Atrocity Exhibition

new brigade

2012-01-30T13:54:00.000-08:00

"New Brigade" by Iceage.

Having listened to a downloaded copy of this record on repeat for a number of months it was about time I picked this one up on vinyl.

love me

2012-01-22T13:35:00.000-08:00

Love Me NYC by Curtis Kulig (70/250)

Print purchased mid-2010, framed by the ever great Norwich Frame Workshop early 2012.

kodak stash

2012-01-20T15:25:00.000-08:00

480 200ISO Kodak ColorPlus exposures

As many people will have read yesterday camera giant Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection. While this may or may not signal the end of Kodak what it is likely to bring about is a decline in the companies film production operations.

We'll all be sad to see Kodak 35mm film go, when I first started heavily shooting film a few years back I almost exclusively used Agfa Vista (400ISO) which is still easily the best 35mm film ever created. At the time the Agfa film was deadstock and although out of production still readily available. Sadly in recent years its become harder and harder to come across and only 200ISO remains (often at a highly inflated price). Anyway, with the fear of loosing another good film stock I headed down to Poundland to stock up (some of you will remember I did so previously).

Get it while you can.

exploring (and under exposing)

2012-01-17T13:21:00.000-08:00

Abandoned hospitals of Norwich
Olympus Trip 35
Unbranded B&W 35mm stock, 200ISO

Within 5 miles or so of my house sit several different abandoned NHS hospitals/institutions (one of which sits rather oddly in the middle of a new build housing estate). I recently decided to go and have a wander around a couple of the sites that I knew of and see how nature has aged them while they lay abandoned.

On a photographic note I shot the above pictures using my Olympus Trip 35, a hand me down camera which I haven't used since my 2009 trip to Berlin. As you can tell the photos are severely underexposed, next time I decide to dust off the Trip 35 and use it on a somewhat overcast day I will be using a much faster film.

jav makes t-shirts

2012-01-16T13:55:00.000-08:00

Jawbreaker/Nirvana, Morrissey and Jawbreaker in t-shirt form courtesy of Jav.

The original Jawbreaker t-shirt I ordered is currently MIA (Royal Mail) so I was lucky enough to get hooked up with two free t-shirts as well as a replacement Jawbreaker t-shirt.

two vocalists

2012-01-12T12:38:00.000-08:00

Ravachol and Jack(als)
Yashica T4
Kodak ColorPlus 200ISO

Emma (Ravachol) and Jack(als) shot in Norwichs newest venue Olives this previous Sunday. The show was fairly packed out (especially for a Sunday night show) so I didn't get a lot of chances to move around so have ended up with the majority of my photos being of Emma and Jack. Lack of angles aside it was good to be taking photos at a gig again.

More music based photographs coming in the near future.

explore

2012-01-07T11:41:00.000-08:00

"Access all areas: a user's guide to the art of urban exploration" by Ninjalicious

One of my horribly generic new years resolutions was to continue to travel as much as I did in 2011 and to explore the world around me a bit more. I picked up the above book to help give me a bit of inspiration.

Expect more pictures from out and about as the year goes on.

polaroid game

2012-01-05T14:04:00.000-08:00

Generation Records/Obey, New York 2006

Lady Liberty, New York 2004

Sam Layzell, Flick Knives and Splinters & TV Party tour/Stencil (2007?)

Like most people my age I own a polaroid camera.

I took pictures using mine for a relatively short period of time compared to most of my other cameras, while I always enjoyed using it (and still do) the larger size of the camera and the cost of the film (compared to my various 35mm shooters) always put me off. I have none the less amassed a small collection of photos from across the years. Having finally gotten sick of having them lazily stacked in a pile I've bought an album so I can display my pictures in a much better way, above is a small selection of what I've seen as well as a picture of the album itself.

More instant photography coming in the future sometime.

clapping

2011-12-26T07:20:00.000-08:00

"I'll clap when I'm impressed" by Dimitri Karakostas and T Reilly

This new(ish) 'zine from "Blood of the young" came through the post on Christmas eve. 26 photos of general larking about and good times from BOTY, another well laid out and printed release. Buy it here.

lockdown

2011-12-17T07:36:00.000-08:00

Supreme Lock Box, Fall/Winter 2011.

in the countryside

2011-12-14T23:55:00.000-08:00

The Lakes
Leica Mini
Kodak Colorplus 200ISO

Pictures shot while wandering the Lake district/the North of England with Bryony.

cph pt. III

2011-12-11T11:12:00.000-08:00

Copenhagen
Yashica T4
Various film stocks

Here we have it, Copenhagen, the film joints.

These pictures help to fill in some of the gaps in my adventure which were left by my digital photos. In the above you can see the streets of CPH, Freetown, graffiti and an Elephant.

For the tumblr inclined check out another selection of photos here.

bag

2011-12-06T14:14:00.000-08:00

Jansport x Streetmachine bag /50.

My one big purchase from my recent trip to Copenhagen was the above collaborative bag put together by Streetmachine and Jansport, part of the Jansport "Right Pack" Signature series.

For this project Jansport worked with nine different shops from around the world (though predominately stores based in the United States and Canada) to put together this series of "Right Pack" bags. Limited to only 50 pieces worldwide (450 bags in the total series) each bag follows the same general design pattern/brief and comes with an enamel badge to be placed as you wish.

Check out the entire series here.

cph pt. II

2011-11-30T14:05:00.000-08:00

The expanses of Copenhagen
Canon EOS 400D

The above pictures are from my most recent adventure, my brief trip into Copenhagen. As per my last few jaunts out of the country (excluding Bruges) I spent my time moving between digital and film photography. For now though as I'm sure you can tell I'm posting some of my digital shots.

The pictures move in a chronological order starting with my arrival in the city of CPH and finishing with the Public Library, I do have both film and digital photos that go further beyond this point in my trip but I thought the Public Library made for a good final picture.

Having been lucky to get out into the world and experience several different countries and cultures this year I happy to have made my jaunt into Denmark, the first Scandinavian country I've been to. Copenhagen is a cool city, easy to walk (and cycle around) and has lots to offer. It can be kind of expensive in points (more expensive than London but not as expensive as Singapore) but it's defiantly worth a visit.

Not pictured in the above; Freetown Christiania, the Museum of Islamic Art, a load of walking, parks, cool architecture and some other Copenhagen based jollies.

I'm going to be posting some more photos when I get the film work back as well as a variety of other pictures from the trip on Tumblr.

know your (sub)culture

2011-11-27T11:06:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of stickers.

At certain points of time I may or may not have put up my own stickers, posters, stencils and tags in various spots around the world and I certainly appreciate the time and effort it takes to get up on a global scale. Today I've returned home after another trip (pictures to follow) during which I may or may not have put up some stickers and I'm psyched by the idea that someone I potentially may never meet could potentially see something that may be somewhere else in the world.

Being a fan of the "street art" (note I use "street art" as an all encompassing term to describe anything of any loose artist "value"/interest found outside of a conventional space, I attach no meaning/association with it in so far as pretension, attitudes or motivations of the people who work within the medium) I've spent a considerable amount of time wandering around cities looking at walls, sign posts and all the other things the urban environment has to offer us and checking out what people have put out there.

I can't remember when I first came across BNE's work but it was a long time ago now (I have some pictures of his stickers dating back to 2003). More recently during my time in Singapore and Malaysia I came back across his work and upon my return became familiar with his new project.

As some of you who have been to Asia will know there's varying amounts of graffiti/"street art" in some of the big cities. I'm not sure the length of time between my visit and BNE's but to be able to maintain such a heavy presence in Singapore is amazing. What I'm trying to say is I have a lot of time for BNE given his ability to get up with such ferocity.

Anyway as I mentioned BNE's working on a different level now. He's set up a foundation working towards providing clean water to people sorely in need of it. As I'm sure most people with a logical mind will be aware food (including clean/drinkable water) insecurity is one of the major contributing factors to the ills in the world. The above sticker pack has been released to help raise funds for the BNE water foundation, something you defiantly need to get behind. I have a few different sticker packs (know your contemporaries) and this is easily one of the coolest presented ones I have the fortune of owning. Being the looser I am I'll be picking another one so I can keep this intact/sealed and am happy to do so knowing my money will be going to a good cause.

To conclude, the lack of water around the world is bad, it's kind of a mute point in this post as I'm a big BNE fan but help out some serious grass roots charity and buy some stickers and/or see what's up here.

cph

2011-11-24T23:43:00.000-08:00

Copenhagen, Denmark
MacBook Photo Booth

This is what Copenhagen looks like at around 8AM. More photos etc after I return to Blighty.

air and trees

2011-11-20T09:32:00.000-08:00

"Air" by Charles Manson (Magic Bullet Records)

"Trees" by Charles Manson (Magic Bullet Records)

Magic Bullet recently put out "Trees", the second part of the Manson/Magic Bullet ATWA "series". I had been meaning to pick up "Air", the first LP for a while now so took this as an opportunity to catch up and pick up the "A" of ATWA while ordering the "T" (both records quite obviously pictured above).

