This is MP3Monster's blog. The blog covers music, technology, photography and anything else Monster considers worthy of blogging about.Snow & More Snow
Posted by monster in Books, General
The snow may cause disruption & no end of problems, but there are also opportunities, like this …
and some local pics ….
Pirate Radio
Posted by monster in Books
I’ve just finished reading ‘Radio Caroline: the Pirate Years‘ but Ralph Humpries. Although the book is in many ways old school history with lots of dates and facts, it proved to be a rather engaging and interesting read about the history of Radio Caroline which sounds like an ever running series of dubious deals and running battles with the then GPO (responsible for broadcasting in the 60s) and the weather not to mention the odd conflict between other such stations which really justified their private name.
If you’re interested to know how Pirate radio took off, or background to the formation of Independent Radio stations (which are generally tragically poor siblings) and Radio 1. Then this is a worth while read.
This leads me nicely onto ‘The Boat That Rocked’ - the film by Richard Curtis based loosely on the radio Caroline story. A brilliant cast from Philip Seymour Hoffman to Bill Nighy and including Curtis regular Rhys Ifans, and rising names such as Rhys Darby (from Flight of The Conchords). Film feels more like a series of sketches linked together a very basic narrative, than a complete story in the Notting Hill or Love Actually is, although this isn’t the first time this approach has been applied - just look at four weddings. Although not Curtis’ best work, there a enough hilarious moments to warrant a viewing or to.
Muddly Talker to voice Roary the Racing Car
Posted by monster in Books, General
For Murray Walker fans (aka Muddly Talker) there is some fun news. The children’s animation - Roary the Racing Car which is narrated by the great Stirling moss is to get a special voice for a couple of episodes. The animation based on some racing cars at Silver hatch circuit already has the humorous contributions from Peter Kay as big Chris the mechanic. More info at the BBC News here.
Hotel Chelsea NYC, Rock’s Vortex Of ‘Death and Destruction’
Posted by monster in Books, Music, Photography
Wired.com have got a neat little article here about the Hotel Chelsea in NYC. This notorious venue perhaps most famous as the location where Sid Vicious allegedly killed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen, but also the home for a raft of other sordid stories (and a few less sordid such as Arthur C Clarke’s writing of 2001). The hotel is now the subject to a documentary film and photo essay book.
Nick Hornby - The New Yorker
Posted by monster in Books
If you’re a music fan then you’ll probably have at least a passing familiarity with the author Nick Hornby who wrote Hi Fidelity (and for the real fans 31 Songs among others). Whilst writing his books he has also written some music articles for the New Yorker magazine, some of these articles can be found on the The New Yorker Archive.
Lester Bangs
Posted by monster in Books, Music
As a celebration of the anniversary of the death of gonzo music critic Lester Bangs Glorious Noise have pulled together a set of links to some of his writings Lester Bangs in Creem. Although if you want read a good collection of his writings then I can recommend the book Psychotic Reactions & Carburetor Dung which was compiled by Greil Marcus.
For those who haven’t made a connection as the who Bangs is - perhaps you may remember Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Almost Famous (a fine presentation of Bangs). For a brief bio of Lester Bangs try wikipedia.
Word Magazine talking about Kill Your Friends
Posted by monster in Books, Music
I’ve been trying to catch up with my podcast listening, and today this included Mark Ellen and Rob Fitzpatrick talk to John Niven about the mad world of the A&R on their weekly Word podcast (main Word Weekly Podcast page). Niven has written a novel called “Kill Your Friends” inspired by his real experiences of the record industry and A&R. The podcast is very interesting thirty minutes of listening (click here to listen or download) as the trio discuss both the book and the realities of the A&R industry. Mark & Rob clearly rate the book, but the discussion about the book has intriguing enough that I shall be getting the book.
Jools Holland - Bare Faced Lies
Posted by monster in Books
I’ve just finished reading Jools Holland’s tremendous autobiography - Barefaced Lies and Boogie-woogie Boasts. Its a brilliantly engaging book, describing his slightly unconventional childhood, through how he came to meet Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook
to help form Squeeze to the development of his Jazz Orchestra and how the tremendous Later… TV series came about and is driven.
Each chapter is relatively short, and you find yourself wanting to ‘just read one more’. Jools doesn’t dish dirt on anyone, but then I don’t think having read the book he sees dirt - but just the best of unique individuals. That is not to say the book isn’t insightful, as he describes the life on the road with some of the hilarious adventures such as chatting to one of The Ramones while they’re given a little ‘oral relief’, and tackles some difficult times such as the tragic death of Paula Yates.
The book also communicates Jools’ immense passion for music with a perspective a bit like that of the late John Peel - that being of a huge fan.
Love is a Mix Tape
Posted by monster in Books, Music
I recently finished reading Rob Sheffield’s Love Is A Mix tape (currently on Jools Holland’s biography - also proving to be a good read so far). The book in essence is very simple as brief biography of Rob’s, it doesn’t delve into the glitz and gossip of what has encountered as a music journalist and DJ; but addresses part of his life including the tragic death of his wife after only having been together less than 10 years.
