Review added to Vinyl Album by johnnyhotspur
Dave And Ansel Collins - In The Ghetto (1975)

No less than 6 tracks off this album were released as 45's on Creole's 'Rhino' label during 1972/73 so I can't help thinking that Trojan put together a hotchpotch of 70's tracks as an attempt to cash in on the groups' success. Trojan had already put out the 'Double Barrell' LP so it seems like they scrambled around for other tracks to put on this second album.
'Stone In Love' did make it onto a Trojan 45 (Maxi Trojan TRM-3002).
It's still nice to have 'Smooth And Sort' (singular on this LP!) on a Trojan label.
One nice surprise was 'Power To The People', another version of Shacatac, which I love, and has a slightly heavier chunkier feel, great!

Review added to Book by ppint.
Antoine De Saint-Exupéry - Zbor De Noapte. Pilot De Razboi (1968)

''vol de nuit'' (1926), winner of le prix femina, and ''pilote de guerre'' (1942), winner of le grand prix littéraire de l'aero-club de france - are autobiographical novels by antoine de saint exupéry. the latter was written to show quite how hard the french army, and in particular l'armée de l'air, fought their battle against the german invasion in 1940. it was banned by the collaborationist vichy french government shortly after its publication - and then by the free french government of charles de gaulle in algeria, also in 1943, making it perhaps unique to have been banned by both sides, and scarcely improving de saint exupéry's opinion of politicians in general. it was, however, successfully published in both french, and in english translation, in north america.

Review added to Book by ppint.
Antoine De Saint-Exupéry - Citadela (1993)

found incomplete as well as unfinished after antoine de saint exupéry's death, the barely or unrevised-by-the-author manuscript (typescript) of ''citadelle'' was tidied up and published by gallimard in 1948, whereupon it won le prix des ambassadeurs, on the very first occasion this prize was awarded.

in it de saint exupéry sought to derive a philosophical, religious and practical firm foundation of values upon which to base one's life from his personal experiences and observations of the emptiness of modern life and the failure of modern values - or the lack thereof - visualised as the efforts of a berber lord to establish his citadel upon foundations of the shifting desert sands.

(bookcat lacks a ''genre'' of philosophy, hence a combination of personal development and society, under the over-all genre of non-fiction.)

Review added to Vinyl Album by Focus B
Various Artists - Beacon Brings It To You (1969)

This turns out to be a re-issue of a 1968 dated compilation which was, presumably issued in its rightful mono only. The lack of Sold In UK .... info suggests the latter half of 1969.

Many excellent tracks on this album that have been spoiled by the reprocessed stereo method that sounds even worse when compressed into mono. This probably explains why it sold cheaply!

Best avoided in favour of the true mono original.

Review added to Cinema by alexlincs
Terror (1978)Rated 6/10

Thanks to Dr Doom for adding this film. I've added some screenshots and the upscaled title screen from the Blu Ray.

This is another cheapie from the late, great Norman J Warren. It benefits from a sharp, self-referential script by David McGillivray who wrote the book Doing Rude Things about British sexploitation films, as well as being a prolific screenwriter still working today.

The film starts off with a film within a film, possibly based on The Witchfinder General. A witch's curse on a grand house leads to loads of unexplained deaths. The deaths are surprisingly gory in places with bloody stabbings and environmental accidents like falling down the stairs. Not a patch on Suspiria, The Omen or Dawn of the Dead that came out around this time. The film is noticeably low budget, but not embarassingly so. Good sets and cinematography stop it looking as cheap as say Lee Frost films. The knowing script has nods to British Sex Comedies with film within a film: Bathtime With Brenda. The acting is on the camp side, I think this is intentional. Honestly, it's not distractingly bad. Rare for a 1978 British film there is around five f-words. I know it's laughable now with films often containing 100 f words at 15 certificate, but this was rare for the time. The BBC censored films like Goodfellas and Scarface for TV broadcast in the 90s with hilarious overdubbing like melonfarmer and eating pineapple.

The Blu Ray from Powerhouse films features a superb print free from archive damage, but sadly only 1.0 sound. On the plus side it features the commentary track from 2004 and a decent amount of extras. It's not as good as Prey (Alien Prey), which was a dreamy and beguiling with a simmering sexual undercurrent. It's a mediocre slasher with some nice touches.

Review added to Live Music by Folker
Rich Kids @ Pavilion (1978)

Support band were probably called TNT and didn't come on until 10. My diary describes them as "crap" and "doing Quo stuff". Rich Kids didn't come on until midnight so audience was getting a bit "lively", thanks to the long wait. A friend of mine got chucked out but managed to sneak back in. RK were great.

Note: I found another site which says that this gig was on the 26th, but it was definitely Friday the 24th.

Review added to Live Music by Folker
Buzzcocks @ University Of Lancaster (1978)

A bit of a disappointment for various reasons, this one. I noted at the time that The Permanents were "worse than dire, impossible to describe" and The Slits were "just bad". Unfortunately, the Buzzcocks' set was ruined by a fight after just a few numbers. This was pretty rare for Lancaster Uni gigs, but punk/New Wave acts did tend to attract yobs, especially from Blackpool. Buzzcocks were obliged to play the rest of the gig with the house lights up which rather killed the atmosphere.

