Week 21

So I decided to go waaaayyy back for this one.  Didn't realise until right now that most of these were in the UK charts in the same year.  Seems like 1983 was a great year for music!



Flying Pickets - Only You

Nena - 99 Luftballons

Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)

Talking Heads - Burning Down The House

Men At Work - Down Under

Week 20

I had these tunes in mind for this week's blog, but yesterday I was thinking of something a little more appropriate like Prophets of Rage or Captain SKA instead.  But I'm going to stick with what I originally thought.

So here's something different to start before kinda following on from last week's dancy stuff then something even more different to end with.



Aphex Twin - Avril 14th
As I said in a previous post I'm a sucker for the piano so here's something completely different by AT.  The whole Drukqs album has multiple personality disorder.

The Orb - Toxygene (Single)
This is one of the rare times I prefer a single edit to the original.  To me the original takes too much time to get to the meat of the song.  Nothing wrong with that but I just want to get to the bouncy beat!

Orbital - Satan
I never really paid much attention to Orbital until I switched on the radio and it was halfway through this track.  There something Aphex Twin/The Prodigy about it.

Basement  Jaxx - Where's Your Head At
Great tune with a mad video.

The Avalanches - Frontier Psychiatrist
Remember how I said I like weird things?

Week 19

Some bands that I'd probably not be that interested in if it wasn't for these songs.  A bit laid back this week.


Stereo MC's - Get Connected

Stereo MC's - Deep Down And Dirty

Massive Attack - Teardrop

Faithless - Insomnia

Robert Miles - Children

Week 18

More problems with PCs so here's a quick selection of stuff...



Daft Punk - Around the World
I think this was the first Daft Punk song I'd heard.  Possibly on TOTP2 on a saturday.

Daft Punk - One More Time

Aphex Twin - Ventolin
I'd heard Selected Ambient Works Vol 2 a few times and knew this was going to be different.  Loved it.  If you don't like a high pitched noise it's probably best not to listen to this.

Aphex Twin - At The Heart Of It All
The only song on Nine Inch Nails' Further Down The Spiral that's not a remix.  Love the combination of orchestral movements and the industrial fuzzy drums.

Aphex Twin - 4

 

Replacing turntable belt

I finally got round to replacing the turntable belt on my 80's Pioneer hi-fi.

My parents bought this in the early 90s.  I think I inherited it from them 15 years ago when they got a smaller one that could play from a network and ditch the turntable.  Amazingly this is the first time it's ever needed repairing.  Thankfully it's only the turntable belt that needs replacing.  So here goes...

The first thing to do is remove the rubber mat.

There's a small hole in the turntable itself.  This small hole lines up with a hole below it on the unit.  The left large hole is near where the sprocket is, this is where you need to hold the belt (which you'll see a bit further down).

 The turntable simply lifts off when aligned with the small hole.

Take the old belt off the and place the new one around the inner circle making sure it's not twisted.  The section I'm holding out needs to be placed over a sprocket which is on the left of the casing so make sure you hold the belt out at the large hole 90 degrees clockwise when it's upside down like I have done, or 90 anti-clockwise when the right way up.

As you put the disc back onto the unit you need to try and put the belt around the sprocket as you lower it into position.  Don't worry, it's easier than it sounds.  Make sure the belt is right in the middle and hasn't got twisted.  If you're not that dextrous then another hand can easily help.

Then simply put the rubber mat back on and enjoy.

But what to play??

I think we have a winner!!

Week 17

So, following on from last week I thought I'd do the other big metal band from that time.  Metallica.

I only started listening to them after the Black Album but I really love Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets.  Never liked Load, Reload or St Anger.  Death Magnetic was pretty good though.

Rather than do just the audio like I have before I thought I'd do live videos instead as there are no music videos for anything before One and they are great live.

So, here's 5 from Ride and Master...



Trapped Under Ice

Creeping Death

Call of Ktulu
The song itself starts at 2:25.

The Thing That Should Not Be

Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

Week 16

I was going to do some AC/DC or Skunk Anansie but I just can't whittle either of them down to 5 tunes so here's some Guns N' Roses instead.



Anything Goes
Shame this doesn't get as much airplay than most of the other songs.

Don't Damn Me
Second favourite song from Illusion I.

