"Listen to the shit they pump into your head, filling you with empathy"

READY TO GET THIS SHIT PUMPED ONTO YOU?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7745137.stm

So, taser guns are being introduced in England and Wales, and they're being tested (and used) in Northern Ireland too. Some people might think "great, a good way to get rid of guns", and those who are sensible will think "this thing PARALYSES you, and CAN kill you, as there have been documented deaths in the US from taser attacks". On top of that, the media is pumping it to us that it is SAFE, and will only be used on criminals, and that it is a far better alternative to guns, and will keep the police safe. The police shouldn't need to feel "safe", if they weren't corrupt, and therefore given the respect by people that they deserve - of trying to uphold the law.

Orwell must be rolling over in his grave. The big brother state is looming near us more and more each day. I just do not understand why people can't see that it is being used on criminals, so it looks like it cuts back crime - but in a few years, once the government begin imposing freedom restricting laws and acts, and when people become restless, expect to see the taser guns be used on the public, just to make them comply. 

"You're out past 10pm, that's the curfew" 

"No, I was just walking home from my friends house"

"You need to be at YOUR house for 10pm"
"Come on, I was at a mates, what's the problem?"
*taser*

That's all they will need. And, it scares me that people are so OK about these being introduced. Seeing people being tasered on the BBC was just frightening, the sheer velocity of the shots and how peoples bodies twitched was just scary for me to watch...knowing that it will be the general public very soon, unless people just say NO. But, again, the media is putting wool over everyones eyes, and manipulating reports to make it sound like it's a good thing. In fairness, the BBC did show a small clip of a drunk US woman being continually tasered for no reason: but surely this should make people see just how dangerous they are, and how it gives the police SO much power. "Don't do as we say? We'll taser you."

I think we're gradually moving towards the shift of public opinion - inevitably some harsh freedom restricting laws will be introduced soon to combat terrorism, the financial crisis, and other government planned actions. I just hope that people don't fall for the medias tricks during these hard times and just think that it's OK for them to take away our HUMAN rights - we should be able to live without fear.

Iain 

Bah, musical writers block.

I have officially hit writer's block. I haven't written one musical note in several weeks, and I haven't even touched my keyboard. This time last year I wrote my best pieces (in my opinion), simply because I had uni, and general life there to inspire me. At home, I have nothing but my house to inspire me - I rarely go out, mostly because I don't feel like it, but also because I can't afford to often. Life without student loans is weird! Back to the matter though.

Even when I did compose something, I just felt unhappy, it felt uninspired, and I was forcing the ideas, rather than letting them breathe and develop naturally. My 'View From an Astronomers Backyard' album is currently on hold, I want it to be my 'Chinese Democracy', it's an album with a grand concept, and I don't care how long I take to finish it now (it's not like I have a label breathing down my neck for a release date) - I did have some dates of release in mind, I was almost finished with it around February this year, but I decided to pull some songs as they weren't sufficient quality - maybe "B-side" material at best, I'll probably scrap them altogether in the end. The story itself is remaining the same, I just want the music to incorporate my solid story, and so far I only think about 4 of the songs will make the final cut, with many corrections added I'm sure.

What I was working on was a short-song album, entitled 'Collectable Collectibles', and the idea was that I would try and link them together in some way, so that it isn't just random songs. However, after speaking to my good friend Ruaidhri, he mentioned that it might get a bit stale, if I was working around a tonal centre, or keeping the same theme in mind - in the end, it is a bunch of random short songs compiled together. Still, I have songs from maybe 2/3 years ago on my laptop, all mostly unfinished, and with a little bit of work I could have them as complete short songs.

The annoying thing is, I have loads of compositional ideas in my head, but the motivation to actually DO them is just not present. For one, I want to write an electronic orchestral piece, i.e. using a bunch of synths and string/real instrument samples, pretending that it's an orchestra, and using them as such - for example, getting a synth sample, that isn't ACTUALLY a timpani, but I influence the sound so that it sounds similar, or has a same effect musically - again, it'll take a lot of time to achieve what I want, and to actually go ahead with it...but I think once I do get the motivation, it'll be a huge project which I will most definitely release as an album; preferably over an internet record label.

