Well, The more I download from Jamendo, the more I notice that the music I'm downloading is starting to take on very distinctively mediterranean flavour. Today's entry is one coming from the sunny reaches of Italy - Where the F1 heads this weekend for the Monza Grand Prix, incidentally - and is straying back into my more favoured tastes of Ska-punk.
Talco's entry to the Arena, Combat Circus, draws on some very familiar ground as its basis. Ska has been around for a long time, really, and its a very good mould to follow.
I have to admit, it was with some trepidation that I settled in to listen to an all-Italian album. This is something a lot of people will probably be familiar with - its very difficult to listen to music, even music styles you like, if they arent in a language you don't understand. That said, after the first couple of tracks, I felt firmly like I was in familiar territory. The sound of Brass instruments and shredding guitars greeted me like a warm fire in a log cabin.
A log cabin that was steadily burning to the ground, amidst the tattered remains of a nuclear stricken world...
...Okay, that metaphor was stretched a bit, but that fact that Combat Circus is a fairly comfortable listen for anyone into punk is something that deserves saying, even if the language barrier is in the way. After reading the reviews, I found that the Album apparently has an Anti-Fascist lean to it.
Whilst I didn't get that listening to the songs the first time round, with the tone of songs like Testamento Di Un Buffone and the cover of the Anti-Fascist classic Bella Ciao mena that once you know its there the sentiment comes across pretty clearly.
End of the day, the language barrier on the songs is somethign that can be broken down witha bit of concentration, and what you're left with is a very good punk album, That's definitley staying on my music files for a long time.
Download Talco: Combat Circus
Talco's Band site.
---
-Bendana
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Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Creative Commons Music: The Ugly Army.
I hereby declare this week Bendanarama's Creative Commons Music week! A new Album review every day!
I'll admit something now - I try not to read the genres that are listed when I download a full album from Jamendo. Its difficult, since they're fairly prominent, but it means that I can generally form my own opinions.
Of course, sometimes I cant help it, and when I saw Fresh Body Shop's The Ugly Army describe as "Punk Rock Electro", I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this French rock act.
The initial impression wasn't that great, but I warmed to the album fairly quickly. any trepidation I felt was purely due to the fact that it wasn't like any of the music I usually listen to, and thats something that required me to step out of my brit-indie-US-punk comfort zone.
The Ugly Army has a hell of a beat to it. ANd it's also a hell of an individualistic beat. In terms of Genre, I wouldn't have described it as Punk Rock Electro. I would have gone with "Punk Jazz Fusion" or alternatively, "Hyperspace Wizard Rock."
But then, I'm a bit wierd.
I have to admit, to me personally, some of the songs are a little hit and miss. Ones like Never end up like this and Anythign But You are ones I really enjoyed, but the more Electro sounding ones like My Artificial Sun didn't really do all that much for me.
If I'm honest, I enjoyed most of the album, but the odd couple of tracks that didn't really push my buttons left it feeling a little flat. But, if you like something a little different, its a nice little album, with a very distinctive French flavour to it.
Download Fresh Body Shop: The Ugly Army
Fresh Body Shop's Blogsite.
---
-Bendana
---
I'll admit something now - I try not to read the genres that are listed when I download a full album from Jamendo. Its difficult, since they're fairly prominent, but it means that I can generally form my own opinions.
Of course, sometimes I cant help it, and when I saw Fresh Body Shop's The Ugly Army describe as "Punk Rock Electro", I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this French rock act.
The initial impression wasn't that great, but I warmed to the album fairly quickly. any trepidation I felt was purely due to the fact that it wasn't like any of the music I usually listen to, and thats something that required me to step out of my brit-indie-US-punk comfort zone.
The Ugly Army has a hell of a beat to it. ANd it's also a hell of an individualistic beat. In terms of Genre, I wouldn't have described it as Punk Rock Electro. I would have gone with "Punk Jazz Fusion" or alternatively, "Hyperspace Wizard Rock."
