MiltyG565

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1358365556' post='1937965'] am i the only one who gets instantly put off by the 'in*ie' word?? [/quote] What puts me off indie is hipsters. Other than that, i don't see much wrong with it. Ask me about death metal... go on... i dare you.

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1358361146' post='1937861'] f***ing hard to play live too, I imagine. Lots of multi-tasking going on in a Rush kinda way. The singer and the bassist both got degrees in contemporary music at Salford, where BC's Jake Newman used to be head of the bass department. [/quote] Wow, really? That's interesting. What exactly does a degree in contemporary music mean though? Was it all about studying what makes contemporary music, who whats and wheres, or is there (and i'm hoping it's this one) a good portion of writing and recording your own contemporary music?

[quote name='silddx' timestamp='1358360076' post='1937831'] Prog Pop is how I'd describe it. [/quote] That's totally what it is actually! I would even go as far to say prog synth pop. I actually agree with nearly everything you have said silddx, except what songs i like. They are very creative, and in terms of musicality, also great, but there was just something about the album that i didn't like, and i think to start with Cough Cough really just made it have to overcome that the entire way through the album, and i just didn't find anything that i liked enough to give it an over "It's really good". But i agree with you, this is one of those bands that will shut up the whole "Pop is full of X,Y's and Z's" kind of people. I don't listen to much pop myself, but i know that quite a few people in the pop world are actually terrific musicians, and very talented indeed. They aren't all auto-tune sex objects. You're a fan because you like the music, i would be a fan if the music was a little bit more appealing to me, but other than that, i couldn't fault them. It is incredible how clean everything is, there's nothing in the album that they didn't intend to be there, nothing even slightly out of place. I've never encountered that, it's pretty impressive.

Also, review completed.... for now.

I actually accidentally started listening to Man Alive, because I was listening on spotify, and I thought "Why have they shoved all the good songs to the end of the album"... then I realised.... oops

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1358349451' post='1937500'] Personally I think people spend too much time thinking about the tonal effects of things like bolt on vs neck through, fretboard material, etc and not enough considering the (probably more important) aesthetic and playability implications. If you have a bass that is comfortable to play, has a good basic sound, and the right kind of design for what you want (pickup position, fret access, right number of controls, etc) then you can easily make minor tweaks to the electronics to fine tune the tone. Worrying about whether or not your double-mocha-skinny-latte-wenge fingerboard might be brighter than a ekky-ekky-ekky-ptang-nuwop-ni fingerboard seems a little silly to me. [/quote] I think you'll find that Skol has chosen the neck through design mostly on the fact that he has so many frets, so for playability, he has opted for neck through.

Nige puts the fear of God in to me Mainly because he is far far smarter than me

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1358345213' post='1937364'] Aaaahhh! The machine is working! Run away! Run away! Another good reason (if one were needed) to avoid facebook. In my humble opinion, of course. [/quote] Haha, indeed! Oh, fire alarm... even the house doesn't want to hear it.

BRX, we don't need to have identical basses to know if the neck construction will alter the tone, because we know it will. How we know that is because we already know that bass frequencies aren't picky, and will cross grains, glue, gaps, joints with ease. Treble frequencies follow the grain, and stop at joints, gaps, glue and even the grain. Now if you were to ask about the treble resonance of a neck through bass, and a bolt on bass, i would bet that the neck through would come off better.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1358344127' post='1937319'] Excuse me for being an old cynic, but the pop machine is currently busting it's arse to get EE in our faces. I've seen lots of pop boys (and girls) come and go me, and I'll make this prediction: EE will be totally forgotten by summer. And yes, I do have envy issues. [/quote] Oh, do you think i haven't noticed? There was so much talk about this album (which i only found out about today) i had to give it a listen. There were ads on youtube and facebook and everywhere. Just making notes on the other songs now. Full review on a couple of hours

[quote name='4 Strings' timestamp='1358344090' post='1937318'] My lad sent me a text directing me to go buy a copy immediately he was so impressed. I haven't (what, actually BUY music?!) but intend to get a listen somewhere. I loved their last one, and on Jools. [/quote] I suppose if it's what you're in to, you would like it. I do like indie, but Cough Cough just annoyed the hell out of me. Listening further, there are a few gems in it, but some that i reckon should probably not even have made the final cut. with 19 songs on one album, they could afford to cut a couple of the stragglers out.

