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08-09-2012, 10:29 PM
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#212 (permalink) |
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Mate, Spawn & Die
Join Date: May 2007
Location: The Rapping Community
Posts: 24,593
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New album review posted in my "25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die" journal
We're in the final stretch here, only three more albums left after this one! |
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08-19-2012, 06:53 PM
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#215 (permalink) |
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Born to be mild
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,992
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The Music Journals Weekly Update Post, w/e August 19 2012
After some consultation with various journal authors, I've decided to post a weekly update here which will advise what journals are being maintained, and what they're being updated with. To be nice and current, I'll probably just look at page one of the journals subforum, although if something has recently been added but pushed to page two, that can be included too. But that's as far back as I'll go, as anyone who's regularly or even semi-regularly updating will most likely find themselves on one of the first two pages.
Only proper posts will be noted, not comments, and of course anyone who's maintaining a journal and wishes to post updates independent of this is welcome to; this will just be an overall weekly update. Anyone who hasn't checked the journals section out, you should do, as there are some seriously great things happening there. Better yet, why not start one? Any journals that I personally feel are worth pointing out, but are not (at the moment) updated, will be namechecked here, both to give you the chance to look at them and to perhaps give a gentle push to their authors to think about updating them. This first entry will be rather large, but that's only because I want to introduce and talk a little about each journal and point you in its direction. Next week's, and all future updates, will be a lot shorter and to the point. Oh, and if anyone thinks they've been left out and shouldn't be, let me know. But the best way to get on the update posts is to, um, update your journal. As it moves up the rankings it'll come more into view and will then be included. Finally, any comments I make on anyone's journals are not meant to be taken personally, or as criticisms. If you haven't updated recently, we all understand: everyone is busy. Any little smart digs from me in that direction are purely based on the fact that I personally think your journal should be more read than it is, and should be updated more regularly, but of course not everyone has the free time I have. Coming, dear... To be totally fair and democratic, I'm going to do this alphabetically, using the author's name as the basis. So this week we're looking at the following: A is for Anteater: who maintains two journals (imagine that! Who else would do such a thing? Um...) his main one originally being The Anthill: Anteater's reviews of the curious and obscure. To date, this was last updated with an actual entry by him back in, um, 2009? However, in his defence he is also running Anteater's guide to 80s melodic rock and Anteater's essential guide to modern progressive rock, not to mention his off-forum blog, “The Widening Eye”. But his current one, the one he's working on at the moment, is Anteater's Muzak 101: legitimizing smooth jazz for the unwashed masses, and that is therefore the one we will concentrate on in future, unless he sees fit to work on any of his others. Wow! Talk about Steven Wilson's workload! Anyhoo, the current entry in “Muzak 101” for the past week is on Kit Walker, “Dancing on the edge of the world” (album review). A is also for Antonio, whose journal is here Antonio's Music Dumping Ground and has been brought back to life, after two years (yeah, I said years!) and his last entry looks to be 7/5 or 5/7 (not sure how the dates work, with you Americans reversing them! Oh wait, he mentions Independence Day, so I guess it's 5/7) and is on the subject of “Yellow submarine”, a cover by Willy Chirino. Nothing since though... tap tap tap. B, then, is for Blarrobarg, who had a go with a journal but it didn't seem to work out, but undaunted came back with My Official Opinion On... which to date is mostly personal stuff from his life story, and very well written it is too. The purported last part of this was upped yesterday, 18/8, and is well worth taking the time to read through it, and the previous entries. What has he for us next? Watch this space. Well, watch that space really, his, you know, where his journal is... B is also for Bob, whose take on noise rock, while not my cup of tea, is always entertaining. His journal