Tag: music
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Review
Back in the ’80s when The Smiths were a going concern I was going through my heavy metal phase, and they completely passed me by, dismissed as “something for the cool kids” (one of which I most certainly was not). Many years later, in college (and quite possibly thanks to the girl I was dating) I finally ‘got’ The Smiths, and set about devouring their back catalog with a vengeance. I also picked up a fair bit of Morrissey’s solo output, although that has proven to be much patchier. Still, even with some occasional lapses in the music quality control… Read more
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Apple Turnover
Despite having rented houses ever since I left England (some 20 years ago), every so often I think about how nice it would be to own my own home. Not because I think renting is money down the drain (although it is) or that I want to ‘put down roots’, or any of the usual reasons, but because I really want to wire the entire house for sound, so I can stream music to whatever room I am in at the push of a button (or swipe of a touchscreen). I’ve always got music on when I’m home – and… Read more
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Buying music not the medium
For several years now, I’ve been complaining about the need to pay twice for music if you want it in multiple formats. For example, I’ve got a reasonable selection of vinyl, but when CDs came out, they told us that we needed to upgrade to CDs for ‘superior quality’. (And now, ironically, they are marketing vinyl as the ‘purists’ medium!). I didn’t go out and replace all of my vinyl immediately, because I recognized it for the scam it was. The record companies and the artists have already had my money once for the purchase of the album – why… Read more
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Old Age Is Just Around The Bend
Since my divorce, my social life has opened up again (they don’t call them a ball-and-chain for nothing…). Actually, it has really ‘had the ability’ to open up, because I haven’t actually done anything. The point is that I could have. If I’d wanted to. This week I finally decided that it was time to integrate myself back into indie society by getting out to a gig (and not before time – this blog tells me that my last gig was back in March – of last year!). It took me a while to find something that I wanted to… Read more
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The End of Something
I’m depressed. Not for all of the obvious reasons, but because one of my favorite bands, Austin, TX based Voxtrot, have split. Actually, they split early last year, but this current bout of depression isn’t a delayed reaction, just a reaction to something I read about Voxtrot during a recent webstalk. The official Voxtrot website contains a letter from Voxtrot main man Ramesh Srivastava (a.k.a. The Voxtrot Kid) commenting on their decision to split, and stating that he was now – in addition to other things – waiting tables for a living. And it’s this last statement that depresses me… Read more