money talks so listen to it

hi there

i would consider it fair, reasonable and appropriate, look you see, to openly declare yes, i am aware it is so that probably no one at all gives a flying f*** what i do, or do not for that matter, have on my walls in exile as a means of decoration, or a sellotaping of the cracks in a metaphorical manner when all seems teetering on falling apart. but, here we are, so i might as well continue. 

so, on that premise, one of them things happened to me what Mulder out of X Files pondered on, and more than likely (possibly) mentioned the proper name for it, but i can't recall what. as i was taking my usual, fairly routine stroll to the shops one weekend, a thought occurred, or "popped in there". it was of the prospect, or possibility, of expanding displays of wall art in my place of isolar exile. yes, this despite some previous musings (ramblings, maybe) on the subject (here, if interested) where i considered it unlikely for any further expansion. 

of course, then, it would be so that a reasonable, decent looking item one would place upon their wall, and by that i mean a picture, was available at a most agreeable, splendid price. during a tour of various charity shops, where i sought cheap and interesting CDs (i found, i believe, 9 (nine)), i stumbled upon this fine framed picture, now (as you can see) hanging on the one wall here. 

my assumption (or presumption) would be that you can see clearly what this is, what with the image being in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. should i be incorrect in this, or if you would like confirmation as means of affirmation, yes, it is a print of a painting off of that Monet, titled the bridge at argenteuil. my understanding is that he did (or gone done) several paintings which may be called this, but this is one of the more frequently showcased. 

yes, no, true, i am aware of the fact that Monet was one of them Frenchie types. considering this obvious and apparent disadvantage he started life with, well, that just makes his talents all the more remarkable, doesn't it just. there was only one painter who(m) i ever truly, really loved, but that's all gone now, and here i am, exiled. but for Monet, well, i have indeed held a soft spot (if that is the right phrase) for his works. one of my most favourite things ever was one of them "desk" calendars of his work what Mum got me for Christmas the one year. i forget which, but i kept it for longer. 

that is not an accurate reflection of how the picture looks on the wall, for the record. i took this image at a non-standard (peculiar, if you will) angle, so as to try my best to avoid getting too much of anything reflected in it. not sure i was successful in this, but people shall see what they will. 

will i venture further into exploring the possibilities of putting further stuff on the walls which surround me? possibly, perhaps. i mean, they would be for mostly me to see in person, since few visit, and of course inevitably anyone visiting here. yes, i do indeed rather like that the name (or title) of the painting is in lower case. maybe i will adopt this way of writing, who knows.

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

while shaking in fright

hello

i am uncertain if it is accurate or laughably incorrect to suggest i am presently enjoying something of a thing known as a mid-life crisis. should my face value understanding of the term be true then it is patently wrong, look you see, for there is no possible way that i have as much time left on this planet that equals the time spent. except, of course, according to science i am indeed immortal. but then, also, it is quite plausible that this "mid-life" crisis has been going on for a while, that it is indeed a big central chunk of years. getting another decade, give or take, out of this would be as much of a triumph as failure.

so, with that, that's how i have reconciled (or come to terms) with going on an absolute bender and purchasing an amount of lynx deodorant what is as excessive as it is unknown. how much, exactly? well, more than one tin, and certainly further than two. but not so many as four, five or higher. just three. 

for a few years now i have sort of "settled" into just the one type of lynx (or axe, in some corners of the world), that "gold" one, which is something something vanilla, something something a form of wood. i have stuck with it because an aunt (no, the other one) said that she particularly liked it, which was good enough for me to say well, fine, that shall do. mostly, generally,i would feel no wish or reason to move away from it, but then this happened, didn't it. 

no, i have (at time of writing) no idea what these smell like, or what the scent off of them is like. and further, certainly, no, i did not buy them all at once. well, yes, on the same day, but at different shops. i was rambling around, and three (3) different shops had different types on special, or for sale, or otherwise discounted. so, i jolly well bought one of each of the blooming lot, did i not just. 

yet to come is the day that i try one of these, dear reader. well, so much is true (as truth can truly be so) at the time of writing this. confidence is there that i shall try each of these at some stage, and perhaps comment on them as and when i have done so. just a bit of reflection, or vindication, this is. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tricher pour gagner

bonjour

for most of us, it is simply the case that Olympics 2020/1 are a long since forgotten memory. many will quite likely not be aware they even happened, look you see, thanks to the irrational and preposterous idea to remove most of it from free to air television. gone are the days when they encouraged as many as possible to watch, so as to inspire others to take up niche, non-headline grabbing sports, in exchange for some short term cash. do not be surprised if, in a generation or so, there are few particularly participating in some events, for any chance to inspire those to come to take up the disciplines was taken away. 

but yet, of course, one or two incidents made headlines. entirely and mostly negative ones. like, for instance, the bizarre decision to smack and attack an athlete or two who took time out over concerns of their mental health, all in a time when the importance of mental well being is rammed down the throat of anyone who cares to look. also. the issue of "i gender identify as...." lurched at last into the world of sport. 

and then, yes, indeed, leave it to the French to step in at the last moment to have a hand in the crowning glory of disgrace. quite a disgrace to, even by French standards. when it comes to disgracing yourself, the French have a magnificent track record. step forward and take a bow, Morhad Amdouni. 

that was the moment this plucky, brave Frenchman decided, in the flagship marathon event, to embrace entire the well known French philosophy of tricher pour gagner, or "cheat to win" if you happen to speak a proper language, such as English. marathons are something which the French are completely and utterly sh!t at, which in fairness is how you can describe their ability at most things. no wonder, then, that when one sees a French person they are normally whinging or moaning about their lot in life. 

if you are unaware of what happened, and should the above not be clear, this Monsieur Amdouni fellow, showing all the intelligence and acumen we are used to in French military crusades, decided to try and "win" the marathon for his (presumably) beloved France by smacking all the water bottles over, meaning no other runners (ones from proper countries) could have a drink. genius, that. if you can't win, cheat to win, i am sure killing the other (better) competitors via thirst seemed like a good idea at the time. 

overall, this entire sorry incident brought to mind how, under the terms of tricher pour gagner, the French are ever so keen to use their hands when they are not supposed to. cast your mind, if you will, back to just over a decade or so ago (maybe a dozen years, at time of writing), when just Ireland, rather than the whole international Olympic community, got f****d over by French cheating. 

yes, the Henry handball incident. from what i recall, or as far as i am aware, several newspapers in Ireland still, each year (obviously), list Henry in their birthday section, just so they can list him as "cheat and professional footballer". rightly so, too. 

does this tricher pour gagner ever work for them? sadly, or alas, frequently. certainly World Cup 98 remains the crowning glory of this, for now. France's greatest ever military victory, when they valiantly beat a bunch of part time teenagers working in McDonald's over the matter of using French potatoes in France, was kind of cheating. and bullying Germany into adopting the Euro as a currency if Germany wished to be a country was a little flat track, considering for some reason proper countries stood behind the French on this one, presumably so as to not to have to hear them whine. 

every now and then a philosophical question comes up about whether or not there is a god, or gods. the answer, clearly, is at least once, yes, there was, and he or they (or she or them) were wise, for they kept each and every French person in one place (France), so the rest of the world could safely avoid and indeed ignore them. now that they travel around, doing things like this, well, it is small wonder, perhaps, that church attendances are so low. 

