We all love getting extra things with CDs and boxed sets, but has anybody ever…

– Worn one of the badges? – Stuck any of the stickers anywhere? – Put up a poster that comes with a CD? – Looked at the photo book more than once? – Worn the scarf? – Used a coaster?

To be honest, I could also say…

– Listened to the disc of demos/alternative versions more than once? – Watched the DVD more than once?

What else comes in the boxed sets? Has anybody played with the Pink Floyd marbles?

The reason I ask all this is that I’ve just put a CD on and opened up the poster that comes with it and wondered who on Earth would want to frame a poster that looks like 9 little squares? But there must be somebody who has or they wouldn’t include them.

@arthur-cowslip revealed his love of Dire Straits on the 45 minute album thread, but said he would be ashamed to admit it in cultured company. Stuff and nonsense I say. You shouldn’t be ashamed of what music you like. So let’s have an amnesty. What do you like that you wouldn’t necessarily bring up at the monthly meeting of the Music Snobs Association?

I love Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Just about every song Wham! did was great. Pretend by Alvin Stardust is one of my favourite singles, as is Silver Lady by David Soul. I really like Whispering Grass by Don Estelle and Windsor Davies. One of my favourite rock and roll records is by Jim Dale. I like Marty Robbins’ Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs more than I like Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue. Gosh, this is liberating.

Come on, get it off your chest…

In advance of the end of year poll, shall we revisit Bingo Little’s post of 3 years ago and nominate 10 albums of the decade. No need to put them in any order, as I’m not intending on producing any sort of chart, or even to pick the best 10 albums of the decade. Just pick 10 that are significant to you or that you think are ace.

Here’s the original thread from 3 years ago, so you can see how much you’ve changed your mind!

The Best Albums of the Decade (So Far)

I don’t know why this has chosen this precise moment to come forth from the recesses of my mind, but whilst I’m sitting here watching Michael Kiwanuka’s performance at Glastonbury I started thinking about some of the odd records I used to have when I still had my vinyl collection (oh how I wish I could have some of it back!). I had all the usual picture discs, shaped picture discs, double grooved records, singles with etchings on the other side, flexidiscs and what have you, but the particular one that sprung to mind was a record by Eighth Wonder. I can’t remember which single it was, because I never managed to listen to it and I only bought it for the novelty value, because it was a 3 inch vinyl record.

The reason I never played it was that my record player at the time was one where the arm would automatically lift and go back to its rest at the end of a record. As the start of the single in question was nearer to the spindle than the runout groove on 7 or 12 inch records, any attempt to drop the stylus on it just caused the » Continue Reading.

I can’t remember where I read it, but I definitely once read somewhere that the artist Lambert was a pseudonym for Nils Frahm. When I read this I checked out Lambert’s music and liked it even more than Frahm’s. So I was going to post on here to firstly let any Frahm fans know, in case they didn’t already, that he makes music under the name Lambert that’s even better than the stuff he releases under his real name, and that there’s a new Lambert EP out. But I’ve just read an interview with Lambert where he states quite categorically that he isn’t Frahm and that he is quite amused at the rumour. The interviewer, who was sat looking at him (without his ‘Lambert’ mask on), is also able to confirm this!

So, er, any Frahm fans, there isn’t a new EP out by your man, but there is a new EP out by a bloke called Lambert, who is a different bloke altogether. If you want to know what Lambert sounds like, here’s the title track from his best album, Sweet Apocalypse. He’s really good and, well, I guess I think he’s better than Nils Frahm…

Has anybody else » Continue Reading.

I’ve been on a mad CD buying spree over the past few weeks, buying up a lot of CDs that I only had digitally (call me old fashioned, but I think CDs sound much better than MP3s, or whatever format the files are in). It’s caused problems re storage and with the missus, when 10 packages arrived one day. The explanation that they were only costing a couple of quid each fell on deaf ears.

Anyway, most play okay, but a few have jumped or stuck. There is a small amount of damage to these discs, but the sellers were insistent that they played okay on their machines. Then today I received one that cos a fair bit more than a couple of quid, but it’s one I’ve been after for ages, Mickey Mouse Operation by Little People. As soon as I saw the surface marks I feared the worse, although there are only a few marks. Sure enough, it didn’t even reach the end of track one before it started jumping around. I do realise that a lot of the music I listen to sounds like the needle (or laser) is going backwards and forwards, but it was really » Continue Reading.

Which band did you miss? I don’t mean you got stuck in traffic, or got the date wrong, or just didn’t bother going. What I mean is you bought a ticket, you were there, but you never saw them for some reason and you’re kicking yourself now.

