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Monster Zero

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Posts posted by Monster Zero

  3. Albums 2014

    in Music Discussion

    Posted

    Turns out that some people who post on this forum "hate success". Good on him I say.

    There was a bit of a flouncy nature to his exit but he made some good points and the ensuing reaction kind of backed up his point. It would be nice if someone was to have some success without having to relocate to Southern England though....

  9. Best/worst music in Aberdeen right now

    in Feedback Forum

    Posted

    Im all for constructive criticism, just thought a bit of balance would be good and it felt like the 'worst band' side was being pushed, bit of bear baiting but lets ask for reasoning to make it feel better. This site just tends to scream cronyism and this thread I suspect reeks of it. You see someone typically slating most things posted but then praise a band atypical to their usual tastes, just smacks of 'my mate is in this band'....

    Anyway I've been woefully out of date with local music for a few years now but in an effort to participate meaningfully -

    Best

    Kitchen Cynics, due to the sheer volume of material produced, usually of pretty high quality. The music has a strangely comforting quality, I think it's Alan's gentle vocals and the local twang in the accent. The recent covers album is superb. He is always a complete gentleman who takes the time to chat if you bump into him. I truly believe that his CDRs will be keenly collected in future.

    Min Diesel, due to having great songs and a real ramshackle charm that appeals much more to my sensibilities than any polished outfit will ever do. I havent managed to see them live for some time now and believe they have slickened up a bit, hopefully not too much. I really need to get along to a gig soon.

    Seas, Starry, due in part to personal connection with the band but also I find they are evolving nicely and some of their recent stripped back gigs due to personnel unavailability have contained my favourite material.

    Deadloss Superstar, similar to Min Diesel, I enjoyed the slightly shambolic nature of their stage show, still enjoy listening to their old EPs and look forward to hearing the new stuff with Fertuiee's monstrous guitar sound on it.

    Bisongrass because they sound like old Seattle grunge mixed with Kyuss, which pushes all my buttons, the album is ace and they are fucking great live.

    Flights because its nice relaxing guitar music.

    Prelude to the Hunt, pretty slick in terms of the sound and artwork.

    Dirtdrinker, I like the records, not seen them live yet though.

    Palace of Swords, which although I was familiar with the name has been a relatively recent discovery due to mutual participation in the Laika CD but ticks a lot of boxes with influences and style which exists in my record collection.

    His Name Is Codeine are a bit further afield but are probably my favourite recent discovery at their Laika Come Home gig last year. Mary Chain mixed with Black Angels, Velvets, great look.

    I find the term 'worst' a bit extreme as its all relative to personal taste but I wasnt keen on Akord when i saw them at the Fudge Awards the other week. The music isnt really my thing and they have obvious talent but any hopes for me to enjoy it were dashed by the extreme cockiness displayed on arrival onstage and the inane gurning of the guitarist with red hair. No idea what that was about but if someone told him it was a good gimmick they were wrong, it was embarrassing to watch.

    I cant actually think of anything else I dont like, theres bands like Little Kicks who do nothing for me musically but I can acknowledge the talent, just not my cup of tea.

    I want to see Callahan soon, they sound like my kind of thing and I think I would give that Lenin Death Mask a go based on that first song they posted, it was nicely unhinged sounding, not listened to the other song they posted as yet.

    • Upvote 2

  10. Best/worst music in Aberdeen right now

    in Feedback Forum

    Posted

    Thought this was a good idea for a thread until everyone started wimping out of the bad comments. They're the only thing that stops this turning into a 'who do you like?' thread which is pretty pointless.

    The rule is, you have to say the worst along with the best. But you also have to say why.

    Feedback people, feedback.

     

    I'm also moving it to the feedback forum...

    Noone has really said anything about why they like bands either

  12. Last film you watched?

    in Movies & TV

    Posted

    The Lego Movie

    Took my son to see it at the weekend. Fucking ace.

    9/10

    Spring Breakers

    4 girls rob a cafe to get money to go on spring break, where they are arrested and bailed out by gangster James Franco, who then persuades them to join his escapades. I found this a bit muddled in tone and style, it was like a serious movie with American Pie level tits and ass footage shoehorned in every so often.

    6/10

    The Wolverine

    Wolverine in Japan, taking on yakuzas. Pretty ding really.

    5/10

    Good Vibrations

    True story of Terri Hooley who opened the titular record shop in Belfast and released The Understones 'Teenage Kicks' in amongst various shows of business ineptitude. Pretty decent film actually.

    7/10

  13. Quick Questions

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Just looking for a cheap whiskey flask for Saturday so can't really look online for one. I'm guessing likes of Debenhams and John Lewis are probably more expensive but I have no idea.

    Any of the kilt shops, MacColls usually have a range of expense levels. Ortak in Bon Accord Centre? Noticed they are on a closing down sale, may get lucky and find one there. Other than that, be out there and get a kids packed lunch water bottle with your choice of cartoon character.

  15. Russia's Gay Games?

    in Politics & Current Affairs

    Posted

    So going by my Facebook feed, a few weeks back everyone was losing their mind and calling to boycott due to Russias dodgy stance on gays and most other things, now its all 'huzzah we are winning bronze for the snowball throw'/'isnt curling great?'.

