Bit late, well, very late… But I’m reverting this blog back to Uni scheduling for now, got a project on the go;
“Design something you love, out of things you hate”. I’m not sure whether this is going to be dead open yet, or closed off, such as just in the subject of music, or whatever. But yeah, if I like anything, it’s going on here.

1. Recording ‘Hello I Have Toxic Shock’
2. The Secret- Disintoxication, for it being as heavy as shit.
3. Bayfest
4. FLAT 8A
5. Have Heart- Songs To Scream At The Sun
6. Uniform, and knowing that corporate design isn’t for me.
7. Valves
8. First Act Sheena
9. Young Widows- Old Wounds
10. Friends

How absolutely obnoxious are death, black and grind band logos?

MENTAL DEAVHSSE?

HUMAN DISMEMBERMENT

So, being back in Liverpool is cool, Uni starts properly tomorrow, third and final year, scary. In a weird way, I’d kind of like to be back in first year again. I need to go the whole way and at least try and get a first.

I’m a bit worried about it because I feel really unfocused and a bit scrambled. Plus the added fact that I haven’t really done much of anything design based all summer. RUSTY!

Back in Liverpool on the 8th, It’s been good being home, but I just need stuff to be getting on with now. Nice to see Amlwch rear its ugly head, and turn back into a dark and gloomy cesspit again.

I better start posting cool stuff up here again.

So, I’ve decided to make a list of albums. It’s in no order, and it’s under no category as such, just albums I have something to say about, it’s a geekfest, enjoy:

U2- The Joshua Tree

Not necessarily an album I listen to often, but it’s an album I grew up with. If its on, I find myself knowing all the words and all the music. Bullet The Blue Sky has one of the coolest bass riffs ever.

Glassjaw- Worship And Tribute

Would probably get flak for choosing this over EYEWTKAS, but what the hell, I think that sounds a bit dated these days, but I don’t think this album will ever get old for me, it still sounds fresh, original and more relevant that anything coming out these days. Always ahead of the curve, I’m fully believing the new album will be top notch.
Also, like U2, often imitated, never surpassed.

 
Fear Before The March Of Flames- Art Damage

Me being me, I hate bands that become diluted and sacrifice integrity and art for the big money. (probably meaning I’ll always be skint!) Fear Before’s first album was a bit, well, shit. but Art Damage is just pure ruin. No singing, no hooks, just skeletal, horrible riffs and screaming, brilliant.
Bands are annoying when they’re asked what they sound like, and they say something like, ‘Flaming Lips and Radiohead thrown into a blender, while Botch and Pelican turn it on, and Mogwai are all sitting there laughing.’ You just know thats bullshit, but with Art Damage, I remember checking Fear Before’s purevolume and it said, ‘For fans of Botch, The Blood Brothers and Converge.’
They were so right.

 
Radiohead- Kid A

Well, last year, Radiohead came out with their best album yet, maybe. But Kid A just does it for me, they alienated everyone after the success of OK Computer, and brought out a dense, inaccessible and suffocating album. How they did this, it becoming a number one album, and yet still be one of the biggest AND original bands in world, completely blows my mind.

Converge- You Fail Me

No, I haven’t chosen Jane Doe, and no, I don’t think this album is better than Jane Doe, but there’s just something about this album that when someone mentions Converge to me, it’s what I think of.
Although Jane Doe is more complete, I’d say the best tracks on this album are better songs.
 

Yourcodenameis:milo- All Roads To Fault E.P.

I’ve loved this band for so long, and I’m so distraught that they’re not together anymore. This reminds of when the british rock scene was so exciting, Biffy, Kinesis, Oceansize, Hell Is For Heroes, Hundred Reasons, Reuben, Million Dead… Amazing bands, and the only one still together and flying the flag for me is Oceansize, it’s so depressing.
Lets all go listen to Jack Penate and wear stupid pointy shoes ey? Cunts.

The Chariot- The Fiancee

What? Another second album I prefer over the first? The Fiancee was by far, my most listened to album of 2007. I can listen to it all the way through without skipping a track, which doesn’t happen often with me. It’s a completely different band around Josh Scogin compared the first album, so it was bound to be different, But I’d go as far to say that ‘Everything Is Alive…’ was often noisy for the sake of it, whereas this has an amazing punk rock vibe added to The Chariot’s sound.

Oh, and Josh Scogin is one of the best lyricists and vocalists around these days. Just sayin’.

What a great gang vocal, love it. Hard Bark On The Family Tree, by Have Heart.

Anyway, the Bastions studio session went superb, we couldnt of nailed it any better in the amount of time we had. Although now, theres little things I’d have changed, the bass tone, and just dropping the volume of the vocals a little, but I think that’s just me being fussy, whatever.

Done some designing over the past couple of days, I admit I haven’t really done much of anything these past few weeks, seems like a blur of being drunk, not sleeping, and being at band practice, all while watching my bank balance drop.

I think I’m stuck in a rut really, I think I’ve been pretending I’ve been okay when I really haven’t. I think I made a choice, and I’ve just got to believe in myself that it’s right. I think I might of made some mistakes. I also don’t know what I’m thinking.

Maybe too much self-disclosure on here, but fuck it, as if anyone actually reads this. 

Bayfest 2008 starts tomorrow, I hope the ‘great British summer’ holds out. See you all there!

Playlist? just certain songs:

Eagles Become Vultures- Converge
Hard Bark On The Family Tree- Have Heart
Gutters- Cursed
Music For A Nurse- Oceansize

I’ll be fine.

Well, Red Colours Black has changed to Bastions, better name I feel. We’re going to the studio tomorrow, to record our 1st E.P. Full name of it being ‘Hello, I Have Toxic Shock; A Collection of Diatribes by Bastions’. Wordy much? Yes. Pretentious? Yes. Bothered? …Not really.

Hopefully it’ll go smoothly, I mean, we’re all roughly accomplished musicians, all of us have been in a studio environment before. I’ll keep you posted on how everything goes.

Playlist? Just listen to Some Girls.

So I’m home right now, it’s been good seeing old friends again, and generally doing stuff that I can’t do in a city in this lovely weather. I can’t really do any updates regarding interesting design or anything as I’m on my Mums, well, crap computer. So I’ll have to leave all that until another time.

Listen to Mute Math, awesome summer music.

Oh, and the RCB tracks might actually shred your face off, that’ll be all.

Went to London last Tuesday, Finch were at the Scala, it was an awesome gig, shame about Armor For Sleep supporting though, that band is a waste of space. But, the sound was spot on, which was great. Me and Bee stayed with a friend, and left the next evening. London was like an oven.

Thursday, pretty much did nothing all day, until about 5:00pm I spoke to Joe on Adium, turns out he had an AAA pass for Finch in Manchester that night. Can’t believe I almost didn’t go, it was better gig than London, sound was awful though. (I must sound like a right audiophile) The Finch boys were pretty much all wasted, apart from Drew. I was so chuffed they mixed the set up every night too.

I ’stayed’ at Elliots that night too, by stayed I mean up all night drinking Carlsberg Export with Elliot, Matt and Gwyn, and listening to anything from Maths to, I can’t really remember… But anyway, I’d decided to get a ridiculously early train back to Liverpool, got home at 9:00am, epic!

Took this on the walk to the station too, the light at that time of the morning was amazing, it was so sharp. Shame this looks like one of those photos from the cover of ‘The Watchtower’ or something…

Playlist:

Cursed- III Architects Of Troubled Sleep
Architects/Dead Swans Split E.P.