Reviews Amongst Other Things

What can I say about Bandcamp? First of all, I can't praise this service enough since discovering it last year via Peter Prog's radio show on progrock.com (more on Pete another time,) it truly is a fantastic website! It gives music artists a chance to reach out to people without a record label or any other middle man thus directly supporting them and there are many to discover. One of the first bands I discovered through Bandcamp (thanks to the previously mentioned radio programme) was Red Bazar. After having heard them on the show and following the link taking me to this site, I was able to listen to not only the tracks played on the radio but the entire album! A great way to try before you buy, not that I needed much convincing with this record and bought it shortly after. Unfortunately at the time, I thought albums on the site could only be purchased digitally but have since found that you can not only buy a CD on Bandcamp but in some cases even Vinyl! In doing so,...

Let me start by saying... Wow! Having watched all eight episodes over two consecutive nights, that would be the one word I would use to sum up the whole show. Something about the way this has been produced reminds me of another series I am currently viewing, 'Legion' which I am also enjoying. What I have noticed with the way television series are being approached now is they seem to have adopted shorter episode runs with more of a focus on the main story. Where the shows that have come before had there twenty-four or so episode long seasons thus spreading the story arcs thinly while padding out with unrelated filler episodes. Netflix and other internet based TV (and film) providers have played a huge role in this and to much success along with releasing all episodes in one day! It seems to be the future of television and of course we still have series on television that have the long seasons but most with fewer episodes. I for one am quite happy with that as I was not part...

You know you like an album when you just cannot stop listening to it and for me, Joe Satriani's latest effort is one such album. I was having a look through HMV's Vinyl bargain bin when I came across this one for a mere £10! I knew of Joe Satriani through a friend but had never heard any of his work before so I had a listen to some tracks from this album on Youtube. Well it didn't take long before I was sold so this along with a few other Vinyls, I made my purchase and when I arrived home, this was the first record I gave a spin on my turntable. What I noticed once the album drew to a close was how no two tracks are the same which really demonstrates Joe's different guitar playing style. There are times on this when I was reminded of Jeff Beck and also Joe Bonamassa with a hint of Steve Hackett when he recorded some of his bluesy records but looking through Satriani's history, I would say he has earned the right to having his own distinct identity. What is...

For my first review, I thought I would have a go at this one I watched last night. As it is my first review, I don't expect it to be the best but it will be a short one, much like the film actually! It's a film I have been meaning to watch for some time ever since it had been brought to my attention back in '09 I believe. A friend had come to mine with a couple of dvd's he thought I may be interested in; The Incredible Hulk (2008) and this one... we chose the former. Fast forward to the present, I am having one of my usual looks through the listings for the coming week on the tv guide concentrating on the film channels and especially the Horror channel which is when I came upon this. What struck me towards the end of the film was how unusual yet also how familiar it was. The familiarity wasn't just how it had a similarity with other films in the genre and of the past fifteen years or so but it bore a striking resemblance to The Thing (1982)! Like that film,...

A little over ten years ago, I had the urge to take up a musical instrument and that being the Bass Guitar! If I recall, it was around this time in 2006 when I took one of my browses through the sale section of HMV before heading to my next lecture at college, when my eyes happened upon Level 42 The Collection CD for a mere £3! I remembered that I'd heard their music around my aunties' as a boy and thinking I quite liked what I had heard. At that price, I took the chance and played it regularly for some time but what I found was that I was listening mostly to the lead vocalist and bass guitarist Mark King! With time I was captivated by his slap bass technique and it was then that I knew I wanted to take it up myself. It was also this same year that the band was about to release their brand new album 'Retroglide' their first since Forever Now way back in 1994! To coincide with this release the band were to tour and they were going to be performing locally aroun...

Well here we are! My blog finally up and running and I welcome you visitor. Let us see how this transpires from here on out as I take this journey into the unknown waters of blogging. It may be a jittery start to begin with but I feel it will all be worth it. My aim for this is to express my feeling towards the films, music, television shows that I watch/listen to and with a tendency to lean towards the lesser known releases as the more major ones will have been covered extensively by many others far more experienced at reviewing than I. So with this view, my hope is that this will appeal to someone out there but even if only a few or none at all see this, it will be something just for me to interpret what I feel towards various things into type. I may also write about any concert going experiences I have that could well be of interest and anything else that I see along the way. I will keep you posted....