h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just an idea - how about a place here for album reviews? If someone on this page gave a good/bad review, I think I would trust it more than one in the music press.

There seems to be a wide choice of music listened here and reviews of unheard stuff might be useful to people thinking of buying them.

For example, I know I will be getting the new Lou Reed and Nick Cave when they come out and I could post what I think.

Is this a workable idea or a waste of time?

Let me know!

Sounds like a great idea to me. Everyone here has remarkably good taste, and covering a broad range indeed. I, for one, would find reviews posted by anyone here to be most helpful!

It's a very good idea, and I go with you - I would trust it much more than I would trust the money-feeded music press! So - let's just go on, then...

I'll expect a detailed review of "Do The Pop" on this thread soon!

LimpWrist - 18 Songs 12"

LimpWrist are a straight-edge, all-gay hardcore band from somewhere in America. They play really fast, almost thrashy hardcore with rather, um, explicit lyrics about what it's like to be queer and a member of the punk scene. It's just really refreshing to hear a band playing songs about something that actually matters, rather than that lame tough-guy bullshit, and doing it in a positive way that everyone, of all sexualities, will appreciate.

I don't really think that LimpWrist are trying to be sensationalist. What their lyrics, some but not all of which are rather explicit (''I love hardcore boys it's too good to be true, one by one or the whole damn crew''), are doing is showing that being prejudiced against a band because of their sexuality is stupid, and that they don't care anyway. The general apathy towards the reaction of the band's more conservative listeners is so positive, as are their 'I'm going to do whatever I want, and enjoy it as much as I can' lyrics. The songs are often quite humorous, but underneath the in-jokes is a serious message. I think it's a shame that a lot of the annoying right-wing losers that I know won't ever buy this record off me. They should listen to this record, as it might actually make them view the world from someone else's perspective. (Perhaps they'd then have thought twice about kicking and punching my bi friend when he fell over in the pit the other day. Yes, that actually happened. I couldn't believe it ).

The lyric booklet, which is a very cool 16 page cutnpaste-style zine, is littered with homophobic comments about the band. In the context of the band's lyric sheet, it just seems to stupid that anyone would find these people offensive.

http://www.exdistro.com/noise/noise.html - mp3s

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I've been looking for one of their records for ages, as it's really hard to find in record shops over here. Eventually we ordered five copies from this distro guy in London.

Sorry about the general badness of this review, it was a bit rushed as I'm meant to be going out soon (ie now). Oh, and I don't normally see the point in talking about my own sexuality online, but for the sake of context, I'm not gay.

Hey Rocketman, it's a great review ...... it tells us about the band, what the music sounds like, what they are about ....... this is what this thread is all about.
I remember when the frontman from Husker Du (Bob Mould) *came out* ..... people were saying "oh, I don't know if I can listen to them now!"...... I was like huh!???? ....so what.... in fact it made me listen to his love songs much more closley ..... there are still a lot of pathetic views being upheld, which I think will always be hard to change.

Kurt Cobain - The Journals
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Strange to be reviewing a book in a record thread but I can't think of a better place for this. Reprinting notebooks and journals that Cobain kept from leaving school, this book provides some sort of snapshot into his mind.

Fragments of stories, cartoons, dreams, lists of records, video ideas, songs lyrics in progress make this a compelling read.

Of interest not only to Nirvana fans, this is also a document of how a band is put together. From choosing the name, letters sacking drummers because they would not rehearse 5-6 time a week!, lists of favourite tracks by other bands (later to become lists of producers wanted) there are designs for guitars, stage props, details on overdubbing tracks, how various instuments should be recorded etc.

An overiding theme appears to be Cobains struggle to articulate his thoughts. He writes " I can only communicate in grunts and shrieks" and appears painfully aware of his almost unreadable scrawl ... there are many attempts at drafting letters.

Other topics he is passionate about are abortion, sexuality, ignorance and punk. Over and over again, he states he IS punk rock and that one of the reasons Nirvana signed to Geffen Records was so they could be the enemy within, appearing to be in bed with "The corporate c**K-suckers" but able to get the music across to people in small town America.

As the journals get newer, his sense of outrage at the way the music press mis-quotes him gets stronger. He gets indignant at how his brief flirtation with heroin gets blown up into a long life addiction.

All in all, an intresting read, whilst not being essential, is still facinating reading.

Nice review superdog.

The book's a bit on the expensive side for a poor bastard like me, but if I see it on offer/second hand then I'll definitely look into it.

I've never really read a book about something musical before, but have been tempted by 'Black Vinyl, White Powder' which is about pop music, and many of the more punk rock books 'We've got the neutron bomb'. Maybe I'll ask my mate who works in a bookshop to look out for me, and then use her 30% employee's discount next time I want something

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No Comply - Your Life (is your direction) - 6 song EP - DeckCheese Records

For someone that doesn't really like punk/ska that much, this is pretty good. There are a lot of really shitty ska bands out there that just write cheesy songs on the guitar and then add the horns as an after-thought. Fortunately, No Comply don't really fall into this (rather lame) category. The songs are quite well written, and the metal influenced guitar fits well with the band's overall sound - catchy, melodic punk with conservative amounts of ska and metal. There's also plenty of energy in the music, which is a good thing and certainly helps their live performance. Overall, not my favourite punk release ever, but significantly better than a lot of the output by other bands in their chosen genre.

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No Comply are the better of that sort of thing I'll agree.

Hopefully, the Journals will be coming out in paperback next year at a cheaper price?

I've got some fantastic books on music if you would want a list (all punky type stuff!)

Death By Stereo - Day of the Death

At the moment this is one of the most popular albums among a lot of the people at school, but unfortunately for me I really don't like it that much. A lot of the people I know have gotten into that really stupid testosterone-fuelled tough guy hardcore recently, which is annoying because bands that sing about being 'forever true' or having a 'reason to believe' always tend to annoy me. Anyway, Death By Stereo's album is a bit crap because it's full of lame metalish guitar solos, overproduced drum sounds and tedious group shouts. I suppose it would be quite fun live, but this kind of hardcore never does it for me when recorded.

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Some punk book recommendations would be great. I'm reading 'The collected essays, journalism and letters of George Orwell, Volume 3, 1943-45' at the moment. It's a lot more interesting than it sounds

Yea good review. I agree that the cd does have alot of metallish sound to it. But i really love the last song...i cant remember what its called though.

Just remembered its Death for Life...love that song!!

It's not a bad album, as such, I just don't happen to like it. I might have to listen to that last song later, if I can find the minidisc (unlikely).

Hey, They call me the fancy one. I'm a younge punk from the states and i'm just trying to make a difference in the punk comunity.