One whole hour of Rock & Roll Horror hits, Screeming Psychoblilly & Eye Popping Psychedelics!!!
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Strange Unearthly Creatures Podcast Halloween 2010
Calling all Ghosts, Ghouls, Monsters, Vampires, Freaks and Geeks. The the third instalment of this monthly podcast is a Halloween special!
HALLOWEEN @ THE BRICKYARD SATURDAY 30TH OCTOBER
A staple in The Brickyard calendar, this notorious night sees zombies, ghosts and ghouls travel from near and far. A genuine alternative night for those looking for something different, featuring DJs Jonny Bordello, Jonny Sharpe, Mr Chipp & Sam P playing savage soul, eye-popping psychedelics and horrifying hip hop.
The Brickyard's henchmen will be pulling out all the stops to transform the venue into something the Twilight zone would be proud of. Entry is £4 and there's even free punch for those lucky enough to get there early
Friday, 15 October 2010
Ten Of My Favourite Computer Games From My Youth
After playing some Vintage arcade games earlier today, I felt inspired to rediscover some of my favourite computer games of the 80's and early 90's
1) Galaxian
Possibly the first computer game I ever played. My uncle had it on his Commadore Vic 20. Originally released in 1979 this is the oldest game on my list. It does not stray far from the "Space Invaders" Formula.
2) Paperboy
A truly original concept for a game, imagine its creators trying to pitch that sale, "So whats the premise of your game?" "Erm well, you errr, basically you err deliver newspapers" The funny thing is though that the game is amazing!! Throw papers from your bike to the mail box, try not to smash any windows, avoid all the cars and lawnmowers etc and tackle the BMX track at the end of each level. Mint!!! Hours of addictive juvenile fun.
3) Flimbo's Quest
Collecting scrolls and avoiding monsters is the name of the game in this addictive late 80's platformer for the Commadore 64.
4) Super Skidmarks
Race as a Motor Cow, race as a Motor Cow with a caravan attached, dont get lost and go the wrong way, hit "sweet" doubles and leave skidmarks on every corner in this crazy racing came for the Amiga. My personal favourite's were the pick up trucks (dont ask me why) My favourite colour was mauve (dont ask me why) One thing I can tell you is: I used up many hours of my life on this bugger!!!!
5) Golden Axe
Play as the Barbarian, the Dwarf or the other one. Ride dragons, collect potions, get the dastardly thieves! Hack, slash and burn your way through level after level of baddies and boss men. Surely everybody knows this classic side scrolling twat um up!
6) Fiendish Freddy's Big Top O'Fun
Could this be the only circus game to have even been in existence? I'm not sure, probably not. But it may be the best.
High dive, Juggle, Knife throw, Tightrope, Trapeze and Human Cannonball are all here to contend with, and if that was not enough, that fiendish old divil Freddy is trying to put a spanner in the works at every opportunity! Hours of fun in the big top!!!
7) Target Renegade
If you owned this on the C64 (which I did) then it was possible the hardest and most annoying Double Dragon imitation on the market. I think I only made it past the first level once! But that said for some reason I loved it.
To be honest this game played far far better on the Spectrum. You could even play two player co-op on that and had an extra move where you could beat the turd out of people when they were sparked out on the floor. But alas, for that you had to sacrifice the quality of graphics and colours, which on the Spectrum were quite frankly poo!
8) Speed Ball 2
A new sport? or a hybrid of existing sports with added ultra violence? Smash and batter your opponent in to submission. Button mash your team to victory, if you beat um enough the medics will come and take um away!!
9) How To Be A Complete Bastard
Your at a party and the aim of the game is to be a complete bastard. You cant get better than that. Fill condoms with coleslaw, stab people with pens, piss in the plant pots, fart, eat frozen chicken causing you to catch salmonella, ratch through people's jacket pockets and open an umbrella in the house causing you to turn in to an oven! Enough said!!!!!!
