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[personal profile] alexsarll
Finally I can get stuck into all those festive songs I've been quietly amassing on here but unable to play...

Sat on the Tube reading Ken MacLeod's The Sky Road, I'd already looked up from one character's visit to the rejuvenation clinic to see the headline "Scientists Close To Elixir Of Youth" (only the Telegraph's take on this, alas - but what really grabbed me was that the font was slightly off, as in a film where you see a newspaper and they've not quite designed the one plot-relevant fake article right). So I was already in a signs and portents mood when I saw that the chap next to me had what looked like a yellow passport, with which he was fumbling around as he rearranged his pocket. Keeping a subtle eye on it, I saw that it denoted membership of the Order of the Secret Monitor. Hang about - that sounds important, and esoteric, and is surely not something one should be letting slip on public transport!
Turns out they're just a soppy subdivision of the Masons, albeit one with the entertainingly homosexual alias 'the Brotherhood of David and Jonathan'.
Speaking of mysterious documents letting you down, the idea of finding the Question's notebook would be GrantMorrisontastic, if only it weren't tying in to another bloody Countdown comic in which I have absolutely no interest.

Other recent disappointments:
- The Heroes comic. How can you make a comic which is officially canon, and yet still have most of it feel like you're doing a no-account licensed project? The Wireless stuff has its moments - we know from how little of her we saw on screen that there's more to tell - but even that doesn't quite satisfy, and the extra scenes of the others...this isn't stuff that couldn't be told on TV, just stuff that didn't need to be. And even if it is official, an awful lot of it simply doesn't ring true.
- Burial. Ever since Underworld's dubnobasswithmyheadman, I've wanted to hear another dance record that captured the feel of cities by night that well. When I heard there was an outfit called Future Sound Of London who'd done an album named Dead Cities, I thought I might have found one - but no. Same when I was hearing about Burial; alas, the record all those reviews and raves that were everywhere for a week or two created in my head was a lot better than the one I actually found.
- It's not so recently that I was disappointed by the Spice Girls' dead dog of a comeback single, but it was only on Thursday night that the full enormity hit me: they'd made a significantly worse comeback single than All Saints. How was that even possible?

Garth Ennis' Dan Dare relaunch is, as expected, utterly wonderful - and respectful too, which might surprise those who've not encountered his straight war stuff before. I think as his Punisher run winds down, he might just have found his next long-run character (though this is only a miniseries for now).

Date: 2007-12-01 11:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com
As in Wireless? The girl with computer powers whom we see briefly, helping Ted and and Matt against the Company.

Date: 2007-12-01 01:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kenix.livejournal.com
I got her confused with the shapechanging/illusionist woman, and so was very bewildered for a while.

Date: 2007-12-01 02:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com
Yeah, I can see that. And the look wasn't that massively different to Eden either. I guess once they'd got the blondes in for the major roles, somebody with a taste for that sort of look decided to indulge themselves - and fair play to them, really. It's not as if it's uncommon - I mean, what's the name of that comics artist who always has loads of cute punky girls?

Date: 2007-12-01 02:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com
Good save.

Date: 2007-12-01 01:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] darkship.livejournal.com
Spice Girls doing a worse song than All Saints? Man, it must even be worse than the non-single tracks on Spice to achieve that. And that IS bad.

Date: 2007-12-01 02:41 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com
Come on, the real stinker there was 'Mama', and that was a single!

The All Saints comeback was a blatant attempt at a Girls Aloud rip-off - but that's still better than the simple *dreariness* of 'Headlines'.

Date: 2007-12-01 06:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] darkmarcpi.livejournal.com
I have always been completely disinterested in the Spice Girls comeback and think it was utterly predictable that they would come back with some half-baked trite will-this-do-for-the-new-track-on-the-greatest-hits old cobblers.

I haven't heard any Burial but have heard they've got rave reviews. Are they dubstep, or grime, or something?

'Dead Cities' is alright but not FSOl's best album and not really a cities by night kinda listen. In fact, whilst I can think of a few dance albums that are of similar quality to 'Dubno...' I can't think of anything similar. It is the definitive urban album in many ways.

Date: 2007-12-02 12:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com
Dubstep, I believe - though as I understand it the main difference between dubstep and grime is a geographical one more than musical - one's South London, one East (though I forget which).

As soon as the Spice Girls comeback was mooted, I knew it would mean the end for my Girl Power bag. Good job I don't seem to be inundated with DJing offers atm.

Date: 2007-12-03 01:36 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] freakytigger.livejournal.com
Grime tends to have more MCing on, as I understand it. It's the one rooted in East London - Dubstep's birthplace is that rock n roll mecca Croydon!

Burial is cities-by-night but not the same bit of the night Underworld was: Underworld was more 2-3am on a crowded nightbus. Burial is half four to half five in the inner suburbs when you're waiting for a tube to open.

Date: 2007-12-03 07:15 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] barrysarll.livejournal.com
Thank you; I shall endeavour to remember the distinction this time.

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