I'll admit to being a newer fan of Mansons music. I first came across his musical works when Holy Terror released the "Inner Sanctum" 7" which I picked up. I listened to this record a bit but didn't think much of it after the first few listens. Sometime after that I picked up the Ancient VVisdom/Manson split and heard the track "Severed Ways" and it flicked a switch in my mind. I went back and re-listened to "Inner Sanctum" and got a lot more into it.

Anyway, I like both records, if you're a fan of Mansons music or want to check it out for the first time both "Air" and "Trees" are good starting points and both in press at the moment.

throwing gang signs

2011-11-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

Never forget the struggle, never forget the streets
Yashica T4
Kodak Colorplus 200ISO

Sorting through some un-published pictures and I found the above set of photos from the Pharaoh Monch show at the start of the month.

I doubt you can make any Norwich gang signs but if anyone would know it would probably be someone in the above photos.

norwich city gritty committee

2011-11-15T11:40:00.000-08:00

Pharoahe Monch
Yashica T4
Kodak Colorplus 200ISO

At some point of time it started taking me a long time to finish up my rolls of film. Because of this crippling photographic problem I've only just received the prints of the photos I shot at the Pharoahe Monch show in Norwich a week and a bit ago.

Half the photos I shot have gun fingers in them so when it came to "useable" good shots things were a bit limited, I did manage to get the above five photos that I'm really happy. As expected a good show and fun to shoot despite the lack of useable photos.

The T4 held up well in the justifiably packed out Knowhere and was able as always to withstand a knocks (mainly gun fingers from the people around me) and me being drunk.

the stepkids

2011-11-14T14:07:00.000-08:00

The Stepkids - The Stepkids (Stones Throw records)

This past weekend I did a few hundred miles of driving and would have appreciated having something new to listen to, unfortunately I didn't have anything and listened to a few classics instead. Today after my long drives the "The Stepkids" new album arrived through my letterbox, both Stones Throw and Now Again records have been seriously prolific recently and this continues the run of great releases.

Check out The Stepkids here.

mr nice

2011-11-06T08:32:00.000-08:00

Stories of dope smuggling, love for Norwich, peaks and troughs, being in prison, tobacco in contemporary Western culture, smoking, red wine, stupid questions and a lot more.

The above is my second copy of Mr Nice as autographed by Howard Marks after his spoken word evening at the UEA LCR (Bonfire night 2011). Having been lucky enough to meet Marks twice now I'm happy to have finally been able to see him given one of his prolonged talking engagements.

bruges

2011-10-30T14:51:00.000-07:00

Some time spent in Bruges
Yashica T4
Various film stocks

I previously posted the pictures I shot while partying in Bruges, further to these the above set of photos comes from the days I spent wandering around the city checking out the vibe of what is billed as the most boring and touristy city in Belgium.

In all honesty I enjoyed Bruges. We spent 3 days in the city which is honestly the most time you could spend without getting bored. It's not the most exciting "city holiday" I've been on but that's Bruges for you, the city offers an almost perfectly slowed down continental pace and really is great to walk around and just relax in.

Part of the glory of walking around is looking at the buildings, although I'm told a lot of the architecture is fake and nothing more than buildings "built in the style of..." it was still just a trip to look up. I'm usually a fan of more contemporary architecture (I've seen the original Bauhaus style in Berlin and the White City in Tel-Aviv) but as far as the Medieval "style" of things goes Bruges is great.

While in Bruges we also checked out the Belfry for the views, I saw the Basilica of the Holy Blood and to balance out the culture we spent a lot of time drinking (though in Belgium this is cultural).

Long stories aside if you want to have a bit of a wander in a small city, drink some beer, check out some buildings, views and history then get yourself to Bruges.

On a technical note I'm happy to be using my T4 again, the power of the Carl Zeiss lens really shone through in Bruges.

not a party city

2011-10-29T06:08:00.000-07:00

Bruges 22nd October 2011 Anno Domini
Kodak Single Use Camera

Two euro 8% beers, 1 euro Jupiler, walks in the cold, legally drinking in the streets, making sure everyone knew we weren't Birmingham City fans, local spots, local girls and lock ins. Bruges 2011.

I shot the above pictures using a Kodak single use camera while seeing what Bruges had to offer on a Saturday night.

One piece of advice, if you wear a pink shirt in Bruges people will think you're gay.

thee first will and testament ov psychic tv

2011-10-25T14:35:00.000-07:00

"Live at thee Ritz" by Psychic TV

Another day another Psychic TV LP. This time straight from a Greek record record store we have release thirteen in the Live Series, the recording of the first UK Psychic TV show. I've been listening to this at a low volume so far this evening and I'm enjoying it. If you're interested you can read the liner notes here.

As you can see from the above photos this release doesn't follow the template of some of the other Psychic TV releases though the cover art is similar that that of a few of the other release eg. Live at Mardia Gras.

Beyond the sleeve and the low volume at which I'm listening to the record this is another fascinating Psychic TV release.

death of a canon ae-1 program

2011-10-19T14:21:00.000-07:00

Having used my AE-1 for around 5 years now it's best days our finally behind it.

I've been having problems with it for a while now and have gone through a number of ghetto fixes in an attempt to hold it together. First the shutter wouldn't fire, then it started jamming open. After that the light meter along with the other circuit based functions started to act in an irregular manner.

I was however eager to give my beloved AE-1 another try before my upcoming foreign outing. I shot the above pictures quickly to see if the camera was working and it obviously isn't. Not only did the film advance in a very odd manner but half the pictures have been over exposed. The pictures above show that photos shot in darker settings/using indirect lighting turn out fine, with everything else light has just flooded in. This to me fits in with the shutter and light meter going.

I love/loved this camera so I plan to replace it, for now though RIP Canon AE-1 Program.

psychic tv

2011-10-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

"I.C. Water" by Psychic TV

My latest vinyl/Psychic TV pick up is, as some of you may have put together from the picture of the "A" side label a record devoted to the front man of one of my favourite bands, Joy Division.

I've seen this record a few times with a different cover that mimics the label artwork, however having bought this copy for only £2 I'm not going to complain about having what I believe is the generic label/pressing plant(?) sleeve.

One thing that does run across all pressings of this 7" is the "B" side etching. I've tried to photograph this in the third picture but didn't have much luck. There's a transcribed version of the text sans the numerous Psychic TV/TOPI/Temple of thee psychick youth logos that you can read here.

A final fun fact, Psychic TV front(wo)man Genesis P Orridge is purportedly the last person to have spoken to Curtis before his suicide in 1980.

monotron

2011-10-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

Korg Monotron x FM3 Buddha Machine III

Bringing the noise with my new Korg Monotron.

all pigs must die

2011-10-16T05:29:00.000-07:00

In recent times Mishka have come out with some rather unexpected but well executed and thought through collaborations. First up was the (The) Process Church of the Final Judgement collection with Feral House. After that it was the Psychic TV collection put together with the infamous Genesis P-Orridge. Now somewhat out of the blue Mishka have put together a Death In June collection along with a mix by Star Eyes (well worth a listen).

The t-shirt in the above picture is the "Cathedral of tears" t-shirt which is my favourite of the four t-shirts that have been released.

If you haven't heard Death In June before a good selection of the material can be found here.

i saw the best minds of my generation...

2011-10-07T15:29:00.000-07:00

One of the many great things my friend Apryl has given me over the years is the heads up on the Beat Generation. As a testament to time flying by I can remember vividly being on the phone to Apryl talking about which Jack Kerouac book to buy first (On The Road), after On The Road came Howl, a book that I took with me to my shitty call centre job almost everyday.

I read On The Road and Howl and they got me through a shitty job, I read Big Sur at the aforementioned job and it made everything worse, I read Dharma Bums in Berlin, Junk in the streets of various cities, Burroughs collection of letters every lunch break at my much better but now old job after the call center and so on and so on until as a finishing point I read The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test in Singapore and Malaysia.

Today I found out via Apryls blog that it's exactly 56 years since Ginsberg first read Howl in Frisco. To conclude with Apryls perfectly made point, go on my youth, read and discover.

psychic saturdays

2011-10-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

"Live in Reykjavik" - Psychic TV, thee fourth release 'in a series designed to beat the bootleggers and document(s) a body of work" "Live in Reykjavik" is from the trip Psychic TV/Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth trip took to Iceland. For anyone who cares this release features the "P-Meter" and the infamous remote sampling.

"Live in Tokyo" - Psychic TV, thee first release in the live series. "Psychic TV played 4 disconcenrt in Tokyo on the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th of January 1986. Approximately 2000+ people attended each night. All the musick on this record is taken from the last night. It is not necessarily the most perfect moments musically. Rather we have chosen parts that reflect our mood, the element of chance and otherwise not released material".

Both of these LP's come from the large Psychic TV discography, more specifically the series of 23 live LP's that were meant to be released monthly over the space of a year and a bit. From my understanding of Psychic TV history only 17 of the 23 LP's were actually released.

