I’m having a pre-Christmas CD clearout if anyone wants some cheap CD’s? I’m looking at around £1.50-£2 per CD but feel free to offer a (sensible) price if you want a few!
They are all in very good condition and mostly punk/rock. The 2 ‘All’ CDs were American promo’s so have a hole through the barcode. If you want any more info then please search for the album at http://maft.co/music as this will give you all the info like packaging etc.
The CD’s are: Continue reading »
Here’s the scenario: My music collection is on my main Windows PC on the middle floor of my house. I do 99% of my work on my MacBook Pro either on the ground floor or the top floor of my house. I like my music but hate iTunes (only use it for syncing iPhone/iPad apps and backups) so using Home Sharing was out of the question – I cannot trust iTunes to look after my music collection properly plus MediaMonkey is so much better with regards to features and functions.
So, how do I listen to my music while I’m working? MediaMonkey doesn’t work too well in WINE, it’s OK in Parallels but running a 2nd OS solely for music isn’t ideal…
This is going to be hard to pick only 5 songs…! I’ve been a big fan of Washington pop-punks, MxPx, since 1998. MxPx are a great band – catchy music and great lyrics. They should be huge; especially when you consider that it was MxPx who took Good Charlotte on tour as a support band back in 2000/2001. Still, it has it’s advantages – as a relatively ‘unknown’ band in the UK when they tour here you get to see them in some more intimate gigs. As an extra ‘treat’ for their fans they always record some kind of EP in between main LP releases. These include covers albums, and more ‘raw’ tracks recorded in their own studio. They’ve dabbled with the poppier side (Before Everything And After) and the rawk side (The Renaissance EP) and always come out trumps. Now, to try choose 5 songs…
I’ve been a fan of Aussie rockers, The Living End, for over a decade although I’ve only ever seen them live once. They play catchy rock music infused with punk and some rockabilly – it’s all good! One thing that helps them stand out is the double bass that they use instead of a normal bass guitar. It gives it a definitive sound and also looks awesome on stage!
I blogged this after Leeds Festival 2009:
It was soon time to teach Shaun how awesome Australians could be with the fantastic The Living End. Not only do these guys play great music (punk-rockabilly is the easiest way to explain!) but they put on an amazing performance too! This was the first time I’d seen a bottle-neck slide used that was not only still attached to the bottle but also still full of beer – although the guitar tech wasn’t pleased to have to clear all that up… The upright bass also makes for good entertainment value with various spins and an extra platform to stand on. You may be able to guess, but I was blown away by The Living End!
And here’s a couple of photo’s and a video:
I Only have one album from Welsh rockers Kids In Glass Houses – but it’s a great one! Difficult to describe, they’re rocky and punky without being too much of either. Your best bet, if that catches your attention, is to take a listen to them on Spotify. There’s a lovely acoustic version of ‘Matters At All’ on there too. All the songs for this Music Monday are from their album ‘Dirt’ except for number 5.
There isn’t really a band beginning with ‘J’ that I would rate highly enough for a Music Monday blog post… So I’m missing it this week! See you next week for ‘K’.
More trumpet punk, this time from The Insyderz. Bizarrely I’m not keen on their normal album(s) but prefer, instead, their worship albums. On ‘Skalleluia!’ and ‘Skalleluia Too!’ The Insyderz set out to make Christian worship songs as awesome as they should have been in the first place!
In what seems like another life I use to swim for Bingley Amateur Swimming Club. We had links with e Dutch club, de Watervrienden Lisse, with whom we did an ‘exchange’ each year. One year we would go to Holland, the next year they would come to England. I made a few good friends from those trips who I am still in touch with, even though I’ve not swam properly for over a decade! In, I think, 1996 there was one lad called ‘Rob’ who introduced me to the Dutch punk band de Heideroosjes – I was instantly hooked! Their older stuff has a very raw, aggressive sound but in the late 90′s they were signed to Epitaph and their music, although still similar in style, has a more polished sound to it. Most songs are in English but there are quite a number in Dutch (various dialects), German and Flemish.
I think, for anyone who knows me, this will be an obvious choice for ‘G’. I’ve been a fan of Green Day since I first heard Basket Case back in 1995 when I was 15. I’ve pretty much grown up with them and been ‘with’ them while they’ve dabbled with different genres and styles – but they always make great albums. They’re certainly not ‘punk’ any more, but they’ve grown older and their style has changed. But see them live and you’ll see they still have all the energy – particularly when they surprise you with a very old song mixed in with the more recent stuff. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen them and they are, by quite a long way, my all time favourite band. As such, this Music Monday will be slightly different. Instead of simply listing my 5 favourite tracks (that’s too hard!) I’m going to list my favourite song from each of Green Day’s major album releases.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: ska-punk FTW! Five Iron Frenzy were a great, lively ska-punk band (also defined, by me as ‘trumpet-punk’; i.e. not so much actual ska on a lot of songs!) – one of many that have since disbanded. What set them apart, for me at least, was their brilliant lyrics – witty, deep and with the occasional bad rhyme. Some samples include: “I’m 29 years old still wearing my wallet chain like I was 28; I’m wearing my Vans so that high school kids will think that I can skate”, “I don’t care if we’re punk or ska or hardcore enough for you, it’s sad but true; you can call us names till your face turns blue; Our assurance comes from God, it’s nothing new, we’ll never care ’cause we’re never cool enough for you.” and “Wizard needs food, badly.”