is here Just can't keep my filthy hands of your piece of mind (sic): Bob's guide to noise rock. Unfortunately he hasn't updated since 28/3, when he reviewed “Self totalled” by Cosmic Psychos. Hopefully we'll hear more from him real soon. And last, but by no means least, B is for Burning Down, whose journal Thoughts from a music major has suffered due no doubt to her studies, but is definitely worth watching to see when it will be updated. Her last post so far was a short piece on 25/6 promising to update her journal. Tappity tappity BD! Seriously, everyone's waiting to hear what you have to say... A quick mention and note of thanks to Bulldog, whose journal The Doghouse V.II ran for almost two years, but on 20/5 of this year he announced he was leaving Music Banter. Others who know him better will understand why. His journal will obviously no longer be updated, unless he changes his mind and comes back, but it's still worth a read, and is a treasure trove of eclecticism in music. A sad loss.  On we go then to C, where we find CanwllCorfe. His journal was certainly interesting, with the last few entries being on Depressive Black Suicidal Metal and Post dubstep/Future Garage, but despite a teaser posted in July about Native American music, the search parties have not yet found this guy and his journal, The Quiet Man in the Corner has slipped right to the bottom of page 2, where it has no right to be. Worse, with a few more journals added he'll find himself on page 3, and who ever looks at page 3? Come back to us, CC, before it's too late! Conan, is weird. That's not a criticism, just a fact. You don't believe me? Check out his Visions of the altered state; last updated 12/4, but if you understand what's going on in there, you're a better (or more stoned) person than I! Last update concerned “Amir”, by Henri Texier. Yeah. And speaking of weird, Psychedelia by Conchobar is far outside my experience or interest, but if you're into that sort of music check his, relatively new, journal out on page 1. Last entry was 12/8, Slowdive, “When the sun hits”. I wasn't sure whether to put Mr Dave in D or M, but decided to go with the former. His mega-interesting journal, Tales from the jam room gives a musician's perspective on, well, everything really. A very entertaining read, well written and semi-regularly updated. Last post was 6/8 and concerned the nature of time (yeah) with a video of one of my favourite Alan Parsons Project songs called, you guessed it, “Time”. Our other entrant in D is DoctorSoft, who, though his journal is reasonably new and not updated since June, has managed to stay on page one. It's worth a read at Keepin it soft, with the last post regarding Ambinate, album called “Horizon”, though the video isn't working. Still, journal opened in April and only four entries? Must do better, Doctor!  I'm sure he will, soon enough.That takes us to E, and the very epitome of future fossil fuel, yes it's Engine. His journal, Squirrel Bait family tree – reviewed hasn't been updated since 19/5 when he promised us a review of “Me hungry” by King Kong. Where is it, Engine, huh? Answer me that, if you can... And so on we go to F, where Fetching's journal is another which has not been regularly updated but is definitely worth a read. It's at Kayleigh's journal and the last entry was on 3/7, when she waxed lyrical about her favourite DJs. G is the home of two very new journals, the first being that from Geekoid, at Geekoid's world of music, and be warned: this guy goes deep into the construction and even de-construction of music, but he's highly intelligent and will introduce you to some damn fine music, as well as wow you with his graphics and make your brain throb with facts and figures. Music theory? It's a lot more than that. As this is one of the journals which is regularly updated, I won't be just posting details of his last post, but of all posts this week, as I will be doing with any others that fall into that “currently posting” category. So this week Geekoid has explored Adult Alternative 90s music in his regular “Mixtape of the week” section, looked at Christian Contemporary Music in “The Sunday Post” with an article on Leslie Phillips, gone deeply into the analysis of music in his “Synesthetics Experiment” series, checked out music from the Faroe Islands and thrown in “My Two Cents” with his take on The Knife album, “Tomorrow in a year”. Oh, and just today he's put up another “Mixtape” concentrating on the Philly soul sound. Told you he updated regularly! Keep checking his journal, always something interesting guaranteed. Whaddya mean, you don't know what Hauntology is? Step this way, please... Our other G is Goofle11, who has been convinced and encouraged to start a journal here The regular and unexceptional world of Goofle11. He's only been running this since this week, so give it a chance, but he already has an interesting article up on El-P (no, not the prog rock supergroup, dummy!) and