Pootling

Don’t make fun of renowned Dan Brown

Thom Beckett — Sat, 11 May 2013 12:03:58 +0000

A review of Dan Brown's latest work, Inferno, written in the style of Dan Brown. Spot on, a bit mean, and hilariously funny.

The critics said his writing was clumsy, ungrammatical, repetitive and repetitive. They said it was full of unnecessary tautology. They said his prose was swamped in a sea of mixed metaphors. For some reason they found something funny in sentences such as “His eyes went white, like a shark about to attack.” They even say my books are packed with banal and superfluous description, thought the 5ft 9in man. He particularly hated it when they said his imagery was nonsensical. It made his insect eyes flash like a rocket.

Was the destruction of the Death Star an inside job?

Thom Beckett — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 19:14:18 +0000

Presents a persuasive case:

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The Real-Time Beatles Project

Thom Beckett — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 07:52:02 +0000

One thing I’ve always found intriguing about the career of The Beatles is how quickly it all happened. Love Me Do was released in 1962, and Let It Be was released in 1970. That’s a measley eight years. And since Love Me Do was the only single they released in 1962, in reality we’re looking at seven years.

For a long time I’ve been thinking, what would it have felt like to experience that musical career as it unfolded in real time? Well, since we’re currently exactly 50 years on since it all started, it seemed like a good opportunity to give it a go.

So starting from the 5 October last year (50 years on from the original release), I added Love Me Do to the playlist I’m currently listening to, and I’ve followed on with Please Please Me (the single), and the full Please Please Me album (which was released 50 years ago today, as it happens).

Clearly I’ve heard all this music before, but it’s an interesting experience to be limited to just the music The Beatles had released by now 50 years ago, and I’m hoping that as I continue this over the next 7 years, I’ll get a better insight into what it was like to discover The Beatles’s music, as the band discovered it themselves and released it into the world.

If you want to follow along, follow me on Twitter, since I’ll announce what I’m adding to my playlist on there.

Suit & Tie by Justin Timberlake - Four Tet Remix

Thom Beckett — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:00:54 +0000

I rather like the original of this too, but the more I listen to Four Tet's remix, the more I prefer it:

You Are Boring by Scott Simpson

Thom Beckett — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 17:46:51 +0000

If you're not a subscriber to The Magazine, then first of all you should be, but it also presuambly means you won't have read Scott Simpson's article explaining why you, yes you, are boring. And you should.

Incidentally, I'm not distancing myself from this, I'm totally that guy.

You are a Democrat, an outspoken atheist, and a foodie. You like to say “Science!” in a weird, self-congratulatory way. You wear jeans during the day, and fancy jeans at night. You listen to music featuring wispy lady vocals and electronic bloop-bloops.

You really like coffee, except for Starbucks, which is the worst. No wait—Coke is the worst! Unless it’s Mexican Coke, in which case it’s the best.

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How the Star Wars / Disney deal happened and future plans

Thom Beckett — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 17:02:46 +0000

Interesting piece in Businessweek, including a rare bit of input direct from George Lucas himself.

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Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage?

Thom Beckett — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 20:48:21 +0000

This is by Girl Band, and it's a cover of an original track by Blawan. I don't know either of these bands, but I know this track is a bit like having your brain drilled. But in a good way.

You can buy the track here.

The Eagleman Stag

Thom Beckett — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 17:01:25 +0000

I'd been waiting to see the full version of this ever since I saw the trailer following the Baftas in 2011. Turns out I needn't have waited so long since it's seemingly been on Vimeo for the last nine months. Still, it was worth the wait even that wait was longer than was was entirely necessary:

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Falling by Haim

Thom Beckett — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 21:25:25 +0000

While I'm on the subject of new singles, Haim have a new one too. Well, I say new, but in fact it came out last week, but I only found out today. It's wonderful though. They seem to get better every time they release a new song. It's the first track from a new EP coming in April:

As Derek Crook pointed out to me on Twitter, there's a great version of the song from Haim's Maida Vale session on BBC6 too:

Mind-blowing drumming and storming guitar and bass parts too. Wonderful.

James Blake's New Single

Thom Beckett — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 11:47:50 +0000

I love the new single by James Blake. His first album is astonishing, but this is a lot more accessible, whilst still showing off his beautiful voice. Like all of his stuff, it just gets better and better on each listen.

The new album's out 8 April.

