Very sad - saw him Indy last year
https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2026/07/29/oscar-winning-irish-musician-glen-hansard-dies-56/
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Yesterday the Missus entered the room singing
“I’m the firefighter, great big firefighter, hey hey hey”
When I smirked, she said “Don’t you remember that one? It was a hit in the nineties”.
We’ve been singing it together ever since.
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This song/video gave me nightmares when I was around eight years old. I was convinced Keith, feral animal as he was, would show up on Granogwen Road and set fire to the entire mess.
I prefer your wife’s version.
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Go on. What’s her take on “Smack My Bitch Up”?
I told her about that and she wasn’t amused.
Those Prodigy boys would be in trouble if the Missus catches them disrespecting women.
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I’m just wondering what everyone’s thoughts on compilation albums are.
I was listening to the Genesis Platinum Collection this morning, which is a fairly comprehensive 3 CD best of collection which, rather unusually, runs in reverse chronological order. I suspect this is because it was aimed at people who were familiar with their later commercial material or Phil Collins solo work and allowed them to dig back to their earlier prog rock stuff.
For the most part, I prefer chronological compilations, but with the advent of Spotify and the like it is often presented in terms of the most streamed tracks first, which becomes a self fulfilling prophecy and hides lesser known tracks.
I like chronological compilations for the most part as they allow one to hear the progression of the artist for better or worse. “The Singles” is a pure form of this as it presents those tracks that the artist felt were the most accessible at the time.
“Greatest Hits” is another methodical way of arranging tracks as this picks up on proven commercial performance, but many compilations front load the albums with the best known tracks and leaves the album to peter out; a bit like the Spotify playlists.
“Best Of” is more interesting as this has been curated and allows for album orientated bands to include deeper dives.
“Very Best Of” tends to be when the record company executives get their grubby fingers on it and cut the material recorded for other labels.
Then there is the “Anthology” which is either previously unreleased material aimed at fans, or the few odd tracks and live outtakes that are a cynical attempt at fooling the unaware into buying substandard products.
I still like the idea of a properly curated introduction to new music. Algorithms are all well and good, but it doesn’t replace someone with a deep knowledge and understanding for what is being presented.
I’ve just been on an odd stream of consciousness. I was talking to my wife about the Odyssey film and she had some vague recollection about a song that was based around the trojan horse metaphor.
I remembered this from the Icicle Works:
The chorus suddenly rang a bell. Does anyone remember this banner? Does it still turn up at matches?
On my way back from Burton upon Trent (Bloodstock was nearby).
Saw Saxon (first time). Cryptopsy, Hidden Intent, Fit For An Autopsy, Biohazard, Seeking Akira (first time), Municipal Waste, Death Angel, Sepultura, Shining (first time), Lamb of God, Vebded (first time), Celestial Sanctuary, Nevermore (first time), Testament, Mushroomhead, Bidy Count, 200 Stab Wounds, and Judas Priest.
Time tp go home and recover. Quality sets and great energy! Had lots of lovely interactions with my fellow Bloodstockers.
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How did Nevermore’s new line-up do?
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Absolutely fantastic!!!
So relevant in the world that we are currently in…
“The End Of The Innocence”
Remember when the days were long
And rolled beneath a deep blue sky
Didn’t have a care in the world
With mommy and daddy standin’ by
But “happily ever after” fails
And we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers dwell on small details
Since daddy had to fly
But I know a place where we can go
That’s still untouched by men
We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass waves in the wind
You can lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair fall all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence
O’ beautiful, for spacious skies
But now those skies are threatening
They’re beating plowshares into swords
For this tired old man that we elected king
Armchair warriors often fail
And we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers clean up all details
Since daddy had to lie
But I know a place where we can go
And wash away this sin
We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass waves in the wind
Just lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair spill all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence
Who knows how long this will last
Now we’ve come so far, so fast
But, somewhere back there in the dust
That same small town in each of us
I need to remember this
So baby give me just one kiss
And let me take a long last look
Before we say goodbye
Just lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair fall all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence
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My favourite ever Aussie band The Saints are coming to Sydney in January so I’ve been thinking about them recently.
Did a search on Spotify and this came up.
Wtaf!?
The real thing…
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For those of us who have felt sometime like throwing ourselves into a volcano.
And the story of the Japanese girl who actually did ;
How do you listen to your music these days?
I never had Spotify or Apple Music but do get YouTube Music as part of my YouTube sub.
I used it to put together playlists for the car or the train. I had 99% of my music collection converted to MP3 for my phone so that was handy for using indoors with Bluetooth speaker or headphones on train etc.
But I have always been a CD and Vinyl guy. I’ve never stopped buying the product as I figure if the internet or Spotify goes down or my fav artist decides to take their music down I can no longer listen. I vowed never to succumb to streaming….
But since my life was changed (see the What’s going on thread) and I moved place, I have noticed that although my HiFi gear is rigged up I’m either not listening to it but when I do play music I’m only listening via YouTube music.
So…. Two weeks ago, A guy I follow on YouTube who talks about HiFi stuff does a video on a Streamer separate for HiFi. For some reason I watched it and was immediately interested.
