asides Blog

One line thoughts of the day.

I’m not even remotely a fan of hip-hop or rap. But you don’t need to be to recognise this piece as hilariously ignorant pieces of music criticism I’ve read all year. Pro tip; if you want to make a serious critique of “modern music”, you do need to listen beyond top 40 radio if you want to be taken remotely seriously.

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Tim Hall | 1 Comment

Since it’s that time of the year again, it’s time to ask that same old question. Why does the BBC always give blanket television coverage to the indie-dominated Glastonbury and Reading Festivals, yet completely ignores festivals like Download, Cropredy or High Voltage? Do they never realise that rock, metal and folk fans are TV licence payers as well?

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Tim Hall | Comments Off

“Iain always insisted that he brought the same imagination to bear on his mainstream works as he did on his SF, and that conversely he lavished the same craft and care on his SF as he did on his literary fiction. The only difference, he said, was in the setting and scale. He likened writing literary fiction to playing a piano, and writing SF to playing a vast church organ” -  Ken MacLeod, noting that too many eulogies to Iain Banks downplay half his body of work

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Tim Hall | 2 Comments

It may be time for a moratorium on new CD purchases until I’ve had the time to properly listen to all those I’ve bought over the past few weeks.

Posted on June 8, 2013 by Tim Hall | 2 Comments

“I’m not sure there’s any number of Facebook likes that can replace a hug” – Seth Godin.

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Tim Hall | 2 Comments

Now I know Weatherspoons are really a fast-food restaurant that happens to serve beer, but exactly who thought opening a pub on a motorway service station was anything other than a mindbogglingly stupid idea?

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Tim Hall | Comments Off

Dear last.fm users. Yes, you will occasionally see things that aren’t released yet coming up in my last.fm scrobbles. As a reviewer for Trebuchet Magazine I get review copies of albums. And no, I’m not going to share any of those files with you; they all come with strict instructions from the record companies and the artists not to reshare them. So please don’t ask me too.

Posted on June 2, 2013 by Tim Hall | 2 Comments

While it’s not surprising that news reports about Trevor Bolder’s death emphasise his role in David Bowie’s Spiders from Mars in the early 70s, it’s a shame there’s not more mention of Uriah Heep, for whom he was a member for more than 30 years, representing the bulk of his musical career.

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Tim Hall | Comments Off

I really don’t get this whole Fake Geek Girl thing. I don’t go to SF and comic conventions, only the occasional gaming one, so I may be missing things. Are their really that many pathetically inadequate males who fear the intrusion of women into their “safe spaces”? Or is the whole thing just a meme that’s taken on a life of its own?

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Tim Hall | 2 Comments

The way hipsters are trying to resurrect cassettes as a format speaks volumes about the herd mentality of hipsters, and their obsession with style over content. The cassette tape is a completely obsolete format for a reason. Vinyl has its merits for high-end audiophiles, but the cassette is simply inferior to the technologies that superseded it in every possible way.

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Tim Hall | 5 Comments