cyrusr

So, last day of 2022 and finally sorting this out… I initially thought “not bought much music that has come out this year”. 73 albums later… So on that note  this year I have gone for a top 5 with a few honourable mentions as I have had quite a few... 

So, to start with honourable mentions/shoutouts in alphabetical order.

So here we go with the blurb in spoilers to make the post smaller…

5. Boris – W

4. Ghost – Impera

3. White Ward – False Light

2. Fellowship – The Saberlight Chronicles

1. Zeal & Ardor – Zeal & Ardor

So that’s it, there have been other good records you should check out (Rolo Tomassi, The Callous Daoboys, Municipal Waste, Autopsy, Porcupine Tree, Coheed & Cambria, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard (only 4 albums this year), but I am running out of steam! Go check them out, hopefully you will enjoy too

Thanks to all those that read every word, as you know sometimes I can't be succent! Pretty decent year, all in all, bring on 2023  

1 hour ago, tomav84 said:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmfPIwaJBhS/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Heroes reception in his home town 

Am I being crazy, but are the crowd chanting "Aston Villa" at the end?!

Martin Duffy, Primal Scream keyboard died aged 55

https://www.nme.com/news/music/primal-screams-martin-duffy-has-died-aged-55-3369531

9 minutes ago, Rolta said:

They're doing it on purpose I think. They're trying to shift definitions rightwards, shifting 'the overton window' (maybe this definition isn't quite right—I saw it yesterday used by the hard/far right in the USA), flipping traditional, accepted definitions on their heads. And for the utter mugs that buy into their drivel it's probably working. This twisting of perspectives is constant and abundant across the right now. We have our own mental, well connected version of MAGAs.

Kind of like Musk putting that stupid picture to suggest that the left has kept moving but he's kept still? Sadly I think you are right but what should be done to turn that back to some form of normality? 

19 hours ago, Mark Albrighton said:

Fun little sideshow.

 

This is my favourite extract 

Quote

Left of centre position Rishi Sunak’s tax-raising government has adopted.

 

Utterly farcical and I hope it has enough support to destabilise the Tories.

51 minutes ago, ml1dch said:

Counterpoint- 500 (hypothetical) piece puzzle and probably no more than 100 pieces in shot. 

Could easily be four lonely corners elsewhere on that table not pictured. 

Counter-counterpoint - Top right there’s a corner price. Also the next stage is obviously the edges and there’s a ton in the picture. 

The only logical explanation is that the grandparents are indeed serial killers and need to be put down. 

4 hours ago, KentVillan said:

I've enjoyed slamming Southgate on here for years, but I really don't think he was massively culpable for what happened vs. France.

Things I think he got wrong:

• Too passive in the first half with our pressing and passing
• We had the deeper bench and fresher legs, and should have been running our players into the ground for 90 mins. Our players didn't look "spent" at the end of the game, which to me says they were playing within themselves.
• The Sterling for Saka sub was odd, but not a gigantic mistake.
• We should have thrown the kitchen sink at them a bit earlier.

Things I think he got right:

• Starting XI and formation was basically spot on
• Mbappe had very little influence on the game
• His faith in Maguire was not an obviously smart move before the tournament, and took courage from him to stick with that choice
• We were clearly the better side over 90 mins

The idea that he's as big a fraud as Sherwood is small time bitchy nonsense. Would Southgate be any good as a PL manager? Probably not, but international football is a different kettle of fish, and the fact all the players speak so highly of him suggests he's doing something right.

I don't really see any benefit to binning him, because it's hard to imagine who would want to come in who'd be any good. Foreign managers always get done by the press, and there aren't any good English managers.

He's mediocre, but so were Deschamps, Löw, Scolari, Jacquet, etc when they won the World Cup.

If England had a manager like Lippi or Del Bosque sitting around waiting to complete their legacy, then fine, give them the job, but we don't. There are no obvious candidates. Just let Southgate crack on. It doesn't even matter that much. We'll be watching Villa again in a couple of weeks.

There’s a lot here to agree with. It certainly wasn’t his worse performance as an England manager that is for sure. 

However, it still highlights probably his biggest flaw in that he doesn’t ever really have a “plan b” or willingness/ability to change mid game. It’s a problem with a lot of managers as we know too well but I don’t think he has the tactical knowledge to take England that last step. 

The really genuinely difficult question though, if not Southgate, then who?

I have always thought Smith would be good international manager, but he suffers as well for a lack of plan b as well. Potter/Howe are unlikely to leave Chelsea/Newcastle I suspect.

