Doctor Who Gonna Watch the Lot: Series 2 Part 1

Oops. Really should update this thing a little more often. In reality I am about to start listening to the BBC CD of series 4 serial 3 yet here I am just getting around to uploading my oppinions on series 2.

Running total so far:
144 episodes out of 789
040 of which were recons
017 of which were audio recordings

Planet of Giants
Due to an inflight accident of some type the Tardis and its crew are shrunk to around one sixtieth of their proper size and over the course of 3 episodes find themselves involved with a not that interesting story of murder and industrial fraud.

A somewhat atypical start to season 2 this story appears to be universally disliked. On the down side the plotting is sluggish even by early Who standards. There is no interaction between the Tardis crew and the real size cast and Barbara is uncharacteristicly thick. On the plus side the sets and model work is perhaps the best seen in 60's.
5.5 out of 10

The Dalek Invasion of Earth
I guess this Dalek story is just as important as the first in that if it had flopped that would have been the end of our pepper pot inspired friends as far as Who was concerned.

Having decimated the Earth's population by bombarding it with plague carrying meteorites the Daleks embark on an ambitious plan to hollow out the planets core and convert it into a giant Death Star type intergalactic killing machine.

Though it has it's slack moments (such as the Tardis crew spending 15 minutes of the first episode not noticing the 8 foot tall “Do not dump dead bodies in the Thames” poster behind them) this story is a vast improvement over “The Daleks” and rattles on a reasonable rate of knots.
7 out of 10

The Rescue
2 part filler story designed to introduce new companion Vikki (not to confused with Victoria who turns up in series 4) who's turned up as the replacement for Susane who left at the end of the previous story.

The Doctor, Iain and Barbara save Vikki from an an alien meanie by running away. That's it. On the plus side the bad guy's mask is really rather good and must have looked pretty creepy when first seen in old 410 PAL. On the downside Barbara has another uncharactaristic thick momment where she shoots Vikki's pet alien crocodile slug thing dead despite Vikki literaly screaming down her ear not to so.
6 out of 10

The Romans
Only two of the 9 so called historical stories made between 1963 and 1966 are still complete in the BBC archives (“The Time Meddler” doesn't count due to its overt SF elements), this and “The Aztecs” being the two.

The Tardis lands in the times of the Roman empire where the Doctor and his companions take residence in an abandoned villa. The Doctor finds himself mistaken for a famous lyre player and sent off to Rome itself to play for the Emperor.

Apparently criticized at the time for it's overtly humorous approach this story has since went on to become a firm fan favourite and I can see why. Though perhaps not quite as good as “The Aztecs” or the lost stories “The Myth Makers” and “The Massacre” this four parter is almost as good as surviving Hartnel stories get.
8.5 out of 10

The Web Planet
I think I adore this story as it is genuinely odd, darn right weird even and contains probably the only “death by sticking your arse in a hole to stop everybody else drowning in a flood of acid” scene in TV history. Then I actually sit down and watch the darn thing again.

The Tardis lands on the planet Vortis and the crew get caught up in war between the Zarbi (giant ants) and Menoptra (giant butterflies). This goes for 6 intermittently interesting but lovely to look at episodes. All episodes contains almost continuous use of the most hated sound effect in Doctor Who history.
6.5 out of 10

Well That's Hartnell Over and Done With...

Well it's took me 5 and a half months but 20 minutes ago I finished watching the official BBC recon of episode 4 of "The Tenth Planet" meaning I've reached the end of William Hartnells's tenour as the Doctor.

So the running total is:

134 episodes out of 789
030 of which were recons
017 of which were audio recordings

I will get around to doing brief write ups of seasons 2 & 3 soon.

Kenny Loggins At Live Aid

Kenny Loggins At Live Aid
"2 Blind Improvisations for 2 Five String Electric Guitars"

Genre: Shit Noise!

Both tracks were improvised live onto a junk shop 4 track recorder without any way of monitoring the results. The first track was deliberately mastered in reverse to add extra randomness to the resulting nonesense.

