Slaves - Are You Satisfied? vinyl.

Been waiting for this for fucking ages and I've listened to it about 10 times so far.

Slaves. If you can go see them then do it. They're awesome live, expelling an energy that you don't get that often. Mixture of humour, simple riffs and poetry get you through the short, sharp sets. I had seen them 3 times before the album came out so was mega excited for it.

The album doesn't have the same energy I mentioned but you only get from getting off your arse to see them. The album however, has given me a chance to hear the songs fully and a lot.

And they're awesome.

I think it's the best British album for a while. The songs give a good social commentary of what it's like to be a young person at the moment. It's simplicity is inspiring, with easy guitar work and to-the-point lyrics it reminds me of the Debut Arctic Monkeys album or some Jamie T stuff. Except that it's delivered in a modern British punk housing.

My stand out track is Sockets, but I love all of them.

Go buy it, you won't regret it.
SJ.

Hopes for E3 2015!

So it's nearly that time of the year again, where the gamers have got their virtual advent calender out waiting for E3. Press conferences, announcements, hype, let downs, uproar and etc etc. Seeing as I own a PS4 and considering getting a Wii U by the end of the year I'm mega interested in this years celebrations!

So here's a few of the things I'm excited for this year!

1) Red Dead Redemption 2 - a sequel/prequel to my favourite game of the last generation (and probably ever) would be the best bit of news for me. I'd be hoping for a prequel about Marston leaving his gang, that'd be great!

2) Fallout 4 - I think everyone's hoping for this so I won't stay too long on this! A new edition of the Fallout series would be awesome, with the power of the PS4 we could see a bigger, more expansive zone to roam around. It would just be generally bad ass wouldn't it?

3) PS4 exclusives, and two of them! - I'm really hoping that the Sony conference lets us see Sony's ambition for the forthcoming year. What with the Xbone price cut the PS4 really needs a couple of exclusives to ensure it stays ahead. I'd be happy to include Uncharted 4 as one of the 2 if we get another confirmed for a release around Christmas!

4) Fight Night - Anyone who loves boxing and gaming must surely be excited for a new edition of the most successful boxing franchise. I'm really hoping EA pull this one out of the bag as I'd love to see this. The career modes are always fun but could be developed with more interesting avenues and training regimes, including an updated roster!

5) PS Vita support (and maybe a price cut) - I think the PS Vita is at a junction this E3. Sony have to nail it's conference as we might see the death of the handheld. With no major third party titles or effort even, on the horizon it's really important to get the console into the hands of people. A price cut (maybe just on the bloody memory cards!) would help get the thing off the shelves and we might see it take off a bit. I don't own one yet, so I hope it doesn't die before I can get one!

I'm tempted to stay up for a few of the conferences, it promises to be an exciting time. You'll be able to tell how it went for me if there's a reaction post or not!

Inabit.
SJ.

RECORD STORE DAY 2015!!

Yes, I finally get to speak about my first Record Store Day. I'll not give reviews or anything to serious on what I got, this is like a glorified pick ups post but I'm excited to speak about it.

It's taken a while because out of the 8 things I got, I had to wait for two of them. One was a spur of the moment kinda thing (which ended up being a pain because of work) and the other was something that no-one stocked in Nottingham!

The day started really early as you can expect. In the Irish One's car at 7, picking up a McDonald's breakfast before heading into town. We went to Pendulum Music which is situated in Victoria Centre (in the market). It was great! We got entered into two competitions for being there early enough (which I didn't win, unsurprisingly!) and I managed to bag everything I wanted!

So this is what I got on the day =

. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - In The Heat of the Moment Remixes 12".
. Florence and the Machine - What Kind of Man 12" single (on pale blue vinyl!)
. Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around 7" (on white vinyl!)
. Jimi Hendrix Experience - Purple Haze (Atlanta Pop Festical) 7"
. Bob Dylan - The Night We Called It A Day 7"
. Laura Marling - False Hope 7".

So as you can see, spent a bit of a fortune on the day! I decided to get 6 singles insteads of albums because I just fancied them a bit more! And I really wanted to hear the new Laura Marling and Florence stuff without using the usual avenues. Whenever I get the chance I shun YouTube and Spotify and etc. but it doesn't happen!

The other two items I got were
. Joanne Shaw Taylor - Feels Like Home (Live with the BBC Big Band) on transparent red vinyl!
. Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run.

Annoyingly the Joanne Shaw Taylor release wasn't to be found in Nottingham. Even more annoying was that I bought it online for more than its agreed price (breaking RSD rules) and then it took ages to come! Whilst all this was going on I could have actually bought it from her website. Typical.

