ULVER – WARS OF THE ROSES (9)
Music is a process of exchange and investment. Devote time to music and receive back unending reward. Musical moments can be definitive, remaining in the mind to become an emotional narrative. Hearing music that makes your heart swell and the hairs on your neck bristle give music a physical validity. These are rare and intoxicating moments, which we all should seek, because when music hits, it stays for life and is a constant, ever there to evoke memory and bring visceral pleasure. So much is temporary, music is eternal. The ultimate subjective passion.
Wars Of The Roses is the latest step in Ulvers progression. Embracing all manner of recording techniques and mediums of sound creation, Ulver proffer an album which bursts above its contemporaries with daring bravado and intriguing vision. Quite simply everything is here, electronic soundscapes haunted by minor key guitar scales, orchestral timbre and an almost ‘musique concrete approach to rhythm. Opening track Febuary MMX borders on a folk feel with its guitar arrpegios and vocals which almost hide their melodic quality, but the more this track is listened to, the more ingrained the melody becomes. Knowing that the more you listen, the more it will give back is very comforting. Tracks ‘England’ and outro piece ‘Stone Angels’ summarising the eclectic mix of source material. The latter stands as one of the most interesting melting pots of sound manipulation you’ll hear this side of John Cage and its simply outstanding song craft. Ulver could so easily slip into pretension, but on Stone Angels they never overstate their abilities, a touch here, a touch there, it’s ultimately considered and a consummate end piece. Wars Of The Roses is so interesting, so beautiful, that come the end, and you’ll thank the gods for music being a constant, because this album will be played again and again.
Ulver are one of those bands which transcend the pathetic borders of genre, which is a tool for those who need categorisation and order. You cannot find anything tangible with Ulver to dissect how they do what they do. You simply have to allow it. Turn off your phone, turn off your inner monologue and see where Ulver take you.
Sunday 21 August 2011
United States Christmas
USX-THE VALLEY PATH (8.5)
Neurot Recordings
So we come to the allure of the concept album. Trepan the skull of any Johnny Two-Shoes musician and you’ll find it. Most musicians harbour lofty aspiration in conceptual music making, though most never make their hopes a reality and simply leave it to fester. Reneging on every self-promise till its very notion causes a self-deprecating shudder at your own ineptitude a concept album does not make. So it’s not oft you find a band that share their respective vision to make theirs a reality. U.S Christmas certainly have some conceptual vision, but a wild dash of temerity to usher in the titular song ‘The Valley Path` as a single track, clocking you out of your shift 38.53 minutes later…
All pretence aside though, USX have indulged their minds desire and in an act of unashamed benevolence, laid out a kingdom of riches for the humble traveller. Firstly, the dynamic here is judged impeccably, the album has an arduous atmosphere that’s as heavy as rogue plutonium, yet the occasional intermezzos carve out perilous crevasses in which to take refuge from the chaos. The contrast is wondrous, unembellished and frighteningly delicate. It’s this dynamic that strikes deepest, but every facet is strength here. The musical factions are so dauntingly heavy, that even when they’re not being demonstrably so, you’ll wish to take a hammer to your head in confusion. Consider the earnest tone of the vocals, the utter yearning in the words and you are yourself made anew…and therein lays the beauty of the concept album - the wresting of control from the listener.
Much is bandied about concerning the Neurisis sound, for better or worse. However, to listen to the naysayers would be to do yourself a disservice and place a barrier where one shouldn’t be, because an epic marvel such as The Valley Path may just pass you by.
Reviewed by Sam Thor Rhodes
Neurot Recordings
So we come to the allure of the concept album. Trepan the skull of any Johnny Two-Shoes musician and you’ll find it. Most musicians harbour lofty aspiration in conceptual music making, though most never make their hopes a reality and simply leave it to fester. Reneging on every self-promise till its very notion causes a self-deprecating shudder at your own ineptitude a concept album does not make. So it’s not oft you find a band that share their respective vision to make theirs a reality. U.S Christmas certainly have some conceptual vision, but a wild dash of temerity to usher in the titular song ‘The Valley Path` as a single track, clocking you out of your shift 38.53 minutes later…
All pretence aside though, USX have indulged their minds desire and in an act of unashamed benevolence, laid out a kingdom of riches for the humble traveller. Firstly, the dynamic here is judged impeccably, the album has an arduous atmosphere that’s as heavy as rogue plutonium, yet the occasional intermezzos carve out perilous crevasses in which to take refuge from the chaos. The contrast is wondrous, unembellished and frighteningly delicate. It’s this dynamic that strikes deepest, but every facet is strength here. The musical factions are so dauntingly heavy, that even when they’re not being demonstrably so, you’ll wish to take a hammer to your head in confusion. Consider the earnest tone of the vocals, the utter yearning in the words and you are yourself made anew…and therein lays the beauty of the concept album - the wresting of control from the listener.
Much is bandied about concerning the Neurisis sound, for better or worse. However, to listen to the naysayers would be to do yourself a disservice and place a barrier where one shouldn’t be, because an epic marvel such as The Valley Path may just pass you by.
Reviewed by Sam Thor Rhodes
Septic Flesh “A Proclamation of Esotericism: The Teachings Of The Great Mass”
Do we ever truly consider the grandiose? Who amongst you allows the mind to consider its position, relative to all about us, to all that affects us and by connection, all we in turn affect. Every action and reaction, cause and effect, however fleeting in our lives is perpetually affected by three things. Firstly would come the constants, the laws of physics, constants used as a yardstick to explore the most expansive of subjects. Secondly, that which is cyclic in nature. Tides rise and ebb, our planetary orbs rotate with a calming accuracy, immutable matter comes together to create something much greater than the sum of its parts-life, only to eventually destroy this greater part and return once again to these elemental building blocks and so repeat the process. In fact, it is claimed that every human has some atoms that were once Elvis’s, which is a troubling thought, but leads to the third and final parameter, which in consideration against the whole scope of the aforementioned, seemingly miniscule, but dependent on your viewpoint, possibly the most pertinent which is our rash, indifferent and seldom considered decisions.
This may all seem a little too much metaphysical furore and not very much music. But music is inherently elemental. Music is waves, vibrations, oscillations combined with endless possibilities. Only our constricted minds place boundaries on such things, because we do not consider the grandiose. A concert pitch note of A vibrates at 440Hz, that’s 440 times every second. Electricity to your house resonates at a mere 50 Hz. Step it up a notch and you reach the area of visible light and cosmic rays, which illuminate and penetrate your body every single moment millions of times a day, vibrating at millions of times a second, travelling at over 2.998.10 to the power of 8m/s. Start thinking about your place in the world, take into account everything about you and soon you realize you are nothing. Come to this, you can start to be something.
Septic Flesh, purveyors of the most extraordinary music approach, have been something for some time. A career stepping over twenty plus years, give or take a hiatus, have managed to consistently extract the beauty from chaos time and time again. The musical progression of the band seems all too natural, not a human one, but one drawn from nature. A slow, considered evolution, a truly revelatory journey. Travelling through their back catalogue is a must for fans of music from all corners, because you can chart this evolution so succinctly. They have something to say in the current culmination of their music ‘The Great Mass’ and it is grandiose in breadth. You don’t listen; you experience this, given to simply meditate on everything that affects you. Brutality churned with sweeping rushes of orchestral majesty, percussive diligence marred with string attack and all peppered with the musings of Septic Flesh. Intrigued beyond words and shocked at how they have managed to become even more epic, Soundshock is hell-bent on finding out more with that most Ancient Greek of methods, simple dialogue…it has to be known…”Just what is the inspiration for this work?”
Sotiris Anunnaki V: Esotericism was always the primary source of our inspiration. Eso in the Greek language has the meaning of “the inner things”. There is a dynamic and chaotic interaction of the inner worlds of all the members of SEPTICFLESH that produces this result. All of us contribute compositions and provide a point of view and something characteristic and essential. The result this time is grandiose in a dark and epic level. I think that the title of the album is very indicating
This statement is perfectly summary of what’s on offer with ‘The Great Mass.’ That mixture of spiritual meanderings and thoughts on our relevance. But this album didn’t just occur, the band have tweaked and crafted endlessly and on listening to this album and comparing it with Communion, the follow on is evidential of musical maturity, but the difference between them seems to be an evolutionary change rather than revolutionary change. We asked “Apart from the obvious touring cycle from Communion, It would seem that there aren’t any major differences for you as a band between the two albums? Is there a thematic follow on with The Great Mass?”
Christos Antoniou: I believe that is our best and most mature work. I know it sounds cliché but it has all the elements from all our albums. We worked months after months and our biggest “weapon” the orchestra its use is unconventional that gives a new breath in Symphonic Metal not only to album. Communion led the path for The Great Mass. We are in our best shape and moment and I am very optimistic regarding our future. On thematic structure the new album like communion deals with different subjects from sacred symbolism, hidden meanings, personal experiences of Sotiris who is responsible for all SEPTICFLESH lyrics.
A first time listener to Septic Flesh would be entranced by its dynamic, the blend between what would usually remain a tight knit death metal troupe, but flanked by what seems to be the most Wagnerian of orchestras and this dynamic is sublime. Each on their own would feel out of place, but together, they’re so complimentary it begs a question of whether either existed before the other. “A slightly more obvious question would be to enquire into the orchestral arrangements. So what is the process for sourcing the orchestra, it’s not something that happens too often?”
Christos Antoniou: I studied Classical Music in London. As I am familiar working with orchestras we don’t have to give our “themes” to orchestrators. This plays important role in the whole symphonic creation. We built the majority of our music on that and I know exactly how will sound, this solves many issues and we have unlimited options to experiment.
“How do you set about creating such a large sounding album, it has so many facets/parts to it that it appears to the listener be a daunting task. Is there a writing process you stick to each time?”
Sotiris Anunnaki V: Each member composes music and then we reach to a point that all of us decide about which ideas will form the foundation stone of an album. Then we focus on that direction through a long creational process. Various ideas are combined and a lot of experimentation takes place. When we feel that the songs are ready, then we enter studio for the recordings. So during the actual recordings we rather focus on the performance factor and are not trying to compose songs. It is necessary to be well prepared on the field of composition, as there are so many elements on our music. Especially the symphonic parts cannot be left for the last moment. Fortunately the driving force behind the symphonic parts is a member of the band (Christos Antoniou) and we don’t have to depend on someone else for the arrangements. And he has collaborated enough times with the Philharmonic orchestra and choir of Prague, to obtain the result we demand and within a logical period of time.
When taking into consideration the implementation of the orchestra into the album and the vision of Septic Flesh, the listener will in time come to consider just how does the relationship between the two camps work? You would be forgiven for thinking that the two have very little in common, but there are some that consider metal, or at the least certain elements of it to be a natural progression of classical music. Certainly the scale of Emperor strike at this and on a more precise scale, the perception of Metals musicality has much in common with classical music, striking bass, movements combined with narrative of the human condition. Yet it is Septic flesh who appear to have most taken to the association, employing the combination to colour their music in a musical form that is so starkly different and yet so richly complimentary. We asked them to elaborate on this. “The two seem so symbiotic, that neither was meant to be without the other. Do you get a chance to compose your parts with the orchestra at the same time, or does the two have to remain separate?”
Christos Antoniou: I composed the majority of the orchestral themes and then the other members added their parts on top of the orchestra. As you can see the orchestra is our main base and plays a vital role in our composition. It is the first time that we worked like that on Communion I have orchestrated and composed the orchestra after the metal part.
“Just how involved is the band as a whole with writing the orchestral parts? Do you bring in any particular conductors/have any particular requests from the musicians?”
Christos Antoniou: No we don’t need them at all, I write on scores with as much information as I can in order for the musicians to have a clear picture of what I want in our music. I will have also exchanged some emails before our recording sessions in Prague with the conductor to see if everything is fine. Obviously, it has to be clear otherwise we will lose so much time that might end ruin the session and the project. I am responsible for the orchestral arrangements, the other band members have to add their “metal” colour and then as a team we will decide what is best for the band.
“Is there any particular tech items or instrumentation that you feel is integral to the band’s sound?”
Christos Antoniou: I would say the full Orchestra and Choir; I can’t say any specific instrument or family. It is so unique and rich, the sound of an orchestra, that everything next to it would have a disadvantage. Of course some ethnic instruments that we used for the Oceans of Grey and The Vampire from Nazareth although added, I can’t say that they are irreplaceable.
It’s at this point that some people will be led to ask the question and it begs to be asked, with the orchestration being so important to Septic Flesh, how is the sound of an orchestra a hundred strong taken on the road? Whilst it is not impossible, MONO, the troubadours of delicate post-rock from Japan now gearing up for an important performance with a full orchestration at the Koko in London soon, will Septic Flesh be able to perform a similar venture. It doesn’t take much thought to imagine the logistics would make this an impossibility. “How do you intend to implement the full sound of the albums live? Are there plans to do a performance of The Great Mass with full orchestration, or any chance of perhaps getting a smaller outfit to take out on the road?”