So if you haven't heard of this band before, you will, because they have a new album out, and there appears to be a big push to make it do well. If you go on spotify, you can listen to the latest album (and the old ones) which was released... oh, i don't know when, and i don't care when either, it was sometime this year anyway. Now, if you haven't heard these guys before (I hadn't) do be warned, as far as i can tell so far, it's highly polished pop with rock undertones. Their bio on Spotify would have you believe it was indie, but to me, it definitely sounds more on the pop side of things. The first song on the album is called Cough Cough, and it annoyed me. At first, the way it started startled me, then i tried listening, and i just found it plain old annoying, after 15 seconds, i skipped portions of the song to find that it didn't change much through out the song. And here is the face of indifference- [url="https://twitter.com/MiltonG565/status/291539085267456000/photo/1/large"]https://twitter.com/...0/photo/1/large[/url] I wouldn't feel right commenting any further on this until i have heard the rest of the album, but let it be known- The rest of the album needs to be good to make up for the initial shock of Cough Cough. *** REST OF REVIEW *** So i have listened to the rest of the album, and i have to say, apart from Cough Cough, it was quite good. I've made a few quick scribbly notes. Cough Cough and Armourland start in a similar vein, but Armourland gets good, and the chorus in particular i really liked about it. When i say they start similar, i mean in terms of the drums, and the very staccato-ish cut up drums and vocals. The course of Armourland sounds like a real hit (although i cringe at the thought of ever using that term in a professional sense.). It is an incredibly catchy chorus, which i think would definitely pass the old grey whistle test. but unfortunately, i find the verses a bit busy, and nearly airing towards experimental. I have also made special note of 3 other tracks on the album which I think are especially good. They are- The Peaks, Don't Try and Justice. The Peaks starts off with a simple drum beat, and miscellaneous sounds, but after a short while, the singer starts singing, and it's a very mellow affair. The song is very uncluttered, but it has this building synth that starts out very low in the mix, but by the end, is very much at the top of the mix, which is a cool effect. The guitar playing and bass playing on this song are all very slow and broken down. It's a very nice song indeed. Don't Try is a typical indie track. But the lyrics verge on rap at points. The pre-chorus is very nice, where it goes into a bit of a breakdown. It then builds up to the chorus, where the harmonies and lead vocals come together very nicely and fit right in with the keys, guitar, bass and drums. Justice is a song that would put me in the mind of a song that is actually a lot heavier than this one. The breakdown/solo is a bit odd i think, but on the whole, this song is pretty seamless, with very slick changes, and i think it could actually be one of the best tracks on the album (in my opinion of course). So with that said, i have to say that the vocalist has a great voice, and obviously a good range. The bass playing, drums, guitar and keys were stellar, i couldn't find any faults with them at all. Like i said earlier, i found Cough Cough a very annoying song, and i actually think it was a bad one to put first on the album. The thing that got me with this album was the cleaness of everything. I could hear not a single bad thing in the background, no mistakes in the playing, or anything like that at all. Like i said, it's a highly polished album. In all, i would say that this album has it's winners and sore losers, like a lot of albums, but i really am in 2 minds whether to like it or not. I didn't get an overwhelming feeling in either direction after listening to the entire album. I suppose the jury's out on this one for me, sorry.

The mark of a good musician isn't how many notes they can play, but what they does with them- Me (as far as i know).

[quote name='ead' timestamp='1358279255' post='1936283'] Serial Grado user here. iGrado for the gym and '80s for everything else. Top phones with great sound stage, comfortable etc. My only criticism would be they are a bit leaky so others around you will get the benefit of what you are listening to. [/quote] The "Benefit"... hmm... Nothing worse than having to sit beside some knob on the bus that's belting out the music you despise (although they might be wrong to despise the music you are listening to, they still despise it). Worst of all are the knobs on the bus that don't know what headphones are, and still insist on belting out the music you despise.

