes writing 50. But not many people read them. So I thought people might be interested here. It’s also a good way of making this look like I regularly update it without doing much work.

(puts on Ray Cappo voice) We’re back!

So it’s been a while since I’ve done anything with this blog. To be quite honest with you, I have no excuse, except being lazy/having other things to do. But I’m off from Uni now and have far fewer things to distract me, which should mean I update this more often. Plus, Tom and Apryl have been nagging me to update this, and I would hate to upset them. I won’t waste time with going on about what I’ve been doing in the last few months as that’s fucking boring.