Posted on December 11, 2009 - by John

The state of the nation’s trousers

Dunno. I just dunno. Sitting on an overcrowded train to Manchester and this kid stood up in front of me with a bag of Christmas presents to get off in the bovine hinterland of Hereford. He goes to pull up his kegs and it dawned on me that the latest craze of skinny chicken legs jeans is fuelled by the deliberate purchase of garments with insanely short inside legs. I mean, how is this allowed to to go on?! There is a good 3 or four inches of material missing from the kids trousers. Doesn’t his mother want value for money?
He pulled them up as far as he could but still walked off with his backside on display albeit for his black boxers. The less that the youth’s undergarments are available for public critique the better I reckon…

Posted on December 2, 2009 - by John

GUN – Popkiller

Gun's new album 'Popkiller'.

I caught the newly reformed Gun at Swansea Sin City last night and my ears are still ringing. Felt bad for the boys that there was not a high turnout but that said, we really got into the swing of things. They played through a string of Gun’s finest aswell as three tracks from the new ‘Popkiller’ mini-album.

With the the likes of Skin reforming, it seems there is a real shift for the British rock bands of yesteryear, and if singer Toby Jepson is to believed, it’s all down to the internet. Following the gig, I managed to to speak with Toby and he was very insightful on the position of music in 2009, the effect of Spotify and iTunes, and what our music buying habits will be in 5 years time.

For Toby, Gun is a new chance to produce music in a climate where the artist makes the rules. The proliferation of Protools and easy access to the web means that anyone can be a musician and get their songs heard. Now combine that concept with a group of guys who have been doing it for 20 years, and you have  a level of experience that can take full advantage of these options.

And that neatly takes me onto ‘Popkiller’, Gun’s  new mini-album. Why a mini-album? Is this a test the water concept? Not according to Toby, who would rather put out a succession of mini-albums multiple times a year opposed to the big release concept that consumed the music industry of yesteryear. If fans come out to the gig having downloaded some Gun material, it suits the band just fine. Buy a ticket, and while your hear  pick up a beanie hat and that ever so tempting mini-album at only £6! And why not!

One thing’s for sure, they should shift them judging by the quality on Gun 2.0’s release. It only has six songs, but each one of them is an interesting mix of the Gun of days gone by (even with an 0141 pop sensibility) without straying too far from the distorted guitars and catchy riffs. And Toby’s wider vocal range lends the songs to produce a naturally wider range than Mark Rankin era Gun. That’s not to say there Little Angels-esque screaming vocals, but there’s definitely some new Scarborough tricks to this old Glaswegian Dog.

Standout track for me is ‘Seraphina’, which is a quick paced rocker tinged in 80’s synth pop. You can certainly hear the boys have thrown in some influences from the recent 80’s revival, but that works well and should get them heard outside of the normal rock fraternity. The riffs and choruses are here in abundance and it is very easy to have the likes of ‘Let Your Hair Down’ sprint around your head for days with it’s ‘Cars’ inspired guitar riff.

‘Popkiller’ itself is just a disgustingly catchy song, reminding me very much of early ‘Feeder’ material. If I had to say what Gun sound like, I’d probably mark Feeder out as the band to compare with (if Feeder’s recent output was up to this standard though!).

Out of the five tracks, only ‘Ripping Up Letters’ returns to type, with a slower tale of forlorn love lost in friendship, and to me this is the low point of the album, as tracks either side of it are full of energy and fizz. It’s not a bad track though, but not up to the standard of  the other four.

Overall a good effort and certainly ‘Popkiller’ makes an impact. It is a must for fans of British rock music, so if you have bought Gun before, you’ll lap it up. And on evidence of this Jepson era Gun will go far, and might well grow some new fans along the way.

You can order ‘Popkiller’ from Towsend Records, and Toby Jepson is on the road in December supporting Skin.

Posted on August 5, 2009 - by John

From Borders With Love

Borders, the books and entertainment store have nicely sent me a £10 gift voucher “with love”. Yeah right. I’m sure they’ll need to keep customers on side in order to quell the public dismay at their recent closing of the Llantrisant store.

The Llantrisant Borders was a cornerstone of the local community – it was virtually the only place outside of Tesco’s to go and meet people without alcohol being involved thanks to the store’s resident Starbucks franchise upstairs. And even though the majority of the books there were crazy prices, the prospect of sitting down, having a coffee and a browse inevitably led to more than a handful of duckets being exchanged. The place was invariably packed, especially on the weekends and how this can  translate to a need to close down I do not know.

Border's Llantrisant to close down. Buy your books from Cardiff from now on.

It further sticks in my throat the way that Borders did the deed. Many staff had no advance warning and there were tears for some Starbucks employees too. Now you would think a company the size of Starbucks would be offering placements in other locations? I sincerely hope so, as turfing out a team of predominantly young and enthusiastic people in this manner is disgusting to say the least. And Borders should be relocating staff to Cardiff first and foremost.

