Moving

back soon @ stonedimmaculatev2.wordpress.com

I have decided to move and 'reinvent' the blog to cover other things than just music. I have partly decided this because I no longer work in the digital music industry, and am therefore not getting anywhere near as much exposure to new music as I used too. As I now work in the games industry, I'm involved in a new area, and my love for games, coupled with my job, means I am constantly online checking out games related news as well as working within the area, and therefore I want to comment, and share, this on the blog too. I've also tried to write about film a little on here, and I want to develop that too, so this blog will be more concentrated on media, rather than purely music.

I'm also hoping to find a new format on the new blog in order to keep me posting much more regularly - and I'm afraid I lost a little bit of time and effort in the previous months, and with it a bit of love for the blog, and now I want to rectify that.

v2 will be better, more focused, and hopefully with more concentrated effort I can create a blog that people may even visit...haha, I tell myself I jest there, but I don't...

I've set up the blog on wordpress, but I have yet to do anything, I'm going to play with the layout and new functions for a while before I enter the first official blog entry on v2, so I wouldn't visit yet, as it's on a generic creation page that appears for any new blog.

I'll be posting online again real soon though.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you on the new blog.
back soon @ stonedimmaculatev2.wordpress.com

The Raconteurs - Consolers of The Lonely

I'm seriously fucking pissed right now - not because of this album, as it's a blinder, but because twatting Blogger doesn't have a recover/undo button and I've just lost the previous opening paragraph I wrote for this update. I'd created the world's best opening paragraph for an album review ever, and now it's lost to the world, and it'll never be a better place for that genius writing Blogger has helped me to lose...I had even dropped in a few jokes too...hhhmph!

I'd written something along of the lines that The Raconteurs hadn't marketed the album, until it was released, and even now they haven't really advertised it to any great degree...I'd added a gag about inserting a 'difficult second album' allusion, and had even listed every single genre and musical style that had been inserted into the album - well okay that last part was a lie.

Every song on the album is very different from the previous one, thus meaning the album is a strange beast of contrasting styles and influences; where many albums seem to share a thematic style, this is chameleon-esque collection of tracks.

Instead of going on and on about it (as I want to listen to it again), I'll say one more thing - just go and buy it. steal it, borrow it...whatever, but go and insert this album into your life! Also, check out the video for Salute Your Salvation before you go.

Let The Woman - Andy Davis

Just got an email from the guys at IODA recommending a guy called Andy Davis, and I was definitely intrigued enough to find out more from the three short samples below:

Andy Davis
"Let the Woman" (mp3)
from "Let the Woman"
(bigHelium Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album



Andy Davis
"Brown Eyes" (mp3)
from "Let the Woman"
(bigHelium Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Napster
Buy at Rhapsody
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album


Andy Davis
"Beautiful Day for Bad News" (mp3)
from "Let the Woman"
(bigHelium Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album

...so I'm off to listen to some of his music properly, I can't promise it'll all be good, but I'm sure it'll be worth your while in some regard if you decide to join me; if so, then let's all hold hold hands and trot towards it together (unless you've heard it before, that is) with joyous gaiety.

Digging for Superabundance

Yes I've been crap, procrastination has been my bedfellow these past few weeks, and to be honest I've loved every second of it. However, I have missed writing about music, but I have also more importantly missed listening to it. I bought all those albums weeks ago and they've only had a meagre handful of listens. Not because any of them are bad albums, it's just because I've been so busy at work (and at the moment I'm addicted to a particular online console game, that I can't play whilst listening to music also, as the game demands you pay close attention to the sound effects - that gives me an idea about writing about the use of music in games, but hey that's for another day). I do enjoy winding down with music, but I can't solely do that at the moment, I come home wired, and need to do something else to stimulate my mind apart from listening to music. Shame I know, but I haven't lost my appreciation for it, just my appetite momentarily.

However, the last two albums I have got my grubby hands on, have really hit home how much I enjoy listening to a great album. Today The Young Knives latest Superabundance was in my porch when I got home, and from the very first song I was hooked. Seriously, I frigging love this band. Their debut album Voices of Animals & Men was a cracker (and their previous collection of EP's ...Are Dead...And Some provides some really great moments too) and they've followed this up with a superb nod to their previous work, whilst tying in some new elements.

The almost new-wave punk/pop sound from previous songs remains, however there is also a playful insertion of prog-rock elements. Now when I say playful, I mean this, there is no pretension, there are no aspects that make you think they've gone all 'hippyfied' (not that this would be a bad thing), I can just imagine a mischevious twinkle in their eye when writing songs such as Current of The River, 'wonder if the indie-kids will get this' kind of attitude perhaps. These guys aren't out to court the hip crowd, they make the sounds they want to, and I love them the more for it. If you want to listen to some really clever new-wave inspired pop-punk, then you should make a bee-line for this album, it's super-fucking-abundant-in-awesomeness!