The machine was the Cambridge CXN100 and they were over £1000 when they first started coming out . Richer Sounds now has them for £799.00
So I research how to rig up to my (then) Yamaha amp etc, but find out you need a subscription to Spotify/Apple/Tidal etc to maximise the streamer as the free accounts wont allow you to do certain things. Turns out the machine works best with Spotify and Tidal because although you select a song via the App – the machine takes the song from the internet at the highest bit rate so it doesn’t lose quality and also has Tidal and Spotify converters built in.
Also as the song isnt directly from the app but the internet if you get a text/phone call it doesn’t affect the song - it just plays where as with Bluetooth the song will go quiet/cut out when you get text and call.
If you use Apple or Amazon then it uses AirPlay so would lose some quality and it wouldn’t get the song from the internet . YouTube music isn’t compatible.
One other nice touch is the album title, artist and Artwork displays on the front of the machine in a screen that’s about 5” wide.
But these machines are silly money and I cannot afford one……until I go on eBay and see that Cambridge Audio are on there and selling refurbished ones with a 2 year guarantee for £699.00 and eBay has a promo going where if you spend over a certain amount you get £50 off so this would be £649.00. I think fuck it. My credit card is at £0 and I have 0% interest until next September. I’m going to treat myself….
I order on the Friday and the Machine turns up Monday. I rig it up, link up the Tidal app and its fan-bloody-tastic. I love it.
So now I have to go against everything I said I wouldn’t do because I need to sub to a music app. I do a bit of research on who is best and settle for Tidal. They work best with the machine, have Dolby Atmos, best bitrate and they give artists 3x more than Apple and Spotify.
I’ve since treated myself to a Cambridge Amp (poor credit card!) also from eBay and that turned up the other day.
So will I still be buying music? The answer is yes but only from my favourite artists to add to their discography. I will always buy my fav artists boxsets etc so nothing will change there.
Also listening to the Tidal app via my headphones on the train is fantastic. Its so different from the MP3s on my phone and the sound is so much better. So I could delete all the MP3s (I have them backed up on a hard drive if I ever need them) so did that.
Anyone else got/thought about getting one of these?
I’ve attached a photo of the set up.
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I have converted my CDs to MP3 so I can listen to them in the car. My car still has a CD player, but it is now hidden away in the glove box which is a nuisance, but the SD card has capacity for around 1000 albums.
In my living room, I have a surround sound system and play CDs on the blue ray player. The surround system includes two floor standing Monitor Audio speakers so it sounds pretty good.
I have partial hearing loss, so conversely I need the best sound reproduction i can get.
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I’m subscribed to Tidal and I mostly use my phone to listen to the music via earbuds that support LDAC protocol. I wouldn’t say it’s a gimmick because there’s a notable difference between listening to FLAC via LDAC compared to lossy codecs but I also think that I would need a very, very expensive setup to be able to make the most out of the highest quality that streaming services offer (provided I could hear the difference in the first place), and probably a wired setup at that.
I admire people who are into buying records (my uncles have been doing it their whole life and it’s great to see that sort of passion for music) but it’s not my thing because it’s expensive and takes up a lot of space. That said, I know it affects artists that I love in a very negative manner, so I try to make it up at least by buying concert tickets whenever I get the chance to see them play.
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Sorry, i just realised I never actually sent this post.
I’m a massive Nirvana fan so probably biased, but Nevermind is a great album cover, there is also a meaning behind it. A new born baby, swimming towards the money, rather than towards the surface.
On another note it shows the impact of the Artwork. I would state Ten by Pearl Jam as being the rival to Nevermind, yet how many people could tell you the detail of its album cover.
I definitely think the lack of a physical product and the nostalgia behind it is a sad victim to modern days society’s demand for convenience.
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Hi Walshy,
Streaming isn’t my domain, like you I’m CD, Vinyl, radio. I do have a CD/DAC that I can stream from my computer and TV. Streaming wise I use Spotify without subscription. If I were to stream I’d probably go with Qubuz however for user friendly app Tidal would probably be better.
As I play music from my PC I would want any streamer DAC to have a USB B connection.
Cambridge amps often come with a DAC so you might already have what you need to stream and listen to music. However you might find a dedicated streamer more convenient in which case there’s cheaper options than the Cambridge you mentioned and just as good WiiM, Bluesound and IFI for example.
Do think about it, what you want (for example if you might hook up your TV what connection would you like to use Optical or HDMI).
There’s lots of discussion over these appliances, I am often on AVForums (UK). Used to be excellent and is still good there’s a specific HiFi streaming section where you could get really good advice. Just know what you want or just get the gist of things.
After LFC stereo is my next big passion particularly now I’m not as mobile as I once was.
What Cambridge amp have you got, and could you hook up other devices to it like PC, Laptop or telephone?
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Hi
I got one of these from eBay. Has a years warranty and cost £300 inc postage.
Cambridge Audio AXR100D (Lunar Grey) | Stereo DAB Receiver | Richer Sounds
I wont ever use the DAB as I can get that on the Cambridge CXN100 via the Cambridge App.
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