10) California Games
Surfing, BMX, Skate boarding, Frisbee etc. Surely every one knows the score with this one? For me it was all about the BMX!!!!!!!! (Although the rest were good too)
1) Galaxian
Possibly the first computer game I ever played. My uncle had it on his Commadore Vic 20. Originally released in 1979 this is the oldest game on my list. It does not stray far from the "Space Invaders" Formula.
2) Paperboy
A truly original concept for a game, imagine its creators trying to pitch that sale, "So whats the premise of your game?" "Erm well, you errr, basically you err deliver newspapers" The funny thing is though that the game is amazing!! Throw papers from your bike to the mail box, try not to smash any windows, avoid all the cars and lawnmowers etc and tackle the BMX track at the end of each level. Mint!!! Hours of addictive juvenile fun.
3) Flimbo's Quest
Collecting scrolls and avoiding monsters is the name of the game in this addictive late 80's platformer for the Commadore 64.
4) Super Skidmarks
Race as a Motor Cow, race as a Motor Cow with a caravan attached, dont get lost and go the wrong way, hit "sweet" doubles and leave skidmarks on every corner in this crazy racing came for the Amiga. My personal favourite's were the pick up trucks (dont ask me why) My favourite colour was mauve (dont ask me why) One thing I can tell you is: I used up many hours of my life on this bugger!!!!
5) Golden Axe
Play as the Barbarian, the Dwarf or the other one. Ride dragons, collect potions, get the dastardly thieves! Hack, slash and burn your way through level after level of baddies and boss men. Surely everybody knows this classic side scrolling twat um up!
6) Fiendish Freddy's Big Top O'Fun
Could this be the only circus game to have even been in existence? I'm not sure, probably not. But it may be the best.
High dive, Juggle, Knife throw, Tightrope, Trapeze and Human Cannonball are all here to contend with, and if that was not enough, that fiendish old divil Freddy is trying to put a spanner in the works at every opportunity! Hours of fun in the big top!!!
7) Target Renegade
If you owned this on the C64 (which I did) then it was possible the hardest and most annoying Double Dragon imitation on the market. I think I only made it past the first level once! But that said for some reason I loved it.
To be honest this game played far far better on the Spectrum. You could even play two player co-op on that and had an extra move where you could beat the turd out of people when they were sparked out on the floor. But alas, for that you had to sacrifice the quality of graphics and colours, which on the Spectrum were quite frankly poo!
8) Speed Ball 2
A new sport? or a hybrid of existing sports with added ultra violence? Smash and batter your opponent in to submission. Button mash your team to victory, if you beat um enough the medics will come and take um away!!
9) How To Be A Complete Bastard
Your at a party and the aim of the game is to be a complete bastard. You cant get better than that. Fill condoms with coleslaw, stab people with pens, piss in the plant pots, fart, eat frozen chicken causing you to catch salmonella, ratch through people's jacket pockets and open an umbrella in the house causing you to turn in to an oven! Enough said!!!!!!
10) California Games
Surfing, BMX, Skate boarding, Frisbee etc. Surely every one knows the score with this one? For me it was all about the BMX!!!!!!!! (Although the rest were good too)
Sunday, 10 October 2010
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Le Orme - Ad Gloriam
Le Orme - Ad gloriam
One always finds that no matter how many records you collect or listen to over the years that some never venture far fom your record player, they become etched into some part of your psyche. These albums are boxed and wrapped up in brown tape by little electonic beings that hold no physical form, they are loaded into some sort of transportation device and shipped off for storage in the great vaults of your mind ready to be recalled when ever needed. You never grow bored of these albums, you dont have to be 'in the mood' to listen to them, on the contrary they inflict their mood upon you.