Coma
Absolute favourite song of theirs.  Another one that's in my all time top 10.  Glad to see they brought it out for the Not In This Lifetime tours.

Estranged
November Rain is the popular ballad.  Estranged, to me, is better.  The guitar through the whole song is fantastic.  The long notes and way it fades in and out at points is great.  The piano section is great as well.

Oh My God
Probably completely forgotten about but it shows how Axl would evolve from Illusions to Democracy.  Initially I didn't think much of it as it was a departure from the rock style they had but it grew on me over the years.  Fucking love it now.

Week 15

Another quick one today, got a laptop to sort out for tomorrow.  So here's The Wildhearts.  They're fucking awesome.



The Wildhearts - Caffeine Bomb

Shut Your Fucking Mouth and Use Your Fucking Brain
A lot of people should take this advice!

29 x The Pain
Genius.

Be My Drug

 


Sky Babies
This is just a fantastic song.  Worth checking out the lyrics.  This will always be in my top 10.

 

Week 14

Sort of continuing from last week's goth stuff here's something from the other end of the scale...



Cradle of Filth - A Gothic Romance (Red Roses for the Devil's Whore)
If you've never heard CoF be prepared for a voice that you can't understand.  This was one of the first songs I'd heard by them and it just stuck with me.  It combined death metal with some fantastic storytelling and orchestral symphonics.

Cradle of Filth - Beneath The Howling Stars
I could probably include this whole album (Cruelty and the Beast) as it's all about Countess Bathory.  They even got Ingrid Pitt to read passages on two of the songs.  Unfortunately not this one.  From 6:20 ish onwards is my favourite section.  If you're skipping to that bit the lyrics start "Pounding upon the pauper ridge".

And there's been a takedown notice on the lyrics video I was going to include here so here's a link to the lyrics instead. (I use Ghostery and AdBlock Plus so I have no idea if there's a shitload of popups or ads on the page but Avast doesn't complain so it should be fine) https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/2197774/Cradle+of+Filth/Beneath+the+Howling+Stars

David Bowie - Heart's Filthy Lesson
Something completely different now...  I'd liked Bowie for a long time (Space Oddity, Ashes to Ashes) but it wasn't until 1. Outside that I really got interested.  It seemed such a departure, even though he'd changed his style of songs numerous times over the years this just seemed more different than anything he'd done before.  I loved it.

David Bowie - Little Wonder
I couldn't find the official video for this which is annoying. I absolutely love this song.  It's just weird.

David Bowie - I'm Afraid of Americans
This is just a great song.

Week 13

Unlucky for some...

I was a bit of a goth for a while so here's some of that good stuff.  I know Andrew never thought of Sisters as a goth band but to me they are an industrial goth band.

Hearing these always takes me back to two specific times.  Sisters to when I first met a girlfriend and The Cure to when I first started getting into horror films thanks to my uncle.  He introduced me to a lot of good stuff (The Cure, Aphex Twin, Dario Argento, George Romero, David Lynch).



The Sisters of Mercy - This Corrosion
I think this was the first Sisters song I heard.  Still a bloody good song.  Shame they only did a video for the radio version and not the full thing.  So here's the full song instead.

The Sisters of Mercy - Dominion/Mother Russia
Love the visuals of the video butthey didn't do a full video for this either.

The Cure - The Lovecats
This man is a National Treasure! And as seen at Glastonbury he still sounds the same.  Never been to Glasto, but religiously watch it on the Beeb and there have been a lot of great headliners, but The Cure this year were amazing.  To think they're still going strong in their 50-60s is great.

Also, as a cat-lover (and animals in general) I just had to include this even though it's happier than their usual stuff.

The Cure - Lullaby
There's something just soothing about this song but being arachnophobic I'm not too fond of the video!

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses
There will never be another Pete Steele.  Or Type O Negative.  Again as a cat lover I had to include this long tribute he wrote after the death of his 17 year old cat.  Fucking genius.

Type O Negative - Wolf Moon
This really shows Pete's weird sense of humour.

I was gutted when I'd learned Pete died.  I was shocked that Kurt Cobain killed himself but not really that surprised given what he was like.  Disappointed that Layne Staley died but again that wasn't really surprising.  But when Pete died, that a hard blow.  Apart from drinking he was probably the fittest and nicest blokes in music.