But then, I'm a bit wierd.
I have to admit, to me personally, some of the songs are a little hit and miss. Ones like Never end up like this and Anythign But You are ones I really enjoyed, but the more Electro sounding ones like My Artificial Sun didn't really do all that much for me.
If I'm honest, I enjoyed most of the album, but the odd couple of tracks that didn't really push my buttons left it feeling a little flat. But, if you like something a little different, its a nice little album, with a very distinctive French flavour to it.
Download Fresh Body Shop: The Ugly Army
Fresh Body Shop's Blogsite.
---
-Bendana
---
Monday, 7 September 2009
Creative Commons music: Hymns about her
One of the wonders of using Frostwire is the (relatively) recently added Frostclick feature, that gives you access to tones of free music, completely legally, under the creative commons licensing system.
Generally, I have ignored most of the splash ads that have come up but for some reason, I decided to click on the album cover for Steven Dunston's Hymns about her.
Never have I less regretted a decision. Steven Dunston's album is exactly the kind of Jazzy Piano music I tend to listen for relaxation, and in this case, it is exceptionally good Jazzy piano. Dunston handles both the strings, piano and vocals, and gives a virtuoso performance.
But what you shouldn;t assume is that this a one-note performance. Whilst songs like Tonic and Gin - my personal favourite - and Northern Star are accomplished love songs, others like Lyle Love Song and California have a more poppy, cigarette-dangling-from-the-mouth feel.
But despite this, it is defintely the traditional jazz feel that benefits more from Dunston's vocal style. Whilst Lyle Love Song isn't bad, its more country-ish air doesn't take as much from the vocal style as the slower, more jazzy numbers. Particularly good examples include "When I was with you" and Man of faith.
If you like, even occasionally, to relax to music, then this album is for you. its an isntant calmer - valium, in music form, if you will. Sit back and chill. As I said, my personal favourite is Tonic and Gin. The album also caters to one of my favourite tastes in music - songs that tell a story. The is Pour-yourself-a-drink-and-chill music at its finest.
Get it now.
Links:
Get the Album: Steven Dunston - Hymns about her.
Steven Dunston's Site and Blog.
---
-Bendana.
---
Generally, I have ignored most of the splash ads that have come up but for some reason, I decided to click on the album cover for Steven Dunston's Hymns about her.
Never have I less regretted a decision. Steven Dunston's album is exactly the kind of Jazzy Piano music I tend to listen for relaxation, and in this case, it is exceptionally good Jazzy piano. Dunston handles both the strings, piano and vocals, and gives a virtuoso performance.
But what you shouldn;t assume is that this a one-note performance. Whilst songs like Tonic and Gin - my personal favourite - and Northern Star are accomplished love songs, others like Lyle Love Song and California have a more poppy, cigarette-dangling-from-the-mouth feel.
But despite this, it is defintely the traditional jazz feel that benefits more from Dunston's vocal style. Whilst Lyle Love Song isn't bad, its more country-ish air doesn't take as much from the vocal style as the slower, more jazzy numbers. Particularly good examples include "When I was with you" and Man of faith.
If you like, even occasionally, to relax to music, then this album is for you. its an isntant calmer - valium, in music form, if you will. Sit back and chill. As I said, my personal favourite is Tonic and Gin. The album also caters to one of my favourite tastes in music - songs that tell a story. The is Pour-yourself-a-drink-and-chill music at its finest.
Get it now.
Links:
Get the Album: Steven Dunston - Hymns about her.
Steven Dunston's Site and Blog.
---
-Bendana.
---
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
Ben Watches the Watchmen. Perv.
Watchmen was always, in fairness, going the be an incredibly difficult comic to film. It wasn't exactly built for it, from the start. The comic itself is incredibly slowly paced - to its advantage - which, even with a three hour film, was going to be exceptionally difficult to translate.
