Ed Banger Birthday - 10.07.09

It has been a while since the last post, what seems like an age has passed since I last clicked the link of 'New Post' however this last Friday created a brilliant opportunity to revive this stagnant space of the Internet. More specifically the event that unfurled from evening 'til dawn is what made me consider a new post.

As previous readers of this blog will be aware, I have made my love of music well known, with reviews and opinions being posted here. Those who know me to a greater extent will know of my love of the French duo "Justice" (Their album being the them of the second post on here) as well as other artists on the Ed Banger Label such as Busy P (Pedro Winter, Label Founder) Sebastian and DJ Mehdi. This weekend saw a gripping rendition of the talents housed in the small yet highly influential record label in the form of Ed Banger's 6 1/2 Birthday Party culminating in South London's Coronet Theatre.

As soon as I first learnt of the gig, my tickets were booked without hesitance - why would a fan such as myself pass up on such a rare yet affordable (£15pp) opportunity. The press release listed pretty much every Ed Banger artist under the sun as well as DJ sets from other artists such as Friendly Fires and Mystery Jets. The poster also made the bold claim of 'And Special Guests' - this was when the angelic chorus began to resound in my head, this was potentially going to be Ed Banger's best worst kept secret.

- Jump Forward 3 Months -
- 10.07.09 -

Worst. Gig. Day. Ever...
It began with a drive to Gatwick at 6am, followed by a 7-hour Sainsbury’s shift. Finish shift and tickets are lost plus co-giggers have dropped out of the adventure. Nobody else can afford to come on such short notice and time is running out: the gig starts at 9pm and it this rate I can forget about being fashionably late, the catwalk is long gone. Get on the train. Take the two-hour journey and get to Earls Court at 9.15. Change shirt. Go to Elephant & Castle, which neighbours the theatre. Meet girls without tickets. Sell spare tickets to them. Done. The night can begin. Let's Go. I may be alone but there is a gig to enjoy.

The evening started with a strong set by Krazy Baldhead - I've never really looked into any of his music before and what I was introduced to I found impressive, not ground breaking or entirely unique but great nonetheless. The audience present throughout the night and into the early (then middle) hours of the morning was perfect, a mix of excitement and restraint - no awkward cheers and no fighting. So-Me followed, an artist that uses good use of visual elements within his set list as well as creating some brilliant remixes. (He also used some well-placed Michael Jackson tributes within the set.

It was after this point that things started to really heat up. Halfway through DJ Mehdi's set, a very familiar character graced the stage - one Xavier De Rosnay, half of the Justice duo. His presence was noticed instantly, the audience exploding with excitement as the two DJ's mixed new and unheard melodies and effects into the set. Pedro Winter then takes to the mic, introduces Gaspard Auge thus whipping the audience up into a frenzy. Justice then begin to mix fan favourites such as the popular and chart-featured 'We Are Your Friends', album favourite 'Stress' and considerably new track 'NY Excuse' - a track taken from the band's debut live album.

However, despite their popularity Justice was never the primary cause for the gig. It was a celebration of the accomplishments made in a relatively short time within such a difficult industry. For this reason, the key time slot was allocated to Pedro Winter as Busy P. He deserved it and there was no question about it, it was his evening. Through the night he had been crossing the stage, pouring champagne from the stage into the outstretched cups of his fans, throwing out sealed vinyls to screaming fans and at one point, passing lit sparklers into the crowd. At one point I looked over to the stage manager who with this sort of audience interaction, as well as the copious amounts of cigarettes being smoked by De Rosnay on-stage, looked thoroughly ill - he was imagining the health and safety forms that would follow.

Capped off by artist SebastiAn (whose set I must admit went on forever), the night was a success for all involved - fans and artists alike. It showed how alive the record label industry is despite all the talks of doom and gloom surrounding it. A gripping gig with gripping music - I thoroughly enjoyed it. The only element of it that wore thin was the duration, I saw many people leaving early or at least leave looking brain-dead after the 8-hour epic, some sets could have been shorter.

Rating
The appearance of Justice makes it a 9.6/10.

Best Moments
Hugging Gaspard and the SebastiAn remix of 'Killing In The Name Of' - digitised vocals work so well!

Oh dear Christian Bale...

So we have all heard about Christian Bale's quite recent media coverage concerning his possible family beating. It was a shame to hear about such a quality actor's possible issues with temper and emotion. I personally love Bale's work, Batman - Brilliant, American Psycho - Likewise however another example of Bale's nasty side has been going around the net.

This link is of an audio recording which were taken from a recent film shoot Bale was on. It turns out that a crew member was interrupting takes due to queries over lighting and Bale kind of flew off the handlebars - the footage has a lot of bad language so i'm saying NSFW. Wow, a first on this blog...

Sorry for lack of updates - coming soon!

Josh. x

UPDATE: This footage has been on delayed release it would seem and was actually recorded during filming of Terminator Salvation mid last summer, a couple of days after his arrest. Understandable.

Mirrors Edge: Leap of Faith or Stumbling into the Dark?

A game that has been on the horizon of my game radar is Electronic Arts creation 'Mirrors Edge' which was released earlier this month. Being the poor Sainsbury's employee that I am, I waited fr my good friend Josh to purchase it. Sneaky sneaky...

The game follows Faith, a 'runner' in an unnamed totalitarian metropolis where everymove is under surveillance and every point of contact recorded. A runners job is to take messages under the radar. Basically, you're a rebellious freerunner who will get shot. A lot. As the game progresses the player delves deeper into the corruption filling the city. Chapters begin on rooftops where Faith must use pipes, ledges and walls to scale skyscrapers and other landmarks. From here Faith will usually have to make her way into these surveillance strongholds to deliver messages.


