The Joys of European Qualifying

Tonight Aberdeen play in the 2nd qualifying round of the Europa League. Going away from home after a 0-0 draw at home is always difficult, but at this stage it almost feels cruel. I am a huge Aberdeen fan and last season was quite possibly the greatest I’ve ever experienced as one. We won a cup, came within a hairs breadth of finishing second in the league and all in all improved on the mediocre nature of our past few seasons. In half an hour, at least as I write this, we kick off in a game that in many ways, apart from the big shiny trophy, is our reward for doing that well. We lose and we are out. We go back to the normal SPL season and have to do it all over again and that is kind of depressing.

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24/07/2014 0

Feed the Rhino

Feed the Rhino have built up a reputation as one of the the best live bands on the go at the moment. Their shows tend to lead to widespread chaos no matter where they are playing and in Lee Tobin they have a front man seemingly without fear. Throw in two very good albums and you have got a band that would appear to be well on their way to big things. Add most recent album The Sorrow and the Sound and you have to assume it is almost a guarantee.

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23/07/2014 0

Why I Want a Toothless

How To Train Your Dragon 2 is picking up a reputation as the animated worlds Empire Strikes Back. Expanding the universe of the first film and taking on a darker more grown up tone, not that it leaves behind it child friendly nature, to become a film that in many ways is superior to the original. Yet despite all this and the genuine emotional punch the film had, all I could think afterwards was how much I wanted a Toothless.

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22/07/2014 0

Ginger Wildheart and G.A.S.S.

Ginger Wildheart has become a bit of a master when it comes to crowdfunding in the last few years. Releasing a whole host of fantastic albums via Pledge Music and firmly establishing himself as one of the best songwriters in the world at this moment in time. Earlier this year he took that one step further with the launch of G.A.S.S., the Ginger Associated Secret Society. This site essentially took the crowdfunding model to the next level and melded with the old fashioned idea of a fan club. Fans were able to choose one of three tiers of membership that gives them access to a collection of music, diary entries and all sorts of things to keep even the most die hard fan happy. If you hadn’t guessed, I quickly signed up to said site but decided to hang off on writing about it until a few months down the line, in order to give an honest opinion of it.

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21/07/2014 1

The Rise of the Mastodon

Mastodon have had a pretty unique career path. Starting off as progressive sludge metal band, they have grown and evolved. Never truly leaving behind their original sound but always adapting and changing it. All of this has led to everything from appearances on Jools Holland to their latest album entering the top ten on the album charts for both the UK and America, but where do a band like Mastodon go from here? Can they go any higher than they currently are?

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18/07/2014 0

Music and Films

Music is integral to films. It is one of these facts that you do not always realise until you think about it. Take your favourite film and remove the music and it will be a completely different experience. It’s also true that movies have always depicted music in a variety of ways. Whether that be the ridiculousness of Spinal Tap or the freedom and enjoyment of Good Vibrations, music is a ripe subject area to be plucked and enjoyed.

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17/07/2014 0

Boyhood and Plot

Plot is a pretty important thing in the movies. Not just movies really. Books, games and even some music all relies on the idea of a story. It is something that it is hard to go without. Yet this week I saw what is probably my movie of the year and if you asked me to describe the plot I think I would seriously struggle. The answer, it is just life, just make me sound like a pretentious arse (which I may well be, but I should at least try and hide it). Yet if you ask me to describe Richard Linklater’s Boyhood in any other way, I really struggle. Because it is just life man.

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16/07/2014 1

Sonisphere Review: Sunday

By the Sunday of a festival it becomes very easy to spot the day ticket holders. They lack that feral look in their eye that people living in a field for several days have gained and aren’t that lovely British shade of red we all go when we get a bit too much sun. They’re also the ones most likely to not be holding their head and groaning.

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15/07/2014 0

Sonisphere Review: Saturday

With the weather continuing to be surprisingly strong, despite some light showers overnight which as it meant waking up to a tent that didn’t feel like a sauna was actually quite welcome, the Saturday at Sonisphere kicked off with Tesseract on the main stage. I only caught about five minutes of them before I headed off to Bohemia, but I felt it was worth throwing in that they sounded awesome. Continue reading “Sonisphere Review: Saturday” →

15/07/2014 2

Sonisphere Review: Friday

So last weekend was the return of Sonisphere, something I’m sure the majority of rock and metal fans were very happy about. I managed to make my way to the festival and watch a whole bunch of fantastic (and not so fantastic) bands do their thing, so read on for Ramblings About’s official opinion on everyone we managed to catch at Knebworth.

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14/07/2014 0