I have 4. The first one was when I went to see Oasis at the Brighton Centre in 1994. Me and my girlfriend were in the process of splitting up, so instead of going into the auditorium to see the support band we had to stay in the bar and ‘talk’. My ears can never tune into music if there’s a lot of background noise, so I didn’t hear any of the songs, until someone opened the door next to me just as the band were starting their closing number. I therefore saw The La’s for half a song.

The next one I only found out about recently. Around early 1996 I saw Pulp at Wembley Arena. I also saw Edwyn Collins supporting them, but I recently found out that Denim also played. I didn’t really get to know, and love, Lawrence’s music until 10-15 years ago, so I wouldn’t have heard of » Continue Reading.

This year I don’t think there have been any 10/10 albums, as there have been in recent years, but there have been an awful lot of 9/10 and 8/10 ones. Way more than the 20 submitted for the poll. I know others have mentioned this too and a few have indicated that their lists could go on for longer, so here’s the place to put them. I’m hoping it will bring a few albums to the fore that are lesser known, or not well known enough to pop up on umpteen top 20s (unless, of course, someone has Ry Cooder at number 21), so I look forward to having a listen to them and finding a few gems that had passed me by. @sewer-robot, looking forward to seeing your next ten (no need to stop at 30!), particularly as you’re the only other person that seems to like KOD.

Nobody will thank me for writing out all 166 on my list, especially as some of them are rubbish (hello Neil Young), but I reckon there have been 68 albums of note (or 68 that I really like, put it that way), so here they are. I’ve » Continue Reading.

Talk of The Beautiful South on the REM box set review thread set me thinking. I loved The Housemartins, bought all their records and still enjoy them to this day, even though almost every track on their first album seems to start with the same riff. They were tuneful, fun, I agreed with their politics, really enjoyed their videos and was relieved that there were at least two people who were as bad at dancing as me.

But I have never liked The Beautiful South, bar Old Red Eyes Is Back, which is a great song, I’ve bought none of their records (although I did buy the t-shirt of theirs that I mentioned on the REM thread!). found them to be a bit forced, too mainstream, smug and self-satisfied (although, thinking about it, the latter two mean the same thing).

So, who do you think has dropped down a few divisions from one band to the next? And don’t all say Paul McCartney.

What I mean is that stuff like Bob Marley or UB40 leaves me cold. I just find it all a bit samey, predictable and dull. And yes, I know this is coming from someone who loves hip hop! I try, every now and then, but I just don’t like it. The recent Rolling Stone had a little buyer’s guide for reggae, but I didn’t like the albums I tried from their list.

However, I do like the odd track, like Poor & Needy by Misty In Roots, and I am enjoying some stuff by Linton Kwesi Johnson that a mate gave me. I also really like the reggae influenced bits on albums by Massive Attack and Leftfield. I guess it’s the more atmospheric, darker type of thing that I like, rather than the more lively, popular stuff, and maybe reggae influenced rather than reggae itself.

I’ll continue to periodically listen to the more popular reggae albums to see if my view has changed. After all, it took me donkeys years till I got The Fall or Tom Waits, both of whom I enjoy listening to now. But with what I’ve said above is there anything else that anyone would recommend?

We’ve seen quite a few films over the years where the director or producers have gone back and changed bits with the use of CGI. The changes to the original Star Wars films were a mixed bag, as some of the changes were great, but then he went and made Greedo shoot first. And Steven Spielberg substituted guns for walkie talkies in ET, which is maybe the right decision for a kid friendly film. But if you were given the chance to change something from a film, using the magic of CGI what would it be?

I’m not sure you could use CGI to replace Sofia Coppola in Godfather Part III, so I’d change two other films. Firstly, Night of the Demon is a fantastic film, some of the dialogue even popping up on Kate Bush’s greatest album, but it is spoiled somewhat once you see the demon at the end. So I’d replace the demon with something that looks less like a monster from an early episode of Doctor Who.

And Quatermass and the Pit is similarly let down when you see that the aliens closely resemble the Clangers. A little bit of CGI there would quickly sort that » Continue Reading.

Last year there were a few albums that I thought were outstanding. Brother Ali’s was the pick of the bunch, but Gary Numan, Lorde, Kendrick Lamar and Ghostpoet weren’t far behind. Then there were great albums by Syd, Thurston Moore, Jane Weaver and Binary Star, with The Charlatans also turning in their best for years. As I’m doing this album ranking project I sort the 2018 ones as I hear them, amending as necessary after further listens, but thus far I’d struggle to put any in last year’s top 10.

Kooley High and J. Cole are my pick of the bunch so far this year, with Poppy Ackroyd and Evidence’s new albums also being good. Andy Pawlak has released a decent mini-album, which is a million miles from his 80s debut album, which was fab, and Damien Jurado has released his best album for years. None of these are really growing on me fast enough to be as good as last year’s top half dozen, although I am enjoying J. Cole’s more with every listen. I listened to Pusha T’s new one for the first time this morning and it sounded like it could be his best solo one yet, » Continue Reading.

