The Music Banter Members' Journals Monthly Update Thread

[Trollheart]

Last update before Christmas (literally: like, the night before) so let's get right into it.

Frownland kicks us off this week, remaining, as he has been for some time now http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...wnapilago.html, and he's waxing lyrical about John Cage, in a series he's calling “Beyond the Silence: the lesser works of someone, name escapes me...” Apparently, if all you know about Cage is three numbers, two of which are the same, you need to read this. Apparently.

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nnerspace.html this week include Wolfgang Voigt, the KLF oh, and we see the inner sanctum: got to be worth checking out for that at least!

Deep personal issues continue to be poured out in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...iii-story.html, but as I said, in deference to and out of respect for the personal nature of this journal I'm not going into details. Elsewhere, http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...016-prior.html has hit its stride, with Kid Cudi, Madvillain, Dead Prez and more Kanye of course. Also Danny Brown and Denzel Curry.

Mondo's wishing everyone a Happy Christmas in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...istortion.html while Nick Cave, SPK, Stockhausen, Biosphere, Wire and Rudimentary Peni are some of the albums he encourages us to listen to as he says http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-my-life.html

Abi Reimold is one of the “Sounds” to be found this week in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...e-gallery.html

while Regina Spekor, Entropia, Vektor, Carly Rae and Bowie all feature in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...bums-year.html as he gets closer to the top...

And so back to me. The gravelly-voiced Chris Rea is the latest pick from the Great Discography Project in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-journal.html, while another Riverside album goes under the microscope in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...k-journal.html. “Over the Garden Wall” we go once more in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ive-metal.html, to check out Fairport Convention, while http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...y-ireland.html chronicles the arrival of the English in Ireland. Finally, we're wrapping up trains in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...heme-park.html and Dredd is losing the battle with the Sovs in the Apocalypse War, on view over at http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-2000-ad.html.

And that's it for this year folks! Next update will be on January 1st, so let me just take this opportunity to wish you all a
Happy Christmas, Meatbags!

and a Happy New Year!
See you in 2017!

[Trollheart]

So here we are in 2017. Feels different, right? Oh, and for all of those of you who are suffering with thumping headaches...
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!
Point of interest perhaps before we start: the first post made in 2017 in the Journals Section was made by Violet at 6:17 am (Irish time) which either makes him the coolest or the saddest person on the planet. I'm not far behind, with one at 4:30 pm, but at least I waited till the daytime!

Anyway, here's to a better year and let's get going with the first update of 2017.

For the second time in as many weeks it's Frownland starting us off, and while he's http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...wnapilago.html, he's advising us of some of the better albums he considers we should check out. Well, not me obviously, but some of you guys. Does Merzbow, Keiji Haino and Balaz Pandi sound like something you might savour? He has more...

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nnerspace.html this week come from the nineteenth century. Well, not quite, but if you're into HG Wells's The Time Machine (and even if you're not) you need to check out the latest amazing entry from innerspaceboy. Set phasers to envious!

Ki mentioned last week that he might be taking a short hiatus from not only his journals but the forum, to deal with some personal stuff. Before he goes, he's redoing his AOTY list in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...usic-hall.html as well as looking at albums from Magic Sword, Vestron Vulture and Trevor Something. Over at http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...016-prior.html meanwhile, there's Esham, Kendrick and of course RTJ...

Machine has returned! And in so doing, he's set up a new journal, which he calls, with his typical style, http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...reciation.html. So far hes looked at Feikn, Run the Jewels and Jeffrey Cantu-Ledesma. Oh, and, er, Romansy. More to follow, no doubt.

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-my-life.html has Mondo looking into The United States of America. The band/album that is, not the country. Yeah, I know I made the same joke when I reviewed it in my History of Prog journal: who can resist? Hey, this stuff writes itself! Whaddya mean, you didn't realise I actually wrote this, you thought I got drunk, stuck on a silly hat and trusted to luck? You been stalking me, son?

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...bums-year.html has reached the top spot, with Injury Reserve and Pup just outside, and Danny Brown taking the gold.

Another new journal comes from Tristan Geoff, where he's relating http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ower-punk.html, starting off with The Newfound Interest in Connecticut. Again, I ask: where do these bands dream up the names??

And with no Unknown Soldier (hope you're having a good Christmas wherever you are, dude) or Violet, it's up to me to complete the first update of the new year. What have I been doing this week? Not, in fact, all that much, though that will change very soon. For now, we're at the halfway point and about to take a break in the Apocalypse War in Judge Dredd at http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-2000-ad.html, checking out Christian Metal with Narnia in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...l-journal.html and finishing off my look at the first three albums from Riverside in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...k-journal.html as well as beginning my investigation into Rock Progressivo Italiano, with Goblin and Banco del Mutuo Soccorso to begin with.Oh yeah, and moving onto Robert Wyatt in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-journal.html as The Great Discography Project grinds ever on. Not doing much, you say? Ah, you will rue those words, my friends. Well, go on! Start to rue! Heh heh. Watch this space.

