The Music Banter Members' Journals Monthly Update Thread

[The Batlord]

At first I thought it meant stuffing sucks down your pants to make your dick look bigger.

[Ol’ Qwerty Bastard]

Originally Posted by The Batlord

At first I thought it meant stuffing sucks down your pants to make your dick look bigger.

uh-huh

[The Batlord]

I've seen your capitalization go down the tubes recently, so go **** yourself. And don't come at me bitching about your phone cause it's no excuse. You're not Roxy.

[Ol’ Qwerty Bastard]

i don't hide it, i'm legitimately too lazy for the caps lock/shift button.

[Trollheart]

I'm sure it's just coincidence, but for my first update after my return last week there was comparatively little to write about. Now suddenly, over this week we've had the return of several journals, new ones and even new outside-the-box ideas! If I've played any part in this revival then that's great, but if not who cares? Things are starting to move here again in Journaltown!

Mind you, all this work updating could make Trollheart something something...



Ah, who am I kidding? I can handle all this work, I'm used to it. What: did you think it would all be too much and I would suddenly...


Woops! Call Technical Support! You guys just go ahead and read the update while the techs make some vital repairs...

1blankmind has decided to start talking about his other passion, wrestling, in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-whatever.html, and fair play to him. Not of interest to me, but I bet he gets a lot of views, particularly with his top ten wrestlers article.

Batty's back! Hooray! This place has not been the same without him, and I'm only back a week and a bit. http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-oblivion.html and check out his hilarious review of Youngblood.

Innerspaceboy is talking (and possibly dancing to also, though I'm not quite sure that's something we all want to see!) about a rare song called “The Peanut Duck” while also enthusing about his time spent at the Vinyl Mania show in Buffalo and, um, “Electronic Love”. Read all about it in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nnerspace.html

Reaching the top ten in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...puc-scale.html, and I won't spoil it for you by telling you what's in her list, but rest assured there are some very good albums there.

Ki has a new and unique journal beginning this week. Share http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-ki-story.html with him, but be aware this is very personal stuff. For that reason I will almost certainly not feature any excepts from it, as I'm sure he would rather keep it private, at least, privately within the confines of his journal. So if he wins (as he surely will) an award for an entry I will not be using any excepts to display why he did. I'm sure you'll all understand once you read what he's writing in there.

Mondo began his journey through his own albums earlier this week, in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-saladica.html, where so far he's got through talking about six Trouble Salad albums including the demo, Rough Stuff, Battle of Worlds and We Are Animals, We Eat Meat. Also Maximumannihilation (I already know I don't want to review that!) and Space Mall. While over at http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-my-life.html there's a look at Aphex Twin.

Continuing http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...c-odyssey.html, Mordor is checking out Sia, Regina Spektor, Magma, Prince, Moulettes and Clapton, and a whole lot more, while also revealing his top ten for this year. And when I say a whole lot more, well – Bowie, Stones, Terry Riley, Sufjan Stevens ... and that's not the half of it!

Paedantic Basterd has started up a new journal, so check out http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...e-gallery.html, where she's reviewing Colleen Green and the movie The Darjeeling Limited. Keep an eye on this one. For a sneak peek, see further on...

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ramblings.html checks out a rec from Batty, by Stamping Ground, two from Mondo including his own new album I Know It's The Trees, Volapuk and Ki's current crush, The Weeknd, and then we're back to me. No it is not narcissistic! I just have a lot of work to catch up on, okay? It's not my fault if I happen to like it!

The old, venerated original of my journals, http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-journal.html has by now been completely assimilated and taken over by the Great Discography Project, and we've moved on to Robbie Williams and Rush. The history of prog rock continues as we make our way through 1969 in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ive-metal.html with a short detour to explore the delights of Brainbox before getting back to it with The Beatles and Soft Machine. Speaking of history, yet another new journal makes its debut this week, as I trace the history of my home country in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...y-ireland.html. My other two new journals, http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...k-journal.html has reviews of albums by Willowglass, Elephants of Scotland and Evership (don't you just love these band names?) while in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...l-journal.html there's some Love and Hate ... I'm also resurrecting http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-showroom.html, where those of a musical bent can have their albums, EPs etc reviewed. One of Mondo's is up first, followed by Plankton, with more to come.
Praise the Lord! There sure is a whole lot of resurrection going on this week!


