A Musical 2015

After last year, I didn’t think that 2015 would improve in terms of musical discoveries and new material but the truth is that it has been an awesome year.

There have been discoveries, rediscoveries and lots of new recordings. I spent a lot of money on music this year and could have spent a lot more.

Rediscoveries

Arena are a British progressive rock band and, thanks to a free CD on a classic rock magazine, I had two songs by the band in my collection. At the start of the year, I decided to check the band out a little more thoroughly. I now have three albums by the band: The Visitor, Immortal and Contagion and I have to say that they are all excellent albums, particularly Contagion which has a superb driving rock song called Witch Hunt, the highlight of three brilliant albums:

Way back in the early 1980’s Gary Numan was one of the most popular pop stars of the time, and has influenced a lot of fellow artists over the years including Nine Inch Nails, one of my favourite bands. In 2015 it came to my attention that he was still active when I caught an interview with him. I discovered that he had released an album in 2013 so I searched for it and had a listen. I was amazed. The album, Splinter (Songs From A Broken Mind) is a triumph, dark, brooding and expresses the feelings of a mind in the deep throes of depression. Here is a brilliant song from the album called Love Hurt Bleed:

Discovery

Thanks to a chance search on Google, I found a collaboration between one of my favourite artists, Steven Wilson and a Polish artist I had never heard of called Mariusz Duda, who is the lead singer and bassist of a Polish progressive rock band called Riverside, who are absolutely magnificent.

I now have their first three albums, Out of Myself, Second Life Syndrome and Rapid Eye Movement all of which form a concept trio called the Reality Dream Trilogy. This band are and will be massive in my collection and I am amazed they are not more widely known in progressive rock circles. Here is a beautiful song called Conceiving You from the best of the three albums, Second Life Syndrome:

Old Favourites with New Material

A lot of old favourites have released new material this year and here are the cream of the crop. First, Joe Satriani, my favourite guitarist, is back with a cracking new album called Shockwave Supernova. Here is a great driving rock song from the album called On Peregrine Wings:

Old favourites Whitesnake also released a new album this year. Rather than writing new material, David Coverdale, the lead singer, went back to his days with Deep Purple and recorded cover versions from his time with the band in an album called The Purple Album. To be honest, I am pleasantly surprised at the result; he has brought them into the 21st century and they are superb. Here is their version of my favourite Deep Purple song with Coverdale at the helm:

Muse also returned with a great new concept album called Drones. The thing I like about Muse albums is that there is always one absolutely driving classic rock song on each album that I can use to drive Mrs PM up the wall with. Drones is no exception and that song is particularly annoying because it contains a lot of swearing. Here is the song, called Psycho – reader discretion is required:

Psycho was very nearly my song of 2015 – but two pipped it to the post.

The band I discovered last year, Nightwish, released a brand new album this year called Endless Forms Most Beautiful, and it is a symphonic metal masterpiece. The band has a new female lead singer called Floor Jansen who has an absolutely amazing voice, able to reach operatic levels and deep growling heavy metal snarls. The last track of the album, The Greatest Show on Earth is a magnificent 24 minute symphonic metal epic, complete with orchestra that would fit snugly into a classical music connoisseur’s collection. If you fancy something new, look it up on YouTube – you won’t be disappointed if you like classical music with a hint of majesty and a generous helping of heavy metal. My second favourite new song of 2015 is called Yours Is An Empty Hope – a down to earth heavy metal opus backed magnificently by orchestral arrangements. Get your air guitars and violins out:

What can top that, I hear you cry. Sadly, for Nightwish, Steven Wilson also released a new album in 2015 called Hand. Cannot. Erase. This guy is a genius and I was lucky enough to see him live earlier this year, performing the album in its entirety. The album tells the deeply sad story, based on fact, of a young woman who was found dead in her flat and despite being popular, nobody missed her for three years.

