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Kongh - "Staining The Ether" - initial release from their upcoming new album - first in over a decade.

I'm really into it - there was always a waft of YOB/Cough from them and they have fully embraced it here, particularly the former. 

https://kongh.bandcamp.com/track/staining-the-ether-single-edit

This is probably going to offend a lot of people* but I'm bored to death of meeting people who are self-diagnosed as being ADHD/ on the spectrum...

There's a chap in work called Ricky, that for the past year or two, has had to drive drive home to sort out his young fella - a lad of about 18 or 19 - who, when he doesn't want to go to school or take his Leaving Cert. mocks, threatens to either kill himself or kill one of his parents.

Apparently - the lad is on the spectrum (not professionally diagnosed either because that would be too much hassle) but it seems that once he gets his way he just plays Playstation all day at home or goes back to his bedroom where his girlfriend seems to be "camped out" - not my word, his father said this to me.

Two weeks ago this young lad arrived into my toolroom with his father and said to me "This is Sean - if you need anything doing like sweeping up or whatever get a hold of him and make him work."

I didn't say anything but I wondered if this was Ricky's son that keeps threatening to do himself in, he has three boys all around the same age. I wandered into my boss's office to talk to him about something. One of the other lads, Mad Mark, was already in there.

"I hear what you're saying, Mark" said my boss, Steve "but I'm willing to the give the lad a chance. Ricky came and asked me so I decided to go with it"

Clearly they were talking about young Sean.

"A chance, me bollix!" said Mark "Ricky said that the little cunt is suicidal. For all we know the urge might overtake him next week when he's up on the gantry and he'll fucking jump off!"

"Is that a major concern, Mark? Really?"

"It will be if the weird prick lands on me!"

The full album is now out and streaming on all usual platforms. Apocalyptic Witchcraft have vinyls CD's and tapes. We'll have some with us at monkfest tomorrow and eventually online on our own bandcamphttps://apocalypticwitchcraft.bandcamp.com/album/the-unbinding

Will the ones on your own Bandcamp ship from Ireland?

Or... are ye doing an album launch?

And one more question    - is there gonna be a t-shirt with that artwork cos it's lethal.

Elder - "Through Zero".

This, in my opinion, is the best thing that they've done in years - probably since "Lore". It'll never match up to that record (or the ones before it) but this impressed me enough after a few listens last week to buy a copy - having had low expectations and recently selling off my copies of their post-"Lore" albums.

Admittedly several of my pre-purchase listens were accompanied by several cans and plenty of sunshine.

I could still do with less vocals from them but, overall, this is a return to form.

Thinking about Rick Froberg yesterday. 3 years gone already.

"Audit In Progress" - Hot Snakes

"Yank Crime" - Drive Like Jehu

Which led me to dig out;

"At Action Park" - Shellac


Also;

"Reckoning" - REM

"Cortex Vol. 2" - Cortex - great stuff. Bought this at the weekend after hearing the track "Datura" in a coffee shop recently. Check this shit out;

[feeling like fuckin' Steve Buscemi in Trees Lounge]

Sitting alone with my drink at the bar feeling like fuckin' Steve Buscemi in Trees Lounge. What a comedown after a great night 

 

On day 2 of the hangover now, which is standard these days.

I wrote somewhere on this forum previously that a hangover you might get in your 20s (which disappeared before lunch) is the sort of thing that would make you wish for death in your 40s.

The Walker Brothers - Nite Flights

That's a great record - probably too far ahead of its time and suffered the cruel death of being influential from a distance of decades.

"Shutout" is my favourite track on that album. It sounds like a Joy Division mixed with "Lodger"-era Bowie.

A normal one of these is 47 euros online  which is also robbery but adding 23 euros more for a stupid print! They can fuck off. 

I think that Yeti offer laser engraving for free over a certain amount spent too.

Christ, that is woeful. Reminiscent of a Sabbath soundalike play-along jam track that you'd get with a guitar magazine 25 years ago.

The solo is terrible too - like a halfhearted first take played on a Fisher-Price guitar.

"Hatful of Hollow" - The Smiths.

I came to The Smiths much later than is generally considered standard - i.e. one's teenage years. Mainly because, for most of my life, I thought that Morrissey was cunt - a fact borne out to be true. Obviously I knew the hits but I only began listening to the albums proper when I was firmly in my 30s.

I picked up the "Hatful Of Hollow" compilation for a few quid at the weekend, having never listened to it before - the thing that struck me was how much work the rhythm section is doing which I never noticed on the studio records. Andy Rourke is doing serious bass workouts - if you take Morrissey out of the mix on the Hatful version of "This Charming Man" the rest of the lads sound like an exceptionally tight jazz-trio - none of them are older than 20/21 on that record either.

Except Morrissey who was 25ish and a cunt. 

 

You Ain't The First (Owner Of This Ticket)

Yet again Elder go on tour without making their Irish debut.

Haven't listened to the new album - they haven't done a solid record in years but they are still a great live band.

Sorry about the link for the first one - it's on Spotify/Bandcamp too. I listened about 2 weeks ago while I was trawling through record bins in a shop trying to find a jazz album based on a fleeting memory of the cover/artist name. This wasn't the record that I was looking for but I am now slightly obsessed with it. I reckon I have played this 15 times in the last two weeks. 

That led me to to this;

(also on Spotify)

Currently watching series one of "Ludwig".

David Mitchell plays twin brothers, one of whom is a cop who goes missing in the first minute of the opening episode whilst the other is effectively a anxiety-ridden shut-in who works as a puzzle setter for a broadsheet newspaper.

The puzzle setter inadvertently assumes the cop's job whilst attempting to figure out where his brother is.

It is better than I have made it sound there. 

Overall very funny with plenty of twisty plot lines to get into. For fans of "Poirot", "Jeeves & Wooster" and that sort of ITV Sunday evening thing (this is on the BBC though).

I described it to my wife as "slippers and shepherd's pie viewing".

Finally got to this, good craic. Nice ambiguity to it. I have California Split lined up to finish my Gouldapaloosa trilogy.

Good stuff. "Busting" is great fun as is "California Split".

Oddly enough, I found myself watching the last 90 mins or so of Altman's "M*A*S*H" on TV the other night.