Violet has resurrected http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ancefloor.html with reviews of the first two Iron Maiden albums. Yeah! And in a two-for, he's also breathing new life into http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-endeavor.html. kicking off with a review of From Under the Cork Tree by Fall Out Boy.

A new journal (I think it may be his first one but don't quote me on that) from Xurtio, as he explores the mechanics and technical bones of music in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ds-timbre.html. Comparing Hendrix to Dylan and Gilmour to King (that's Albert, not Kerry!) already.

And now it's time for the return of


This week's slot goes to someone who has not posted here for a very long time, but when she did she wrote a fascinating journal. Now she's back, and this is an extract from Paedantic Basterd's
http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...e-gallery.html

Originally Posted by Paedantic Basterd

[CENTER]The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
Director: Wes Anderson
Writer(s): Wes Anderson / Roman Coppola / Jason Schwartzman
Starring: Adrien Brody / Owen Wilson / Jason Schwartzman / Anjelica Huston
Comedy / Drama

[LEFT] The Darjeeling Limited is Wes Anderson’s least popular film. It was never critically panned. It’s not considered a directorial mistake. It’s enjoyed by fans for what it is, but it’s seldom identified amongst his best work. It is, for the most part, just there. It merely exists, an afterthought in his catalogue of classics. I believe this to be a terrible shame and a tremendous oversight, and I hope to convince you so in this overview of the film. You see, Darjeeling Ltd. is my favourite film, and not just from Anderson’s resume. From the first painstakingly intricate shot to the last, I fell in love with the characters and the world he designed. Like any Anderson film, the visual quality of the film is stunning. Each shot is meticulously crafted. The colour palettes are vivid and evocative. The set design is as carefully-considered and detailed as a beaded tapestry. The camera movements look like choreography. But these are our expectations for a Wes Anderson film. None of these qualities are the reason this film is criminally underrated. These trademarks are mere tools Anderson uses to convey this story of enlightenment, communication, and loss.

The film opens with Peter Whitman (Brody) sprinting and narrowly catching a departing train where he is to meet his brothers, Jack Whitman (Schwartzman) and Francis Whitman (Wilson). Peter finds Jack in their cabin, and they are joined in short order by Francis, who explains why we are all here on this train. It’s been a year since their father’s funeral, none of the three of them have spoken, and Francis is determined to haul his family back together, with or without their help. It is fitting that the film should open with Peter attempting to catch up to wherever his brothers are, for I believe his narrative to be central to the story, and it will be the focus of this analysis. The motif of Peter lagging behind Francis and Jack is repeated throughout the film and symbolizes where he is in relation to his brothers in the grief process.

In the first significant scene, the brothers converse over soup and whiskey highballs in the dining car. Francis outlines the major beats on the spiritual journey he has planned for the three of them, and Anderson quickly establishes exactly who these people are. Jack, the youngest, responds to Francis’s strategy for enlightenment with curiosity and openness. Peter, the middle child, reacts with suspiciousness and hesitance. This is important, because it shows us that Francis and Jack have both committed to moving forward by the time they reached the train. Peter hasn’t. The brothers talk idly in a conversation seemingly about nothing: casual opioid use, the dinner menu, what each of them has been up to in the past year. But the dialogue in this scene is deliberate and purposeful, and yields a tremendous amount of information about the characters and their relationships to one another.

I'm not going to reprint the whole thing, just give you a taste of it, so if you want to read the rest (and why wouldn't you?) head to her journal. Like, now-ish.

And that's it for this week. Getting closer to Christmas, so there'll only be two more updates before then, with the one after next week being posted on Christmas Eve, as even Trollheart takes a break on Christmas Day! It may be a poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every 25th December, but it's a great excuse to switch off the PC and watch some crappy Christmas TV!

See ya next time!
Toodles!

[Trollheart]

Thought we might start off this week with some statistics. Everyone love stats, right? But I thought it would be a good way in future of getting a quick overall view of what's happening here in Journaltown for those who might not have the time to read all my guff. Anyway, here they are, and I'll be doing this each week in future from now on.

