scaryblog

Continuing my trip up the list of the most streamed songs for each year.   2009 : Party In The U.S.A.  - Miley Cyrus Yup, my initial thoughts are that this is a perfectly fine choice - it's not exactly my cup of tea but both daughters still play it pretty regularly. I don't remember the video though because it's not "Wrecking Ball" and that kinda pushes all other videos aside... Funnily enough, the video pretty much celebrates partying in the USA - it's not going to win awards for the plot, but it's pretty much what the tracks needs (a labyrinthian Dostoevskyesque affair would have felt somewhat unnecessary). There are two facts of interest though - the video has had 999 million views on Youtube (I was disappointed not to be the one to click it over) and, somewhat bizarrely, it has a different vocal track to the version that I knew - I probably wouldn't have noticed, except that it's obviously not quite as good. Weird. Wikipedia has a massive amoun...

Continuing my trip back through the 2015 album charts. 24/07/15 : Communion - Years & Years I know Years & Years was originally a band featuring Olly Alexander and somehow transitioned into just being Olly Alexander but I've no idea where this album lives on that trajectory - I'm expecting it to be OK, but maybe a bit overwrought. Hmmm - it's not overwrought and it's got a pretty decent synth-pop sound to it. But it's a bit lacking in variety across the album and it rarely even approaches the highs of "King", although I also liked "Ties", "Desire" and "Without" which is nicely slower. There's nothing wrong with it, but there's also not exactly a lot to get excited about either. We're at #1 in the chart this week, somewhat surprisingly not with a new entry because it managed to hold on to it from the previous week at the start of a 67 week run, which was longer than I was expecting. The rest of the top five ...

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts 26/07/24 :  Heavy Jelly -  SOFT PLAY This sounds like it could be a kid's album but I had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't going to be the case - and when I heard that Soft Play were previously known as Slaves, it was pretty much confirmed that I wasn't going to like this. And I can most definitely confirm that I do not like this. I can totally accept that they're making the kind of sounds they want to make and I'm also happy that there's skill involved in making those sounds. But - well, it's just a bloody awful racket. Why would anyone want to listen to this? I'd like to be able to describe it in more detail, but "bloody awful racket" is gonna have to do for you - mostly because it is. It is pleasingly brief at 29:29 but even that is about 29 minutes too long for me. We're at a frankly astonishing #3 with a new entry in the chart this week - I'm already looking forward to gue...

Continuing my trip up Empire's   top 20 TV of 2023 #11 :    Interview With The Vampire Anne Rice's 1976 novel is arguably the single most definitive work of vampire fiction outside Bram Stoker's Dracula. But it isn't until this year that her lavish gothic romance has truly made the transition to the screen. After Neil Jordan's 1994 film, while great, straight-washed the entire story, it took nearly thirty years for Rolin Jones to step in and restore the queer love affair that is the tale's bloody, beating heart. Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid are mesmerising as immortals Louis and Lestat, in an adaptation that makes core changes to the narrative (adding a new element of race to the central duo, and moving it up 200 years to the 19th century) but manages to be perfectly faithful to the spirit and intent of the original novel – with production design to die for (sometimes literally), and an abundance of awful people having their life blood leeched away. This may have...

Continuing my trip back through the 2015 album charts. 31/07/15 : Born In The Echoes - The  Chemical Brothers Our fourth visit with the Chemicals and I generally like them - they're up there with Orbital as my fave bleepy dance acts, so I'm looking forward to this album that I don't think I was aware even existed. Yeah, I quite liked this - they've certainly slowed down from their earlier days, but haven't we all, dahling? I particularly liked "Sometimes I Feel So Deserted" (the opening track) and the weirdness of the title track, but there was enough variety across the album to keep me engaged - even if I'm not entirely convinced it was their top-notch effort. I like the album cover though! We are, for a change, at #1 with a new entry in the chart this week on the start of an eight week run which pleasingly featured a drop every week. The rest of the top five were Years & Years,  Ed Sheeran , Sam Smith (they've been mentioned a lot recently an...