The album is a triumph and, as the concept suggests, deeply sorrowful and thought-provoking. Perhaps the most poignant song on the entire album is a song about a woman who uses her daily household routine to keep her sane after suffering a real tragedy in her life. When this song was performed live, the beautiful animation you are about to see was played on a screen at the back of the stage and I am sure that there were a few years shed at the end of it. The song is called Routine and is a beautiful, yet deeply tragic song. Prepare to have your heart strings well and truly tugged:

I’m really looking forward to 2016 as it promises to be even better. New albums are due from Steven Wilson and Dream Theater and I have already discovered a new artist that will almost certainly feature heavily on my playlist when I next visit a music shop.

Here’s to a musical 2016 and I wish every single reader a wonderfully Happy New Year.

Goodbye 2015

Don’t the years just fly by? It seems like only yesterday that I was waving goodbye to 2014, and now here I am showing 2015 the door as it heads off into the sunset of the past.

I’m starting to feel old.

Anyway, tradition dictates that I simply must summarise the past year with a meme that I stole some time ago.

This could be a long one – so here goes – dive in with me:

1.What did you do in 2015 that you’d never done before?

I travelled to South America for the very first time, visiting a country that is absolutely huge – Brazil, As part of that trip, I also spent six hours in Argentina too.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

2015 was a very good year for achieving some of the things I have procrastinated about for the past few years.

Firstly, I took it upon myself to take up a few 30 day challenges and I completed every single one of them. Here are some of the highlights:

(a) Improve my photography (completed January).There is still a long way to go but I have learned lot of technical stuff.

(b) Creative writing (completed March). All I did was read a book about the subject. I just need to put it into practice.

(c) Learn basic Italian (completed April). I did this because we visited Bologna in May. I learned a few choice phrases and some basic vocabulary, which I have since forgotten.

(d) Japan travelogue (completed August). The travelogue is still incomplete but at least I put a massive dent into this unwritten travel diary for our visit to Japan a couple of years ago. Another 30 day challenge may just complete it.

(e) NaNoWriMo (completed November). I actually wrote over 50,000 words of a novel that I have had in my head for the past couple of years for National Novel Writing Month. And I won. The problem is that the novel will end up being about 80,000 words and is, in its current form, full of major plot holes and is in fact rubbish. However, I hope to have completed it by the end of January, to set about rewriting huge swathes of it later next year. This particular challenge is the best of them all.

I also actually cycled to work one day this year. Can you believe that??? No – neither can I!!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

A couple of guys at work became fathers but they didn’t actually give birth themselves.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit?

I visited friends in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates in April.

The Grand Mosque - Abu Dhabi

In May, I went for a weekend away to Bologna in Italy with a group of friends.

View of Bologna from the roof of our hotel

In June, we visited Prague in the Czech Republic to celebrate Mrs PM’s mum’s 70th birthday.

A busy square in Prague

Also in June, I visited Beijing in China for a week with work, where I gave a training course.

Finally, in October, I visited Brazil for the first time and also popped across to Argentina for the day.

A famous statue in Rio de Janeiro

6. What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?

I won several major battles in my war with procrastination this year so I would like a bit more willpower to gain the upper hand.

I think it’s achievable.

7. What dates from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

March 22nd sticks in my memory because my beloved football team, Walsall, reached Wembley for the very first time in the Johnson Paint Trophy Final. I travelled to London with Mrs PM and my eldest lad and the atmosphere was fantastic.

The score at this point was 0-0 - so I was happy (briefly).

Sadly, we lost the game 2-0  – but at least I was there.

My eldest lad graduated from university on 10th July.

Like father like son?

Meeting old friends in a night of drunken debauchery in Liverpool on November 14th.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Without a doubt, writing at least 50,000 words of a novel.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Finding just enough willpower to cycle to work more often (i.e. more than once!)

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing whatsoever apart from the odd cold. In fact, I've just recovered from two particularly nasty ones that waited until I had finished work for Christmas before unleashing themselves onto my poor old body!