Journals updated this week: 24
Total posts made (including comments): 269
Total new articles posted: 79
Members who updated this week: 10
New Journals opened this week: 2
Older Journals resurfacing this week: 2

Here's a chart of actual author posts vs all posts including all comments, even one-liners or GIFs.


What does all this mean? Let's break that down, shall we?


http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...l-pleases.html, and in among all the wrestling still finds time to review albums by Helmet, Zao and Brant Bjork.

Goofle is here to remind us, http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...obably-dl.html, another of which is Sophie's Product (sound vaguely rude!)

while Innerspaceboy is making some “Introductory nomenclature” about Ghostly International in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nnerspace.html, as well as looking into “Shoegaze, Noise Pop and Early Dream Pop classics".

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...iii-story.html continues with some more personal revelations and stories (look, I'm not going to go into any detail unless Ki gives me the go-ahead, as this is intensely deep stuff) while over at http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...usic-hall.html there's a whole lotta Synthwave with Pertubator, Lemon Demon, Arcade High, Hail Mary Mallon and more. Oh yeah, and Kanye. This man is putting a lot of work into his journal! And now he has a new one: http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...016-prior.html, so keep an eye on that.

The plan is still http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-my-life.html and some of those albums that helped shape Mondo's life include Priest, Purple and, um, Kim Wilde? He's also putting the finishing touches to http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...im-leavin.html, so check out the thrilling conclusion. Then head over to http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-saladica.html to catch the last of the Trouble Salad albums, a collaboration with Frownland (the mind boggles) and the beginning of his reviews of the Peaks of Thok albums.

Still http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...c-odyssey.html, Mordor is looking at albums from among others Don McLean, Sufjan Stevens, Yeasayer and School of Seven Bells again.

Returning to us for the first time in a year, see further, is Plankton. Twice. In http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...listening.html there's words on The Scorpions, while the life story of a young guitar virtuoso returns in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...um-bucket.html. Ooh yeah!

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...e-gallery.html is gong well, with a new review of Kathleen Edwards while over at

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ramblings.html there's Jute Gyte, Animal Collective, Reprisal and more. And a new journal, too, in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...bums-year.html, where he's counting down with Death Grips, Touche Amore and, well, more.

That brings us back to me. http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-journal.html has moved on to check out Nine Inch Nails, while there's a re-evaluation of Carcass's classic Heartwork in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...l-journal.html. I'm trying to get into Riverside properly in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...k-journal.html, starting off with their debut, and speaking of prog rock, we're checking the debut from Van der Graaf Generator and King Crimson in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ive-metal.html. Other journals you may have seen me in include http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-showroom.html, where we have another album from YorkeDaddy in his guise as Daydream Society under the microscope, http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...heme-park.html, where we're now into serial killers and trains, and http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...y-ireland.html, chronicling the advent of the Vikings in Ireland. Oh, and http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-2000-ad.html returns, with new Dredd stories and an announcement about Excelsior! What is it? Think I'm going to do all the work for you?

Finally, rounding things off for this week, Violet is checking out Truckfighters in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-endeavor.html.

There's only one candidate this week for

and that's this little guy, who has not updated any of his journals in almost a year, but whose writing is always welcome. Obviously, his new duties as a mod, to say nothing of real life intruding, have kept him busy, but it's nice to see him back before the year ends.

Check out his new entries above.

As for

I'm going to go a little out on a limb here and choose someone who, though he's a fantastic writer, never seems to have had the time/inclination to put pen to paper (so to speak) and start his own journal. He does, however, make an impassioned plea for Batty to get up off his arse and restart a journal I think we were all enjoying, so well done

for this timely and quite funny call to action. Hopefully it won't receive the standard two-word answer from Batty...

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic

I've enjoyed reading your song reviews here, especially your attack on All Kinds of Everything. After hearing that song, who isn't tempted to go out and commit an act of senseless random violence? I know I always was.

Anyway, Batlord, time for you to dig out High Fidelity again, turn to page 43, and start skimmin' !

And so say all of us!

