Live Long And Prosper

hey, i hope whoever reads this had a good christmas. i'm not gonna go on about mine, i've had a really good few days but need to get a lot of work done for my January exams and just in general. :S.
Just watched Star Trek for the 4th time! the 3rd time i saw it was at the IMAX in Manchester Printworks. so watching it at home was nowt in comparison really. haha. it's probably one of my favourite films ever. :)
Anyway, like i've noticed a few blogs i'm following have done, i might move over to tumblr. :/ not that i want to jump on the bandwagon, it's just that no one genuinely wants to read my text-laden ramblings so summat more photo based could be easier. still not sure though. so yeah, hope you all have had a good christmas holiday so far.
Happy New Year!

Lies

this is actually like all my christmas presents come at once.
Jon McClure's written a series of short films. This is the first one.
Think the main lad is one who were in the video for No Soap In A Dirty War.
There's also appearances from Laura Manuel/McClure & Andy Nicholson. Chris McClure helped direct and produce it too. dunno how much this means to everyone else, but for me it's very exciting!

here you go...

http://tinyurl.com/yhc88df

Merry Christmas.

around your crooked conscience she will wind

thought i'd post while i'm waiting to get some feeling back in my face after being out in the cold for like 5 hours. a lot of people seem to be doing their Top 10 Albums of 09 lists but instead i'm just going to tell you what my favourite records from this year are and not care about numbers. :)

Skanky Skanky - Toddla T. first and foremost. the most important album from 2009 for me. it really did change my perspective on music and got me into loads of new genres, djs and producers. it made me think 'how am i ever going to like guitar music again?' i loved it so much. it's got a thoroughly Sheffield vibe even though it brings in Jamaican dancehall amongst many other genres. Toddla blends it all so well it really is impossible to hate this album. another contributing factor to how good it all sounds is co-producer Ross Orton. He's incredible. End of. as well as being musically brilliant Skanky Skanky is also hilarious. the interludes and just generally Mr V and Serocee make it worth a listen. He collaborates with the likes of Tinchy Stryder, Matt Helders, Shake Aletti and Roots Manuva. i can't fully explain just how much i love this album. best thing i've heard all year. :)

A French Kiss In The Chaos - Reverend And The Makers. at one point i liked this more than i liked WPSIATWIN. which is a big thing for me. very big. it shows just how amazing this record is. a complete step up from The State Of Things the makers take it to a new psychadelic level. lyrically it's so much more interesting too. each and every song is just wonderful. the first song i heard from this album was Professor Pickles and admittedly, i wasn't keen on the first few listens but i soon came around and it slots in great on the album. my favourite tracks are Mermaids, The End and Hidden Persuaders.

Humbug - Arctic Monkeys. on first listen i wasn't too fussed. and i will admit that it took about 30 listens to fully appreciate and love every song. i can't possibly write down why it's amazing or why i love it but i do. i might go as far as saying i like it more than WPSIATWIN but i've been hasty with that before so i won't go there again. i would quite happily go to a gig where they just played this album (and b-sides of course). favourite tracks are Pretty Visitors, The Jewellers Hands, Dangerous Animals, Potion Approaching and Dance Little Liar.

other albums of note from 09; Better Than Heavy - Mongrel. Kings and Queens - Jamie T. Hands- Little Boots.

Yes, yes we're magicians

Back in July i saw The Crookes at the Forum in Sheffield. they were utterly wonderful with handclaps and banjos and a photo of the Queen. i don't know why they had it but one of them told me and my friend that it wasn't 'a political statement'. all that aside, they're being very festive and have created this little thing called 12 days of Crookesmas. i urge you to get involved cos y'know, it's good. :) oh and go and see them live if you have the chance cos it blows their recorded stuff out of the water.

Merry Christmas!
ps. Jon McClure & Matt Helders were both at that gig too. ;)

Broken hearts and silly tarts

Nothing of note to blog about. not that i usually write owt interesting. haha. just want this week to be over. ahh christmas. here's some photos. bye. xxx

NMTB

after being in an awful mood for the past week due to general illness/weather/etc... i really wanted summat to cheer me up.
Never Mind The Buzzcocks cheered me right up!
Frankie Boyle presenting, Jon McClure just generally being there and having the best voice ever and just the hilarity of it all.
Plus, when introducing the Rev and playing a clip from No Soap (In A Dirty War) there was some quality screen time of Tom Rowley.
all this equates to me being very happy! haha. such simple things...

It's better that than get a reputation as a miserable little tyke

hi ♥ i really should be working my way through a mound of homework but as per usual in these situations, i'm sitting on blogger, tryna think of something interesting to write.

the other night i thought of something half decent, but my brain is like a seive half the time so i've just got these weird snippets that really don't make sense.
on friday night i went to Bridlington. which is an awful, depressing, north-eastern seaside town. it's got this venue called 'The Spa' where Oasis played their last UK gig and Kasabian played there recently. i'm not going to go into why i was in Brid and what happened there because quite frankly it's a boring and irritating story to tell. what i will say is that i re-kindled my love for Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. earlier in the evening i'd proclaimed that Humbug was my favourite monkeys record and i'm pleased to say that i'm mistaken.
one thing i noticed whilst i was listening was that the temperature dropped 3 degrees and there was a definite When The Sun Goes down vibe in Brid that night.

mm, i'm rambling. one thing that i really love is driving at night and seeing lights. that's my favourite part of going to my Gran's near Leeds in winter because the drive home is always quite pretty. i usually have Old Yellow Bricks on repeat during that journey for some reason. so now i associate the two and it makes me rather content. the drive home from Bridlington reminded me of a holiday, last year during October half term i think. we were staying just outside Glasgow and from the hotel restaurant we had this brilliant view over the city and the lights at night, it was just wonderful. i don't know why i like things like that so much.

this post is boring and text-laden as usual. sorry for that. i just kinda wanted to say some of these things. haha.
i mentioned this a few posts ago, but i bloody love Kid Acne. here's some of my favourite bits of his work. all photos are taken from his blog. :)

He gets it all from his Father's blood

Wahey, 20th post!
Went shopping this afternoon and for the first time in ages, wasn't reluctant to spend money. I got a skirt and a dress from Topshop and saw a few other bits that i'm gonna add to my 'christmas list.'

Here's what i bought;