The Music Banter Members' Journals Monthly Update Thread

[Trollheart]

I'm certainly in no position to be criticising, given the fact that I've stopped all my journals, but still, I have to say, only nine journals updated in a month, and two of them are new ones only started very recently? Just as well I didn't try to keep doing this on a weekly basis. Anyway, let's get on with July's update, such as it is, shall we?

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...l-pleases.html and it seems what he pleases recently is to review albums in a Batlord style. This month there's JME's Integrity, and he has more lined up, including one from ICP! Oh Batty, you devil!

First of those two new journals comes from Dylstew, who, after some time lurking and occasionally posting, has been getting more active recently. http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...e-journey.html kicks off with reviews of Sonic Youth, Minutemen and Naked Raygun.

Wow! For a moment there the world just warped and slipped through the looking glass! I thought Exo was reviewing a Yes album! But no, it's some band called Osibisa, whose logo looks very Roger Dean-inspired. On http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-section.html you'll also find Covet, Clem Beats and That Handsome Devil. No, not Exo: well, I'm sure he is handsome but, you know, just not my type...


Competent bosses, clever marketing and high wages: none of these things can be found in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...rds-9-5-a.html, but a lot of fun stories sure can.

Another new journal then in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ong-picks.html, where you'll find Cristina Branco, La Yegros, Waltari and a whole lot more.

Mord's Musical Odyssey has been rebranded to http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...um-musica.html, but you'll still find the usual mix of great and eclectic music there that you're used to finding. This month there's Richard Dawson, Marvin Gaye, Mastodon and more.

OccultHawk has decided to call time on http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...cking-out.html. That is all. Please restrain yourselves. All sharp objects will be taken away as a precaution. Counsellors are standing by for your calls.

And finally, a very sad and heartbreaking message of loss from Pet_Sounds on http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...crap-heap.html. We're all here for you, man.

Given the dearth of entries here, and while I understand some of you really put a lot of effort into your journals, it seems redundant for me to do anything like Post of the Month, so I'm just going to leave it here. This is getting less and less fun to do, and not just because I'm no longer contributing to my own journals. It just seems that if not dying, then the journal section certainly is in the ICU. I can't say anything; normally I'd be throwing entries into my journals and exorting you to do the same, but I can hardly preach when I've locked up my pulpit, can I? Nevertheless, if things don't improve it may not be worth my continuing with this update. I guess it's up to you guys.

Till August,
Toodles.

[OccultHawk]

OccultHawk has decided to call time on Experimental Music on Spotify Worth Checking Out. That is all. Please restrain yourselves. All sharp objects will be taken away as a precaution. Counsellors are standing by for your calls

I'm starting a new journal that's more commentary and less list oriented

I'm actually pretty proud of what I put together on the experimental journal

it's a convenient resource and showcases a lot over underexposed music

[Trollheart]

*

(* Not available in ROI)

Planted over the spring months, tiny buds struggling against the harsh tail-end of winter, carefully-nurtured journals are now beginning to bloom and flower, and like a ... you know what? **** it. Here's a picture of a garden. You get the idea, and if you don't, boil your head.


So what's in the garden? Snails, slugs and many biting insects, most likely, as well as surely carnivorous plants put there expressly by Batty in an attempt to – OW! **** him! Anyway, there are also these...

Having your username start with a number, or indeed a symbol, guarantees you'll be first in, as long as you update, and as http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...l-pleases.html pretty much every month, you can more or less expect something from him. And this month's something is a review of the Residents album, Meet The Residents. He thinks it's weird. He's right.

Some more “Flamenco Guitar Albums you Must Hear” in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...o-journal.html include Antonio Rey, Pepe Habichuela and Jeronimo Maya. There are a lot more. Apparently.

Batty is back not only with http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ite-about.html, in which he's examining some, to quote him, ****ing Savage Breakdowns, including Cryptopsy, Slayer and Zao, but also kicking the door down for a http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...s-journal.html, where he's less than impressed over his leading lady's godbothering new single. Oh and just in under the wire (shup up) he's also updating http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-oblivion.html, with a sarcastic look at Extreme Justice. Don't think he likes it much. El Batlord no te gusta!

