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:

Now we're rolling! I now see what all the fuss is about when people buy an old car and strip it down and rebuild it again. This old Amstrad was in really good condition when it arrived, but I still felt the need to take it apart and give it an MOT. Door off, wheels off, lid off, turntable off, stylus in the trash. WD40 everywhere. Tape head's attacked with cotton buds - the list is probably longer but the rest isn't very interesting. So this morning, the new stylus arrived. Just the one for now, but it is the right one so I'll likely order more. If anybody else is in the stylus market, the guys at Get The Needle have just about everything you could want, and it came as fast as you like too.

All I'm missing now is some vinyl and hopefully the copy of The Waterboys' This Is The Sea will be here in the morning. (Not quite The Waterboys album I had in mind to kick start the show with, but a fantastic work of art all the same. The album got a little overshadowed by the success of Whole of the Moon, but there are far, far better songs than that on board. In fact, in the list of perfect albums, it probably sits just behind Sign of the Times).

All that remains then is to figure out if the deck needs any kind of turntable mat and we'll be spitting thunder.

A few have wondered why I didn't buy a decent/new record deck, but that would hardly recreate the experience of the first tentative steps into what it's like to fall in love again. It's not a midlife crisis... I've had that already. I just wanted to see if music and me could still get along like we used to. I have to say, it doesn't look as totally out of place as I thought it might in the corner either... kind of like it's always been there.

Which was the point.

It was nearly a great end to the day when one of Universal's outsourced PR companies sent out a press release offering review opportunities for the celebratory T.Rex vinyl box set that's coming in April. I jumped on them - only to find that I would have to review said special release vinyl box set by - get this - downloading the tracks.

Sorry? I thought I had misheard, but apparently not. So er... you can have your review by imagining what it might look like if you wish guys. See how you like not finding the end product quite as you thought.

If on the other hand, you might see your way to shipping out the product to a (we can all agree on this) deserving reviewer who knows what he's talking about when it comes to Bolan, who has been in the T.Rex corner longer than the PR guy who tried to pimp it to me has been on the planet, I'll be only too pleased to run a review online and on paper to over 100,000 readers in my mag.

Marc would have punched you in the mouth.

Do you really wonder why the music industry is screwed and none of you will have any jobs in five years?