Week 12

Another set of tunes.  More of a rock thing today.  Going to be very quick today as the PC will need a bit of repair and setup.


Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl

The Temperance Movement - Ain't No Telling

The Temperance Movement - Caught In The Middle

The Black Crowes - A Conspiracy

The Black Crowes - Remedy

 

Week 11

I'm a huge NIN fan and have been listening to some of their older stuff again so I thought I'd chuck in a few remixes of thiers this week as they are kinda similar to the other songs.  I'll probably have to do a series of NIN favourites on their own some time.  And a lot probably wouldn't be what you'd expect (like the ones below).


Genitorturers - Confessions of a Blackheart
Loved Genitorturers since I heard 120 Days of Genitorture (A great industrial styled album).  They did a fantastic job on this.  Not as industrial but lovely heavy and full sound to it.

Scum of the Earth - Dance Motherfucker
Had no idea that Riggs had been doing this since he left Rob Zombie's solo band.  A wise move in my opinion.  This album is more reminiscent of Zombie's remix albums thann the original stuff but that's not a bad thing.  This is heavy stuff!

Scum of the Earth - The Devil Made Me Do It 3
Another heavy dubstepish one.  Sometimes the simple tunes are the best.

Nine inch Nails - Heresy (Version)
The last great remix album by NIN for me.  I actually prefer this version of Heresy over the original.  I know, sacriledge.  I think the Charlie Clouser remixes are my favourite out of all of NIN's remixeswith Coil's a close second.

Nine Inch Nails - Gave Up (Fixed remix)
I love just how disjointed Trent's singing is in this.  A lot of it is just vowel sounds that make no sense at all.  with the chorus that's pretty normal.  It's awesome.  I used to listen to this almost every morning going to a jobcentre training course.  The whole thing should be unlistenable rubbish (the Happiness in Slavery remixes are more disjointed in every aspect than this) but it just works.  I remember Trent saying that Broken was done at an unhappy time with the label and they wanted to do something that was just unlistenable.  I think he created an awesome album/EP (whatever you want to call it) but this remix album really was the next step in thinking that way.

Week 10

Another week flies by and here's another set of tunes.  I decided a few weeks ago that as I'd probably be listening to these around this time that I might as well post them.  In a way I've been dreading this post but it's been good.

This time of year is usually a gamut of emotions for me so here's a set of very personal songs to me.  Not going to say why as you'll kinda get an idea from the songs themselves.  All I will say is that the last one was perfect for me in almost every aspect of it.  Still is but to a much lesser degree nowadays.



Marilyn Manson - Man That You Fear

Christina Aguilera - Fighter

Christina Aguilera - Beautiful

Alice In Chains - Down In A Hole (Unplugged)

The Cure - Burn

Steam Powered Giraffe - Honeybee

Steam Powered Giraffe - Malfunction

Nine Inch Nails - The Becoming (Still)

Week 9

A bit later than usual this week.  Had a bit of a bad day yesterday and it's kinda rolled over to today.

After seeing a tweet last night I decided to do a few film tunes this week.  Didn't realise they'd all be horror until I'd made my choices.



Goblin - Deep Red (aka Profondo Rosso) Theme

The fact that Deep Red is my favourite Argento film it's kinda given that this would be my favourite of Goblin's themes.

Goblin - School at Night (Lullaby - Child Version) from Deep Red
Another tune from Deep Red that keeps popping in my head now and then.  Once I start humming it I can never get rid of it!  Love it.  Very orchestral.

The Gonk - Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Unlike the rest of the score this is jolly muzak and just brilliant.

The Exorcist - Fantasia for Strings
I probably watch The Exorcist every couple of years.  Had it on VHS, then the limited edition VHS with the novel, then on DVD, then the "The Version You've Never Seen" on DVD, then the 5 film DVD set, then again on Bluray.  I still have all of them except the first VHS I had.  Also got two versions of the OST.  I'm a bit obsessive about some things I suppose lol.  I guess this OST is where I got my love for different sounds which made me really appreciate and like the Silent Hill OSTs.  Anyways, here's the end credits theme.  I was thinking of posting one of the other songs but it's probably a bit too weird and this one is the one I like more anyways.