Christos Antoniou: It is impossible to have an Orchestra on stage for obvious reasons. Firstly it will cost a fortune and secondly are too many musicians involved for this sound. There is an offer to perform with an orchestra on stage in Athens but this will be for special occasion and will need a lot of effort from all of us. On our shows we will have the orchestra via laptop, is the best we can do as if we had to hire a keyboard player the result would be very poor.
It’s at this point that something has to be expressed, something which some will find contradictory to their preciously held beliefs, that electronic music, music composed through digital means holds no merit. Whilst this is no time to elaborate on the discipline and patience required to become proficient when composing through digital means, to be proficient in the organic process and yet be able to transfer this ability to extoll your vision through manipulating methods of sample and synthesis, is something involving true mastery of the musical arts. Some people would call using a laptop for orchestration ‘cheating’…or merely a sideline gimmick, there merely to have continuity from album to show. These people are purely, purely ignorant. The line between musical forms is ever blurring and to turn away from this is to deny the full world of music. With this said, an obvious follow on is to the production and technical side of Septic Flesh to explore…
“Are there any engineers or producers you particularly wish to work with in the future?”
Sotiris Anunnaki V: So far, we have managed to work with two of the most talented producers in the business, Fredric Nordstrom and now Peter Tagtgren. As the result of The Great Mass is still fresh on my mind and I am extremely pleased from the production Peter created, I cannot think about working with another producer for the near future.
“Who in your mind would you say is firmly pushing the boundaries of music at this time? Are there artists that you admire/would like to tour with?”
Sotiris Anunnaki V: Some bands that have made quite an impression to me for the fact that they are pushing the limits of extreme music are Opeth, Dodheimsgard, Mastodon, Deathspell Omega. Considering a tour, there are so many old and new bands that we admire and we didn’t have the chance to play together. Morbid Angel is one of the names that come in my mind, as they were always among my favorite Death Metal bands and they will release soon a new album.
“What could you say is the ethos of Septic flesh? What would you like to see the band achieve?”
Sotiris Anunnaki V: Our aim is to make music that will stand the trial of time. A unique place, for the mental and emotional forces, a “place” for the restless souls. Also it is more important to us to belong among the pioneers of extreme music, than to be among the top selling bands of today and then disappear.
“Thank you, for taking the time to answer these questions.”
Christos Antoniou: We thank you for the interview and your support.
Hopefully from this feature, you might take a chance and investigate Septic Flesh, hopefully, you may consider your life in more depth, perhaps something beyond your own life and look out and consider the grandiose, the epic, because it’s there and there for everyone to partake in. Find your white whale and don’t stop until you have it. Life is full of moments that bring such abhorrent terror, but interest, majesty and perfect beauty lie all around. Septic Flesh with ‘The Great Mass’ provide a way of discovering this insight into that which is chaotic and beautiful. We at Soundshock sincerely wish them all the best and look on to that performance in Athens with the full orchestra with furious envy.
The Great Mass is out now on Season Of Mist.
Interview written and conducted by Sam Rhodes for Soundshock.com.
My favourites, the two I love to make noise, tis Anaal Nathrakh
ANAAL NATHRAKH-PASSION (9)
Candlelight Records
There’s a wry sense of contentment that enters the mind when it’s known Anaal Nathrakh are releasing a new album. Their music stands as an allegory to the rise of the Industrial Age, born in the Ironbridge Gorge mere miles from where this terror-struck duo had their formative years. To this day, that industrial legacy has left a strong and sometime bitter impression upon the landscape and its inhabitants. Midlanders are often harangued by the rest of the country for their linguistic tone and inexcusably ignored in their contribution to cultural history, which cannot ever be justified, but leaves little wonder as to how the area gave birth to Metal and its bastardised progeny Anaal Nathrakh, back with new release ‘Passion.’
Close your eyes and relish the terror-vomit polluting your ears. As the introductory moments of ‘Volenti Non Fit Iniuria` impress on you, erupting into V.I.T.R.I.O.L’s abominable hatespeak, watch for the perceptible shuffle as you realise you’re feeling a little sick in your own skin. Merely two songs later track ‘Post Traumatic Stress Euphoria` will deliver you into your very own, richly deserved bath of brimstone. The incredible production talent of Kenney ever furthers the illustrative sonic nature of Anaal Nathrakh, here outlying his intent to guarantee they are, in perpetua, the most horrifyingly heavy prospects of sound in musical history. Their incremental aesthetic and structural changes take them ever further from their purist Black Metal roots of ‘Codex Necro’ towards their unknowable aim. Critique based upon past works is anathema, but there exists no yardstick to judge A.N with but themselves, so on that, this exists as their most balanced work…albeit a balance of pure, unadulterated hatefuck. It could just be that ‘Passion’, an aural cacophony of bile soaked spite is truly the elixir of heavy. It surely has intent to destroy you. The sky burns, the sky has indeed been set aflame.
Reviewed by Sam Thor Rhodes
Candlelight Records
There’s a wry sense of contentment that enters the mind when it’s known Anaal Nathrakh are releasing a new album. Their music stands as an allegory to the rise of the Industrial Age, born in the Ironbridge Gorge mere miles from where this terror-struck duo had their formative years. To this day, that industrial legacy has left a strong and sometime bitter impression upon the landscape and its inhabitants. Midlanders are often harangued by the rest of the country for their linguistic tone and inexcusably ignored in their contribution to cultural history, which cannot ever be justified, but leaves little wonder as to how the area gave birth to Metal and its bastardised progeny Anaal Nathrakh, back with new release ‘Passion.’
Close your eyes and relish the terror-vomit polluting your ears. As the introductory moments of ‘Volenti Non Fit Iniuria` impress on you, erupting into V.I.T.R.I.O.L’s abominable hatespeak, watch for the perceptible shuffle as you realise you’re feeling a little sick in your own skin. Merely two songs later track ‘Post Traumatic Stress Euphoria` will deliver you into your very own, richly deserved bath of brimstone. The incredible production talent of Kenney ever furthers the illustrative sonic nature of Anaal Nathrakh, here outlying his intent to guarantee they are, in perpetua, the most horrifyingly heavy prospects of sound in musical history. Their incremental aesthetic and structural changes take them ever further from their purist Black Metal roots of ‘Codex Necro’ towards their unknowable aim. Critique based upon past works is anathema, but there exists no yardstick to judge A.N with but themselves, so on that, this exists as their most balanced work…albeit a balance of pure, unadulterated hatefuck. It could just be that ‘Passion’, an aural cacophony of bile soaked spite is truly the elixir of heavy. It surely has intent to destroy you. The sky burns, the sky has indeed been set aflame.
Reviewed by Sam Thor Rhodes
Belong: Shimmering beauty in a cup, goes with the photo I took I guess
Belong-Common Era (8)
Belong, an eclectic duo of sound abusers comprised of Turk Dietrich and Michael Jones, have been creating soundscapes for a steady eight years now, producing high fidelity experiences with abstract sound and experimental concepts in sound design, winning them plaudits and devotees alike. In a nod to the absolute majesty of the artist Christian Fennez, Belong source sounds from a six string, whilst bolstering their palette with real world samples, all manipulated with their mastery of the digital sound design process.
Common Era is the first offering for five years from Belong, which for any person whose preferred bands aren’t entirely prolific in their output, this can be frustrating. This considered however, it tends to be this refusal to pepper the annals of music with continual albums can often be a band that doesn’t provide quality. It’s not always the case, just often the case. In this situation though, the wait has been painful, but the payoff so much sweeter. Absence really makes the heart grow fonder
Here is an album dripping in sound. The haunting vocal lines, slightly flattened and residing in a minor key are a welcome addition into a musical subset that usually rejects or buries vocals to the back and bottom of the mix, but here they’re given due position. There is a common held fallacy that digital music isn’t real, that the artists don’t actually play anything. It’s an immature notion espoused by those with a tenuous grip on what constitutes aptitude for music. Belong possess a mastery of a guitar envied by all that ‘know’ what they are doing and push the boundaries of just what can be wrought from the instrument.
For those looking to spread their wings a little, Common Era will not change your world, but it’ll go a long way in educating it.
Belong, an eclectic duo of sound abusers comprised of Turk Dietrich and Michael Jones, have been creating soundscapes for a steady eight years now, producing high fidelity experiences with abstract sound and experimental concepts in sound design, winning them plaudits and devotees alike. In a nod to the absolute majesty of the artist Christian Fennez, Belong source sounds from a six string, whilst bolstering their palette with real world samples, all manipulated with their mastery of the digital sound design process.
Common Era is the first offering for five years from Belong, which for any person whose preferred bands aren’t entirely prolific in their output, this can be frustrating. This considered however, it tends to be this refusal to pepper the annals of music with continual albums can often be a band that doesn’t provide quality. It’s not always the case, just often the case. In this situation though, the wait has been painful, but the payoff so much sweeter. Absence really makes the heart grow fonder
Here is an album dripping in sound. The haunting vocal lines, slightly flattened and residing in a minor key are a welcome addition into a musical subset that usually rejects or buries vocals to the back and bottom of the mix, but here they’re given due position. There is a common held fallacy that digital music isn’t real, that the artists don’t actually play anything. It’s an immature notion espoused by those with a tenuous grip on what constitutes aptitude for music. Belong possess a mastery of a guitar envied by all that ‘know’ what they are doing and push the boundaries of just what can be wrought from the instrument.
For those looking to spread their wings a little, Common Era will not change your world, but it’ll go a long way in educating it.
Across Tundras
ACROSS TUNDRAS-SAGE (8.5)
NEUROT RECORDINGS
Well this is a many headed beast. Ancient Greeks called it the Hydra, a mythical creature that sprung two new heads for every one severed, impossible to destroy, until Hercules put paid to its immortality. Today though, our Hydra is Across Tundras and welcome are their many elements. In lieu of venomous heads we have thoughtful minds melded, all creating mindful songs, each harbouring veritable qualities expounding on a modern mythology.
Sage opens with ‘In Name Of River Grand` and it strikes a delectable balance. Part American Folk fighting with arpeggios reminiscent of a mid-tempo Mastodon, it’s a sound that brings the listener face to face with the raw beauty of the Old West. Drawing upon the well of America’s frontier folklore, to find the musical and lyrical facets to accompany their vision is an accomplished talent. Sage is nine months pregnant with psychedelic groove, fattened on the violence of Indian war drums and has grown to be damn heavy, but in a perceived emotional sense, rather than an obvious, visceral manner and as a unit, they never overbear with technicality to steal your attention. It’s this understated power that gives Sage an innate ability to inundate the imagination. So much so that album closer ‘Shunka Sapa, ` an instrumental piece, has an unmistakeable intent, even without the lyrics as a guide. In this case, it’s not what they say; it’s what they don’t say that does the trick.
Psychedelic music is very much in vogue right now and this is a wholly unique album in a well-trodden area. Eschewing the usual “swamp sound” associated with the aforementioned style, they have created an expansive album. It propels your mind to thoughts of dry arid deserts, flanked by stark, oppressive mountains and put simply; it’s the ultimate in panoramic vistas. Across Tundras…very apt, very apt indeed.
Reviewed by Sam Thor Rhodes
NEUROT RECORDINGS
Well this is a many headed beast. Ancient Greeks called it the Hydra, a mythical creature that sprung two new heads for every one severed, impossible to destroy, until Hercules put paid to its immortality. Today though, our Hydra is Across Tundras and welcome are their many elements. In lieu of venomous heads we have thoughtful minds melded, all creating mindful songs, each harbouring veritable qualities expounding on a modern mythology.
Sage opens with ‘In Name Of River Grand` and it strikes a delectable balance. Part American Folk fighting with arpeggios reminiscent of a mid-tempo Mastodon, it’s a sound that brings the listener face to face with the raw beauty of the Old West. Drawing upon the well of America’s frontier folklore, to find the musical and lyrical facets to accompany their vision is an accomplished talent. Sage is nine months pregnant with psychedelic groove, fattened on the violence of Indian war drums and has grown to be damn heavy, but in a perceived emotional sense, rather than an obvious, visceral manner and as a unit, they never overbear with technicality to steal your attention. It’s this understated power that gives Sage an innate ability to inundate the imagination. So much so that album closer ‘Shunka Sapa, ` an instrumental piece, has an unmistakeable intent, even without the lyrics as a guide. In this case, it’s not what they say; it’s what they don’t say that does the trick.
Psychedelic music is very much in vogue right now and this is a wholly unique album in a well-trodden area. Eschewing the usual “swamp sound” associated with the aforementioned style, they have created an expansive album. It propels your mind to thoughts of dry arid deserts, flanked by stark, oppressive mountains and put simply; it’s the ultimate in panoramic vistas. Across Tundras…very apt, very apt indeed.