As usual, Frownland is http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...r-journal.html where he's checking out King Goblin. No, the beer! Well, I think it's the beer. He does get pretty wasted. But always with style ...

and http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...obably-dl.html, one of which is Ke$ha again, as already reviewed by Batty in the journal above, and Goofle here. Guess these two can agree on something after all.

There are the last installments of http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...rds-9-5-a.html from Innerspaceboy, as he celebrates his newfound freedom and feeling of job satisfaction, while in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nnerspace.html he's “Learning to Listen all over again” and also exploring “The Lost Classic of Hip House Plunderphonia”. Hmm. I guess we're talking KLF again huh? Yup, seems like it.

Lotsa ladies in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ong-picks.html this month, with Joan Baez, Julia Fordham, Cris Williamson and Shannon Wright.

A new journal from our Mondo, as he opines http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ke-better.html, and goes on to prove it by talking about Circle Takes the Square, High Wolf, Gridlink and a whole lot more.

Bowie, Comus and Skara Brae, all on the playlist with a lot more at http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...um-musica.html

Neapolitan advises us that The Symposium are to be found in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...dern-rock.html

After calling time on and shutting down his Experimental Music journal, OccultHawk is going http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...p-lighter.html, where he's reviewing music as diverse as Black Metal (Fen), Indie (Hollow Coves) and Hip-Hop (Dalek). There's also Thelonius Monk, Alexander Scriabin and even a look into the year 1927, for some reason. Plenty for all tastes.

“Africa”'s on http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...crap-heap.html. Not literally, you understand, though some living in the poorer parts might think that a true sentiment. No, Pet_Sounds just likes the smash hit from Toto. Hey, don't we all?

Brushing up on http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...bums-year.html, we have Homeboy Sandman, Mac Demarco, Priests and many more. Well, seven more, to be precise.

Time to bring back

and the first recipient of the hastily-updated award is
Occulthawk
for all the work and labour he's put into his new journal. Sound man!
(Mondo, you should know it was a close run thing between you. Sorry.)


goes to Innerspaceboy, for the final chapters in his hilarious http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...rds-9-5-a.html

As for
Funny Post

of the Month
well that as usual goes to his Batness, for this witty response to Mord's offer to him to come over to Mord's house and observe Catholics.

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Only if you have a legal-age daughter I can purchase for six goats and a really nice blanket.

An offer you can't refuse, huh?

And that's it for this month. Keep watering those journals, guys! See you in September, when the frost begins to bite...
Toodles!

[Zhanteimi]

Originally Posted by elphenor

But the mod approval thing really cramps my post and then edit style

Agreed. The mod gatekeeping should be removed once a journal has been approved.

[The Batlord]

I didn't even know TH was still doing this. An hour later and my post probably wouldn't have counted. Well I'm currently preparing to **** on Spider-Man, so hopefully this won't be my only entry this year.

[Trollheart]

Originally Posted by Mord

Agreed. The mod gatekeeping should be removed once a journal has been approved.

Technically, they have to, as although your journal might be approved not everything you write in it may necessarily be. In reality, I doubt they do more than check a list (I'm sure nobody ever read my long-winded posts through before approving them for publication!) so yeah, it probably could survive without moderation. But I'll bet you the half of Tokyo Godzilla has not yet destroyed they don't change it.

Originally Posted by The Batlord

I didn't even know TH was still doing this. An hour later and my post probably wouldn't have counted. Well I'm currently preparing to **** on Spider-Man, so hopefully this won't be my only entry this year.

It gets updated once a month now, instead of once a week.

[Pet_Sounds]

I appreciate not having spammers clog up my journal.

[OccultHawk]

Originally Posted by Pet_Sounds

I appreciate not having spammers clog up my journal.

Yeah

I agree. I wouldn't want a flame war to erupt or for it to get filled up with snarky non sequiturs. I'm trying pretty hard to make my new one a worthwhile read.