Dyche won’t ever get the fans on side but struggling to think after that so looked at some odds, that is some grim reading… Cooper, Lampard, Gerrard?! It’ll probably end up being Steve Bruce knowing our luck…

I just can't believe that Ronaldo managed to get 6 goals last night; 5 of them from the bench!

What a talent. 

Well there are some moments of magic that’s for sure… 

To be fair to Southgate he’s doing OK - you can only beat what is in front of you. He’s also generally sticking to 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 which looks infinitely better than 5 at the back.

Still can’t substitute to save his life though. At 3-0 should have rested Kane golden boot or not given the concern over fatigue etc. at least gave Bellingham a rest though ready for France.

Still don’t think Southgate is any good, but can’t really criticise him too much so far. He reminds me more of Bruce than Gerrard,  in particular the season of the play off final we lost. Football was largely forgettable but we were winning a lot, so largely forgivable. However when we came to the crunch we just crumbled.

France will be a proper test, hopefully he will keep the same shape but I do fear he will revert to type and try and grind a result out. 

46 minutes ago, hogso said:

It's been suggested in some areas of the fandom that the reference to it being the 'latest' album under the boris name isn't a perfect translation, and it would be more accurate to be 'last'. I mean, I do love the boris albums, but in recent years I've actually come to enjoy the Boris albums much more. 

Ah fair enough. When I read the release info I saw the latest bit so didn’t know the translation point. Maybe with the 3 albums they are providing a conclusion to each element to their sound rather than last one of each. If it was the last “boris” record I suspect that there would have been a little more fanfare.

To be honest just happy with more releases from the band and that this is just a nice surprise. I was relistening to flood a couple of days ago which just put me in that mindset anyway so I was very happy! 

2 hours ago, hogso said:

The final boris (lower case) release, it seems. 

Why do you say that?

2 minutes ago, hogso said:

A surprise Boris album has just dropped oh shiiiiiiiiiiiii

Quite a droning beauty as well  

1 minute ago, bickster said:

It's the Tory Party putting itself on a war footing over two years in advance of the next time they have to go to the country. That in itself is somewhat unusual I think. It could be an indication that they are going to put the MPs out and about in the constituencies for the next two years for a hearts and minds campaign to regain support. It won't work.

Johnson has to say he's standing even if there's the remotest chance he will, it's not like he'll face any kind of punishment for later deciding he's not (He'll get hammered if he does imo)

Probably try the tactic of the last local election of trying to differentiate from parliamentary Tories and local Tories. I agree won't work. 

And you are right about Johnson, to be fair he might be recalled soon anyway. When's the privilege committee due to be completed by? 

1 hour ago, bickster said:

It seems like half the constituency didn't know either, turnout was about 50% of normal. It was never going to be much of an indicator seat. It's hard to say if the Tory drop is as result of Torys staying away or actually switching

I suspect a lot just didn't bother. If you look at the actual numbers, Tories were down by about 14,000 votes. However everyone went down, even Labour had about 10,000 less votes.Suggests that most stayed away/couldn't be bothered. 

2022 City of Chester by-election^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Samantha Dixon	17,309	61.2	+11.6
	Conservative	Liz Wardlaw	6,335	22.4	-15.9
	Liberal Democrats	Rob Herd	2,368	8.4	+1.6
	Green	Paul Bowers	987	2.9	+0.2
	Reform UK	Jeanie Barton	773	2.7	+0.2
	Rejoin EU	Richard Hewison	277	1.0	New
	UKIP	Cain Griffiths	179	0.6	New
	Monster Raving Loony	Howling Laud Hope	156	0.6	New
	Freedom Alliance	Chris Quartermaine	91	0.3	New
Majority			10,954	38.8	+27.5
Turnout			28,541	41.2	–30.5
	Labour hold		Swing

 

General election 2019: City of Chester^[30]

Party Candidate Votes % ±%   Labour Chris Matheson 27,082 49.6 –7.2   Conservative Samantha George 20,918 38.3 –2.2   Liberal Democrats Bob Thompson 3,734 6.8 +4.1   Green Nicholas Brown 1,438 2.6 New   Brexit Party Andy Argyle 1,388 2.5 New Majority 6,164 11.3 –5.0 Turnout 54,560 71.7 –5.7   Labour hold Swing –2.5  

 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Chester_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

@bickster, I saw this yesterday which might explain why a fair number of Tory MPs have recently confirmed that they are not standing in the next election Boris Johnson: Former PM announces plans to stand at next election

Quote

Boris Johnson has told his local Conservative Party he will stand again as an MP at the next general election, the BBC has been told.