Reviewed by Sam Thor Rhodes
Thursday 21 July 2011
Tuesday 15 March 2011
Tim Hecker and Mogwai Reviews
Tim Hecker-Ravedeath, 1972 (9.5)
A preconceived idea is a dangerous thing. To formulate barriers, to decide a deriding opinion before the fact, it is pure idiocy, tantamount to cultural lobotomy. It’s something that as a human race, we should strive to eradicate…but to pronounce judgement as judge and juror without first hearing the case is an all too human error.
It’s an inherent problem within music that an aficionado attached to a particular clique, a scene queen if you will, is set to pre-emptively strike down the notion that there is quality outside of their precious favoured genre. They must remain seen to be scene, to be seen as right. These people are dullards, vacuous slugs feasting on mediocrity and banality.
To purge yourself of this affliction, of which you will be blissfully unaware, is not a difficult process. Firstly, ask yourself truthfully if you have ever rejected a piece of music before hearing it, based on a pre-conceived idea that it is without merit. If so, then you must stop. You’re cutting yourself off from a wealth of music based on a preconceived notion that is devoid of fact. Renege this and embrace music for music’s sake. Begin here, with Tim Hecker. Begin with Ravedeath, 1972.
Using sound artefacts simply sourced from a pipe organ, situated within a haunting reverberant church space in Reykjavik, Hecker uses his tools to sculpt and layer these auditory moments to revelatory effect. Bass veritably groans from the titan’s mouth, sparkling shards ring through the air, offering something close to synaesthesia. Sounds are as snowflakes, no two the same. What you previously thought sonically possible is shattered. You realise your previous folly and step through the looking glass. You will follow this into the maelstrom and to perditions end.
Ravedeath, 1972 is out now on Kranky
Reviewed by Sam Thor Rhodes
Mogwai-Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
When trying to illustrate the notion of the cult band, it’s not a ridiculous leap of intelligence to use Mogwai as an example. The Scottish outfit have operated mainly undetected from the radar of the mainstream, sporadically garnering praise, never having enough to bathe in the spotlight. They continually deliver albums without fanfare or proffering garish marketing trickery. Even without the need to use and abuse the media to promote their albums, their output is still seized upon by fans like ravenous canines. Small press, big impact - its cult defined - ‘Facta, non verba.’
Over their noted career, they’ve worked hard to push their collective nous into creating a landscape of sound, a terra firma representation of day to day life, its peaks and troughs, the swallowing holes of sadness, the mountainous elation of being truly happy. It may seem that a review of their music always relies on superlatives drawing on the epic, as if it’s something otherworldly. This couldn’t be further from the truth. This isn’t otherworldly; it’s wholly placed in the now, as blue collar as it comes. It’s just people forget to realise that their days are filled with something epic, the body regenerates, the sun rises and falls, the long odds of life just existing continue for another day.
Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, a title that captures the album in perfection. The album is a juxtaposition, something eternal against something temporary, an eternal force bolstering a dissipating force…this is your world at its most dynamic and vibrant. It’s Mogwai’s year, but when isn’t it?
9/10. You’ll like this if you miss Slint, got excited over My Bloody Valentine reforming and basically have ears.
Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will is out now on Rock Action Records.
Reviewed by Sam Rhodes.
A preconceived idea is a dangerous thing. To formulate barriers, to decide a deriding opinion before the fact, it is pure idiocy, tantamount to cultural lobotomy. It’s something that as a human race, we should strive to eradicate…but to pronounce judgement as judge and juror without first hearing the case is an all too human error.
It’s an inherent problem within music that an aficionado attached to a particular clique, a scene queen if you will, is set to pre-emptively strike down the notion that there is quality outside of their precious favoured genre. They must remain seen to be scene, to be seen as right. These people are dullards, vacuous slugs feasting on mediocrity and banality.
To purge yourself of this affliction, of which you will be blissfully unaware, is not a difficult process. Firstly, ask yourself truthfully if you have ever rejected a piece of music before hearing it, based on a pre-conceived idea that it is without merit. If so, then you must stop. You’re cutting yourself off from a wealth of music based on a preconceived notion that is devoid of fact. Renege this and embrace music for music’s sake. Begin here, with Tim Hecker. Begin with Ravedeath, 1972.
Using sound artefacts simply sourced from a pipe organ, situated within a haunting reverberant church space in Reykjavik, Hecker uses his tools to sculpt and layer these auditory moments to revelatory effect. Bass veritably groans from the titan’s mouth, sparkling shards ring through the air, offering something close to synaesthesia. Sounds are as snowflakes, no two the same. What you previously thought sonically possible is shattered. You realise your previous folly and step through the looking glass. You will follow this into the maelstrom and to perditions end.
Ravedeath, 1972 is out now on Kranky
Reviewed by Sam Thor Rhodes
Mogwai-Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will
When trying to illustrate the notion of the cult band, it’s not a ridiculous leap of intelligence to use Mogwai as an example. The Scottish outfit have operated mainly undetected from the radar of the mainstream, sporadically garnering praise, never having enough to bathe in the spotlight. They continually deliver albums without fanfare or proffering garish marketing trickery. Even without the need to use and abuse the media to promote their albums, their output is still seized upon by fans like ravenous canines. Small press, big impact - its cult defined - ‘Facta, non verba.’
Over their noted career, they’ve worked hard to push their collective nous into creating a landscape of sound, a terra firma representation of day to day life, its peaks and troughs, the swallowing holes of sadness, the mountainous elation of being truly happy. It may seem that a review of their music always relies on superlatives drawing on the epic, as if it’s something otherworldly. This couldn’t be further from the truth. This isn’t otherworldly; it’s wholly placed in the now, as blue collar as it comes. It’s just people forget to realise that their days are filled with something epic, the body regenerates, the sun rises and falls, the long odds of life just existing continue for another day.
Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will, a title that captures the album in perfection. The album is a juxtaposition, something eternal against something temporary, an eternal force bolstering a dissipating force…this is your world at its most dynamic and vibrant. It’s Mogwai’s year, but when isn’t it?
9/10. You’ll like this if you miss Slint, got excited over My Bloody Valentine reforming and basically have ears.
Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will is out now on Rock Action Records.
Reviewed by Sam Rhodes.
Tuesday 8 March 2011
I was with the band
Excellent blog started up by the name of "I was with the band" with a few interesting insights and thoughts on dealing with the old music biz!! Check it out. http://iwaswiththeband.blogspot.com/
Thursday 3 March 2011
My retort to dom lawsons post
What a poorly constructed argument, avoiding the true gripe people are taking with Download. People are upset because they want to go to Download. The place has heritage and the festival has time and time again proved to be a great weekend, something that Sonisphere will develop for themselves in time. But the fact remains people are so mad because the lineup is bad. There's no two ways about it. It has a chance to reprieve itself, every year there's probably only ten bands I really would tear my tongue off to see, the rest my tongue gets used to hurl abuse about the crap band playing at whoever is too drunk to walk away from me to avoid. People who have been faithful to download for many years feel cheated, feel that the premier rock festival is sliding down a slippery slope toward base and banal acts, novelty metal, idiotic beer metal without reproof or reputation. Sonisphere is the choice of two lesser evils. There's crap at S'phere too, but it comes with less of a feeling that the lineup is ignoring music from all corners. Download only recently redressed the balance by additions such as Down, Suicide Silence and so on. The initial announcements were wholly poor. Crap like Alter Bridge, Pendulum, Bullet for my Valentine and Disturbed only serve to hint at where Download is heading if it's not careful. For years it's taken a few chances, given headline spots to great original acts like Meshuggah and The Dillinger Escape Plan, who are daring, push what is possible within metal and provide metal with the rare moments where metal can stand tall and proud and say "this is what can be achieved" but sadly, this year, it's merely bands who further promote metal in a bad light, as uninspired, worthless tripe that doesn't deserve a wider audience. That's not even to mention the fact that the lineup even pretends to have any balance. There's usually something for everyone, interspersed with crap. This year, there's everything for nobody. It's all filler bands. They're everywhere. Where's the black metal, the prog metal, the post-metal, the death metal, the epic metal, the metal that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It's nowhere. If the lineup can be classified in any context, it's that this is the year of the safe choice. Nobody is going to be disappointed watching a repeat headliner, that's not the issue. It's that there's so much music out there and yet again, it's being ignored. Lamb of God gave Download one if the best festival performances ever in '07, but they're not headlining. But I guarantee if they were, the complaints would be wiped out. If Machine Head were headlining, the complaints would be wiped out. You see the difference. Download has moved from being a festival with teeth to a festival that gums you more pathetically than a toddler. Sonisphere isn't an amazing lineup, it's just better than Downloads. Simple as that. This writer cannot sit there and rant about the moaners. This moaning is their right and I for one am glad to see it. Metal is much maligned and it's down to the fans to vote with their feet and demand with their mouths what they want and they sure know what they want. It's not to be found at Download this year and it's upset people, so by Christ they should complain, because it's uually the highlight of the musical year (after ATP) but they've been denied the obligatory visit by a wall of crap.
You cannot sit there as one man and a pen and write off the opinions of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands by saying "shut up"...they call that facism and if taken to it's logical conclusion, the writer setting out his stall as he has only serves to single himself out as a mouthpiece for the Free State of Downloadians. People are generally idiots, singuarly, almost invariably so. But hundreds of thousands, all speaking as one, smacks of revolution. That many people cannot be wrong. Not in this context. The arguments may be ill formed, the prose vitriolic, but its sentiments true. Download, at this exact moment, really does suck.
There's what, sixty slots yet left to fill? Each of these choices could be inspired. Certainly, the last few additions have been a step in the right direction and if the remaining bands selected are perfissimo, then the abuse will be reined in and accusations retracted.
As to the people who agreed with the MH writer and stated "now look at the whingers proving him right"...just take a moment and think, because you sound like a cunt saying that (note how I don't have to resort to crass pejorative every sentence to illustrate my point, just selecting a choice cut when necessary) and nobody likes that sort of attitude. It's schoolyard, akin to sibling rivalrylike behaviour and beneath you, unless you're ten. Or have a similar mental age. When was the last time you watched someone get told off and you retort "told you you shouldn't have done that" or someone gets caught misbehaving and you add to their misery by letting loose something else they've done wrong. You understand now.
I know why you've referenced this post Download-when you've made so many enemies, you need all the friends you can get. When you resort to calling on such a weak excuse of a rant to try and muster support, you really are struggling. Don't try and defend yourselves, you must know you're in the wrong, surely? Make it right. Please. Because I like Download as a festival. But the rot started creeping in several years ago-tread carefully, you may have to be cropped at the base.
And my follow on to this
I wrote a delightfully raucous follow on to my earlier post, but unfortunately, my giant Yorkshire mittens brushed over the mouse-pad and took it from the page...darn and pifflesticks.
I do actually write for a music site and it grates me that i spend my time attempting to produce intelligent, balanced and astute reviews and features and considered opinions and that offerings such as this from Metal Hammer are splashed around and given premier exposure is a point of contention-not something I can rationalise or accept without a distasteful lump rising in my throat. Lawson is not a poor writer, he's just used his pen to give this issue an unpalatable veneer.
In a nutshell, here is what I can extrapolate from all the negativity about Download this year, or to be more precise, its line-up.
Download and Donington have a very enviable mythos, a seasoned heritage carefully developed over the years. If there's any place in the world that can truly claim to be the 'home' of , it's Donington and in furtherance of this fact, Download took this nut and for many years spent quality time nurturing and encouraging this idea of Donington and it grew into a multi-faced monolith.
The excitement and anticipation of Download begins the moment you leave it. You walk out after several days of brilliance, irrespective of the line-up or weather or any other element you care to name and you immediately begin to think, "Will next year be this good?"
Download isn't just the music, its the occasion, the banter, the camaraderie. People buy into this just as much as the music and as such, many purchase tickets pre-announcements because they can rely on sound judgement in selecting artists, knowing the 'festival vibe' is perennially there. You cant just say that if you don't like it, go elsewhere. people don't want elsewhere. they want Donington and they want Download, because it's proved to be the best thing to them so often. A line-up cant please everyone, it just cant. This said, it can please a lot of people and this year that fact is not in the ascendency. People are upset because they're not just faced with a poor line-up, but their premier musical event has been stolen from them. The music of the festival and the enjoyment of the festival is a symbiotic process. You need one for the other.
However, this year, the line-up stinks. It cant be all things to all men and the line-up never has been, but this year, it feels like something has been stolen from you. People want to come to Download because they feel that Download is their event, their festival and when you're there, its there just for you. This year, it feels its there just for one person. The line-up stinks. It does, its entirely unavoidable. the fact is the response has been overwhelmingly negative and its peoples right to complain as loudly as possible, so that lessons are learnt, people feel placated on a personal level and thus problem is not repeated. One needs to feel they have vented their fury because they feel personally slighted.