être moins français les uns avec les autres !!!!!!

just as i thought

hey there

it was a little while ago, say a little north of three weeks prior to this being published, that i had a little rant about all this isolation business (nonsense) in respect of the new plague. very little of it was, as is standard for me, coherent, look you see. but even i can spot something which is later shown as maybe correct. 

during my period of state enforced isolation whilst in exile anyway, i was obliged to do one of the proper, or if you like "uber", plague tests, to show that i did not have plague, or whatever they call it now. essentially, basically, this test was more or less exactly the same as the "home" tests, only used a much larger cotton bud thing. heaven forbid some cheeky plague cells (or bacteria, or whatever) had learned to evade the smaller one. anyway, this i did, and noted with some interest that the booklet showing you how to do this test featured what was unmistakably an image of Barbra Streisand. 

with thanks to a quasi chaos theory, random chance duplicate (deliberate) purchase, i can now substantiate this claim. note i did not say prove, just substantiate. 

to either your left or mine (either, or both, depending on how you are looking at it) you can see, and of course yes in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode, the image off of the booklet what shows one how to do the so-called "proper" plague test. on the other side (right, or not left) is the image of Barbs i believe they used, or were "inspired" by. and i think we have all been inspired by Barbs at some stage or another, frequently. 

provenance of the image (proper) of Barbs, and reason for purchase? it is off the back of the magnificent two (2) cd set The Essential Barbra Streisand, by Barbra Streisand. by chance i found a copy of it on a market stall, for £1. yes, indeed i do already have this splendid set in my collection, but of course felt it would be lovely to have another copy of it, so as to have in my vehicle and enjoy as i roam the lands for purposes of verk. for me, it would make sense for everyone in the world to have at least one (1) copy of this set, but the more the better, you know. 

from what i recall of my education, and this i did receive, what has been done here is called "tracing". someone has obviously taken my advice above, and in needing to get an image for this plague test booklet, put a bit of tracing paper over their copy of The Essential Barbra Streisand by Barbra Streisand, fiddled a bit with what they done when tracing it on to a plain bit of paper, and here we are. 

no, i have no idea if Barbs is aware of this, or if it even is the case that the image of Barbs got traced to use in the plague guide book. unfortunately, Barbs does not, presently, communicate with me directly. the last time i heard from her was via an interview on the Zoe Ball show, on Radio 2. i think the bit when, halfway through, Barbs stopped mid-sentence and asked of the host "sorry, who are you again, exactly", suggested that she might possibly be in favour of measures what stop plague, though. 

as for me and the test for plague, well, no. yes, it came up as negative, and i am not infected, but no, it made no difference, the state insisted i remain locked up voluntarily, except that if i did not then i would be pursued through the courts or by bounty hunters. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

surprise cuisine selection success

g'day

there are some who, i suppose, if they took such time as to consider a matter (and few would), might suggest that i have made several life choices which could be determined as "interesting". i would be, to be perfectly honest, biased in such a judgement, look you see, so can just be, rather than say what it all is. 

for some reason, and i still am unsure why, i was of a mind (recently) to have a try of them so-called vegetarian burgers off of Linda McCartney, now of course sadly no longer with us in person. but, her wish to have as many as possible adopt a vegetarian life prevails to this day. no, i am neither considering nor contemplating a vegetarian lifestyle (but not ruling it out), it was all a case of these mozzarella burgers sounding like they would be rather smart. so, i got some. 

yes, indeed, for clarity, that Linda McCartney, who was for many years quite happily married to Sir Paul of Beatle, a chap who is quite comfortably in the top three of any 'Best Beatle' contest or measurement. i seem to have pushed an unexpectedly significant amount of funding in the direction of Sir Paul of late, what with these burgers (i assume he pockets something, but likely gives it away), the Royal Mail stamps of him and HMV deciding to have Egypt Station, an album of his, at an attractive price on the counter. which Beatle have i given the most money to? not sure, but i could probably name the one i have given the least to, and no he does not feature in the top three of any sort of 'Best Beatle' list or ranking. 

i bought some then. well, a box with two in it, or packaging what contained two (2) mozzarella burgers. on reading the ingredients, i was somewhat dismayed as it had whatever "soya" is in it. no, no idea what it looks like, or tastes like, but it has never sounded appealing or appetising. vaguely, it is so that i seem to remember hearing of something called "soya milk", and that sounds like the sort of thing what really, quite and very annoying poncy twats would have in weak tea or on gentrified rice crispies. 

anyway, right, i cooked them (following the instructions and trusting instinct), on the basis that i was risk free, one eating undercooked mozzarella was unlikely to pose health issues. on cooking, i took a tentative bite of one, then quickly wolfed it down and scoffed the other very fast. these are truly magnificent b@stards of burgers, and now i have a couple more boxes of them in the freezer, as they come in a frozen form. 

perhaps, maybe, there is something to all this vegetarian lark, then. i would clearly and obviously eat more of these, let me consider other such options. but, still, as per a post i did some time ago, yes, i would still quite like to be one of them monkeys what scientists make sit and smoke all day, so don't let this interlude give you any sense of a complete change of direction. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

in a metal mood

hej popplockare

yes, another music related post. although this is all rather niche, look you see. none more niche, perhaps, for we enter the hidden, strange and sometimes murky world of the (limited) hardcore faction of fans within a realm of a somewhat acute, selective appeal following. 

of course, indeed, and quite, yes. this all does, as you have no doubt (or undoubtedly) worked out from the above, relate to the solo career of Joey out of Europe. absolutely, that Joey out of that Europe. the band what all got all so excited about when they became the first Swedish band since Abba to make the UK singles chart. sensational stuff. 

if fans who are prepared to confess their admiration for Europe are tricky to find, well, that is nothing at all compared to seeking out the secretive cult of Joey out of Europe. his appeal is so precise and selective that one stands more chance of visiting Ireland, following a rainbow to its (theoretical) end and discovering a leprechaun desperate to hand over their pot of gold than they do of meeting a proclaimed fan of Joey out of Europe. to be sure. 