I see great things coming from this corner of the journal section. J is our next journal (J for journal, huh?) and is the one, the only, the mighty Jackhammer. His What's the sound in my headphones today? has been going since 2008, and will take your breath away with the musical diversity in it, if you don't know him already. From punk to trance, from grindcore to classical and from prog rock to screamo, there's almost literally something for everyone in here. The last post was in July, and concerned one-man-bands, but we hope to see something new from the mighty Jackhammer soon. Also in J, I think everyone has read, or knows of, Janszoon's amazing and innovative 25 albums you should hear before the moon crashes into the Earth and we all die. Not only is the music, er, different, but the prose is elegant and powerful: it's almost more like reading a book about the apocalypse, or even watching a movie. Last entry was 10/8, with a review of “Sumday” by Grandaddy. You need to check this out. Seriously. I'm not joking. Go now. Don't waste time. Why are you still here? Oh, before you do go, take note that Jansz also has Time and place which is a journal he describes himself as an “open-ended music column”. Sadly, the last update was back in May, and was about San Jose. Hopefully he'll update this again soon. K just has the one author, but what an author! Check out My music journal and many other things by Ki, with current entries focussing on his 100 favourite albums, a work in progress. N brings us The Nice Guy (where did you learn English? “The” is always ignored when sorting things alphabetically!) whose journal A Nice Guy's Music Musings was fast becoming one of my favourites, but hasn't been updated since April, when he wrote an interesting article about the Sex Pistols. Where are you, Nice Guy? Next up is P, where we find a journal maintained by the creator of this thread, and one of our favourite mods, Pedestrian. She's Crosswalking here and you can find not only great reviews and essays, but some pretty amazing poetry and her ongoing sitcom scripts there. Her last entry was in June, as far as I can see, and was on the punk band Cardiacs, and their album “On land and in the sea”. Obviously, being a mod takes up a lot of her time, but we still hope to see new entries in her journal in the not-too-distant future. The Chum Bucket is a journal recently started by Plankton, but is already highly entertaining. His most recent entry is on Black Sabbath, linked to his childhood/adolescence, and was posted on 16/8. Expect more soon, I would think. TheBig3 has been running his eclectic journal, Screaming at the moon for three years now, and it's always an amazing, deep and satisfying read. Unfortunately, the last update was in February, concerning the death of Whitney Houston. Hoping for a new entry real soon... Oh crap. That brings us to some prick called Trollheart, who obviously thinks he's God's gift to music journals. Christ I hate him. But I suppose we have to include his bloody journals, huh?  I actually maintain two, as you may know, the first of which, my main journal is The Playlist of Life, and covers most music I'm interested in, leaning towards the likes of metal, prog rock, AOR and so forth, but with a lot of different stuff in there too. I try to update every day, or every other day, but you can at least be guaranteed that there'll be a new entry twice a week at the very worst. Current entries for this week include a review of Spanish power metal band Saratoga's new album, “Nemesis”, Gerry Rafferty's “Snakes and ladders”, Del Amitri's “Waking hours” (in the “Meh” section), ELO's last album, “Zoom”, and our regular slot “Helen's selected cheese of the week” features Kylie with “Better the devil you know”. Then there are reviews of David Gray's “White ladder” and the classic “Desperado” by the Eagles. Finally, in my occasional “Trollheart recommends” slot, there are six tracks for you to consider, including offerings from The Gaslight Anthem, The Reasoning and Stevie Nicks. My other journal has not been in existence that long, but I still try to update Bitesize: Trollheart's Daily Album mini-reviews as often as I can. It's not always daily, but it isn't too far from that. This is where I run much shorter, less in-depth reviews than those that typically appear in my main journal. Bitesize, you see? Each album is awarded a rating, from one Cookie (don't ask!) for the very worst, up to five Cookies for the truly outstanding. This week's reviews include albums from Stevie Nicks, Bell X1, Knight Area, Ben Howard, No-Man and Tiamat. Another of the older journals in existence, Urban's Journal of stuff is of course maintained by Urban Hatemonger? And features all sorts of strange things, as you would expect. Urban's last act was in July, when he had Stacey-Lynn kidnapped on her way to my journal. Yeah, I'm serious. Look, just read his journal, all right? There's no telling what he