[644] Memories of parents October 18th, 2008 – 6:08pm Posted in Memories No comments

When I was young, my parents went out a lot. My dad used to be out from Wednesday ’til Sunday, and until my first sister came along my mum was out a lot too. It doesn’t take much to remind me of the times they spent getting ready to go out, because those times were filled with colour: sounds, smells, changes to the routine of the week. Fluffy clouds of talcum powder would drift downstairs as my mum left the bathroom. The smell of pork chops – the one meat I can vividly remember actually eating as a child – took over downstairs while my dad sat eating, watching brightly-coloured celebrities on Friday night TV. Their music from the time has, ever since, hit me as flashbacks at the strangest times. The theme from a TV show I haven’t seen in twenty years suddenly plays in the background and I’m …read more.

[640] Death Magnetic October 10th, 2008 – 4:10pm Posted in Good Things No comments

The opening of this album is a lot like being dragged along to a family party which you thought’d consist of pungent buffet and men in slacks talking about horsepower, but which turns out to be an all-night rave with free gin decanted from Gabby Logan’s perfectly formed thighs. After the badness of Metallica recently, scepticism about this effort was understandable. As it transpires, this scepticism was as justifiable as asking Honest Dave from Honestville whether his ID card personally signed by God was genuine or if he’d got it for twenty Bensons from a lad doing art at college. The first 45 seconds are pure Metallica – old school Metallica – but this is not a bad thing, oh no, this is a very good thing indeed. This is as old school as being told to sit next to a girl with long brown hair and spending the next …read more.