Looking beyond the music and the history I'm a big fan of the presentation of thee Psychic TV releases, the live series especially. Although I only have two examples pictured above you can see the obvious theme/common design which is shared with a number of the bands other releases. It's a simple but striking layout and the fact that it carries over and binds a number of releases together is something that in my opinion really adds to the releases.

75p seven inch thursday

2011-09-29T13:29:00.000-07:00

The one problem with record fairs and second hand stores? The sellers/shop owners (typically speaking) know what they're selling and can put a realistic price on the item in question. That's why 75p Singles Thursday exists, to help plug those little holes in your record collection that need filling.

So as you might have guessed from the poor intro here's a couple of new singles I picked up for 75p a piece on the ebay...

"Touched by the hand of god" - New Order.

"Spirit" - Bauhaus.

(Pictures in B&W as I forgot to change the settings on my camera and couldn't be bothered to re-shoot the photos).

one hundred and seventy twelve inches, seven ten inches, one hundred and ninety two seven inches and two box sets

2011-09-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

I finally made the leap like many before me to the great Ikea vinyl storage solution. Having gotten sick of the individual boxes I had (also from Ikea) on the floor I decided this was the way to go.

I've repeatedly culled my record collection over the years but what you see in the above picture is what's with me at the moment. Having been looking at my records "face first" for years I had forgotten how nice it was to have the spines facing outwards. For all my rambling about the importance of vinyl and its presentation I had forgotten the most important part (after the music), the spine of the sleeve.

With the height of the unit I've also been able to keep my two Ikea boxes that I store my seven inch records in and put them on top so they're at the perfect height to casually flick through.

Without wanting to sound like a terrible Ikea advert I fully endorse this.

london, again more snapshots

2011-09-21T13:28:00.000-07:00

London Snapshot
Yashica T
Kodak Colorplus 200ISO

Shot while on the hustle in London last week. Unfortunately I was busier working than I was shooting pictures. I did however still get time to pop off the above few shots so I'm happy. London, much like the LS6 is a perfect place to walk around taking pictures of.

tape

2011-09-18T12:26:00.000-07:00

Numbered 289 out of 300 this is apparently the first of a series of limited mixtapes Rough Trade will be putting out. First in the series (and an excellent starting point) is the Rough Trade x Hit and Run Teebs and Jeremiah Jae mixtape. In a typically fantastic move I purchased this from the Rough Trade website a day before I actually headed to London for work and received it yesterday.

Having given this tape a listen this afternoon I'm now painfully aware how far behind I am with the rest of the Brainfeeder artists releases.

Pick up this tape if you still can.

the landers (leeds pre-hype)

2011-09-11T12:37:00.000-07:00

Leeds (the poor and very quick snapshots)
Yashica T4
Kodak colorplus 200ISO

When I was in Leeds the night before the wedding I walked around, checked out some of the old spots (and some new ones), chilled and ate some Yasi Yaki Sober with Sam.

I'm not 100% happy with these photos and if I had been able to find it I would have been shooting on my Yashica T rather than T4. Leeds is a very photogenic city, the LS6 especially so I'm happy to have least popped off a few shots. If it wasn't four hours up the road I'd happily walk around the LS6 and shoot roll after roll.

the landers

2011-09-09T15:59:00.000-07:00

The Lander wedding reception
Kodak disposable camera

I previously made a brief mention to stopping in Leeds. What I didn't mention was my stop in Leeds was part of a larger Norwich>Leeds>Blackpool>Clithero>Norwich trip (11/12 hours combined driving). The reason for all the driving was to attend the wedding of former Hessle Av great Rich to the ever wonderful Katie. While at the reception I ran through the pictures you can see above.

Anyway the entire day was amazing, if you weren't there you don't know.

wedding music

2011-09-05T13:46:00.000-07:00

Haflat Gharbia (The Western Concerts) by Omar Souleyman.

The above is one of the two things I purchased on Saturday during my all too brief stop in Leeds.

After the Kourosh Yaghmaei CD I got the other day this may seem like another odd purchase to some. I came across this release while browsing the racks of Jumbo (the best remaining record store in Leeds). To be precise I heard this record while browsing the racks, anyway I got chatting to one of the guys behind the counter decided I'd pick this one up. Having given Haflat Gharbia a quick lesson I'm more than happy with my purchase.

psychedelic

2011-09-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

The above picture really does all the talking for me. I could go off topic and discuss available formats, layouts and give a brief history of Iranian music but I won't.

Today I received the "new" Kourosh Yaghmaei record and can't say much more on this one other than you either want to know or you don't.

record fair pick ups

2011-08-27T17:07:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've been to a record fair. Yesterday I headed down to the regular Norwich fair, dug the crates and remembered why I love these events. Going into an independent record store is good, buying records online is convenient but going into a church hall surrounded by a mix of bootleggers, collectors, old people, nerds and DJ's is next level. Yes you have to shift through a load of crap records and some stuff is a bit overpriced but being able to talk to about the record you're buying at length with a seller is priceless.

Anyway, here's what I walked away with after yesterdays fair. While the bands are mixed I don't the records I walked away with juxtapose with each other too dramatically (though I may well look like a pretentious wanker).

Some good bands and hopefully some good records.

I've been listening to a lot of Joy Division and Psychic TV recently so I'm looking forward to playing those (and also adding them to the collection). The Bauhaus single I picked up as is was in a £1 box and I've been wanting to listen to Bauhaus for a while now. Go to google or some similar information outlet to find out about other local record fairs.

cryptik

2011-08-24T14:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I bought a print, not for the lack of good stuff coming out, more because I just couldn't be bothered to buy anything. The above as you may have guessed from the lukewarm introduction is a new print I picked up from Cryptik.

I came across Cryptiks work while going through "Bomits" list of 100 greatest sticker artists (checking out my contemporaries) and was taken by his work. I picked up some stickers as well as the above titled "Om Mani Padme Hum" print (in the last couple of days I also got a couple of Cryptiks t-shirts which came out via Digital Gravel). I chose this print having recognised the "phrase" from some literature I brought back from Singapore. If you're interested read more here.

I unfortunately have quite a large to frame pile but this one may well have to move to the top so check back for a framed picture in the near future.

Check out Cryptik here.

hyde park glass factory

2011-08-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

Hyde Park glass factory, Leeds
Originally shot 6th May 2007
Rediscovered today

Sam and Mark painting in the old Hyde Park glass factory (now gentrified into flats), shot towards the end of my first year at Uni on an old, half broken SLR I had bought in a charity shop in Leeds somewhere. To get into the glass factory you had to maneuver around some fences and a lot of used smack needles but it was worth it to see the graffiti. I wish I had more pictures of this place (and better pictures of the day we spent in there painting) but alas now it's gone.

I rediscovered these photos on my old computer this morning while cutting stencils and it all seemed fairly fitting to the situation in hand. I also discovered some old Norwich hardcore photos (1st and 2nd waves) which may well be shared at some point.

new jams

2011-08-14T12:15:00.001-07:00

The last week or so I've had quite an influx of vinyl come through the door. Here's what's made it's way through the post and onto my turntable recently.

Live at 924 Gilman Street - Jawbreaker.

I've had my eye on this bootleg for a while now, every now and again one of the hundreds of colour varients of this single that exist will show up and I always seem to miss it/hold off from buying it. I've always kept off buying any Jawbreaker records for fear of getting sucked into the idea of trying to add the rest of the discography to my record collection but I finally caved when I saw this one going cheap on what I would call coke bottle clear vinyl.

Live in Holland - Fugazi.

I'm a big Fugazi fan and have been trying to put together the complete collection of the bands numerous bootlegs for a few years now (I explain my lack of progress with the excuse that I've been looking for pressing info). I actually already have a copy of this 7" on red vinyl (I know purple and "peach" colours also exist) which I bought a while back but I thought I would pick up this copy as it was going cheap.

Ritalin Summer - Fugazi.

Another Fugazi bootleg, this unlike "Live in Holland" is a new one for me. "Ritalin Summer" doesn't come up that often so I'm happy to have managed to get a copy on the cheap like I have done. This 7" features only two songs, "Word" and "Furnature" which according to the sleeve are taken from an '88 demo. This one is on pink vinyl which is the only colour I've ever seen it on, if anyone knows of any other colours of this release floating around let me know.

Rot in Hell/Moloch split 7".

I ordered these two records before I went to Singapore and they came through the other day. As it turns out this is Rot in Hell's last record (unless some other sessions are released) and it's a blinding way to go out. The awesome looking covers (and I presume inserts) were printed by "The Print Project" who are based out of the Bradders 1in12, they have some awesome stuff going on which you should check out here.

S/T - End Reign.