might do if he feels he's being ignored. Bringing us to V for Vanilla. Her journal, Vanilla's Eargasms has unfortunately not been updated since March, when she wrote about Gotye, but we hope something new will be forthcoming soon. Another lady takes up the W spot, the multispecies-named Wolverinewolfweiselpigeon. You should check her journal Ego Tripping if only to hear her beautiful voice: she really can sing (and play)! Her last entry though was in June, with a video from Hanson. And finally (alphabetically speaking, and for no other reason) we have Zero. The Final Sound is ony sporadically updated, but worth checking when it is. To date, Zero's last post was in July, when he talked about some of the songs he was currently enjoying, including Prefab Sprout and Butthole Surfers. That's it for this week. Any updates that appear over the next week will be in next Sunday's post. But don't rely on this thread: go check out the journals now for yourself. They're only a click away... 
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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 |
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08-26-2012, 01:28 PM
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#216 (permalink) |
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Born to be mild
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,992
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The Music Journals Weekly Update Post, w/e August 26 2012
Well, surprisingly not a lot has happened here in Journal-land this week. Maybe people were taking advantage of weather we never have here in Ireland, ie good, but for me it's been the usual old slog, so my journals have been updated as they always are. Well, sort of. But as before, in alphabetical order, the below journals have had new entries posted at the time of writing.
Anteater's journal http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ed-masses.html has an entry posted about the Claus Ogerman Orchestra and their album "Gate of dreams". Mr Dave threw in an update to his journal http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-jam-room.html just after I had created the first update post last week, so I missed it, but it's there now so go read it. More introspective deep thoughts from the man who constantly has to fight off bakers and housewives, explaining it's not THAT sort of jam! Downward Spiral is a new entry on our table, as it were. After about a year of not posting, seems he's remembered he has a journal! http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...9787-list.html is where you'll find his "110 best albums in the world ever", which he promises to update soon! Geekoid admits himself that he had to get away and do more "physical things", get away from the cyberverse for a while, but he's back this evening, with another of his mixtapes, this time based around soft pop sounds of the sixties. Yeah, man! Check it out here http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...rld-music.html Ki has another installment of his "100 favourite albums" here http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...er-things.html, worth a look. Plankton invites you to dip once again into http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...um-bucket.html with a look at the Godz. Don't understand? Step this way, mind your feet... And that leaves me, Trollheart. What's been happening in my main journal http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-journal.html? Well, um, not that much really: I'm as guilty as others of failing to update the ol' journal as much as I used to. Hey, it's not easy, you know! YOU try it! Anyway, for what it's worth, this week there's a review of Spanish power metal band Dark Moor's album "Tarot", a return for "We'll be right back after the break", looking at Weetabix ads down the years, "The Two Hundred Word Album Review" features Phil Collins's debut solo album "Face value", while bringing things more up to date we have a review of ex-Genesis man Anthony Phillips' latest collaboration, a double album with composer Andrew Skeet which goes under the title of "Seventh Heaven". Oh, and a tongue-in-cheek "Charity Cases" focusses on "We're sending our love down the well". Really. As for my other journal, http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...i-reviews.html, well Sweden is well represented, with "Bitesize" reviews of albums by AOR band Houston as well as metallers Axenstar's "The Inquisition". Then there's Ultravox and Evanescence and, well, that's it really. I know: must do better! I'm working on it, I'm working on it... And that's it for another week. Don't forget to check out any of the journals mentioned above, or any others shown in the first post. Even if they're not updated this week, they're all jam-packed and more than worth a few hours of your time. Now, where's that Erik Norlander album I've been meaning to review...?