except, of course, Spiros. for reasons which would be inappropriate to discuss, and i am certainly not going to share here, Spiros has, fairly recently, had reason to become acquainted with the niche market which is the solo career of Joey out of Europe. or that is the solo career of him off of Europe, should that be the right proper wording. 

my apologies for the subtle editing of the picture what show Spiros, and i use this word carefully, enjoying the music of the solo career of Joey out of Europe. there are certain, broadly and diplomatically put, "rituals" what Spiros does when he is enjoying this particular music. in vain and in awe i (at least) try to keep the content here suitable for all, so some censorship was required. yes, no matter how natural an act it is what Spiros says it is, in particular when he makes a short term but mutually beneficial friend in some sort of public restroom facility.

letting your mind comprehend that Joey out of Europe has a solo career takes some doing, man. apparently, and all things be relative, a moderately (or reasonably successful) one too, for he has been permitted, or able, to do more than just one album on his own. consider, if you will, some songs got written by Joey out of Europe what Europe rejected; saying that they were (ahem) not quite good enough for them. or, otherwise, Joey out of Europe wrote some songs, and for some reason felt that the demographic for them would not be the "usual" or "ordinary" Europe fanbase. wow. 

above is the one Joey out of Europe CD what Spiros has recently declared to be his best and favourite CD in his collection. this is a pretty hefty, lofty and prestigious title, right up until the moment you ask Spiros how many, give or take, discs he owns, and then you get the answer of one. but still, that has a fair bit of weight to it, that Spiros would only own a disc off of Joey out of Europe. 

do i have any Europe, or Joey out of Europe, in my collection? only by default, alas. it is simply not possible to procure (acquire) as many 80s sets as i have a preference for and not end up with multiple copies of The Final Countdown. no, i do not play it a lot, if at all. i thought it was sh!t at the time and the years have not been kind to it. although i do recall my brother being all excited about finding an album off of Europe what did not have that song on it, and yet he never ever discussed it again after playing it once.

weirdly, this does not mark the first encounter Spiros has had with Joey out of Europe. kind of. a few years ago, when engaged in a professional capacity in his role as the greatest legal mind of his generation for a London based concern, he assisted the constabulary with a rather unpleasant matter. for some reason the streets of Chiswick were plagued by a criminal sort; one who was disgracing himself publicly by means of committing rather unpleasant acts of a sexual nature. 

so, the police were a bit baffled, having no real leads to go on, except the nature of the acts were, by all account, extremely Swedish. being a model citizen, Spiros was aware of an unsavoury Swedish national service dodging type; one who had taken to measuring men at random for "shirts" which never actually turned up. moving on, and with the assistance of Spiros they were able to apprehend him. the connection here is that the culprit was located near one of the many famous ponds in London, apparently or seemingly trying to interfere with ducks, claiming that he was Joey out of Europe and it was OK what he was doing as it was natural for Swedish farmer rock stars. 

could i offer any guidance or advice to anyone what is considering buying a solo album off of Joey oit of Europe? not really, not really, no. 

var utmärkta mot varandra !!!!!!!!!!!!

take the easy way and give in

hello there

it is a commonly accepted truth, look you see, that the greatest problem facing the modern, forward thinking world is the ludicrous price placed on fags (not what you think, Americans) in the UK. and other countries. that even the French have enough sense (i think) to charge less for them that the price of them on the shelf in the UK is testament to the sorry state we, living here, are in. just as recently as today (well, the day what i wrote this) i saw a few gents scouring a public bin for fag ends (again, not what you're presently thinking, Americans), so desperate are our times. 

much of my problem, or plight, of course is all down to my being unable to find one of these apparently plentiful but steadfastly (in my experience) "fag houses", where entrepreneurs secure a supply of directly, border evasive cigarettes and sell them at a reasonable price. yes, i absolutely would love to engage in a mutually beneficial business arrangement with such. to those who would say "but that's illegal", i would say that's a f*****g shame, don't make the ills of society my issue. 

perhaps, and i have speculated on this matter before, i should just switch to heroin. for some reason them, those in power, have decided heroin is so marvellous that they are quite happy to (funded by the tax on my fags, by the way) just give it away for free to junkies. cigarettes, no, just punish people. well, they give heroin away for free everywhere but, going on the news, Scotland. apparently that very angry lady in charge of the parish council up there is a staunch disciple of how Mbeki dealt with AIDS in South Africa - it's a lot cheaper to just blame something else and let people die. 

stuck, as i am, then, with purchasing cigarettes via the "conventional" (as in legal) means available, i have sought to get the cheapest. these were, i believed, them Players Red ones. remarkably, at least at time of writing, south of £10 a packet, they are OK once you get used to them. but still, everything about them screams they are the preferred smoke of salty sea dogs, them ones with sunburned leather skin, a squint, angry incomprehensible modes of dialogue and undoubtedly guilty of doing all sorts of unspeakable things to impressionable cabin boys under the pretence than certain things are legal, if not admittedly normal, under maritime law conditions. 

as luck, or fortune, would have it, i was able to catch sight of a fag (cigarette, Americans) price list in one shop. this is something that is supposedly freely available, but seldom is, and one rarely wishes to request an inspection of it, for you just get a load of people wanting to buy scratchcards or return various garments tutting at you. 

on this list, which i read as quickly as i could, i noted that there were a couple of brands of fags which had managed to stay at a cost even lower that Players Red. whilst i did not see them all, it looked like the previous classic choice of the working man, Embassy, are still a thing. but, as i vaguely recalled being not so keen on them, i noticed another at a similar lower price, Carlton. so, i got some. 

then i remembered, or recalled, yes, i had tried these before. a while ago, when once more wishing to find cheaper fags. my memories of them were not so good, in truth, but i thought perhaps, maybe, my system was now so f*****d it would not notice. even, still, there was a chance that whoever it is what makes Carlton fags had given some effort to improving the experience of smoking them. 

no, and most decidedly no, were the answered attained (or obtained), pretty much as the above image was taken. it is simply not so that smoking Carlton fags (and i will assume Americans have established the correct use of the word by now) is in any way, shape or form a pleasant experience. they really are quite the thing of the cigarette world of using something French - should only be done in an absolute, no alternate emergency and hope for the best. 

just quit, you say, or cut down considerably, rather than put myself through all of this? no, i shall not be letting them win this one. 

practically, virtually all other vices are not only encouraged here in the UK, but mostly they are funded. gambling, drinking, the previously mentioned heroin, and so forth, all generously advertised, promoted and funded if you get caught short. certain, and several, sexual proclivities too, mostly promoted by the BBC, which isn't even supposed to advertise. but no, not cigarettes. here an idea has been cultivated that if one blames cigarettes (fags) for everything, then anything else you do seems not so bad. what really warped f*****g values we now have on the go. 

