mindspill

Dream concert - Ticket in hand

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:54:51 GMT

Is it possible to top up a concert with My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost and Anathema? Most probably not!

My next Eurovision vote is already cast

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:41:39 GMT

This is the Irish song ...

More info about Dustin the Turkey

Music in 2007

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:56:28 GMT

Amorphis - Silent Waters
Paradise Lost - In Requiem
Ajattara - Kalmanto
Finntroll - Ur Jordens Djup
Pain - Psalms of Extinction
Dark Tranquility - Fiction
Dimmu Borgir - In Sorte Diaboli
Samael - Solar Soul
Porcupine Tree - Fear of a blank planet
Battlelore - Evernight

This year it was very difficult to choose the best album of the year. It was a tough decision between the first 3 albums as all of them are great with very little to criticise. At the end I chose the Amorphis album because it's probably the easiest to listen to, and has the best cover art. The best music event of the year was Tuska, but then that's the first and only festival I've ever been so there was little competition there, even because there weren't loads of concerts in Dublin this year. The "revelations" this year were Pain and Ajattara. Even though they've been in existence for quite a while I only really listened to them this year.

Therion concert weekend

Tue, 18 Sep 2007 00:43:12 GMT

The highlight of this weekend was the Therion concert. Therion came to Dublin with a 7 man stage (2 female sopranos Katarina Lilja and Lori Lewis, 2 vocalists, drummer, bassist, guitar player), which was probably the densest stage I’ve ever seen so far. All the members are great showmen/women, and each one has his/her own act, either inciting the crowd, being funny or being just a treat to eye and ears. The funniest member was the blond gothic freak Snowy Shaw (Notre Dame) who had his own subshow during the gig.

They started the show with Mitternacht Lowe the first song on Gothic Kabbalah. Most of the songs were from this album, since this was the album tour that’s more than understandable. There were some problems with the sound at a certain point, especially during one of my favourite songs Perennial Sophia. My favourite songs of the concert were “Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah” and “To Mega Therion”, which was the last song they played. After a lot of shouting for an encore, they came back and played a Manowar cover version. I didn’t recognise the song but since all Manowar songs are pretty much the same sing along structure it was easy to lalala and jump to it.

After the concert we stayed over drinking some beer, and all of a sudden I spotted the girls from the band buying beer. We met the rest of the band who were welcoming photos freely, and we even attempted to get some snaps with the phone. The results weren’t spectacular but at least I’ve got proof that I was there. I made the amateur mistake of not taking a pen with me so I didn’t get an autograph. Piihhhhhhh.

I vegetated for the rest of the weekend. I watched almost all the Rugby World Cup matches and wasn’t impressed in the least by Ireland playing Georgia. Ireland barely managed to win and had a bad time trying to overcome the strong determination of the ex Soviet nation. Meanwhile both New Zealand and France made a complete mess of their opponents Portugal and Namibia respectively. Probably the most balanced game of the weekend was Tonga against Samoa, the Pacific Islands derby. (Interesting note: Samoa > Tonga in size and population. Both Islands are bigger than the dot but have less population). Yesterday evening we went to the shopping centre and I couldn’t resist the lure of the sushi belt. Delicious sushi dinner, even though the sushi belt isn’t the cheapest way to eat sushi.

Who is Maria Taylor?

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:49:27 GMT

Not many songs are likely to catch my attention at 7am in the morning, let alone an atypical song (for me) like a good start. But then again maybe I'm more receptive earlier in the day.

Just in case Maria Taylor was a huge artist I never knew existed (something not unheard of from me) I did a quick google on her and found out that she's a relatively small artist from Nebraska. That suits me fine, I like exploring new artists even though I doubt that I'll continue listening much to her when I really wake up.

I found from semantic bits blog.

Maria Taylor's myspace

How mainstream are you?

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 21:46:07 GMT

This this cool lastfm.com site tells you how mainstream the music you listen to is.

I'm currently 12.32% mainstream.

Tuska and Helsinki Pictures

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:59:15 GMT

I've just uploaded the Tuska festival and Helsinki Pictures on my SmugMug account. Click on the images for the different galleries.