[Trollheart]

So that was summer eh? As the kids tramp disconsolately back to school and the sun very annoyingly chooses this time to shine its hardest, (guess that's one of the few reasons to be thankful we're adults) it's time to indulge in that annual pastime, listening for the first air bombs screeching through the sky, as we hover ever closer to Halloween. And once that's done ... but let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?


http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...o-journal.html gets us underway with his honourable mentions for great flamenco guitar albums, with the likes of Manuel Valencia, Jeronimo Maya and Antonio Rey in evidence, then it's time to sit back and

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-oblivion.html where he's taking a satirical look at The Punisher 2099 and also giving us an insight into what's he's reading these days, which includes Captain Marvel, Suicide Squad and Red Hood and the Outlaws. Good stuff.

A man who is certainly somewhat obsessed with his health is our mate Chula Vista, and who can blame him, in fairness? Check out http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...17-2017-a.html to see how he's doing. I believe it's his first proper journal, so be kind.

Speaking of obsession, and riding around on an artist's dick! No, not Batty and Kesha: I'm referring to Frownland and Shabazz Palaces, which is about all you'll get from him if you ever have the misfortune to end up http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...wnapilago.html with him these days. What do you mean, you like them? Meh, takes all kinds, I guess.

Melanie Martinez is another of those http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...obably-dl.html according to Goofle, while

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nnerspace.html brings us Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Fritz Lang's classic Metropolis, given the unique innerspaceboy treatment.

Nice to see MicShazam giving this update a namecheck in his journal! This month he's checking out a rec from Anteater (where has his journal gone, eh? That's what I want to know!) in the shape of Nicky Holland, also more Cristiana Branco, some Laura Nyo and topping it off with Joan Osbourne. No, I don't think anything to do with Sharon or Ozzy! Oh yeah: Gojira and Leprous too, apparently!

It is, or was, the feast of the Assumption, apparently, and so Mord is listening to Coltrane's A Love Supreme. Seems fair. Also in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...um-musica.html you'll find Ukranian folk music, Protest (and Anti-Protest) music, Stevie Wonder, REM, Zep, Waits, good ol' Shatner (superb album!) , Dylan, Rush, and ... oh far too much to list here. Just check his journal out: you won't be disappointed.

I know OccultHawk is putting a serious amount of work into his journal, and it's probably me, but I don't quite understand it. Is it a political rant? Music linked to news stories? A cry for help? None of the above? All of the above? Whatever, it can't be denied he's really putting everything into it. I'm just not sure how to review it. Best you check it out yourselves, I guess. Here: http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...p-lighter.html

Okay, so that's the content sorted. Now for the features. First up as ever is

I'll probably get stick for this, but you know, fuck you guys. This post is so innocent, pure and heartfelt and honest that it probably makes Batty gag, but I think it's perfect, so it's getting the award. Will probably never happen again, but I'm a big softy so who knows?

Originally Posted by Kedvesem

These past two days of music listening have been perfect. Yesterday's Ukrainian folk and today's revisiting of old favorites... listening to R.E.M. while wallowing on the love hotel bed we broke the last time...


I love my life, and I love the music that fills it. Thank you, darling Sir, for the introduction to the music and for the joy your presence gives me. 💞

Okay, maybe a tiny little bit TMI there at the end, but still. Gotta consider Mord a lucky guy!

On we go then to
Funny Post

of the Month
and this month it's not just a single post, because to truly appreciate how amusing this is you have to get the overall flavour of the discussion that was going on, which took place between Occult and Batty, who kind of share the award. Don't fight, guys!

So it starts with an innocent enquiry

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Is that curfew supposed to be for kids or is Cotton Plant, AK an Orwellian dystopia?

which leads to a discussion about, of all things, the way to abbreviate a state

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

*ar

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Even Bill Clinton probably doesn't know or care how to abbreviate Arkansas.

Leading to frustration as to

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Why the **** can't I capitalize *AR ?

Allowing Batty to throw in another gem

Originally Posted by The Batlord

*-15

which Occult didn't understand at first

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

I don't know what that means but if it's commentary on the ****tiness of the past few posts, I agree.

Originally Posted by The Batlord

*ar-15

Enter special guest star, Frownland, who explained the root of Occult's difficulty

Originally Posted by Frownland

The system will put posts that are in all caps into all lowercase, even if it's only one or two letters. You gotta slip a little Cyan coloured l or . in there.

Allowing him to really expound on what he thought of that!

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

Why don't one of you bitches adjust the board so it's such a ****ing Nazi?