And now it's time for the first

for 2017
and there's really no competition. In a single post, innerspaceboy makes us all both seethe with jealousy and wonder what bank he robbed to be able to furnish such an incredible personal space?
(I'm just linking the post here, as I think I will in future, rather than reproduce the whole thing. Makes more sense, especially in this case).
http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1786971


This week we welcome the return of to the forum, and back to Journal Land, where he's already hard at work taking recs. What a Machine, huh?

[innerspaceboy]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

And now it's time for the first

for 2017
and there's really no competition. In a single post, innerspaceboy makes us all both seethe with jealousy and wonder what bank he robbed to be able to furnish such an incredible personal space?
(I'm just linking the post here, as I think I will in future, rather than reproduce the whole thing. Makes more sense, especially in this case).
http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1786971

D'aw shucks. Thanks!

[Trollheart]

Good news first, not just for the Journals section but for all of the forum: Pet_Sounds has decided to rejoin us, after almost as long a hiatus from here as I took. Welcome back, man, and hope to see The Scrap Heap back in business soon.


Bit thin on the ground this week though: other than my unruly gang of assorted journals, there are only five of you updating. Surely this situation can be addressed? Guys? Guys? Well, have it your own way. Of those who are bothering, you may read below. If you have a journal and have not updated, I hope their efforts make you feel suitably ashamed and eager to redress the situation post haste. In other words, get the ****ing lead out.

1blankmind kicks us off (almost literally!) with another Brant Bjork album and a lot of stuff about wrestlers, one of which is a rapper, I believe. Mercy! Catch it all where http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...l-pleases.html.

Seems innerspaceboy is now not only our resident vinyl guru, but is fast becoming our headphones guru. Send your requirements to http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nnerspace.html and we'll discuss my commission later, man...

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...reciation.html is where you'll find Machine's list of albums he's listened to so far this year, including Kalahari Surfers and Vektor.

There's gonna be a solicitor's letter headin' your way, Plankton! The Anti-Metal Playlist of Life, indeed! Where's my copyright lawyer? What do you mean, he's been dead for four years? Ah. I was wondering where the smell was coming from. Well, don't just stand there! Get me a new lawyer! A living one! And then send a strongly-worded letter here http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...listening.html


http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ower-punk.html has Saves the Day, Bad Astronaut and Direct Hit.

One of my old journals resurface this week, and there's another one on the way back next week. But first, we're continuing our voyage through the music of Robert Wyatt in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-journal.html while RPI is going strong over at http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...k-journal.html with Unreal City, then it's welcome back (maybe) to http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-emporium.html as we catch up with Babylon 5 and the boys from Supernatural. Zappa and Floyd are the subjects under consideration in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ive-metal.html. Finally, we're seeing how the Black Death and the War of the Roses affected Ireland in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...y-ireland.html.

Time for another dreary tramp through

and this time I want to look at a journal which, on the face of it, looked as if it had some real thought put into it. Well, let's be fair: it did have some thought put into it. Its author obviously intended doing this thing properly, as you can tell from the opening lines: “I have been thinking about doing this for a while now, and I think it's time I got this journal started.” It did indeed start well for FrigginParadox, but sadly did not last very long. I don't know what went wrong – whether FP just decided it was too much work, had too much real-world stuff to deal with, left the site, just lost interest – there could be a hundred reasons why someone starts a journal, with the greatest of intentions, and then lets it slide till they either forget about it or lose faith in it, but this one did not last long, which is a pity. But sometimes – quite often, sadly – that's the way it goes. Which is why I always say, if you think starting a journal is a good idea, ask yourself this question: are you prepared to commit the time and energy to it that a journal needs? Nobody is saying you need to update very week, or even every month, but regular updates not only keep your journal visible and therefore read by more people, they also (in my case, and I know in the case of others too) give you the impetus to keep going, especially when your work is being read. Maybe the fact that FP only got one response to his journal sheds some light on the reasons why he junked it, but he only gave it just over a week before jacking it in. Hardly enough time to gauge what its success would be. Oh well, I guess we'll never know.

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...dox-music.html

Statistics
Journal title: The Nostalgic Timeline of Paradox and Music
Author: FrigginParadox
Born: July 23 2013
Total views: 651
Total posts: 5
Posts (by author):4
Actual posts by author (ie not just replies to comments): 3
Died: August 2 2013
Graveyard Ranking: One single red rose is laid on the gravestone once a year in July, in respect to the journal's birth. The shadowy figure is not really what you'd describe as Loathsome, but he remembers being the only one to comment before the journal died, and he keeps its memory alive.