Check out - Up All Night and Terra Firma

There's been quite a bit of talk about the what the latest Cave/Bad Seeds album would entail, after the foray into pure dirty spanking blues ridden rock with Grinderman who knew what would happen next? The last Cave/Bad Seeds album was 2004's Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus , which was a delight by all accounts. This latest installment of tattered tales is a vivid and inspiring account of how majestical this collection of gifted artists is, I can't help but be surprised each and every time I hear an album they've created.

Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! features a wide array of musical variations and influences, but at it's very heart it's pure Bad Seeds, with lyrical and vocal verve supplied by the grandmaster that is Nick Cave. Gushing much am I? That's rhetorical by the way...yes I bloody well am! But these guys deserve it; album after album they don't fail to deliver the goods, and I'm in awe of a band that can continuously raise the bar ever fucking higher.

Listen to this and see for yourself and if you don't agree then don't tell me, as I don't give a damn - it'll be your loss not mine - Dig, Lazarus Dig!!!

I never did write a review for the following albums, so here I've decided to write a very short summary for each of them, check out my minimalism.

Radiohead - In Rainbows

How do they do it? I mean they've split their fans down the middle since the release of Kid A, but I truly believe that these guys get better with time. Hail to The Thief to my mind has been their strongest offering to date, but this is another fantastic album which produces some of their finest moments on record. Must have album. Check this - Reckoneer

Drive-by Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark

Perhaps my second favourite band of all time (behind The Doors), these guys have produced some truly great moments of good old southern rock 'n' roll/country throughout their career, and this album is another collection of greatness. I love this band hard, and you can fucking quote me on that.
Check this - Two Daughters and A Wife (I would have linked more, but this is the only video from the album I can find).

Finally, I'm really digging this video, and have just got hold of the debut album, so will be listening to that later, but I really like these guys, and actually agree with the various sources that say they're a band to watch this year. Enjoy MGMT with Time To Pretend.

The joys of posting

I honestly do enjoy posting here - for the few people that bother to visit - but I'm aware that my posting to date has been sporadic and for that I apologise. Once my body clock re-adjusts itself to working again (three months of redundancy doesn't do well for body regulation, in terms of sleep that is) I'll feel more awake when I get home from work and therefore post more in-depth, but at the moment I'm not writing nearly as much content as I'd like.

I'm aiming to post the albums of 2007 list very soon, as well as post more comprehensive album reviews, but in the meantime you'll have to make do with the snippets posted I'm afraid.

Today I bought two more albums (Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo, and Jason Isbell's Sirens of The Ditch), so at some point I really do have to share my thoughts on these - as well as the ones I got last week - however for now I wanted to post a playlist of songs that I've been playing a lot of in the past few days. There seems to be common elements to these, mostly that they're slower and more introspective, perhaps because that's how I'm feeling of late, but I think it's just one of my 'phases'. When I say phases though, I don't mean in the sense of the word as applied to teenagers, as in 'I'll grow out of it', I mean as in phases of the moon; ebbs and flows and all that shit. I listen intently to one style of music, or theme, for a while then move on, but I'll always come back later...I don't neglect albums in my collection, they all have their time and place. Anyway, for the pupose of this post please enjoy the first playlist of a continuing series, the first being Mediations of introspection:

Jason Isbell, Dress Blues (taken from Sirens of the Ditch)
Kimya Dawson, Tire Swing (taken from Juno OST)
Dan Sartain, Flight of the Finch (taken from Join Dan Sartain)
Beirut, The Penalty (taken from The Flying Club Cup)
Mugison, Murr Murr (taken from Is This Monkey Music?)
Gram Rabbit, Devil's Playground (taken from How To Start A Cult)
Weezer, Say It Ain't So (taken from 'The Blue Album')
Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit (taken from Surrealist Pillow)
The Drive-by Truckers, Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife (taken from Brighter Than Creation Dark)
Radiohead, Videotape (taken from In Rainbows)

Got milk! Well, when I say milk, I mean gig tickets

So yesterday morning I saw Gogol Bordello tickets advertised for their April 2nd gig at Brixton Academy - which was a nice surprise, as I had no idea they were playing - and therefore in an excited frenzy I ran and got tickets in my lunchbreak...it may be an under-estimation to say I'm somewhat excited. I've read nothing but good reports of their live performances, so for me there is an overload of pre-gig excitement; something I haven't had for a while.

