Sky

If nothing else, this has amused at least one person (me) between lectures. I'm pretty disappointed in Dan Atom, though. From the previous altercations, he always seemed to be the reasonable one. It seems I was wrong on this count. (I fully expect to get a hail of abuse for that last comment, but I'm not going to bother replying. Take it as a retreat if you will, but I'm bored of this now.)

I never implied that Ben should spend time making you look "bigger/better/more important" than you are: I offered the advice that slightly more time should have been taken on it, with the aim of appearing more like the adult that he frequently asserts he is, rather than some over-eager teenager. Should it not have warranted slightly more attention than "off-the-cuff"? I would have thought publicity to be deserving of slightly more attention than that. I rather fear I am in the trap of never being able to shake this whole highroller, therandomblonde and I thing. Again, for the record, I was not romantically interested in, or attracted to, therandomblonde in any way, shape or form. As I have asserted frequently, I am not interested in pursuing girls who are four years my junior, and I doubt that I will be for quite some time. (Perhaps when I'm thirty and they're twenty-six, but twenty and sixteen? No thanks.) But, that said, it's much easier to view that as my raison d'etre. I doubt you'll believe me, as, understandably, Ben's word carries more weight. If you really want to find out who I have a grudge against, and why, come speak to me some time. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. (Big clue: It isn't Ben. He doesn't appear anywhere on my grudge list, perhaps because I have no grudge against him. Another big clue: It has nothing to do with Ben's girlfriend.) As for the song, it's called "My Mind's Weapon Made Me Cry And This Is My Revenge (Especially For The Double Dots, Oh And That Girl I'm Supposed To Have Liked), Part One". It's a six-part, emo-metal-hardcore-punk symphony, with myself on vocals, tears, tantrums and wailing. I also supplied the foot stamps, fist shakes and snotty handkerchiefs. Gnashing of teeth and limp-wristed curses are to be supplied by my mother, as no-one else likes me enough to appear on my record. Or, indeed, be seen in the same hemisphere as me.

I didn't think that the interview actually had any criticism in itit was filled with "MMw rock!" platitudes' date=' and was very sympathetic towards the band. I do, however, think that Ben's tone didn't reflect particularly well on him; as [b']jester1470 said, it did seem like an attempt to look cool. Also, his punctuation, grammar and general writing style remained Wastelanded, and I think that this is a major impediment to serious credibility, as it appears very immature. It's good to see that the triple-stop phenomenon continues unabated. It amused me that he felt it necessary to mention his age twice when he could have quite happily done without mentioning it at all, and that he dismissed a (perfectly valid) question about the comparisons the band recieves to other post-hardcore bands with the reply, "I think its because we like to make a bit of effort with our clothes and hair..." It struck me as one of the more, ahem, "interesting" interpretations of the trend. Didn't you used to fight with highroller? I seem to distinctly remember incidents with you two reverting to digital fisticuffs' date=' though I'm too lazy to carry out a search for them. I don't think offering an opinion on an interview counts as "ragging" the band; I think it counts as offering some advice so that they can improve their performance next time around, whichunless I'm horribly off the beaten trackwould be most useful. You have to remember that interviews are an excellent way of presenting yourself and gaining new fans; more than one band/group/outfit/what-have-you has gained my interest through interviews. For this reason, I feel it's important to present oneself in the best possible light and answer in an intelligent, literate manner, hipness be damned. Though, having said that, this particular interview wasn't a great forum for intelligent discussion, as, whilst the interviewer's questions were perfectly adequate, they were hardly challenging or well-presented. I like your investigative style. Determined, concise and logical. The repetition of "2000" makes a repeat typo unlikely; especially when you consider that, on the numeric keypad, it's hard to aim for three and hit zero, especially twice in a row. (This is entirely discounting the row of numerals above the keyboard itself, as confusing the two characters on that really would be a work of extreme talent.)