So who has the most activity in their journal this week? How many people have been commenting and where have they been commenting most? In other words, who deserves to be awarded

Well to be honest, leaving aside Ki's personal journal, which has been getting a lot of traffic and quite rightly – got to support the guy – it's still more or less between him and Qwertyy, and given that Ki has in the past been a multiple recipient of this honour (his mantlepiece is probably stuffed with them. Or maybe his attic. Probably holding up broken table legs, who knows?) and the big Q has never won anything here, I'm going to give it to him for his sterling work attracting interest to http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ramblings.html. With a total of 5 pages of comments (including, of course, his own posts) and 7 different members apart from him commenting, the prize this week goes to Qwertyy. Well done, son!

That concludes part one of the update. We'll be right back with more after these messages from The Batlord's Premium Cathous - oh, sorry: that should be "Exclusive Dancing School for Young Ladies". How silly of me.

[Trollheart]

Now I'd like to turn to a new section I've decided to kick off.

Some people are not interested in journal writing. That's perfectly fine; nobody is going to force you. But some people think “Ooh that's a cool idea!” and start one, then it falls away pretty damn quickly. Sometimes it's only a few posts, sometimes it's so bad it really should never have been born (I think Batty would term these “journal abortions”) and sometimes you can clearly see the person who began the journal either didn't think it through, thought it would be fun to do and then realised a) how much work was involved and/or b) that he or she had not actually got enough content for it, or just changed their mind and let the journal die. And when journals die, there's only one place they go...

I would like to stress, this section is not specifically intended to have a go at people who have given up on their journals (though some deserve it and may receive my scorn) but rather to remind them that the journals are there, and perhaps encourage them to pick up the torch again. In that regard, you could say it's similar to Great Journals We Miss, (which will be making a return, as soon as I can find a Great Journal I miss that I have not already featured) except that these journals and not great, and really, probably nobody misses them.

But that doesn't mean they should be left to die.
Some, however should, and to prove that I myself am not above such miscalculation, and to defend myself against future accusations of being nasty, it's one of mine I'm going to focus on to open this section. Great Space Pope, what was I thinking??

I guess the point is that I was being constantly asked “Why are you not into jazz? What's wrong with you?” and variations of same, some genuinely interested in tone, some baffled, some almost outright hostile, that I decided **** this, I'm going to make an effort. At least, if I try and I still hate it nobody can say I didn't give the genre a chance. And so, with staggering lack of foresight and a typical Trollheart overreaction, I opened
http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...re+jazz+street

It was a mistake from the start. I was not engaged in or interested in what I was writing. I wrote for others, not for myself, unlike my other journals. I had no desire to do this, so why did I do it? To prove something? To force myself to like jazz? To be accepted? Because I'm Trollheart? Who knows? Probably a combination of all those factors. However I soon realised that I was on the wrong track. I tried, but no matter what I did – despite a few very predictable early successes (I mean, who can't enjoy Kind of Blue?) - I soon ran out of steam, and actually dreaded coming up with entries. Unlike my other journals, I did not look forward to writing it, even though I had ideas, some of which I briefly put into action but which soon died, like the journal.

Eventually, I had to admit I hated it and if you hate writing a journal, why write it? So I bit the bullet, or rather, released the safety, pointed the muzzle and squeezed the trigger, putting that journal forever out of my, and everyone else's misery. I think you can tell when someone is not interested in what they're writing, and it's no surprise that the journal folded so quickly.

The moral of the story is, then, obviously, write about whatever you want to write in your journal, but whatever you do, write with passion. Write with interest, write with authority or just blag your way through, whatever suits you. But do not write just because you feel you have to, or it's the thing to do. Or to put it another way


Statistics
Journal title: A Nightmare on Jazz Street: Trollheart's Voyage into the World of Jazz. And Blues.
Author: Trollheart
Born: March 25 2014
Total views: 1,467
Total posts: 14
Posts (by author): 6
Actual posts by author (ie not just replies to comments): 3
Died: November 18 2014
Graveyard Ranking: Inscribed marble tombstone, flowers occasionally left in remembrance of, but probably in reality they're robbed. Also not unlikely that it's become an occasional toilet, and not just for animals...

And on that sombre note, I bid you farewell and hope that you all have your non-religious-secular-winter-solstice-no-special-day-whatever shopping done. See you all on Christmas Eve, I mean, December 24, which of course has no religious significance at all!
Toodles!

[Ol’ Qwerty Bastard]

oh hey i won something, thanks TH.

[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?