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I didn’t buy any gadgets this year. I would probably say that the holiday to Brazil was worth every penny.

 12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

As usual, I award Plastic Mancunian Knighthoods to those heroes who dedicate their lives to helping others without wanting the plaudits that many more famous people crave.

I salute you all - you know who you are.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

There are too many to mention. But I will.

Kanye West, as usual for declaring himself the biggest rock star on the planet at Glastonbury and then performing like an old has-been (who was never any good anyway).

Katie Hopkins for still being in the news and on TV despite the fact that she is attention-seeking little Miss Nasty.

Sepp Blatter for doing his best to destroy FIFA and football in general and then acting as if he has done nothing wrong. Finally (hopefully) his ban from having anything to do with football will remain. The sad thing is that he still thinks he is innocent.

Donald Trump for starting out as an outrageous clown and then proving that he is a bigoted idiot, I honestly worry about the possibility of this nutcase gaining any form of power.

There is also so much evil in the world but I don’t want to go into that. Nor the hypocritical politicians who continue to use and abuse us all.

 14. Where did most of your money go?

Mrs PM’s had to buy a replacement car after it suddenly died and, as mentioned above, the holiday to Brazil, as well as kids and mortgage.

 15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

My first trip to South America and Brazil; it didn’t disappoint.

16. What song will always remind you of 2015?

I will discuss this in more depth in a later post in due course. However, this is probably the song that weill remind me of 2015. Steven Wilson is a genius in my view, and his music is sublime and magnificent. Every song on his latest album Hand. Cannot. Erase. is perfect. However, the title track is probably the most accessible and, for once, more of a pop masterpiece than a progressive rock masterpiece.

Judge for yourself:



17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer?

Happier, slightly fatter and perhaps a little richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

I wish I had cycled more. Having dusted down my bike, removed the cobwebs and actually rode the thing to work, I put it back to gather dust again. Whoever thought that having national cycle to work day in September, just as the weather is descending into dark wintry horror, needs to be sacked. If the day had been in the middle of April, I would have taken it up – honestly.

And yes, I will try to cycle in April 2016.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

I wish I had gone to work less. Sadly, I have to work to live and sadly that is something I can do nothing about.

20. How will you spend New Year's Eve?

Exactly the same as last year.

21. Did you fall in love in 2015?

I am already in love – so yes.

22. What was your favourite TV program?

Of all the hours I spent watching TV this year, I reckon that my favourite was – and still is – Dr Who. Yes, I am a sad geek.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Hate is too strong a word but all of the people I disliked last year are still disliked this year.

24. What was the best book you read?

I quite enjoyed Hunter by James Byron Huggins, not a brilliant book by any means but an enjoyable romp.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I will reveal all in a later post.

26. What did you want and get?

I wanted a kick up the arse to force me to write a chunk of a novel. Somebody or something gave me that kick.

27. What did you want and not get?

The power and means to quit my day job.

28. What was your favourite film of this year?

Avengers: Age of Ultron but honourable mentions must go to SPECTRE and Terminator Genisys.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I am now 53 years old. I spent my birthday exploring Salvador in Brazil.

30. What one thing made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Sorry to mention it again, but actually attempting to write a novel.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2015?

I reduced the length of my sideburns last month. Does that count? Also, I have been lazy for a couple of weeks and I now have a bit of a beard. Sadly, it is irritating and I can't see it lasting until 2016. Bizarrely, Mrs PM approves of it (apparently because beards are fashionable at the moment).

32. What kept you sane?

Mrs PM – apart from when she played her music.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

There are a lot of attractive female celebrities but nearly all of them are too young for an old git like me.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Lunatic extremists and the ongoing hypocritical antics of the current party in power in the United Kingdom.

35. Who did you miss?

Nobody leaps to mind.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Again, nobody leaps to mind.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2015.