Two things makes this book engrossing; firstly the perspective - by telling his story through some of the mix tapes he received or made at the different points in his life, and secondly the very matter of fact and honest way he describes the feelings and experience of being a bereaved husband at a young age.
Rob closes his book with a some cool words …
A lot of my music friends don’t touch cassettes anymore; they stick to MP3s. I love my iPod, too - completely love it. I love my iPod carnally. I would rather have sex with my iPod rather than with Jennifer Lopez. (I wouldn’t have to hear the iPod whine about getting its hair rumpled.) But for me, if we’re talking about romance, cassettes wipe the floor with MP3s. This has nothing to with superstition, or nostalgia. MP3s buzz straight to your brain. That’s part of what I love about them. But the rhythm of the mix tape is the rhythm of romance, the analogue hum of a physical connection between two sloppy, human bodies. The cassette is full of tape hiss and room tone; it’s full of wasted space, unnecessary noise. Compared to the go-go-go rhythm of an MP3, mix tapes are hopelessly inefficient. You go back to a cassette the way a detective sits and pours drinks for the elderly motel clerk who tells stories about the old days - you know you might be somewhat bored, but there might be a clue in there somewhere. And if there isn’t, what the hell? It’s not a bad time.
The book also made me think about whether the art of the mix tape is a dying skill. With the arrival of CDs and then MP3s and their playlists the skill needed to neatly fit music onto a short fixed period and deliver the peaks and lows in tempos (aesthetics) along with the care for editing the tracks together are disappearing as Nick Hornby described in his book High Fidelity or here.
Entertaining, but factual read
Posted by monster in Books
I’ve recently been on the road during the day or at home sick so had the benefit of hearing a bit more Radio 4 than I normally would. That includes hearing the programme ‘book of the week’ . This may sound pretty dull, it but proved this week to be far from it with John O’Farrell’s An Utterly Impartial History of Britain (or 2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge). The excerpts that have been broadcast have been very funny and educational. For example in describing the politics of England prior to the Gun Powder plot the different factions have been likened to football teams and the occasional hooligan behaviour.
If history is taught in the manner that this book adopts, then I think we’ll have a lot more history students engaged and enjoying the subject. On the strength of what I’ve heard I’d recommend the book.
JPod by Doug Coupland
Posted by monster in Books
I’ve just finished reading Doug Coupland’s JPod. Its an odd book, some of the characters seem fairly plausible, albeit exaggerated, and others are just completely improbable.
Set in an IT context, Doug like Scott Adams must have spent some time in an IT office environment, in many respects the book often feels like Dilbert on acid.
What really irked me with this is the self referencing (Doug is also a character in his own book, and also has his characters make reference his other books - self promotion in extreme?) and the strange ‘interludes’ where he has done things like include wholesale assignments that one of the book’s characters was doing which really don’t add anything to the story.
If you want a light pointless read and like things such as Dilbert and the TV series the IT crowd, then I’d recommend borrowing a copy of the book otherwise don’t pick it up.
Quick Quote…
Posted by monster in Books
I’ve finally got around to reading Chuck Klosterman’s Killing Yourself To Live, and was struck by a quote that just had to be shared:
“I have more CDs than 99 percent of America, but fewer CDs than 40 percent of my friends; if an acquaintance has more CDs than me, I feel intimidated and emasculated. I think about my CDs a lot“.
Chuck used to write for Spin magazine although no contributes to other publications. The book is a chronicle of an trans-American adventure he undertook for Spin. With a straight forward style, the book feels (at least as far as I’ve got) like an modern Catcher in the Rye.
New Mummy & Daddy Books
Posted by monster in Books, new Daddy
Given that a number of friends are expecting their first or just had their first baby I thought I’d share the reading that we’ve found useful.
There are dozens of books out there for the expectant mum, which go into the mechanical detail of pregnancy and child birth - a little daunting for the first time father, who really just need a rough guide as to what to expect. I read two books, both relatively light hearted and full if male humour worth reading. Firstly Jon Smith’s - The Bloke’s Guide to Pregnancy, this was probably the better of the two addressing the basics to pregnancy and both the bloke’s likely reactions as well as the expectant Mum’s, along with Marcus Berkmann’s - Fatherhood: The Truth which looked a bit further on from the pregnancy and arrival of junior. Jon smith incidentally also has his own website (go here).
Once the baby has arrived - then what can you use book wise? Well there is Satan herself - Gina Ford. People’s reactions to her books are very polarized. The problem is that her books are very prescriptive mapping out your day from the time you get up until the time you go to bed and if you slavishly followed it you’d never escape the house. From our perspective we used it to simply get an idea for a when we tried to develop a daily routine with our little one.
For the bigger picture over the first year we’ve used the first ‘What to Expect’ book, although probably not an essential read it is certainly a good book to look at in small doses.
For when the little one starts solids we found Annabel Karmel’s New Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner really good. The title sounds more pompous than the book is. It suggests meals and provides easy cooking instructions, so even a no hoper in the kitchen like me can cook up baby food rather than resort to expensive bottles.