This is the first release from Hemlock 13 in an age. I can't remember when I first came across H13 but I'm fairly sure it was during my early days in Leeds. Now if I'm honest I pre-ordered this 7" on the merit of it being a H13 release and it doesn't disappoint. Quality record and package. The cover you see here is the pre-order version, the standard release boasts artwork from everyones favourite Give Up. You can buy this record here.

emirates cup

2011-08-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

Emirates Cup/Lads on tour London
Agfa Le Box disposable camera

Last week a group of us headed down to London for the Emirates cup. While we spent the afternoon watching football we devoted the evening to fucking around in the various "N" postcodes of London. With the help of a disposable Agfa camera I found laying around my room I documented some of the evenings antics.

singapore and kuala lumpur (the 35mm joints)

2011-07-31T13:06:00.000-07:00

SIN and KL
Yashica T4
Agfacolor Vista 400ISO

So here it is, the last of my Singapore and Malaysia photo posts. Shot on my trusty Yashica T4 the above pictures are a mix of composed shots as well as sharp snapshots that the T4 is famous for. A lot of my film photos have gone into my elusive "Photo 'zine" iPhoto folder so you will hopefully see some more of these in a couple of months. For now however enjoy the last of my SIN/KL photo posts.

the system

2011-07-29T15:26:00.000-07:00

Here we have it, possibly the ultimate memento from my trip to Singapore, a framed MRT system map. I got this made up to be a unique souvenir from my time away, I'm sure to many framing a subway map may seem weird but I like it.

Cities are unique and made up of lots of different elements, I don't know how to word it but in my mind the above really helps symbolise the Singapore city experience for me.

Anyway the good people at Norwich Frame Workshop did an amazing job for me. The owner and framer suggested the "double glaze" idea so that you can still see the reverse of the map. To the Norwich people reading check out the Norwich Frame Workshop on the city end of St Benedict's (near the Hog In Armor) for all your framing needs. Fully backed.

writing preferences

2011-07-28T00:55:00.000-07:00

In my opinion Moleskine notebooks are the best out there, I'm sure many will disagree with me but as far as I'm concerned they're the best for the price. The covers and corners don't get knocked or ripped easily and the paper holds just about every ink imaginable well.

If I'm honest I'm not overly sure why I continue to write in notebooks rather than using something a bit more modern but I do. I'm not even a particularly good writer, it's just something I enjoy. While I was away in Singapore and Malaysia I wrote around 10 pages of notes covering my happenings.

Anyway, while on my lunch yesterday I headed into Waterstones and saw they had my notepad of choice on sale. I'd been wanting to pick up some of the softcovered thin notepads so that I could keep a few new projects seperate from my main notes and took the this as an opportunity to pick them up along with a hardcovered A5 and A6 (?) pad.

singapore and kuala lumpur (the snapshots)

2011-07-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

SIN and KL
Canon EOS 400D

This is the second of my Singapore and Kuala Lumpur photo posts as mentioned in the previous post. The above photos are primarily snapshots, photos of scenes and items I found interesting while exploring and wanted to document.

On an editing note I skipped out a lot of the temple/mosque photos to avoid repetition and because I don't want to write an essay for each photo. If you're interested in a walk through of the temples of both cities get in touch.

singapore and kuala lumpur (the considered shots)

2011-07-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

SIN and KL
Canon EOS 400D

As I mentioned in my post the other day I've walked away from my trip to Singapore (and side excursion to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) with around 500 digital photos and several exposed rolls of film. Having finished reviewing the photos I've decided to split them into three different posts rather than lump them all together.

The post you are currently looking at features what I will be calling my "considered shots" from the journey. These are photos I took the time to compose and shoot or in some other way gave some thought to rather than just tapping the shutter button with the camera set to "continuos". As I have mentioned before when I travel now I tend to use my DSLR as both an SLR as well as using it in the same manner many other people would use a simple digital point and shoot.

My other photos from the trip will feature in two different posts. One containing general shots from around Singapore and KL, the second containing my film shots.

On a final note for those of you who care the first eight photos were shot in Singapore, the remaining three in KL.

jackals/self loathing

2011-07-22T03:29:00.000-07:00

So after a couple of amazing weeks in Singapore (and a few great days in Kuala Lumpur) I'm back in the UK and almost back to the grind. I managed to shoot around 500 photos while I was away on my DSLR and around 90/100 photos on my Yashica T4 which I took with me. I'm in the process of reviewing my digital photos and have dropped off my film at the lab. Before I share the pictures though I want to jump back to the Jackals/Self Loathing split 7" release show which took place the night before my departure to Singapore.

I've mentioned both bands on this blog before and having seen both play numerous times I'm into the jams they produce. Basically what I'm saying is I'm psyched to see this 7" come out. I'm listening to it now and it's a good record.

Now as Jack (along with a few other members of the band) are vinyl nerds like myself a release show version of the record was put together (this is what you can see above). Originally I shot a Gang Green "cocaine mirror" inspired photo with Jack, Wes and Alex but it was decided (quite rightly) that that idea was fairly stupid so they went with the above photo of Robin topless waving a Union Jack(als). I'm into it. I supplied Jack with the plastic sleeves and while assembling the 7's nabbed number 3 out of 20 (as so to match my Lonewolves final show cover 7").

Now I was psyched on this record being released for another reason. A while back Jack asked if he could use a picture I shot in one of the records. I was never entirely sure when and where it was going to be used but it popped up on the centre label for this split. I shot this picture a while back rather aptly at a Jackal and Self Loathing show at the now dearly departed Marquee Pub in Norwich. The photo was taken using my Yashica T4 (which at the time had a broken flash) and Ilford B&W film.

Jack was also good enough to drop me a credit on the liner notes. For those of you not in the know my full name is James Rollo Moore. I usually chop off the Moore part however which is why it says James Rollo at the side of this blog and not James Moore.

Anyway, I'm chuffed to have gotten a picture into something as permanent and which will be seen by as many people as a 7", the fact the photo features not only on a record that my friends made but a record of two bands that I like makes it all the better.

The 7" is out now and can be bought from a load of places. I know it was released by a few different people but you can buy it directly from Jack/WWHRD do here.

cash rules everything around me

2011-07-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

So I'm off to Singapore.

I have an interest in the visual aspect of currency. You can tell a lot about a country just by looking at it's money, after all, money makes the world go round.

Now even though the Singapore monitory system is loosely based around the British one the notes are visually a lot different. As you can see in the above photo's I have the 5, 10 and 50 Singapore dollar notes. Both the 5 and 10 notes feature the see through watermarks that I first came across with the Israeli Shekels a few years back. They're also made using the plastic coated paper that a lot of newer currency notes have been manufactured with. The 50 as you can see in the picture is older. I'm not sure if a newer 50 note is set up in a similar format to the 5's and 10's but the ones I have our all paper.

According to Wikipedia the above three notes are garden city, sports and arts. The reverse all feature Yusof Bin Ishak, a guy who Wikipedia is telling me was the first president of Singapore. Have done some more Wikipedia research I found out it's possible to get a 1,000 and 10,000 Singapore dollar note (£500 and £5,000 respectively).

Anyway, if none of that was any interest to you then just go back and look at the above pictures of money or the below pictures of Steph.

steph

2011-06-26T13:45:00.000-07:00

Steph
Canon EOS 400D

Having previously noted that I no longer regularly use my Canon DSLR I've got another post full of pictures from that very same camera.

The other day Steph got in touch asking for a photographic favour. It turns out a journo friend of hers is putting together an article of sorts on people, bedrooms and the environments they create for themselves. Steph was taking part and needed some pictures of her in her room. Having not had the chance to shoot any posed photos recently I was more than happy to take part. These were shot as the above info suggests on my DSLR for Steph and her friends ease, I quickly went through several frames on my T4 which will see the light of day at some point but the main event was covered by my 400D.

Anyway, I'm psyched on these photos. After Steph the On Thin Ice t-shirt defiantly makes these.

canoeing

2011-06-26T06:10:00.000-07:00

Although countryside and landscape photography has always been somewhat of a guilty pleasure of mine it's not something I devote a lot of time to practicing (as you can see in the above), I guess "street and urban" photography is where my time really gets spent. I also don't spend much time, as I've noted previously shooting with my DSLR.

Yesterday I went canoeing for the first time in ages and spent some time with my DSLR and mother nature. The canoeing and the fresh air was great and it was fun to have the challenge of trying to take some photos (even with AF) while rowing.

The above are some of the resulting photographs.

supply

2011-06-19T07:58:00.000-07:00

I've been skipping the "things I've purchased" posts recently, in the last couple of weeks I've picked up a few awesome records and some other bits and pieces, I just haven't felt compelled to write about them. Today however I managed to pick up the above, 20 rolls of Kodak "Color Plus" film from Poundland and I'm psyched on my purchase. I've used a variety of Kodak film stocks before and I've never been disappointed with the results, I prefer 400 over 200ISO but I can happily work with it especially as summer is meant to be on the way.

Anyway, head down to your local Poundland and see what you can pick up if you're interested.

this is norwich (yashica t4)

2011-06-17T15:02:00.000-07:00

This is Norwich (part one of many)
Yashica T4
Fuji Superia 400ISO

More photos of Norwich shot as part of my never ending crusade to photograph the urban environment around me. I shot these pictures the same day as those featured in my Norwich stickers post. During the last week a lot of new graffiti in its varying forms seems to have sprung up so expect more pictures very soon along with some other new content.

norwich; the stickers

2011-06-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

Various stickers
Canon 400D

I was out and about shooting some pictures with a variety of different cameras today and happened to have my DSLR with me. I bought my 400D a few years back now and although it's a great camera (easily the best DSLR in its price range when I purchased it) I just don't give it much play anymore. The rest of todays shots will either be up here shortly on in my "upcoming" photo 'zine.