Coca Cola is a disgusting sugar-filled sickly drink that doesn’t even taste nice – but it is a great hangover cure.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

It's a thousand pages, give or take a few

I'll be writing more in a week or two

I can make it longer if you like the style

I can change it round and I want to be a paperback writer

Paperback writer

Those are the ideal lyrics but the truth is more like my own version:

It’s a thousand pages if I finish it

And if the truth be known, it’s a pile of shit

But I’ve had a go and I’m proud of it

Even though I know that I’ll never be a paperback writer

Paperback Writer

Goodbye 2014

Another year has almost passed and tradition dictates that I summarise the past twelve months this old meme.

There is a slight modification to this year’s questions.

First, I discovered I had missed some – thanks to Pandora at Princess Pandora, Queen of Denial  for showing me a few missing questions (she obviously stole it from a better source than I did).

Second, 2014 has been a great year for music, so I have decided to write a separate post about that.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s take the plunge:

1.What did you do in 2014 that you’d never done before?

I climbed a volcano by accident. You can read all about it here.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Yes – kind of.

I failed to complete my Japan travelogue but at least I I am closer to finishing it than I was last year.

I have increased my Spanish vocabulary but am really still far from fluency – nowhere near in fact.

I have failed miserably for the umpteenth year to cycle to work.

Will I make any more for this year? Of course, I will finish my travelogue, start a novel, continue with Spanish and try to scare myself every single day of the year by injecting a little more adventure into my life.

Actually, one thing I might try is to do a few 30 day challenges, where I spend a whole month dedicating a little time every day doing something that improves my life – for example, learning something new, exercising or giving something up.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

My cousin’s son had a baby boy. She's younger than me and is now a grandmother. That makes me feel really old.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Thankfully no.

5. What countries did you visit?

I visited France, Monaco (which is strictly speaking a separate country), Germany and Greece on holiday, which was fantastic.

Monaco

It's nice in Nice

The Brandenburg Gate

The sun setting over a volcano in Santorini

I also visited Oman and Switzerland with work.

6. What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014?

As I implied in my resolutions above, I think I’d like to add a few more sparks into my life. Whether or not I will manage to achieve that remains to be seen obviously. I’ve kind of been inspired by other people’s attempts to scare themselves every day and I don’t really want to be in the same position as Trent Reznor describes in his song Every Day Is Exactly The Same, where he sings about the monotony of life:

I believe I can see the future
Cause I repeat the same routine
I think I used to have a purpose
But then again
That might have been a dream
I think I used to have a voice
Now I never make a sound
I just do what I've been told
I really don't want them to come around

As I approach retirement (even though I still have fourteen or so years to go) I feel a need to expand my horizons a little bit more. I just hope this isn't the beginning of a midlife crisis.

7. What dates from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

No single date stands out.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I guess it was actually getting down to learning Spanish. I know more words than I did this time last year and I can actually vaguely understand basic written Spanish. I just need to step up a gear I think.

9. What was your biggest failure?

The lack of book and cycling – the usual stuff.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I had a bout of man flu in January which resulting in a day off work. I rarely have sick days.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

This year was gadget heaven and the prize is shared between:

My HTC Desire HD smartphone simply died so I replaced it with a Samsung S4 mini.

I also bought a Google Chromecast. For £30 it is a bargain for watching stuff from the like of You Tube and BBC iPlayer on on any TV with an HDMI connection.

Talking of TV’s we decided to by a new smart TV, relegating the old TV to the back room where we can access Sky via an X Box 360 (a cast off from my eldest son) and, with the aid of Chromecast, watch video on demand from  the internet.

 12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

 The same as every year, I think the countless thousands of people who deserve some kind of award but receive nothing. The New Year’s honours list will undoubtedly offer knighthoods and medals to celebrities who simply do their job. Services to politics? Services to acting? Services to business? Don’t make me laugh.

