A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
May 8, 2011, 3:36 pm
Musically, May is turning out quite interesting, with new downloads from The Airborne Toxic Event and Jamie Woon (both on recommendation of my new friend the Sunday Times iPad App's culture section), Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky (they just fit together, with thanks this time to eMusic) and Fleet... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Apr 25, 2011, 6:18 am
This is a test post using the Blogsy app on my iPad. This is taking a little time to get used to as not quite intuitive but I am gradually getting the hang of it. This combined with my Zaggmate keyboard will hopefully mean the iPad becomes my blogging device of choice, and I might even get back to m... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Mar 28, 2011, 4:20 pm
There has been a lot of good new music this month, and I almost don't know where to start. It has been a while since my last confession, I mean post, so better get started.
Most recently, I downloaded from eMusic The Rural Alberta Advantage, which sounded good on preview as it sat at the top of thei... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Feb 5, 2011, 5:34 pm
I am curently dipping in and out of Richard Lederer's highly entertaining book 'Crazy English' (the case is strongly made on every page of how true the title is) on iPhone/Kindle and have just read about all kinds of phobias I didn't know existed. These include things like 'cheruphobia' (gaiety -... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Jan 23, 2011, 4:55 pm
Okay, firstly it has been waaayyy too long since a last update, but better late then never and I have a lot to catch up, to be divided over a few posts I guess. I am also taking the opportunity to test to see how the new Writer app works in terms of allowing me to type more fluently on the iPad. ... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Dec 14, 2010, 4:29 pm
Okay, that was a bad Kings of Leon pun to start with!
Now, I accept that in the past I have been cynical or suspicious of Arcade Fire (like here, here and here), but then 'The suburbs' turned me around more than a little (as admitted here), and when I saw they were to play Dublin in December alon... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Dec 7, 2010, 5:24 pm
It just felt unfair, unjust, when I couldn’t, despite many efforts, get tickets for The National’s Dublin gigs in the venerable Olympia Theatre when they were announced back in September. Who were those who had got there ahead of me and what had they done to deserve it more than me? Had they pat... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Nov 28, 2010, 5:12 pm
No more excuses this time about the long silence since my last post; well, actually, lots of excuses, mainly revolving around a lot of travel, including the States and Iowa and Nebraska, which provides a perfectly apt lead-in to my first musical comment of this post, without further ado!
Music
I don... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Oct 31, 2010, 5:05 am
It has been far too long since I updated (life too distracting, I guess) but I certainly have not become a cultural hermit nor lost the power of typing so time for even a quick update, as there has been quite a lot of good culture collected this October.
Music
Lots of CDs (or their virtual counterpa... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Oct 3, 2010, 5:04 pm
This week I want to catch up on some pop listening, some (relatively) different listening, and the curious tale of Benjamin Sniddlegrass....
Music
I downloaded two poppy albums, mainly for my 10-year-old, but also sparked by curiosity. One was Hurts' 'Happiness', of which I had read several review... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Sep 20, 2010, 5:14 pm
Music
I downloaded 'Becoming a jackal' by Villagers and have been listening to it quite a bit this week. I have heard quite a lot of talk about this band (or rather, this guy, Conor J. O'Brien - see Wikipedia article here) but hadn't heard a specific song I actually identified with them until t... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Sep 12, 2010, 5:06 pm
It has been a while since I have updated things here, and work pressures seem to keep me distracted in the long evenings which were made for blogging, but I am planning and resolute to get back on track from here. Anyway, gives me lots to catch up on.
Music
I am actually remarkably surprised to note... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Aug 22, 2010, 5:23 am
It has been a while since my last post, so a bit to catch up on. As the subject line indicates, there is one main topic for today (and I guess it will be a regular feature for some time until, if ever, the novelty wears off), but I will get there shortly.
Firstly, in a recent post I lamented the lac... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Aug 5, 2010, 6:10 pm
Lots to update on these weeks, as summer allows a bit more time to catch up on the finer things in life (and some coarseness too).
Music
I mentioned The National's live album exclusive for iTunes last week and finally got around to listening to it a bit more and it is well worth a listen, if admitte... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Jul 28, 2010, 5:48 pm
I am now on holidays in Donegal, in the wild north-west of Ireland, and the next post or two will be a ramble through some of the listening, watching, reading and other stuff you can catch up with on a holiday!
Music
Holiday listening breaks many rules of normal music-listening habits, as perhaps it... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Jul 21, 2010, 6:14 pm
This is going to be an unusual post, to say the least, focussing on a single topic, an exhibition at the lovely Glucksman Gallery in Cork which explores the relationship betwen pop music and art, and hence was of great interest to me beyond that which an average art exhibition tends to stir (althoug... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Jul 12, 2010, 4:36 pm
Music
This week I have been listening to 'The black dirt sessions' by Deer Tick a lot, mainly following a very good review in Uncut here. It is really good, and a blast of classic alt-country but yet shot through with something rougher than many of that ilk (as opposed to elk, as opposed to deer),... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Jul 3, 2010, 5:10 pm
Music
My main musical accompaniment this week has been the Gaslight Anthem, and I have as planned gone back to the '59 sound' album, and found it rather good indeed. I really like 'Miles Davis and the cool', as seen below, which has a great drum intro:
Obviously, much has been written about their... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Jun 26, 2010, 6:05 pm
Music
In recent days' I have become pretty obsessed with 'American slang' by The Gaslight Anthem. I downloaded their previous album, 'The old '58 sound' ages ago and listened a few times, but not much (note to self: go back and check it out again!). A positive review in Uncut of their new one, ... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Jun 14, 2010, 6:46 pm
Music
For some reason, perhaps the fine weather, perhaps the fact the my wife's iPod found it on random recently, I have been listening a lot to an English band called Witness, who I discovered through Uncut magazine and who released two albums, 'Before the calm' (in 1999) and 'Under a sun' (in 2002... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Jun 6, 2010, 3:39 pm
Quite a few updates this week, so straight into it:
Music
Have been listening to the Cure's 'Disintegration' special edition quite a bit, in another very nice package as shown below (trying the new Blogger Amazon functionality). The album is really great, just epic and grand and great guitars and ... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
May 29, 2010, 1:39 pm
More to report on this week than in recent weeks, including multiple video clips, so will just get into it!