A line-up cant please everyone, it just cant. This said, it can please a lot of people and this year that fact is not in the ascendency. People are upset because they're not just faced with a poor line-up, but their premier musical event has been stolen from them and with it, their regular musical event isn't happening.
This line-up is evolving and ever is ever so slightly improved upon with each announcement, but the damage is done. Headliners don't really matter, it's the time between eleven and seven that people care about. The headliners, whoever they are, are by the time they come on stage playing to the drunkest group of people in the country who will shout and holler if there was a gaggle of geese playing the drums on-stage. No, the problem lies not with the headliners, but rather with the filler bands. Where's the sense of adventure,. where's the chances that you'll stumble across a stage and see a band who will redefine your outlook on music, where is the band that makes it all worth it.
No, make no bones about it, people are upset but they'll get over it. They'll pick another festival and have a great time. People who are saying "the people who moan will be the ones missing out" are sorely mistaken. They wont be missing out, they'll find a replacement and have a great time.
What is wrong with this picture? They shouldn't have to.
You cannot sit there as one man and a pen and write off the opinions of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands by saying "shut up"...they call that facism and if taken to it's logical conclusion, the writer setting out his stall as he has only serves to single himself out as a mouthpiece for the Free State of Downloadians. People are generally idiots, singuarly, almost invariably so. But hundreds of thousands, all speaking as one, smacks of revolution. That many people cannot be wrong. Not in this context. The arguments may be ill formed, the prose vitriolic, but its sentiments true. Download, at this exact moment, really does suck.
There's what, sixty slots yet left to fill? Each of these choices could be inspired. Certainly, the last few additions have been a step in the right direction and if the remaining bands selected are perfissimo, then the abuse will be reined in and accusations retracted.
As to the people who agreed with the MH writer and stated "now look at the whingers proving him right"...just take a moment and think, because you sound like a cunt saying that (note how I don't have to resort to crass pejorative every sentence to illustrate my point, just selecting a choice cut when necessary) and nobody likes that sort of attitude. It's schoolyard, akin to sibling rivalrylike behaviour and beneath you, unless you're ten. Or have a similar mental age. When was the last time you watched someone get told off and you retort "told you you shouldn't have done that" or someone gets caught misbehaving and you add to their misery by letting loose something else they've done wrong. You understand now.
I know why you've referenced this post Download-when you've made so many enemies, you need all the friends you can get. When you resort to calling on such a weak excuse of a rant to try and muster support, you really are struggling. Don't try and defend yourselves, you must know you're in the wrong, surely? Make it right. Please. Because I like Download as a festival. But the rot started creeping in several years ago-tread carefully, you may have to be cropped at the base.
And my follow on to this
I wrote a delightfully raucous follow on to my earlier post, but unfortunately, my giant Yorkshire mittens brushed over the mouse-pad and took it from the page...darn and pifflesticks.
I do actually write for a music site and it grates me that i spend my time attempting to produce intelligent, balanced and astute reviews and features and considered opinions and that offerings such as this from Metal Hammer are splashed around and given premier exposure is a point of contention-not something I can rationalise or accept without a distasteful lump rising in my throat. Lawson is not a poor writer, he's just used his pen to give this issue an unpalatable veneer.
In a nutshell, here is what I can extrapolate from all the negativity about Download this year, or to be more precise, its line-up.
Download and Donington have a very enviable mythos, a seasoned heritage carefully developed over the years. If there's any place in the world that can truly claim to be the 'home' of , it's Donington and in furtherance of this fact, Download took this nut and for many years spent quality time nurturing and encouraging this idea of Donington and it grew into a multi-faced monolith.
The excitement and anticipation of Download begins the moment you leave it. You walk out after several days of brilliance, irrespective of the line-up or weather or any other element you care to name and you immediately begin to think, "Will next year be this good?"
Download isn't just the music, its the occasion, the banter, the camaraderie. People buy into this just as much as the music and as such, many purchase tickets pre-announcements because they can rely on sound judgement in selecting artists, knowing the 'festival vibe' is perennially there. You cant just say that if you don't like it, go elsewhere. people don't want elsewhere. they want Donington and they want Download, because it's proved to be the best thing to them so often. A line-up cant please everyone, it just cant. This said, it can please a lot of people and this year that fact is not in the ascendency. People are upset because they're not just faced with a poor line-up, but their premier musical event has been stolen from them. The music of the festival and the enjoyment of the festival is a symbiotic process. You need one for the other.
However, this year, the line-up stinks. It cant be all things to all men and the line-up never has been, but this year, it feels like something has been stolen from you. People want to come to Download because they feel that Download is their event, their festival and when you're there, its there just for you. This year, it feels its there just for one person. The line-up stinks. It does, its entirely unavoidable. the fact is the response has been overwhelmingly negative and its peoples right to complain as loudly as possible, so that lessons are learnt, people feel placated on a personal level and thus problem is not repeated. One needs to feel they have vented their fury because they feel personally slighted.
A line-up cant please everyone, it just cant. This said, it can please a lot of people and this year that fact is not in the ascendency. People are upset because they're not just faced with a poor line-up, but their premier musical event has been stolen from them and with it, their regular musical event isn't happening.
This line-up is evolving and ever is ever so slightly improved upon with each announcement, but the damage is done. Headliners don't really matter, it's the time between eleven and seven that people care about. The headliners, whoever they are, are by the time they come on stage playing to the drunkest group of people in the country who will shout and holler if there was a gaggle of geese playing the drums on-stage. No, the problem lies not with the headliners, but rather with the filler bands. Where's the sense of adventure,. where's the chances that you'll stumble across a stage and see a band who will redefine your outlook on music, where is the band that makes it all worth it.
No, make no bones about it, people are upset but they'll get over it. They'll pick another festival and have a great time. People who are saying "the people who moan will be the ones missing out" are sorely mistaken. They wont be missing out, they'll find a replacement and have a great time.
What is wrong with this picture? They shouldn't have to.
Dom lawsons comments on Metal Hammers website on why people should stop having a pop at Downloads lineup 2011
Doms Post on Metal Hammer site
Oh, now look at what you’ve gone and done. All of the bitching and whining done about festivals this year has pushed our very own Dom Lawson over the edge. Read his rant inside!
If there’s one thing that life has taught me, it’s that the more things stay exactly the fucking same, the more ridiculously irritating they become. And the internet, for all its many wonderful features (none spring to mind, obviously, but I’m sure there must be some, considering that most of us seem to spend out ENTIRE FUCKING LIVES staring at the damn thing), seems to have mutated into a giant magnifying glass with the sole purpose of making all the really annoying aspects of people’s idiotic behaviour seem a million times bigger and more brain-shaggingly stupid and soul-destroying. Yeah, thanks a lot, the internet. You fatuous tosspiece.
Yes, it’s that time of year again. Despite trying to fool the handful of people that actually pay any attention to what I do on a daily basis that I’m a professional music journalist with some vaguely interesting opinions to impart, the reality of my day-to-day existence, as winter becomes spring, is that I am spending more and more time gawping at my monitor, reading the witless and enervating synapse-spittle of joyless arsetools who simply can’t get their tiny, pointed heads around the self-evident fact that rock festivals in the UK are not designed specifically with their own implausibly awful and/or splendid taste in music in mind.
Suddenly, I’m struck with an overwhelming sense of deja-vu, because yes, I did write a blog about this very fucking subject roughly 12 months ago, inspired by the mind-blowing phenomenon of supposedly sentient beings expressing distaste at the announcement that Download had booked AC/DC and Aerosmith – two of the BIGGEST FUCK OFF ROCK BANDS ON THE PLANET, lest we forget – as headliners for 2010’s jamboree of ear-damage and liver abuse. And here we are again, one year on, and the whole exhausting cavalcade of cuntish behaviour dribbles inexorably on. How fucking marvellous.
This year’s tard-fest is somewhat different, of course. In 2009 and 2010, most people seemed relatively satisfied with the fact that the UK had two major mainstream rock/metal festivals to enjoy during the summer months. The emergence of Sonisphere meant that people had a choice of large scale rock knees-ups for the first time in years and, thanks to line-ups that were necessarily distinct, the two festivals could only really be said to complement each other. Only people with fat wallets or ghastly freeloaders like myself could reasonably expect to attend both in one year, of course, but that’s beside the point.
A bit of choice, for once, seemed like a good thing and a decent number of people expressed their preference for one festival or the other with a modicum of grace and intelligence, give or take a few thousand utter twazzocks who would complain mid-blowjob if the curtains were THE WRONG CUNTING COLOUR.
In contrast, 2011 appears to have become the ‘Year Of The Perpetually Whining Cock’, and for reasons best known to the drooling turdslingers who have been cluttering up forums, Facebooks, Tumblrs and Twitters for the last few weeks with their tedious complaints, the Download festival has been the main recipient of all the vitriol.
I guess that’s the price the organisers’ are bound to pay for being the original UK rock/metal bonanza: if you’ve been leading the way for a long time, the new kid on the block is always going to have more immediate appeal, the enticing gleam of the new and an air of freshness that a legendary venue like Castle Donington has long since outgrown. And yes, this year’s Sonisphere line-up looks pretty fucking great.
You can’t really argue with the Big Four or Slipknot as mighty headliners, and there are many, many other great bands on the bill too. And Limp Bizkit (fuck off, Dom – Beez). After having their arses gently booted for the last two years (with all due respect, Download won this non-existent war by booking Faith No More and Slipknot in 2009 and AC/DC trumps everything, always), Sonisphere have come up with the goods in 2011 and it doesn’t take a genius to see why, at this stage in the game, the new boys are getting the most praise.
But here’s a nugget of truth-poo for your brain-cupboards: this entire pointless debate is entirely based on an unavoidably unequal divide in support for two utterly different festival line-ups, and so as great as the Sonisphere bill undoubtedly is, every time I read some squawking dullard bitching away about how it’s “game over” and how Donington is going to be a silent wasteland populated only by tumbleweed and a heartbroken, snivelling Andy Copping sitting on a tearstained picnic blanket, I genuinely feel like setting fire to the internet and laughing as all these toothless moaners scream their mentally-deficient way into a thoroughly deserved early grave.
The truth is that for many punters, the Download bill is looking absolutely fucking splendid. Call me a cunt if you like, and I’m sure some of you will whip yourselves into a froth at the very idea that I might have an opinion that doesn’t precisely mirror your own, but I’m really looking forward to seeing Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, The Cult, System Of A Down, Korn, Alter Bridge, Down, Danzig (“what is a Dainzig?” – Ed), Thin Lizzy, Twisted FUCKING Sister, Avenged Sevenfold, Clutch, Cheap Trick, Turisas, GWAR, Evile, Suicide Silence, Your Demise, Ghost, Sacred Mother Tongue and All That Remains.
There are also more names yet to be announced, one of which has already made me nearly snap my penis in half with excitement. If that’s a shit festival line-up, then I’m Taylor Momsen. Whoever the fuck she is!!! RIGHT, KIDS???
Yes, of course, there are some bands on the Download bill that make me want to STAB STAB STAB, but then I’d rather be skinned alive and boiled in my own hissing diarrhoea than have to sit through All-Time Low, Sum 41 or Kids In Glass Houses either. Beer exists. I fail to see a problem.
And yes, I’m genuinely excited about seeing Def Leppard again. They were amazing last time round, as virtually everyone who saw them will agree, and if ever there was a band with a catalogue of hits big enough to pull off a second headlining turn at Download within three years then it’s artful old hands like them.
I find it faintly hilarious that people are criticising Download for booking the Leps again, not least because Sonisphere have booked Metallica for the second time in three years too (and let’s face it, Rick Allen is a better drummer than Lars Ulrich and can actually play Photograph and Pour Some Sugar On Me properly without passing out. Add your own limb-related punchline to that one, if you wish! Superlolz!!1!).
In fact, if you look at the headliners for both festivals, it’s a little bit ridiculous to be hurling abuse at either one. As much as I’d love to see Iron Maiden, Rush and Van Halen headlining Download, it’s obviously not going to happen this year. I suspect that Mr. Copping considered all options and researched the availability of all of rock’s biggest names before deciding on his headliners and it’s a little bit moronic to suggest otherwise.
Meanwhile, Sonisphere and Metallica are openly in cahoots and the Big Four thing was always on the cards, wasn’t it? Okay, so Linkin Park are WELL TOILET on an extraordinary scale and I fully intend to drink myself to death in the VIP bar during their set, but there will be other, more entertaining things happening elsewhere at Donington at that point anyway. Rob Zombie setting fire to robots, for starters!
Anyway, all waffling and idle hatred aside, my point is this: Download and Sonisphere are both going to be fucking great. Personally, I’m going to Download. I missed it last year and was gutted to do so. This year, I have grand plans to scream myself hoarse during Twisted BASTARD Sister, to bang my head until vomit spurts out of my nose during Evile and to cause major damage to my spine while Cossack dancing to System Of A Down. If that sounds like the sort of weekend you might enjoy, then do feel free to join me.
If you’d rather go to Sonisphere, feel free to do that instead! That’s the wonder of choice, ladies and gentlemen. As much as you Sonisphere fans might like to think that Andy Copping will be chasing you down your local high street with eyes full of tears, waving a soggy Download ticket at you and begging you to reconsider, I suspect he can cope with the notion that you can’t win ‘em all and that pleasing all the people all of the time is, if we’re being honest, an impossible dream. Back in the sane world Donington will be, as always, a little bit magical.
It’s festival season. Put a smile on your face, buy a ticket for the event that looks most exciting and start saving up for your exorbitant bar tab. As someone scary once said, do what thou sodding well wilt. And then shut the fuck up about it and stop annoying me. And throw your laptop out of the window. And get a girlfriend. And shave off that ridiculous excuse for a beard. You bleating fanny. Now fuck off. I’m starving.
Lots of love,
Dom Lawson xxx
Oh, now look at what you’ve gone and done. All of the bitching and whining done about festivals this year has pushed our very own Dom Lawson over the edge. Read his rant inside!
If there’s one thing that life has taught me, it’s that the more things stay exactly the fucking same, the more ridiculously irritating they become. And the internet, for all its many wonderful features (none spring to mind, obviously, but I’m sure there must be some, considering that most of us seem to spend out ENTIRE FUCKING LIVES staring at the damn thing), seems to have mutated into a giant magnifying glass with the sole purpose of making all the really annoying aspects of people’s idiotic behaviour seem a million times bigger and more brain-shaggingly stupid and soul-destroying. Yeah, thanks a lot, the internet. You fatuous tosspiece.
Yes, it’s that time of year again. Despite trying to fool the handful of people that actually pay any attention to what I do on a daily basis that I’m a professional music journalist with some vaguely interesting opinions to impart, the reality of my day-to-day existence, as winter becomes spring, is that I am spending more and more time gawping at my monitor, reading the witless and enervating synapse-spittle of joyless arsetools who simply can’t get their tiny, pointed heads around the self-evident fact that rock festivals in the UK are not designed specifically with their own implausibly awful and/or splendid taste in music in mind.
Suddenly, I’m struck with an overwhelming sense of deja-vu, because yes, I did write a blog about this very fucking subject roughly 12 months ago, inspired by the mind-blowing phenomenon of supposedly sentient beings expressing distaste at the announcement that Download had booked AC/DC and Aerosmith – two of the BIGGEST FUCK OFF ROCK BANDS ON THE PLANET, lest we forget – as headliners for 2010’s jamboree of ear-damage and liver abuse. And here we are again, one year on, and the whole exhausting cavalcade of cuntish behaviour dribbles inexorably on. How fucking marvellous.
This year’s tard-fest is somewhat different, of course. In 2009 and 2010, most people seemed relatively satisfied with the fact that the UK had two major mainstream rock/metal festivals to enjoy during the summer months. The emergence of Sonisphere meant that people had a choice of large scale rock knees-ups for the first time in years and, thanks to line-ups that were necessarily distinct, the two festivals could only really be said to complement each other. Only people with fat wallets or ghastly freeloaders like myself could reasonably expect to attend both in one year, of course, but that’s beside the point.
A bit of choice, for once, seemed like a good thing and a decent number of people expressed their preference for one festival or the other with a modicum of grace and intelligence, give or take a few thousand utter twazzocks who would complain mid-blowjob if the curtains were THE WRONG CUNTING COLOUR.
In contrast, 2011 appears to have become the ‘Year Of The Perpetually Whining Cock’, and for reasons best known to the drooling turdslingers who have been cluttering up forums, Facebooks, Tumblrs and Twitters for the last few weeks with their tedious complaints, the Download festival has been the main recipient of all the vitriol.
I guess that’s the price the organisers’ are bound to pay for being the original UK rock/metal bonanza: if you’ve been leading the way for a long time, the new kid on the block is always going to have more immediate appeal, the enticing gleam of the new and an air of freshness that a legendary venue like Castle Donington has long since outgrown. And yes, this year’s Sonisphere line-up looks pretty fucking great.
You can’t really argue with the Big Four or Slipknot as mighty headliners, and there are many, many other great bands on the bill too. And Limp Bizkit (fuck off, Dom – Beez). After having their arses gently booted for the last two years (with all due respect, Download won this non-existent war by booking Faith No More and Slipknot in 2009 and AC/DC trumps everything, always), Sonisphere have come up with the goods in 2011 and it doesn’t take a genius to see why, at this stage in the game, the new boys are getting the most praise.
But here’s a nugget of truth-poo for your brain-cupboards: this entire pointless debate is entirely based on an unavoidably unequal divide in support for two utterly different festival line-ups, and so as great as the Sonisphere bill undoubtedly is, every time I read some squawking dullard bitching away about how it’s “game over” and how Donington is going to be a silent wasteland populated only by tumbleweed and a heartbroken, snivelling Andy Copping sitting on a tearstained picnic blanket, I genuinely feel like setting fire to the internet and laughing as all these toothless moaners scream their mentally-deficient way into a thoroughly deserved early grave.
The truth is that for many punters, the Download bill is looking absolutely fucking splendid. Call me a cunt if you like, and I’m sure some of you will whip yourselves into a froth at the very idea that I might have an opinion that doesn’t precisely mirror your own, but I’m really looking forward to seeing Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, The Cult, System Of A Down, Korn, Alter Bridge, Down, Danzig (“what is a Dainzig?” – Ed), Thin Lizzy, Twisted FUCKING Sister, Avenged Sevenfold, Clutch, Cheap Trick, Turisas, GWAR, Evile, Suicide Silence, Your Demise, Ghost, Sacred Mother Tongue and All That Remains.
There are also more names yet to be announced, one of which has already made me nearly snap my penis in half with excitement. If that’s a shit festival line-up, then I’m Taylor Momsen. Whoever the fuck she is!!! RIGHT, KIDS???
Yes, of course, there are some bands on the Download bill that make me want to STAB STAB STAB, but then I’d rather be skinned alive and boiled in my own hissing diarrhoea than have to sit through All-Time Low, Sum 41 or Kids In Glass Houses either. Beer exists. I fail to see a problem.
And yes, I’m genuinely excited about seeing Def Leppard again. They were amazing last time round, as virtually everyone who saw them will agree, and if ever there was a band with a catalogue of hits big enough to pull off a second headlining turn at Download within three years then it’s artful old hands like them.
I find it faintly hilarious that people are criticising Download for booking the Leps again, not least because Sonisphere have booked Metallica for the second time in three years too (and let’s face it, Rick Allen is a better drummer than Lars Ulrich and can actually play Photograph and Pour Some Sugar On Me properly without passing out. Add your own limb-related punchline to that one, if you wish! Superlolz!!1!).
In fact, if you look at the headliners for both festivals, it’s a little bit ridiculous to be hurling abuse at either one. As much as I’d love to see Iron Maiden, Rush and Van Halen headlining Download, it’s obviously not going to happen this year. I suspect that Mr. Copping considered all options and researched the availability of all of rock’s biggest names before deciding on his headliners and it’s a little bit moronic to suggest otherwise.
Meanwhile, Sonisphere and Metallica are openly in cahoots and the Big Four thing was always on the cards, wasn’t it? Okay, so Linkin Park are WELL TOILET on an extraordinary scale and I fully intend to drink myself to death in the VIP bar during their set, but there will be other, more entertaining things happening elsewhere at Donington at that point anyway. Rob Zombie setting fire to robots, for starters!
Anyway, all waffling and idle hatred aside, my point is this: Download and Sonisphere are both going to be fucking great. Personally, I’m going to Download. I missed it last year and was gutted to do so. This year, I have grand plans to scream myself hoarse during Twisted BASTARD Sister, to bang my head until vomit spurts out of my nose during Evile and to cause major damage to my spine while Cossack dancing to System Of A Down. If that sounds like the sort of weekend you might enjoy, then do feel free to join me.
If you’d rather go to Sonisphere, feel free to do that instead! That’s the wonder of choice, ladies and gentlemen. As much as you Sonisphere fans might like to think that Andy Copping will be chasing you down your local high street with eyes full of tears, waving a soggy Download ticket at you and begging you to reconsider, I suspect he can cope with the notion that you can’t win ‘em all and that pleasing all the people all of the time is, if we’re being honest, an impossible dream. Back in the sane world Donington will be, as always, a little bit magical.
It’s festival season. Put a smile on your face, buy a ticket for the event that looks most exciting and start saving up for your exorbitant bar tab. As someone scary once said, do what thou sodding well wilt. And then shut the fuck up about it and stop annoying me. And throw your laptop out of the window. And get a girlfriend. And shave off that ridiculous excuse for a beard. You bleating fanny. Now fuck off. I’m starving.
Lots of love,
Dom Lawson xxx
Wednesday 2 March 2011
My latest review for Soundshock
Septic Flesh-The Great Mass
It’s always a heady day when Septic Flesh release an album. An outfit not known for understatement-when Septic Flesh speaks, clouds break, earth shakes and a dust cloud is strewn across the horizon. All that is evil and unspeakable is unshackled and delivered with their definitive aesthetic. Septic Flesh, the name itself seems putrid in the mouth. The band is the epic defined…pregnant with abhorrence for the world, replete with foreboding and malice. When they speak, the world shudders.
Septic Flesh last work ‘Communion’ caused trembling’s on the Richter scale, such was its titan sized scope and almost unprecedented production values. It’s not often a work comes along like that which redefines just what is achievable within music, so there’s much for the band to live up to, if they’re to shore up their hard won battles.
It takes all of thirty seconds for this masterpiece (and it will be considered such) to envelop the reader in a sense they’ve managed to get themselves into a fight between Wagner and Hieronymus Bosch organised by the Industrial Age. Listening is a violent, active process and you’re engaged by something horrendously primal. They manage to tap into the part of the human psyche that makes a person gasp and recoil at some strange majesty placed suddenly before them. This must be what medieval peoples felt when they first entered a cathedral, coming from a rustic earth living to the most ornate and awe inspiring creations of the time. It presents a strange duality, where your place in the world has never felt more locked but the wildest possibilities never more easily obtainable. Here is where you come to be humbled in the hope your wishes come true.
It seems moot to discuss the musical qualities, the production and the human aspects. This is not something human made but forged by pagan gods. Timeless, peerless, this is Septic Flesh. Say hello.
9/10. You’ll like this if…You’ll just like this.
The Great Mass is out now on Season of Mist.
Reviewed by Sam Thor Rhodes.
It’s always a heady day when Septic Flesh release an album. An outfit not known for understatement-when Septic Flesh speaks, clouds break, earth shakes and a dust cloud is strewn across the horizon. All that is evil and unspeakable is unshackled and delivered with their definitive aesthetic. Septic Flesh, the name itself seems putrid in the mouth. The band is the epic defined…pregnant with abhorrence for the world, replete with foreboding and malice. When they speak, the world shudders.
Septic Flesh last work ‘Communion’ caused trembling’s on the Richter scale, such was its titan sized scope and almost unprecedented production values. It’s not often a work comes along like that which redefines just what is achievable within music, so there’s much for the band to live up to, if they’re to shore up their hard won battles.
It takes all of thirty seconds for this masterpiece (and it will be considered such) to envelop the reader in a sense they’ve managed to get themselves into a fight between Wagner and Hieronymus Bosch organised by the Industrial Age. Listening is a violent, active process and you’re engaged by something horrendously primal. They manage to tap into the part of the human psyche that makes a person gasp and recoil at some strange majesty placed suddenly before them. This must be what medieval peoples felt when they first entered a cathedral, coming from a rustic earth living to the most ornate and awe inspiring creations of the time. It presents a strange duality, where your place in the world has never felt more locked but the wildest possibilities never more easily obtainable. Here is where you come to be humbled in the hope your wishes come true.
It seems moot to discuss the musical qualities, the production and the human aspects. This is not something human made but forged by pagan gods. Timeless, peerless, this is Septic Flesh. Say hello.
9/10. You’ll like this if…You’ll just like this.
The Great Mass is out now on Season of Mist.
Reviewed by Sam Thor Rhodes.
Thursday 3 February 2011
Earth’s-Angels Of Darkness, Demons Of Light 1 Review for Soundshock.com
It’s raining, it’s always raining. Injury hurts. Indignation burns and fear runs cold. The only person who knows your soul suffers is yourself and over time, an anamorphic change can occur. You can carry a soulless waif, a barren waste inside. Or you find solace, whereupon you rise up and emerge from the fog. Depression is an unholy beast and there are only so many paths from it.
After time, after so many revolutions of this great orb, means to combat your inner fears can be realised. Many lay claim to music as that comfort and crutch. Those artists of emotion are few and far between. Neurosis is an outfit that have stared into the void and relay what is there, to ward off and help you avoid the pitfall. Sunno))) brings absolution from your pain. Then there is Earth, who takes delight in shining a great light, a sweet revenge on all that is bad and bare in the world and giving retribution for all its ill deeds.
Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light is a triumph over all the hurt of the world. Earth are aptly named. Sit back…close your eyes. The introductory chords ring true and hit your heart with such beauty and carefully considered voicing’s, that you consider the auditory artefacts to be embracing you, warming you. Riff becomes passage becomes song becomes cursive writings, a letter to the senses and taking a step back, you realise this is a gift, honey to be whispered into the ears of all who have hurt. Outside, it’s stopped raining. Inside, it’s warm.
9.5/10 You’ll like this if Sunno))) are too abrasive and Neurosis are too stark. If you’re already an Earth fan, this is a 10/10 album. The former rating is purely on unbiased objectivity.
After time, after so many revolutions of this great orb, means to combat your inner fears can be realised. Many lay claim to music as that comfort and crutch. Those artists of emotion are few and far between. Neurosis is an outfit that have stared into the void and relay what is there, to ward off and help you avoid the pitfall. Sunno))) brings absolution from your pain. Then there is Earth, who takes delight in shining a great light, a sweet revenge on all that is bad and bare in the world and giving retribution for all its ill deeds.
Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light is a triumph over all the hurt of the world. Earth are aptly named. Sit back…close your eyes. The introductory chords ring true and hit your heart with such beauty and carefully considered voicing’s, that you consider the auditory artefacts to be embracing you, warming you. Riff becomes passage becomes song becomes cursive writings, a letter to the senses and taking a step back, you realise this is a gift, honey to be whispered into the ears of all who have hurt. Outside, it’s stopped raining. Inside, it’s warm.
9.5/10 You’ll like this if Sunno))) are too abrasive and Neurosis are too stark. If you’re already an Earth fan, this is a 10/10 album. The former rating is purely on unbiased objectivity.
Monday 31 January 2011
My latest review for Soundshock.com, the only work i can do is writing. Shame i cant get paid for it, i'd be at it 24/7...
Deathspell Omega-Paracletus
Somewhere in the recesses of all human minds lies a part few wish to visit. From here desperate and uncontrollable, albeit brief flashes of emotion muster. These are events that swell to the surface under an extreme influence which your rational mind consistently quells, because after all, we are at our most rational, civilised. It’s also something that the majesty of Deathspell Omega grasp in their talons and scratch away at till rationality dissipates and all that remains is cold, grief stricken illusions to drive an illusory landscape into the psyche.
Paracletus represents the last in a trinity of albums exploring the relationships between man and his maker and the spiritual world. The previous output Fas-ite. Maledicti. In Ignem Aeternum potentially represents more perfectly the descent of the human into a chasm of lonely nightmare more perfectly than any other auditory artistic offering. It’s chilling, ice packed with scorn and malice and enables you to feel more lost in their world purely from its own lost musings. Paracletus has much to forgive, or help forget.
At first listen, all the components are there, interjecting guitars playing counterpoint in dissonant scales, frenetic drumming beating the fires, a lonely voice lamenting the loss of man to idiocy and consumerism. At further listen, you’ll start to see a light. Perhaps there’s a glimmer of hope, because there is an exit sign to this scene.
You won’t hear anything more malevolent this year. It’s a tremendous offering which is to be expected, but whereas Fas-ite left you lost and trembling in their world, Paracletus perhaps gives you a tour guide to that world and a way out. It’s reassuring, but if you close your eyes, you’ll forget the guide is there.
8.5/10 You’ll like this if you like to be naked in the snow whilst crows peck out your eyes. Chilling and progressive.
Somewhere in the recesses of all human minds lies a part few wish to visit. From here desperate and uncontrollable, albeit brief flashes of emotion muster. These are events that swell to the surface under an extreme influence which your rational mind consistently quells, because after all, we are at our most rational, civilised. It’s also something that the majesty of Deathspell Omega grasp in their talons and scratch away at till rationality dissipates and all that remains is cold, grief stricken illusions to drive an illusory landscape into the psyche.
Paracletus represents the last in a trinity of albums exploring the relationships between man and his maker and the spiritual world. The previous output Fas-ite. Maledicti. In Ignem Aeternum potentially represents more perfectly the descent of the human into a chasm of lonely nightmare more perfectly than any other auditory artistic offering. It’s chilling, ice packed with scorn and malice and enables you to feel more lost in their world purely from its own lost musings. Paracletus has much to forgive, or help forget.
At first listen, all the components are there, interjecting guitars playing counterpoint in dissonant scales, frenetic drumming beating the fires, a lonely voice lamenting the loss of man to idiocy and consumerism. At further listen, you’ll start to see a light. Perhaps there’s a glimmer of hope, because there is an exit sign to this scene.
You won’t hear anything more malevolent this year. It’s a tremendous offering which is to be expected, but whereas Fas-ite left you lost and trembling in their world, Paracletus perhaps gives you a tour guide to that world and a way out. It’s reassuring, but if you close your eyes, you’ll forget the guide is there.
8.5/10 You’ll like this if you like to be naked in the snow whilst crows peck out your eyes. Chilling and progressive.
Wednesday 19 January 2011
Tuesday 18 January 2011
What's wrong with me
Someone i love very much once told me if i can say something in a sentence, i'll say it in thirty, so im keeping this as concise as possible.
2 January 2009. Wake with an almighty pain in neck.
15 January 2009. Admitted to Sheffield Neurosurgery and after extensive diagnostics was diagnosed with two prolapsed discs. This is extremely painful.
20th July. Readmitted to Neurosurgery Ward with worsening pain. This admittal to hospital resulted in the spinal disectomy operation I had booked for August being cancelled due to more diagnostics leading the neurosurgeons not wanting to perform the operation, citing outcome Vs risk clash.
From this point I spent much time in bed or in a chair. Everyone knows what i was like, but for those that dont, in short...Im in excruciating pain. Every day and night. I now have enough focus to not show it as much, but it's taking a terrible toll in that the medication is destroying my health as well..but back to the chronology..
15th Feb 2010 Neck goes very bad again. MRI reveals continuing prolapse, but after requesting second opinion of case, Sheffield Neurosurgery discharge me saying to attend pain clinics to deal with the pain.
After this i continue in looking for ways to cure my neck, knowing the diagnosis and decision of the surgeons to be incorrect.
22nd Nov 2010. Find and go to see Mr Manoj Krishna at Nuffield Hospital in York. You can check his site here (kspine.net) He examines my MRI from previous tries and comes up with a radically different view to the Sheffield Surgeons. he does however need a MRI and Xray doing that's up to date.
15th January 2010. Two years to the day, Mr Krishna diagnoses my condition. from the images taken, he has found that my neck has collapsed and is worsening. The discs from top to bottom of the cervical region are very damaged, some entirely herniated, some slightly so, but altogether, my neck is heading for a worse fall than previously imagined. The vertebrae and discs are damaged and aren't getting better on their own.
Basically, you all know me. You know what i was like. I charged at everything with a wild abandon and revelled in life, now reduced to a mind in a chair. I want my life back with all my added reflection thrown in to boot. For those that dont know me, here is what is going on with me, causation, effect etc.
Ok, so the prolapsed discs press on the nerve root and spinal cord at the area where they protrude. this protrusion then causes everything the nerve affects to be transmitted as pain and weakness. So i cant feel half my hand, i have 30% usage of the right arm. A breakdown of the medication im on and symptoms from them
Morphine (slow release)
Nortriptaline
Diazepam
Baclofen
Beta blockers
Morphine (fast acting)
metroclopramide
Tamoxifin??
Anything else?
Agonising, insanity brewing pain in the neck, worsened by any movement.
Twitches in thumb and finger, less in the arm, occasionally the right leg which often fails causing me to fall.
Paralysis and parasthesia in the arm.
No movement of head or body to a degree for causation of pain.
Shooting pains down the arm.
No sleep.
Skin Problem in extremities.
Migraines.
Burning pain in skin around neck on the back.
Difficulty swallowing.
Nausea.
Loss of memory.
Everyone that cares about me has to see me like this.
My PhD is on hold till i can get better.
Follow on effects from this-I now have heart problems (probably from medication and/or neck, breathing difficulty (potentially from the heart problems and possibly the nerve damage. I've also developed a potential ulcer and stomach problems (definitely from the drugs) and I've grown a very nasty lump on my chest that was suspected to be of a murky nature (which is now being dealt with by Big C medication, to add insult to injury.
So, now you're more or less up to date with what's wrong and my condition. I'll stick up some pictures of my MRI etc so you can see what's wrong, its pretty obvious, you don't have to be a terrible consultant from Sheffield to see there's something wrong.
Many of you have offered to help me in any way you can. So Ive set this up so you can all band digital heads together and see if you can help in anyway.
Heres what it costs. 20k. Twenty big G's. I want this doctor to do it and i would rather be private than not, but i do have the option of NHS treatment, but I've been down that road. I need much help, whether it be money or support or help getting to appoinments. bang heads together. Firstly I know there is a skydive happening, of which Joe and Ritson will leak details of as it happens. Raising this amount of money isnt going to happen overnight, but its not an unattainable figure. I can take out a loan and if we keep fundraising we can do this.
The operation isn't a cure. It will not cure me. But it will stop it. The damage done is done, Sheffield have made some big mistakes, but i dont want to focus any anger until im better, which is my main concern. So, lets get at that. This problem needs stopping, the recovery is going to take a hell of a long time, but i finally have an answer to what is wrong and an answer to why its happening and how to act now.
id love for some form of organisation to grow from this, some kind of charity for people suffering from chronic pain and neck injury. My surgeon is trying to change opinion, but it's taking time. he works in a different way, placing the patient first and believes people should be able to have a life without pain. if we can help bring that, all the better.
Please invite as many people as you can that you believe will help, use the discussion boards to think of fundraising ideas..lets apply some Yorkshire Grit to this problem
If you go to
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_192806630729578&ap=1
You'll find the group where people are figuring out how to fix me by raising money. Ive put a paypal button here so peeps can donate if they feel like theyre in a philanthropic mood.
Love you all XXXXXXXX
2 January 2009. Wake with an almighty pain in neck.
15 January 2009. Admitted to Sheffield Neurosurgery and after extensive diagnostics was diagnosed with two prolapsed discs. This is extremely painful.
20th July. Readmitted to Neurosurgery Ward with worsening pain. This admittal to hospital resulted in the spinal disectomy operation I had booked for August being cancelled due to more diagnostics leading the neurosurgeons not wanting to perform the operation, citing outcome Vs risk clash.
From this point I spent much time in bed or in a chair. Everyone knows what i was like, but for those that dont, in short...Im in excruciating pain. Every day and night. I now have enough focus to not show it as much, but it's taking a terrible toll in that the medication is destroying my health as well..but back to the chronology..
15th Feb 2010 Neck goes very bad again. MRI reveals continuing prolapse, but after requesting second opinion of case, Sheffield Neurosurgery discharge me saying to attend pain clinics to deal with the pain.
After this i continue in looking for ways to cure my neck, knowing the diagnosis and decision of the surgeons to be incorrect.
22nd Nov 2010. Find and go to see Mr Manoj Krishna at Nuffield Hospital in York. You can check his site here (kspine.net) He examines my MRI from previous tries and comes up with a radically different view to the Sheffield Surgeons. he does however need a MRI and Xray doing that's up to date.
15th January 2010. Two years to the day, Mr Krishna diagnoses my condition. from the images taken, he has found that my neck has collapsed and is worsening. The discs from top to bottom of the cervical region are very damaged, some entirely herniated, some slightly so, but altogether, my neck is heading for a worse fall than previously imagined. The vertebrae and discs are damaged and aren't getting better on their own.
Basically, you all know me. You know what i was like. I charged at everything with a wild abandon and revelled in life, now reduced to a mind in a chair. I want my life back with all my added reflection thrown in to boot. For those that dont know me, here is what is going on with me, causation, effect etc.
Ok, so the prolapsed discs press on the nerve root and spinal cord at the area where they protrude. this protrusion then causes everything the nerve affects to be transmitted as pain and weakness. So i cant feel half my hand, i have 30% usage of the right arm. A breakdown of the medication im on and symptoms from them
Morphine (slow release)
Nortriptaline
Diazepam
Baclofen
Beta blockers
Morphine (fast acting)
metroclopramide
Tamoxifin??
Anything else?
Agonising, insanity brewing pain in the neck, worsened by any movement.
Twitches in thumb and finger, less in the arm, occasionally the right leg which often fails causing me to fall.
Paralysis and parasthesia in the arm.
No movement of head or body to a degree for causation of pain.
Shooting pains down the arm.
No sleep.
Skin Problem in extremities.
Migraines.
Burning pain in skin around neck on the back.
Difficulty swallowing.
Nausea.
Loss of memory.
Everyone that cares about me has to see me like this.
My PhD is on hold till i can get better.
