scaryblog

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's  Top 50 TV Shows of 2021 .   #20 :  Can't Get You Out Of My Head Adam Curtis polarises audiences like few other documentarians. For some, he is television’s ultimate truth teller. For others, he’s an impenetrable conspiracy theorist. If you’re in the first group, Can’t Get You Out of My Head was an absolutely breathless delight. I've never watched any of Adam Curtis' stuff but I have heard him chatting on Adam Buxton's podcast and he certainly sounds like an interesting, if possibly somewhat earnest, fellow.  So I was looking forward to this, even if I wasn't convinced I would consider him to be either the ultimate truth teller or an impenetrable conspiracy theorist. And well, this is an odd one and no mistake - he's making some (or many) points about the power and weakness of the individual vs the collective and how it affects us all.  He does this by taking us on a very circuitous trip through many centuries of histo...

   So, now we've made it though 2020 - was it any better than 2021? No, not really.  Once again, we had a huge number of albums come straight in at #1 and hang around for a couple of weeks at best - although this only happened 39 times this year, as opposed to 42 times in 2021.  Of the weeks that weren't a new entry at the top, the most interesting week was the re-entry of a not particularly great album from 1973 - most of the other ones were either Lewis or Dua - two fine albums (one of which was released in 2019) that hung around the top twenty for most of the year (and still aren't exactly doing badly for themselves now). Surprisingly though, Dua wasn't in the top two albums of the year - Lewis took #1 (by quite some margin) but Harry  (which I reviewed nearly 18 months ago now as part of the Rolling Stone exercise) nipped in at #2 with another album from 2019, despite "only" peaking at #3 throughout the year.  Dua was at #3, followed by three more fr...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 03/01/20 :  You're In My Heart  - Rod Stewart with the Royal Philharmonic Xmas is an odd time on the album charts and no mistake - I wasn't expecting to meet Rod for many decades yet.  And yet, here we are.   It's another of those "take some classic songs, throw an orchestra in the mix and see what happens" albums - and what's happened so far with Neil Diamond and Paul Weller hasn't been exactly great.  However, for some weird reason, I actually have some hope that they might get it right here (at least in places). And well, what they do well here is that they don't entirely ditch the band, with drums and guitars still very much on display.  They've basically slowed some of the tracks down and bunged on some strings, so nothing's been really ruined.  Is it any good?  Well not really - a t times it does stray dangerously close to lift music,  but it plays to its audience and they'...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 10/01/20 :  No. 6 Collaborations Project  - Ed Sheeran Sigh - I could see this has been going to happen for the past couple of weeks and finally it has.  Bloomin' Ed Bloomin' Sheeran.  And his mates.  Sigh.  It's safe to say I'm not exactly  looking forward to this. Well.  Hmmm.  "Beautiful People" (the opening track) is OK, I guess - but after that it's a bit of a slog.  The other main thing I took away from the album is that  I don’t hate “I Don’t Care” (which Bieber collaboration) nearly as much as I feel I should - and I kinda hate myself as a result.  I'd also say that t he Eminem track really doesn’t work for me, which is odd because I didn't mind the one they did on Eminem’s album. Overall, a lot of the tracks just sound a bit odd and don't really work for me.  Being fair to the lad, I actually think he’s a bit of a musical magpie and just enjoys playing with ...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 17/01/20 :  Heavy Is The Head  - Stormzy Mr Zed (as he's known in our house) is undoubtedly talented, obviously hasn't had the easiest of lives, successful but still pretty humble and puts out some well thrown-together tracks.  But, I just can't dig the man's music (I suspect he can live with that though) so I'm expecting something admirable rather than enjoyable for me. And so it came to pass.  I don't hate any of it, but I don't really like it either - I don't really even like the singles, although it's possible this may be as a result of over-exposure as much as anything else.  If you like it, then you like it but I absolutely have to listen to this sort of thing, I'd go for Dave as opposed to Stormzy - sorry, Mr Zed! We're at #3 in the charts this week, in his fifth week of a 72 week run that he put together.  Unusually, he didn't reach #1 until his 4th week - there was some odd...