The Conservatives have given their MPs until 5 December to confirm whether they wish to contest the next election - which must be held by early 2025.

So far, 11 Tory MPs have announced they will not stand for re-election.

They have until Monday to confirm if they will stand or not, so probably not a sign that an imminent election is about to be called, but certainly for a lot they know the writing is on the wall. I am little surprised Johnson is going to stand though, given how much he is making elsewhere. Ego has gotten the better of him (who would have thought it...). 

Back on topic, genuinely always love this thread to come and check more out. 

However, like @bickster I have felt that there hasn't been quite as many top quality realises this year, rather a raft of "good" records. Will post over the next few days my musings. 

1 hour ago, GarethRDR said:

Phoxjaw - notverynicecream

Woof, where to start?  This was one of my most heavily anticipated records of the year, the three tracks dropped in the run-up were all bangers I kept on heavy rotation and when I caught 'em live for the first time earlier this year, they were immense.  For all intents and purposes, this was gonna be my stand-out pick for AOTY.

2000 Trees announced them on Facebook in the first raft of bands for their 2023 line-up.

Then there was a sexual abuse allegation made against the singer under that Facebook announcement.

Then 2000 Trees dropped them from the line-up.

Then the band put out a statement that they were refuting the allegations and going to the police.

Then the band announced absolutely everything related to the band was on hiatus, album pushed back to 2023 and they posted a link to a really weird, rambling statement from some... solicitor, I think?  It was odd.

Then radio silence from all concerned.  The record label, Hassle, haven't said anything throughout, and the band are still listed on their roster with pre-orders still up for the album.

It's a feckin' shit-show.

Two things I'd say, I stress as separate statements to any of the above:

1. The UK court system almost systematically fails victims of sexual abuse.
2. The band will in all likelihood be DOA from this point forward.

Cheery thoughts to end on, I know.

I'll come back to the rest of it but WTF is this? Is the rambling statement this http://matthewhopkinsnews.com/?p=8900?

If so he is NOT a solicitor. He is a McKenzie friend which is VERY different. They are people who "assist" those going through proceedings but have a limited knowledge on law and usually through personal experience. They also likely have an agenda with it. As he states himself, he was a victim of false accusations so there we go. 

I wasn't even aware of this until your post but dodgy as hell. If he was a genuine victim of false allegations, he would be able to sue for defamation etc. 

2 hours ago, Genie said:

England's World Cup TV record since 1998:

BBC: 12 wins out of 16, 75% win rate
ITV: 2 wins out of 15 games, 13% win rate

England v Senegal is on ITV on Sunday

I've always noticed this, England are utter rubbish on ITV. I seem to remember us winning once, suspect it was in 2021? I can't recall what that game was. 

1 hour ago, NurembergVillan said:

The latest normal news from Normal Island

They're absolutely **** bonkers, this lot.

"Destruction of life is wrong"? Well looking forward to his announcement of turning vegan then. 

There is no majority to change the rules as they stand? Well why are you seeking to remove the HRA then if there is no will to change it? 

Utter c*ckwomble. 

20 minutes ago, MWARLEY2 said:

The man has managed what ? 20 first team games in his career? 

And he thinks he is ready for Glasgow football ? 

Dickhead. 

20 more games than Gerrard managed before he took the job. 

Honestly don't care too much but definitely shows that they are happy not to have Gerrard back. 

So Jazz Sabbath last night was excellent. Adam Wakeman had greyed his hair to embody the persona of "Milton Keanes" and generally excellent. The ensemble were all excellent as well, including cameos from his dad. 

What wasn't great was the where the Crescent Theatre is and the fact that N-Dubz were playing around the corner at the NIA/Utilia/whatever branding Arena. It took me 1.5 hours to get out of the car park... 

1 hour ago, Rugeley Villa said:

 

This is very cool, it's Adam Wakeman who played keyboards with them at the end (son of Rick Wakeman) who was doing this sort of stuff for the crew whilst on tour. They are actually playing Birmingham on Saturday at the Crescent Theatre  

33 minutes ago, JoshVilla said:

Travelling down to Wembley and back tomorrow to see Porcupine Tree. Absolutely buzzing for it even though the drive is gonna be an absolute bag of shit.

Caught them on the fear of the blank planet tour at the Wulfrun. Fantastic show and hearing Anesthetize live was pure bliss.

got a decent double header with Biffy Clyro tomorrow and then Zeal & Ardor on Saturday