The Music Banter Members' Journals Monthly Update Thread

[Powerstars]

I think I may start the point totals on the league table over, as that way, I get to do less work! =D

[YorkeDaddy]

@ Powerstars

it's a pretty cool idea, so i say keep going

[Powerstars]

Originally Posted by YorkeDaddy

@ Powerstars

it's a pretty cool idea, so i say keep going

Thanks, I'll keep going if people really want it.

[Trollheart]

Welcome back my friends, to the show that, um, goes on for a little while and then ends. Time to creep up to windows, press our noses against the glass and peer into the darkness, to see what's goin' on down in journal town.

Let's go to the drive-in, as you no doubt say over there! Antonio has been to the movie Pacific Rim and while he seems to have come back with something less than an epiphany after seeing it, he does seem to have enjoyed the main theme, which features this week in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ng-ground.html

True to his word, Anteater seems to be back to stay, and in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...n-dollars.html he's still extolling the virtues of Crimson Glory, of whom both Unknown Soldier and the Batlord appear to be fans, so there's certainly good recommendations from three well-known and respected members. Well, maybe not the Batlord...

Speaking of Batty, if you've been following his latest metal epic you'll know by now who the First Poseur's agent on Earth is and why it is absolutely vital that they both be beaten, if True Metal is to survive. If all that sounds unfamiliar to you, where have you been for the last few weeks? Head directly to http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...t-schemes.html, and don't be delayed or sidetracked by poseurs. Take this sword, you'll need it. Sixty Euro please. What? It's a seller's market! You wanna go up against the massed hordes of Poseurdom unarmed? Hmm, thought so. Hand it over. Oh, and watch out for trolls. Except for me, of course. I'm friendly. Mostly.

Relating more of his experiences on Fo'Sho Radio, DJ Chameleon is this week talking about a band called !Mayday! (yes, there are meant to be two exclamation marks, or points for you Americans) in another "Razor's Edge", while also discussing the year 1994 in a new section called Timewarp. Take http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...chameleon.html and see what you've been missing!

It seems that Engine has now completed his experiment and stayed sobre for seven days. Congrats man! Hope it helps you enjoy life a little better. Whether or not this spells the end for http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...las-vegas.html I don't know --- I'm not entirely certain he does --- but either way it was a brave decision and a great accomplishment, and the man should certainly be congratulated, not only for doing this, but for "living in the fish bowl", as it were, allowing us all to share his seven days of sobriety. Again, well done ya big locomotive!

Probably not the greatest news, but http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...use-songs.html will be closing for a while as Gavin B goes all country and possibly reggae. We'll miss your great journal, G-man! Don't stay away too long!

Trying to sandwich his journal in between his life and other things like moving into a new apartment, Ki has managed to update http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nal-music.html with an entry about Dallas Green and a promise that he will soon review the new Sigur Ros album. Can't wait!

Mojo, previously MojoPinUK, has come back with his journal http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-presents.html after a hiatus of three years (!) almost to the day. Very interesting and also gratifying to see people kickstarting their journals again, whether I've had any influence on that or not, most of which I imagine the latter. But journals shouldn't be left to just fade away and gather cobwebs, especially good ones like this and Lateralus's and WWWP's, so I'm glad to see he's back working on it again. And he's certainly making up for lost time, with a very involved feature on local music in his area, trumpeting the cause for Sunderland, as well as a big writeup on the Manic Street Preachers. Surely much more to come, now that he's taken it up again.

Mondo Bungle has moved out to the country (Oregon) and seems to be enjoying it so much more than life in the city. Forests and small furry animals, birds in the trees, clear blue skies: can't beat it. Wish I was there myself! Great to have the freedom to just up sticks and make a whole new life for yourself. But scary too, I'll bet. Read all about his experiences in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...istortion.html

Powerstars is starting a flame war! Not literally: he's opening a new section in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...sicalness.html which showcases flame wars from other forums. Interesting idea. He's also reviewing another Paul McCartney album. Must get round to doing that Bon Jovi I promised him I would...