I'm sure it will do his ego no end of good to refer to his journal as one I, and others, miss, and his likely response would be “I am great and I update when I please so suck it peasants” or something similar, but come on! How long has it been since we heard from the classic

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...t-schemes.html I ask you? Well I'll tell you: over three years, that's how long! The last entry of any consequence Batty made was in August of 2013!

Now come on: surely we all remember that heartbreaking scene when our heroes, high atop a mountain pass, watched in helpless horror as Joey Belladonna accidentally lost Batty's cigarettes over the side? Or when the guys debated the merits of Black Sabbath albums? And what about Gunrdid, or whatever her name was, Batty? Did you ever make an honest woman of her? Would we expect you to? Last time we heard of The Return of the Kings of Metal they were trapped, if I remember, by Tipper Gore and her bloodthirsty cult who worshipped the severed head of Varg Vikernes! Man, you can't leave us hanging like this. What if Tolkien had said, after finishing The Hobbit, “I should really flesh out this story but you know, **** it, I have Xbox to play.”? We need closure, man, we need closure! Can we tempt you?

(To be continued. Maybe.)

And don't think you're escaping my gentle wrath either, YorkeDaddy! I'll have a lot to say to you next week, so be warned.

That's it for this week gang. More next week.
Till then,Toodles!

[The Batlord]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

What if Tolkien had said, after finishing The Hobbit, “I should really flesh out this story but you know, **** it, I have Xbox to play.”?

You mean like how he never finished The Silmarillion?

[Plankton]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

There's gonna be a solicitor's letter headin' your way, Plankton! The Anti-Metal Playlist of Life, indeed! Where's my copyright lawyer? What do you mean, he's been dead for four years? Ah. I was wondering where the smell was coming from. Well, don't just stand there! Get me a new lawyer! A living one! And then send a strongly-worded letter here

That's where I heard that before. Ah well, I'll split the royalties 70/30.

[Trollheart]

Returning to

And the strange case of Jade City.
I'm not trying to be nasty here, but starting a journal when you have not even twice the recommended post count to do so is perhaps a little ambitious. Perhaps not; I've seen people with single-digit post counts go straight into journal mode, and in fact, chances are that I did the same thing: arriving here (both the first time in 2008 and my return in 2011) my first stop was the Journals Section. However I started my first journal (ah, was I ever that young that I only had one journal?) with the full intention of making a go of it, and nobody can say I didn't achieve that goal.

Jade City, on the other hand, well ... I think the statistics below tell their own story. I believe this ill-fated attempt at a journal is an example of one of the causes that ends up with a journal not being carried through, as in, Jade City surely had the intention to do this but either quickly became bored with, forgot about it or, who knows, left the forum, as I don't see any posts from him in the last year or so. As you can see from the data, he spent exactly two days on his new journal, abandoning it on day two. Sigh.

So this is his legacy, and as the details below show, it isn't sadly much of one.

Statistics
Journal title: Jade's Journal yh (Don't ask me: maybe it was a typo...)
Author: Jade City
Born: February 23 2015
Total views: 568
Total posts: 5
Posts (by author): 3
Actual posts by author (ie not just replies to comments): 3
Died: February 24 2015
Graveyard Ranking: Not even a marker; overgrown with reeds and rushes, decorated with crushed beer cars and broken bottles, and littered with cigarette butts and papers. Somewhere, an owl hoots. It's the only thing in the graveyard that gives one.

And finally, because I don't want to end on a sour note, a new section:

Funniest Post

of the Week!

This can be anything: a one-liner, a clever insult, a sharp rejoinder, a joke, a witty observation; whatever tickles me and makes me laugh about something someone posted. This week's inaugural winner is ... da da da daaaahhhh!

For this little sexual innuendo from Ki's Music Hall.

Originally Posted by pansy gayboy 69

i like the title 'magic sword'

And that, my friends (well, you're not really my friends. Let's just call you ... people I met, and leave it at that, hey?) is where we come to the end of the first update for 2017. Looking forward to lots of new things happening this year, especially from me. You have been warned!

Till next week,
Toodles!

[kibbeh]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

And finally, because I don't want to end on a sour note, a new section:

Funniest Post

of the Week!

This can be anything: a one-liner, a clever insult, a sharp rejoinder, a joke, a witty observation; whatever tickles me and makes me laugh about something someone posted. This week's inaugural winner is ... da da da daaaahhhh!

For this little sexual innuendo from Ki's Music Hall.

wow, i am touched.

[Key]

Originally Posted by pansy gayboy 69

wow, i am touched.

Well, just remember who's calling you funny.

[kibbeh]

Originally Posted by Kiiii

Well, just remember who's calling you funny.

i don't care. i'm still funnier than you. my dick jokes will always be superior to your.... jokes if you can even call them that. go back to your pokewars.