Continuing my trip back through the 2015 album charts. 07/08/15 : Marks To Prove It -  The Maccabees I know The Maccabees were around for a few years and I know I've liked some of their stuff, but not all of it - so who knows what we've got here! Hmmm - it's not their best work for me. It's not terrible - if you like Doves or Foals, then it's very much that kind of thing but this just feels very low-key, with everything seeming to be low in the mix. It feels like you can barely hear the instruments and you certainly can't make out the vocals - I guess that's the effect they were going for, but it doesn't work for me. Maybe it would be a grower, but I'm afraid it's certainly not going to get a chance. We're at #1 with a new entry this week on the start of a much longer than I expected nine week run and the rest of the top five were Lianne La Havas (another new entry), Years & Years,  Ed Sheeran  and Sam Smith. We have one more new entry in...

Continuing my trip back through the 2015 album charts. 14/08/15 : Compton -  Dr Dre This is my second visit with the good doctor - last time I was more impressed with the musical content than I was expecting, whilst finding the lyrical content more unpleasant than I was expecting. And I'm pretty much expecting the same thing here... ...but I was actually pleasantly surprised! I mean, it's very much not my sort of thing, but there's a reasonable amount of variety on there along with some decent lyrics which aren't (generally) glorifying violence or overly misogynistic. Who'd a thought it?!? There's also an impressive roster of guest artists who are well used - I'm sure Wikipedia will fill me on the full list but I certainly recognised Snoop and Eminem. We're at #1 with a new entry in the chart this week on the start of a twelve week run, which involved drops every week except disappointingly for one when it kept the same spot. The rest of the top five wer...

Continuing my trip back through the 2015 album charts. 21/08/15 : Chaos And The Calm -  James Bay I always think I don't like James Bay because I dismiss him as one of those fey singer-songwriters with no substance (the hat really doesn't help him out) - until I hear some of his stuff and go "oh no, he's one of the ones that are OK". Well, I hope I do anyway... Yeah - there's nothing wrong with most of this for me. I can see that you could find his voice annoying and some of the songs are a bit rambling, but I very much  liked "Hold Back The River" and "Let It Go", which I already knew and "Incomplete", which I didn't. It also feels like it could quite easily be a grower as well. We're at #2 in the chart this week on his - wait for this - 22nd week of an 87 week run, with it having peaked at #1 in its debut in his week and it's spent thirteen weeks in the top five so it's really done well for itself. The rest of th...

Continuing my trip up The Guardian's   top 50 films of 2023 #31 :    Pretty Red Dress Terrific performances from Natey Jones, Alexandra Burke and Temilola Olatunbosun match this big-hearted music drama about masculinity. I'd never heard of this until I read the year-end lists and it popped up on quite a few, so I'm intrigued to see it - but I've no idea what a "big-hearted music drama about masculinity" might involve. We meet Travis (Natey Jones) just as he gets out of prison and heads back home to his partner Candice (Alexandra Burke) and their daughter Kenisha ( Temilola Olatunbosun). Candice works in a supermarket but gets an audition to play Tina Turner - and whilst they're out shopping for something for her to wear for the audition, guess what they come across? And, let's just say it has quite the impact on all their lives - the plot didn't go in the most surprising of directions for me, but it's well done with some tense moments and tric...

Continuing my trip back through the 2015 album charts. 28/08/15 : Burning Bridges -  Bon Jovi This is my third visit with Bon Jovi - in '96 , I suggested they were beyond their best and in '05  I expressed astonishment they were still going, but in both cases I graciously accepted that things weren't as bad as they could have been. But that doesn't mean my expectations are anything more than rock bottom for this. Oh dear - they've definitely been reading their own promotional material because they're taken themselves very seriously here. It's mostly a combination of pompous and dull, often with the appearance of very little effort having going into it and the title track, which ends the album. is absolutely dreadful. One star - would not recommend. We're at an amazing #3 with a new entry this week on the start of a not so amazing eight week run which pleasingly featured a drop every week. The rest of the top five were Jess Glynne (a new entry), Cilla Bl...