Great things are afoot in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-journal.html! Well, no they're not, but I am planning a whole week dedicated to that best of all metals, heavy. Won't be next week or the week after, but as the teaser says, "coming soon"! Meanwhile, there's the long-awaited (?!) review of William "Kirk" Shatner's album "Has been", which is, well, an interesting album. http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...i-reviews.html on the other hand has an album that easily qualifies as the opposite to interesting, and which I wish I hadn't bothered to listen to , while in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-emporium.html there's word of soon-to-come coverage of Futurama and another of those http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ver-heard.html with the legendary Bob Marley.

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...y-history.html has Unknown Soldier looking at such diverse acts as French prog rock crowd Ocean, precursor-to-Girlschool the Runaways, and one of my old favourites, Motorhead. It's starting to hot up as we move beyond the mid seventies!

Urban's getting all hot and bothered about useless posters that annoy him through various means, mostly with pointless, non-informative posts. You really can't argue about this: I mean, we're Music Banter not Music One-Line-Post-Drop-off-Point! He is Urban, hear him roar in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nal-stuff.html!

If you want your special mixtape made by Wolverinewolfwieselpigeon head to http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-tripping.html now to download them. There you can also hear her singing and making her music, as well as read about her feelings on Casiotone. You want more? Well, all right then: she's also talking about a band called Why? Happy now? Okay then, off you go!


YorkeDaddy keeps us up to date with the progress of his band in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...sterpiece.html, where this week he's talking about character development and the first few tracks of the album. Fascinating read! And he's been busy indeed, as he wraps up our look at the members' journals this week, updating also http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...used-hate.html with an entry about Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Want to know what he thinks about it? Then head to his journal!

This week's Showcase comes from one of our lovely mods, and in case anyone thinks I'm just trying to curry favour, I am.

No but seriously, next week's member to feature here is anything but a mod. But Burning Down is, and it seems to me that her journal, and often also her contributions, tend to get a little overlooked at times. Being a student of music she has not of course that much time to write, but when she does ... oh boy! Check this out!

Originally Posted by Burning Down

My Musical Journey, Part I

I got real busy with school since my last update. It's my last year and it's been filled with endless papers, other homework assignments, and practise hours. And work - lots of it. But I have a little bit of time to myself right now that I need to waste away. So here we go.

I thought I would start to tell you how I got started on my musical journey. When I was a kid, I never played any sports or took piano lessons like many of my friends did. I did do tap dancing though, but I lost interest in it when I was about 12 or 13 years old. However, I was interested in the flute. When I was about 9, I convinced my parents to rent one for me and sign me up for a block of lessons. It was very expensive for them to do that and I had to promise them that I would stick with the lessons they paid for and work hard at learning the basics of the flute. If I did well and was still interested in continuing, they would purchase a flute for me and invest in lessons for the long term. Of course, I was absolutely interested, and my parents went out and bought my first flute for a mere $600. I was ecstatic.

About a year or so later, I started middle school, and they had a band class there. I took that class in place of private lessons for the next two years so I could play music with my friends and learn about other band instruments.

At that point, I became really interested in other aspects of music. How it was made, what it meant (and what it meant to me), why people enjoyed it, and why they enjoyed some types of music but not others. I continued with the flute throughout high school, taking music class and learning theory, harmony, and history. I was still part of the school band, and our music class was a smaller band, and both groups put on a performance at the end of each semester.

During this time, however, I discontinued with private lessons in flute. I realize now that I was not learning proper playing technique for playing flute at an advanced level, nor was I being provided with solo music that would challenge me and force me to become a better player. Instead, I was in a band setting, learning flute from music teachers who did not play it themselves, and playing mediocre band transcriptions of movie themes and popular songs and classical repertoire.