To Watchmen's credit, it works very well. combining almost graphic-for-graphic images from the comics with the film. It's also carried by very strong performances from the actors. For a guy whose face you rarely see, Jackie Earle Haley gives an amazing performance as Rorschach. His vocal style and different levels of physical acting made the character come across as a personality of its own.
It was definitely a good idea of Zack Snyder to cast relative unknowns for the parts - it allowed the characters to speak for themselves. Personally I didn't like 300, Snyder's previous effort. I thought that it was vastly overdone, and in all fairness, would have been all of ten minutes long if it hadn't been filmed almost entirely in slomo.
But in reproducing most of the comment almost shot for shot in Watchmen, Snyder manages to retain most of the Atmosphere from the comics. Admittedly he has to change some of the plot elements - the Cthulhu-esque monster from the end of the book would have just looked stupid come the end of the movie.
...The books been out for 23 years. If you claim I'm spoiling it, fuck yourself. Sideways.
There are other elements of the story different from the Books. The overall tone of the ending is a lot... happier. For lack of a better term.
The Problem with reviewing it, is that theres no way to detail any of the plot without really spoiling anything else. So I'll stick to what I know...
See Beginner's rule handbook #2: "Why Re-invent the Wheel."
...Ze Action in Watchmen, It be fucking awesome. you do get a good amount of Gunplay in some scenes - primarily flashbacks to the days of the Comedian - But the Hand to hand scenes are utterly fantastic. If you read my "Top-Ten Fight scenes" from a few entries back, you'll have noticed that I have a bit of a thing for realistic fight scenes. Watchmen somehow manages to do bigger-than-real fightscenes without actually losing the realism of the movie. Its also illustrated by the fact that each character has a very distinctive individual style, from Nite Owl II's more heavy handed kickboxing/bodyblock style to Ozymandias' uniquely defensive counter-fighting technique, it contrives to give each fight a very individual flavour and makes for very compelling fights - something 300 distinctly lacked.
Watchmen Is, truth be told, one of the best superhero movies I've seen, even when all the characters are substantially less than super.
Until World War 3, I remain,
-Bendana.
To Watchmen's credit, it works very well. combining almost graphic-for-graphic images from the comics with the film. It's also carried by very strong performances from the actors. For a guy whose face you rarely see, Jackie Earle Haley gives an amazing performance as Rorschach. His vocal style and different levels of physical acting made the character come across as a personality of its own.
It was definitely a good idea of Zack Snyder to cast relative unknowns for the parts - it allowed the characters to speak for themselves. Personally I didn't like 300, Snyder's previous effort. I thought that it was vastly overdone, and in all fairness, would have been all of ten minutes long if it hadn't been filmed almost entirely in slomo.
But in reproducing most of the comment almost shot for shot in Watchmen, Snyder manages to retain most of the Atmosphere from the comics. Admittedly he has to change some of the plot elements - the Cthulhu-esque monster from the end of the book would have just looked stupid come the end of the movie.
...The books been out for 23 years. If you claim I'm spoiling it, fuck yourself. Sideways.
There are other elements of the story different from the Books. The overall tone of the ending is a lot... happier. For lack of a better term.
The Problem with reviewing it, is that theres no way to detail any of the plot without really spoiling anything else. So I'll stick to what I know...
See Beginner's rule handbook #2: "Why Re-invent the Wheel."
...Ze Action in Watchmen, It be fucking awesome. you do get a good amount of Gunplay in some scenes - primarily flashbacks to the days of the Comedian - But the Hand to hand scenes are utterly fantastic. If you read my "Top-Ten Fight scenes" from a few entries back, you'll have noticed that I have a bit of a thing for realistic fight scenes. Watchmen somehow manages to do bigger-than-real fightscenes without actually losing the realism of the movie. Its also illustrated by the fact that each character has a very distinctive individual style, from Nite Owl II's more heavy handed kickboxing/bodyblock style to Ozymandias' uniquely defensive counter-fighting technique, it contrives to give each fight a very individual flavour and makes for very compelling fights - something 300 distinctly lacked.
