Trollheart

Good to see a resurgence in updates people! No time for a snappy intro this week as I'm way behind schedule, so let's get right to it.

Now, as I've pointed out before there are loads of genres of music I personally am not interested in, but I will always read a well-written article, even if it's about something I have little or no stake in. A very good example is Antonio's truly incredible review of Tyler the Creator's "Wolf" album. I'll be honest: this was slated for this week's Showcase, and it's only the amount of time and energy Gavin B has put into his latest entry that has pushed it to next week's instead. But it will feature next Sunday. If you want to read it before then (and you should) here's where to go: http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ng-ground.html

Nothing in the Batcave this week, for perhaps the first time ever, but there's a good reason for that. More in a moment, but don't forget to check out http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...lks-about.html where the batty one is currently on, er, a Britney kick! Yeah, if you thought his forays into the world of Country (no doubt he'd drop the "o"!) were off the all for the Batlord, well just experience his views on Ms. Spears, where he seems to be determined to make it through her entire catalogue. Rather you than me, man! As for the reason there's no update to the Batcave, well, seems he's started a new journal, making now three in all. This one's different. He's reading Nick Hornby's seminal "High Fidelity", and so has created http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-fidelity.html, where he's already looked at ... er, nothing yet. But I'm sure the songs will start pouring in once he gets this going.

Gavin B is back! And has he got a treat for us. Now that the gates of http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...use-songs.html have been reopened, he's kicking off a huge essay on soul music, which really has to be read to be believed. It's going to be massive, and just to underline that, I've chosen an extract from it as this week's Showcase. Yeah, it's that good!

And speaking of the Showcase, bob is no doubt flushed with success from his being featured last week, and it seems to have galvanised him to write more! Yeah man! That's why I decided to start up this whole thing! Good for ya! Now keep it up... The next band to enter his crosshairs are apparently one of his favourite, if not his absolute alltime favourites, Unsane. He certainly knows his stuff. If you're into noise rock, and you're NOT reading bob's journal, I have only one question: why?

Ki's been doing a considerable amount of writing this week too, and in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...nal-music.html he's looking at albums from Iron and Wine and Streetlight Manifesto, as well as "Sixteen albums you should listen to", beginning with A Swarm of the Sun, Agalloch and Pendulum. Oh yeah, he's also starting a new section in which he asks the question "Worth the hype?" Worth the read? You know the answer to that!

Looking for your fix of Motown music? Head to http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ic-memory.html, where Ladyislingering has everything you need, and more!

Powerstars is branching out! He's taking a break from rock albums to look at something called ... Chiptune? Hmm, I dunno: maybe an explanation as to what that is? Anyway, the album is called "The early attampts" and is by Fearofthedark, so make of that what you will. Also, delighted to see he took my advice and reviewed the album I sent him, Richie Sambora's excellent "Aftermath of the lowdown". Cool review. Oh, and he's having a rant against Windows Media Player --- who ever thought that piece of bloated software was a good idea?? All this and more at http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...sicalness.html

And so we come back around to me. I've been trying to keep updates going this week, and in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...d-journal.html you'll find my next bit of "History set to music", with the release of Nelson Mandela, also my second Roll of the Dice, featruing Cancer Bats, as well as a review of Yes' s"Union" album. Oh, and we just passed one hundred thousand views! First time ever for a journal, as far as I can see. Thanks everyone!

Meanwhile, over at http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-emporium.html there's another episode from "The New Statesman" and the introduction to Michael Dobbs' political dark thriller "House of cards", the original one starring Sir Ian Richardson. There's also another update of "Supernatural" on the way; it may be posted by the time you read this, it may not, but it's certainly coming. And in http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...i-reviews.html there's a review of Belgian (I thnk) AOR band Frozen Rain's album "Ahead of time".

That takes us to Unknown Soldier, who's still http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...y-history.html and rocking up 1975, where he has reviews of seminal albums from Led Zep and Aerosmith.

And normally that would be it, but we're favoured by the presence of the lovely Vanilla, who has an update to http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...-eargasms.html, where she's letting us all in on her musical tastes. An essential read.

So on that pleasant note we end another update. Not a bad week overall: new journals, resurrected journals and a whole lot of interesting and eclectic music to choose from. Where else would you get it only here, at Music Banter, the home of music. And banter. And music banter too, obviously.

And so to this week's Showcase. As mentioned, it was originally to be the amazing review of Tyler the Creator's "Wolf" by Antonio, but I've put that back just one week because I've been so impressed by this new article that Gavin B has started working on.

It looks like it's going to be one hell of a read: educational, fun and entertaining. This is just the intro; he's already written two updates to this. I suggest you head to his journal and avail yourself of his knowledge, particularly if you're a soul aficionado, but even if you're not, as I said at the start, a good article is always worth reading.

So that's this week's Showcase. My apologies to Antonio, but you're definitely in for next week, mate. Superb review. (By the way, you people don't have to wait till next week: check out his article now. Nothing's stopping you. Look: it's just a few clicks of a mouse away!)

Till next week, remember to check out the journals and consider starting one yourself if you're not already doing so.

Oh, wait just a tension-popping moment... I almost forgot!

There are of course many reasons why people stop writing their journals. After all, it's not exactly a top priority for most people, and it's hardly the most important thing in their life. Assuming you have a life, unlike me. But there have been some truly amazing journals in the past few years, many of which have not been updated for a long time, and have consequently slid off page one and into the nether realms of Journal Land, never to be seen again except for those with too much time on their hands (yes, again, guilty!) who go looking for them.

This is a cry for those journals to be resurrected, or if not, to at least draw attention to them so that, even if their authors have no intention of getting back into them, or are unable to, or have even left our community, they can be read and enjoyed.

So, with the hope that maybe this spotlight being shone into the dark and cobwebbed recesses of the latter pages of the journal section may revitalise or even lead to the rebirth of some journals which don't deserve to die and be forgotten, here's the first in a series of journals I was really impressed with, and hope someday maybe to see back in the land of the living.


While I know he is still very much around, and busy with his other journal exorting people to give int to the temptations of smooth jazz (also worth a look at http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ed-masses.html), I miss http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...s-obscure.html, which for a time I considered Anteater's main journal. In this he reviewed some pretty weird and eclectic stuff, though from what I read a lot of it was AOR and prog, two of my favourite genres, and his. Here's just a small sample, with the quiet hope that if he gets a spare moment we might see this excellent journal drag itself back onto page one, which I believe is its rightful place.

Okay, so that's it for another week. Don't forget, if you're reading journals, it does pay to move beyond page one, as there is some amazing stuff there. And also remember, even a comment by you can bring that journal back onto the first page, which could be the first step towards its eventual rebirth. Come on: you know it's your civic duty!

Until next week, Journalads and Journalasses
Toodles!

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018