will it be so, shall i, or am i likely to pursue further smoking of these Carlton fags? out of necessity, and by default, the answer with regret is yes, probably. unless i can broker a deal, or arrangement, with one of these magnificent sounding fag houses, or (and this is unlikely) some common sense comes into the thinking of those in charge of the prices for the fags on the shelf. getting proper packets for them back is unlikely, but proper pricing would be nice. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

disco content discontent one winter a while ago

howdy pop pickers

sometimes i would wish that oh how it doesn't have to be this way, look you see. that i would feel not obliged or compelled to "complete" collections, to be down to earth and only buy some vibes when they clearly offered either the right thing or big fun. and yet here we are, the final countdown is on for the end of the promised re-issue of the first ten (10) Now That's What I Call Music sets, with the heartache that is number 9 (nine) coming out recently. rather than use money wisely (to live it up, say), temptation brought be down to earth and i bought it. no, i didn't have to give everything i own to get it, but yet i roam in some sort of land of confusion wondering why i insisted on doing so. 

moving on then, and Now 9 appears (or seems) to cover what one would consider, or call, the (northern hemisphere) winter of 1986, moving as it does into the early aspects of 1987, in terms of the UK singles charts. or rather, what bits Now could licence. the market was awash with compilations cash ins by this time, so with different labels scrambling to sign up exclusive use of tunes, well, it seems them what were responsible for bagging some for this release left it all a little late. 

in fairness, honesty and vanity, though, i would have to say i paid little attention to the charts at this time. no, for these three or four months covered, it was all very much Frankie Goes To Hollywood for me. looking at what was on offer here, i do not believe i bought one single 7" of  these. oh, not true, yes of course i purchased Live It Up off of Mental As Anything. beyond that, though, i would have described myself as quite cross with the singles chart, as they were unkind to Frankie's singles. but that i probably ranted about a little, around Now 8. 

quite an auto-pilot purchase, this, then, on day of release. my feelings, when looking at the track listing after purchase, were a little like when i got the CD issue of Now That's What I Call Music 5. which would be "this looks like sh!t", and a suspicion it would not get played so much. but still, as with 5, there looked to be at least a couple of decent tunes on here. and, as it happens, it is much better than i feared it would be, but still not going to get played much.

this all starts off with that oddity of a Christmas Number One (1) single from 1986 (when that chart position meant something), with Reet Petite off of Jackie Wilson. a great song indeed, and one of two 60s re-releases to feature on the set (the other, Stand By Me off of Ben E King) out of the many that were charting at the time. a couple of covers too, by big name artists. perhaps there was a little bit of a creativity doldrums at the time. 

certainly, to refer to it once more, i was thrilled when Mental As Anything made it big in the UK with the song off of Crocodile Dundee. this was their first hit in the UK, despite an extensive and lengthy career of success in their native Australia. as i had been in Australia where their finest hour was, the Cats & Dogs album, this was just excellent. also, another (at least one more) film based tune features, in the form of Take My Breath Away by Berlin. wrongly sub-titled as Love Theme From Top Gun, for as we all know the actual love song off of the film was Playing With The Boys off of Kenny Loggins. and still, though, i have a soft spot for Berlin, since they were support for Frankie. who i saw live, in January 1987, hence me being not all that arsed about the charts at the time. 

far too much, i would think, is the correct response to "how are Scandinavian (or whatever) nations represented here", if asked. perhaps British music was on a bit of a low, then. sure, it's lovely to get Manhattan Skyline off of a-Ha (even if it is a 2004 remaster rather than the original 80s single), but it has to be said The Final Countdown off of Europe has been played to death ever since release, particularly at times such as New Year and what have you. well, no, New Year. great, now i have yet one more copy of this song on CD. 

a few highs pepper the set. many would consider Sometimes to be the best thing what Erasure did. i would suggest no, A Little Respect or maybe Stop!, but this is a great pop single. the Boy George debut solo single, a cover of Everything I Own which is brilliant, brings back memories. for some reason it was so that The Sun, known to crucify anyone who didn't fit in with their definition of a "proper bloke", and he certainly did not, went all sympathetic with his plight with heroin. rather fitting with the blessed life the erstwhile Culture Club frontman appears to live, really. any other pop star who went to prison for hiring someone on possibly (or ostensibly) sexual reasons but then went on to assault and hold them captive would be exiled, yet Radio 2, in particular, are on a crusade to play him as often as they can. go figure. same, a bit with the Simply Red song on here. it is easy to forget there was a time when Mick Hucknall was generally liked and celebrated, now not so much, with all considering him to be a massive bellend and a bit of a d!ck with his bragging about how many thousands of women he has slept with, etc. yet still Radio 2 have a candle on the go for him, also. 

one big word of warning here is that the song Big Fun which features is not what you think. what you have in mind is the (quite) class dance anthem off of Inner City, not this tripe. i had forgotten that Heartache by Pepsi & Shirlie was not at all bad, but a little dated. also, It Doesn't Have To Be This Way off of Blow Monkeys and Down To Earth off of him with the beret and his band (that felt shorter to type that Curiosity Killed The Cat) are not quite so polished or perfect as i remembered, but still quite good. worst, other than the mentioned Big Fun, is probably the horrendous remixed version of You Sexy Thing by Hot Chocolate here. what a bad idea that mix was, burying Errol's voice below some synths and trying to drown out the famous hook. 

yes, i am quite aware i have aired thoughts on quite a few songs off of a set which i made an initial claim of not being too fussed about. well, i was a little off, then. another treasure here, true, is The Great Pretender off of Freddie, which appears to exist to just showcase his vocal range. and what a range. can't honestly remember either Taffy or their song here, I Love My Radio, but it's a good one, all the same, so nice find. one of the better UB40 tunes too, and not my favourite ever Genesis song, not even just of their 80s stuff, but a bit like Erasure above it's this one, Land Of Confusion, which a lot seem to rate really high. possibly, in this instance, due to the Spitting Image video for it. 

nothing but fond memories came back on hearing Jack Your Body by Steve 'Silk' Hurley, too. banging tune, to be sure, but mostly i remember it off of a lad at school who's older brother had loads of this, and course at the time i mean, "new" Chicago House music, and he'd tape it for us. speaking of memories, i think my main issue with this set is it is missing the things i would have bought at the time, if i remember it all correctly. on Now 9 there is no Frankie, no Male Stripper and no Sigue Sigue Sputnik. but, that said, what is here is (mostly) agreeable. 