Lady Edith with Googly Eyes

Thom Beckett — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:00:00 +0000

Because, somewhere, there's a Tumblr for every variation of words you can imagine, here's the one for Lady Edith of Downton Abbey with googly eyes.

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John Grant

Thom Beckett — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 14:10:07 +0000

John Grant is amazing. He's a songwriter so overflowing with talent that he made Midlake sound like one of the most ground-breaking bands around when they backed him on Queen of Denmark. If you don't believe me, just watch him play 'Where Dreams Go To Die':

I raise this because he's got a new album coming out on the 11 March, and I'd put money on it being one of the albums of the year. Just take a listen to the title track from the album, 'Pale Green Ghosts':

I love the fact that other than his wonderful voice, which I wouldn't change for the world, the tone of this track is really rather different from Queen of Denmark. It makes me so excited to hear what's in store on the rest of the album. You can find out more and get a tracklisting and stuff on his new website.

Also, Bella Union have put up a remix of 'Pale Green Ghosts' on Soundcloud. It too is an intriguing take on the track and well worth a listen:

While you're waiting for March, if you haven't already, I suggest listening to 'Queen of Denmark' which is one of the best albums of the last few years in my view:

Oh, and finally, he's on tour in May. Catch him at the Shepherd's Bush Empire where you may find me up in the balcony singing along in a slightly annoying fashion.

Albums of 2012

Thom Beckett — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 18:07:43 +0000

I thought, like with my songs of the year, I better get on with this or it'll be 2014 and I'll have two years of music to look back on.

In all, I don't think it's been a particularly special year for albums. Each of these 10 are great, but a fair few of them wouldn't have got close to the top 10 in many years. Still, at least singles-wise it's been brilliant.

So, my top 10 albums:

10: Broadside by Bellowhead Bellowhead are definitely the best live band around at the moment, and although this album has a lot to recommend it, it's not their best. It's fun though, reiterates their folky big band style, and if you're going to see them live (and you should) the more of their songs you know the better. Best Track: Dockside Rant / Sailing on the Tide

9: Coexist by The xx Again, this doesn't quite live up to their first album, but its sparse instrumentation and Romy's voice sound wonderful, and there's much to like. Best Track: Angels

8: Electronic Earth by Labrinth I'm a sucker for good production, and pop-wise, this is one of the best-produced albums for a few years. Earthquake is where Labrinth shows off every last ounce of skill he has in making a song explode into life, but his cover of Express Yourself, if you're not already sick of it from every advert and many Olympics montages is another great example of what he does so well. Best Track: Earthquake

7: Lonerism by Tame Impala Some might say that this sounds like a band doing a slightly more psychedelic remake of Revolver-era Beatles music, but I say, what's wrong with that? Best Track: Elephant

6: The Haunted Man by Bat For Lashes I picked Laura as one of my favourite songs of the year, but the rest of the album is great too. The sparser production really shows off Natasha Khan's excellent voice. Best Track: Laura

5: Visions by Grimes An intriguing albums, where the pleasing, entirely accessible poppyness of Oblivion doesn't quite prepare you for the more interesting electronic sounds. Some might not find her voice to be quite their cup of tea, but I love it. Best Track: Oblivion

4: Silver & Gold by Sufjan Stevens This may be a Christmas album, so it's not one you might want to have a listen to right now, but if you haven't heard it before, in December 2013, you're going to love it. Sufjan is the master of Christmas music. Best Track: Christmas Unicorn

3: Shields by Grizzly Bear Grizzly Bear are one of those bands with many great songs who haven't quite shone through with a full album yet. Well, now they have. Shields is varied, interesting and beautiful. Best Track: Yet Again

2: The Bravest Man In The Universe by Bobby Womack A few artists push out some of their best work in their later years. Johnny Cash is a recent example, and Bob Dylan's had his moments over the last decade or so, but this album by Bobby Womack really shows quite how skilled he still is at crafting perfect, soulful tracks that stick with you. Best Track: Please Forgive My Heart

1: Channel Orange by Frank Ocean Not an unusual choice, I know. And because lots of people have chosen it as their favourite album of the year, a few people have started to call it over-rated. These people are wrong. This album is a masterful work, surprisingly understated throughout, but from the falsetto Thinkin' About You to the epic Pyramids, this is R&B at its best and most experimental, whilst retaining an accessible, pop edge. Wonderful stuff. Best Track: Bad Religion

Songs of 2012

Thom Beckett — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 20:54:47 +0000