The Thing - Humanity Part 2
Simple.  Ominous.  Classic.  Pure John Carpenter.

Week 8

Another set of tunes...  Another 1 2 2 again.  Impossible to choose just one video Pussycat and the Dirty Johnsons and One-Eyed Doll.  One-Eyed Doll have a lot of different stuff, if you like the two below I'd suggest checking out Nudie Bar, I'm A Vampire and Airplane Man to see how different they can be.  Going from goth to ballad via comedy.



Bobot Adrenaline - Penalty Box
Yup,THAW (Tony Hawk's American Wasteland to those who don't know)will recognise this one. The THPS games have had some great tunes (Primus, Mad Capsule Markets to name just two) but this one is my favourite.  I wasn't as keen on THAW as I was on the previous games (THPS3 and THUG being my favourites) but the songs were excellent again.

Pussycat and the Dirty Johnsons - Ain't No Pussy
I just learned about this group last year and they quickly became a favourite.  Puss is a weirdo and I absolutely love it.

Pussycat and the Dirty Johnsons - Trouble with the Devil
Got to include this one aswell.

One Eyed Doll - Committed
I can't remember where I first discovered One-Eyed Doll but this has a lot of stuff I love.  It's probably worrying that I can identify with these weirdos more than the rest of the human race.

Kimberly Freeman (of One-Eyed Doll) - Amnesia
Here's a completely different song by Kimberly.  She's got a great voice.  Such a poignant song.

Seventh week of tunes

Hopefully some tunes you'll have not heard before.  Not really favourites this week, but songs I do play fairly often.  I was going to do 5 different bands this week but have been feeling a bit shit again for most of the week so I thought I'd just do a 1 2 2 again.  One of the other bands I was thinking about might be next week.  Depends if I can find the CDs I have.



Moist - Push
This was reasonably popular in 1995 in the UK. I liked the song, but the album (their debut - Silver) was a bit too bland.

Drain STH - I Don't Mind
I first heard about Drain STH being a Swedish Alice in Chains but not as depressing.  I guess that was a good way to describe them, but they're definitely standing on their own.

Drain STH - Crack The Liar's Smile
Another song from the same album (Horror Wrestling).  Really like the way they've used an acoustic guitar for the main riff, gives it a different feeling.

Haggard Cat - Bad News (Travels Fast)
This was the first song I'd heard by the Nottingham duo.  It's just disjointed thrash that's surprisingly catchy.  Love how unconventional it is.  Very quickly became a favourite band.

Haggard Cat - American Graffiti
Another one from the same album (Challenger).  This one is a bit more palatable but still unistakably them.

Tunes Pt 6

Been listening to some stuff I haven't listened to in a few years.  I could just post five songs from side B of one album and be done.  But I'm resisting that urge.  Ozzy this week, but it's not all the usual well known Ozzy songs.

Next week I'll hopefully have a few lesser known metal bands that you'll have either forgotten about or never even knew about.



Ozzy Osbourne - Waiting For Darkness
So, Bark At The Moon is the album in question.  I bought this and Blizzard of Ozz in a double CD from Our Price (anyone remember them?) back in 1993 I think for £11.  I actually bought it for Blizzard but Bark is fucking excellent.  Thinking about it now, this song is probably the first metal one I'd heard with string accompaniment.  Adds so much to the song.

Ozzy - Spiders
My favourite on the album and it's the last track.  I don't know why I love this.  I suppose it's because it's a very bass driven song.  I'marachnophobic so I really shouldn't like this with all the images the lyrics throw up but the tune is fantastic.  I'm surprised I've not worn out the LP yet, mind you it doesn't get played as much now that the turntable belt is kinda knackered.

Black Sabbath - Planet Caravan
I first heard Pantera doing a cover of this (the video is a CGfest) and thought it was pretty good but as usual the original is better.  Very trippy.  Doesn't really sound like Sabbath at all.

Black Sabbath -The Wizard
This is the Sabbath song I play the most.  Such good imagery by the lyrics.  It's almost jazz like in some ways.