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts 27/05/22 :  Harry's House - Harry Styles Well, I wouldn't declare myself the biggest Harry fan in the world, but his last album was considerably more decent than I was expecting (although I wouldn't go as far as claiming it was one of the best 500 albums ever).  And "As It Was" and "Late Night Talking" haven't been dreadful, so I wasn't approaching this with nearly as much trepidation as I would otherwise have been... And yeah, it's in a similar vein to the last album - some decent sounds harking back to that shimmery 60s and 70s sound.  I would say there was less variation than I remembered on Fine Line and his personality doesn't really shine through on the album, but I'm guessing that was a distinct choice they made.  I'd b asically say that if you like the singles (and if you've not heard them, you're doing well) then you'll like the album - although I...

The second in a (very) occasional series of play reviews... Jerusalem : Apollo Theatre I’m such a cultural chap, aren't I?  I booked this ages ago because I quite fancied going to see it last time it was on (ten years ago now!) given all the rave reviews it got – and obviously I never got round to it.  So when I saw it was coming back with Mark Rylance reprising the main role, I got it sorted out quickly.  And then I obviously forgot exactly when I was seeing it until last week when it popped up in my diary – fortunately it was only mildly inconvenient for everyone else.  I also knew it was quite a long play but didn’t know it came in at over three hours - including two intervals, which was a first for me! So the play starts with a girl in fairy wings singing a song – can you guess which song it is?  And just as she’s coming to the end of the song, the curtain raises on a rave scene, complete with loud music, disco ball and much revelry – this continues for a mi...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 24/01/20 :  More. Again. Forever  - The Courteeners I'm not a fan of them Courteeners, but a few people who know about these things really like 'em, so part of me thinks I should.  But so far, it's just not happened - maybe this time though? And, well - what just happened there?  After the first couple of tracks, I was all ready to give this a "perfectly fine, but nothing more" rating - but the more it went on, the more I got into it.  The songs are all very tight and there's considerably more variety there than I was expecting - the title track is nicely funky and "Joy Of Missing Out" also jumped out at me, as much for the fine title as anything else.  I was reminded of Kasabian (their good stuff, rather than their rubbish stuff) or Reverend And The Makers (and yes, I know this isn't a recommendation for everyone, but I like them).  If I remember, there's a chance I'll revisit this...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 31/01/20 :  Music To Be Murdered By  - Eminem Our fourth visit with the angry old fella (these days) - but they were his first three albums (which I like) and I'd have to say, from what I've heard I haven't been so impressed by his later stuff.  The lyrical skills are still there (if anything he raps faster these days, whereas I often struggle to pull a sentence together) but the rage feels less well-directed and more just-there-to-sell-records.  But, nonetheless, I was intrigued to listen to this. And yeah, I actually quite liked it.  He still raps at a thousand miles an hour but I can amazingly understand most of it and he has quite a lot to say, some of which is quite wise.  And some of which just contains an awful lot of anger directed as his parents and step-dad.  The stand-out track for me is “Darkness” which is very cleverly done, using the same lyrics to reflect his state of mind before a...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 07/02/20 :  Foolish Loving Spaces - Blossoms Our third visit with Blossoms and it's been a mixed bag so far - I liked their debut , but didn't have a lot of time for their last album , so I've got no real idea what to expect from this. But, whatever I was expecting, I wasn't expecting this.  It's all very odd - like indie-folk-disco.  Which doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?  Basically, I mean it feels like they've written some disco tracks and slightly slowed them down to give them an indie-folk tinge - or written some indie-folk tracks and slightly slowed them up to give them a disco tinge.  I didn't hate it, but I did find myself somewhat bemused by the whole thing. We are, of course, at #1 with a new entry - they managed six weeks on the charts, which seems surprisingly long.  The only other new entry in the top ten was Louis Tomlinson at #4 - he hasn't quite managed the Harry Styles lev...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 14/02/20 :  Father Of All Motherfuckers - Green Day Ah, Green Day.  What says Valentines Day more than that particular album title?!?  This is our third visit with the lads after two of my all-time favourite albums - Dookie and American Idiot .  Will this hit the same heights as those two?  Well, probably not but I can but hope. Well, no - it doesn't.  Whilst some of it harks back to those albums it's got a different style to it, particularly vocally.  It also really doesn' t feel like it would have taken them very long to throw together - basically i t came, it went swiftly (at a mere 26 minutes)  and now it’s gone, never to be considered again.  It's a cute unicorn of censorship though!  Although I'm not sure why it's wearing a jumper. We're at #1 in the charts with a new entry (of course!) and they managed four weeks on the charts before disappearing (which feels a lot more tha...

