Sloucher.org

Blog

sloucher.org/

Profile

sloucher.org/author/sloucher/

Homepage

sloucher.wordpress.com

  • The bit that you skip #31: Foo Fighters – Exhausted

    In today’s episode: THE PACHUCA SITUATION (most names have been changed. not that anyone involved is in touch anymore). 1996 was a weird year. I had many great trips and fantastic experiences, but emotionally, I was a massive wreck. It was also the year I started writing a novel, one that sometimes I hate, sometimes…

  • The bit that you skip #30: Alanis Morissette – Hand in my pocket

    Alanis’ third album, Jagged Little Pill, came out at the best possible time in the 90s. The “riot grrrrrl!” wave was still high, and the fierce You Oughta Know steamrolled the way for a more commercial but still raw lyrical barrage of anger, righteous or not. It was needed. It was a logical thing. I…

  • The bit that you skip #29: Control Machete – Justo’n

    Back in my university days, we’d sometimes carpool with a friend. He drove like crazy, but always in control of his car, an old Chrysler Shadow, champagne coloured, always ready to carry 5 loud nerds. Some of my friends were nerdy about programming, others about videogames. One was an absolute freak for electronica music. I…

  • The bit that you skip #28: Tears for Fears – Cold

    There aren’t many albums I’d call “perfect”. Tears for Fears’ Elemental is an exception. From the brutal, expansive Elemental to the warm, joyful Goodnight song, it’s an album that plays with genres, sounds as clear as you’d imagine, and still has that pop sensibility that hooks you. Granted, it’s a Roland Orzabal album, much like…

  • The bit that you skip #27: Wolfang Amadeus Mozart – Symphony 25

    “Why is that stupid clown there?” My grandpa hated everything from MTV. Every artist, every musician, any style. He hated the spectacle of it. He was keen on making me a fan of classical music, and I was happy to listen to whatever he was playing on his stereo, on a wall full of vinyls,…

  • The bit that you skip #26: Bronco – Civil of you stranger

    For Keefy. Today’s post was about a whole different band, from a different British-bred genre. It’s a band from another decade, with a harsher edge. That post is postponed because I want to write about Keith How. I should’ve written about him 5 years ago, but I didn’t have the strength. Keefy, as he presented…

  • The bit that you skip #25: Doves – Black and white town

    It’s a tired cliché, but it does work: a song that has nothing to do with a particular city, reminding you exactly of that city. The first time I went to Manchester it was a cold November, for a job fair at the G-Mex Centre, now Manchester Central Convention Complex. The job fair was exhausting,…

  • The bit that you skip #24: After the fire – Der Kommissar

    Like yesterday’s post, today’s song is one of those “ah, that 80s song I liked!” that you don’t remember until you listen to again. And again. And again. And you remember all along that these 80s song, some as cheesy as they were, became classics. Make no mistake, I love Falco’s original, but After the…

  • The bit that you skip #23: Nik Kershaw – Wouldn’t it be good?

    May 2009. I was at the O2 academy in Sheffield. Placebo were at their peak, and even if Battle for the sun was underwhelming, I was excited to see them live. A friend of mine from the Netherlands managed to get the tickets and although we got separated after security took everyone’s mobile phone, we…

  • The bit that you skip #22: The Cure – 10:15 Saturday night

    When I was 5, I listened to vinyl. Mostly because my grandfather would play classical music on that format and taught me many great composers that way. I inherited a bunch of hand me downs from my brothers, which were LP audio adaptations of Disney movies and a collection of Cri Crí tales and songs.…