Black Sabbath - Symptom of the Universe
I'm going to cheat here and post two versions of this.  The first is the original version which is excellent. The next is an absolute stormer of a cover that I could have posted a few weeks back.  Sepultura's cover is heavy as fuck.

Tunes Pt 5

Wasn't actually going to post today, not feeling good this week.  But here I am, sitting on the PC listening to music so I thought I might as well post.  Last week I was thinking of following up Mortiis and doing songs that really mean something to me but with the shit week I've had I decided to go heavy and angry instead.



Rage Against The Machine - Take The Power Back
There hasn't been another ablum as explosive as this.  That funky bass (reminds me of Flea) and the unique guitar flourishes are awesome.  Again, to me, the popular Killing in the Name and Bullet in the Head are good but not the best on the album.

Rage Against The Machine - Know Your Enemy
It's funny how some songs just never get outdated.  Even though this album is very political, even after 27 years it's still relevant.  It's also great hearing Maynard James Keenan.

Rage Against The Machine - Sleep Now In The Fire
Speaking of things not being outdated.  This song is 20 years old.  Fuck all has changed.  Love how it's Michael Moore directing this video on Wall Street.  That's genius.

So, um, yeah... enough Rage for now...



Machine Head - A Thousand Lies
I never really paid much attention to Machine Head.  I'd seen one or two of their videos on Noisy Mothers (anyone else remember that show?  Loved Krusher's Kosmos interviews).  It wasn't til probably a year later that I'd started listening to them.  Bloody good album.

Machine Head - Locust
This was the song that got me listening to them again after being disappointed with Supercharger and Through the Ashes of Empires albums.  Love when it suddenly goes quiet and start that solo.

Tunes part 4

Another week of tunes...


L7 - Andres
This was the first song of theirs I'd heard.  I still hum the main riff often.

Babes in Toyland - Sweet '69
Just love the loudness and distortion on this.

Ministry - Just One Fix
Sure, Jesus Built My Hotrod is the famous song from Psalm 69, but imho Just One Fix is miles better.  It's got lyrics for a start!  Strange seeing Al without tattoos and piercings now though.

Mortiis - Marshland
I'd heard of Mortiis but never heard any of his stuff until Kerrang TV put Parasite God on rotation. This song just resonated with me with what was going on at the time.  I absolutely love the album and was lucky to see him live on his tour for The Grudge. It was fucking amazing.  I wish he'd stuck with Era 2 for longer.  Just one album wasn't enough for me.

Mortiis - Monolith
As I said in a previous blog, I'm sucker for a good piano.  The deepness and echo on this piano is amazing.  Unusual to hear it in a synthpop/industrial song.

Tunes part 3

Starting the weekend with a few lighter songs compared to last week.  Strange to think I was listening to these songs at the same time as Sepultura!


Pillbox - Invasion (What Really Turns You On?):
I'd got this single when it was released in 1996 and forgot about it for years.  It wasn't until maybe 10 years later that I actively sought it out again and discovered they'd done an album in 2000.  If you have trouble finding the band, they were formed by Susan Hyatt.

Terrorvision - My House:
Great British pop rockers here. I still prefer the first album (Formaldehyde) over the others. I think this was the first song of theirs I'd heard.

Terrorvision - Some People Say
Oblivion was probably their most well known song from the second album (How To Make Friends And Influence People) but this to me this is a better song.  They slowed it right down for this one.

No Doubt - Spiderwebs
I miss No Doubt.  Gwen is great on her own, but I've kinda lost interest as she got more poppy and left the ska-ness behind. Although, I do like some of the songs from This Is What the Truth Feels Like.

No Doubt - Sunday Morning
More ska. Love the chorus.

Bonus - Just seen this in the "up next" on Youtube.

Pillbox - Me And My Rhythmbox

More tunes

More of my favourite tunes, this week is something completely different...

All Brazilian thrash this week.  The last song isn't really thrash and really benefits from hearing with good headphones.


Nervosa - Victim of Yourself:
This was the first Nervosa song I heard. Love the roughness of this version.

Nervosa - Intolerance Means War:
Reminds me of Slayer for some reason, no other thrash band reminds me of Slayer but this does?

Sepultura - Territory:
I'd heard Sepultura before, but the Chaos A.D. album was the first time I really paid attention, probably as they were getting a good bit of publicity with playing Monsters of Rock in 1994.  (The lyrics are consored in the video unfortunately).

