Musings on the byways of popular culture
by 46 Comments
Given that @Lodestone of Wrongness has volunteered to produce a chart for best new albums of 2018, I will volunteer to run a poll on the best rereleases of 2018. I’ll limit submissions to five albums. I will similarly award points in descending order with your first choice scoring 5 down to 1 for the fifth.
by 85 Comments
Right, here we go. You can list up to twenty albums ( any more than that will be ignored – and you really should get out more). First on your list will be awarded twenty points, next nineteen and so on. You have until midnight 31st December to submit your choices and only “new” records released in 2018 will be considered. Results will be announced in January assuming I can remember how to set up a spreadsheet.
by 17 Comments
Greetings one and all from Lower Saxony. (It’s a long story and not that interesting, so please feel free to make up a backstory yourself that is entertaining).
It is just about the first Friday of a new month so please come in out the cold and tell us all – what have you been listening to / reading / watching or otherwise enjoying this month ? And is there anything coming up that we should know about ?
View this post on Instagram
On the track “Teardrops” from his new album “The Prophet Speaks”, Van Morrison sings “If I had $10 million, I would give her every dime….. just to hear her call my name out one more time”
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Van is worth $90 million. Does that mean that there are nine ladies out there who are about to become very rich just by giving him a call ? Maybe it’s to fund this that he’s put out so many albums lately.
https://www.celebritynetworth.com/richest-celebrities/rock-stars/van-morrison-net-worth/
by 1 Comment
Apologies if this has already been posted, but there’s a new Specials track appeared this week on YouTube. Not brilliant, but not bad IMHO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=91&v=UNeM3w5SVOs
by 2 Comments
I’ll be honest, most of you are going to hate this, but I was grinning like a loon throughout.
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/04/673291531/wu-tang-clan-tiny-desk-concert
by 24 Comments
Of the two I would say that Lou Reed has legendary status yet to me John Cale has always been more interesting. The albums Paris 1919, Fear and Helen of Troy surpass any album that Reed made even though I am a fan of some if not all of his output. I also think Vale is much better live than Reed ever was. So how come the skewed reverence?
by 2 Comments
by 2 Comments
Author:Professor Steve Peters
Professor Steve Peters is probably best known for his previous work, the mind management guide The Chimp Paradox, as well as his work with various high profile sporting figures. This book is a sequel to The Chimp Paradox, and is also accompanied by the publication of a companion volume, My Hidden Chimp, which is targeted specifically at children. In a nutshell, the two interconnected books attempt to explain how we can manage our minds from childhood through to adulthood, along the way simplifying quite complex neurological science into simple, understandable language. The Silent Guides of the title are the coping mechanisms and unconscious beliefs that influence our daily lives, and the book aims to help the reader identify them, remove unhelpful ones and nurture beneficial ones. For those such as myself who have struggled with depression, anxiety, inability to switch off, etc the book attempts to guide you into a better understanding of your behaviour and offers ways to help you navigate through life. If you have children, then a good portion of the book is devoted to managing and helping them, in the process learning about a child’s emotion based logic, all very useful if you » Continue Reading.
by 11 Comments
Latest in the 50th anniversary copyright releases are from the Friends and 20/20 sessions, an era I am especially fond of.
No box, no book, no marbles, no DVD you will play once, available as a download or on a streaming site near you. Definitely some wonderful stuff here.
by 50 Comments
I can’t help thinking that the BBC is trying to ensure they keep someone they regard as a star performer rather than appoint the best candidate. To me Fiona Bruce is a bit of a lightweight. This is nothing against female presenters; any of Martha Kearney, Kirsty Wark, Sarah Montague or Emily Maitlis, among prominent BBC female staff could do a great job. Emily Maitlis especially seems to have the steel and nerve for the job, given her no punches pulled interview with David Cameron’s former advisor Steve Hilton on last Wednesday’s Newsnight. The only male I could think of as a suitable candidate was Jim Naughtie, who has demonstrated over the years that he has all the credentials. But that’s all academic. We’ll see how FB does in the QT bear pit. I wish her well, nonetheless.
