Joni Mitchell Magazine

The Joni Mitchell issue of the brilliant Mojo's Collector's Series Magazines appears to be coming out in the UK today. Looking forward to this!

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An Impeccable BeginningOther

I'm a new Arctic Monkeys fan as of last week, and am very taken with all 7 of their albums, particularly the debut, which is flawless.

The run of the first six tracks is one of the best sequences of songs I've ever heard, up until Still Take You Home. As far as punk or hard rock is concerned, it has to be one of the best examples there is. The energy and impact of those tracks is incredible. If you want to listen to fast-paced musical brilliance, look no further.

Plodding On
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Severian1392
OP
2
Love's Great Adventure | :lga:
22dLink

Thank you for your recommendations; I love all those shows (particularly the original Rod Serling-created run of Twilight Zone), but I haven't heard the radio shows. They look very intriguing.

Missing Their Work Already

I've said on numerous occasions that Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton are two of the greatest writers and performers horror comedy has ever seen. Their scriptwriting partnership is genius (as is their partnership with Gatiss and Dyson), and to have created as many excellent half hours of television for as long as they have is a true achievement.

I can't believe it's nearly over (for now). Psychoville series 1, bought on DVD, was my introduction to their work (the front cover did what it was designed to do- it caught my attention). Going back and discovering League, watching the Psychoville Halloween Special and series 2, feeling gutted there'd be no series 3, and devouring all of No.9 as it was televised (plus the return of LOG!)...what a journey.

Their work has been quite literally the only shows I've watched on release on terrestrial television since 2010 (Psychoville Halloween), and I am hoping that they have another show up their sleeves. The trilogy of masterpieces they've created together are the best in the genre.

Absolutely Hideous (Pet Sematary Spoilers)

Pet Sematary is a masterpiece and is rightly considered one of King's darkest and most disturbing novels.

The whole book is bleak and gothic, but one thing stands out to me as one of the most hideous things King has ever written...

It's the part where Gage confronts Jud. King's description of Gage's appearance, fresh from two graves, and his childlike but perfectly understandable voice (this from a child that could barely talk when he died) was bad enough, but the terrible things he says makes it so much worse.

The icing on the cake is Gage opening his mouth of sharp milk teeth and channeling Jud's dead wife's voice, screeching at him.

It's genuinely horrific.

I'd vote The Long Walk too. It's excellent. One of my favourite King novels. 

Brilliant, thank you for the recommendations! I want to check out everything, so will definitely be getting them. 

That's excellent, I'm not surprised you still listen to his music. Your dad raised you right! I'd have loved to see him live. Just looked up Guilty, I'll be picking that up at some point! 

Newman Is A Great Discovery

I got in to Newman's work lately through Harry Nilsson (the Nilsson Sings Newman album is great) and I'm so glad I did.

When I was about four or five, I watched Toy Story nearly every day and always loved the soundtrack, but at that age the name Randy Newman meant nothing to me. I never thought that almost three decades later I'd become a big fan of his music.

I've been listening to some of the great singer-songwriters of late (Harry Nilsson, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon) and can easily say that Newman is one of the greatest ever. Nobody writes quite like him.

All 11 of his studio albums (as well as Faust and the songbooks) are brilliant listens.

There's plenty quoted in Christine, some of them classic 50's and 60's rock n' roll, like Custom Machine and Little Deuce Coupe by The Beach Boys and Drive My Car by The Beatles. There's also Less Than Zero by Elvis Costello and loads of Bruce Springsteen tracks. Every chapter of that book opens with car-related lyrics. 

Completely agree, I can't get enough of his music and you're right- when you start listening to an artist it's always a great feeling to get that "What have I come across here?" moment. Popeye is a fascinating listen! I'd heard of the tribute album, but haven't checked that out yet. Thanks for reminding me!

Very Impressed With This Band

I've always loved 60's music, particularly bands like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Stones, The Who, The Kinks, Small Faces and The Zombies...and The Monkees were always the band that I never listened to, but knew I should.