Both tracks were mixed with full stereo separation (one guitar on the left, the other on the right) meaning they are best heard on headphones or from between two stereo speakers.

Both went a bit into the red.

Rainbows, Always F*cking Rainbows...

Stockport, England, October 18th November 2012

Connection Cassette #6

CONNECTION CASSETTE #6

First of 3 new releases to be posted here (and eventually on our, still under reconstruction, website) over the next couple of weeks.

Released as a 23 track 90 minute cassette compilation on the Hal Tapes label this cassette includes the track "OK, Maybe Next Year" by the Happiness Patrol. This release had not yet been listed on their website at the time we published this post but if you ask nicely we are sure he will trade/sell you a copy.

Hal asked all contributors not to make their contributions available elsewhere and for once we have respected that so no downloads I'm afraid.

Doctor Who Gonna Watch the Lot (An Update)

I'm sure none of you give a shit or even remember that back in June I declared my plan to watch all Doctor Who episodes in broadcast order and then after the following "explanation" post I failed to mention the idea ever again.

Well as of this post I have reached Episode 3 of Series 3 story "The Dalek's Master Plan" so here's the running total as it stands:

093 episodes out of 789
016 of which were recons
010 of which were audio recordings

The more anal of you wil notice that the above figures doesn't necessarily tally with the actual surviving episode figures. This is because while episodes 1-3 and 6 of the Reign of Terror do survive in the BBC archive they are only available to view as part of an expensive long out of print limited edition VHS boxed set. With the DVD edition of this story not due for release until at least Novemeber this year and the out of print BBC audio CD costing a little more than I would wish to pay I chose to sign up for a free trial with Amazon Audible just to download that title.

Once the "Reign of Terror" DVD is released I will watch it and update the running totals accordingly by removing 6 from the the audio recordings and adding 2 to the recons (obviously the total episode tally will remain the same)

Here are a few brief thoughts on each story from series 1.

An Unearthly Child:
Frankly recieved wisdom is right about this story. Episode 1 is an intriguing drama about two teachers concern and curiosity over a prodigious yet distant pupil by the name of Susan which famously leads them to a junk yard where they encount her unpleasant grandfather and a mysterious police box that is "larger on the outside than the inside".

Then the following 3 episode are mostly boring rubbish about cavemen trying to discover fire.
3 out of 10 (7 out of 10 for episode 1)

The Daleks:
A good 2 part story stretched out into an intermitently interesting 7 parter. With their completely inhuman appearence the Daleks are an undeniably inspired piece of design work and deserve to be regarded as the all time classic science fiction monsters they are.

Their debut story, to modern eyes, however is mostly a bore.
3 out of 10

The Edge of Destruction:
Two part Tardis set filler story that somehow conspires to be more interesting than the two preceding it. Something goes wrong with the Tardis. The Doctor bangs his head, goes a bit weird and paranoid and starts blaming his 3 traveling companions.
5 out of 10

Marco Polo (all 7 episodes watched as recons):
4 stories in and we have the first lost (ie wiped) story. Shame really as it's conciderably better than the 3 that proceed it.

The first of the black and white era's many historical stories. The Tardis lands in the Himalayas and the crew meet up with, well do you need telling? 7 episodes of political back stabbing, stolen keys, sabotaged water suplies and enforced marriage.
7 out of 10

The Keys of Marinus
Many people regard this 6 part Terry Nation story, the only non-Dalek story he wrote for the show, as crude and a bit dull. They are wrong. While it certainly isn't the best series 1 has to offer it's IMO an entertaining romp

The model work in episode 1 is among the best of the black and white era while the story's episodic nature means that if one episode isn't of interest there's something of interest coming along next week.
7 out of 10

The Aztecs
Unquestionably series 1's best story and probably Barbara's finest hour. The Tardis lands in ancient Mexico and through various tricks of fate Barbara finds herself proclaimed a god and the Doctor finds himself married (a fact seemingly forgotten by a certain Steve Moffat)
9 out of 10