I've been listening to Brian Eno's 'Music for Airports' album a lot, and just the ambience created in that album is something I've striven for for a few years now - beautiful, dreamy musical landscape with subtle melodic themes, but it is perfect background music. His philosophy behind it is great too; he wrote it to go against what happens in airports, i.e. stress, lots of loud noise. I think it's played in LAX airport (Los Angeles) on repeat, which I think is a great idea...it's probably like one of those white noise generators, that is in the background, but can relax you so much.

Roll on December 14th, so I can get out of here, and feel inspired again (hopefully).

Iain

"...I don't think that bands should keep going past 33"

The above was said by Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay...announcing that Coldplay will split up after their tour ends next year.

I've had a really odd relationship with Coldplay - for one, I see them as one of the true musical acts of the past few years that have actually gotten better with each release...Viva La Vida being probably in my top 10 releases of 2008 so far. But, I also dislike the majority of people who follow them, almost religiously, and the amount of bands that rip them off, plus Martin's almost Bono-esque "god-like" personality of changing the world...still, he's a lot more tolerable and genuine than Bono is. I guess I hate to love them, but I think since Viva La Vida was released I've officially become a fan. And, this news today makes me puzzled: I completely respect them for doing such a bold move after a fantastic album, yet I feel that they have at least 1 more album in them before calling it quits.

I've written previously about how I think Dream Theater, if they are to still continue, to at least put effort in, rather than churning out releases just to please the fans - here, Coldplay are wanting to pack it in because they're getting too old, in their eyes. I certainly understand this view, because a lot of musicians reach a peak and then fade - perhaps Viva la Vida being their peak. But, I think another shot at an Eno influenced album would not go amiss - I think they still have the drive in them to create great music, but that's their choice. At the same time, I am kinda glad they are giving up - because what if they didn't actually create a good album, and then fans wanted more?

Moving away from this example, however, Martin's view on bands continuing past 33 really interested me. Does, or should, age be a factor on performers continuing to play music? I look at bands like The Rolling Stones, who have been around for over 4 decades, and they all, on stage, still put on a relatively fun show, but they are in reality, a bunch of old rockers playing the hits to make some extra money (as if Jagger et al needs more money anyway) - despite that, they must be given respect for sticking it out so long and still being passionate in their performances. Of course, no musician can always have that initial, almost naive approach to their music as they did when their music career started, simply because they get experienced and see the shit the music industry and fans do to them. 

Another example that comes to mind is Aerosmith, who have been around for over 3 decades, and they haven't released any new material in a number of years, yet they still tour for the extra money, and to me, they probably have lost their passion, and since "I Don't Want To Miss a Thing" got so big, I doubt they feel like they need to release another single or album.

And, don't get me started on bands that "reunite" - sometimes, I feel that some bands broke up, JUST to get back together again in a few years and do a big reunited tour and earn more than they were making, simply because they had, again, reached their peak, or the label weren't interested or fans found a new band to adore. I exclude Rage Against the Machine and the 'Pumpkins from this list though, as they both simply could not work together after a while, with egos getting in the way - and I'm very glad both reunited.

Still, when is a good age to stop? I wouldn't say 'age' per se, more like "when do I realise that I have reached my musical peak and accomplished all I've wanted to achieve?" Perhaps Martin's age excuse was a subtle way of saying "OK, we released a great album, we can't top it but our pride says we can't admit it".

The classic line "it's better to burn out than fade away" comes to mind right now.

Iain 

Decisions decisions...

I've been doing a lot of thinking recently about my career. Or lack of, at this moment in time. One thing I've always hated in the music business is the lack of money artists get at the end of the day for making the music that sells - the fact that it goes to record labels, distributors, publishers, agents, managers etc before it even has a chance to pay off to artists is, quite frankly, sickening. At the same time, I'm beginning to think that maybe music performance isn't for me. I mean, I love playing drums, but after these few years of doing gigs and most of the time playing to friends and band members family/relatives, it just frustrates me a lot that all the effort that I have put in over the years has done nothing. I know that I can't just expect it on a plate, and I need to put the effort in first before I begin seeing money, but right now I'm considering packing performance in altogether.