I award Plastic Mancunian knighthoods to all of those unsung heroes who constantly help people less well off than themselves and crave no thanks, no rewards and no recognition for their fantastic work.

I salute you – you know who you are.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

The rise of Nigel Farage and the UK Independence Party (UKIP) with their bizarre and extremely worrying views. If UKIP have any say in the next government then we are in deep trouble here in Britain.

Also, FIFA as an organisation and, in particular, the President Sepp Blatter are beneath contempt. The sooner this organisation is purged and replaced with people who genuinely care about the beautiful game of football, the better!

Oh – and, of course, Piers Morgan!

14. Where did most of your money go?

I spent money on gadgets, my mortgage, travelling and kids this year.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

I am always really excited about going on holiday and this year was no different. I particularly looked forward to my trip to Berlin as I had always wanted to go there. My good friends the German people did not let me down in terms of friendliness and hospitality.

16. What song will always remind you of 2014?

I will discuss music in depth in a more detailed post in due course. But here is one of the songs that will remind me of this year – Paradise (What About Us?) by Within Temptation, featuring the fantastic voices of Sharon Den Adel and Tarja Turunen:

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer?

I think I’m happier than last year. Sadly, I am also slightly fatter (we are talking about 3 pounds based on my weight this morning – one too many mince pies already I fear). I would say that I am probably slightly richer but not by a lot.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

I wish I had exercised more. At my age, I probably need to make more of an effort. Don’t get me wrong; I walk almost two miles every work day and further on at least half of the weekends so I’m not doing bad. I just need to step up a gear (again!).

And, of course, I wish I had written more.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

I definitely wish I had watched less television. There have been so many great series on this year that I have probably spent too much time vegetating on my sofa when I should have escaped into the great unknown and done something far more interesting. I need to be more ruthless when selecting TV programmes to watch.

20. How will you spend New Year's Eve?

We are going to the Metropolitan pub in West Didsbury again.

21. Did you fall in love in 2014?

I’m already in love – so yes.

22. What was your favourite TV program?

As I implied earlier, there were some fantastic programmes this year. Here is a list of my favourites:

Game of Thrones, Dr Who, Arrow, The Flash, The Walking Dead, True Blood, The Following, The Strain, 24 (Live Another Day).

I must cut down!

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

I don’t hate these people but I would like them to stay out of public life and retire to a deserted island somewhere with no contact with any other human being (apart from each other), keeping well away from media of any kind:

Nigel Farage, the rest of UKIP (particularly the ones with bigoted views), Piers Morgan, Sepp Blatter, George Osborne, Simon Cowell and all X Factor judges.

I’d better stop there before I start a major rant.

24. What was the best book you read?

I enjoyed the two remaining books in the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons, called Endymion and The Rise of Endymion.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I will reveal all in a later post.

26. What did you want and get?

Apart from the new gadgets mentioned above, nothing sadly.

27. What did you want and not get?

A winning lottery ticket and the Fountain of Youth.

28. What was your favourite film of this year?

I didn’t see many films at the cinema this year. But of those I did see, my favourite was probably The Equalizer with Denzel Washington.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I was 52 in October. I was taken for a nice meal by Mrs PM.

30. What one thing made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

To be honest, everything outside the drudgery of work is totally satisfying. If only I could find a way to eliminate that part of my life.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2014?

 Non-existent.

32. What kept you sane?

 Everything but work, which did its best to drive me insane.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

There are simply too many attractive female celebrities to name in one post.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

The rise of UKIP frightens me half to death. The scariest thing is that there are lots of people stupid enough to consider voting for them,

35. Who did you miss?

Nobody in particular.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Again, nobody leaps to mind.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2014.

 Never climb a volcano in beach shoes.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

What? Really? A silly question needs silly lyrics:

How about some Spinal Tap?

When we die, do we haunt the sky?
Do we lurk in the murk of the seas?
What then? Are we born again?
Just to sit asking questions like these?