And as a bonus, the discussion having turned into one about who owns Music Banter, Occult came back with this superb zinger to close one of the most entertaining exchanges I've heard in a while.

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

So if this journal gets good enough they can spam everyone who clicks it with adware spyware viagra dick stretchers

Got it!

I better get cracking

That's the spirit, Occult! Keep reachin' for those stars!

As he won

last month, despite the fact that he has put in, as I believe the kids say these days, a shit ton of work into his journal, I couldn't choose Occult again this month, and in fairness it would have been criminal to ignore the Herculean effort of Mord, and so his journal gets the award this month. Well done, that man!

But Occult ain't done yet! Introducing a new section here, and I'm calling it

Why? Don't you know what a weaver bird is? No, not one of those!

All right, I guess it's an Irish thing. A weaver bird is, or was, someone who annoyed other motorists by constantly switching lanes, back again, off again - basically, weaving through traffic and causing a nuisance as well as being liable to cause an accident. So, the Weaver Bird Award goes to the journal which goes the most off its original topic. And given the exchange above, that's again Occult's. So well done man. And get back on track.

That's it for this month then: see ya in October!
Toodles!

[Trollheart]

I suppose you all thought I'd be too busy listening to every album released this year to be able to devote time to this update huh?
You're right: I am.
But here it is anyway.

Not a huge amount of updates to be sure, but we kick off with
http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ite-about.html where the Battish one is writing about Sacred Reich, Anthrax and of course Slayer in an article he calls Mid-tempo Thrash Bangerz and then eliciting our adulation in Sieg Heil Batlordia, with the tale of how even Hitler found him awesome when he found himself in Nazi Germany. Boo! Bring back The Return of the Kings of Metal, say I! Still, at least he's trying.

Not sure if Chula Vista is going to be continuing updating http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...17-2017-a.html as he seems to be levelling out, healthwise now, but if not, well I guess that's good news?

Florence and the Machine feature in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...obably-dl.html

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nnerspace.html becomes Sounds from outer space this month as innerspaceboy considers the merits of the Voyager Golden Record, a replica of the one that went scooting around the cosmos on the original Voyager mission (no Slayer I fear Batty). Oh, and there's also a Soviet silent movie and he asks the question What Does Your Soul Look Like? Deep, man, deep. Well worth a read.

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ong-picks.html this month include a detailed discography of Japanese, um ... band Dir En Grey, as well as Kobra and the Lotus, Arch Enemy and Tori Amos

while the http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...um-musica.html is packed with content this month, including Anais Mitchell's interpretation of the Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice (also called Don't Look Behind You! ), as well as Waits, Angels and Airwaves , Ayreon, Baez, Beck and literally a whole heap more.

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...dern-rock.html has Garmana, Girls At Our Best! And See Through Dresses. Not literally; don't get excited there.

Speaking of putting in a shitload of work, http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...p-lighter.html sees Occulthawk looking into drone ambient, 2008 and interviewing Frownland. I enjoyed that last one; you should try to make it a feature, maybe hit up Plankton next? Anyway, well done, both of you. (Good way of ensuring you get your posts approved immediately, man!) As usual, there is way too much in this journal to list it all, so just dive in. You might drown, but dammit, it's a good way to go!

http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ck-garage.html for TWO YEARS, Oriphiel has finally escaped and returns with a great horror story in the leadup to Halloween.

Appropriately, finally, in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nal-sound.html, Zero is celebrating his ten year anniversary. Congrats, man!

And now for the awards. You know this month it was hard. I have to give

to innerspaceboy for his labour of love on the Voyager Golden Record three-post extravaganza. Really interesting, detailed, well researched (as ever) and entertaining and informative.


Seems like you guys are taking turns winning this award: last month it was Mord, the previous month Occult. This month, I could not decide between Mord's trojan work on his journal and Occult's sterling input into his, so I'm awarding it to you both. You can work out between you how to share it: maybe Occult can have it Monday to Thursday and Mord the weekend and Friday? Hopefully no fights break out!

Oh, and before we go, we can't forget our Ori, who after two years is

suitably with a horror story. Anyone got a double-barrelled sawn-off?

That's it then for another month. See you after Halloween!

Toodles!