if, or should, they stick to their announced plans, only one more reissue to come, then, in the shape or if you like form of Now That's What I Call Music 10. yes, i am aware they recently did a "1983 Yearbook" but i avoided it, as it was just Now 1 with two extra discs not good enough to be on that set. should they do a 1984 yearbook, mind, i suspect i shall not be able to resist. and, after all that, i have every confidence they will find other ways to milk coins off of me. just not with "new" stuff, which is sh!t. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

massive spoons

heya

up until quite recently it was so that, should i have been asked (and i was not) on the subject, my answer would have been yes, i do believe i have a sufficient level of cutlery. there is simply no need, or requirement, for me to have excessive amounts of such instruments, look you see, whilst appreciating an elba like exile era. but more i now have. 

so, i was enjoying a perfectly good dinner (or "lunch" for those of you who have embraced American terminology; London i look at you) with a dear friend. we were in a very, as in predominantly, Who decorated establishment, and so it was class. as a plus, they had sarsaparilla, a fine beverage i had not enjoyed for a fair while. 

after dinner we strolled and perused shops, for such commercial ventures is very much a shared passion of ours. yes, i bought some items, mostly a rather smart shirt (which i may showcase here at some stage), and that sort of thing. also hairbrushes, if you insist on pressing, but that is for a secret project and nothing to do with me needing to use brushes. 

my dear friend, who(m) we shall call Mandybabes, was drawn to this (pictured above) cutlery set. apparently, and i would trust her on such matters, the asking price for this portland cutlery set, being as it was a neat £10 was "excellent". but that was not the draw for her. no, nor that it was so lovely and shiny, which obviously appealed to me. for some reason she took exceptional delight, and expressed admiration, for the size of the larger spoons in the set. table spoons, i believe is the posh term. 

it was not, and make no mistake in this, that she just mentioned they were large and left it at that. no, far from such. frequently she said they were "massive", and so as to establish this set about picking up other spoons, ones sold separately or in sets not too different from this one (in packaging), and held them up so as to compare. yes, in each instance, the one on offer was not as big, or if you will massive, as the one in the portland cutlery set. well, as point of fact one spoon was bigger, but that was a serving spoon rather than one which one would eat with. 

no a great deal of coercing or coaxing was required to encourage me to purchase. in fairness, or to be fair, for a few months it has irked that i got f****d over by Tesco, for the set they sold me (some decent ones with a black handle) was a fork short. i couldn't be pestered to return it or complain, so i have none to blame but moi, but i did vow to never ever buy cutlery off of Tesco again, since they are right f*** you over merchants in my experience. 

would i consider myself happy, or experience a life much better, now that i have this cutlery set at my disposal? bit of a tricky question that, since my lot in life is not so bad these days. yes, it is lovely to have the exact same number of a set of items of cutlery, this is true. but, alas, having been distracted by the massive spoons, i did not pay attention to the teaspoons with this set. it turns out they are, and i suppose one would say conversely or something, disproportionately smaller. whereas the new massive spoons off of this set are indeed now the biggest i own, so too is it true that the teaspoons which came along by default are now the smallest ones i have. 

there is some sort of symmetry there, i suppose. dramatic enough, at the least, for me to have commenced a whole new paragraph to state so, allowing you to have taken a bit of a theatrical pause so as to comprehend such a thing being. 

yes, sure, if i make any further cutlery (or related) purchases, i shall let you know. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

four singles

howdy pop pickers

well, here we are again. once more it is so, look you see, that i have found some reason or other to write of Bowie once again. yes, indeed, after doing one (1) album of his per month for many, many months i kind of suggested i probably had not much else to write. it turns out that yes, i do. 

so, i have a penchant (or proclivity) to spend coins of money on things i like. and i rather like Bowie. with the Bowie Estate remaining, at time of writing, unusually reluctant to offer me anything in exchange for such coins, i browsed the virtual car boot sale of the internet. yes, i have a large amount of the releases made by Bowie, but by no means all. i find it worthwhile to search for the ones i do not have every now and then, on the off chance that they crop up at an agreeable price.

if there is one area my collection falls short it would be in the world of CD singles what he deemed to release, specifically in the 90s. perhaps sensing that the sales of physical music would soon drop off, as it was after all him who coined the phrase "streaming", he did go on a little bit of a bender in that decade, releasing a mountain of CD singles. alas, i was unable to take advantage of this. i was still in SA at the time, and there was no real global online shopping then, also few of the singles got an international release. 

collecting, or picking up, these CD singles in the hear and now is neither easy nor cheap. mostly what's out there is in the hands of collectors who would no more part with them than i would. also, and this is entirely fair, the entrepreneurs have sussed the CD singles - as pointless as they are on face value, based on number of tracks and what those tracks are - hold a significant value for those looking for them. it is quite rare for a Bowie CD single to appear on the market for south of £10, so i was rather pleased, delighted and instant purchase mode (full tilt) when the chance came to get the above four (4), including postage, for south of £10 all in. 

quite the bargain, really. even when, as it sort of kind of turned out, i already had one of them, and really had exceptionally little interest in another of them. further, then, also, it became clear that i did, as point of fact, already have all the tracks what feature across the other two. no matter, done now. if one were to say, via the mystery of maths, each of these works out at £2 each, then it is so that i believe no instance of spending £2 has been wasted. 

a look at each of the 4 (four) what i picked up, with thanks to some super pricing off whoever it was selling them? sure. i am not sure how extensive or interesting the notes shall be, but also artwork presented in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. 

first up then, and one that i suppose i should have been a trifle excited about, what with it being labelled a "limited edition" thing, but really the one i so very easily could have done without. allowing for the fact that anyone and everyone can and will have a view on a subject, for me it really is so that Earthling is, was, by some distance his worst album. not everything about it was sh!t, but it was all quite close to being so. in no way, shape or form is the song Seven Years In Tibet one of the positives of the whole experience, but go ahead and release it as a single he did. 

to go positive, the artwork is indeed lovely. a very stylish cover, and one which has, what, some 25 years or so later, stood up well. oddly not all Bowie covers have been as stylish as we would have like to think; cf Never Let Me Down. on a slightly less positive, track one is an "edit" version of Seven Years In Tibet. by making the time to endure it shorter, yes, that is a plus. 

on to tracks two and three, and oh dear. theoretically track two (2), which is also Seven Years In Tibet, should be the best of the lot, as it is even shorter than the edit version. also, it is a 'Mandarin' version, meaning you no longer even have to pretend you can understand whatever it is David is going on about in this song. but track 3 (three), man. oh no. yet another copy of Pallas Athena. i first heard this, i believe, on a Jump They Say single, and thought it was sh!t. then it turned up on the Black Tie White Noise album, and was only half as sh!t as it was a half the length version. finally a sh!t live version of it turned up on that Earthling In The City disc i acquired "free" with an expensive magazine. now i have another copy of it. lucky, lucky boy. 

