Category Archives: music

Something to do

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I need to regenerate some brain activity by doing something that doesn’t involve technology, so I thought I might attempt to get the creative juices flowing and start writing some poetry again. I haven’t written any in a very long time, and I always used to enjoy it. Having come across a ‘how to write poetry’ type of book buried on my bookshelf, I thought it would be an idea to start with that (I don’t place much faith in these books, but it’ll inspire me hopefully). I might even share the results with you poor unfortunate souls who read here from time to time. :)

Looking to the future a little, I was browsing through the Open University site on Saturday (as you do), and came across a course that I liked the sound of. The course is titled Certificate in Web Applications Development. I realise it won’t be a career maker, and I think I’ll breeze through the first two modules, but it will teach me some new skills and it will count toward a degree if I wanted to go that route. I have until January to decide (and to get the money for it together). Studying degree level subjects again scares the bejesus out of me, but it’s something I think I will enjoy too.

On a side note, today I hit 20000 played tracks on last.fm. It’s been tracking my listening habits since last November, that’s a lot of music!

A few mini album reviews

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I listen to a quite a bit of music, so thought I’d give a few (very brief) opinions on some of this years releases.

Iron Maiden – A Matter of Life and Death – I’m not a massive Maiden fan, I really have to be in the mood to listen to them. This is a strong album though, and one I could listen to a lot.
Zenith’s rating: 8/10.

Scissor Sisters – Ta-Dah – I absolutely loved their debut album. It took me a while to get used to the rehashing of Comfortably Numb, but I grew to love it. This album however…while it’s not outright bad, it’s taking some time to grow on me. There are a few good tracks, but on the whole it doesn’t even come close.
Zenith’s rating: 7/10.

Slayer – Christ Illusion – Absolutely damn brilliant, their best album in years. Comparable to Seasons in the Abyss (my favourite Slayer album), there’s a good balance of tracks on this album (along with the usual mix of highly romantic lyrics *coughs*). My favourite of the year so far. And I’m going to see them live! (Have I mentioned that before…?)
Zenith’s rating: 11/10.

The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers – This is Jack White’s (of The White Stripes) new project. It’s an outstanding debut album with some very catch tunes. I’ve been highly addicted to this since it was released.
Zenith’s rating: 9/10

Agalloch – Ashes Against the Grain – Agalloch are a recent discovery for me, and I’m not entirely sure what genre they fit in. A mixture of doom metal / progressive rock is probably the most accurate description I can come up with. Before listening to this, The Mantle was my favourite album of theirs, but this one equals it. Gloomily atmospheric yet somehow soothing is how I’d describe Ashes Against the Grain. A definate must if you like them.
Zenith’s rating: 10/10.

Muse – Black Holes and Revelations – This album is the first Muse I’d ever heard (unlike the rest of the world it seems). Quite simply, it blew my mind. Every single track is good, I don’t have the slightest complaint about this album, the flow is perfect. It’s not often I say that about a group that I’ve heard for the first time, but Black Holes and Revelations was music to my ears from the first time I heard it.
Zenith’s rating: 10/10.

And that, my friends, brings a close to this round of mini album reviews. If it seems I haven’t been very harsh with my opinions, that’s because they are all bands that I like, this year has been a great one for music so far. I could write more, but I’m not the best at reviews so I’d hate to bore you. Maybe I’ll do another set of mini reviews toward the end of the year (so I can bore you a bit more, but in small doses).

Unholy Alliance Chapter II

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Unholy alliance image Well, the dream I had the other week may not have gone to plan, but another dream is about to be realised – I’m going to see Slayer at the Unholy Alliance gig! Other bands in the lineup -
In Flames
Lamb of God
Children of Bodom
Thine Eyes Bleed (not heard of these, will have to look them up).

Fantastic lineup, I absolutely can’t wait! But I’ll have to, it’s not until 3rd November which is going to feel like aaaaages away. I’ve idolised Slayer since I was 14 and have never managed to see them live. Woohooooooo! I can’t help feeling a little sorry for my husband who’s going to have to sit through it with me, it’s not exactly his cup of tea. But he’s earnt lots and lots of brownie points by buying the tickets and putting up with bands he can’t really stand for me. :)

But wait, there’s more.

A week later we’re going to see Muse. I can’t believe it, I haven’t been to a concert in well over 14 or 15 years, now I get to see two. I’m like an excited teenager I am!

We finally went to see Dead Man’s Chest last night too. If you enjoyed the first Pirates of the Carribean and you haven’t already seen it, go! Now! It definately didn’t disappoint (mind you I must admit I am slightly biased as I’d go and watch anything with Mr Depp in it).

Go Finland!

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It’s not often I watch Eurovision these days, but as there was absolutely nothing on last night I thought I might have a laugh and watch it.

Great job Finland, congratulations on your win with Lordi! That has to be the best performance I’ve ever seen on Eurovision. Very refreshing, lets hope it sets a new trend for the competition.

Oh, and the UK entry…what were they thinking????

Squeezebox + Pandora

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I can now play Pandora through my Squeezebox, hurrah! There’s been a rumour of this happening for some time, and today it was announced over at the Slimdevices site.

It’s good news for me anyway. Though I generally use last.fm more, I like Pandora too, it seems to have a broader range of recommendations.