The Sensorites
And we crash back down to Earth with this snooze inducer. Much like the "An Unearthly Child" this story begins with a interesting and suspenseful episode one complete with genuinely creepy cliff hanger only in this case to pan out into a dull story of political intregue.
3 out of 10

The Reign of Terror (all episodes listened to as narrated off air audio recordings) Another historical, this time set during the French Revolution. As an audio recording this sounded like something of a run around. Certainly enjoyable and seemingly quite violent, something that may be confirmed once I get to see the forthcoming DVD release.
8 out of 10

You Guessed It, Another Rainbow

Stockport, England, October 14th November 2012

Silly Muslims With No Sense of Proportion Protest About a Stupid Movie

Here are some photographs of the protest against "The Innocence of Islam" that took place in Piccadilly Gardens Manchester city centre on 22nd September 2012. I would have taken a lot more photographs but the battery on my camera was nearly dead (and promptly ran out) while I was wandering around

Stumbled across this thing while catching the tram between Victoria and Piccadilly Railway Stations and figured I'd get off and have a look. The guy speaking had some common sense things to say about tolerance but really wound me up when he starts waffling on about "Islamophobia".
What does annoy me is that these 100 or so people are happy to come out calling for a silly film that everyone should just grow up and ignore to be banned yet have nothing to say about an Eygptian member of Parliment going on breakfast TV and saying all women should suffer genital mutilation as it is demanded by Islam (http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/salafi-mp-advocates-female-circumcision-says-suzanne-mubarak-banned-it-news-1), the jailing of rape victims for adultery in the United Arab Emirates (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/drugged-raped-then-jailed-for-adultery-20110328-1cd7p.html) or the fact that Saudi Arabia executes people for the imaginary crime of witchcraft (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18503550) Can any mulim reading this post please explain why these human rights abuses carried out in the name of your god and prophet are somehow less important than a stupid movie?

And yes these tossers where there trying to hijack the protest.

Enough With the Rainbows Already

Stockport, England, 11th September 2012

The Beauty of British Waterways or "Shit People Dump In Rivers"

First in an occasional series:

A Five Hundred Litre Wheelie Bin

River Tame, Stalybridge, Greater Manchester, England, September 2012

Yet Another Rainbow

Taken from a speeding train somewhere between Bolton Interchange and Moses Gate Station, England, 25th August 2012