Music
This week I have been on a bit of a Cure binge, having bought the Disintegration special edition on CD (looked like too nice a package to yield to download), although I haven't got to ... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
May 23, 2010, 4:54 pm
Quiet week this week, so just a few updates:
Music
Listened to a mix of Phosphorescent's album of Willie Nelson covers and their new one ('Heres to taking it easy) and actually finding it really nice, if a bit on the country side of alt. I particularly love their cover of 'Can I sleep in your arms',... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
May 15, 2010, 6:19 am
Spent quite a bit of last week travelling to and from the UK for work, so not much to report in many categories. I finished 'Cheney' and overall found it a quite balanced and actually rather fascinating portrait of a very strange and quite scary man. Next on Kindle is probably to finish 'Who really ... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Apr 30, 2010, 4:29 pm
On Friday night, at around 10.30 in the evening, I checked High Violet on iTunes and discovered that the song names which had been greyed (non-purchasable) last time I looked were not solid and I downloaded on the spot, 4 days ahead of the official May 11 release. No idea how that worked, but maybso... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Apr 30, 2010, 3:04 pm
Okay, last week I was high on violet, and now am down to earth because, just as the NYT gave, it has taken back. We were teased, tantalised, and excited, and now it is snatched back, held firmly in the grip of 4AD until May 11. Just enough to overwhet the appetite, and now back to waiting. Resorting... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Apr 27, 2010, 1:43 pm
A shorter omnibus post today (and a few days late), as I have already put in a long one on the wonderful 'High Violet', but as ever a few things I want to share!
Music
Of course, the story of the week/month/year is 'high violet', and I have just posted my full track-by-track review of the stream fro... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Apr 23, 2010, 12:46 pm
A break from my new compendium-review posts for a very special single-topic post.
The New York Times, according to Wikipedia, has been published since 1851, and has established an internation reputation for the quality of its journalism, being associated with both scoops and scandals over its many y... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Apr 17, 2010, 4:08 pm
Okay, time for the second of my new kind of experimental posts. Not as much cultural to report on this week as last, as pretty busy at work, but a few updates under the categories (no gaming time this week, alas) where something to report.
Music (of course)
Still in pre-High Violet frenzy, but it i... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Apr 6, 2010, 5:13 pm
This week, I was in London and Cambridge for a family holiday and was pleasantly astonished to learn of The National Gallery. Imagine a whole gallery full of images of my favourite band! Imagine my surprise to learn it was not that kind of National!
Okay, I am not that dumb (most of the time) but I ... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Mar 31, 2010, 5:31 pm
Since my long post a few weeks ago with most of the tracks off 'High violet' by The National (still over 6 damn weeks from release), I have found two more tracks live on Youtube.
The first is 'Conversation 16', which I really like, and somehow reminds me of the sound (pastoral rock is the phrase tha... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Mar 17, 2010, 3:10 pm
Just a quick post tonight, but it is Saint Patrick's Day, and I thought I should mark the occasion with a few Irish music videos, as I did this day last year. This year, I thought I would delve a bit backwards, to the 1980s and 1990s, and some perhaps less well known (at least outside Ireland) songs... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Mar 14, 2010, 5:07 pm
I do not know of any other band today besides the National for which I would get really really excited by the prospect of a new album, but the word on 'High Violet', due on May 11, really has me counting days and weeks. This is the kind of excitement I guess I had a long time ago for lots of... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Mar 14, 2010, 6:26 am
In 1990, a college classmate gave me a tape of an album by a new Dublin band which he had bought but did not think much of; I gave it a listen and it blew me away. It was 'Immigrants, emigrants and me' (a title just as appropriate in Ireland now as then at the end of the bleak 1980s) by Powe... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Feb 28, 2010, 3:44 pm
There was a time (the late 1980s) where Michael Stipe of REM popped up on all sorts of albums, usually to give an up-and-coming or unknown band some help or publicity. This was of course at the time when his main band were making probably some of the best music of their career (leading up to Green) ... Comment - Like
A K. posted an article on
The culture collection
-
Feb 21, 2010, 5:47 am
You sometimes forget what riches are to be found on Youtube (scant roses scattered among the many turds, with a good nose or a trusty map needed to steer you right), and it was only recently that I thought to check what Monty Python material may be found there; the answer, apparently, is a lot.
Mon... Comment - Like
Recent Discussions
