Halloween Binge: Scream

It’s Halloween which means it’s time for my self-inflicted yearly torture. Every October I pick a horror franchise, watch every instalment and go slowly insane as they inevitably descend into depths that the most depraved mind could only dream of. Yes, I am talking about Hellraiser IX: Revelations. In the past, I’ve subjected myself to the entirety of Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Friday the 13th, Saw and the already mentioned Hellraiser. However, I’m not necessarily recommending you read them. My old writing is fucking atrocious.

It is 2020, though, and if there is a year where I deserve to do something nice for myself, it’s this one. So, rather than putting myself through another ten plus films, I am working on easy mode, as we dive into the self-referential world of Scream. Four films? All of them directed by Wes Craven? This can only be a delight.

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31/10/2020 0

Ramblings About’s Top Twenty Films of 2019

Round two of my end of year round-up is my twenty favourite films of the year. Cinema is a weird one. If you are to believe certain corners of the internet then it’s a dead artform, overrun by superheroes and the flogging of shite franchises. However, there is an incredible array of films being released every year, and with just a bit of effort, you can see them all! Here’s the twenty that blew me away in 2019.

Quick note to say that this list is based off films that got a wide release (be that on streaming services or in cinemas) in the UK in 2019.

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27/12/2019 1

Ramblings About’s Top Twenty Albums Of 2019

It’s that time of year where I decide that what the world needs is for me to put together lists of the shit I like because, you know, I don’t ramble on about that stuff enough. We’re kicking things off with my twenty favourite albums of 2019 and, if I do say so myself, it is quite a list. Personally, I think I have exceptional taste in music, so I can only congratulate me on how well I’m doing.

Quick note to tell you all to support musicians. If you click on the bands’ names throughout this list, it should take you to their Bandcamp (or in some cases website) where you can give them money (usually in exchange for something). Why not treat yourself to a post-Christmas gift? You might love it as much as I do.

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26/12/2019 0

Halloween Binge: Hellraiser

Image result for hellraiser poster — The main man.

In what is now an established Halloween tradition, it is time for me to pick a horror franchise, force myself to watch it all and then moan about it on here. So far I’ve done A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Friday the 13th and Saw (the writing on the older ones makes me cringe) with all five of them successfully driving me a little bit insane. Of course, that’s partly down to the fact that I have developed a habit of binging these increasingly awful films in the last five days of October before promising that next year it will be different. Guess what, folks? It wasn’t!

2019’s franchise of choice is Hellraiser, Clive Barker’s brainchild and a series which has, at the time of writing, ten films, most of which went straight to DVD. Why do I do this to myself?

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31/10/2019 1

The Listening Booth: Riffs for Reproductive Rights

Hello friends, welcome to The Listening Booth where I ramble incoherently about the music I’ve been putting in my ears for the last week. Or, at least, that’s what I normally do. In the interests of being open about this kind of shit, my brain has not been working with me over the last seven days. It’s nothing awful, I’m just unfocused and a bit sad, so trying to sit and absorb new music in a way that makes it possible to write a few hundred words on it, wasn’t possible. I’ve been wallowing in old favourites instead. But, rather than ditch The Listening Booth entirely, I decided it would be a better idea to throw some attention towards Riffs For Reproductive Rights, a compilation that is certainly deserving of it.

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05/07/2019 0

The Listening Booth – The St Pierre Snake Invasion, Bokassa and Billy Liar

Hello friends, welcome to my weekly ramble about what I’ve been putting into my ears. This time around we have some unhinged fuckery, a shitload of riffs and a local lad’s debut (well, he’s local to me, he won’t be local to you unless you also live in Edinburgh). Enjoy the ramblings, but more importantly, support the music.

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28/06/2019 0

The Listening Booth – Bruce Springsteen, Dinosaur Pile-Up and Cursed Earth

Hello friends, welcome to The Listening Booth where I ramble incoherently about what I’ve been putting into my ears. This week we’re going into an old favourite as The Boss comes to town followed by some perfect summer listening and a young hardcore band trying to keep their name in the spotlight. Sound good? I certainly hope so.

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21/06/2019 0

The Listening Booth – Ramona, Fresh and Shonen Knife

Hello friends, welcome to The Listening Booth where I ramble about what I’ve been putting into my ears this week. Truthfully, this might be one of the more rambling examples of the form as I’m not sure I managed to get any of my points across. I tried, though, so give me some credit. Fingers crossed you get something out of it, and at the very least you can enjoy the music.

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14/06/2019 0

The Listening Booth – Her Name Is Calla, Royal Republic and Camden Rocks

Hello friends, welcome to The Listening Booth where I dive into what I’ve been putting in my ears over the last week. This time around, we have a potential modern classic followed up by something completely different, but still a lot of fun. I’m then going to finish up by having another blab about a festival I went to, so look forward to that.

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07/06/2019 0

The Listening Booth – Petrol Girls, Destrage and Slam Dunk

Hello friends, welcome to The Listening Booth, where I lecture people on what music I’ve been putting in my ears while occasionally working out some personal issues. I don’t think there should be too much of the latter this week, but you never know. We’re diving into some feminist post-hardcore, Italian, em, tech-hardcore? I honestly don’t know what you’d call it, and a ramble about something completely different. Enjoy.

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31/05/2019 0