[quote name='Jimryan' timestamp='1358277624' post='1936247'] You mean something like: I've been using a pair of Jaybird SB2 headphones ([url="http://www.jaybirdgear.com/sportsband-bluetooth-headphones/"]http://www.jaybirdge...oth-headphones/[/url]) for about two years now. Absolutely love them. Previously I only used earphones (mainly sennheiser) so this was my first set of proper headphones. They're intended for use as a pair of sports headphones (gym, running, etc), but I got them as they're wireless. Considering they're wireless (Bluetooth) the sound quality is amazing, deep, thumping lows, sparkling highs, the works. Which is great for me as I listen to just about everything. Where they're designed for sports use, they hold tight on m swede (not too tight though) and are sweat resistant too. A nifty little feature is on the right earpiece. There's a central button which is on/off, play/pause, answer call/hang up. In addition to this, around it there are 4 more buttons, skip tracks back and forth and volume up and down. My only gripe with them, is I'm worried that if I drop/lose my phone, have it stolen, I won't know until I'm 30 odd feet away. Other than that, they're great, nice range of colours too. Got me an orange set. [/quote] That's the idea!

So after getting and testing a new set of headphones, and writing a review of them, on of the readers of the review decided we should have a headphone thread, so here we are! In this thread, you should talk about headphones primarily, but not limited to that, also feel free to talk about earphones. You should say about your past experiences and what you think, essentially, small reviews and knowledge you can impart to others on the subject of headphones. Happy listening!

[quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1358275674' post='1936185'] We need a Headphones thread. Perhaps this is it... [/quote] This isn't it, but i shall start one

Just noticed that the top end of mine can be a little harsh, but we are talking well up the range before it gets harsh.

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1358252980' post='1935543'] They don't, they just stall for time before it goes to court, then have legal hitch after legal hitch causing postponements. All that time the small guy's bank is racking up the charges on the loans, overdrafts etc. until they won't wait for payments any longer or get worried they'll ever be repaid & pull the plug. Job done. [/quote] That makes me so angry! how can you be so ruthless to the people that supply you? should i go and make my mother leave the house? Bloody ruthless, heartless dickheads.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1358252790' post='1935529'] It's all very well to blame the MD for being a useless dinosaur, but what about the rest of the board? What about all the non-executive directors wheo are supposed to help steer the business strategy? Sorry, it's too easy to lay all the blame on one guy. Another view here that some good might come out of HMVs collapse: [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21023602"]http://www.bbc.co.uk...siness-21023602[/url] [/quote] Ah, that's interesting. Not sure i understand it 100%, but oh well, i understand it mostly.

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1358252225' post='1935500'] Top flight lawyers. [/quote] Yes, but if you have a contract, how can they argue that it isn't valid?

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1358251944' post='1935486'] Contracts won't matter to them, this guy had one. Independent supplier in court against a horde of QCs that he'd be up against. It'd be farting against thunder. [/quote] What are QC's?

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1358250906' post='1935447'] I know a guy who had that done to him by a high st supermarket who lost everything due to it, business, house, marriage the lot. They held off payment for so long that he went under! [/quote] Aye, C U next tuesday's is the appropriate term. It's ruthless, and i would be looking for the good order first, then letting them have the really cheap stuff after that, and a contract to supply.

[quote name='Big_Stu' timestamp='1358249876' post='1935413'] Something a shop sells at a loss or break-even hoping/expecting that once the customer is in the shop they'll stick around and buy other stuff at prices that do make profit. Supermarkets are very good at it, especially if they're over-stocked on a particular item. [/quote] I thought that was it. I would be incredibly difficult for HMV to do that, indeed.

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1358244610' post='1935283'] Calm down guys, it was meant as a joke, can you not see that? Dead in a church?.... [/quote] I saw it, and i wasn't actually referring to that in my previous post. But just be careful you don't upset the apple cart, because the way i see it, it would be incredibly easy to get a warning or the thread locked here, and that wouldn't be fair.