I hadn't done so because of the constant criticism against them: "They're a band that were made for TV, they didn't play their own instruments, they hardly wrote their own material" etc. Even though these claims are mostly unfounded, it kept me away.

It just goes to show that you should always ignore negative criticism and make up your own mind.

I listened to their albums in the past week after becoming obsessed with Harry Nilsson and learning of the connection between him and the band.

Their albums were incredible (particularly the first 8 or 9 of them). There wasn't a track I didn't enjoy- their music is infectious and exciting, like the best sixties music is. Now I can't stop listening to them.

Their amazing discography left me wanting more (always a great sign) and I'm now delving in to Nesmith's excellent solo country albums.

New Nilsson Superfan

I listened to all of Nilsson's albums for the first time over the last month or so (I obviously had heard the famous tracks Everybody's Talkin', Without You and Coconut), and cannot believe how brilliant he was and how enjoyable his output is.

Every album is so much fun to me. God knows how many times I've listened to them all in that time. Pandemonium, Aerial Ballet, Harry, The Point!, Schmilsson and Son Of Schmilsson in particular are masterful, but all of them, including the soundtracks and cover albums, are stellar. I really like Spotlight on Nilsson too- an album that seems forgotten by most.

He is genuinely one of my favourite musicians already. I've been getting in to a lot of new solo artists and bands lately, but Nilsson is truly special.

I'm 100+ pages in to Alyn Shipton's bio too. It's excellent.

They might be the same as your version- orange endpapers with a leaf pattern. The boards are purple.

I might get the Waterstones one as well! 

Looking Forward To This!

I'm based in England and just got the WHSmith's Exclusive Cover version of You Like It Darker (almost all of them have a purple colour scheme). Can't wait to read it.

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Songwriter Suggestions

Who are the musicians (either solo artists or bands) that you would deem great songwriters? Either of the poetic variety or just tell a gripping story in their lyrics?

I love music and writing and want to see your suggestions.

Here are some recommendations for all of you: I'm particularly a big fan of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, Elliott Smith, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon, Harry Nilsson and Randy Newman, among others.

Severian1392
10Edited
2moLink

McCartney's discography is so great that I consider it one of his weaker albums and yet I still think it's fantastic. It's far better than its reputation suggests. 

So true, it definitely holds up. As a new fan, I had no idea she doesn't think highly of the album. I thought it was incredible. As is Clouds- currently 4 songs in. Brilliant. 

What An Introduction

I just listened to Joni Mitchell's Song To A Seagull for the first time. It might be one of the best debut albums I have heard.

I've always been a fan of folk music; I love artists like Nick Drake, Dylan, Paul Simon and bands like Fleet Foxes, Fairport Convention, Pentangle and Steeleye Span. This first album might be one of the best examples in the genre. I know that Mitchell is one of the greatest songwriters of all time, so am excited to delve in to her discography. Her voice and acoustic guitar playing are beautiful. Excellent work.

Excellent, I'm definitely getting that! Thanks for the recommend.

Harry Nilsson Recommendation

I recently got in to Harry Nilsson, partly on the recommendation of The Beatles. All four of them loved his music. Lennon called Nilsson his "favourite group", probably in reference to his full sound (a very powerful voice, experimentation, and overdubbing). He became good friends with them, particularly John and Ringo (the latter was his best man at his wedding). John produced Nilsson's album Pussy Cats and Nilsson campaigned against handgun violence as he was so shaken by John's murder.

There are similarities between Nilsson and The Beatles (he made some fantastic covers of a few of their songs and he was innovative in his songwriting and in the studio as they were), but Nilsson was his own artist. He was unique. His discography is so much fun; it's eclectic and at times very bizarre. Every person under the sun knows the masterpiece tracks Everybody's Talkin' and Without You, but his career is so much more than that.

Definitely found a new addition to my all-time favourite musicians. He was a musical genius, and his work is highly recommended.

He may have liked prog back in the day, because there are creatures in Miracleman that look almost identical to the cover of Tarkus by Emerson, Lake And Palmer.