Graham

Old Man Gloom - just finished Seminar VIII and now onto Seminar IX

The whole thing is lovely, but that fretboard is wonderful

Thou - Rhea Sylvia Lovely grunge influenced sludge https://deathwishinc.bandcamp.com/album/rhea-sylvia

He's great - a brilliant singer and wonderful frontman, being able to remain in this band was a factor in deciding to remain in this part of the country. Here's a video my wife shot of our first try at a Harry Styles song received_1277558273070579.mp4

Not sure if this Facebook link will work, but this is a clip from last night https://www.facebook.com/170690849792411/posts/1739791796215634/

First public gig since the before times tonight. Kids are at the in-laws, so the wife's coming out and I've got someone to show off for. I've got new strings on my bass and it's our first outing with our new guitarist. We'll, actually he's the original guitarist, but he's not been with the band for best part of ten years. I'm really looking forward to tonight.

As it's 20 years old today, Pig Destroyer - Prowler In The Yard https://pigdestroyer.bandcamp.com/album/prowler-in-the-yard-deluxe-reissue

I used to have this one, which was a custom bolt on. I recorded this album with it

I like the look of the Achilles headless multiscale, be interested to see some more about it as it's a bit vague on the website at the moment

Listening to my favourite band - Cave In - to try and get me through some very stressful times

I'm a fingers player, so shouldn't be too much of an issue; I'm expecting to have to make some changes to get to a similar result, so see how we get on

Heard, clear and present for me - hence my taste for solid state heads. It'll be interesting when we start gigging with our new guitarist, as he's a strat player whereas the last guy predominantly played a Les Paul, so I'll have to see how I need to change my tone to fit accordingly

Thou's album of Nirvana covers

When people write "rare" in adds, I read it as "so unpopular/impracticable that manufacture was ceased almost immediately"

The new AFI record would fit in here, I was surprised by how much I like it, probably my album of the year at the moment

Best was Cult Of Luna performing their Mariner collaboration with Julie Christmas in full at 2016's Damnation Festival Other notables were Mistress's last ever show again at Damnation but in 2009, the Lounge Kittens penultimate show at Union Chapel last February, Tool at Wembley Arena in 2006 and Opeth at The Mean Fidldler in 2005 Worst, probably HIM at Cambridge Corn Exchange 2004/2005; Cathedral were supporting so not a complete wash out, but the headliners were dull.

The middle section of Dazed And Confused, really makes my hand ache

Same here (though I was 17) Blink 182 were my first favourite band and though I don't really listen to them these days (I'm about 20 years past the target demographic), there's no denying Mark's songwriting talent.

I've really enjoyed reading this thread. I have no issue with challenging subjects being discussed in music; it would be hard for me to be an extreme metal fan if I did. In my mind though, there is a distinct difference to listening to and performing these songs. My issue with Delilah is that it is told from the killer's perspective and is sympathetic to them, not the victim. It seems to be the very epitome of "men are scared women will laugh at them, women are scared men will kill them" With Brown Sugar, it was interesting reading the history of the song and the context in which it was written, but I find the language it uses to describe black people exoticises and I would argue dehumanises them. Of course, your perspective may differ, my perspective being of a white man I am probably not the best authority on the subject; all I know is that it makes me uneasy. I have found the whole thread extremely interesting though and was very happy to see others perspectives.

There's two songs in our set at the moment that I really don't enjoy playing as the lyrics make me feel uncomfortable. I'm not the singer, so has less of an impact on me, but I don't feel good playing them, which also makes me not want to practice them, I will of course, though. The first is Brown Sugar and whilst the lyrics do strike me as more than a little racist, I'm less uncomfortable with that one. The other is Delilah and I really don't like it. It's a song about domestic violence and murder that's sympathetic to the killer and I feel bad every time I play it. What's the best route here? We've got a dep guitarist this weekend so are a bit limited on set list, but I think I might have a chat with the singer/band leader and say that going forward I'd really rather not play Delilah at least. Or should I just suck it up and ignore it, particularly as I'm not singing them?

Ganglands should have been swapped out for Total Eclipse, apparently they considered this and still went with Ganglands.....

Emma Ruth Rundle is stylistically very different to Thou, though I think they share a similar ethos. Their collaboration from last year - May Our Chambers Be Full - is spectacular https://thou.bandcamp.com/album/may-our-chambers-be-full

No, fortunately nor that far a drive 😀 we're at a golf course in Kent not far from the M25

I spoke with our singer last night, as I was surprised our wedding booking for the 26th of June is still going ahead. Having now read through all the rules/guidance on the government website it looks like the venue have worked at a solution that lets us play To be honest, I was kinda hoping it was going to be cancelled as it's a fair drive and we've got a dep guitarist we've not used before; but it is nice to know we'll be playing next weekend.

I've been almost exclusively listening to the new AFI record since it came out last Friday I'm a big fan of these guys, from the ages of 16-20 they were my favourite band in the world, but from what I'd heard of the pre-release tracks I wasn't digging the new direction and wasn't really expecting to enjoy the album much. However, it's brilliant and I can't stop listening to it, the songs work really well in the context of the album and once you make peace with the fact they've moved on and matured their sound it's just a great record. Album of the year so far for me.