Watchmen Is, truth be told, one of the best superhero movies I've seen, even when all the characters are substantially less than super.
Until World War 3, I remain,
-Bendana.
Sunday, 16 August 2009
My take on the NHS-USA Debate.
So, American Republicans...
You believe that a system where peple have to pay through the nose for life saving operations, where if they cant pay, they cant afford to have a baby and where people spend years paying off the result of injuries because the insurance companies who have been taking their money suddenly refuse to pay and where peple are chucked out of hospitals simply because their insurance wont sustain them staying any longer...
is superior to a system where...
I can get medication with no insurance for my damaged achilles tendon for a flat fee of £7.00, my wife can get her monthly doses of medication for her asthma on a flat fee of £100 a year, and where, whilst there are some waiting times, they are not months and months for life-saving operations (and no, dickheads, we dont have death panels either) and where, If i'm in hospital, I can stay for as long as I need to without worrying that I'm suddenly not going to be able to pay for it.
...
...on a personal note, I have a friend in the states who struggles to afford her Asthma inhaler because unlike over here, where my wife gets hers mostly for free, it costs her $300 an inhaler. If Barack Obama does nothing else, establishing this health system is what the USA needs.
You believe that a system where peple have to pay through the nose for life saving operations, where if they cant pay, they cant afford to have a baby and where people spend years paying off the result of injuries because the insurance companies who have been taking their money suddenly refuse to pay and where peple are chucked out of hospitals simply because their insurance wont sustain them staying any longer...
is superior to a system where...
I can get medication with no insurance for my damaged achilles tendon for a flat fee of £7.00, my wife can get her monthly doses of medication for her asthma on a flat fee of £100 a year, and where, whilst there are some waiting times, they are not months and months for life-saving operations (and no, dickheads, we dont have death panels either) and where, If i'm in hospital, I can stay for as long as I need to without worrying that I'm suddenly not going to be able to pay for it.
...
...on a personal note, I have a friend in the states who struggles to afford her Asthma inhaler because unlike over here, where my wife gets hers mostly for free, it costs her $300 an inhaler. If Barack Obama does nothing else, establishing this health system is what the USA needs.
Monday, 10 August 2009
Harry Potter And the Grim Grim Dark Grimness.
So, after a few days of my wifes nagging, We finally went to see Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince.
And you know what? I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, this may seem rather insignificant to you, but as my wife could probably tell you, I've always been rather indifferent to the Harry Potter movies. Not that I dont enjoy them, I've just never been particularly bothered about actually seeing them. I liked Order of the Phoenix, but again, I was very indifferent to actually going out and watching them. The same again was something I felt for Half-Blood Prince.
Now, the Book of the film was the only one in the series I found truly problematic. it wasnt bad, but It felt as if the entire thing was merely a setup for Deathly Hallows. To be honest, the last few books felt a little flabby compared to the rest, with multiple chapters of Harry being a whiny little bitch.
Daniel Radcliffe's performance in the film, however, takes a slightly different tone. After the rather miserable opening of Order of the Phoenix, admittedly, leading from the death of Cederic in Goblet of fire set the tone for the whole movie, leading up to the death of Sirius at the end of the movie.
...Look, the book came out in 2003, and the film in 2007. If you claim I'm spoiling it for you, fuck yourself. Seriously.
Anyways, Radcliffe's performance is the true sign that this young actor has truly ound his feet in the part. In the first few movies I was genuinely underwhelmed with his performances - even making allowance for his age - but in Half-Blood Prince he genuinely makes the part his own, bringing a certain zest to the performance that he previously lacked. And it really worked. His personality leapt off the screen in this film, bringing fantastic life to the movie. Similarly, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have matured into their roles, allowing the chemistry that the three have shown in interviews to finally come through on screen. Given that the film is far more concerned with the relationships between the characters than those that have come previously, it was just what they needed.
