keveddy

i like it. listening to whole albums on the radio is a bit like when they show one of your favourite films on TV - yeah you've got it on DVD, but it's still a bit specialer.

the first couple of times I listened to it, it really bothered me that the vocals were quite low in the mix... but in some ways, it helps it to be more effective, because you pay less attention to that and more to the HUMONGOUS SLABS OF RIFF POWER.

and yes, it's completely DIY - allegedly made part-time in a shed in Norfolk. you don't need to know that to enjoy the album, but it certainly adds to the enjoyment when you do know it!

give it a few spins, it keeps getting better. and don't skip any tracks, otherwise i'll come round your house, tie you down and make you listen to the whole thing all the way through three times in a row. kthxbye

I wish my heart were not so blackened by business journalism. I wish i could write like you, with passion and vigour, instead of desperately trying to find new ways of saying' nice quiet/loud dynamics'

that is all.

is the rapper on tom morello's frankly average new project street sweeper social club. YAWN.

having looked back at the what i wrote, i may have overegged that particular pudding in the heat of the moment. I still stand by the intent, though - both cardiff and wales seem to celebrate distinctiveness in the face of increasing homogeneity, in a way that's perhaps more overt than a lot of England is. The image of Spillers facing SD2 really evoked that for me, and that's what i wanted to get across, in my clumsy way.

did you never wander down that random little arcade? there were some crazy places round there - a place that sold art, a great little t-shirt shop, a couple of bookshops (and a bunch of 99p shops too). admittedly it was no castle arcade, but still a hundred times more characterful than that soulless monstrosity

obviously forgot to fill that one in - to my shame, i couldn't remember it at the time! Should be Kim, obvs. subeditingfail!

And I found out what a cosmic egg is. apparently it's a yoga pose. and there was me hoping it was some kind of sex aid.

but up there ^^ you complain that my review reads like a 6 to 7? am i allowed to give it the rating that I think it deserves, or should we do a straw poll?

OK. here is my reasoning for a rating of 4, to clear up any misunderstanding. in my mind - and in most rating systems - 5 and 6 are average. 7 is good, 8 is very good, 9 is excellent, 10 is a masterpiece. 4 is below average, 3 is poor, 2 is very bad and 1 is just awful. I am off the view that this album - while technically very good - is on the whole bland, unemotive and left me cold. Therefore, i accord it a 4. It wasn't changed by DiS editorial - which they are perfectly within their rights to do, to ensure cross-reviewer consistency - so i guess a 4 is fair.

I don't even like these fucking number rating systems anyway. it's a blunt instrument that just causes trouble. When i rule the world,we'll do away with them and make people read the words in reviews, not just scroll straight to the bottom and get all aerated... :)

But not soon. I'm a little sick of it now after having had it on constant repeat for the best part of a week.

it's a date. Let's go see Tubelord! Woo!

i think it's fair – in fact, it's one of the things i'm most definite about on this review (as people who've had to edit my copy will probably tell you, i can never make up my mind about marks on albums).

Why? Because it's an album review, not a review of clever hooks. as an album, yes it's technically very good, but it's frankly disappointing as a complete piece of work and I'd say it's below average - especially when it's obvious these guys are capable of much more.. therefore, a 4*.

*let's not get into an argument about mark inflation on reviews - i know some people will mark an average album 5, some will mark it 7. That's a job for the subs to iron out. Besides, i'd personally not put a mark on these things anyway as it's so subjective - but then i see the logic in using it as a shortcut. a necessary evil, as it were.

on the tube, at home, on my bike, in the background, actively listening to it – believe me, i didn't just give it a cursory listen then dismiss it. Every time i went back to it i went back hoping that this time it'd make sense, that i'd hear something that made me go 'YES!' this is AWESOME! But every time i ended up in the same place.

I get the complex layering, i really do, and i have no quibbles with the technical excellence of the album – as i say above, they can't half write a riff. My problem with the album is that, i suppose, it gets lost in its cleverness, and ends up being about the minutiae rather than the overall impact – which, in my view, is frustratingly bland.

I reckon they'd be blinding live though.

are actually what i do like about this album - it's just that the whole package doesn't quite hang together. I actually found it really frustrating as those intricacies came to light, because i can SEE what they're trying to do, and i really really WANTED to like it, but it never quite lived up to the expectations that were created. a case of not seeing the wood for the trees, possibly?