moving on to better, then, and what it says on the box is CD3 of a 3 (three) CD single set for Seven, with this one being a "special live" CD single. what one gets on this disc, ostensibly, then, is three songs off of the hours..... album, live. and not just any live. no, these are recordings from the Kit Kat Club. yes, so these are from the git that forms that mythical, impossible to get sixth (6th) volume of Brilliant Live Adventures, the one i am still waiting to see if Iman or whoever runs the Bowie Estate will get around to selling me. 

whereas the three songs from that album - the single-wise titular Seven, the superb Something In The Air and the he's done/did worse The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell - are good, one would not rush to say these are either excellently recorded live performances, or overtly great performances at all. by no means bad, but now i am also even more less arsed about if the Bowie Estate gets around to selling me the comically short full set for a lot of money. a mercy, or blessing, or both. 

but for the ultra, or uber, win on getting this single, i was most pleased to find the four (4) postcards, as they are described, which came with the release were indeed still with the single. 

since, or considering, the "postcards" are CD booklet sized squares, i would not really fancy the chances of them surviving being posted via the Royal Mail system. or any postal system in the world. but, well, they are lovely things to have, as is hopefully reflected in the non-Commodore 64 mode picture (or image) above. 

no reason to think anyone would be interested in this, but yes, i have indeed taken an image of the spines of these CD singles. and since i trimmed it down to be included here, well, here you go. 

of course there would be no consistency in font, size, shape, positioning of text or anything like that. this is David and, for 75% of the above, Virgin Records. they just kind of all went "whatever", i suppose. at least on the spine his name is all proper, and not the numbers variations one finds on the covers of the hours.... originating singles. 

really am now doubting my grasp of sanity with my daily (sometimes more) check-ins on the Bowie site to see if they will let me give them probably somewhere around £20 for the "full" concert from the Kit Kat Club on CD. from what i remember the three tracks on that Seven single are 25% of the gig, and that does not bode well for how the remaining 75% will sound, really. at all. still, yes, the moment they condescend to take my money, undoubtedly i shall foolishly hand it over. 

we go on, then, to the one single of the lot which is "objectively" likely to be seen as the most sensible, or makes sense, purchase, and the one which i now happen to have 2 (two) copies of. by accident, for i had forgotten about the one bid i put in on the virtual car boot, but of course honoured it. oh, yeah, as the above image should make (reasonably) clear, this is one (of two, i believe, maybe 3) of the CD singles released of Thursday's Child, which i believe was the lead single for hours.....

the point of appeal for this one is that rarity for Bowie, actual, dedicated, only found here "b-sides". yes, very much plural, as there are two extra tracks. not what one would call the greatest of great songs, being as they are We All Go Through and No One Calls. but, interesting ones. each of these songs, in particular the first of them, sound very much like "transitional" ones. by that i mean they sound like David feeling around for a sound that slightly echoes the nightmare of Earthling he was (thankfully) leaving behind, yet is not quite fully formed as how hours..... sounds. this is particularly true lyrically. no lost or rare masterpieces here, but still, well worth having. 

shall, or will, i go after the other CD single of Thursday's Child? this is unlikely. yes, some appeal as it has a further two (2) unavailable anywhere else songs, plus the video (which i think is on the Best of Bowie 2 DVD set, mind), but that seems rather pricey. a quick look says it's not available for south of £10 presently, so alas no. 

in conclusion for the four (4) i obtained, then, a "special collector edition" CD single of Survive, with it featuring an all "special live" track list. three songs, no less, the titular one, Survive, plus other single Thursday's Child and other, other single Seven. all of which are really, really excellent. 

and the very interesting, or really interesting, thing is that all three (3) are recorded in Paris, 1999. which means yes, they are very much the ones to be bought (if you were lucky) 21 or 22 years later, claiming to be "previously unreleased", on the 5th Brilliant Live Adventure release. unlike what i have heard thus far of the sixth, impossible to get Kit Kat, this one was actually a brilliant gig, no doubt very much wasted on French people, but still, a recording worth having. some aspects of it now twice over, due to this purchase. 

for those who have read on this far, or have simply scrolled down, go on then, a minor treat, of sorts. this CD single included a 'special live video' on the "enhanced" CD of Survive as performed in Paris. getting a video to play on your PC in 1999 was amazing, for there was no "streaming" as such, and piracy was very much in its infancy, it taking over 30 minutes to download a song alone. 

no doubt bigger and better quality of the above performance have been added to that "You Tube" thing gosh at least a thousand times by now, but here you are, here we are, press play and enjoy, should video come out reasonably well here, i have not checked. 

yes, at some stage i shall, inevitably, cease purchasing David Bowie recordings. but know that this will not be by reason of having them all, for to achieve such seems a mix of impossible and too expensive. at some point, though, either i shall have all that i can get, find others too expensive, get bored of it all, be in such a state that i cannot afford more discs or anything, or be deceased. until one of those pounts is reached, though, i go on, i continue.

quite highly unlikely, of course, that the present wave of "new" releases shall cease. as i have commented on a number of posts, we ebb ever closer to 50th anniversaries of Hunky Dory and one record called Ziggy Stardust. i, along with most other Bowie fans, expect both heart and bank account to get a right good f*****g over by the Bowie Estate for these two. please, please let the anniversaries not be marked by "new special ruined the record mixes by Tony Visconti". if they do that no doubt i will hesitate and then go right ahead and buy. what else must i do? 

no, nothing else to add. which i am pretty sure is fine, for it feels like i have written a fair chunk here for releases that were pretty much intended to be a bit disposable, such is the way of pop. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

old light through new windows

hello there

time enough, i think, to do the what has become (look you see) annual look at that light bulb what i picked up from Poundland quite some time ago. rather surprisingly, the first account of this bulb (which you can, if you wish, see and read of here), presented just north of four (4) years ago has attracted somewhere north of 1,5000 "clicks" or views or what have you. so my assumption is that someone somewhere is quite interested in this sort of thing.

but, that said, maybe not so much. the second update has so far only attracted slightly north of 120, the third at time of writing south of 100 and the one just before this a little bit over 200. no clue, then, as to what level of interest shall be attracted here. 

it is entirely possible that this update on the bulb - the very same one which cost me all of £1 off of Poundland which people warned me would burst into flames - will hold some nominal interest. this, really, is down to the fact that it is now in a new locale. yes, on my being sent to exile, i did indeed take my lamp with me, with the bulb in it. plugging it in found that it worked the same as ever. 

briefly, of course, i did give some thought to replacing it as and when i moved. a new start, clear the slate, and what have you. obviously no, i did not do so. probably for reasons of value, i suppose, rather than issues of nostalgia. as the bulb works, well, why, or for what reason, would i just discard it and replace with a new one? 