Now don’t get me wrong…I do not like Starbucks. My brief stint in a branch in Leicester was a low point of my working life thanks to the inane management and anally retentive approach to customer service. But beggars can’t be choosers and in Llantrisant there was either coffee at Starbucks or a coffee in a shoebox sized M&S cafe. Well now we’re left with the shoe box. That said there is a rumour it will be back? Who knows…

So what’s going to move in Borders place? Apparently a branch of mainstream fashion purveyors, New Look. Well…that’s great. Another clothing store. Surely there aren’t enough of them around there?!?  You would have thought when Philip Downer and Mark Little bought out the UK chain that keeping one of their stores in a very prominent location would have been high on the agenda (more here), but no. That said, New Look must not have done their homework at the Talbot Green site either as the competition their store will face will be intense.

It’s ironic that Borders’ current marketing slogan is “Let’s escape”. Well you did, didn’t you? And you should be bloody ashamed of yourselves. Anyone interesting in registering their thoughts can fire them off to the UK head office @  Stillerman House, 120 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0JR or use this page.

Posted on July 30, 2009 - by John

Ianto’s Memorial

Torchwood's Hub Entrance festooned with letters to Ianto

Science fiction fans are a special bunch, and Torchwood fans are especially enthused with their show it seems. I was meeting a friend down Cardiff Bay over the weekend, and gave a brief tour. “Do you watch Torchwood? This is where it’s based” etc… and as I pointed out the “not-so-secret” entrance to the Torchwood Hub, I immediately thought “what’s that on the door…next to the flowers?!?

Anyone following the series will know of it’s perpetually high body count, and this month’s new “Children of Earth” arc was no different. There were words of condolence stuck to the door, alongside small bouqyets for Tesco £2.99 flowers in memorial to the recently deceased character of Ianto. And it brought a wry smile to my face. Some fans fave gone as far as write poems and eulegies, and while some might scoff at this, I thought it was kind of sweet.

At the end of the day, Torchwood: Children of Earth was a fantastic piece of television that is set to send the Torchwood characters to sci-fi “classic” status. Reviews of the series as aired on BBC America have been very good, and this can only be a good thing. It’s just a shame that Ianto won’t be around to enjoy the future. Rest in piece Butty, you made some good coffee.

Letter's to mark Ianto's passing....awwwww.

Posted on July 11, 2009 - by John

Torchwood: Children of Earth Review

I am not the only person to think that Torchwood’s “Children of Earth” mini-series is up there with the best of Battlestar Galactica. The Guardian’s Daniel Martin thinks so, and heaps praise on the series. And rightly so. I have rarely seen science fiction encompass all aspects of drama, but CoE has a fair amount of well placed humour, action but most importantly horror. The subject matter is the definition of horrific, and the choices made by the main protagonists cast virtually everyone (apart from Gwen and Ianto) in a poor light. And that includes Captain Jack Harkness.

The Doctor Who spin-off really hits it’s stride after a lukewarm first series ramped up into a very enjoyable second. Last series, the team lost two of it’s mainstays, leaving the enigmatic Captain Jack, Gwen and Ianto behind. After last series’ Who finale, we were half expecting a slew of guest stars but they kept the core cast for CoE to a minimum. And it works well (without giving spoilers) to let the remaining three breathe a little.

The story follows a plot by an alien race only known as the ‘456′ to exchange the threat of annihilation for a ‘gift’. We learn that the Torchwood brethren have a history with them, and we flesh out some misdeeds along the way. But, strikingly, the story is wholly original in the way that it’s subject matter is the most unpalatable aspect. Some scenes were disturbing to anyone who has a child, and the stark reality depicted in the story is in contrast to the somewhat glossy look and feel of previous episodes (and Doctor Who to boot).

This was a show for adults in its subject matter opposed to the first series which seemed over the top in it’s display of sex and bad language. It represents the best of recent Doctor Who and Torchwood in its execution, direction and acting, but more importantly sets a very high standard for British drama in general. Children of Earth doesn’t wimp out at the end, which is always a worry with shows of this ilk, and maintains a firm grip on the subject matter. I thoroughly recommend this to anyone seeking a good story, very well told. 5 out of 5!

Posted on July 1, 2009 - by John

Hot Boots @ UHW

For the second day in a row, the shutters were down on the sandwich friges is Boots at University Hospital of Wales. I have grown quite accustomed to getting every 6th meal deal free and was very put out by not being able to claim one yesterday, the last day of the month.
Just a damn sign which read “Sorry. Please see the manager”. Sorry? WHAT ABOUT MY HOISIN DUCK WRAP?
So today was the same, although there is a giant air con unit blowing influenza through the place. I managed to go out the back and select a delicate chicken pasta salad for my dinner from a thoroughly cheesed off Bootsman. Yummy!

Transformers 2 is not that bad…

by John on June 23, 2009

Wales Win the World Cup

by John on March 9, 2009

I am not updating my blog

by John on March 5, 2009