10 Favourite Albums: #3 Glen Campbell "Reuinion: The Music of Jimmy Webb" (Capitol 1974)

A great country-tinged soft rock LP and probably the most consistant album that either have yet to lend their talents to.
I wrote a couple of hundred words about this LP and then discovered a much better review on Allmusic.com. Knowing most of you wouldn't bother to follow a link I'm gonna reproduce the whole thing right here instead:
It doesn't really matter if Glen Campbell was Jimmy Webb's best interpreter or if Webb gave Campbell his best songs -- in other words, it doesn't matter who helped the other more -- because it doesn't change the essential fact that the duo fit each other so naturally. Webb's intricate, idiosyncratic compositions sounded warm and accessible in Campbell's hands, while the songs revealed Campbell's musical range and ambition. Other singers had big hits with Webb's songs and Campbell made tremendous music with other people's songs, but there was something special about their collaboration that was evident on their big hits of the '60s: "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston," "Where's the Playground, Suzie?." These songs provided the background for Reunion, the 1974 album where Campbell and Webb reunited for a set of Webb songs. Well, that's not exactly accurate, since Webb never produced or arranged the hits Campbell had in the '60s, and the record isn't entirely written by Webb, since it features Susan Webb's "About the Ocean" and Lowell George's "Roll Um Easy" (here retitled "Roll Me Easy"). So, this marks the first time that Webb arranged a full album of Campbell's, along with providing the majority of the songs, a move that in many ways made this closer to a Jimmy Webb record than a Glen Campbell LP. Certainly, it favored Webb's idiosyncrasies, particularly his elliptical songs with winding melodies and no straightforward songs. Not a song here outside of "Roll Me Easy" announces itself as a potential single (which very well may be why this tremendous song was added to the play list, particularly as the first single, since it might be the easiest way into the record for most listeners). Since most of the songs share a similar easy mid-tempo pace and have similar lushly interwoven arrangements, it's not necessarily the most accessible of Campbell's records; it doesn't set out to alienate, it's just that Webb's songs and arrangements call for close listening, which is precisely why it's an album beloved by Campbell/Webb connoisseurs. So, it's not entirely surprising that the record didn't make much of an impression, certainly nothing close to their big hits of the '60s, but rather that it's become a cult item, with some fans regarding it among Campbell's best work. And, in many ways, they're right. Reunion has a quiet power that grows with repeated listenings since it does indeed showcase Webb at his best as songwriter/arranger and Campbell as an interpretive singer. But this is very much a record for the dedicated, those that are already convinced of the strengths of both men, because it reveals its gifts slowly, and even when they're out in the open, the songs are so delicately, if exquisitely, crafted they're best appreciated by listeners with an eye for detail. Those listeners will surely find Reunion among Campbell's best work, and it is certainly among his most consistent and ambitious records, but it's just a little too reserved to play to an audience outside of the already converted.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine @ http://www.allmusic.com/album/reunion-the-songs-of-jimmy-webb-mw0000014718 (Opens in new tab/window)
As mentioned at the end of the Skatelites post EMI managed to right royaly screw up the CD edition of this album. How? Well firstly they choose to add Glenn and Jimmy two most famous (and admitadly rather good) collaborations to the track listing, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and "Witchita Lineman". Which was a case of "OK fair enough" after all let's be honest the whole reason that major labels (and record labels in general) exist is to make maximum profit by capitalising on their assests (the artists) and if you've got a moderatly obscure release by two of your major 60's signings you're toying with rereleasing why not add their two best known songs?
However the stupid bastards placed the tracks at the beginning of the album meaning it now opens with 2 tracks recorded a good 5 years before the rest of the LP, thereby destroying the flow of the 10 original tracks and giving people (including my mate Martin who is mentioned in both the previous posts) the impressing that this is infact a compilation. Also, one wonders why they didn't go the whole hog and add those other two equally classic collaborations "Galveston" and "Where's the Playground, Suzie?"? I mean why be so half hearted?

Another Rainbow

Stockport, England, 21st August 2012

Brian Eno: I'm Alright Jack

"I think records were just a little bubble through time and those who made a living from them for a while were lucky. There is no reason why anyone should have made so much money from selling records except that everything was right for this period of time. I always knew it would run out sooner or later. It couldn’t last, and now it’s running out. I don’t particularly care that it is and like the way things are going. The record age was just a blip. It was a bit like if you had a source of whale blubber in the 1840s and it could be used as fuel. Before gas came along, if you traded in whale blubber, you were the richest man on Earth. Then gas came along and you’d be stuck with your whale blubber. Sorry mate – history’s moving along. Recorded music equals whale blubber. Eventually, something else will replace it." - Brian Eno, the Guardian, Sunday 17 January 2010

Kind of speaks for itself don't you think?

A Modest Collection of Rainbows

Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport, England, 7th December 2011

Great Portwood Street, Stockport, England, 9th December 2011

Ronaldsway Airport, Isle of Man, 28th July 2012

Stuff That Looks Like Stuff Off Doctor Who

First in an occasional series.

A railing outside Douglas Steam Railway Station, Isle of Man

A Quark, as seen in series 6 Doctor Who story "The Dominators"

"In Tongues" MP3 Compilation

Don't think I've plugged this Happiness Patrol related release here on the blog so I'm doing it right now:

"In Tongues" MP3 album Waxen Wings label

A various artists compilation which includes "The Late Great Unlamented John Betjeman Bullshit Detector" by The Happiness Patrol.