Now don't you want to read more of her journal? Well, what's stopping you? It's right here: http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...sic-major.html


The above graphic, then, tells us it's time to check out again the two sides of the spectrum here at Music Banter Journal Land: a journal that has been going for ages and one that has only recently begun. In the case of the latter, I've spoken in the update about DJ Chameleon's http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...chameleon.html, so for those of you who have not peeked yet, draw near and look through the chameleon-shaped window...

Now I know I said I'd only do short extracts, and I will, but this entry is pretty short anyway so I may as well post the whole thing. There is of course so much more to explore in DJ's journal, so this will just give you a small, as he says himself, glimpse:

Originally Posted by djchameleon

Razor’s Edge

One of my programming blocks was called Razor’s edge. I would basically stream a new release album in its entirety. I stayed away from leaks and would only play albums that were released in stores on that day. I’m going to attempt to review a new release album each Tuesday. Let’s see how well I can keep this up.

LetLive - The Blackest Beautiful

This week I’m going to give you a rundown of Letlive. This is my first time ever listening to this band. They are a post- hardcore band hailing from LA. I agree with a review of them that they have the technical fury of At The Drive In. My experience with this album has lead me to go back and check out their third album Fake History which is considered a breakthrough album for them. I bitch and moan about screaming but I can take it in small doses from time to time. My first time listening to this album was while I was working out so I tended to mostly focus on whether a track was catchy or not and was upbeat enough to keep me motivated while doing cardio. I will definitely be giving this album more plays it reminds me of my early 20s when I used to listen to The Blood Brothers and Thursday heavily. The percussion at the beginning of White America’s Beautiful Black Market is so infectious. When I heard that, I started to kick up the speed and my heart rate went up as I started going a bit faster on the elliptical. I know that if I was listening to this song at home, I would be doing a little dance in my chair. The Priest and Used Cars along with 27 Club ended up being standout tracks for me along with White America’s Beautiful Black Market. The subject matter for WABBM touches on American’s corporate culture and the money hungry healthcare system that we have. I went into this album not knowing what to expect and came out pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it.

And for the older among us, or at least those who have been journal-ing longer, I present to you Zarko, who has been running his journal since 2009. That's four years, people! Well, admittedly with a two-year gap in between! He's just recently taken it up again, so for those of you who haven't read him before here's a little example of what you've been missing...

Originally Posted by Zarko

Nu Bop – Matthew Shipp (2002)


GENRES – Jazz, Nujazz, Avant Garde, Electronic

Space Shipp – 3:21
Nu-Bop – 6:07
ZX-1 – 4:16
D's Choice – 4:50
X-Ray – 3:28
Rocket Shipp – 7:36
Select Mode 1 – 1:23
Nu Abstract – 3:48
Select Mode 2 – 5:09

Personnel: Matthew Shipp: piano; William Parker: bass; Daniel Carter: saxophones & flute; Guillermo E. Brown: drums; FLAM: synths & programming.

Well I thought it was about time to hit you up with some more nujazz, and again, it won’t disappoint. Matthew Shipp, jazz pianist, has been a long time avant garde/free jazz musician who in the last decade has fiddled around with more levels of experimentation. ‘Nu Bop’ is quite the change for Shipp, and although raw at times, it still delivers on many fronts. Shipp is one of my favourite jazz pianists, and Nu Bop was a welcome change to his normal repertoire of work. However, this may have to do with my love for good nujazz in general, so take out of that what you will.

The album begins with an instant change up from his normal work, with ‘Space Shipp’ opening with the electronic beats before Shipp comes in on piano. The concurrent beat is fairly simple until Shipp breaks out with his free jazz style. The dirty electronic beats keeps the overall sound earthy, and despite its frenetic pace at times, it still keeps the feeling of a chilled out tune. Guillermo Brown on drums also offers up some great moments, as is common throughout the album. At times he does overpower the other aspects of the album though.