The Bruce Springsteen album was bought on a whim. Born To Run is featured in the '1001 albums to hear' book I am currently working through, so thought I'd kill two birds with one stone, buy my first RSD album and press ahead with my musical journey (it's going very slowly!). I actually like Springsteen a lot more than I ever say, I bet I'd surprise people by saying I'm a big fan getting bigger as time moves on! Helps having friends who love him (but he's not Noel Gallagher, is he Meerkat? And thankfully he's not Saylor Twift)

Overall, I'd like to categorically confirm that Record Store Day 2015 was a big success. I really enjoy these kind of things, us real music fans have to stick together right?!

I also love the irony that the best selling RSD release on the day was a Tape. How utterly magnificent.

Inabit!
SJ.

Halestorm - Into The Wild Life vinyl.

So I've FINALLY been able to listen to the new Halestorm album!

Had genuinely no idea what happened but I (I guess like many others) got an email on the day of release to let us know that the vinyl we had purchased wasn't ready in time.

I'm annoyed becuase I've only had two problems with the delivery of vinyl recorss since I started collecting 18/24 months ago. Both have been Halestorm vinyl. Whoever deals with their stuff in Europe is just rubbish.

The album comes in a lovely gatefold sleeve with two pieces of vinyl. The vinyl is a transparent yellow and it looks positively incredible. I'm very pleased with that!

I personally think this is the best Halestorm album. I found that the style has broadened, very obviously in places and quite subtly in places. Lzzy Hale really does a number on the album, from soft singing ti exploiting her fabulous range in no time at all. It's a very enjoyable listen with some nice quiet moments as well as balls-out-guitars-out-rock.

Like with previous Halestorm records however, I find that's a little lyrically limited (try saying that quickly) but they do the job.

To be honest, I'm just glad it finally came!

Inabit.
SJ.

Eminem - Relapse!

So I got this through the post yesterday. Remember it anyone? I've had it on CD for years.

I like to think of it as the hangover album, music written by Eminem during his addiction period. A perfect foil for Recovery which is his best work in my opinion.

It's one of the albums that had to happen and considering the years of silence before this I'm sure we're all glad we got this as opposed to anything else.

It was also a bargain, £8 from recordstore.co.uk! Do I try and collect everything by him now? He was a childhood hero!

Inabit.
SJ.

Best tunes on a night out! Not quite legitimate..

I'm not entirely sure how important music is to a usual persons night. For me it's critical. Truth is, I feel really awkward when out in a bar/club when there's some terrible music playing. I just sigh, has the human population really served up this lazy, boring shit this week?

I've decided to document some of my favourite tunes that make my nights out so special. Being a student in the same city I was born in has meant that I have frequented the sames bars and clubs for a decent amount of years.  I've been in these places when these songs have came on and not, songs that spur an obvious reaction to me, friends, and generally the folk around us (whether they like it or not).

- Arctic Monkeys - When The Sun Goes Down.
With the ballad-esqe intro going into the thunderous second intro you can't help but feel this is two songs in one. The songs about the strange folk you see around and about your town centre, especially at unsociable hours so it has some special meaning to us Nottm locals. You go from singing along to bouncing around in no time at all. Electric.

- Rage Against the Matchine - Killing in The Name.
Incredibly selfish choice here. This song is a top head-banging-air-guitar-inducing masterpiece where you can't help but try to find the closest mosh pit before realising you might have a made a mistake and end up with a broken rib (actually happened). It's also became the done-thing in the social group to ring Sickboy the second it comes on, leaving him the best drunken voicemail ever (sorry Bassman).

- Rusko - Cockney Thug.
Remember dubstep? The genre of 2012 which died quicker than the airtime of the average Game of Thrones character was a staple of 2UNED (Thursday nights at Rock City) before reaching its grave. Like a techno version of When The Sun Goes Down everyone in the vicinity sings (or takes part in their individual monologue) before skanking begins (is skanking right?)

- Vampire Weekend - A-punk.
Not the greatest song ever, but the cheeky indie-pop hit seems to fit into every club night ever put on. I don't think I've heard this song sober, so it makes the list.

- Anything by Oasis.
Much like the gigs, anything by the best band from Manchester that gets put on on a night out just brings out one reaction. A sing-a-long. Being my favourite band ever and generally not always played means that it's always a random, yet awesome surprise. There's not much out there that's more powerful that the chorus of Don't Look Back In Anger. It's a shame we can't power cars on it.

That's all I can think of now. If I ever remember more I'll be sure to do another post like this has it's been one drunken ball of nostalgic goodness.

Onwards.
SJ.

Crickey!

It's been a while hasn't it?

My last post was nearly a year ago. About the video game Destiny. And I haven't been anywhere near this thing since.

So what have I been upto? Not a great deal, just lots of work.

I got a second job, and have worked 5/6 days a week from January so I can save up some dough to go see the Meerkat In America.

Apart from that, I've extended my record collection, watched the fourth series of Game of Thrones for a second time, and lost some weight! Magic. I've also been to lots of gigs.

I promise myself to write more on here, but we'll see!

Inabit.
SJ.