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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 |
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08-26-2012, 04:05 PM
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#217 (permalink) |
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Music Addict
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 5,184
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09-02-2012, 06:10 PM
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#218 (permalink) |
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Born to be mild
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,992
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The Music Journals Weekly Update Post, w/e September 2 2012
Okay then, some more movement in the journals this week, so let's get to it.
First up is Geekoid's World of Music, with a very interesting new section he calls "The Junk Drawer". What is it? You don't think I'm going to tell you, do you? Head to his journal to find out...Then we have Ki, at My Music Journal (And Many Other Things), where he's still ploughing through his 100 best albums, up now to part 6. Some good ones in there! Plankton has updated his journal here, with another personal piece about his father. Well worth reading, some good music there too. My own journal hasn't been updated as often as I'd like, but hey, I have to eat you know! Currently you'll find at The Playlist of Life a review of an album by a band called We Shot the Moon (they're not brilliant, but worth a listen), the return of "A Marriage made in..." with Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush, "Variations on a theme" is back with songs all having to do with the sun and sunshine; there's a review of Dec Burke's "Destroy all monsters" and my "Watching TV" series has morphed into "Series Link". Huh? Step this way... As for my other journal, well, Bitesize has reviews this week of albums by Erik Norlander, John Wetton, Springsteen, Jaded Heart and Isidurs Bane. Next week we'll be starting a new section based on albums released in 2012, so stay tuned... And finally, a welcome return for Urban in Urban's Journal of Stuff, with his unique review of Rolling Stone's top 50 albums. With pictures. You need to see it. That's all for this week; we'll see who updates their journal next week, and there may even be some new ones popping up. Enjoy your week, and don't forget to check us out, same time same place, next Sunday.
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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 |
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09-23-2012, 08:03 PM
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#219 (permalink) |
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Born to be mild
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,992
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The Music Journals Weekly Update Post, w/e September 23 2012
Man, have I neglected this thread! Well, I was under the weather for a week, so I have some excuse. Nonetheless, it's been too long since this was updated so here we go, with apologies to all concerned.
Anteater has a review of Japanese jazz fusion band Dimension's album “Newish” at http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ed-masses.html while Mr Dave has more philosophical thoughts and some fine writing in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-jam-room.html Geekoid's last post to date was something called, uh, “The Sunday Post” in which he looked at Sixpence None The Richer, who had a big hit way back when and are unexpectedly back with a new album. Read all about them here http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...rld-music.html A welcome update from Janszoon in his http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...e-all-die.html; this time he's talking about an Argentinian jazz/punk/metal/ska/regga act ... I'm serious. They're called Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, apparently (not too hard to translate that one huh?) and you should read what he writes about them. Ki hasn't updated his journal recently, but the last entry just scrapes in to this post, as it was entered on Sept 4. It's part seven of his Top 100 albums. Some interesting ones in there. Read it at http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...er-things.html Due to a namechange by him, Conchobar, now known as PoorOldPo (again) slips down the alphabetical listing, but his journal http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ychedelia.html is always worth a look. Recently he's had music from Porcupine Tree, My Morning Jacket and one of his favourites, Tame Impala, who are back with a new album. And so we're back to me. As already offered as a weak excuse, I was sick so have not quite updated my journals as much as I normally do, but nevertheless there's still a lot to see at http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-journal.html, including Helen's Selected Cheese of the Week, featuring the Commodores' slushy hit “Three times a lady”, a new section called “The Meat Grinder”, in which I select a metal band totally at random, and review them no matter how horrible they may sound. The inaugural effort turned up a US thrash/speed metal band called Sauron. My ears are still ringing! Meanwhile, back in the real world... yeah, with the months