While shooting today I started snapping pictures of stickers around the city. These pictures were born out of my love of the Urban landscape and of the sticker as an art form. Just about everywhere you go in the UK you can look up at the nearest sign and see at least one sticker. For me the sticker really is the perfect medium for whatever idea, message or graphic you have. In recent years I've really started to see an increase in the number of stickers going up in the city and I'm psyched about that. More stickers, more posters and more graffiti, lets make Norwich a more interesting place to be. If you don't want to make any stickers put out a 'zine, make some music, make some badges, I don't care, just do something. Summers almost here and I want to see the Norwich Cultural revolution speed up a bit.

Finally if anyone can hook me up with some of the "everyone loves a cuppa" stickers and posters (which I assume have been done by the same artist) I would appreciate it/give you money.

norwich (yashica t4)

2011-06-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

Various Norwich shots
Yashica T4
Agfacolor Vista 200ISO

I've posted numerous shots of Norwich and even though it's a smaller city I don't think I'll ever tire of shooting it. Cities are ever changing landscapes and I love documenting them. For this very reason you'll see a lot more photos of Norwich coming from me in the next few weeks. Keep checking back for new photos (as well as other things).

megaboom (yashica t4)

2011-06-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

Megaboom
Yashica T4
Agfacolor 200ISO

For those of you looking for this piece St Crispins car park is just off Anglia Square down by the Jehovah's Witness meeting hall.

old and new (yashica t4)

2011-06-05T02:56:00.000-07:00

Old shoe, new shoe
Yashica T4
Agfacolor Vista 200ISO

Dear old pair of Vans,

Thanks for helping me get all over the UK, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Israel, Palestine and the United Arab Emirates.

Regards,
James

the black box (more drone)

2011-06-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

After my last post about picking up a mark III FM3 Buddha machine I got the heads up about the FSS Black Box (pictured right). I checked it out online and figured I'd pick one up to start playing around with. Since getting my second Buddha machine I've been messing around with the loops as well as getting them hooked up to mixers and with the help of some gear I've been lent had them hooked up Mac and feeding into Garageband (any gear/production hints or tips appreciated), to really see what can be done and how I can take this.

Anyway this morning along with some vinyl the Black Box showed up and I've been playing with it all morning. FSS defiantly take it in a darker direction that FM3, the loops are akin more to what I've heard on the FM3xThrobbing Gristle "gristleiser". The Box is limited to 2000 units and features 9 loops (7 instrumental and 2 vocal). Visually as you can see the Black Box is more like my original Buddha though rounded and ever so slightly lighter.

All in all a good pick up, due to the slightly more industrial loops it's a lot harder to beat/loop match with the FM3's but we'll see what happens. If anyone knows of any other such machines get in touch.

vivian girls redux

2011-05-30T06:08:00.000-07:00

Vivian Girls
Yashica T4
Agfacolor Vista 400ISO/Ilford HP5 plus 400ISO

Over a year ago now I was lucky enough to spend some time with (the) Vivian Girls before they played the Arts Centre in Norwich. Having gotten in touch with the band before they hit the UK I had the pleasure of watching them set up as well as soundcheck before shooting a few photos of them chilling around the venue.

I shot two rolls of film that evening, one colour and one B&W with the above photos being among the first photos I took using my newly purchased Yashica T4. If I remember rightly I had only previously put one roll of film through my camera before that evening and was still learning the camera settings. Having picked up by T4 for $20 including postage on ebay I was psyched to be using the camera that evening.

Going back in time again (though not as far) to RSD 2011 I picked up the special release from (the) Vivian Girls and I've been rocking it ever since. While listening to it this morning I thought I would re-visit the photos I shot. Unfortunately I don't get to shoot that much portrait/still life stuff but when I do it's something I really enjoy. Over a year later now and I'm still more than happy with how the photos, the posed shots especially turned out.

Anyway (the) Vivian Girls still make music and I still take photos.

temple of drone

2011-05-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

A while back now when I was unemployed and spent most of my days wandering around by myself I bought one of the first generation Buddha Machines (pictured in the background). Now, "gainfully" employed my need/desire to fill the world with looping drone music is as strong as ever so I picked up one of the new third generation Buddha Machines (pictured in the foreground).

Beyond the obvious difference, the clear casing opposed to the boring black I picked when I got my fist machine the new generation 3 is a different beast. The third generation buddha machine has only four loops apposed to the first generations nine and also has a pitch bend.

b-side with

2011-05-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

B-roll by products of continuos shooting. Miscellaneous homeless photos shot in Norwich and London that I haven't fitted into any other posts. Photographic proof that I am always shooting.

yashica on a sunny day

2011-05-21T02:51:00.000-07:00

In the garden, in the sun
Yashica T4
Kodacolor 200ISO

It's a sunny day and I've got some shooting to do. Often when I'm walking around I see spots and photos I want to shoot but either don't have the time, the right camera or it's overcast and I know even with my best intentions the photo won't come out the way I want it to. Today I've woken up and while it may not be the warmest day ever it defiantly is sunny so I'm off out to work through my "to shoot" list.

The above photos are (quite obviously) from three different gardens all shot over one sunny weekend towards the end of May.

Lets hope the sunshine sticks so I (and everyone else) can go down to shooting 100/200ISO for a bit.

armitage

2011-05-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

"Listening to Meat is Murder on iTunes in the back bedroom when Speedy Sue shouts up the stairs, "How do you want this steak cooking?" - Gig: The life and times of a rock-star fantasist by Simon Armitage.

Last night I went to the Simon Armitage reading at the Playhouse in Norwich. For those of you who don't know (probably a lot of people reading) Simon Armitage is a British poet and author, if you want to know more about him go here. I've been a big fan of his for a few years now and when I heard he was doing a performance in Norwich I thought it would be cool to check out (co-incidentally with my Mum as a belated birthday gift as she's also a fan).

I'm never sure how to approach poetry evenings as I often find the vibe to be fairly weird. The last time I went to such an event was to see the infamous John Cooper Clarke. Anyway, I'm glad I attended, it was a great evening and Armitages set was throughly enjoyable.

As you can see above after the show I got my favourite page from one of Simons books signed. I was also making some unrelated notes during the evening and had my notebook in my hand so Simon dropped his signature in that also.

from one city to another - canon ae-1 program

2011-05-18T14:18:00.000-07:00

From one city to another (Norwich and London)
Canon AE-1 Program
Agfacolor Vista 400ISO - Norwich photo
Agfacolor Vista 200ISO - London photo

Norwich - The boundless sky against the tower block and the run down car park.

London - The station with the empty platform.

monday music part 2 (vinyl)

2011-05-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

After getting into the house this evening I had a package waiting for me. This turned out to be my copy of the new Devil cassette which I wrote about here. Scrawled across the back of the package in my postmans familiar writing was "Package behind the bin". After pulling out the bins I retrieved the record mailer that was waiting for me.

Entombed within a few layers of cardboard and sellotape I had the copy of In Cold Bloods classic LP "Hell On Earth" on white vinyl which I managed to win on ebay the other week. I've been after this one for a while and I'm happy to finally have it in my hands.

I first heard In Cold Blood quite a few years back when a friend of the time copied me the bands self titled 7" along with some Integrity tracks and a few other bands I can't remember onto a cassette which I still have tucked way somewhere. Anyway I've already listened to this record a few hundred times and now I have it on vinyl I'll probably listen to it a few hundred times more. It's a quality record and if you're into Integrity et al then you need to check this one out.

If you want to check out In Cold Blood (which I fully recommend you do) I think A389 still have copies of the "Suicide King" LP which is a collection of the bands material.

monday music part 1 (cassette)

2011-05-16T13:34:00.000-07:00

Today I was lucky enough to come home to two packages waiting for me. The first of these as pictured above was the new "Live Entry" tape from Devil which was recently released by Vedavu. The label which if you cast your mind back released the fantastic Gehenna/Vegas package.

For my sins I hadn't heard Devil until this tape went for order but after hearing some of the bands music and reading the basis for the group I was quick to order. For those of you not in the know already you can get the quick history of Devil on Mike Apocalypse/Cheese/Gehenna's blog here.

Having given the tape a quick listen over this evening I'm psyched on it and glad I made the order. Not only is the music great but yet again Vedavu have put together a great package. There are only 100 copies of this one so if you get a chance to pick this up do so.

thee music

2011-05-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

I've been down in London again this weekend chilling. While I was back in the Big Smoke I managed to put another roll of film through my Canon AE-1 Program, see some more of another city, hang out with some people and generally have a good time.