But thats not to say there isn't plenty of action. There is, but it's far mor subtle than in the film's predecessors. There are no really huge shootouts, no extended battles, which is good because there isnt any way this film could have done those sequences without either looking tame next to the last film or overshadowing the climax of the next (two?) films. The attempted attacks on Dumbeldore - especially the scene when a cursed Necklace takes hold, are fairly nerve-wracking.
And all of lends to the general feeling of darkness about this movie. This is not Shiney-Happy Potter. This is the culmination of all the grim imagery thats influenced the last three films, and its all a buildup to the Final sunrise of the last Film. It's a genuine credit to JK Rowling that most of the imagery in the film can be lifted directly from the book. Her Novels are incredibly visual in their writing, and that's one of the things that makes this film what it is: an amazing visual experience.
And you know what? I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, this may seem rather insignificant to you, but as my wife could probably tell you, I've always been rather indifferent to the Harry Potter movies. Not that I dont enjoy them, I've just never been particularly bothered about actually seeing them. I liked Order of the Phoenix, but again, I was very indifferent to actually going out and watching them. The same again was something I felt for Half-Blood Prince.
Now, the Book of the film was the only one in the series I found truly problematic. it wasnt bad, but It felt as if the entire thing was merely a setup for Deathly Hallows. To be honest, the last few books felt a little flabby compared to the rest, with multiple chapters of Harry being a whiny little bitch.
Daniel Radcliffe's performance in the film, however, takes a slightly different tone. After the rather miserable opening of Order of the Phoenix, admittedly, leading from the death of Cederic in Goblet of fire set the tone for the whole movie, leading up to the death of Sirius at the end of the movie.
...Look, the book came out in 2003, and the film in 2007. If you claim I'm spoiling it for you, fuck yourself. Seriously.
Anyways, Radcliffe's performance is the true sign that this young actor has truly ound his feet in the part. In the first few movies I was genuinely underwhelmed with his performances - even making allowance for his age - but in Half-Blood Prince he genuinely makes the part his own, bringing a certain zest to the performance that he previously lacked. And it really worked. His personality leapt off the screen in this film, bringing fantastic life to the movie. Similarly, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have matured into their roles, allowing the chemistry that the three have shown in interviews to finally come through on screen. Given that the film is far more concerned with the relationships between the characters than those that have come previously, it was just what they needed.
But thats not to say there isn't plenty of action. There is, but it's far mor subtle than in the film's predecessors. There are no really huge shootouts, no extended battles, which is good because there isnt any way this film could have done those sequences without either looking tame next to the last film or overshadowing the climax of the next (two?) films. The attempted attacks on Dumbeldore - especially the scene when a cursed Necklace takes hold, are fairly nerve-wracking.
And all of lends to the general feeling of darkness about this movie. This is not Shiney-Happy Potter. This is the culmination of all the grim imagery thats influenced the last three films, and its all a buildup to the Final sunrise of the last Film. It's a genuine credit to JK Rowling that most of the imagery in the film can be lifted directly from the book. Her Novels are incredibly visual in their writing, and that's one of the things that makes this film what it is: an amazing visual experience.
Thursday, 2 July 2009
I love the 2009 formula one cars...
I'm a pretty big fan of Formula One. I'm a fan of motorsport in general, but Formula one has a special place in my heart - its one of the first sports that my wife and I truly love to watch together. We even watch the Qualifying on the Saturday before the actual race - sometimes we even find it more exciting than the actual race!
From the moment Fleetwood Mac's Bassline from The Chain starts to play, I'm hooked. I've always been a fan of Jenson Button, and the fact that his season is going so well is awesome to me.
So recently, I started following a dedicated Formula One blog, F1 Fanatic. This place seems to cotton onto a lot of the big news first, and is a lot easier to digest than my other source of F1 news, the BBC sports site.