I've been thinking this past week or so about maybe getting into the business side of things - but do it in a way that benefits local artists and musicians. Similar to an agency, where I would hire bands or artists into my agency, get them work/gigs, promote them, do their business dirty work as it were, let them focus on performing, and take only a SMALL cut, provided the job is good enough for a small cut to be respectable for both sides. One thing I've always thought of as a problem is local bands, not necessarily in Northern Ireland, but anywhere, having difficulty of getting anywhere: maybe they don't know how to work the field of promotion, or they don't have the right contacts, and I've been there myself plenty of times with bands. And I just feel like I would love to help bands who have the potential to go somewhere. Eventually, it'd expand into something bigger and be more than just a promotion based agency.

Just running thoughts in my head.

Iain

1 month to go...finally!

Today, the 14th November, means I have 1 more month to kill before I move over to Raleigh, North Carolina, USA! It feels so weird to think that it is now going to happen, for real. Rather than thinking and procrastinating about the thought of moving over to the states sometime in the near future, it's actually happening for real in 1 month.

Wow.

Iain

Obama's elected: now what?

For the first time ever, I stayed up most of the night to watch the US election results unfold - like many, I felt like I was living through history in the making. Once it hit 4am my time, Obama was confirmed as the president of the United States. It didn't really fully strike me until I was going to sleep: Bush is gone in 100 days, Obama, the first African American president EVER will be in charge - again, I do not wish to jump on the news and media bandwagon, but I agree with them when they say that it is a moment in history, and 40 years ago the idea of a black president would have been unimaginable. I felt excited about the chance of a prosperous, improved America...and it especially rings true

As I mentioned last night, Obama seems to have a cult of personality around him - similar in the vein of JFK, and, dare I say it, Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler. Watching his victory speech made me happy and excited, but also rather concerned. I was closely analysing his body language, his general speech nature and how he got the crowd going. When he started talking about "yes we can", ending every sentence with it, one was reminded of a black Baptist preacher doing the same thing, instead "praising the lord" or whatever he is doing. Sure, he might be influenced by black preachers, that's only natural deeming from his religious and racial background, but, he has the charisma of the aforementioned. I just, at times now, question WHY people voted for Obama - I'm sure a lot of people voted for him because of his policies, perhaps his race, and because he seems young and refreshing, compared to Bush.

But, I also think that his campaign was very well funded, the largest US campaign budget in US history - and it makes me worry; with a high media presence and money, the people might be voting for him because he was everywhere, and might not even be aware of his policies - and if it takes money and media presence to get people to do something without fully thinking about it, think about what power this might have for future presidential candidates, and of course Obama himself.

Obama's backdrop during his victory speech at first reminded me of a Nazi conference speech - big outdoor park, thousands of people in attendance, and flags everywhere behind the leader. I also noticed during Obama's speech that he paused a lot, which again reminded me of Hitler's speeches, where he would make a big point, and pause...not just because of his applause and cheering. Of course, it'd be ludicrous of me to compare Hitler with Obama, but at these early stages of Obama basically winning by a landslide and having a big backing and media campaign, almost to the point of propaganda, one has to be suspicious a little.

Still, if Obama is as true as he says he is going to be, I wish him luck for the future - it was fairly obvious where this election was leading, especially after McCain alienating independent voters with the nomination of Sarah Palin as his VP. As I will soon be an American citizen, I can say right now that I will gladly vote for him if he does not mess up, do anything freedom restricting, and does not turn into another Bush, just because he'll have the same sort of people that Bush had around him.

A new generation of politics I feel is about to begin, I just hope that everything is not being over-hyped and that Obama brings about real change to the United States, and the world.

Iain

Some pre-election result thoughts...

First of all, I think that this is easily one of the most important elections in US history, and definitely the most important election of the past 20 years. Both candidates have their credentials, their strengths, and their many, many faults. However, I feel that this is one of the first elections where both candidates can get their message across many mediums; the usual, TV, newspaper and radio ad's, along now with a bigger emphasis on internet promotion - Obama especially using the likes of Facebook and YouTube...something that wasn't around, or at least not used very much, when Bush and Kerry were running for office in 2004.

Something scary strikes me about Obama. His election campaign, media hype and almost god-like status amongst some voters reminds me of JFK's election campaign in the 1960s. And we all know what happened to JFK at the end - Obama has a lot of opponents, not just those of the Republican party, but those who want to assassinate him - one Republican even said on Fox News that there were plans to assassinate Obama. A lot of people see him as a light at the end of the tunnel, at the end of the day, he is just another politician, who will provide promises and most likely not provide them. Despite these faults, I think that Obama is America's best choice.