The 'gig-lust' built up so much that I also ended up buying tickets to see Serj Tankian's headlining gig at The Forum which occurs the following night. Such a hardship to go and see him again, I know, I know...two artists I love, in two succesive nights. Bring on April I say!

I also want to say again how amazing the Juno soundtrack is; I have played this non-stop for the last two days, and am still yet to get sick of it (although as I always do with albums I love, I will play it to death, and therefore need a break from it). If anybody has seen the advert for the film on television, please, please, do not pay heed to the two Hoosiers songs they play on the trailer, these are NOT in the film, and do fit in the the style of the soundtrack in any way, shape or form. Why the marketing people chose those songs I will never, ever know. Way to go fuckrags...I realise this type of thing is not that important to most people, so it won't effect their choice of going to see the film or not, but they are such overly jaunty, and distracting, songs, and not in keeping with the thematic feel of the soundtrack, that it really jars with me. Minor rant over.

Following on from my last post, I got hold of The Moldy Peaches self-titled album (and rare cuts) and it's really, really good, I also forgot that Adam Green (whose solo stuff I really like) is the other main person in the band apart from Kimya Dawson, so I did kinda know about them, inadvertently at least.

In celebration of getting tickets to see them, Gogol Bordello - Wonderlust King:

Juno, for me and you, and you and you...

So, it's been a while huh?

It's been hectic in my world of late, I have a brand spankin' new job, and therefore coming home again every night at gone seven, and then cooking, eating and trying to unwind has taken it out of me a bit. Sob, frigging sob, I know, I know. The thing is, I'm not working in music anymore (I'm now working in the games industry), so I am even less exposed to music than when I was at home after Virgin Digital was closed down, so I poke around new music even less. I will be outwardly getting myself more involved again, so please have patience whilst normal service starts to resume.

This week will see new album reviews posted, as I had a mini splurge of late, getting myself all friendly with Drive-by Truckers latest Brighter Than Creation's Dark, Radiohead's In Rainbows (I waited for the physical copy, so much for digital huh?) and The Mars Volta's The Bedlam In Goliath. I'm also going to be doing (what may end up being a two-parter) my list of favourite albums from 2007...and believe me there's a freakin' lot! So over the next week, I aim to get a lot of new content on here.

In the meantime, I'm going to introduce you to what already could be the best soundtrack of 2008 - Juno. I watched the film last night, and was blown away by a witty, beautiful, and captivating film, and more importantly perhaps, a fantastic soundtrack, which accentuated each and every nuance contained within the film. Half of the soundtrack is lifted from Kimya Dawson (the female contingent of the Moldy Peaches - a band I had yet to listen to, until last night...wow, what a mistake that has been, a firm new favourite band for me there in the making I think), and her lo-fi 'anti-folk' is the perfect backdrop for a film that is subtle in its character portrayals. I actually had to go out today and buy one of Dawson's albums (I'm Sorry That Sometimes I'm Mean) and it's a whimsical, affecting affair, with some endearing (yet sometimes faintly eerie) children vocalists joining in the good fun. These guest children often add an air of fun, however they also heighten the meaning of some of the lyrics, especially on Hold My Hand: "abuse and neglect are highly contagious, so I called the social worker up and I said 'hey lady you're outrageous', she said 'smarty pants you want a gold star' and I said 'no I wanna smash your head in with a crowbar', but the cycle of violence has to end somewhere". I strongly recommend her poignant, heart-warming tales.

Onto the soundtrack then; it's not resplendent with just Dawson's songs - two under the guise of Antsy Pants, complete with child backed choruses - it features other great tracks from artists such as The Kinks, Buddy Holly, Cat Power, Belle & Sebastian, Sonic Youth doing a grand job of covering The Carpenters' Superstar as well as two particularly great additions to the soundrack; The Moldy Peaches track Anyone Else But You and the two leads Michael Cera and Ellen Page with their rendition of the same song, which plays out the end of the film. The latter song is especially great, but not because the vocals are particularly special, it's just because they sound so honest, and real, and this is all in keeping with the film's beauty. This version packs an emotional punch, and gives me a little tear in my eye every time I hear it.

Each and every song adds another layer to the film's soundtrack, ultimately leading to accomplishing a feat I'd never thought possible - actually being on a par with the two greatest soundtracks ever made; Easy Rider and The Big Lebowski (of course this is all my opinion...). I've always wanted to be responsible for curating the music for a film soundtrack, and this is one of those rare soundtracks that make me think when it's done right, it's as near to the ideal of what perfection is (in an album) as is possible. As wanky as this will sound, good music is truly a special gift, and this album is as close to that as I think is possible.

Well, on that especially soppy note, I'll leave you be with The Moldy Peaches original version, enjoy: