Kids got skills...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/defects/

i give you maxwell tomlinson

peas

Sounds from the pink terrace.

I decided that as all i seem to do on this thing is review other peoples music i may as well make it a regular thing, think i'll call it 'sounds of Beatrice' or something? no?

Anyways I've spent this evening listening to one of the most over hyped albums I've heard in a while, its not that its bad, its just really really not as good as what i expected. Maybe its because i feel the whole combining Sega megadrive noises with a nasally, generic voice is a little tired. The reviews & word of mouth promised so much more than this offers. I often think when you get halfway through an album & you could still be in the middle of the first track that tells you everything you need to know about said album. To me this sounds like everything else which is 'amazing & innovative' i seem to have heard recently, i heard it compared to the strokes which is an interesting analogy. I imagine if Albert Hammond junior was to change his voice to a slightly more morose version of the lead singer from passion pit, the band were to have a collective relapse to their 1980's childhoods & lose any shred of originality it would sound mighty similar. However, on the plus side this album doesn't claim to be anything it isn't, the title 'let it beep' should probably have warned me what was coming if nothing else. Despite this i have no doubt that i sound like a slightly bitter & grizzled old soul & i actually happen to know a fair few people who like this record. So if time & music taste allows why not have a listen? who knows you may like it & come back and tear apart my horribly one dimensional review. just don't listen too long it may all begin to sound the same.

peas

I feel your pain.

Self enforced poverty bites. photo from Jim 'the gully badman' goldberg.

peas

If only everything was simple.

Like how good this album is, i first heard the Sheffield duo a year or two ago, but along with the news & anything of relevance to modern life the fact they had an album out completely passed me by. A bit of Sunday afternoon boredom put pay to that though, now i've heard it i can't stop listening too it, my standout track has to be apples & pairs but don't take my word for it go and have a gander yourself.

Today's been a surreal one I've spent it fuzzy headed listening to the whole of les miserables on spotify, smoking amber leaf & reading about 'the life & times of Eamon de valera'. Now i realise that listening to french musicals is not considered the height of heterosexuality for a 19 year old boy & reading about Irish politicians is very very dull but boredom & studying calls me. Our house has become ridiculous drunken fights over everything from washing up to lost house keys, the next six months will be interesting if nothing else. ramble over.

peas

oh & is there a better bmx trailer than this? nice to see bmx at its best again instead of the 500,00 double whip air, footjam footjam footjam edits i usually get linked to. The clips from whatever film that is are pretty disturbing as well, i reckon the film must be a winner.

the Make Rain Dogs Trailer from the Make on Vimeo.

night all.

Bruza's your boyyyy...

http://rideukbmx.com/news/day-james-ivett.html/comment-page-1/#comment-9994

that hang five round the bench is sicker than fred west, i tried to manual round it once and had some comedy stacks, some people ay?

Peas

The manifestation of evil? what?

Feeling this band more than usual & this happens to be probably the most beautiful song i've ever heard. Im pretty sure i heard an amazing cover of this by dresden dolls or something at 5am one drunken night over the summer but i really can't be sure, it was probably the exact same song hmmmm the drunken brain is a strange thing. Oh and the youtube comments about this are hilarious loads of angry, emotional american kids talking about 'the manifestation of evil' or some shit, i highly recommend it for a giggle.

Stoked on a week of no Uni work from tommorow, i feel so energetic right now if it wasn't force 10 winds outside i'd go for a ride so i could sleep, but ah well hawke session tommorow.all is good.

peas

whad'up ganstaaaaaarr?

Can I Eat? - Edwin Delarosa from Animal Bikes on Vimeo.

Saw this posted on creasemeister earlier, i had totally forgot about this section & the video which is definately one of the best of all time, well from my generation anyway. This section was the single biggest influence on me at the age of 15, i used to run four pegs, 2 inch wide bars & ride around trying to barspin in and out of everything i could, which i personally think is way cooler than all the tweaked, aeroplane bars thing that most kids go for now but hey i don't mean to sound like a salty old man at the age of 19. This section clearly still stands the test of time as well, i mean hardway 180 bars out of feeble still ain't exactly a common trick, in fact i can count on one hand people i know who can do them. The song's a keeper as well brings back hazy memories of strongbow filled nights with sketty girls & good friends when we were nippers. Anyways enough nostalgia if, heaven forbid, you've never seen can i eat? get hold of it, if posible on VHS to make the experience all the more thrilling then go out & find your nearest flat rail, ledge,kinker or hip & have a NYC themed session.

Peas

I funkin...

Love this song at the moment, it proper reminds me of dreamy summer days & its been in my head for about two wet, windy winter days straight. The video isn't bad either amzing what you can achieve with some facepaint and cardboard.



oh and i've been living up to my promise to myself to ride more, had my first street session for about a week yesterday, yeaaah boyyy.

peas

Wolfio di canio

Found a pretty rad Patrick Wolf interview here it comes in two parts but you don't need me to link that for you. It's pretty interesting reading & whilst i can't relate to much of his lifestyle, being gay, growing up as a muscial prodigy and all that I find his music pretty inspirational(no matter how gay/cheesy that sounds) & if nothing else well easy to listen too. So have a wee read you may be suprised.

Annnnd my childhood hero, even though he's turned into some kind of facist, Nazi freak now he'll still always be a badass in my eyes, most underated player ever?



Peas

Chucklevision....

This gave me a good ole yorkshire chuckle, pretty much what happens 9/10 times when i do whoppers, ill stick to good ole tree hops.

peas

More Festivities...

Yet another thing I intend to go to in the next month or so, despite the fact the first gallows album was way better and rolo tomassi are a little scary but hey a party's a party.

oh and i found out an astounding fact of science today, pizza tastes 38% better if it isn't cut into triangles. Life will never be the same.

Peas

ps. check out Still Life Still, best new band i've heard in a while.

hype ting.

So hyped on this video, it should be amazing & it gives me an excuse to go and have a few shandies with all the boys we went to cologne with. video premiers rule!
peas

Winter resolutions..

I know its November & its probably a little early for the whole resolution thing, i also realise this is probably the unoriginal post ever. Buuut i decided to write a list of stuff i need to do, it seems like most of my passions apart from drinking have died a pretty pathetic death recently, so here we go.

RIDE
RIDE
RIDE
Start shooting photos again (i always say this then fail to get my SLR fixed, but this time I'll do it.)
Stop smoking so much
Film some clips
Go to more gigs
Learn to draw better
Get all my uni work done
Go to Barcelona/Madrid & stop putting it off.
Write some articles so my journalism dream goes somewhere.
Get some sweet tats on the go.
Buy a belt that isn't borrowed from my dad and thus two sizes too big,so i don't have to use shoelaces anymore.

I think thats about all, i hope this isn't to boring, but i make no apologies if it is. Oh and this is going to be amazing, my housemate tom told me about it earlier:Bombay bicycle club, temper trap & the big pink. Granted Razorshite are playing but i can live with 40min's of pain for a couple of hours of bliss. Its a Brixton academy on the 16th December just in time for Christmas.



Oh and its just dawned on me that this is the wrong flyer, i wouldn't be for hard-fi & kasier chiefs but mehhh you get the gist of the thing.

Peas.

Penthouses & female lyricists.

I have to confess everything in my life seems to revolve music at the moment, as riding's on the back bench for winter & uni work is endless. Anyways here's a couple of albums that have been in my ears & my head consistently recently.


Be your own pet mark 2? Not quite but its still pretty good, it has a lot of the things i loved about the sadly deceased sweet riffs,aggressive female vocals & a lead singer who's pretty fucking hot in her own way, no? In fact i really wish I'd gone to truck festival as this band would have been a definite highlight for me. In terms of a stand out song for me its 'Antibodies' but i never understand why people point out which are their favourite songs on a album as i guarantee there's a million people who think otherwise. Anyways in a common theme I've run out of words so ill just say even though there's about 500,000 other girl led indie bands out there at the moment sky larkin are one of the refreshingly better ones.



A classic, wonderfully soupy vocals & synths,mood lifting, good to ride to,travel to,chill to (do just about everything to apart from fuck maybe). One of my favourite albums of alllll time, if i owned a penthouse in new york city or canary wharf this is exacty what i would put on whilst i sat on the balcony smoking camels, drinking some 19th century whiskey & surveying the scene in front of me, kinda like the cover but more elaborate. One word to describe it? wonderful.

peas

Canterbury...

Whats that quote about 'everyone of worth' coming from small shitty towns?

Anyways I was procrastinating from doing yet another essay the other day (second year has come round to bite me in the ass) and i came across this. Canterbury were one of those bands who seem to play everywhere locally when your about 16 or 17 & whilst they always were a little better than most of the bands in the Basingstoke scene, i assumed university, girlfriends & apathy would have claimed them like most other bands from my underage era. So i was pleasantly surprised to find they had an album out for free download on Mythophonic, I was even more surprised to find they had been touring with Cancer Bats & Billy talent. But i digress back to the album, its called 'thankyou' and its actually rather good, which is strange because as a band they shouldn't really be my cup of rosy lea. In terms of sound its all catchy guitar riffs and angsty pop punk vocals (although one of the greatest attractions of this band is that they don't see the need to sing in 90's pop punk california whine, opting instead for a good old home counties accent.), but don't be fooled lyrically this albums pretty sweet and definately has the feel of a band who have worked their way up in the best way possible, constant gigs. It has so be said that with a headline tour planned for later in the year and a slot on the same record company as enter shikari these 'boys done good' from Basingstoke are gonna go from strength to strength and i personally wish them all the luck in the world.

The above photo was taken at one such gig in my neighbourhood back home, i felt it conveyed their energy pretty well & apparently it was taken by j.wildsmith?

Peas

oh and if your interested im pretty sure you can get their album from here
http://www.myspace.com/canterbury