I’ve listened to a lot of albums by The Temptations over the past couple of days, and ruddy enjoyable it was too. I’d only previously owned one of their albums and a greatest hits. What was very noticeable was how the sound of their records changed over their first dozen or so albums. That is, of course, a dozen or so albums by 60s standards, i.e. over just a 7 year period, which is the time it takes most bands to release 2 albums these days.

Their first album was very doo wop in places and didn’t have the polish that came over the next half dozen albums, when they were firmly part of the Motown machine with a pop/soul sound. The Temptations Sing Smokey album is a belter. But then, towards the end of the 60s, their sound becomes psychedelic soul, before moving to a funk sound. Quite a shift over 7 years, but the main thing was that it wasn’t at a cost of quality. The music is great throughout.

So which other bands/singers went through so many changes in style in such a short period of time, without it all turning rubbish? The Beatles, obviously. And Bowie » Continue Reading.

I like The Doors, but I prefer The Stranglers. I also like Steely Dan, but I prefer Danny Wilson.

Any more Aldi versions of better known bands/artists and do you prefer the copycats? Anybody prefer Shaky to Elvis? Brotherhood Of Man to Abba? More to the point, is the 60s David Bowie an Aldi version of Anthony Newley? And how many bands are Oasis the Aldi version of?

With apologies to Aldi, of course, who probably do some very nice things, but I’m sure you know what I mean.

Watched some boxing last night and listening to hip hop right now. Both seem to have a superfluous member of the team, namely the fat bloke who stands behind the boxer ranting whilst the ring announcer introduces the boxer, when you can’t hear what he’s saying anyway, and the bloke, probably the same fat bloke because there seems to be one in each hip hop ‘crew’, who keeps muttering things like ‘word’, ‘what he’s saying’ and ‘yeah’ or ‘aha’ low down in the mix. I reckon we could manage without those two chaps.

Then I started thinking about other things I could live without, such as:

– the menu in the Dil Raj in Dodworth (I have ordered the same for at least 10 years and I can’t imagine a time this will change) – side 2 of Blur albums – the behaviour chart we write with our kids that seem to go out of the window 2 days later – any more Bob Dylan standards albums – the little salads they shove on my plate when I order a sandwich or a burger – the first chapter of showbiz autobiographies or the first 10 minutes of showbiz documentaries, which » Continue Reading.

I listened to an album yesterday that I dig out every now and again to see whether I like it yet. I won’t tell you the name of it, but it’s my bother-in-law’s favourite album. I think it’s rubbish, just noise. I finally worked out what it sounds like though. You know when you play a song on iTunes on your laptop, but use the laptop’s own speakers, so it comes out all distorted. And then, a pop up er…pops up on a webpage you have opened and plays another song at the same time, so you are getting two distorted songs playing over the top of each other. It sounds like that. Definitely not telling you what it is though.

I see my dislike of it as my failing, as many people love it, but those that do mainly seem to be people who were into it when it came out, so I guess you had to be there. However, I’d bet that there are a lot of people who say they love it just to be cool, when they don’t really. This goes on all the time. Trout Mask Replica is just horrible. I love that it exists, » Continue Reading.

Received a letter this morning advising that the 1988 issue was the last one. Subscribers are being switched to Uncut magazine for the rest of their subscription (or are having their Uncut subscription extended if they are already subscribers).

I am a tad disappointed with this, because I thought the 88 to 97 period would have been quite interesting, with the rise of hip hop, Madchester, Britpop and so forth, but I guess sales must have dropped off. Uncut are publishing what seems to be a compilation book of articles from the 70s issues, so maybe they’ll go on to do 80s and 90s ones.

Received my big Sgt Pepper box on Friday. I bought it from Amazon’s Italian website for £80, so £30 cheaper than Amazon UK were selling it. What’s more, it was fulfilled from Amazon UK, just sent a week later. Worth thinking about if you are planning on any future boxed set purchases. But that’s not why I’m writing.

I was fascinated to see the alternative photos from the album cover session, seeing the Gandhi and Hitler cut outs that were omitted or painted over. But there is one cut out that I cannot see mention of. On the actual album sleeve you can just see his shoulder in a white shirt or jacket, behind George’s left ear, but when George moves position, as seen on the other pictures, you can see his face. He’s in between Issy Bonn and Horace Clifford and below George Bernard Shaw. I can’t work out how to post a picture of it, but if it isn’t Bruce Forsyth then Brucie has a double.

Does anyone know whether it is Brucie or, if not, who it is?

If that’s not too contentious a question?