Faith is equipped with nothing but her hands, feet and what EA have dbbed 'Runner's Vision', a colour coded trail directing you towards your objectives. with red being the easiest.

So, I borrowed the game, loaded it and got ready for what I was sure would be an exhillerating experience. And it was! Until... well, the end of the tutorial. Now I am not a complex gamer who depends on realisim (to an extent) though one aspect of gaming which really annoys me is the use of linear gameplay. When I turn something on I like for their to be a certain level of freedom seen in titles such as Fable 1/2 and the Grand Theft Auto series. I don't play these games so much for the action or violence and on occasion I have been known to skip any cutscenes (*ahem* GTA) - I just like the feeling of freedom and exploration yet this game has so little. The freerunning in first-person works so well yet paths are limited and you're lead to each objective in what can only be described as a clumsy fashion with your 'runners vision' pointing in vaguely the right direction. In fact at times the player is surrounded by a variety of coloured buildings but with no way of getting to them.

During development, chief producer Owen O'Brien described ME in the following way: "this is an action adventure. We're not positioning this as a shooter - the focus isn't on the gun, it's on the person." This comment is very, very true of the final product. The combat engine in this game although clever (Limited to one round, weapons slow player down) is also infuriating with A.I being 'clicky' - at some times heading for cover and then at others just staring blankly. The realism to the game works well with only a dfew bullets taking down Faith though after countless deaths from either opponent or obstacle this gets tidious.

As far as gameplay goes, I have had about 5 hours gameplay and am on chapter 7 of 9 - why so short? Each chapter lasts less than that of a single Halo level - just 1! And this is on 'Normal'! 'Hard' is unlocked once the game has been completed though this means that "Runners Vision' is turned off and enemies are increased: can I be bothered?

I hate to moan about this game - really I do! Visually this game is stunning, beautiful. The way in which the city is produced is amazing and the use of minimal colour works well as, when colour is found it generally is greatly welcomed. As well as visually, the team have created a story and world which is ready for unlimited exapansion without feeling like an 'add-on'. Runner's Vision works well most of the time and is an interesting aspect which can be greatly played upon in the future. It seems like the programmers made an amazing concept, amazing visuals and an amazing basic experience though tried squeezing it in a two tighter place - why? It is compelling yet tiresome at the same time.

Overall, how do I rate this game? It really is beauty versus beast: brilliant visuals against abrupt endings and poor level creation. I would advise anyone to play this game but perhaps not spend £40 on it, go in with an open mind and ready to enjoy. It seems more like a prolonged Beta or something similar. And what a shame it is too, maybe with a little more time and patience it could have been the Fable of the First-person world. Alas not.

Rating - 7/10

Days With My Father

I was recently looking through a back catolouge of posts from friend and youth leader Simon Parkin's blog and discovered what I have to say, must be the most passionate and hard-hitting of photographic portfolios ever. I'm not going to go into detail as I feel like the portfolio is a real experience having no prior knowledge.

www.dayswithmyfather.com

Josh. x

P.S - Short post, more to come later.

Changes and crossroads

So there hasn't been an update in a while: busy times are with us.

College.
Work.
Driving.
Work.

Not a lot has happened apart from that to be perfectly honest. Money has been made then swiftly spent on such things as petrol and music. I would say that Latitude has now been sufficiently processed - 3 months is enough I would imagine.

I'll start with Latitude: what an experience. I witnessed some truly brilliant music over the few days I was there - some new (The Gramatics, Howling Bells, The Mars Volta) and some not (Franz Ferdinand, Sigur Rös). I met people whom already I have come to now see as good friends and others who will just drift on by.

Musically looking forwards now, I have a few reviews waiting in the wings of musicians making an impression on my taste. There are few albums I have gotten hold of recently which though maybe not placing groundbreaking input into the twist but are remaining nontheless memorable.

The main change in life however is future. Without using cheesey quotes from time-travel movies, I believe my future is changing. I've always seen media as a heavy element for my life, especially that of television and film though over the last few months this has been changing. Where once I went on about movies and the alike nonstop I now feel differently. The part me which once enjoyed making short films has moved on - not died nor made dorment: just moved on. I still enjoy the idea of creating these pieces but as a career? No.

So where to now? Well, in an interesting and yet-ever-present-throughout-life turn, I will be setting my sights towards the Police Force. The prospect has always been ther: from being young and pretending to be a policeman then through primary and secondary education pondering and wondering what a life of policing would be like to the present.

I think the main reason for this random change in aspects is just growing up. People saying "Oh you'd be good at this or that" is helpful but only to certain levels - where I went wrong was by going too far along with suggestions, which is perfectly understandable and easy to do. I am not sure how others practically can relate to this: others suggesting career paths, colleges and universities clammering for your attendance and then just general everyday events. Being a young person today isn't easy though to be honest I don't think anyone has ever found it easy.

The final plan then? I plan on finishing college this year, dropping university applications early on. If things do all change (again) then I can always reapply. January is the time for police applications with more again every 6 months if I am not at first successful. It's a rough yet structured view on my next 12 months.

Thanks for the visit and fair winds,
Josh. x

P.S - Prayer is something that would be greatly appreciated whether direct/in-direct.

P.P.S - "Where we're going, we don't need 'roads' " - Doc. Emmitt Brown, Back To The Future I/II (Sorry couldn't resist.)

Latitude Festval...

Well tomorrow I embark on the journey towards my first ever cecular music festival. I've got high hopes for this weekend: some great bands including Interpol, Metronamy, Death Cab and of course Sigur Rös!

I'll be giving a de-brief one Tuesday of great acts, good acts and potentially unmissable acts as well as my look at the future of our music.

x

BREAKING NEWS!

Exciting News here!