by 9 Comments
What does it sound like?:
House represents the democratisation of Disco. We have to thank The Roland Corporation, a Japanese electronics company, whose relatively inexpensive equipment, the TR-808 drum machine, the TB-303 bass synthesiser and the JX-3P synthesiser provide its signature sound. A relentless 4/4 rhythm, with an off-beat electronic hi-hat, is embellished by deep bass and keyboard textures. Vocals aren’t essential but can easily be patched on from samples. Any DJ worth their salt could make records very cheaply and very quickly in their own homes (hence the term ‘House’).
This isn’t music for selling records or sounding good on the radio. Its purpose is to get the dance floor moving, each DJ having their own unique repertoire of tracks, a repertoire that changed every week. House is disposable and without any subtlety or artifice. It stimulates the communal activity of throwing your limbs about, without embarrassment, in a seething cauldron of a mass of likeminded souls as the bass thumps through your chest. Under those circumstances, House Music can be euphoric, especially when fuelled by the scene’s favoured drug, ecstasy.
The last thing you should do is sit down and listen to a 36 track 3CD » Continue Reading.
by 8 Comments
Please do read this story. It has all the hallmarks of a sitcom farce. What on earth were they thinking?
Here’s a cracker from Ashford and Simpson to kickstart your Friday night,indeed whole weekend.
Enjoy!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhmGP6mj6Qs&list=RDRhmGP6mj6Qs&start_radio=1&t=2
by 8 Comments
I’m pretty sure the subject of password managers has cropped up before but I did a site search and couldn’t find anything
I watched the BBC online item from last week, mainly because I had received a similar scam message myself. It quoted my password from my old tescomail account, the one I used to access The Afterword until about April of this year. Since tescomail ceased a few months ago I wasn’t too bothered, but still intrigued as how someone got to know my password. The BBC article alerted me to the Have I been pwned? website from which I could see that, between them, my 2 former tesco.net addresses were breached 6 times. It says my new address hasn’t been breached, but I guess it’s only a matter of time. The BBC article recommends using a password manager, which common sense would tell me is the way to go. Can anyone recommend one?
by 38 Comments
What does it sound like?:
Paul McCartney was sore and licking wounds when he made these two records in 1971 and 1973 respectively. The film, Let It Be, had shown him in a poor light, his promotional material for his first solo album provoked the headline, “Paul Breaks Up The Beatles” and it was his lawsuit, launched as he recorded Ram, that finally dissolved The Beatles partnership. He was seen as the bad guy and the critics hated his music, comparing it unfavourably to John’s and George’s early solo output. No wonder he ran off to Scotland and indulged himself in a prodigious pot habit.
Ram had been recorded with the help of a couple of guitarists and Denny Seiwell on drums. He decided he needed to be in a band again, bringing Denny Laine from The Moody Blues as permanent guitarist. Thus, with the addition of his ever present, adoring wife, Wings was formed.
Under his cloud of pot, Paul continued to write prolifically, usually strumming his acoustic guitar as his family sang along and played around him. He still had a winning way with a tune but his lyrics almost completely dried up. Detached as he » Continue Reading.
by 18 Comments
Hivemind, oh Hivemind! Please, help save my cinematic bacon! I would like to know about the best indie/arthouse films you have seen in recent months.
Next week the committee for our local film club meets to decide on next term’s films. And I would like to come up with a few decent suggestions. So, I would appreciate the opportunity to pick your magnificent brains. What are the most memorable, emjoyable films you have seen during the past 12 months?
The last time I asked this question, “Call me by your name” was mentioned. I made sure we selected it and it went down a treat when we showed it as the first film this term.
I dislike the term arthouse cinema. It sounds so bloody pretentious. And I don’t like “quality film” either.