Sepultura - Ratamahatta:
I have absolutely no idea what this song is about but it fucking rocks.  This was on the Roots album which was the last to feature Max.  Shame really as they kinda went downhill when Max left.  They still do good stuff but it's not quite the same, even more so now that Igor left ~10 years later

Sepultura - Kiowas:
Back to the Chaos A.D. album for this acoustic instrumental.  From the booklet of the CD:
This song is inspired by a Brasilian Indian tribe called "Kaiowas," who live in the rain forest. They committed mass suicide as a protest against the government, who was trying to take away their land and beliefs.

See you next week.

Some favourite tunes

So, on a brighter note than my last three blogs I thought I'd post some of my favourite songs. There's a mix of things and possibly some unexpected things if you've seen my previous blogs about CDs I've bought.

I'm going to try and do 5 songs per blog, one blog a week so there's plenty of music to come.  And it'll be everything from Carl Orff (which is part of today) to Nervosa via Aphex Twin, Nine Inch Nails, Alice In Chains, Lily Allen (yes, you read that right), Daft Punk, Night Club, Iron Butterfly and god knows how many more.

Let's start off with some orchestral/piano stuff before bombarding you with all types of metal stuff.


Carl Orff - O Fortuna:
Was lucky to see a college performance of the whole of Carmina Burana live a few years ago and it was one of the best things I've ever heard.

Nobuo Uematsu - One Winged Angel (Orchestra):
This sounded awesome on the PS1 but as an orchestra it really pushes video game music to another dimension.

Kenji Kawai - Making of Cyborg (Ghost in the Shell):
The atmosphere in this is unmatched by anything else on the soundtrack. The rest of the soundtrack is really good, I do like it a lot.

Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell:
Always loved this song, it has everything.

Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles:
Time to slow things down a little with a little pop song.  I'm a sucker for a good piano melody.

Right, that's it for this week.  Not sure what tunes will be next week, I guess it'll depend on what mood I'm in.

Kerrang covering Grishnack trial in the 90s Part 3

And here's the final articles I have.  The first one is from a year later which is just kinda a status update on Vikernes and the scene at the time.

The second article is really just a summary of the events including Dead's suicide, burning churches and an incident in the UK and is from 2000. This was actually part of a larger set of articles called "The Devil's Music" which covered bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zepplin, Slayer, Deicide, Celtic Frost, Marilyn Manson, Cradle of Filth... the list goes on. But as I'm only posting stuff about Burzum/Mayhem I thought I'd leave those out.

Next week will be something completely different but still music related.  Something happier than all this gloom.


K!541, 15th April 1995:

K! 4th March 2000:

Kerrang covering Grishnack trial in the 90s Part 2

Celebrating the forthcoming release of Lords of Chaos...

So here's the next scans I have of the Varg Vikernes trial as covered by Kerrang. Only one article this week, but as a bonus I've included a laughable "how dare you" letter. Those kind of fans is why I'm not really into the scene. I idiots like that. So, I also included the printed replies from two weeks later.  Good to see The Beano getting mentioned!!

K!496, 28th May 1994:

 K!496, 28th May 1994:

K!498, 11 June 1994:

Kerrang covering Grishnack trial in the 90s

With the upcoming Blu-ray release of Lords of Chaos I thought I'd post some of the coverage Kerrang did back in the 90s about Varg Vikernes' trial for the murder of Aarseth.

I'll hopefully be posting articles each Saturday with the last one on 20th, two days before the scheduled release.  Speaking of the release, here's a handy link to Arrow Film's store page.

I haven't had the chance to see the film or even read the book yet (but I have ordered both), but it is something I remember reading a lot about back when it happened thanks to Kerrang, Metal Hammer and Terrorizer so I'm interested in seeing how the film turns out.  I'm not a fan of these bands, but I do find the incidents interesting. The only stuff like this I listen to is Bathory/Quorthon but even then it's not often

Here's the trailer:

(clicking the link gives you a bigger scan, but you may still need to right click and 'view image' then zoom in to make it readable)

K!494, 14 May 1994:

 

 K!495, 21 May 1994:

 

See you all next week.