I glanced on today, and noticed that a new article was up. The site had recently held a poll, asking what F1 cars readers felt were the best looking. I voted for the 2009 Iterations of the cars. I love the look of the new F1 cars - Unlike the technology infested things of recent years, that looked more like stubby fighter aircraft than cars, the new generation look like Racers.
Yet the fanbase have voted, overwhelmingly that the 2009 cars are the ugliest cars they've ever seen.
Seriously? I call bullshit. While I agree with a lot of what the article says - the problem of getting the cars to actually, y'know, race still hasn't been solved - I think those new cars are absolutely gorgeous. Seriously, look at the BGP-001:
Now, that is one good looking car. It looks like it can race, rather than looking like a Picasso painting has vomited all over an IndyCar. in opposition to that, the cars that were voted the best looking were the cars from the 2000's. Most notably, the cars from 2007 were prminently featured as examples:
Seriously? I mean, Jesus, nostalgia is one thing, but that car is beyond fucking ugly. I know it was an excellent piece of engineering, but aesthetically, it's far from pleasing. Even as recently as 2008, the cars were so squat and ugly that they just looked like insects to me. The latest Generation of F1 cars look like cars.
But, at the end of the day, Aesthetics isn't really the point of F1, (I really wanted to give those 2009 cars some love though) and as I said, the problems of making the cars race against each other is still there. at the highers speeds, the only place F1 seems to become a passing race sport is at the back of the grid - where the cars are so bad they have to fight for every position.
It still makes me giggle that the world Champion is in one of those poor cars. I think it will be good for Hamilton, who seemed to have the world at his feet far too quickly. In the meantime, the German Grand Prix at the Legendary Nurburgring is a week on Sunday, and once again, I'm in work for qualifying.
God... Damn.
...Tell me that shit don't look good.
From the moment Fleetwood Mac's Bassline from The Chain starts to play, I'm hooked. I've always been a fan of Jenson Button, and the fact that his season is going so well is awesome to me.
So recently, I started following a dedicated Formula One blog, F1 Fanatic. This place seems to cotton onto a lot of the big news first, and is a lot easier to digest than my other source of F1 news, the BBC sports site.
I glanced on today, and noticed that a new article was up. The site had recently held a poll, asking what F1 cars readers felt were the best looking. I voted for the 2009 Iterations of the cars. I love the look of the new F1 cars - Unlike the technology infested things of recent years, that looked more like stubby fighter aircraft than cars, the new generation look like Racers.
Yet the fanbase have voted, overwhelmingly that the 2009 cars are the ugliest cars they've ever seen.
Seriously? I call bullshit. While I agree with a lot of what the article says - the problem of getting the cars to actually, y'know, race still hasn't been solved - I think those new cars are absolutely gorgeous. Seriously, look at the BGP-001:
Now, that is one good looking car. It looks like it can race, rather than looking like a Picasso painting has vomited all over an IndyCar. in opposition to that, the cars that were voted the best looking were the cars from the 2000's. Most notably, the cars from 2007 were prminently featured as examples:
Seriously? I mean, Jesus, nostalgia is one thing, but that car is beyond fucking ugly. I know it was an excellent piece of engineering, but aesthetically, it's far from pleasing. Even as recently as 2008, the cars were so squat and ugly that they just looked like insects to me. The latest Generation of F1 cars look like cars.
But, at the end of the day, Aesthetics isn't really the point of F1, (I really wanted to give those 2009 cars some love though) and as I said, the problems of making the cars race against each other is still there. at the highers speeds, the only place F1 seems to become a passing race sport is at the back of the grid - where the cars are so bad they have to fight for every position.
It still makes me giggle that the world Champion is in one of those poor cars. I think it will be good for Hamilton, who seemed to have the world at his feet far too quickly. In the meantime, the German Grand Prix at the Legendary Nurburgring is a week on Sunday, and once again, I'm in work for qualifying.
God... Damn.
...Tell me that shit don't look good.
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