When I got back home this evening I had the above LP waiting for me. I'm happy to make "Godstar" my first physical Psychic TV purchase. The sleeve is slightly more knocked about than I really would have liked the but the vinyl itself is flawless considering the age and that at the end of the day is what matters. I'm fairly sure one of the second hand record stores in Norwich I frequent has a version of this with a near perfect sleeve but half destroyed vinyl for sale in the 99p bin so I may chop and change.

I'm looking to pick up a few more Psychic TV releases so this may very well be the start of something epic. If anyone wants to talk to me about Psychic TV and the associated acts please get in touch.

Keep checking back for updates.

burroughs photo

2011-05-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

William Burroughs, "Letters 1945-59"

Yashica T4
Agfacolor Vista 400ISO

The above photo stands in place of any real review of the collection of William Burroughs letters from 1945-59 (aptly called "Letters 1945-59") that I finished reading the other day.

While the book is obviously heavily edited (the majority of the letters being to either Ginsberg or Kerouac) it's still an enjoyable read and gives an interesting insight beyond the intended published works of the Beat Generation writers. For me however the real interest in reading this was being able to match up what was mentioned in the various letters to events and happenings in "On the road", "Junky" and other big titles of the beat genre.

All in all a very good read and well worth the £3 that it cost me in HMV.

london - to the underworld

2011-05-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

And I live by the river
Canon AE-1 Program/Yashica T4
Agfacolor Vista 400ISO

The V&A museum, the underground, the freemasons, "street art", the streets, the bridges and some of the sights.

Above is a selection of my more "serious" photos from my previously mentioned Public/Bank holiday weekend jaunt in London. These cover broadly what I got up to while I was in the sprawling city, for me London has always been a great city to walk around and shoot.

I've left out five or so photos which will be going into my photo 'zine which I've now pushed back to nearer the end of the year to ensure I have a wider range of photos to include. I also shot a lot more photos round Brick Lane/Whitechapel which I've left out to avoid repeating myself with continuous graffiti/street art photos. I also shot some photos which aren't for the internet just yet.

If you're a Tumblr user you can also check out my photos here.

london the records

2011-05-05T14:10:00.000-07:00

I've already posted my Blackberry snapshots of London. Now, a few days after getting back from the Big Smoke I've finally had the time to sit down and put the needle to the wax that I bought while I was away.

When I'm in London I usually head to Phonica but on this trip as I was checking out the Buff Monster exhibition at Stolen Space I figured I'd make a change and go to Rough Trade (East). I've been to Rough Trades Old Truman Brewery location a few time and I like the store, good space and layout as well as a good selection of releases. I did have to endure the annoyance of overhearing just about everyone around me use the term "vinyl player" but that's no big thing.

Anyway, onto the vinyl.

First up The Nation Of Ulysses' "Plays Pretty For Baby";

Its really always been about Dischord records for me. While listening to this record I was trying to work out how best to describe (T)NOU. I couldn't seem to get anything down so here's what Dischord had to say;

"The Nation of Ulysses was a violent separatist political party and terrorist group operating out of Washington, D.C. in the early 1990's. Though they've disappeared into obscurity, they've spawned countless milquetoast imitators who've tried to appropriate their looks, language, sound and presentation for the sake of career advancement. These cheap imitators can't comprehend that the Nation of Ulysses derived their awesome power from their unswerving commitment to secession and havoc wreaking, and not to the banal and unimportant pursuit of fame and wealth. The N.O.U. is probably the most important development to beset music since electrification, as they were the first to articulate intent through written manifestos and stage hystrionics, refuting rock'n'roll's traditional policy of posturing rebelliously while aping parent culture values."

The second record I picked up was Chelsea Wolfe's "The Grime and the Glow";

I downloaded this record a while back (download it here) and have been listening to it most days since then so I'm happy to have picked this up on vinyl. This is another record I really couldn't work out how to describe so I'm following Rough Trades lead;

"Wolfe's sound can begin sweetly in the pop realm and then veer wildly into industrial clatter or zola jesus-style crooning. like mushy or even esben and the witch, the music here seems to emit from a darkly glowing netherworld between sleep and nightmare, where bedroom musicians either cloak their tunes in festering noise washes or whittle down the harshness to reveal a shimmering pop nugget. there's a lot of space between the clatterings and whisperings: 'the grime and the glow' is one of the creepiest lps we've heard in a while."

Please look past my inability to describe either of these records and just buy them. Both groups do what they do perfectly.

reviews

2011-05-04T10:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my birthday. I took the day off work because working on your birthday is wack and no one should have to do it. I spent the day relaxing at home, reading in the sun, having some nice food and checking out the two below movies.

First up "A Prophet";

I saw "A Prophet" at Hyde Park Picture House and really enjoyed it. The film fits in what I guess is now called the "prison" genre, the blurb "Scarface meets the Godfather..." gives you a good idea of what this one is like.

While "A Prophet" is a gangster/organised crime film it's defiantly a lot rawer than the latter two movies and to me has the same vibe that more contemporary European gangster movies have (for an example of what I mean check out "Gomorrah"). I don't like talking about the plot of a film in the review so I'll finish by saying this really is a must view and an essential piece of Arab/French cinema. As Audiard states "I aimed to create icons, images for people who don't have images in movies, like the Arabs in France...".

In the evening after watching "A Prophet" I checked out Lebanon;

I really wanted to see "Lebanon" at the cinema but I didn't have the time to go to Cinema Cities showing (if memory serves they only did a few most of which were at ridiculous times).

I'm a big fan of Israeli cinema, I never really knew where to start with it till I went to Israel and ended up talking at length with a very nice lady on the plane about one of my favourite films "Waltz with Bashir" (also a must see) which is also a former soldiers accounts of his time in Lebanon. Ignore the crap artwork and the reviews from shoddy newspapers (why did the Daily Mail review this?) and see this film. As per a lot of Israeli "war" films "Lebanon" is very much meant to be viewed as if it's a memory. As the director states "I dedicate this award to the thousands of people all over the world, who, like me, come back from war safe and sound. Apparently they are fine, they work, get married, have children. But inside the memory will remain stabbed in their soul".

I'm terrible at reviewing anything. Ignore what I've written and just check out the above.

london the snapshots

2011-05-03T02:41:00.000-07:00

So I was in London over the bank holiday weekend. No, not to watch the wedding, to hang out, chill with some friends and check out a few exhibitions I wanted to see. I shot some photos while I was in the big smoke which will be up here at some point. In the meantime check out the quick snapshots I took on my Blackberry while I was wandering around.

If you get the chance check out the Paul Graham exhibition at Whitechapel gallery, Buff Monster exhib at Stolen Space, New photography forms at the Tate Modern and all the photography and Islamic art exhibitions at the V&A.

On a final note if anyone can point me in the direction of/hook me up with some of the Keith Haring bootleg stickers pictured above I'd appreciate it.

bank holiday boating

2011-04-28T13:10:00.000-07:00

Broads
Various Cameras
Agfacolor Vista 200ISO

As we collectively ready ourselves for another glorious bank holiday weekend I finally have the photos back from the Easter Weekend.

Those of you from the countryside may have recognised the dial panel of a Broads cruiser in my Blackberry pictures post. Shot almost exclusively from a moving boat the above pictures are from my Canon AE-1 Program and Leica Mini II that I shot while driving the boat as well as chilling out in the Broads. Take them in and dig the countryside vibe.

long weekend

2011-04-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

Today has been the inevitable come down that can only the return to work after a five day weekend can bring.

I'm currently waiting for a few rolls of film back from the lab. These have some more in depth pictures from across the weekend, in the meantime here are a collection of photos from my Blackberry taken across the five glorious days off work. No real context or explanation, just a glimpse into the madness.

irons/pulling teeth

2011-04-24T02:18:00.000-07:00

This post has been a few days in the making, not because I've been struggling to write it, I've just been out and about enjoying the sun and haven't had time.

When I got home from hospital on Thursday feeling a bit grim I had the "new" Irons/Pulling teeth split "Grey Saviour" waiting for me, sticking out from under the mat by the front door, ready and waiting to be stepped on by any unthinking idiot like myself.

There's been a bit of a wait on this one and then some controversy surrounding Dwid's contribution to this record being removed. Either way a few weeks before the release of "Grey Saviour" I was lucky enough to hear some of the removed material and suitably impressed to want to pick up the full release.

When I ordered the vinyl from Deathwish I got the standard digital download so have had the opportunity to listen to this release before receiving it in its physical form. To date I've only listened to the Irons side which I've throughly enjoyed. If I'm honest this probably won't be a record I listen to everyday but when I want something to chill to this will deffinatly be the first record I pull out. For me this fits the "genre", whatever you want to call it here perfectly.

I'm yet to listen to the Pulling Teeth side of this release but I've been told it's great.

As some of you may know this has been released as a picture disc. As many fans of the vinyl format will tell you picture discs typically sound like crap, sure they look good but the sound is usually the worst thing ever. After I ordered this and found out it was a picture disc I was somewhat annoyed as I wanted to play this and not just look at it. Like I've said I've given the Irons side a few plays now and the sound quality is good. It's not the best ever but it's easily leaps and bounds ahead of the other picture disks I own.

more record store day

2011-04-20T14:16:00.000-07:00

I swung by Soundclash today on my lunch break to have a look around and check out some records.