:)

Must have missed the memo that included the formula for 'what reviews must look like nowadays'.

My aim was to represent my overall experience of the festival and feelings about those who played - rather than pull together a detailed breakdown of what bands played what songs in what order and what facial expressions they pulled. Yes it's irreverent and *OH MY GOD* disrespectful in places, but it's a heavy metal festival for chrissakes. It was often hilarious- intentionally and unintentionally – and i'd rather portray that than get all po-faced about the technical ability of Tommy Iommi.

Sorry, my bad – i stand corrected. any chance of an edit, Sean or Andrzej?

You never called, you never wrote.. hug?

he's in better shape than Ozzy to be sure! I was actually very impressed by them musically - not least the self-assuredness of their act. Iommi in particular was absolutely mesmerising – it kinda felt like every so often he'd think 'do i have something to prove here? Nah. i INVENTED metal.'

but they just bore me to tears. God knows i've tried hard enough to like them, but to be frank i just so bored by them. sorry.

throwing bricks at trains - that and manatee are the best songs on the album. i'm gonna get a t-shirt with I AM THE FEARSOME BROWN on it made!

at the sealed knot comment. even other reenactors shirk those boring bastards. :)

release e-copy first, soon after mastering to dissuade leaking, then follow up with physical copy for those who want it. Ye-es.

so what about the effect of the internet, and the disassociation from 'albums' in the traditional sense (ie as a body of work that you listen to in its entirety, and not something you download selected tracks from)? what effect does that have on the creative process, as artists come under pressure to make that track that will be downloaded repeatedly either as an mp3 or a ringtone, legally or illegally?

what does having to make a song recognisable in the first 10 seconds as a message alert mean for the 'future of music'?

but look at the 16 years previous to that. i wouldn't call it 'prodigious'.

Fair enough, smack may have been a factor and he is clean now. I'd be impressed if he could keep up the workrate though - i think the general consensus is that quality has suffered somewhat too!

so, is this a an 'actual' farewell tour or just a way to upsell gig tickets for a tour, advance of the inevitable 'comeback' album and tour in a few years? Going by his normal output speed, would anyone notice the difference?

to some extent, i do think trenty needs to do something different for a while - the NIN formula is a little bit tired.

Not looking forward to the fun and games of getting tickets for this one though - s'gonna be tout-tastic.

Get your pincers out for the lads.

I CAN see everything. i just wear blinkers.

You there, stop picking your nose.

and needing to, y'know, EAT and stuff.

message in a bottle

bwahahahaha!

pseudo concept album bolloks to me.

this might even better than dis v2...

bung us up a screenshot of The Last Resort, just for the REAL old fogeys...

in 12 easy installments. Jee-zuz.

brett anderson - only heard it on sunday but it just summed it all up.

Fuck summer - roll on autumn! yahah!

listened to this- first couple times around a bit cold, but it's growing on me.

I'm still amazed how Bloc Party's albums seem to mirror the tone of my life though.. is Kele secretly stalking me or what?

i think i was 18 or 19. Still old as the hills though :)

genuine mistake my arse though - they've obviously been hammered with a deluge of complaints and criticisms on messageboards like this. :)

have preordered, with the idea that we'd be able to listen in the car on the way to leeds...

Only to find out it won't be available until 7pm! FFS - if the idea was to launch prior to reading and leeds to get people excited that's fucking backfired, hasn't it? I'm now quite pissed off and feel like i've wasted a tenner.

Gaymers are selling the cider. i believe Tuborg is the lager?

boring by the sea flashback - trying to get the boys to come for a drink after they finished their set, but them refusing because they had to get back to cardiff. I think i may have insisted to falco that he has a pint with me at the water rats... hmm. tequila at lunchtime is never a good idea.

now i am satisified. Jack and Coke on me next time i see you.... Boring by the Sea? I have NEWS.

and sorry to be pernickety, but you're misreporting - he didn't slag off radiohead's music or live show, he slated the freetard model.

The comments about visual things in live shows was a general criticism of many bands.

Seany seany seany... i fort you knew better than to repeat comments from the Sun...

on Saturday? It was a hilariously incompetent interview - she blatantly had no idea how to follow up the line of questioning and the actually quite valid points he brought up.

you should have asked him if John Barrowman was ever Superman.

we can't.

Kicking Pigeons, by Spunge...