    Except Pussy Riot. They are still committed. Seem like total fannies but still.

  17. What are you currently listening to?

    in Music Discussion

    Posted

    Now that my man cave has been tidied up a bit I have been able to access my record player and listen to some records I hadn't got to for ages....

    Strange Fish box set - 5 volumes of instrumental weirdness, psychedelia, what have you. 4 volumes on vinyl (including a couple of doubles) and one on CD. Aberdeen's own Palace of Swords features on Vol. 3. Nice one. Great packaging too.

    New Goblin, 'Tour 2013 EP' - 70's prog band who did loads of soundtracks, especially for Dario Argento, have reformed and been releasing some live stuff. This is a studio reworking of 4 of their best known songs.

    John Carpenter & Alan Howarth, 'Halloween II Soundtrack' - Variations on material from the original 'Halloween' soundtrack plus new stuff.

    Pelican, 'Ephemeral' - Usual ace heavy instrumental gubbins. Post-metal, is that still a thing?

    Also been digging out some older stuff in the car -

    The Verve, 'A Storm in Heaven' - It's easy to forget that The Verve at the start had much more in common with the shoegazing scene than their later association with the Britpop world would have you believe. They had 3 great EP's and then this album, all worth revisiting IMO. Saw them supporting Ride at The Capitol when they were just Verve, they were brilliant, Mad Richard very much in evidence. Got loads of kids up on stage, security went apeshit.

    Ride, 'Nowhere' - Fucking loved Ride me, this album was on heavy rotation at all times when it came out along with the early EP's. Saw the play The Music Hall round this time, one of my favourite gigs, so good. Things started going a bit downhill for me with 'Going Blank Again', some decent songs on it but the poppier direction didn't appeal so much.

  19. Last film you watched?

    in Movies & TV

    Posted

    Filth

    James McAvoy plays Bruce Robertson, an alcoholic cop in Edinburgh fucking over his colleagues in an effort to gain a promotion while also trying to solve a murder case. Lots of shagging, drinking, drugs, swearing. I wasn't convinced when I heard McAvoy was starring in this, I imagined the character as being older after reading the book years back and despite his being a decent enough actor he didn't seem right. I was mistaken, he is awesome in this. Its a great film too.

    9/10

    • Upvote 1

  25. why do bands from Aberdeen fail ?

    in Music Discussion

    Posted

    This car crash of a thread keeps getting worse and worse. I think some of the author's posts are fueled quite heavily by alcohol, drugs, and confusion; which makes him appear highly incoherent and bitter, and renders the thread almost entirely pointless. 

     

    Aberdeen artists very rarely go on to national acclaim or "cultural significance" (what a shit term) for the same reason that bands from Leicester, Norwich, Inverness, Carlisle, Derby, Shrewsbury, Stirling, Swansea, Southampton, Portsmouth rarely do. These places do not really have a cultural infrastructure which lends itself to the performing arts. Aberdeen based artists therefore have to go out of their way to gain attention from media, gig promoters, radio show producers, press agencies, record labels, blog writers, tour booking agents, and all of the things required for a band to achieve national attention. Sure, gig promoters, radio shows, blog writers, and record labels do exist in Aberdeen, but these are all at a very localised hobby level. So if the infrastructure is at hobby level, why on earth would the actual art surpass that? It is not a myth that artists require huge assistance from other parties in order to get to a level where it becomes a full-time vocation. There are one or two small exceptions to this rule historically, but these exceptions are generally not from the UK and the people involved were usually quite extraordinary individuals. 

     

    In the central belt there is a palpabale infrastructure in terms of digital and printed media, booking agents, venues with forward-thinking in-house bookers, press agencies, music bloggers, full-time record labels (not to mention a plethora of incredible small-scale hobby labels), national radio shows, record shops, and gig promoters. None of these exponents have any need or desire to glance in the direction of Aberdeen because there is so much going on on their own doorstep; Aberdeen artists have to make their presence known in the central belt (and other musically plentiful places), and very few Aberdeen artists really make the effort to impress themselves on the central belt. A few self-organised gigs in Glasgow or Edinburgh here and there will not really suffice, but that is the extent to which most Aberdeen based artists pursue things.

     

    I think the fact that the latest piece of excitement in the Aberdeen music scene is called a "Battle of the Bands" and it is arranged by the primary local label (in terms of prolonged local reputation) sums up Aberdeen quite wonderfully. This is a label with a good local reputation, yet it has to arrange a Battle of the Bands in order to find it's next "signing". In other more musically fruitful areas, this just doesn't happen. The labels are fully aware of the bands already due to the artist's presence and also the coverage they get from the local media and press. This is not a criticism, just an observation.

     

    But I think the bottom line is, if a band's aim is to simply have fun and they acheive that, then they have definitely not failed. Regardless of how "culturally significant" or nationally-acknowledged they become during that period.

    Eloquent bastard.

    Norwich does, however, produce DJ's who are top class

    • Upvote 2
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