As I mentioned below last weekend was Record Store Day and I picked up some cool releases that I've playing on repeat for the last few days. When I headed into the shop today I hadn't got any particular purchases on my mind, I flicked through a few racks and looked at some CD's and then the box of remaining RSD releases on the counter.

As Soundclash has been able to get a few minor re-stocks of some of the RSD titles I thought I'd ask about the only release that I really wanted but wasn't able to pick up on the day, the release, as I'm sure you can see below is the re-issue of the classic Bad Brains 7" "Pay to Cum". When I got into Soundclash last Saturday I skipped past this one and didn't pick it up (though I did manage to get the other records off my "wants list"). Later on when I went into the shop again with Tom he was able to purchase a copy, although I would never begrudge a brother for making a sweet score I was annoyed I had presumably skipped past a record I wanted when I had been in earlier.

Anyway, as luck would have it I bought the last copy Soundclash had in stock and now here it is;

Like I already mentioned this is the re-issue for RSD. The re-issue is limited to 500 pieces on gold vinyl.

I was lucky enough to first pick up a bootleg of this record in 2008 from Generation records when I was last in New York. When I found out the release was being re-issued I wanted to pick it up so I could have a official copy and not always be rocking a fake. After getting home today the first thing I'd did was put the two records side by side to compare my bootleg to the official re-issue. I was going to write a post comparing the two but having put them next to each other there really isn't any considerable difference (vinyl colour and sleeve quality being the only real two).

You should go to Soudclash to check things out because it's a cool shop. If this isn't a good enough reason for you then go to check out the remaining RSD releases that are in stock.

record store day 2011

2011-04-17T04:34:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to write my Record Store Day post since I got back from having my post-RSD breakfast at the Unthank Kitchen with Tom yesterday. For whatever reason I can't get the words out so I've given up and am doing things the lazy way. Yesterday I got up, stood in line, got myself into Soundclash and bought the below records (plus the Vivian Girls 7" which isn't pictured).

Below you've got Flying Lotus' "Cosmogramma Alt Takes" limited to 750 copies, Revelation Records re-issue of Elliott's seminal debut album "U.S. Songs", Fucked Up's 2011 RSD fake compilation release "Davids Town" apparently limited to only 500 copies and the release I really wanted to get my hands on the New Order/Joy Division "Ceremony/In a lonely place" limited to only 800 copies.

Here's what each of the releases look like;

ipswich house show

2011-04-13T11:57:00.000-07:00

Jackals, Self Loathing and general good times in Ipswich
Canon AE-1 Program
Agfacolor Vista 400ISO (upon reflection with the low ceiling and using my flashgun I could have used 200ISO).

I've spent a good thirty minutes trying to write something poetic about the grittiness of hardcore and how it belongs in peoples houses and in shitty venues we all too often frequent but I can't think of anything. I'm sure anyone bothering to read this can think of something.

What I will share with you is that I have a few basic rules that I try to live by. One of those rules is to never go to Ipswich (and only head to Suffolk if I really have to). Last Friday I broke this rule and headed to the desolate wasteland known only as Ipswich with Steph and Apryl to watch Jackals and Self Loathing rock shit in a flat.

paint pots - canon ae-1 program

2011-04-11T11:30:00.001-07:00

Art students
Canon AE-1 Program
Agfacolor Vista 200ISO

Shot the other week while hanging out with JJC et al at NUCA.

in the country - canon ae-1 program

2011-04-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

In the country
Canon AE-1 Program
Agfacolor Vista 200ISO

I shot the above two photos while out and about clocking up some miles on my bike riding around the countryside.

urban dymo - canon ae-1 program

2011-04-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

Urban dymo (first era and second era)
Canon AE-1 Program
Agfacolor Vista 200ISO

Two stickers from the Urban dymo experiment in Norwich. The first is from the original first round of stickers made and put up around the city (most of which still remain). The second is from the second generation of stickers (the "Beat Generation" series). If you walk around Norwich and keep your eyes open you'll be able to see some stickers about. Keep your eyes open, you'll never know what you'll see.

literature

2011-04-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got some vinyl through the post, today when I got home it's literature I had waiting for me.

The first of the packages I had waiting for me is Max G Mortons new 'zine package "Mercury Nods" which came out recently on Heartworm. I haven't kept that up to date with the Heartworm releases and the hype that they bring can make keeping up fairly hard. Mortons work however does fully justify the hype and he's easily the best writer to release something through Heartworm.

As you can see below my package is numbered 9/50. This is what Heartworm had to say about "Mercury Nods";

"Mercury Nods is a sealed set of 4 mini-zines. Each zine written by Max G Morton features anecdotes dug up on astral vacations taken during the editing process of WLVS. Much like Morton’s Scarecrow, these trips are out of body. In each report, Morton finds himself a little closer to answers. Premature death in a bodega can lead to the great arcade above; Hollywood DMT travels are best via lucite tubing; the similarities between KO’s and gemstones are many; moments after crossing over to a fascist parallel universe, the remnants of these memories forever stain youth’s pillow."

The second book I had waiting for was Give Ups "Lonely Days and Wasted Nights". You might not recognise the name Give Up, if you don't go into your record collection and dig out a Rot In Hell record, chances are it boasts some of GU's work. Check out his blog for some of his portfolio.

Here's what GU had to say in his webstore;

"188 B&W perfect bound pages of photos documenting select art, posters, stencils, rollers, streets, and all the shit that came between from 2001 to 2008. the 6x9 soft cover book has all the same content as the 1st edition, but with an alternate cover and extras..."

As the description notes "Lonely days..." features a selection of pictures of GU art in the streets along with pictures and some other things. See a couple of exerts from the book below;

"Mercury Nods" is as you may expect already sold out. "Lonely nights..." however is still in print and be bought here.

ancient vvisdom/charles manson

2011-04-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

When I returned home from work today I had a large record mailer waiting for me. I'm not really waiting on much vinyl at the moment so I was slightly curious as to what was in the double wide mailer. I opened up the package and between two empty gatefold record sleeves belonging to some band called Green & Wood (if anyone wants these get in touch, I honestly have no use for them) was the copy of the Ancient VVisdom/Charles Manson "Inner earth inferno" split 12" I ordered a few weeks back.

I'll be honest I first heard Manson's music when I bought a copy of the "Inner Sanctum" 7" Dwid released on Holy Terror. Again being honest after giving that 7" it's first listen I really wasn't into it. Time has passed however and I've heard more of Charlies work and have really started to get into it. Unlike Charlie however I've been a fan of Ancient VVisdom since I first heard of them. The "Inner earth inferno" split was one I knew existed but I really never bothered to pick up. However after playing the new(ish) Rot In Hell/Horders split 7" a few hundred times I thought it was probably about time to finally order this split.

Here's what the cover looks like. I took the dust jacket off for this picture but the sticker on it reads "Ancient VVisdom's debut release is a cross of dark folk with heavy influences from Townes Van Zandt and Danzig. Accompanied by revealing and authentic Charles Manson songs that are previously unheard".

I managed to pick up the red vinyl which is limited to only 151 copies. This LP is blank on one side which I tried to take a picture of but couldn't really get a good one of.

I've just finished listening to the split now and I like it. I prefer the Ancient VVisdom tracks but both artists offer up good songs and this really is worth buying. The LP is still in press so if you want a copy go here.

stickers - canon ae-1 program

2011-04-04T12:30:00.000-07:00

Various stickers
Canon AE-1 Program
Agfacolor Vista 200ISO

Following from the below pictures I took wandering around Norwich the above are various stickers I spotted in the city centre.

If you know the reference for the sticker in the first picture well done. If you know the reference point for the sticker in the second picture I'll buy you a drink.

norwich - canon ae-1 program

2011-04-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

Various Norwich
Canon AE-1 Program
Agfacolor Vista 200ISO

Just a few different shots of the city I call home.

I have a love hate relationship with Norwich but I will always have a love for it as an urban environment. Just remember to stop and look around from time to time.

tom - canon ae-1 program

2011-04-04T12:18:00.000-07:00

Tom Uden
Canon AE-1 Program
Agfacolor Vista 200ISO

Shot at Finnies the other week.

new jams

2011-04-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

Like most consumers I have my preferences. I ordered the two below releases from a website I don't usually use and am not that fond of. Opinions aside I made my order, the site being the only one to carry both of these releases. A day or so after ordering (last Friday) I received an e-mail saying my order had shipped. Today, a week after receiving my shipped e-mail the order finally showed up. Credit where credit is due though they did package everything up well.

First up Mater Suspiria Vision's "Excorcism (sic) of the hippies" 7". The reverse of this sleeve says to file the 7" under witch house, ghost drone and haunted disco trance. For people who know what any of that means Mater Suspiria Vision may mean something. For those of you who have no idea don't worry. If you want to find out more just head over to the Mishka Blog or google any of the abovee and download some things and catch yourself up. If you like MSV and the grave wave/witch house genre then you'll be into this record.