I've been dicking around since about mid December putting off writing this post. The trouble is, every day my list of favourite 2012 songs is a bit different. A new song pops in, and another drops off the bottom. The first few have remained pretty constant for a while now, though, and if I don't publish it soon, it'll be 2014, so here's a top 20 of 2012 for you:

Jasmine - Jai Paul
I Belong In Your Arms - Chairlift
Laura - Bat For Lashes
That's What's Up - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
Forever - Haim
Under The Westway - Blur
Racing Stripes - Aesop Rock
Bad Girls - MIA
Thinkin About You - Frank Ocean
Losing You - Solange
Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepson
Oblivion - Grimes
Share My Love - R Kelly
The House That Heaven Built - Japandroids
Into The Black - Chromatics
Climax - Usher
Please Forgive My Heart - Bobby Womack
Baby - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Work - The 2 Bears
Death Of A Rude Boy - Madness

If you listen to nothing else from this, I highly recommend you have a listen to the top 3, so here they are in YouTube form:

Jasmine by Jai Paul: This is just a mind-blowing track that benefits well from huge, bassy speakers (or headphones, but it's best of all if everything in the house is vibrating slightly from that bassline). The stuttering vocal production is just perfect.

I Belong In Your Arms by Chairlift: Just a lovely three and half minutes of pure 80s-esque pop that has a wonderfully singable chorus that feels like you've heard it many, many times before you actually did.

Laura by Bat For Lashes: Natasha Khan's been threatening to write songs that sound like this for some time, but her albums, although lovely, often depend too much on ornamentation to really give the songs the power they deserve. Not here though - the beautiful understated piano is the perfect accompaniment to Khan's voice and the light orchestration just add to the song.

If you want these tracks, and various others that have all been somewhere in this top 20 at one time another, here's a handy Spotify playlist:

Album list to follow, well, sometime. Fingers crossed.

Making A Lego Sopwith Camel

Thom Beckett — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 08:34:29 +0000

Yesterday, for my birthday, my lovely wife bought me the Lego Sopwith Camel, so how else could I possibly have spent yesterday morning than putting the whole model together whilst filming a time lapse of it?

For the completests out there, here's me making the Lego Camper Van for my birthday last year:

Incidentally, both models are lovely. If anything, I think the more fun one to build is the Sopwith Camel. A good Lego model is a bit like reading a novel. You know there will be twists and turns, and you have a certain sense of where the whole thing will end up, but you're not quite sure how you'll get there - the fun part is finding out. The Sopwith Camel model has all of the best types of suspense you can find in Lego model building - especially the joystick and control system.

They Come To Get Us by The Death Set

Thom Beckett — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 08:32:26 +0000

A video that starts with a Back to the Future hat-tip, and then contains a couple of Lego Minifigs is always going to be a winner in my book.

Louis CK fills in Questionnaire for Vanity Fair

Thom Beckett — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 17:30:57 +0000

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

It would be that I never agreed to fill out this fucking thing.

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Apple & Marketing

Thom Beckett — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 17:00:17 +0000

Ask someone who's not a fan of Apple why they're successful, and sooner or later they'll start telling you that it's down to what they spend on marketing. But...

Samsung Marketing Expenses

Read the rest of Horace Dediu's piece on the cost of selling Samsung Galaxies on Asymco.

Hypercritical On Misogyny And Why Geek Culture Should Be Accepting

Thom Beckett — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 17:00:49 +0000

I'm going to miss Hypercritical when it finishes in a few week's time. One of the many reasons is because of episodes like this week's where John Siracusa starts with the normal geeky topics about processors then, around the 57 minute mark, gives an excellent, eloquent talk about why he finds misogyny in geek culture to be so disappointing, whilst explaining (but not excusing) why it happens.

I agree with almost every word he says, and the reasons he gives for why it happens. And I also agree entirely that of all cultures, geek culture should be the most accepting of people who, for one reason or another, people see as being different. Starting with half of the population that are another gender to you, but then moving on to being accepting and welcoming of all others that society attempts to ostracise.

This case has been put a number of times before, but I don't remember a time it's been put so well.

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Astonishing Archer Lars Anderson

Thom Beckett — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 11:33:17 +0000

A slightly strange video, in which the commentary appears to have been electronically translated and the put through an automated voice system, but either way, the visuals of this video, in which Lars Anderson fires 11 arrows - 10 before the first arrow has hit the ground - and three while he is falling down, and another three at moving targets within 1.5 seconds, while also running backwards, speak for themselves. Amazing.