McCain, I feel, is really physically incapable of being president. The guy is old, and yes he is a war veteran, but I really think the guy, if elected, will not last long in the office, whether it be due to death or realising that the stress is too much, and Sarah Palin, the woman who sees Russia from out her window, would therefore take over. She does not have the experience I feel that is needed to be a president, or vice president, and definitely has said and done some extreme things that would deem her mentally able to hold such a high position of power. I also fear that if McCain is elected, taxes would be raised, more wars declared, and immigration control tightened, along with more freedom removing laws being passed. Of course, Obama could very well easily pass these freedom removing laws, as they are both for the same agenda anyway...so, it really doesn't matter who wins, as in the end, we will probably lose out.

I think America has had enough of Republican rule, and seeing an obviously aging slightly senile old man run against a young, fresh, forward thinking opponent, it's kinda obvious who SHOULD get the vote. America decides in a few hours. I hope the right choice is made, not just for America, but for the whole world.

Iain The Destroyer presents: Album of the month, and an album that changed my life - November 2008

Album of the month:

Foxy Shazam - Introducing

I only got a grip of this album last week, and since hearing it, I've loved it. I've always been interested in hearing "original" sounding music, and this honestly is the most refreshing musical experience I've had in a long time. It almost felt like a musical hole in my life has been somewhat filled - I've been a sucker for big poppy choruses within well structured music, provided that musically the rest provides. I mean, I can't really describe their genre at all: it's very soul and blues inspired rock, with a lot of pop and progressive parts, along with some pretty damn heavy parts too.

Lyrically, I think they're great too, from the weird lyrical content of "Ghost Animals", to the "I told you so" lyrics of "A Dangerous Man", to the spacey lyrics of "The Rocketeer", there's something for everyone lyrically. I think as well that the album is very appealing to all kinds of music listeners; there's some very nice almost classical-esque piano passages, to the poppy vocal melodies and hardcore screams and high falsetto singing to appeal to the rock listener. It's a very odd mix of genres, but somehow it just makes sense. By the end of the album, I just want to play it again - and that is something I very rarely ever do - it could well be because the album consists of 3 - 5 minute songs.

Whilst I haven't seen them live, they are said to put on a good show, and based on the videos I've seen, they seem to get completely into it, which for me shows they really are passionate about it; which makes this offering even better for me. Instrumentally, they bring a lot of interesting textures, key changes and are able to blend the different musical styles to perfection.

Despite being a short review, I really can't say anything about the music, because it's such a well executed blend of genres - but I highly recommend this for everyone. 5 stars.



An album that changed my life:

Deftones - White Pony

This was the 2nd Deftones album I heard (Adrenaline being the first), I was 15 at the time, and it just made a connection with me. The first thing I noticed was that it was a lot more mature than Adrenaline and the song matter and content was very dark, along with Deftones typical heavy rock and interesting rhythmical ideas by guitar and drums. This album not only completely influenced my drumming (Abe Cunningham rocks a lot in this album; his grooving in the songs "Digital Bath", "Korea" and "Passenger" have to this day stuck by me as big influences on my own grooving), but it also inspired my songwriting, and this album led the way for me to explore other albums and bands. It's one album that I still listen to on a regular basis that I did listen to when I was younger.

I didn't fully appreciate the music as much back then I don't think, but when I listen to it now with an enhanced musical ear, and deeper appreciation for mature songwriting, it just clicks with me. Right now, I would say that it is at least Top 5 of my favourite albums of the 21st century, just everything about it works. Chino Moreno's vocals are so emotional at times, and send severe chills down my spine - Change (In The House of Flies) and Teenager are 2 songs that come to mind.

I was glad to see how they broke away from their "nu metal" tag, which I do think was undeserved, it was just by chance that they broke the scene the same time Korn did, thus branding them "nu metal". But, they definitely removed all sense of "nu metal" from this album, and instead were branded with a more respected "mature alternative metal" tag. Whilst this album might not be everyone's cup of tea, whether it be because it's a little too heavy or not heavy enough, I think that it is, on record, one of the most balanced albums of all time - from trippy, spacey, electronica inspired tunes such as "Teenager", and pure balls to the wall "Elite", "Korea" and "Knife Prty", and other great offerings, this album is just, to me, one of the most perfect albums of all time.