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Stuart Braithwaite recommended Spiderland by Slint in Music (curated)

 
Spiderland by Slint
Spiderland by Slint
1991 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This next one is controversial. It's Spiderland by Slint. It actually pipped out Isn't Anything by My Bloody Valentine. They did that because one of the reasons that I really love Isn't Anything is the sound of the guitars (and it's a wonderful record, don't get me wrong) but there's another record coming up that took that place. I think Spiderland was quite a transformative record when I first heard it. It was Dominic played it to me. When we started the band we made mixtapes for each other of music that we liked, which was good actually because apart from one or two, I'd never heard of any of the bands that Dominic liked. He put 'Washer' on that tape and it totally blew my mind… I actually even remember what part of the motorway I was on driving back from Dominic's house to my house when it kicked in back loud. I do have a good memory for motorways. It's got a unique atmosphere to it, it does make sense but it doesn't make sense. It's got a really eerie atmosphere, a really strange album. I love it lots. It didn't really annoy me [that Mogwai were compared to Slint] because a lot of it was through ignorance. We don't actually sound like Slint at all. A couple of songs had little sections that maybe did, ‘Christmas Steps' has a little bit in it that's Slint-ish, but I think a lot of the people that said that just didn't like us and just said that. A lot of those people probably adore Rid Of Me by PJ Harvey, which does sound like Slint! That's a great record too, but musically sounds a lot more similar to Slint than anything we did. But no, that doesn't bother me. Lance Bangs has made a film about Slint, and from what I saw of the bit they showed at ATP, I think it's going to be the best film about a rock band ever made. Unbelievable. I think people are going to be quite taken aback when they see the story of the band."

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The Dark Side of the Wall by The Stallion
The Dark Side of the Wall by The Stallion
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"This is a project from Ben Wallers and Alastair Mackinven from Country Teasers. We moved in similar circles in the mid-90s. I saw them do the whole of this at the Moth Club earlier this year. You could think 'oh what a funny idea to cover the whole of Pink Floyd's The Wall', but they actually did it really well. I used to be a Pink Floyd fan, and one of the first albums I bought was Dark Side Of The Moon, but The Wall is where I parted company with them, I thought it was just a self-indulgent mess. So I was amazed to go and see that they'd actually made it palatable, they'd done something interesting with it. I know it's not coming from a take the piss point of view, Ben's got an actual affection for that record, and they'd really thought it out. The Wall is one of the most indulgent, over-produced records ever done, and so the idea of two guys on a stage at the Moth Club doing it is like 'how the fuck are you going to do that? Where's the choir, where's all this?' But it worked, it was really good. I preferred their version of The Wall to the Floyd one. I remember going to see the film version of The Wall, and Bob Geldof played the main character, and it was so rubbish and painful, the worst kind of that rock star moaning about nothing in particular. There's something in that record to do with a performer's relationship with an audience that's interesting - there is something strange about getting up on a stage and performing in front of people. In Ben's live performances as The Country Teasers or The Rebel, sometimes people think he's trying to wind the audience up or whatever, but it's always important that the audience is there and you're never allowed to be a passive spectator. I don't know if that's why he finds [this album] an interesting thing to deal with, but you could tell that there's a reason for it, it wasn't just 'let's try and do something ridiculous'. "

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The Twilight Wife
The Twilight Wife
8
8.6 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
The main character Kyra, confused after diving incident and trying to figure out what happened. The whole story was told from only Kyra’s perspective and other characters didn't have their voice in it. That's unfortunate, because it would've been interesting to hear Jacob's thoughts about the whole situation, which was going on in the book and what was his relationship with the friend from his childhood. Maybe a throwback to the past? All this would’ve given the whole book more twists and suspense, I believe. The characters were not very interesting to be honest; they were not very strong and did not have very charismatic personalities. I noticed that, if a male character looks perfect in the pages, there is something not quite right with him, in this case the same, Jacob was too perfect. Even though Aiden (a mystery man) should’ve been one of the important characters in the whole story, his actions were nonexistent, even at the end he was the most passive one. <br/><br/> I really enjoyed that in every chapter there used to be at least one memory coming back. The suspense was really well thought through, giving those recovered memories like little sips of water in the desert. Unfortunately, the whole plot in this novel is not very original. I saw couple of films with the same principal, but the suspense kept me interested and it was hard to put it away. There is very visible touch of author's life in the book, as she lives by the ocean. There are lots of terms of marine biology in this publication, which got me looking up some terms because I never faced them in my normal life. All the suspense throughout the book was nicely rewarded at the end of it, I really enjoyed it and I loved the fact, that it still left you hanging with some unanswered questions. It had a lot of turns and twists which didn't leave u bored and kept the book interesting. To conclude, I would recommend this book if You would like some twisty and suspenseful novel filled with island life and marine biology.
  
Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship
Following Atticus: Forty-Eight High Peaks, One Little Dog, and an Extraordinary Friendship
Tom Ryan | 2011 | History & Politics, Mind, Body & Spiritual, Natural World
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I am still relatively "newb"-ish to GoodReads, meaning I *really* need to write reviews for many, er, most of the books I have on my "Read" shelf. Ah well, with the likely possibility of my wife and I relocating to NC (goodbye, antisocial, overtaxed NJ!) by summer's end, I will have more time to update the other reviews in the coming years. Yay! Okay, onto my review..

I feel I should preface my review, letting all know I am slightly biased in my overall loving of the book, as Atticus, the star of the book, is a mini schnauzer, one of my favorite dog breeds, as well as my wife's.

The book succeeds on several levels. One way, it was a moving tale of one man's bonding with a dog that he really was not ever looking to bring into his life. The relationship that develops between the author, Tom Ryan, and Atticus was interesting to witness, as it appears almost as if Atticus and Tom were destined to be together. The two seem to be good for each other, allowing each of them to grow in ways, both emotionally and spiritually, that neither may have grown without having me the the other.

Another way it succeeded was in that there was good advice for the soul and the spirit. It was almost like a roadmap of what your life could be like without clutter of internet drama, iPhones, etc. It truly showed what absolute bliss it is to have a dog in one's life and all that comes out of the relationship that develops between man and dog.

If you love dogs and have not read this book, you are doing yourself a great disservice. If you don't love dogs, you could still read this and walk a totally different person! Either way, you need to read this book - your life will be so much better for it!

In closing, I just want to thank Tom Ryan, and Atticus, for an amazing story, and that I can not wait for the follow-up, which deals with the life of Will, the other mini schnauzer that found his way into both Tom's and Atticus' lives!
  
Shelter in Place
Shelter in Place
Nora Roberts | 2018 | Contemporary, Romance, Thriller
4
7.6 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
I bought two chucky paperbacks by Nora Roberts at the same time a few months ago, this and Come Sundown.

This one starts with Simone and her two friends going to the cinema to watch a film together. Simone goes to the toilet and minutes later hears screams and gunshots coming from the room she'd just left. She phones the police as three people go through the mall, killing as many people as they can. Simultaneously, Reed is working at one of the restaurants in the mall and as the shooters begin their killing spree he comes to the rescue of a little boy who's crying for his mum and keeps him safe until the cops arrive and take out the shooters.
Fast forward several years and survivors of the attack start to be killed off one by one and it seems Simone and Reed are on the killers list

I will start by saying that romantic suspense's are not my favourite genre. It has taken me about a month and a half to finish this. The romance definitely felt like an afterthought since it only kicked in about the half way point by which point I was just reading to see them take down the bad guy - whose POV we saw regularly throughout - and whose comeuppance felt like a bit of a disappointment. It all happened within about five pages from them making themselves known to Simone to them being incapacitated.

It's a 500+ page book! The first half was the two main survivors growing up and finding their calling in life - and I was rather bored, hence it taking me over a month to read! - the second half was a really played down romance while the killer made her way through the rest of the survivors on her meandering journey to them on Tranquillity Island.

I normally really enjoy reading Nora Roberts' books but I think I'll stick to her traditional romances and away from romantic suspense's in the future. Come Sundown and this one will be making there way to a charity shop for others to enjoy.
  
Amalgamated (Coming Home #2)
Amalgamated (Coming Home #2)
Becca Seymour | 2019 | Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
fabulous easy read!
This is book two in the Coming Home series, but other than the long absence from home, there is no direct link between the two. I did read that, but I did not write a review, I would have given it 4 stars.
Leo left his home in Australia to work in the UK five years ago. Now on a trip home, he comes face to face with part of the reason he left: Zak. Leo has loved Zak all this time, but will Zak even speak to Leo, after what he did?
My first thought when finishing this was: cute! Really cute! I liked it, a lot, but I can’t quite love it.
It’s written only from Leo’s point of view in the first person. And of course I’m gonna say I needed to here from Zak, you know I am. I fell here though, I am more than justified in saying it!
Leo wrecked Zak’s bike, after he saw Zak kissing someone else, and I wanted, no NEEDED to know what went through Zak’s mind at that point, but more so, when he finally admits to Leo why he did what he did all those years ago. Zak NEEDED his voice, and he doesn’t get it.
I also found I wanted to know what Leo was doing in the UK! I mean, I read the book, but I don’t think I saw what his work was!
Still, those points aside, I really did enjoy it.
It is one of those bath-tub/lunch break reads, that don’t take any concentrating on, and you can just fall into, and read, you know? It’s not a negative thing, not at all! Sometimes, you need a nice, sweet read, that allows you to decompress from a much longer, difficult read. Or in my case, a nice, easy read that allows you to sit out in the sun, on your lunch break in a 14 hour shift and ignore the world.
Thank you, Ms Seymour, for the very warm and fuzzies, too stinking cute read that was ABSOLUTELY needed today!
4 stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
  
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