Took the day to see what was going on in the real world and found myself at a record fair. Despite a hunt for very specific things which I didn't find, I didn't come home empty handed. The plan was to pick up some wax that I did want and at least one thing that I had never heard before (or, at the outside, was very unfamiliar with). On the 'found' list was Ian Hunter's Schizophrenic album and Mott the Hoople's Mott. I also came across a T.Rex album called Billy Super Duper which I'd forgotten was even supposed to exist. Back in '84, this would have been a real coup for me, so that got bagged too. It's well off the beaten track and if you're interested in some 'under the counter' Bolan, there appears to be a copy here that's free to download - though I can't vouch for its validity. I however shall content myself with the original. I have to admit, I'm really loving this vinyl lark. Bringing up the rear in the 'explore something new' column, are The Who. I never really got into them when I should have - too busy with other stuff I guess and when I was at school, they were tagged with the 'mod' brush. A few quid for a copy of Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy seems more than reasonable. I don't normally do compilations of any kind, but they didn't have any other Who albums so I let myself off the hook. Not listened to any of them yet - that's a job for being alone in the house which will come tomorrow morning. Later, I also picked up a couple of graphic novels that I've been meaning to play with for some time. Ben Templesmith's Choker V1 and Fell V1. Throw the double finale of The Bridge on TV tonight and it's been quite a relaxing day. Can't remember the last time I did no work at all. Christmas Day probably.

So overall, those were good things to buy because as far as I can see, nobody released anything new worth a damn this week. What is it with people? All this freaking technology and still bands are stuck in a pointless rut of one album a year - two years sometimes. Nobody needs to hear the 'we were busy touring' excuse because thirty years ago, bands were banging out two albums a year plus material you'd never heard before as b-sides for all their singles. So don't come crying to me when you reach the end of the line and find no legacy to fall back on - or is everybody tied into deals that are so locked down, there's nowhere to move. Take a look at YouTube this week and how everybody has been lapping up the Coheed & Cambria cover of Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know. See previous post for the clip but that's what we want in between albums - unexpected surprises of substance.

So that's a whole week in the win column for the past and a resounding suckerpunch in the mouth for the present. Yeah, I know it's not fair to compare but too bad. That's the way it went down...

To wrap up, I leave you with this speech from Mr Gaiman which is - without doubt - the single most inspiring speech in the history of inspring speeches. Anybody involved in the arts, no matter how long you've been hammering away at it, needs to absorb it pretty much immediately. It will make a difference:

Sometime yesterday while I was trying to get some of my fiction finished up, I came to the realisation that I could do much better than I had been. This led to me making a 'sweeping statement' as my friend Rowan likes to put it and I collected all reference to them and filed them away in the trash. So if you're maybe wondering what happened to those items, they have gone to a much better place. The stories however remain, they're getting revamped that's all - better characters, better stories but all wrapped up in one single direction with a far superior premise. Does it take everybody a really long time to get their thoughts in order? I don't know when it will be ready to roll again but the same rules will apply - a complete novel delivered as a serial. Right now, that's about all I know but behind the scenes, the work continues - and you know what? I'm much happier with the whole affair like this. It kind of makes a lot more sense and has taken a ton of pressure off.

Meantime, my new vinyl habit has spiralled right out of control in a very short space of time. I haven't bought this much music in what must be twenty years. In the short few days since I've had this Amstrad deck (or Ugly Betty as she has come to be known), I've made good start on a decent collection (or at least what I would term a decent collection anyway). Right now, it looks like this:

The Waterboys first three albums: The Waterboys: A Pagan Place and This Is The Sea, Mick Ronson's Slaughter on 10th Avenue, and Ian Hunter's debut along with his Short Back And Sides, Overnight Angels and All The Good Ones Are Taken. Sometime in the mail today, a cool copy of the Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction e.p. High Priest of Love should arrive. I'm going to stop there and kick back for a few weeks and actually enjoy the spoils of war. I will say this though - listening to vinyl is a massively different experience to both CD and any digital format.

Mr Smith has been vaccinated with a phonograph needle for the second time in his life - and all this vinyl has had a massive impact on me.

I have come to realise that I don't much like digital books either. I don't hate them but I adore reading and I love books. The e-reading experience is not doing it for me. I have tried and it is - frankly - an empty experience. This isn't my last word on the subject because it's quite complex. I think there is much value in e-books. At the moment, my main thoughts are that e-books are great for trying out a new author at low to no cost (if that sort of thing bothers you), firing out samples, when you want to take a huge stack of books on holiday or even to load up on textbooks that would otherwise soak up ... the list is endless really.

But it's not a book is it. Statement not question.

It's a novelty and it wears off.

Over the last few days and notably before this decision hit me, I have bought at least half a dozen books. A copy of Stephen Davis' LZ-'75 (The Lost Chronicles of Led Zeppelin's 1975 American Tour), Denise Mina's The Dead Hour, The Book of English Magic and some others that I forget now and can't remember where I've put them either, but the point is these were all chance pick-ups, not from regular bookstores either. Of the three named, I've finished two and am about to start on The Dead Hour. These are not the reading habits of somebody with a kindle.

These are the reading habits of somebody that loves to read books. But like I said, it's complicated because comics are turning out to be tailor made for the ipad. Apart from work, I have also moved all of my magazine reading to the ipad as well.

Who knows how this will all pan out. Maybe it's all too hard-wired into my psyche. It's all pretty inconsequential really but on the record right here, right now. I love listening to great old vinyl albums and I love well put together books.

Recently reviewed at The Void: The Woman In Black and Van Halen's A Different Kind of Truth