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts 20/05/22 :  Dance Fever - Florence And The Machine I like a bit of our Flo - she's got a great voice and has produced some cracking tracks in the past (along with her machine), so I approached this with a great deal of optimism.  This is also the first time I've written about her because so far, she's only had two mentions in my blog - once as a potential omission from Rolling Stone's list and once as a "customers also listened to" on the Of Monsters And Men album (which is a fine album that I've still yet to revisit!). And well - at first listen, I like this album and think it could be a bit of a grower.  "My Love" is a fine track which has been all over the radio recently and "King" is also a fine opener as well.  But (and there's nearly always a but) - a lot of the album feels a bit experimental, with some bits reminding me of Kate Bush and other bits being more Joni Mi...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 21/02/20 :  Changes - Justin Bieber I definitely don't fall into the traditional Bieleber mould and I wasn't massively impressed on my last visit , but he has done some bearable stuff at some point in the past ("Sorry" was one of them, which seemed a very appropriate track title) - so if it coincides with this album, then I might find it bearable. But no, it doesn't - it seems like I need to go back another FIVE years (REALLY?) to get to his bearable stuff.  This isn't hateful (except for "Yummy"), but it's very average - I imagine there were hundreds of others churning similar and better stuff than this and getting absolutely no traction at all.  Comparing this with our previous visit with Ozzy (and it's not a comparison I ever imagined me making), that wasn't exactly my thing but I was glad his loyal fans made it chart - whereas this also isn't exactly my thing and I'm not...

Continuing my trip back in time through the album charts 28/02/20 :  Ordinary Man - Ozzy Osbourne Whilst I must admit to having found the first season of The Osbornes amusing enough, I soon ran out of patience with it.  But, compared with my tolerance of his music, that is a model of forbearance - I quite like Paranoid (the track, not the entire album  - although it is one of my more amusing write-ups) but apart from that I get very tired of it very quickly.  So I wasn't expecting much from this. But, whilst I wouldn't go as far saying I liked it, but I really didn't hate it nearly as much as I was expecting.  Looking at the writing credits, I suspect the presence of Chad Smith and Duff McKagen didn't hurt.  And Andrew Watt as well, who I wasn't previously aware of but apparently he is (according to some other dude on Wikipedia) " arguably the most important writer and producer in the world today ".  Either that isn't true or my knowledge is lacki...

  What have  The Guardian  got for us today then?  51.  Find one practical way to make a difference This is sage advice about how starting one small thing often snowballs into something bigger - but I'm not sure it's guaranteed to make you happier.  Busier, yes - but happier?  Well... 52.  Posh up your toast Amazingly, The Guardian doesn't mention avocado - yes, their suggestions are far worse.  Olive oil, a rub of garlic and a few tomatoes anyone?  A chunky (and preferably not orange) marmalade does the trick for me - but each to their own, I guess. 53.  Literally count your blessings Yeah, it's telling you write them down and count them up.  Which I guess might work, provided you have some. 54.  If you wear glasses, attach a chain I'm intrigued by this one because I've worn glasses for coming up to 50 years now and at no point have I EVER felt the need for a chain.  And I imagine it would really annoy me - so why wo...