Le Orme's debut album entitled Ad Gloriam, released in 1969 is one such album for me: I cannot listen to this wonderfully trippy psychedelic sunshine pop Lp without beaming from ear to ear and being transported to a world where the sun always shines, birds sing loud from the trees and Great uncle Bulgaria lives underneath my garden of wild flowers, herbs and fruits.Every morning old Uncle Bulgaria and myself lay around in the sun, drinking his home brewed wine, smoking special herbs and discussing the great topics of the day. Occasionally we will pop Ad Gloriam on to the record player and think that... 'life is not so bad'
Yes the lyrics are all in Italian so we (as in my eldery Wombly friend and I) have no idea what they are about but that hardly matters as the vocals and harmonies on the album's title track (and throughout the rest of the album in fact) are simply beautiful. Ad Gloriam is laced with; trippy guitar work, hammond organ, flute, piano, harpsicord, strings and percussion from start to finish and hops around somewhere near the centre of a crystal clear pond filled with ethereal instrumentals, moody psych and soaring sunshine pop.
I know this album may not be considered by some to be as good as some of their more 'Progressive' material that they released as a three piece band in the early 70's but I really dont care, I think this album is beautiful, it makes me smile a lot, the instrumentation and vocals are brilliant in every song. Go out and track down a copy for yourself, take it into the garden and give Uncle Bulgaria a knock; he will answer the door with a great big smile, a bottle of the good stuff and a bag of strong smelling herbs, put the record on, lie on the grass, chat rubbish and let the day drift away.
Ad Gloriam
Fumo
I Miei Sogni
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
Monday, 13 September 2010
Electric Holyland Compilation
Electric Holyland
For my first ever review I thought where better to start than my most recent acquisition. From the moment this little beauty dropped through my letterbox (or rather was handed to me by Mr Postman) I felt more eager than usual to get it open and on to the record player. I'm not sure whether this was because of the extremely beautiful cover art, the sheer bizarreness of content etched on to this shiny black piece of wax, the concept of it all, or the hype that my own imagination had built up around it. Let's just say I had a feeling that this was going to be good.
Let me put it to you like this: Have you ever been walking down the street, searching through you particular favourite brand of mp3 player for something, but not finding anything that is quite right? "What I really fancy" you think "is a dose of drum heavy, fuzzed out, psychedelic, god rock" - Well have you? I certainly have not, I did not even consider for a moment that such a thing would even exist! But it does and even better than that, some kind soul has waded (chest deep no doubt) through the vast pile of shite that I'm sure must reside in the realm of Christian Rock to bring you the most drum heavy, fuzz drenched, obscure heaviest and most bizarrely wonderful Jesus rock gems from the 60's and 70's.
What on earth (or in the heavens above for that matter) made these freaky Jesus loving flower power evangelists break away from the more traditional formula of chrisian music and push the boundaries so far out in to the stratosphere I do not know, but one thing I can tell you is that I'm glad that they did! No doubt recorded in small studios and privately pressed in limited numbers the LPs in their original form are certainly obscure, rare and collectable, and the very nature of their content has left them overlooked by music lovers and record collectors alike. But no more! As Electric Holyland has just thundered in to town carrying a giant payload of Blues, Soul, Psychedelics, Acid Folk and Gospel.
However if you what you have read so far has tickled your fancy. If right at this moment your feet are itching to boogie on down to some of this obscure brand of breakbeat, psychedelic, genre bending, Halleluja soul rock then you had better be quick because this cracking compilation has been pressed in almost as limited numbers as the original LP's from which it draws its very essence. Only 500! Yes 500 have been pressed and all have been hand numbered.
Mine is number 297. Will you be able to find one?
Praise be brothers, praise be!!
Tracklist
The New Folk - Love comes down
Barrie Hobbie, Johanna Black & Sweet Destiny - Get Down On Your Knees
First Revelation - Where Could I Go
Wild Olive Branch Band - High Times, Low Times
Earthen Vessel - Ive Been Walkin'
Shekina Glory - Ask
The Jesus Band - Jesus Is Mighty To Save
The Ark - Sidewalk Preacherman
Children Of The Lamb - Decisions
Renacimiento - Date Cuenta
Paul Clark - Jesus Is My Great Shephard
The Four Corner Gospel Experience - Put Your Spirit Inside Of Me
Sidewalk Preacher
Love Comes Down
I've Been Walkin'
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