one possible (and very plausible) answer to the above is that, in truth, i really don't care much for the bulb. whereas it looked interesting and attractive, what with it being not of usual appearance and presented as "vintage" or distinguished, it is complete sh!t at the basics of a lightbulb, which is the giving of light. not much in the way of light emanates, or comes off of it, and on an evening reading by what it casts is problematic. indeed i should just replace, but i keep thinking, well, surely this shall pop quite soon, and then i can put an actual, proper bulb in. 

yes, an animated look at the bulb there, of course in the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. for a while i have struggled with how, or why, one would present effective video style moving images of a lightbulb, but at last i would seem to have worked such out. 

my thoughts on the bulb, and potential (or possible) replacement are of course, perfectly naturally, drawn to the lessons of Apocalypse Now. it is reasonable to take as a given that an uncomfortable Colonel Kurtz arrangement is in place. when i think of replacing it, all i can see, all i can here, is an excited, enthusiastic and possibly coked up Dennis Hopper, screaming or shouting "when it dies, man, he dies, and when he dies, it dies, man". who knows what damage i shall draw if i go ahead and ignore that sentiment, particularly when mindful of me now being rather close to a river. 

above is indeed a sort of "in the flesh" look at the bulb, free of the artistic expression of the greater good and glory of Commodore 64 mode. if anything, what this highlights is that the bulb appears in better condition than the lamp which houses it, for some elements of the expulsion to exile took a toll on the lamp. no matter, for as the lamp itself was one of them £5 "this will do for now" purchases, several years ago, it being replaced at some stage has long since been anticipated. 

unfortunately, it is the same as ever - i cannot guarantee, or assure, that a follow up post at some stage of next year (which is scheduled or down to be 2022) will exist. but, that said, it is lovely to think that such a thing will indeed happen. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bus stop trolley

hey

many thanks indeed to Codename Magic Money for sending on this picture. he was quite taken by what he saw, look you see, and felt obliged to share it with me. presumably so that i may share it with others who are enthusiastic about such things. 

sadly, or alas, of course as i am in state appointed condemnation (isolation) i have not seen so many trolleys (trollies) as i would have liked of late. there was some degree of delight, then, that a good friend would think to send me an image of such, so that i may know the world carries on with me in exile from it all, if only fleetingly. or momentarily. 

the best guess (or assumption) i have is that someone sought maximum efficiency from this particular, and in rather good condition, trolley, bringing it to the bus stop so as to aid their journey with shopping bags. i have little doubt that the person (or people) who commandeered the trolley this far also had either ambition or interest to take the trolley on the bus with them, but the "more than my job is worth" sort of driver one usually finds in control of such probably said no. to be a bit reasonable, if everyone who wished to take a trolley on a bus was permitted to do so then they would need to go and invest in a good many larger buses. such expense shall not be done by those currently designated the custodians of public transport. 

i have not particularly had any reason to look at any sort of economic report (or forecast) for a while, so sadly cannot present any information on how the market is currently performing with respect to taking trollies (trolleys) to scrapyards. boisterous, perhaps, is how i would wish to think this vital, very important sector is all going, momentarily. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a career no more

greetings

there are many, many careers, professions or even vocations, look you see, that are no more. so they are not careers, etc, i suppose. oh. well, anyway. it was, perhaps is and maybe forever will be that some grew up believing they would know exactly what it is they would do with their lives, only to find that the ambition no longer has a reality. 

in the present day it is (of course) the disappearance of the job (or career) of going around and collecting coins from payphones which is the most concerning. distressing, even. a number believe that all this "conspiracy theory" stuff where people who call for 5G masts (also previously 4G and 3G ones) to be destroyed, preferably by fire, is nothing more than the offspring of generations of payphone coin collectors, with their hope being to unilaterally destroy the mobile phone market, thus forcing people to once again use public telephone boxes. exactly how close they are to achieving this ambition is, suspiciously, not reported, but i think the figures for sales of mobile phones provides answers. 

whilst some would argue the elimination of payphone coin collectors is perfect natural selection, or otherwise a welcome trimming of the herd, the disappearance of other careers can be a good deal more divisive. especially, as is the case with what i have in focus here, when the profession to be gone was wiped out, almost overnight, by one single, solitary rogue type. yes, of course, and obviously, the career under question here is that of "houseguest", a job made redundant by the actions (or inaction) of just one person, Kato Kaelin. indeed, that Kato Kaelin. 

for some background, yes, of course it is so that the job (or career) of "houseguest" appeared to be one which was exclusively open to Americans, in America. the first any of us (really) in the rest of the known world came to know of it was probably True Romance, when we saw Brad Pitt play the role of such an employee. except we had no idea that someone got paid to be a "houseguest", for we were far too busy wondering why, exactly, someone would have someone just stay at their house for no apparent or given reason at all. no, it was only when, and credit where it is due in spectacular fashion, Kato Kaelin lost his job as a "houseguest" that eyes were opened up to how this was an actual career. 

my suspicion is that i could well attract a whole lot of needless silly bother, or step into (from a legal perspective) some sticky mud if i spoke too much of exactly how and specifically why Kato (and his unusual job) came to public attention, which particular emphasis on when the career ended. no matter how much those events get discarded as a "trivial irony" in the present day, let me try and write of all of this without going into too many aspects of it all. 

just what, exactly, precisely or in some vague, general terms, does an employed "houseguest" actually do? not as much clarity on this exists as one might wish for. the Americans seem rather reticent to share too much information about it with the rest of the world, which kind of makes sense as they didn't really run around telling off of us about the job. it is, mind, with some certainty that we can speak of what the job does not entail, with "providing accurate accounts" and "alibi" featuring rather prominently in such a list, if one were indeed to make a list of "not essential" roles. 

having a flamboyant hairstyle, if we base requirements of the role on Kato, certainly seems to be a key part of the role. some passing claim to coming close to previous fame is also beneficial, mindful of how he very nearly had an acting career just years prior to his coming to public attention. i think wearing variations of white linen suits was a big part of the job too, combined with lighter pastel shades for other garments, but that's also what you need to be a copper in Miami. mostly i think the job requirement was to just be a "houseguest", trying or striving to do little more than sit around in a sort of quasi-poseur way, doing stuff like reading magazines and making the odd concessional observation. 

does any chance of this career being available again exist? possibly. certainly, if it were to come back into being, it would be with a lot less drama than the role of fetching coins out of phones. yet barriers exist for any return. the biggest, of course, would be that it requires someone to stand up, to raise their hand in a metaphorical and actual way, and speak the words "i want to be like Kato Kaelin". 