‘In Tongues’ is made up of songs written using ONLY sounds made by the human voice. This means no oscillators, no traditional synths or instruments, etc. Of course any and all effects, manipulations, modifications and resynthesis were both permitted and encouraged in the creation of these works.

Download for free here.

Phantom Tram Tracks In Rochdale

Visited Rochdale today on one of my frequent trips out of town hunting for records and videos of interest. For what it's worth I didn't find anything particularly intersting other than half a dozen lounge classics for £0.25 a pop.

In Rochdale they are currently building a Metrolink tram extension from the railway station to the town centre bus station. While walking past the track construction works on Maclure Road I spotted these old Rochdale Corporation Tramway rails which had simply been buried in the tarmac when the old tram network was abandoned in 1949.

I've seen these things revealed by roadworks before such as when they were resurfacing the road outside of Stockport Town Hall. I excitedly pointed out this evidence of times past to the person sat next to me on the bus, who frankly couldn't have given a shit.

Walking downhill towards town along Drake Street I wonder what kind of effect all this work (there is no road traffic and certainly no parking on this segment of the street while the line is being constructed) is effecting local businesses and hope that the shop and cafe owners have negotiated good compensation from the council and/or local passenger transport executive.

It's walking along this street that I spot this second lot of previously buried tracks and am once again struck by the peculiar fact that these tracks, which quite possibly have been in situ for around 90 years, are now being removed to make way for a new tramway.

And that's the whole irony of much of the Manchester Metrolink project. A significant amount of it's Manchester-Oldham-Rochdale route will run along old railway trackbeds, something it shares with the Manchester-Bury, Manchester-Altrincham (both self explanitory) and Manchester-St Werburgh's Road (which from Trafford Bar onwards follows the old Fallowfield loop and in the next 18 months will reach East Didsbury by branching off onto the long abandoned Cheshire Lines Committee route towards Stockport) proving perhaps that it would have been better to keep these lines open rather than now at great expence relaying and electrifying them 30, 40 or even 50 years later.

Doctor Who: 1 Down 223 To Go + An Explanation

Total so far:
004 episodes out of 784
000 of which were recons
000 of which were audio recordings

Four days in and with the very first Doctor Who serial "An Unearthly Child" watched I now have only 223 more stories to view.

Having meant to do this in the first post I think I should explain the running totals at the top of the page. As with much pre-1970's TV the BBC (not the only culprits for sure), for what in this age of DVDs and VCRs now seem somewhat spurious economical reasons, chose to wipe the original video tape masters of much of there output. In fact the video masters of all 253 black and white episodes (along with a fair percentage of early colour John Pertwee episodes) where wiped between 1967 and 1978 meaning that only episodes held as 16mm or 35mm telecordings by the BBC's export division BBC Enterprises initially survived.

A major problem with this state of affairs was the fact that the BBC did not have any official archiving policy until 1978, in fact the BBC didn't even employ anyone in the position of archivist until the same years. On top of which the BBC tape department failed to liaise with BBC Enterprises (and the other way around) to to see which episodes either division still held meaning that many an episode that could have been archived was junked when either department considered it to no longer be of commercial use.

This meant that come the time the BBC actually chose to catalogue their Doctor Who library it was found that 147 of the 253 black and white episodes were missing. Since then 41 episodes, including 2 serials that were missing in there entirety, have been recovered from overseas broadcasters, private collectors and twice in the cupboards or basements of old BBC buildings. However this obviously means there are still 106 episodes missing, and as only 2 episodes have turned up since 2004 I'm not holding my breath awaiting news of any new finds.

Fortunately for fans all Who stories from Marco Polo onwards (serial 4 of series 1) survive as off air audio recordings of variable quality made by fans of the show. Having been circulated among fans for the best part of 50 years these tapes now provide the base for two distinctly superior methods for fans to enjoy the missing shows.