Review added to Cinema by albert
Blue Ruin (2013)

Dwight, a homeless and mentally scarred vagrant, is informed that the man who killed both his parents is about to be released from prison. Springing into action he sets off on a quest for revenge without fully appreciating the consequences of his actions.
This is a very enjoyable thriller quite unlike other vengeance films in that the protagonist really doesn’t have a plan other than to kill the man he believes killed his parents. Guaranteed that things will turn out horribly wrong, Dwight then he has to deal with the wrath of the vicious clan who in turn decide not to involve the police in this family matter.
As a morality tale it works fine being that you can believe this kind of situation could occur, and thankfully the story doesn’t fall into the usual preachy territory of vengeance films and instead sustains an edgy and tense atmosphere right through to the end.

Review added to Live Music by Folker
The Jam @ University Of Lancaster (1977)

I've added a (less than complementary) review of the gig from the local students' newspaper, SCAN. Yes, that was a good idea, send a self confessed fan of Camel, Caravan and Barclay James Harvest to review a Jam gig. However, to be fair, it wasn't The Jam at their finest. I was already a massive fan, but was quite disappointed. The vocals were barely audible and every number was indeed taken at the same breakneck speed. Weller's line in crowd interaction was almost non-existent, exemplified by the entire introduction to Bricks and Mortar, "this is about the Houses of Parliament". Huh? What? Probably the longest sentence he uttered throughout the set too. New Hearts were fair, but the vocals were inaudible. Local band China Street were so bad we walked out.

Review added to CD Single by Twistin
Avril Lavigne - Smile (2011)

retro review written May 21, 2011

Avril needs to just adopt pop and get over this ridiculous notion that she will ever be a part of anything resembling edgy. The only thing brazen about Lavigne is her audacity, while if she simply aimed her arrow at the pop that dominates most of her music, she could conceivably be respected. Trying to be a snarky and snotty 14-year-old is as convincing as Mick & Keith believing they still impact the direction of rock music.

Review added to CD Album by Twistin
The Cowsills - The Best Of The Cowsills (1988)

A tall glass of milk never tasted sweeter, nor more healing. All the hits are here exept for "Silver Threads and Golden Needles", as well as several non-hits you've probably never heard before, but should have. This CD edition adds two more tracks, "Poor Baby" and "Hair", both essential and exemplary. That said, with the two bonus tracks, we're looking at a mere 42 minutes. There's at least six more A-sides from the MGM period that could have been included with free space to spare. So if you can find this at a good price, it's a perfect listening experience, but you're better off with a more comprehensive collection which will be very much worth the extra cash.

Review added to Cinema by Twistin
Creep Van (2012)Rated 4/10

I am not a fan of Troma films for a number of reasons. "Creep Van" is a Detroit-based low-budget Troma wannabe, but it manages to capture all the contrived, unfunny magic of its influences. (Lloyd Kaufman even makes a cameo!) Attempts at humor miss 99% of the time, while the weak cast and their attempts at acting are campy at best and cringe-inducing at worst. The weakest link is the half-baked screenplay which, among other sins, never explains why any of this carnage is happening, instead relying on inconsistencies, plot holes and meandering dialogue. And there are three credited writers! The gorehounds will appreciate the creative kills which are more reminiscent of 80s slashers rather than modern day torture porn and found footage rubbish, but that doesn't forgive the tepid filler that ties it all together. And it's never scary, tension and suspense never make so much as a cameo.

Good movie? Not a chance. Loads of gore (no CGI!) with some nudity and mildly twisted sex? Check. I believe Scott McKinlay may have a good film in him one day, but he needs to at least start with a professional script, followed by actual acting talent. "Creep Van" is better than most of those direct-to-video cheapies found on those gutter trash compilations, but that doesn't make it a thumbs up.

Review added to CD Album by moptop
The Beatles - Beatles' Greatest (2002)

This is the DESS 2007+ release, with a c2010 disc shown.

The Audio is from a post-1971 pressed original LP, whereas the 2002 version had the far lower quality pre-1971 LP pressing audio.

2005-2007 did not contain genuine Dutch audio but audio from a German LP of the same name.

Review added to Book by ppint.
Franz Kafka - The Castle (1969)

''das schloß'' was started in 1922, but left unfinished, and probably incomplete°, by kafka when he ceased to be capable of writing, and subsequently died.

it's an account of the viewpoint character's arrival at a village (or town) dominated by a castle and its occupant(s?), and his attempts to get accepted into the position of surveyor to which he's been appointed, in the face of a labyrinthine stone-walling°° of every effort he can think of making to get recognised - or, indeed, anywhere.
the ordinary people he meets are all dominated by their fear of officials and the dire and dreadful unspoken punishments or sanctions, and fate, that inevitably awaits anyone as durst step out of line - including by helping anyone evidently disapproved of from their being unrecognised by the castle.
and though he receives some written encouragement from an official of the castle, in its details it is decreasingly consistent with the reality that he observes, and that he experiences...

° - given the nature of the beast, it's possible there could be, and could never have been, any conclusion - and certainly, no resolution...
°° - pun intentional - but intended by whom?