disappearing faster than a severance cheque down the local, it's time to up my game; plenty of 2012 albums to get through, so on both journals I'm trying to review more. So far I've covered Japanese singer Eri Kitamura's weirdly-titled debut, “Re;story” and the new one from Lynyrd Skynyrd, plus there's a return for “More than words”, with two songs that treat one subject two different ways. Finally there's a look at Boy Meets Girl's second album in the “Nice song --- shame about the album!” slot. Oh yeah, and just tonight I popped up a review of Jean-Michel Jarre's “Magnetic fields”. As for http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...i-reviews.html, well, you won't escape from new albums here anymore either! Introducing “Realword Bitesize”, a condensed version of the full reviews on 2012 albums taking place in my main journal. We've already had reviews of a debut album by metal band Mercurial Void (to quote Basil Fawlty: oh God it was awful!) and just today have put up our thoughts on the new one from Kathleen Edwards. Other than that, we've got albums from Lunatic Soul, Work of Art, Adagio, Lake of Tears, Judie Tzuke, Metalium, Dire Straits and Josh Groban. How's that for getting your teeth into! That brings us to a new journal, but one that's receiving a lot of attention and shaping up to be one of the journals of 2012. Unknown Soldier's first attempt at a journal is a mighty effort as he opens http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...y-history.html, which intends to trace the evolution of heavy rock from its beginnings way back in 1969. Tall order! So far, he's featured albums by Deep Purple, Grand Funk, Humble Pie, Free, Zep and MC5, as well as lesser known bands like High Tide and Bloodrock. Shaping up well! I think he's about to move into 1970 soon, so ya better get readin', or risk being left behind! Another new journal, it's a return for an established member, as Unrelenting runs through http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...halloween.html with some of the spookiest, most unsettling music you have ever heard. With entries on Inkubus Succubus, Chelsea Wolfe and, er, Tom Waits among his selections, be afraid! Be very afraid! BOO! So that's what's moving and shaking in the world of music journals. Don't forget to check 'em out, and I'll be back next Sunday with a new update. No, really, I will. Promise. Look, I told you I was sick, didn't I? Well all right then, if you want to be like that...
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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 |
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09-30-2012, 06:04 PM
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#220 (permalink) |
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Born to be mild
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,992
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The Music Journals Weekly Update Post, w/e September 30 2012
As September draws to a close and we post the last update for this month, there's been little of note to talk about in members' journals, with the exception of one, which we'll come to later.
Big news today is that Bulldog has rejoined us, and though he hasn't yet updated his journal (give the guy a chance!) he says he soon will, so check it out here http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ouse-v-ii.html Believe it or not, that brings us to me, and most of my main journal, http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-journal.html has been this week taken up with completing the final part of my foray into the murky world of boybands, as "Stranger in a strange land" finally draws to a conclusion, with reviews of Westlife, The Wanted and One Direction. Brrr! Give me death metal any day! Speaking of death metal, yep, The Meat Grinder has again foisted a black metal/death metal band on me, called Luciferi Excelsi! Gah! Why do I bother? And, er, that's it. Hey! Researching and bloody listening to all those boybands takes time, you know! And willpower... Over at my other journal, http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...i-reviews.html, things haven't exactly been hopping either. We have reviews of albums by, well, Diamond Head and Elegy. Look, I've been busy, ok? Someone else who's been busy this week, and indeed keeping the flag flying for journals is Unknown Soldier, whose http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...y-history.html has moved into 1970, and features albums by such bands as Zep, Crimson and someone called May Blitz, as well as Stray and Lucifer's Friend. Good work man! Would have had very little for the thread otherwise. Finally (only alphabetically, you understand, though the word "final" is in his journal title) Zero has a sort of retrospective review of that classic of the easy-listening band Slayer, yeah it's "Reign in blood", and you can find it here http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nal-sound.html Tomorrow I'll be getting back to properly updating both my journals, so should be a lot more to report this time next week. Also, as October begins, I expect Unrelenting's journal will begin to gather pace as we head into the Witching Month. See ya some other time! Troll
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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 |
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