let no surprise cloud this announcement, but yes, Spiros did - briefly - explore the idea of hiring a permanent "houseguest". ultimately this fell away, with the failure being in a lack of decent candidates. whilst not wishing to dwell on the episode, those Spiros interviewed and found unsuitable included a Swede obsessed with ducks and measuring men for suits, as well as a shepherd that ended up fleeing to a province in the southern areas south of the equator so as to make numberplates. 

chances of the job, role or career of "houseguest" coming to be a thing again would also, you would think, depend on people applying for the role being prepared to change their name to 'Kato'. this, i firmly believe, is a traditional essential, and is done so in order to pay homage to Burt Kwok out of them smart Pink Panther films. also one can't really see the circumstances where someone would pursue this career yet not wish to embrace the name. 

it shall no doubt be that historians of the future (rather than the past) shall be intrigued by the entirely American phenomenon of hiring a "houseguest". undoubtedly it will be studied in terms of a sign, or better signature, of exactly what America did after winning the 'Cold War'. with capitalist pig dogs triumphant over the comrades, such was the wealth and opulence spread so evenly across the United States that people were able to squander the infinite resource of money on hiring a person to just sit around and do little; certainly not to any discernible help in a legal matter. 

no, i have no interest in either hiring a "houseguest" or changing career to become one. but, if for some reason you have either in consideration, best of luck, and as a back up go small with the gloves.

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

provenance (parental) was unknown

howdy pop pickers

so, another new album review, then. and, for a change, an actual, new artist, look you see. quite a few of this band (at least one) was born in a different century to me, with the one they were hurled into the world in being the one we currently live in. no matter how i preferred the one before. right, well, in this instance the vibes under consideration come from a new band called Inhaler, and take the form of their debut album, It Won't Always Be Like This. a title which has all sorts of connotations in the present day, but one which seems to stem from them long forgotten, halcyon days before March 2020. out of 2019, from what i can gather. 

matters of provenance for me hearing this particular record? a somewhat worrying trend is that one of them social media things, facebook to be exact, has clocked that i can be quite an easy mark for their advertising stuff. having experienced several years of them stumbling and showing me adverts that i have no interest in, eventually they have clocked me, and are increasingly offering me ways to part with coins that i happen to find most agreeable indeed. 

when an advert for "Inhaler" cropped up, i paid half attention. to my eyes, the image, of a small-ish size, looked like that of what i presumed to be an American band, doing a reasonably good take on how a early to mid central 90s sub-a list British band may style themselves. except the one, which would be the one i now know is the drummer. he looked most stylish, and reminded me the way of a very dear friend used to look, back in University, before such look was opted by the "indie" bands. 

having little, or no, interest in the immediate history of the band (i was content to assume American), off i went to do what i do not like, which is "stream" a couple of songs, to see if the look which i found interesting was backed up by a decent sound. close enough to it, really. the first thing i stumbled on was the titular track of the album, and i rather liked what i heard. not crazy, wow, liked, enough to warrant a partially educated gamble, what with the official website for the band offering their debut album (which i was unaware was a new release, within the week, at the time) for all of £5 plus postage. 

it was so that my copy arrived in the post (blessed by Royal Mail) one Saturday morning. which happened to be the same Saturday morning i clicked on the BBC website and observed a headline, with their usual emphasis on avoiding bias and that, which read "Bono's son's band reaches number one with debut album". yes, i was vaguely aware of Bono having a son, for he was on the cover of the most recent U2 album, but had no idea (or interest) in what he may have done. then a glance at the picture gave every indication (as the article confirmed) that the band in question was indeed Inhaler. oh. 

no, i don't believe matters of parental provenance influenced my listening, but i would have preferred to have only discovered so after. no matter. for those in a rush, and yet for some reason are still reading this, it turns out the album is quite good. much, much more polished and refined than one would suspect or expect for a debut, but not so bad. all i have heard on this record suggests that if they can survive the imminent, inevitable onslaught of tags concerning how 50% of the parents of 25% of the band happen to be in U2, then they are one of them bands with every chance of getting better and better as their career progresses, rather than one of them which throws all the good stuff at an audience at once, then find the tank is rather empty when a refill is sought. 

the marketing has been really f*****g clever with this one. cheeky, if you will. above is an extract, or moment, from the booklet what comes with the CD. this of course gives every sense or indication that Inhaler are well and truly "old school" rock and roll, they have built an audience, for look at the crowd size that have gone to see them before a record (proper) is out. whereas i don't have an ounce of doubt they had a decent support, i am going to go out on a limb and suggest that, perhaps, maybe, possibly, it is so these images just might have been off of the gigs the did in support of Noel Gallagher. a rather prestigious gig which i am sure they got on merit. and to clarify, note, to use a very broad term, that thing which is nepotism exists in every industry and every business in the world, and the only ones who ever complain of it are the ones not to be direct beneficiaries, so enjoy the ride. 

as this is now several paragraphs in, maybe i should comment on, or consider, the music. presently the record is on the stereo again (third or fourth play), and track six, My King Will Be Kind, is on. here they seem to go a bit mock-blues and hey we have a wah-wah pedal, also some rude and derogatory words in it. it is a song that starts well, but kind of drifts off, much of the rest of the album is far better.

polished is the one word review of this record. suspiciously very well prepped and all polished up, apparently ready for stadium audiences, would be the expanded review. not quite to the extent of losing the soul of the band entire, and certainly not as dull or as boring as the comforts of the unbelievably, overwhelmingly f*****g bland The Killers, but it does lurch dangerously close to such areas from time to time. 

best example of this sound, or if you like folly? well, the second track, i guess, My Honest Face. if one were to be kind you'd say you are hearing a young band really wanting to make something which sounds like a crowd involving anthem, rather than saying what they wanted and seeing if it turned out that way. at worst, and i fear the truth may lurk here, it sounds deliberately fabricated to be a kind of hook for a wider audience. nothing at all wrong with seeking as big an audience as possible - why do all of this, make music, if not - but i am wary of such approach. my passions in music have, more or less, always been for bands that created a sound which drew an audience, not where musicians made it to cater for one. hence the limitations on Coldplay and Ed Sheringham (or whatever) in my collection. 

like for like comparisons are something at once i wish to avoid, but often use as it is the only real way, in words here, to give a sense of what a band sounds like. and, on that note, or to this effect, the more i play the record, the more i am thinking "this is a Stereophonics album". which isn't so bad a thing to get called i suppose. but, i would fancy, they, the band, would quite like to get to a stage where people are saying it "sounds like an Inhaler album". 

it will be so that, for much of August, this album will reside near the stereo, and get played a few times here and there. after the month, and more for time rather than the month itself, my suspicion is that it won't get played all that often. but, agreeable listening for now. 

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!