Continuing my trip forward in time through the album charts 19/07/24 :  The Death Of Slim Shady (Coup De Grace) -  Eminem Our fifth visit with Eminem - generally he's good enough value, but maybe struggles to deliver a full album's worth. I'm looking forward to listening to this whilst not exactly expecting to love it, so it will be interesting to see how it goes Hmmm - I'd say there's a reasonable amount of variety here, but maybe it doesn't hit some of his previous heights. I don't think he's as funny as he's been on other albums and the rapping isn't quite up to his usual quality, but conversely I also don't think he's as juvenile on this as he is on other albums. I particularly liked "Guilty Conscience 2",  which features Slim Shady arguing with Marshall Mathers as to whether he really means all he says - it's also impressive because he somehow manages to incorporate a visual gag which made me laugh. " Temporary...

Continuing my trip back through the 2015 album charts. 04/09/15 : I Cry When I Laugh -  Jess Glynne Yay - she's FINALLY got her moment in the spotlight! This is an album we own (it's somewhere in the house, but don't ask me to find it!) so we're up to three all year now - I seem to recall it's not bad at all, although her voice can be quite annoying at times. Hmmm - it's OK I guess, but not as good as I imagined it would be. I liked "Hold My Hand", "Don't Be So Hard On Yourself" and "Right Here" and there are also a couple of decent singles included on the deluxe version, but it always feels a bit of a cheat to review something other than the original. The rest of it was OK, but none of it was exactly essential - it's a bit pop-lite and a bit all over the place. We're at #2 this week on her second week of an extremely impressive 117 week run with it having peaked at #1 in its debut week. It then took two months off and c...

Continuing my trip down The Guardian's  Top 50 TV Shows of 2023   #11 : Fleishman Is In Trouble The big question with this TV adaptation of the hit novel was whether it would hold viewers’ attention until it repeated the book’s big trick – really hitting its stride in the final stretch. The answer was yes: the opening episodes were unquestionably hooky, as we plunged into the tale of recently separated New York doctor Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg), who wakes one day to find his wife Rachel (Claire Danes) has disappeared. Is she at a yoga retreat, or has she abandoned their family for keeps? But when the show hit its real crux, it was a giddy, disorienting delight: a harrowing look at the tedium of middle age and lives unfulfilled, thanks to a stunning performance by Lizzy Caplan. A rare treat that will very much hit home with those of a certain age. I was aware of this and read some very mixed reviews on it - I didn't bother with it at the time but I'm now very intrigued...

Continuing my trip back through the 2015 album charts. 11/09/15 : The Book Of Souls -  Iron Maiden Our fifth visit with the Maiden (spanning between  1983  and  2019 ) and my reaction has generally been appreciation of the skill involved and considerably more enjoyment than expected, but a complete inability to differentiate between the tracks - and I have absolutely no expectation that will change here. Hey - I actually managed to noticed that "The Red And The Black" was different, but only because it's 13:33 long. And then, nearly an hour later, we FINALLY reached the end of "Empire Of The Clouds" which is over EIGHTEEN minutes long. Lordy, that was a slog - ninety minutes all told, but it felt like years. But I have to concede there's plenty of skill there and none of it's hateful - it's just an excess of excess. We're at #1 with a new entry this week on the start of a surprisingly long eleven week run. The rest of the top five were Jess Glynn...

Continuing my trip back through the 2015 album charts. 18/09/15 : Keep The Village Alive -  Stereophonics Somewhat surprisingly, this is our fourth visit with the lads (ranging from ' 99 to ' 22 ) and it's been a bit of a mixed bag so far with their earlier stuff being far better than their later stuff, so I fear this will be somewhere on the downward slope. And I guess it is, but it still seems far enough the slope to be enjoyable enough - they certainly sound like they're mellowing as middle age approaches, but it's got a nice expansive sound on it in places. I particularly liked "Fight Or Flight" and there was certainly nothing hateful on the original album - but the bonus tracks on the deluxe edition manage to make the album worse in every possible way. I'm really not sure what's going on with that album cover though. Once again, we're at #1 with a new entry in the chart this week on the start of an impressive nineteen week run. The rest o...