I went to see this film. I don’t remember being that impressed. It was quite nice to see a particular model of how our brains work even if it was very simplified, there wasn’t any executive function. Overall I just didn’t really enjoy it. I think they could have made a better film about kids and emotions. Also, we don’t really remember the way the film depicted it.
Combichrist – O2 Academy Islington
Early one Monday morning I returned from Germany and a music festival there. Some details are contained within this communication. After getting home and sleeping for a short while I had to get ready to see Combichrist at the O2 Academy in Islington.
The above set list is for a gig in Bristol although it looks pretty similar to the gig I saw.
Stereo Juggernaut and Controlled Collapse were the support bands. I seem to remember that both bands were pretty good and enjoyable.
Combichrist were pretty darn good. They were impressive and the crowd was very active. Having just come from a weekend at a festival where the crowd all stood where they were and didn’t rush the stage this was a very different experience. There were some quite violent people in the mosh pit and, maybe I’m too old, but this was a bit of a turn off.
Now that Combichrist have guitarists the older songs have been adjusted to keep the musicians busy. They have created guitar parts to the mostly synth music and I think this detracts entirely from the quality of the original songs.
Even with all that this was still a bloody fantastic gig. Not quite as good as being at Electrowerkz but close.
Moomins On The Riviera
I saw this film with my children at the Cineworld in Rochester or it may have been the Odeon in Maidstone. I can’t remember.
The film was largely dull. The social commentary was vaguely amusing. That’s all I can remember.
For Those About To Rock – AC/DC
It’s an 80s album that begins with “F” from AC/DC. This means it’s not that good. Even the title track isn’t that great, but it is played as the last song at every concert.
I may be slightly out of touch here as when I bought this album I bought it on vinyl rather than tape like most of the other AC/DC albums I had. This meant I listened to it less that the others. I don’t really know the songs, they just don’t bother me.
Fly On The Wall – AC/DC
Up front confession. I really like AC/DC. I always have. This album is far superior to Flick Of the Switch. I think the production has a better quality and the vocals are cleaner. Obviously most of the songs are about sex, as with every single AC/DC album ever.
A few years (many years really) I bought a couple of AC/DC VHS tapes. One was the video of them live in Paris, the ending of which I cried at. The other VHS tape was a collection of the videos from this album.
Fly on the wall – the anticipation for the start of the steady beat makes this song genius.
Shake Your Foundations – awesome riff and a real “boppy” feel.
First Blood – Good steady rock track.
Danger – Just don’t talk to strangers. A scary opening sound!
Sink The Pink – obviously it’s about playing a game of snooker/pool! A great song.
Playing With The Girls – good song with a rolling rhythm.
Stand Up – ingenious mix and arrangement with the kick drum.
Hell or High Water – The verse riff annoys me a little but the chorus riff is great.
Back In Business – A faster, almost ZZ Top, song!
Send For The Man – Good opening riff. The rest is OK.
There are three albums from the 80s for AC/DC which don’t reach the majesty of the 70s music. This is one of them. They all start with “F”.
Boxtrolls
Unsually for me I went to see the Boxtrolls at the Odeon Cinema in Maidstone. My normal cinema is the Cineworld at Rochester. As ever I rated this film on IMDB, see this communication for an explanation of my rating system.
I rated The Boxtrolls (2014) 6/10 #IMDb http://t.co/HuUTV4OU0b
— Ian Parish (@iparish) May 11, 2015
I saw this movie on a Saturday morning kids club event. This meant I only paid £2-50 for each of us to go. Overall this was a perfectly well made kids film. The animation was lovely and the whole concept was typical fairy story. My son really enjoyed it. I will point out that I don’t like overly large machines used in films [like the spider thing in Wild Wild West] there are issues with structural strength and manufacture [flying airbases in Avengers] but the one in this film gets a free pass as it was used well.
I’m not sure I’m that fussed about seeing this film again, I expect my children will want to see it. Hence I gave a 6/10. It’s worth a watch with kids.
Flick Of The Switch – AC/DC
I love AC/DC. Even the shit albums. This is one of those. There was a period in the 1980s when, after Back In Black, it all went a little sideways for AC/DC. But then, what would you expect with one of the top ten albums of all time behind them? Regression to the mean.
The songs on this album are solid AC/DC. They are well written and jaunty. There isn’t a song they play live though.
For sheer crazy you could try Bedlam In Belgium.
I would argue that Guns For Hire is a pretty good song, especially the opening few bars!
Flesh & Blood – Poison
COCK ROCK!!
I remember I poster in our sixth form common room where all the members of this band looked like women. Tight clothes, big hair and loads of make up. Very strange.
This album isn’t that great. I’ve listened to it while writing this and I find it mostly irritating. I can see why the teenage me liked it, it has power chords, ballads and lots of “bouncy” tunes. The current me doesn’t like it much. I’m into dirty sounding electronic music with nasty lyrics.
If I try and be slightly objective then I would say there are a couple of good songs:
- Sacrifice
- Let It Play
However there are some terrible songs, the worst being Unkinny Bop.
Sorry Pom.
Fixed – Nine Inch Nails
This is the remix album companion to Broken. Broken is pretty good but this is better. I like the combination of decent drum beats and blistering guitar sounds. I even played this in the car with my sons so they could listen to lots of drumming.
This is very much worth owning.
The Fine Art Of Killing Yourself – Terrorfakt
I really like this album. It’s most definitely aggrotech. The beats are heavy and a lot of the sounds are distorted. There’s not really any singing but they do use many samples. If you want to get moving then this is a great album. I’d almost say it hurts to listen to!