Ozzy Osbourne’s concert at The Point, Dublin

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 21:35:23 GMT

After 3 days of metal in Finland I almost regretted having brought the ticket, but it was too expensive to waste it. I was expecting Ozzy dressed in a long violet cloak wearing a golden crown and clenching the mike, with an oxygen tank and wheelchair on standby. But no, Ozzy came wearing his all black pajamas instead.

Luckily his Alzheimer's didn't mess the part of the brain that contains his lyrics, and he was sober enough to run around and throw buckets of water at the crowd. This was his 2nd preferred way of stirring a response apart from "I can't fucken hear you", shouted out like he's calling his bulldog Lola.

All this is minor detail that’s easily forgiven. This is Ozzy we’re talking about, so the fact that he’s alive and on stage is enough. Even though he might not have been performed the same way as his glorious days, it was great listening to the classics coming out the man himself. To my relief he played mostly old classics like Bark at the moon (the opening song), Mr. Crowley, Suicide solution, War pigs, I don't want to change the world, I don't know, Mamma I’m coming home and Crazy train. Then he ended the gig in the best possible way - playing paranoid.

I don't know whether I can claim that because Ozzy can still move on stage it means he put up a great show. What I can say however is, that I enjoyed it greatly.

Eurovision 2007

Tue, 15 May 2007 03:06:14 GMT

Now that I cannot deny that my Eurovision addiction any longer I feel obliged to write my yearly few words on the event.

Like every year there was talk of bloc voting and neighbouring country favouritisms, but despite all this like every year the winner was unpredicted. The winners Serbia (download mp3)not only didn't have an interesting stage, appealing song or sexy singer, but their song was performed by what the Czech friend described as a "lesbian boy".

This year my votes went for Slovenia, Finland and Ukraine, in that order. Both Finish and Slovenian acts had a similar dark gothic touch, which explains why I liked them, but I guess that wasn't generally appreciated trait by the public this year. Ukraine (download mp3)with their fun and funny drag act managed the second place but the other two didn't even manage to make the top 10 to automatically qualify for next year.

My biggest disappointment wasn't even the fact that the dot didn't qualify for the finals but that my compatriots, with whom I categorically disassociate myself from, gave maximum points to the UK. The UK's song was the only song I couldn't stand watching and actually left my seat to prepare a drink in the kitchen. With the abysmal quality of the recent British songs I think they should be banned from entering the competition let alone automatically qualifying despite the result.

Ireland finished last receiving only 5 points from Albania. This is ironically exactly what happened last year to the dot with the difference that we received 1 point instead of 5. The UK should have been reserved this treatment this year. Having said this, I might add that the dot only got 15 points in the semi-final only managing the 25th place in the semis (position 39 out of 42).

Music in 2006

Sun, 07 Jan 2007 02:09:15 GMT

20 Most memorable songs of the year

Canaan - Senza una risposta
My Dying Bride - To remain tombless
Forsaken - Wretched of the earth
Opeth - The baying of the hounds
Draconian - The morningstar
In flames - Take this life
Opeth - The grand conjuration
Bloodbath - Cancer of the soul
Doors - People are strange
Clash - Should I stay or should I go
Satyricon - Black Lava
Moonspell - Memento mori
Enslaved - RUUN
Doors - Alabama song
Estradasphere - A corporate merger
In flames - Come Clarity
Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
I - The storm I ride
Slayer - Jihad
Death - Spirit Crusher

Best albums played this year

Opeth - Ghost Reveries (2005)
My Dying Bride - A line of deathless knights
Draconian - The Burning Halo
Satyricon - Volcano (2002)
Forsaken - Dominaeon (2005)
Nazca - Non grata (2003)
Canaan - The unsaid words (2005)
In flames - Come clarity
Dresden Dolls - Yes Virginia
Satyricon - Now, diabolical
Doors - The best of the doors
Enslaved - Ruun
Estradasphere - Palace of Mirrors
Moonspell - Memorial
I - Between two worlds