Day 5

After taking a few days off from ripping ... I'm back with a bumper stack since it is the weekend. Before ploughing into the CDs, here is a quick side note to myself about the recent GE and the results. I think it was very encouraging and heartening to see so many people come forward this time around to express their views (whether on FB, blogs, forums etc) and it showed that people cared and were passionate about the state of affairs. In the past, with the results more or less a foregone conclusion, most people would have just said "why bother?". It was a landmark result (well done Aljunied!) but, personally, I was hoping VW's team and NS would win too (although that was probably expecting too much in too short a period of time). Whatever the case, it bodes well for the future ...

Now on to the music, today I will be loading the entire Manic Street Preachers catalogue plus a few other things. I've been a fan of the Manics from the beginning. Their music (while not always consistent) has always been thought provoking and I loved their glam punk image when they first burst onto the scene in 1990. The mysterious disappearance of Richey Edwards in 1995 and the controversy surrounding their "Holy Bible" album made following the band all the more intriguing/interesting. Richey was officially declared "presumed dead" in Nov 2008 but the band has been continued to release material featuring lyrics written by Richey. In fact, in 2009, the band recorded an album entitled "Journal For Plague Lovers", which featured lyrics written entirely by Richey before his disappearance. Here is a shot of the Manics catalogue:

From left to right: Generation Terrorists, Gold Against The Soul, The Holy Bible, Journals Of Plague Lovers, Everything Must Go, Know Your Enemy, This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, Lifeblood, Lipstick Traces, Forever Delayed, Send Away The Tigers, Postcards From A Young Man.

The album cover for "Journal For Plague Lovers" is a painting done by by the same artist who contributed the artwork for "The Holy Bible" - Jenny Saville.

If I had to choose a favourite Manics album, it would be a tough call (since apart from "Know Your Enemy" and "Lifeblood" I think every album has been pretty strong) but I would say it would have to be "Gold Against The Soul" and that's probably because I rank "Scream To A Sigh" as one of the best songs ever written. The melody, the guitar riff, the vocal execution, the lyrics. Simply brilliant. You can watch the video here.

Moving away from the Manics, I've also loaded the following albums:

Mali Music (featuring Damon Albarn)- Self Titled
Lush - Ciao!
Lush - Lovelife
Honeycrack - Prozaic
Mainstream - Self Titled
John Power - Happening For Life
Hard-Fi - Stars Of CCTV
The Hormones - Where Old Ghosts Meet
Lorien - Under The Waves
The Libertines - Up The Bracket
The Libertines - Self Titled

Couple of quick notes: Honeycrack was a great power pop band and it was a pity they did not stick around long enough to put out a second album. The single "Go Away" is definitely in my list of top 10 power pop/punk songs. I remember catching the video on MTV first (way back in 1996) and I rushed to grab a pen/paper when the title flashed at the bottom of the screen. And it was only a few years later that I managed to get hold of the album. I think it was at that wonderful gem of a place again - Dada Records!

Lorien is another band that held so much promise but sadly faded into obscurity after one album. "Under The Waves" was released in 2002 and the band was championed by NME as the pretenders to the Coldplay throne. Their music was melancholic, brooding and epic in portions. The fragile vocals of Italian singer Fabio Ciarcelluti gave the songs a slightly dreamy/haunting feel. My favourite track is "Human Beings".

After today, the count is:

91 albums
1,089 songs

Wohoo!