‘Nu-Bop’ introduces a heavy driving bass line, performed beautifully by William Parker, who is left to his own devices for a short while before Brown is set free with some intense drumming (Sometimes a little TOO intense), as well as Daniel Carter of saxophone. The earthy bass and drumming is used in contrast to some quality and ‘spacey’ sax performance, which is quite an interesting use of layers. Shipp takes the back seat for much of the piece, as he allows the three to do their thing, before he enters later in the 6 minute track. Each artist is given their chance to shine, however, I am not crazy on it in it’s entirety. With such nujazz pieces, I prefer the instruments be used in conjunction to one piece, which is why I prefer the song when Shipp is present. The track is more avant garde jazz than nujazz, which is a nice change up to the heavier electronic base present elsewhere on the album.

Catch the rest of his journal here http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...oes-night.html.

Now, before I go, let me just assure those of you who wanted the League Table kept and who are still drowning their sorrows after my announcement last week, that Powerstars is taking up the baton and running with it. Apart from his athletic inclinations though, he's also agreed to take over the running of the table, possibly totally revamping it. He'll be here later with his views on it, and possibly the new-look table itself. I wish him luck and hope you enjoy and appreciate his work.

And with that, it's out the door for me to catch the last bus. No don't pass me ... god. damn. it. Walking home again. Why didn't I ever learn to drive? Ah well, as Frodo (or was it Bilbo?) once remarked, the road goes ever on...

See ya some other time (like, same time next week)!
Toodles!

[Powerstars]

Ladies and gentlemen, the first rebooted leeeeeeeeeeague table:

As you can see, this is currently much the same as Trollheart's, however I plan to redesign it. Also, the point values are lower, as I didn't count reply posts that earn the author 1 point as part of the "Daily, Weekly, etc." points. Now without further ado, let's talk about the scores.

Blasting his way into the number 1 spot, WolverineWolfWeisalPigeon's Ego Tripping earns 50 points. Later down into the table, Urban and Mojo battled for 3rd place, with Urban just making it out on top. On the bottom of the table, Trollheart, myself, and YorkeDaddy all tied with 4 points. And believe it or not, I couldn't even find 20 people who updated this week, thus this is a top 19. Here's to next week's league table, with a snazzy redesign. Input is still open as to how you think points should be distributed, so yeah. Goodbye readers!

[Unknown Soldier]

Originally Posted by Powerstars

Ladies and gentlemen, the first rebooted leeeeeeeeeeague table:

As you can see, this is currently much the same as Trollheart's, however I plan to redesign it. Also, the point values are lower, as I didn't count reply posts that earn the author 1 point as part of the "Daily, Weekly, etc." points. Now without further ado, let's talk about the scores.

Blasting his way into the number 1 spot, WolverineWolfWeisalPigeon's Ego Tripping earns 50 points. Later down into the table, Urban and Mojo battled for 3rd place, with Urban just making it out on top. On the bottom of the table, Trollheart, myself, and YorkeDaddy all tied with 4 points. And believe it or not, I couldn't even find 20 people who updated this week, thus this is a top 19. Here's to next week's league table, with a snazzy redesign. Input is still open as to how you think points should be distributed, so yeah. Goodbye readers!

I prefer your league table to Trollhearts, as on yours I make the Top 10

[WWWP]

I am a her, but thanks for the mention.

[Powerstars]

Originally Posted by wolverinewolfweiselpigeon

I am a her, but thanks for the mention.

I'm sorry, but you're welcome.

[Powerstars]

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

I prefer your league table to Trollhearts, as on yours I make the Top 10

Haha. Thanks, keep up the work on your journal, and maybe you can make the top 5.

[Unknown Soldier]

Originally Posted by Powerstars

Haha. Thanks, keep up the work on your journal, and maybe you can make the top 5.

well if you post on mine and I post on yours, we'll gain some cheap points, don't share this cheat with anybody else.