Apologies for not putting anything up here so far today - been super busy and I was out with colleagues last night so I guess I've been a little sluggish today also!

It's also almost 4000 degrees in the office today so that's slowed me down too - must have drunk 60 pints of water today!

I will try and get something more musical up in the next day or two when I have some more time - the reviews side of things seems to have gotten a little sidetracked the past couple of weeks!

I did spend get an email at lunchtime tho with this from youtube, figured I would share... (NSFW - well if your boss isn't too keen on gratuitous bikinis and side boob! lol)

It's nice to see that

Have a good one and accept my boob based apology and I'll get you something more reviewy up ASAP

Cheers

TMM

This CD rocks! I just may have to get a review up some time soon, it sounds like a cross between Queens Of The Stone Age and Velvet Revolver only a bit heavier - loving it!

Check it out if you have a second!

TMM

So it feels like a Tuesday - and that can't be a bad thing! And the suns still more or less out! Overall, it's a good wednesday! Oh and by the way this entry has nothing to do with the title, except we are listening to the new 'Minus' record and that's what's on the cover - literally!

I've got lots of work on the go today and I've got lots of musical stuff to talk about over the course of the day as I had a chance to play my guitar, nose through my music collection and look at all the new stuff I've been getting in - It's suprising how being busy can slow down your music 'ness'? lol

Anyhow I must shove my nose back up against the grindstone but I'm gonna try and get a review done today and then I will put the (finally finished) Bad Religion review up when I get a chance to use my personal computer again at home...

Right, I'm off

have a good one,

TMM

So I woke up this morning and felt like it was another day off - it was not! Then I had to take my car in for a new cambelt which is gonna cost me 200 squids and that made me a whole ten minutes late for work - not that anyone minds but I always feel guilty when I'm late! lol

Bank holiday was wicked though, wedding revolved around a hog roast and I got HORRIBLY drunk, but at least I wasn't the only one!

I also went fishing over the weekend and caught a delicious bass - by which I mean - I caught a 2lb carp, I didn't eat it and if I had, it wouldn't have been delicious! But I still feel like it was a success!

WHo else had a succesful weekend then?

TMM

Hey all,

any big plans for the weekend out there?

I'm off to a wedding tomorrow so there should be plenty of drinking involved in my weekend!

as for today I got stuck in traffic giving someone a lift to the train station and had a grotty lunch from M&S so that's not ideal! But there's only a few more hours before I can go home and watch Knocked Up, well go home, then go out to the cinema, but still! lol

Who's already seen it? I reckon it looks good but we'll see how it goes. I'll try and get a review up over the bank holiday as well, while it's fresh in my mind!

And..........done!

Cheers

TMM

And I have finished almost all of my work for the week and am ready to update all my reports as well!

That's not to say I won't have any work to do tomorrow as I will have to ACTUALLY update my reports and ACTUALLY finish all my work - but it's nice to feel like you're on top of things.

I've been hearing over and over about a double shooting in Hertfordshire on the radio today - I live in Hertfordshire and I'm sad to hear we're becoming American!

Anyhow, back to work - you don't stay on top of things by blogging!

Cheers

TMM

A large portion of my job involves surfing the internet and updating many sites, so I spend some serious hours every day intensively using the internet - It's great!

TMM

In much the same vain as last week's post I have been thinking about the end of the week again.

How early would you say the weekend starts in your work place? I've worked places before where by Wednesday afternoon people have their feet up on desks and such but aroudn these parts, as I said before, it's a high-pressure week, culminating in a busy Thursday/Friday.

So where you're at, when does the weekend begin? Or at least when do people's attitudes begin to show the weekend?

Right, back to the salt mines, I've got LOADS to do today so I'll post when I can!

Have a good one

TMM

P.S I watched 'Seed Of Chucky' last night, my god do I love the Chucky films!

It really is magic what making a couple of posts a day does to your page views!

Thanks so much to all you guys who genuinely are reading this page - I now vouch to keep it up to date and regularly posted on so you all get your moneys worth - even if just so happens that this blog is completely free - it will now be WORTH free!

Cheers

TMM

so people out there do still read and enjoy the odd bit of bloggage a la Rob!

Apologies to con you into commenting but everybody's ego deserves a little stroke every so often!

Feel free to comment you as little or as often as you please - honestly I'm not as fussy as it's seems!

Motorhead are awesome, I watch them every xmas in Cambridge so I'll definitely look into getting something up here!

Have a wicked afternoon!

tara

TMM

Good afternoon!

