The Music Banter Members' Journals Monthly Update Thread

[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.