The first of these are the official BBC audio CDs which feature remastered audio recordings of lost episodes with audio descriptive detail added using narration by a relevant actor/actress from the serial. There are also earlier cassette releases which feature inferior sound and third person narration from actors not linked to the serials in question (Tom Baker on "The Evil of the Daleks" or Colin Baker on "The Macra Terror" for example) and CD releases of stories that though not lost were not available at the time on DVD (the CD of "The Invasion" was released rather sneakily a whole year before the DVD). These "not lost" audio releases always contain exclusive, though IMO far from revelatory, audio interviews with a relevant cast member by way of a bonus incentive to make fans part with their cash.

The other method is perhaps more interesting. With many missing episodes existing as telesnaps (literally photographs taken of the TV screen to provide a visual record of the program) some fans in the 1980's took to editing these in sync with the soundtrack recording to provide an approximation of the original TV airings.

Over the years these have got a lot more complex, with producers adding subtitles to fill in details not apparent from the A/V material, CGI effects, specially shot material, surviving clips and photoshoped montages. Provided free of charge by fan groups such as Loose Cannon these are perhaps my favourite way of experiencing missing Doctor Who episodes.

And now I've typed all that out I really don't feel like talking about the story itself. This in itself isn't a problem because there are hundreds of reviews out there that are a million times more perceptive and entertaining than anything I could manage. Why not go find one?

Doctor Who, Gonna Watch the Lot...

Total so far:
001 episodes out of 784
000 of which were recons
000 of which were audio recordings

For very personal and unhappy reasons these last couple of weeks I've found myself with plenty of time on my hands yet no energy for and precious little inclination to do anything creative. As such I've decided to make a start on something I have been toying with for a couple of years. So having just a few minutes ago finished viewing An Unearthly Child episode one I have began my quest to watch of all 784 episodes of Doctor Who in broadcast order.

To be honest I probably won't write up this experiment in any great detail here on this blog unless a particular episode or story strikes me as worth talking about. The one I just watched was pretty good and I'd forgotten how wonderfully abrasive and cantankerous William Hartnell's Doctor was in those first few stories. I think it a real shame the producers so quickly sought to mellow this somewhat crotchety and even patronizing character.

Missing episodes (there are 106 of the beggars) will either be watched as reconstructions or will be listened to on BBC Audio CD/Cassette releases (every 60's story from Marco Polo onwards survives as fan made off air audio recordings).

Also at the relevant points I will watch Shada and the charity specials. I'll also watch A Fix With Sontarans, the mini episodes from the Series 5 and 6 (or series 31 and 32 if you preffer) boxed sets and if I can find them the "Script To Screen Competion" mini episodes, the interactive digital TV story (trhe name of which escapes me) and the web episodes. However these will not count towards my episode tally.

Finally I will state once and for all that I will not be watching the two Peter Cushing Dr. Who (see the subtle copyright fee dodging change they made there?) movies because they are stupid and shit and in no way can be concider canon.

10 Favourite Albums: #2 The Skatalites "Herb Dub - Collie Dub" (Jigsaw 1975)

When attempting to compile this list this was one of the first nominations I came up with. However my friend Martin upon hearing it described it as "nothing special". Maybe he had a point but this really isn't an LP to listen to if you're expecting Lee "Scratch" Perry madness or Etherealites type heaviness. The opening two tracks are IMO the weakest which doesn't really help my case.
Opening track "Roots Dub" is a pleasant enough 3 minutes or so of mostly horn-led scuzz while "Whispering Dub" fails to erase folk memories of this 70's novelty oddity:

Things do pick up however with the more minimal sounding track 3...