I've got to say guys, I'm getting a little upset about the diminishing number of comments you're all leaving (or not leaving as the case may be!) I hate to whinge but I like to know you're all having a jolly good read! Lol

Right, now I'm done moaning I can bring you my blog! Further apologies are due regarding the still missing Bad Religion review but now I'm earning money and have a job I have to write all my reviews in my spare time! Oh the stress!

Anyhow, I am working on it as well as a few other things and they will all be up soon. I hope you're all still enjoying reading my blog even with less frequent reviews!

As always let me know of anything you want me to review and I'll try and get on top of my backlog!

Have a good one

The Music Man

My word I'm busy nowadays!

Just a quick update to let you all know that I'm still alive!

Imogen Heap - Hide & Seek is on the radio - what a brilliant tune, sadly it's radio one so everyone will go out and buy it now they've had a chance to hear a great little secret of a tune! (I'm such a music snob! )

Don't worry, I'm still on the case with the Bad Religion review and I also have a copy of the newest 'Hellcat Records - Give 'Em The Boot' compilation to write about next as well.

So how's everyone doing this week and do you think it's now too late to hope we'll get a bit of a summer? Lol

TMM

Afternoon people,

A post not rally in tribute of Tony Wilson but it's fitting in a way...

Hope y'all had a great weekend, shite weather eh?

I'm working on my other reviews as I said before the weekend so they'll be up as soon as I get a chance to finish them.

If you guys can think of anything you'd like to see reviewed do let me know as I'm going to run out of stuff to write about eventually!

Have a great afternoon

TMM

Finally one is finished! As promised I'll get the Bad Religion review up ASAP!

And now on to the review:

There's nothing quite like an undeserved rock swagger to spoil a nice evening, that is unless you have the music to back it up! And Van Tramp really do have the music to back it up.

London's Borderline was full and a sweaty mess, the perfect venue for a bit of rawk!

They played a little of everything, from their album, from the upcoming single 'Hope and Pray', to an acoustic number at the beginning of the encore.

I was very impressed with the performance and the band was mixed to perfection, allowing front-man Tim the chance he deserves to shine on vox! A strong performance sounding almost pitch perfect to the record - I saw many people mouthing along and telling their significant other how much they 'LOVE THIS ONE!' I'd also like to give props to the guy on the organ because it's just something I can't resist - a little bit of rock organ can only improve a song in my eyes (and a little MORE never hurts) Oh yes, that and cowbell!

The band were very professional, very tight musically and sporting an (apparently) effortlessly cool old-school rock 'get-up' they really put together a great show.

Impressive to say the least - I urge anyone who gets the chance to check them out live - especially as front-man Tim promised to buy everyone a pint (a promise he insists he's good for).

Myspace

Hey guys I've fallen a little behind on my reviews and such but they are still coming - Don't you worry yourselves about that!

Anyhow, this got me to thinking, who really IS thankful for Fridays? Yes it's the end of the week, but in my job that means everything's due! So it's the last day of the working week but it's also the peak (of my week at least). Basically I thought this was interesting so let me know what you think or if I'm mistaken about it being interesting!

The Van Tramp gig was great, more details to follow and I've been listening to the Bad Religion CD again - which is just stunning so expect those up later today or over the weekend at the latest.

I also found some information on 'Molly Beanland' a new signing to Island records who's working on her album at the moment, I'll probably do a myspace review of her when I get the chance or if I can get hold of a promo or something I'll write about that. In the meantime have a peek at her myspace HERE and see what you think - I reckon that's gonna turn into a big one!

Phew so I had a lot more to talk about than I anticipated!

How's everyone doing out there in blog land? I've been mega-super-ultra busy this week but the weather seems to have been picking up a bit so it's a pleasure to be busy!

Let me know if you have any thoughts about anything I've mention

Just realised I promised a review of a different Bad Religion album; 'All Ages' is a compilation and I was going to be reviewing the newest album, 'New Maps of Hell' which came out this year.

Therefore I will ACTUALLY be doing a review of this album and not 'All Ages', although I am happy to do a review of that album at a later date if anyone is so inclined!

Cheers

TMM

I have been working on this one for far too long now so, as promised, here it finally is!

'Stir Crazy' is the brand new offering from Riyadh born Karim Fanous, a rising singer on the rock/pop scene with an impressive schooling in
popular music.

A fan of such greats as AC/DC and even Joni Mitchell, Karim's music takes an interesting perspective and original style. His background is largely responsible for the sophisticated and pondering lyrics, and his extensive classical music training indicates the talent this new singer holds.
(Press speak for what I'm supposed to think of it!)