Bio Reflexen, the local cinema, where we have our screenings and where I am a volunteer, tries to show something for everybody. And we manage very well. Here are a few of our recent screenings that got a big thumbs up from me.
Leave no trace – Debra Granik, USA From the director of Winter’s Bone. A beautifully restrained, subtle, understated portrait of a father » Continue Reading.
by 23 Comments
Bit of a shocker.
Ralph McLean and Steven C talk about the bloody Beatles´ bloody White Album for two bloody hours on bloody Radio bloody Ulster. Of course you want to hear it. And no cheek about “it would have been better as a single hour”.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001bt2
I was tickled to find out from this news story about the Geordie influence in the Chinese telecoms scene. HUAWEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII YABOOGAMAN!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46465438
by 13 Comments
What! No reference on th’Afterword to the new Captain Beefheart box Sun Zoom Spark?
Anyboddygoddit?
by 19 Comments
It’s been a few weeks since the good people of the Afterword last threw a few sideways glances at the Brexit progress. So much is happening, that I need your guidance how to react. Hoping for some pithy one-liners to pass off as my own next time the subject comes up.
It really does look like the PM is pushing shit uphill with this. Hence my Dacre-esque play on words in the OP title.
It also seems important that the the EU have ruled that it’s fine if the UK just wanna fuggeddaboudit (their words) and there was also a HoC ruling that the Government has illegally suppressed legal advice that really should be in the public domain. It’s not looking good, is it?
To be fair to May, she has stuck this out much longer than I thought she would. She has a deal which, as comedians have observed, does reflect the will of the people – i.e. not just the 51.8% of them that voted leave. There’s a little bit of remain and a little bit of leave – something for everyone. So what’s tne problem?
In the House, she is blushing hotly and defiantly as she » Continue Reading.
by 25 Comments
I’m becoming enthralled by the progress of the Mueller investigation into the possible collusion by the Trump presidential campaign with Russia (and other sundry related items)
According to liberal news media outlets in America it is assumed that the investigation, or at least a significant wedge of it, is nearing its end game. This week, they say, we can expect from Mueller’s team in depth sentencing recommendations for Michael Flynn, Michael Cohen and Paul Manafort. These may include as previous ones have plentiful detail on the facts of the indictments. Some pundits see this exquisite detail as a way of making the scale of the nefarious activity known to the public should the investigation be terminated by the White House before the final report can be completed.
All three sentencing documents are expected to infer that President Trump may be an indictable ‘target’ in the investigation rather than a suspect or person of interest as he currently seems to be.
Given the billowing smoke around all of this it is hard to see that even if he has done nothing indictable his actions have tainted him irreparably and eternally. How can he in any conscience presume to continue in » Continue Reading.
by 66 Comments
I spotted this a few days ago…
Tiggerlion: “My ringtone is Black Satin from On The Corner. At least it was until I got a new phone a few months ago.”
I currently have Peter Gabriel’s Intruder as a ringtone – those drums cut through traffic noise, crowded shop noise, etc – doesn’t seem to work if the tune is too bassy (I tried the bass solo from Quiet Sun’s rongwrong – couldn’t here the phone ringing above the cat snoring…).
Anybody else got an interesting / bizarre ringtone? When your phone rings in public, do people look askance at you as if to say “what the hell was that?”
Do share…
Has anyone heard/read about the fuss that is going on over songs that ‘in this age we live in’ are now considered (by some people) to be unexceptable?!?!?
Apparently some Radio station in the States is refusing to play ‘Baby it’s Cold Outside’ as it feels the song’s lyrics suggest that the bloke is trying to get laid whilst the female is saying clearly “no”
Now I see that there are other songs that suddenly seem to be unexceptable to some people including – ‘Fairytale of New York’ because the word faggot is used! ‘Jingle Bells’ apparently has racist origins ‘Do They Know it’s Christmas’ because it doesn’t mention Ethiopia!!!
FFS what is wrong with people?!?