Reason I ask is that we’ve just been redoing our daughter’s bedroom and have taken her old bed apart. We were in the process of carrying the last bits downstairs and as we approached the frame my wife asked whether a piece of wood was attached to it, giving it a little nudge with her foot. The (quite large) piece of wood then toppled over and landed on my big toe. It hurt. I hopped around in pain, the wife laughed, quite a bit more than was necessary if truth be told.

And it got me thinking. We often laugh at each other’s misfortune. Just wait till you start choking on something and you’ll see. Your mates will laugh for a good 30 seconds before stopping to check whether you are, in fact, going to live. If you indicate that you are they can then resume their laughing. We also laugh when people trip over, or walk into a lamppost, or get hit on the side of their head by a football. But at the other end of the scale, perhaps if my wife had accidentally lopped my head off…actually, my wife » Continue Reading.

I don’t know what I was originally looking at, because you know what it’s like when you are reading something online and something else catches your eye and before you know it you’re reading a list of 10 actors who had to be re-cast two weeks into a movie shoot. But I ended up reading something about how much a rare £2 coin went for last week. I don’t collect coins, but I quite often keep special coins that I’ve never seen before. Or I at least keep them until I’m searching for change to pay the window cleaner. But I had one or two knocking about so I thought I’d look on eBay, just in case I was sitting on a £2 coin that was worth 5 grand. I wasn’t.

There were loads of £2 coins for sale though, so I sorted them by price to see what the most expensive one went for. It was mildly interesting for a few seconds. But then I ordered them the other way and looked at the cheapest. I was gobsmacked. You would not believe how many people have sold ‘special’ £2 coins for less than £2. And when you take Paypal » Continue Reading.

Just watched a fab Prince concert DVD where, as is the custom, the show is stage managed right down to the encores. At just about every gig you go to these days you expect the finale to be the encore, with one or two of the big songs held back.

It wasn’t always this way though. I remember watching a very early Lilac Time gig in Sheffield when the group didn’t know what to do for the encore, so they sang Jambalaya and then did Return To Yesterday again. As ‘recent’ as 1994 I was at an Oasis gig at the Brighton Centre when they came back for an encore, possibly the first encore they ever did, when they too didn’t know what to do, so they did Rock and Roll Star again. And we’ve all been to shows where we’ve shouted for more but the band don’t come back on.

This got me thinking, has anybody been to a gig where the band were clearly holding a big number back for the encore but the audience all left after the main set and didn’t shout for an encore? I went to a show at the Scala in London, » Continue Reading.

What I mean by this is, who is the biggest or most successful artist that not one Afterworder has any tracks by, whether on vinyl, CD, digitally, etc. My collection, being that it includes all the rubbish that my wife and daughter likes, crosses off a whole host of artists that I can’t imagine anybody here would want to listen to, including the likes of Celine Dion and Mariah Carey. But who is the most successful artist that not one of us has in their collection?

I guess the only way to find out is for us to suggest somebody and for people to shout out if they have anything by them and, if so, suggest another name.

So to start us off, does anybody own anything by Daniel O’Donnell? He has sold a lot of records, but has he sold anything to any of us?

Only really started working my way through everybody’s AOTY entries tonight and I have just made my third and fourth purchases from the recommendations. Okay, the first two were a week or so ago, when I downloaded the Paul Simon album (wish I’d listened to it first!) to see what all the fuss was about and bought the much recommended and excellent Michael Kiwanuka CD after first listening to it on the Apple Music service I pay for but decided to ignore before downloading the Paul Simon album.

It could prove an expensive exercise, as I am still on the first list (I decided to start with Leicester Bangs’ list, cos it looked interesting, but really should go back and start at the top!) and I’ve bought 2 more – the Apathy one, which I would probably already have bought had I known it was out (I really like the Eastern Philosophy album), and the Lucid Dream album. I’d never heard of The Lucid Dream, but the album’s great and was only £3.99. So, thanks LB for those two recommendations.

I can’t be the only one doing this, so it would be interesting to see what anybody else has » Continue Reading.

RIP

Whenever someone famous dies, there always seems to be a race to be the first one to mention it on forums such as this. I’ve never managed to win any of the races, so I came up with a foolproof method. As we can edit posts within 15 minutes of writing them, and as we don’t seem to be able to go 15 minutes without a celebrity death this year, I have added this post to the blog, so that when the next death is announced I can simply go back and add the name to the title. Clever, eh?

What’s more, if the celeb doesn’t die until the 14th minute, folk will be able to check the time of my post and marvel that I was able to announce their death before they actually died, a feat that has only ever happened before for one of the Chuckle Brothers, who’s still not actually dead. Of course, by doing this I am leaving myself wide open if the celeb’s death is as a result of murder, so I am off to get myself an alibi for the next quarter of an hour.