Follow on effects from this-I now have heart problems (probably from medication and/or neck, breathing difficulty (potentially from the heart problems and possibly the nerve damage. I've also developed a potential ulcer and stomach problems (definitely from the drugs) and I've grown a very nasty lump on my chest that was suspected to be of a murky nature (which is now being dealt with by Big C medication, to add insult to injury.
So, now you're more or less up to date with what's wrong and my condition. I'll stick up some pictures of my MRI etc so you can see what's wrong, its pretty obvious, you don't have to be a terrible consultant from Sheffield to see there's something wrong.
Many of you have offered to help me in any way you can. So Ive set this up so you can all band digital heads together and see if you can help in anyway.
Heres what it costs. 20k. Twenty big G's. I want this doctor to do it and i would rather be private than not, but i do have the option of NHS treatment, but I've been down that road. I need much help, whether it be money or support or help getting to appoinments. bang heads together. Firstly I know there is a skydive happening, of which Joe and Ritson will leak details of as it happens. Raising this amount of money isnt going to happen overnight, but its not an unattainable figure. I can take out a loan and if we keep fundraising we can do this.
The operation isn't a cure. It will not cure me. But it will stop it. The damage done is done, Sheffield have made some big mistakes, but i dont want to focus any anger until im better, which is my main concern. So, lets get at that. This problem needs stopping, the recovery is going to take a hell of a long time, but i finally have an answer to what is wrong and an answer to why its happening and how to act now.
id love for some form of organisation to grow from this, some kind of charity for people suffering from chronic pain and neck injury. My surgeon is trying to change opinion, but it's taking time. he works in a different way, placing the patient first and believes people should be able to have a life without pain. if we can help bring that, all the better.
Please invite as many people as you can that you believe will help, use the discussion boards to think of fundraising ideas..lets apply some Yorkshire Grit to this problem
If you go to
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_192806630729578&ap=1
You'll find the group where people are figuring out how to fix me by raising money. Ive put a paypal button here so peeps can donate if they feel like theyre in a philanthropic mood.
Love you all XXXXXXXX
Thursday 30 December 2010
Teenage rant (found it, wrote it a while ago)
A seamless transition from geekprat to geektennis prat in 14 days. The water diluted his soul, fuck all else. Filtered through six layers of volcanic rock to give deep hydration..read Bad Science by Ben Goldacre to fix that little spurious and entirely impossible feat..maybe if we rip out the intestines of Gillian Mckeith for a day and use that as a non-permeable water hose and feed that deep into the adverting thinktanks bodies at the same time they may gain think of something different to say about "water??" than the same old baseless outpourings that adverts of this type always say. Same with all these health promoting adverts, a yakult a day helps your body and protects..blah blah..no it doesn't, if you have the good bacteria, you just got it, having more doesn't make you healthier or unhealthier, it just allows your body to..well...do what its meant to and does pretty well without yakult..shit, you can drink a bottle of vodders a day for about a decade before your liver kicks it..dont listen, dont take it in. All adverts are a lie. And as for adverts aimed at women with the "added fruit extracts for improved split ends developed in our hair laboratory...oh fuck this, i could go on for hours..as Bill Hicks said, if you work in Marketing or Avertising, do us a favour and kill yourself, dont question it, suck a tailpipe and kill yourself, seriously..."and as for Kellogs making your kid 12 percent happier on a morning, what is this measure of happiness they use to gauge happiness to a precise degree of 12 percent" (sic) Ben Goldacre speaking on Screenwipe. Volvic Man, you can fuck off, and i dont think im being cheeky in asking for that.
Friday 24 December 2010
Top 20 Albums
If you fancy a look, Soundshock have done the great feature comprising the best akbums of 2010 as voted by all the contributers, please take a moment to have a look
http://www.soundshock.com/index.php/breaking-the-waves/2672-soundshocks-top-20-albums-of-2010
http://www.soundshock.com/index.php/breaking-the-waves/2672-soundshocks-top-20-albums-of-2010
Nails-Unsilent Death
Southern Lord
Someone’s been keeping a secret.
Deep from the depths of the internationally revered Godcity Studio, where Kurt Ballou of Converge fame, responsible for producing and engineering such prime works as the much lamented Beecher, has been helping craft a work of dripping spite. It’s not yet known how you hold the album, let alone endure the band’s renowned violent live performances.
Glancing at the credentials of this band, you’d expect it to follow the vein of the ‘verge or associated works and it does this, but it's a work that has one foot planted firmly in the past and one in an unknown future. Where most hardcore bands tend to take from and forget their roots, Nails have thrown up a memoriam to the past and shown that not everything about it should be forgotten. Enforced messages without browbeating ferocity. Staccato riffs without that atypical Hatebreed sound. Rhythm that holds you for a second, then kicks your face through. It’s not oft that a band can contain so many pointers to well trodden ground and produce something so fresh.
Unsilent Death as an album is an absolute fist. For a moment close your eyes, listen well and it eviscerates Nasum at their most inspiring. Stay safe at home and listen to Unsilent Death in safety…or get out and find Nails play live and enjoy catharsis in its purest, unadulterated form.
9/10
You’ll like this if Ed Gein are your chums and Hatebreed are too chummy.
Sam Rhodes
Southern Lord
Someone’s been keeping a secret.
Deep from the depths of the internationally revered Godcity Studio, where Kurt Ballou of Converge fame, responsible for producing and engineering such prime works as the much lamented Beecher, has been helping craft a work of dripping spite. It’s not yet known how you hold the album, let alone endure the band’s renowned violent live performances.
Glancing at the credentials of this band, you’d expect it to follow the vein of the ‘verge or associated works and it does this, but it's a work that has one foot planted firmly in the past and one in an unknown future. Where most hardcore bands tend to take from and forget their roots, Nails have thrown up a memoriam to the past and shown that not everything about it should be forgotten. Enforced messages without browbeating ferocity. Staccato riffs without that atypical Hatebreed sound. Rhythm that holds you for a second, then kicks your face through. It’s not oft that a band can contain so many pointers to well trodden ground and produce something so fresh.
Unsilent Death as an album is an absolute fist. For a moment close your eyes, listen well and it eviscerates Nasum at their most inspiring. Stay safe at home and listen to Unsilent Death in safety…or get out and find Nails play live and enjoy catharsis in its purest, unadulterated form.
9/10
You’ll like this if Ed Gein are your chums and Hatebreed are too chummy.
Sam Rhodes
ATP
All Tomorrows Parties Festival ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’
Butlins: Minehead
Very rarely is a festival so aptly named. This stalwart gathering, always evolving, ever changing but justifiably clinging to its independent musical ethos has provided to be a nightmare in both sonic terror and abominable snowy weather.
For those unaware of ATP and its unassailable credentials, for the past decade it’s been the provider and benefactor of the most awe-inspiring and far reaching musical vision to spill forth from that most comforting moment-the inspired idea. Imagine for a moment, that you could call upon your most adored artist to headline a festival, then that artist has a convocation with like minded and admired artists and gets them to play said festival, until you harbour a veritable feast of aural ingredients. (Just to veer into the concise, it’s essentially akin to a DJ selecting songs for a set, but upon a grandiose scale)
This then is ATP…select a defining band, allow them to curate the line-up, warm gently over a completely independent event without sponsorship, finished off with the accoutrements of approachability and a total lack of pretence, no person having a precedence over another, to the point that bands cohabit with attendees in the chalet blocks (it’s held on a Butlins) so always say hello to your neighbours…It just may be Mastodon.
This year’s curators are Godspeed You! Black Emperor, a progressive orchestral rock band which to the cry of many, imploded many years ago. So for ATP to get them to reform was a coup d’état veering heavily to the epic!! You knew instantly this year’s rostra would be bursting with choice cuts.
Nobody was disappointed. Not a drop.
You wouldn’t be argued with if you thought previous to hearing the line-up announcement that the majority of sounds would be placed in the “post” (choose you genre here) camp, expectantly so when Godspeed were choosing the line-up, but in reality there’s always something for everyone from Shoegaze and Freeform Jazz, juxtaposed against Eastern Bloc Gypsy Brass bands, to your more traditional digital noise manipulators fighting it out against through and through dyed in the wool Black Metal.
The introductory night brought artists across a multitude of stages, several having to have their times rearranged due to bands caught short due to the frankly ridiculous weather conditions. This in turn brought an element of unwanted surprise. Arriving to watch a band to be greeted by a sign saying they had played three hours earlier can bring a diehard fan to tears or outright rage. Impromptu lies rife within ATP this year.
However, at the very least Godspeed and Neurosis were playing more than once, saving us the sight of grown humans weeping under a ‘cancelled set’ poster.
First up is Godspeed you! Black Emperor. An anticipatory silence falls over the crowd as they introduce the first notes played together on a stage for many years. These notes coagulate and clot, forming a pulsating wave of bass and drum, low at first, each member aware of each other, each member aware of the causation and effect they bring. This is the antithesis to the compression age, the reaction to the action of constant exacting attack. They suddenly spring out of the sound system, every sensory part of your body alert to the nuance delivered, then calm, the sails let down and you’re left to drift with them lulled into a lucid dreamlike state, only to again explode upon you and you are left shaking and breathless as strings and bows and coiled wire and stretched string unravel you and what you knew as musical dynamic and replace them with new peaks and troughs. Privy to only a few, looked over by many, those who stood for any one of their sets knew what it was to be alive once more.
Worthy of note on this night was the follow up Tim Hecker, moved forward two hours due to…It doesn’t warrant the word count. Fucking snow.
Tim Hecker’s set should be properly called ‘How to breed a feeling of melancholy in one hour.’ Tim is a world renowned sound artist, a true original sitting between Fennez and Pierre Schaeffer. His exploratory journey through sonic artefacts and the abstract notion of the sound between sounds has led him to receive accolades throughout the world. Dissonant sparks and cross faded bass rumble out of the P.A and such is the fine mastering of his music that every part of the perceivable (and I suspect the unperceivable, delving into what is known as infrasound, look it up) frequency range is delivered in abundance. There lies a contradiction within sound artists such as Hecker, in that they lurch their music forwards and build towards a crescendo, but as where a traditional band or artist would resolve the scale or crescendo, Hecker takes it away. This method wholly splits the audience. Some wanting that elusive reward, others content in the knowledge that in this film, the bad guy wins, you don’t find out who killed Cornel Mustard in the hall. Not being rewarded isn’t always gratifying, but it always makes you think.
Emboldened by the previous night’s gratifications and surprises, many go in search of a chance encounter, seeing bands they’ve never heard of, nor would ever encounter. However the word being uttered from everybody’s lips is Neurosis. The band is so influential I think it most likely that the brevity of coverage in mainstream media of metal and psychedelic music as a whole wouldn’t exist were it not for this timeless band. Most writers would go on to say how they are carved from aeon aged granite, woven with grief, delivered through cosmic power blah blah blah. They’re not, these superlatives always pop up in association with them, because there just seems a need to give them a sense that they are intangible that they cannot be of this world, such is their influence and epic scope. In actuality, they are very human and people forget just how vast the human condition is. However, they’re one of the rare bands that have managed to retain a sense of distance from their fans. See them live; you’ll shorten that distance without having to disturb your own harboured accolades.
Anyway, before that begins, we’ve a few treats centre stage. First off the bat is Bardo Pond, The Dead C and Maher Shalal Hash Baz. Each of these artists has one finger in each others pie. That being a blueberry and bastardization pie of the progressive genre. Each seamlessly binds their set to the next, these three being a truly inspired piece of music positioning and a joy to behold.
So, Neurosis time. It’s prudent to review both sets together, todays and tomorrows, to assess and briefly explore the differences between them. The sense of time in the room is excruciating, everybody straining for a view of what’s being wheeled on stage, everybody checking the time, everybody expecting…Neurosis must have this feeling with all their gigs. They must have feet this weight of expectation upon themselves a thousand times, but they visibly feed on it like a virus. The first sounds of sample and drum, guitar and vocal push the crowd back, an instantaneous reaction to the brute force being manoeuvred by the masters and there is no attempt to assuage the fury. Unrepentantly, they don’t even play to the crowd in terms of satisfying them with album openers etc, they go for the monoliths, the drawn out growls of songs. When the opening riff to Given to the Rising is exploded out, the crowd erupt into a swaying mob, all separate, all working as one. The ninety minutes pass by in an instant and there’s suddenly an empty hollow feeling that just perhaps life isn’t ever going to feel that real again. Solace is found in friends and bonds made anew over a shared experience and then you remember...it’s happening again tomorrow.