While I'm not going lay claim that this record is breaking any sonic boundries it was the way into dub music for a 24 year old novice who's only real experience of reggae had been his Dad's vinyl copies of Bob Marley's "Exodus" and "Live At the Lyceum". I think it's the records overall melodic nature that made it so appealing to me, after all ever since I starting finding it in charity shops (20+ years ago) I have long harboured a fondness for easy/lounge/musak and as background music this LP works brilliantly
Side 2 opens with "Dumboo Dub", another track that makes the albums ska routes explicit and is perhaps for me the albums highlight.

The next track, "African Dub"is for me spoilt somewhat by it's overly loud drum track but is probably the most out there thing on the album.
I love the muffled sound of the album's title track, or was it just fluff on my stylus? Either way it's another hightlight...

...While the closer "Kimble Dub" is once again tuneful and makes for a nice album closer.

Next time: How to right royally fuck up a classic album's CD reissue...

Macclesfield Town Centre 1234pm 27th March 2012

Three different buskers encountered in quick succession while wandering through Macclesfield shopping precinct.

Download from Archive.org

10 Favourite Albums: #1 "Weird & Wonderful Natural Sounds" (BBC Wildlife Magazine 199?)

Inspired by a recent pub conversation about a previous pub conversation I have decided to do something I promised myself I would never ever use this blog for: That being using it to show the 3 or 4 people who stumble across this thing every month what good taste in music I have...

I found this cassette in Hyde Willow Hospice Shop about 3 years ago, paid my 25p and took it home to languish on the shelf until I bothered playing it a month or so later.

Big mistake.

Like many a British charity shop scavenger (and even after my most recent attempted vinyl cull) I still have literally dozens of BBC LPs, 7"s, Cassettes, CDs and a couple of 12" of variable quality and interest lurking in the, often lesser loved, corners of my collection, heck I even already have the odd BBC wildlife sounds LP (this one, this one and this one for example), but this one is something else.

This is one of the few recordings I own where I can't really make any audio connection between anything else in my collection, sure it's a magazine freebie (cheapie?) but that don't stop it being in my opinion the greatest nature recording album of all time. Yes, even better than the marvelous and rightly famous Smithsonian Folkways: Sounds of North American Frogs LP from 1958.

Of course that is also a problem in that I am piss poor at descriptive writing (I shalt never be no Lester Bangs) and as this album has no Google footprint whatsoever it's impossible for me to find the actual mp3s for your enjoyment. Sorry about that.

However while my next review will come complete with sound and video clips you'll have to make do with me telling you that with tracks averaging out at a hypnotic 1min 20sec (bare in mind many sounds heard are 3 to 5 second cycles) this often very odd album is one to let wash over you.

Lastly the people I was with accused me of being deliberately obscure and arcane for the sake of trying to be different. Bullshit. Just because this was the first album to come to mind when choosing my faves doesn't mean it's necessarily my all time favourite. Having already chosen the other 9 records for this list I can guarantee that most readers will have heard, or at least be aware of, a good 70% of the artists featured.

Next time: My considered defense of "nothing special"

Another Track Finished

Here's a new track called "The Five Ways (Maccelsfield Road)"

It took me 70 minutes to make last night. It's really stupid and pointless.

Here's a free download.

Enjoy.

Heaton Chapel Station to Fopp Manchester via Manchester Piccadilly Station 1616 thru 1638 10th March 2012

Another pointless audio recording of another train journey.

Download from the Archive.org.

Noises, Chatter and Some Guy Humming Strangely To Himself 1201pm through 1208pm on the Bredbury to Marple Train 22nd January 2012

Pretty much what it says above

Got on this train last week and as soon as I sat down I noticed a strange almost throat singing-esque hum which I took to be a rather pleasant sounding mechanical fault, so I decided to record it on my phone.

After a moment or two I realized that it was actually a guy sat near the front of the carriage intermittently humming to himself. Which was a little odd.

Sorry about the shite sound quality and the fact you can barely hear him.

Download from the archive.org

At Last, The Happiness Patrol Release Some Music...

...but it's only a solitary mp3 so don't get to excited.

It's called "The World Ends With a Whimper Not a Bang"

Listen to and Download from the Archive.org