Now to what I actually do think of it:

The sound varies between a sort of rocky-soul sound and simple pop, his lyrics, however, are interesting, The title track, 'Stir Crazy', appears to be about his recent life experiences trying to make it in the music business and how he feels about the ups and downs with an effective dreamy melody.

The dude has a fairly diverse background and his biography tells me he was raised in London by a Palestinian father and a Greek/Syrian/Turkish mother (perhaps it's actually her that's diverse?), he uses this upbringing effectively with aspects of his sound branching out to many genres, and people from all walks of life who can enjoy a quirky, ironic and often amusing view on life.

I would agree that this is a mixture of indie, pop and soft rock and on the whole I enjoyed the album, the stand out tracks include 'Perfume', the previously mentionned 'Stir Crazy' and 'Ship is Sinking'. Most of which I'm sure you can find via his myspace page. I would recommend him to fans of Eagle Eye Cherry or Damien Rice and perhaps at a push someone like David Gray or a younger Colin Hay, his guitar work reminds me of aspects of Prince although with a more bluesy sound which creates some sound (teehee) tunes.

You can check out his stuff for yourself at his myspace HERE or visit his website HERE

Let me know what y'all think and look forward to 'Bad religion - All Ages' and the 'Van Tramp' gig reviews up sometime tomorrow!

Cheers

TMM

Morning guys, I'm still working on that Karim Fanous review but I saw a comment from Kevanos that reminded me I promised a Bad Religion review a couple of weeks ago now! My memory... Anyhow, I will get the Karim review up for later today and then this evening I will have a listen to the Bad Religion cd again and get something up here ASAP, as a way of giving something back to my loyal readers... perhaps I'm not that popular yet but at least someone likes what I'm doing which is encouraging!

Anyone who's wondering or who has forgotten I promised a review of 'All Ages' by Bad religion which is a recent compilation of older material from their early career.

Also for anyone who's interested I am going to a gig by 'Van Tramp', a band I reviewed at the start of this whole blogging thing, tonight in London, so I'll write a review of that as well and include it as soon as possible, anyone who's forgotten about them look back on the blog and remind yourselves, I'm looking forward to it!

Have a great wednesday guys!

Cheers

TMM

I have been listening to a record by a guy called Karim Fanous today and will hopefully have a review of that up later tonight or tomorrow morning!

How's everyone's week going so far?

It's wierdly sticky whilst chilly and rainy here!

TMM

If you remember earlier I said I would be reviewing this album and that the guy has/had an interesting backstory:

Simon le Fort is a singer songwriter and pianist who, according to his site's biography came close to never making it into the recording studio. Simon sent tape recordings of his music to producer Matt Butler whilst still at school. Butler mislaid the tapes and never responded to Simon and Simon stopped writing and followed the more conventional route of University. However, 7 years after he received them, Matt Butler came across the cassettes he had been sent. On first play he knew he had stumbled across something good, immediately signing him up to record with Alto Records. Inspired, Simon was again thrust into his music and completed the album ‘Tuesday Blue’.

Excuse the 'press speak' I couldn't be bothered to type my own version of it all out, but you get the idea...

Now on to what I thought of the album.

The album opens with the track ‘Nothing Changes’ which describes the common situation of being stuck-in-a-rut and hankering to make a change. The album quickly moves onto ‘Why’ a song discussing current political issues and the state of the nation. However, despite these heavy and thought provoking topics, the album maintains an upbeat, cheerful sound, with clever lyrics and wandering melodies.

Other standout tracks include the title track 'Tuesday Blue', and 'If you were me' both of which you can hear on Simon's myspace page HERE

I enjoyed the album much more than I originally expected to and with a careful ear there are echoes of Rufus Wainwright, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Elton John and James Taylor, I wouldn't be comfortable putting the man in the same league as any of these artists to be honest but this is a very strong debut album with a lot to offer, lyrically and melodically.

There is currently no set release date for this album but it is expected to be out in late September or early October. I will keep you posted if I hear specifically when it's gonna land.

Simon's site can be found HERE as always, let me know what you think!

Cheers

TMM

Good morning readers!

How are your monday's going?

Mine's pretty good but I am a little tired from jet lag still!

I am listening to a cd at the moment by a guy called Simon le Fort so I will put together a review for that later this afternoon and I have another couple of things on the listen at the moment so the next few days should be bursting with reviews.

This Simon le Fort guy has a pretty interesting back story I'm reading about at the moment so I'll try and include some of that as well.

Check y'all later

TMM