The second set is a much less attended affair, partly due to Weird Al Yankovic who is an absolute pearl of a booking, a parody of a parody, an opposition to all that claim on fame and is playing on the pavilion stage (The worst of the stages, placed under Butlins cavernous tent building, reverberation and standing waves can destroy a set here, as it did for the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s the previous year) and partly because of Clusters Krautrock excellence, but mainly because many people simply have partied too hard and are sleeping it off, or are leaving early to return to work the next day. This is a terrible shame. Although it wasn’t fully realised, though suspected, the sound engineer wasn’t up to his game on the previous night, though this night all lessons are learnt and the band are out to please the crowd. As Neurosis come to play Burn, the title track of ‘The Eye of Every Storm’, the place is still, moved but unable to move, as the moment comes when the song pulls back to deliver the growling prose of ‘This world of cold stone gives nothing in return to those who sleep whilst the restless burn’ there’s not a voice to be heard in the venue, a first for any gig? Every soul is intent on soaking up the message and the waves of emotion drawn from the fingers and mouths of these men when suddenly ‘the Neurosis moment’ comes from Steve von Till as he screams out ‘Don’t let it steal your’ and in that sonic conflagration, that auditory scream of voice and guitar becomes aflame and sets alight every single vehement voice in anger, every sorrow, all the moments that you’ve cared so deeply that it left an indelible impression upon your soul is fully realised...you feel so deeply that your heart hurts and your blood pumps so hard your chest feels like a storm and through this power, you know that nothing in this world can ever hurt you again.
It’s testament to ATP and Godspeeds excellent curating that they have managed to find a band that can follow Neurosis. They can’t beat it, but they can follow and help regain some sense of balance within. This band is Wolves in the Throne Room who are playing on this final evening. They’re a band whom seeing is a reverent one, reserved for those wanting a cathartic experience.
Wolves envelop the festival, blasting out dual guitars heavy with minor scale progressions, backed by a seamless drummer, absolutely finished with the piercing scream now expectant within the neo-black metal scene. Wolves have a deep mythology, seeking inspiration from their heavy environmental awareness and green attitude, living within the Appalachians Mountains, drawing upon the same elemental powers as their Norwegian predecessors did. It’s easy to see how Wolves came to be, when exploring their story. What’s unexpected is how soulful and joyous this music is. To the uninitiated, that is, somebody who has never listened to heavy music, they wouldn’t understand, nor would they have a care to. But were you to sit them down, explain the story, and show the inspiration, the link with nature and its reflection in the music, you just may produce a convert. Tonight, they made many.
ATP. It’s never failed. This year was the tenth year of its existence. Now, its puts on at least three unsponsored ‘tuborg'less’ festivals, a host of gigs across continents from bands you just don’t expect to see gigging very often and championing that which is so rare in music, the fact that there are only two types of music, good…and bad. Pigeonholing artists leads to arguments and admonishments.
As Steve Albini put so perfectly “There’s only three things I endorse, ATP Nutter Butter sandwich cookies and Abbey Road”
Sam Rhodes
Wednesday 8 December 2010
Monday 29 November 2010
Digital Cleanout
It's that time. I took a sojourn through my laptop specs and decided that with a few choice purchases, some ram and perhaps a new processor?? Or just the ram..bring it to 4gig or more. I have a 64 bi supporting processor so can upgrade to Windows7 64 bit no problem, add some epic ram and I'll have a veritable brand spanking new laptop, perfect for some live music application.
Laptop
Bibliotecheques library bastards fangtangort.
I don't like you.
What is my life, full of heavy handed waste and never looking back scourging.
breath and breath again, you lift, but never further.
Laptop
Bibliotecheques library bastards fangtangort.
I don't like you.
What is my life, full of heavy handed waste and never looking back scourging.
breath and breath again, you lift, but never further.
Thursday 11 November 2010
My prep for the private consult with the posh spinal expert..bleeeeurgh
Mr Krishna Consult
ONLY ANSWER THE QUESTIONS HE ASKS YOU IN AS FEW WORDS AS POSSIBLE. IF HE ASKS YOU A YES/NO QUESTION, JUST RESPOND YES/NO. IF HE WANTS MORE INFORMATION HE WILL ASK YOU FOR IT.
HE HAS READ YOUR FILE, PROBABLY IN DEPTH BEFORE YOU GO IN THE ROOM…..HE WILL KNOW ABOUT SHEFFIELD, AND EVERY SINGLE REFERRAL AND EVERY SINGLE LETTER OF COMMUNICATION WILL BE IN YOUR FILE….IT IS NOT YOUR JOB TO TELL HIM. YOUR JOB IS TELL HIM HOW YOU FEEL. IF HE NEEDS ANY INFORMATION HE WILL ASK YOU FOR IT.
If he asks you to tell him what’s been going on you can tell him this but he probably knows it already. This is all you need to say if asked:
• Nearly 2 years ago I woke up with an extremely sharp pain in my neck and a strange feeling in the right arm. Over the next two weeks the pain increased greatly and I began to develop numbness weakness and pins and needles in my right arm mostly in the thumb and first finger
• My GP referred me to Sheffield Neurosurgery where they diagnosed a disc prolapse on MRI.
• After this I was booked in for surgery, however after review the operation was put back for six months whilst first trying conservative treatment.
• My symptoms have got worse and worse over 2 years even though the MRI’s etc have shown Improvement.
• Around June this year Sheffield discharged me from their clinic stating they could no longer perform the disectomy that I had been booked in for twice.
• My only treatment now under the NHS is under the pain clinic who are failing to manage my pain.
HE WILL ALREADY KNOW YOUR SYMPTOMS BUT IF HE ASKS TELL HIM EVERYTHING SUCCINTLY:
• Severe Pain in the neck, worsened by any movement
• Twitches in thumb and finger, less in the arm, occasionally the right leg
• Numbness and Pins and needles in the arm,
• Sprained ankle feeling in the neck,
• No movement of head for causation of pain.
• Shooting pains down the arm.
• No sleep.
• Skin Problem in extremities, skin thickening, peeling.
• Migraines
• Burning pain in skin around neck on the back
• Difficulty swallowing.
The most important thing out of all of this- even if you don’t say another word- you need to say to him is that you just can’t stand it any more….These problems have an extreme impact on my life, the physical nature of it leaves me unable to be independent, live a full life or work due to the extreme pain and most physical movement of any longevity leave me in greater pain and with less mobility. I understand that some of these symptoms are due to the meds that I’m on and not the condition itself and my biggest aim is to not be as dependent as I am now on medication.
The above should take no more than about 2 minutes……by that time he will be bored. Keep him interested, ask him questions and make him work for his money………………………………….
WRITE THIS LIST DOWN…… AND ONLY ASK THEM IF HE’S NOT ALREADY BROUGHT THEM UP…...
• What is it that you are able to do for me?
• what can you do to manage this problem.?
• If he can do something….what is the next step?
• What is the time frame?
• What do I need to do before I next see you again?
• What are the full costs of the treatments?
• What are potential funding options (NHS Provision etc)
• If you can’t do anything what is my next step as I feel like you’re my last option (if this happens it is not the end of the world but don’t leave his office until you get an answer)….what do you recommend?
• I need you to be honest with me…..is this something I need to learn to live with and if so how?
• What are the risks involved in treatment?
• What would my quality of life be after treatment?
• If you will see him again…..If I have any questions between now and then who can I speak to?
• If he doesn’t do it already ask him to summarise/you summarise everything you have gone over thoroughly before you leave the room to check you have everything straight in your head.
ONLY ANSWER THE QUESTIONS HE ASKS YOU IN AS FEW WORDS AS POSSIBLE. IF HE ASKS YOU A YES/NO QUESTION, JUST RESPOND YES/NO. IF HE WANTS MORE INFORMATION HE WILL ASK YOU FOR IT.
HE HAS READ YOUR FILE, PROBABLY IN DEPTH BEFORE YOU GO IN THE ROOM…..HE WILL KNOW ABOUT SHEFFIELD, AND EVERY SINGLE REFERRAL AND EVERY SINGLE LETTER OF COMMUNICATION WILL BE IN YOUR FILE….IT IS NOT YOUR JOB TO TELL HIM. YOUR JOB IS TELL HIM HOW YOU FEEL. IF HE NEEDS ANY INFORMATION HE WILL ASK YOU FOR IT.
If he asks you to tell him what’s been going on you can tell him this but he probably knows it already. This is all you need to say if asked:
• Nearly 2 years ago I woke up with an extremely sharp pain in my neck and a strange feeling in the right arm. Over the next two weeks the pain increased greatly and I began to develop numbness weakness and pins and needles in my right arm mostly in the thumb and first finger
• My GP referred me to Sheffield Neurosurgery where they diagnosed a disc prolapse on MRI.
• After this I was booked in for surgery, however after review the operation was put back for six months whilst first trying conservative treatment.
• My symptoms have got worse and worse over 2 years even though the MRI’s etc have shown Improvement.
• Around June this year Sheffield discharged me from their clinic stating they could no longer perform the disectomy that I had been booked in for twice.
• My only treatment now under the NHS is under the pain clinic who are failing to manage my pain.
HE WILL ALREADY KNOW YOUR SYMPTOMS BUT IF HE ASKS TELL HIM EVERYTHING SUCCINTLY:
• Severe Pain in the neck, worsened by any movement
• Twitches in thumb and finger, less in the arm, occasionally the right leg
• Numbness and Pins and needles in the arm,
• Sprained ankle feeling in the neck,
• No movement of head for causation of pain.
• Shooting pains down the arm.
• No sleep.
• Skin Problem in extremities, skin thickening, peeling.
• Migraines
• Burning pain in skin around neck on the back
• Difficulty swallowing.
The most important thing out of all of this- even if you don’t say another word- you need to say to him is that you just can’t stand it any more….These problems have an extreme impact on my life, the physical nature of it leaves me unable to be independent, live a full life or work due to the extreme pain and most physical movement of any longevity leave me in greater pain and with less mobility. I understand that some of these symptoms are due to the meds that I’m on and not the condition itself and my biggest aim is to not be as dependent as I am now on medication.
The above should take no more than about 2 minutes……by that time he will be bored. Keep him interested, ask him questions and make him work for his money………………………………….
WRITE THIS LIST DOWN…… AND ONLY ASK THEM IF HE’S NOT ALREADY BROUGHT THEM UP…...
• What is it that you are able to do for me?
• what can you do to manage this problem.?
• If he can do something….what is the next step?
• What is the time frame?
• What do I need to do before I next see you again?
• What are the full costs of the treatments?
• What are potential funding options (NHS Provision etc)
• If you can’t do anything what is my next step as I feel like you’re my last option (if this happens it is not the end of the world but don’t leave his office until you get an answer)….what do you recommend?
• I need you to be honest with me…..is this something I need to learn to live with and if so how?
• What are the risks involved in treatment?
• What would my quality of life be after treatment?
• If you will see him again…..If I have any questions between now and then who can I speak to?
• If he doesn’t do it already ask him to summarise/you summarise everything you have gone over thoroughly before you leave the room to check you have everything straight in your head.
Tuesday 26 October 2010
Kylesa Review
Kylesa
Spiral Shadow
Still reeling from the wake of their runaway psych trip “Static tensions” Kylesa have decided to bring up the rearguard and deliver a final crushing blow…and what a weaving serpentine offering it is.
It may seem strange to find Kylesa releasing another album so soon after the richly deserved accolades of last year, yet here they are. No really, here they are! They’ve experienced another paradigm shift. Not content with their murky sludgecore pre-Static Tensions, they branched out to dip you into the hallucinogenic swamp of the aforementioned epic. Hell, even the Baizley artwork was enough to bring the genie out of the bottle, but they’re here because they’ve turned on their own screw again.
This album is far greater than the sum of its parts, melding sun and snakes and sniper-like acoustics. The dual percussive attack has been produced to the nth degree; the midrange separation of vocals and guitars has finally allowed the two to escape each other, revealing an impassioned soul that’s been lurking below all this time.
Here there are no haircuts, no hype, no hubris and no ego.
Here the snake doesn’t have to be charmed out because what’s on offer is so succinct, so striking, you’ll be hoping the follow-up to this comes just as quickly.
Spiral Shadow
Still reeling from the wake of their runaway psych trip “Static tensions” Kylesa have decided to bring up the rearguard and deliver a final crushing blow…and what a weaving serpentine offering it is.
It may seem strange to find Kylesa releasing another album so soon after the richly deserved accolades of last year, yet here they are. No really, here they are! They’ve experienced another paradigm shift. Not content with their murky sludgecore pre-Static Tensions, they branched out to dip you into the hallucinogenic swamp of the aforementioned epic. Hell, even the Baizley artwork was enough to bring the genie out of the bottle, but they’re here because they’ve turned on their own screw again.
This album is far greater than the sum of its parts, melding sun and snakes and sniper-like acoustics. The dual percussive attack has been produced to the nth degree; the midrange separation of vocals and guitars has finally allowed the two to escape each other, revealing an impassioned soul that’s been lurking below all this time.
Here there are no haircuts, no hype, no hubris and no ego.
Here the snake doesn’t have to be charmed out because what’s on offer is so succinct, so striking, you’ll be hoping the follow-up to this comes just as quickly.
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