Now as a slight contrast to the above the second item in my order was Austin Peralta's new(ish) CD "Endless Planets" that came out a month or so ago on Brainfeeder. Before I go any further if the name sounds familiar you may be thinking of Austin's father, groundbreaking skateboarder and film maker Stacy Peralta (Bones Bridge etc etc). Back to the music though. This is a jazz record, some of you might turn right off it because of that but you really should check this one out. I don't listen to a lot of jazz, I dig some of the greats, Miles Davis and John Coltrane for example but that's about it. Even though jazz isn't my go to genre I still wanted to check this one out.

Anyway, I fully back this record and I'm glad I picked it up. In fact if you feel like expanding your musical horizons I recommend that you go out and buy this CD.

Now just one final note on this release. I haven't bought a CD in a while, one of the reasons for this is that I don't like the presentation of them or the way in general that they look. Endless planets has been put together well though. The name of the release fits in with the artwork which in turns carries across the case and the CD face as you can see below.

Both releases are available to buy now.

the blackest curse

2011-03-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

We all know this one, it's "The Blackest Curse" by Integrity. This one came out quite a while ago but I only just got the vinyl. There's two real reasons for this, firstly I slept on the pre-orders so never got around to buying the record when it was first released and my motivation to buy a release sometimes even though I want it can be minimal. Secondly my friend gave me the CD not long after this record was released so buying the vinyl version went to the bottom of my "to do/buy" list.

As this ones been out for a while there's really no need for me to attempt a one of my weak reviews. "The Blackest Curse" is a good record, not my favourite Integrity release ever but a good record none the less (the top three Integrity records in order are Humanity is the devil, Those who fear tomorrow and Seasons in the size of days).

Anyway here's what the LP looks like.

You can kind of see in the above photo but the both the front and back of the sleeve has some cool printing. I'm not sure what the effects called (I want to call it embossed but I know this is wrong) but it looks good. The Integrity logo on the front and the track listing on the reverse are printed in a manner that they are only clearly visible when you get the sleeve in the right light. If you don't have "The Blackest Curse" on vinyl go into your record collection and dig out the Clint/Organised Crime re-issue of Integrity's "Those who fear tomorrow" which has employed the same technique.

I've mentioned the Process Church/Holy Terror labels before and I only mention them again to keep the theme going. If a few more records come out with a similar design then I'll make a separate blog post comparing them all.

testing testing (canon ae-1 program photos pt.5)

2011-03-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Getting up
Canon AE-1 Program
Agfacolor Vista 200ISO

Out of the Norwich writers who have recently been getting up all over the city this guy (or girl) is easily my favourite. I'm a big fan of this piece.

testing testing (canon ae-1 program photos pt.4)

2011-03-23T14:36:00.001-07:00

Steph

Canon AE-1 Program

Agfacolour Vista 200ISO

testing testing (canon ae-1 program photos pt.3)

2011-03-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

Names (one other name tag has now been added)

Canon AE-1 Program

Agfacolour Vista 200ISO

testing testing (canon ae-1 program photos pt.2)

2011-03-23T14:27:00.000-07:00

Room with a view

Canon AE-1 Program

Agfacolour Vista 200ISO

testing testing (canon ae-1 program photos)

2011-03-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry Vegetarians/Vegans
Canon AE-1 Program
Agfacolour Vista 200ISO

I love my AE-1 Program.

A few people have come to me in the past and asked me to recommend them a camera. Nine times out of ten the AE-1 Program is right at the top of my list. Honestly if you can't take a good picture using this set up then you should find a new hobby.

Unfortunately though my AE-1 Prog has seen much better days. It's broken a few times recently and I've been meaning to fix it. I finally got around to sorting it and what I'm about to post is my test film that I shot to ensure everything was working again.

smoke weed everyday

2011-03-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

We've all seen H&M and Topman selling Ramones, Misfits and Clash t-shirts. Primark selling Dr Dre t-shirts though? That defiantly is a new one.

The other day while cutting through Primark I had a neck breaking double take when I saw the artwork to "The Chronic" on a t-shirt. I still really not sure what to say about this one, all of the way home I really couldn't work out what to stay about PRIMARK SELLING A DR DRE t-shirt. I really can't work out why Primark made this t-shirt, it even has "Death Row Records" labels meaning it's been officially licensed (unless this is a massive no holds bar copyright infringing bootleg). Anyway, I picked up a L for the small price of £8 and the sizing was way off so I changed it for an XL today (I usually wear a M when it comes to Primark so this is a big step up for me).

If you don't know what any of this means go here.

things my friends made (saturday mail part 2)

2011-03-20T03:49:00.000-07:00

Following on from the below 'zine this is the second piece of mail I had waiting for me.

This is the new single "Godless Girl" from my friend Alex's band The Crookes. I've been following the band since Alex first gave me the heads up and have been lucky enough to watch them release singles through Rough Trade, fly to Texas to play SXSW and tour UK and Europe time after time. Alex was back in Norwich this weekend in between tours and being at Maida Vale so we partied and had a catch up.

Anyway this is the third single from the band and they really are moving from strength to strength. Musically I don't know what to call The Crookes. You can check the band out of Youtube and Spotify so do that and make up your own mind. The band have a new album coming sometime soon and that sound be a good one. Buy the single now from record store somewhere (Rough Trade, Banquet etc etc)

things my friends made (saturday mail part 1)

2011-03-20T03:15:00.000-07:00

Friday night and Saturday ended up being an epic adventure, from drinking to crabbing. It was an odd one but a good none the less. When I finally got in 24 hours or so after leaving the house in the first place I had some mail waiting for me that I've decided to split up into two different blog posts.

The first thing that I had waiting for me was a copy of my friend Harrys 'zine "I am not a man I never will be". I've known Harry for a few years and he's been taking pictures in one way or another for as long as I've known him so I'm psyched to have picked up his first 'zine.

I fully rate this one. Not because my friend made it and put it out but because it ticks all the boxes. Good photos, good layout and well printed. The 'zine is divided up into three sections, gigs, portraits and traces and contains 23 photos.

Numbered out of 50 "I am not a man I never will be." is available now. If you want to pick up a copy get in touch with Harry via Tumblr.

Also if you're in the mood to look at pictures check out my photo blog here.

monday

2011-03-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day, a busy, but good day. It was made better by the fact that I managed to pick up the above Burroughs book for £3 in HMV. Burroughs Junk/Junkie is one of my favourite Beat Generation books so I'm looking forward to reading this. There are some Burroughs Urban Dymos still up in Norwich so look out for those.

execution of unlawful arrest warrants will be met with armed resistance

2011-03-12T10:54:00.000-08:00

As well as the records I mentioned in the below post I got a copy of William Coopers "Behold a pale horse" through the post today. When I was younger I had a bootlegged copy of this infamous book and it really led me to read a lot of other books on the subjects and issues mentioned in this one. Now, years after downloading and printing a copy I finally have a proper copy with this wacky artwork. For those not in the know this is the book that lead to Cooper being killed by the US government.

feast of tentacles

2011-03-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

I'm not used to putting in pre-orders and getting the stuff through so quickly. Having waited for the Rot In Hell/Integrity split for over a year it's odd to order something and get it a few weeks later. Todays package came courtesy of Feast Of Tentacles who released the following three great pre-orders at the same time.

First up what I'm calling the Layzell split. Side one is Sick-Fuckin-O and the second is Torn Apart.

I'm into both bands and both sides of this split. I've been a fan of Torn Apart a while now though they've defiantly come leaps and bounds with Harry on vocals. I haven't heard that much of Sick-Fuckin-O, Sam gave me some SFO/Obey stickers when I was still living in Leeds and I've got a feeling I may have a SFO demo with "Richy Flash's Mum is a benafit fraud" written across it somewhere. Anway what I've got here is the pre-order coloured vinyl /50.

The second pre-order is the new Closure 7". The first one came out on TDON and was a solid release. I've played this a couple of times now and I'm into it. Closure are easily one of the top five bands in UK hardcore right now so it's cool to have another offering from the band. This is the pre-order version with the limited patch /100.

And here it is, the final 7" out of the three pre-orders and the one I was anticipating the most. This is the new Rot In Hell split with Horders. I haven't listened to this one yet but I'm psyched for it, according to the RIH blog this is more along the "Studies In Emerald" line of things. The blog made a comparison to Anceint VVisdom so I'm expecting big things. This pre-order version of the record comes with a Rot In Hell "planchette" which is in reality a printed guitar pick, either way it looks cool and fits in with the concept of the sleeve.

Again, just like "As pearls..." the labels on this one feature the Process/Holy Terror Church logo which again looks great on the record.

*Edit - I've given the RIH/Horders split a listen. I'm into it, I'm a fan of the acoustic jams from "Studies In Emerald" so this goes down a treat. It's not all about RIH though, Horders bring a good side to the table also.

Congratulations to the bands and Feast of Tentacles for the three amazing seven inches.