I think that one statement from Psydoll covers the real problem with Aberdeen's music "scene" perfectlyit's diverse in a rock sense' date=' but nothing else. There are very few electronic practioners, other than a couple of bedroom artists, and I don't even think there is one hip-hop/trip-hop/house/garage act in Aberdeen. (I'm placing Starfall firmly in the "rock" categorythe genre debate can never be truly solved, but I'd classify them industrial-rock and be done with it; of course, I am aware of their use of drum machines and synthesisers, but these are, in my opinion, merely treated as backing tracks to the guitar riffs that construct the main body of the song.) I think that Stripey fires pretty true with this remarkmost of the bands in Aberdeen are rock-derived, and it's not the rock-part that bothers me, but the derivation involved. I can't, from a cold start, name a single Aberdeen act that's anything other than very obviously influenced by one band or a group of bands/genre. I think that this is rather sad. Daveofficer mentioned that he felt it was very difficult to innovate with the standard rock palette, and I half agree, half disagree with him. It is very hard to innovate with these tools, unless you have the talent and vision to look beyond your verse-chorus-verse and catchy riff and start thinking in terms other than those. Then, regardless of your limited palette, you can still innovate. As Autechre said in an interview with The Wire some time ago, if everyone in the world used only three instruments creatively, they'd learn these instruments properly, get a feel for them, and still be able to innovate, despite the commonality of said instruments. This point is largely true, but I feel that the critical phrase in that statement is "nigh on"I think that innovation is still possible, but it will be at an increasingly subtle level. It's somewhat akin to TV: the step from black and white to colour was massive; the step from analogue to digital much smaller in comparison, from the listeners point of view. It will be largely the same with musicthe innovative leaps will become ever shorter, but will still be there, just in a more subtle form. I don't think that this is the disaster it may seem, however, as those interested in innovative music will largely be discerning enough to notice the differencesin much the same way that a connosieur can tell the difference between two subtly different vintages of the same wine.

Bleedthrough is "more song-oriented [than 1999's The Fragile]," says Reznor. "It's much more lean. It's going to be twelve good punches in the faceno fillers, no instrumentals, just straight to the point." (source) Am I the only one who notices the seeming contradiction in Trent Reznor's above remark to Rolling Stone when held up against his remarks to Kerrang! in the a January, 2002 interview where he said that, "When I'm asked what do I think of a lot of the nu-metal bands that are out there, my response is that it seems really insincere to me. 'I've had a really shitty childhood and I'm really upset and I'm really ugly and I've put a lot of make-up on and I'm harder and faster and my voice sounds more like the cookie monster's than yours does'. To me it all comes across as being comical, as being a parody of itself." (source) He also said something along the lines that it's harder to create intensity through restraint, and that repeated beatings lead to numbness. Correct me if I'm wrong, but do "twelve good punches to the face" not seem unrestrained? Or am I merely picking apart what he's saying? That said, I'm eagerly anticipating Bleedthrough.

Anyone harbouring an interest in how the toys of our youth have been butchered into musical intruments would be well advised to check out the following links: Naked Intruder 8bitpeoples 9.38khz Standout examples of the genre include Naked Intruder's The Bad Method (now sadly out-of-print), as well as Nullsleep's The Gameboy Singles 2002 and Trash80's .hologram. Also, for those interested in retrofuturistic pop music, examine Ladytron's 604 and Printed Circuit's The Adventure Game and Acrobotics. Edit: Chiptune.com may also be of interest; and whilst not strictly music made with mutated toys, the net-label Observatory Online is a good place to (legally) get free electronic music. (Tree Wave's Cabana EP is especially good.)

If you're referring to Claire, then your thoughts on this matter would be wrong. She's a nice kid, but I have no interest in playing popularity games. She naturally "favoured" you over meyou were her boyfriend after all. And if you're implying what I think you are, then you're wrong again: I have no interest in her in that respect, she's too young. I don't appreciate your attempt to render my arguments invalid by trying to imply that they were motivated by personal malice and pettiness. For the record, I have no quarrel with you, andbar your incessant "DEESC" and "n00b"I happen to think that you may, actually, be an all right guy. The reason you were singled-out was because I felt that, of all the comments on this thread, your "get laid" remark was the most childish and pointless; though Jamesy's "nobody understands us" teen-goth schtick came a very close second. Comments like those really detract from any desire I may otherwise have had to go an see MMW play. I happen to be of the opinion that MMW are one of the better bands within the local "scene". But I think you guys really need to realise that, whilst you may be good, you're not God; and that your seeming arrogance and Jamesy's "nobody understands us" (subtext: we're too complex and deep for you alltoo avant-garde) elitism really make it hard to justify spending money to go see you play.

I'd say that Rob Karloff seems to be making the most sense... Out of all the (very few) people I've interacted with on this board, he seems to be one of an even smaller number that talks sense. As for MMW's promotional style, I have to agree that it really does grate; the first few times it's okay, but constant "wow, we're shit hot" posts kind of begin to make me question whether or not they're trying to cover up something. I listened to a couple of MP3s of the band, "In This Movie I Produce, I Act, I Direct" and "I Know That You Know", and whilst they may be early recordings, they weren't actually too badthey seemed pretty promising, if not particularly ground-breaking. But, taking into account their online anticsespecially posts like, "...i also couldve said New Found Power is a fucking n00b and that wouldve been better but i refrained....obviously havent got laid yet huh?? Jeez...oh well!! Im sure you'll find a life soon huh?"and I can say that I'd be pretty reluctant to go see them live. There's showmanship which is all very well, but only on-stage, carry that persona off-stage, into a medium like this where subtle nuances of communication such as body-language and tone of voice don't exist, and you risk sounding like a total prick. Do we really need the tin-pot swagger?