A Flock Of Seagulls - I Ran

AZEALIA BANKS - 212 FT. LAZY JAY

Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) - official video

Winter Boots

One thing I have learnt about growing up in this country is you need a decent jacket and pair of boots.  The weather in this country is unpredictable at best. 

Weather men only really need to say its going to rain today and they will be right 50 percent of the time.  Some might say its terrible, aahh it sucks and it rains all the time, yes this is true it can be a drag at times but believe it or not we are actually quite lucky.  Whats he going on about I hear you say, well let me explain. We have Weather rather than a climate the difference being one is fairly constant and the other being very changeable.  Think how boring it would be having just one type of weather condition.

 

Which brings me on to my next subject, Outerwear.  I love Clothes, jackets and boots in particular.  I was not born this way, the weather did it to me.  From the age of 5 onwards  I spent a lot of time outside due to my Mum kicking me out because I got under her feet.  Rain or shine I will be out there trying my hardest to have a good time with budget clobber to deal with the high end weather conditions.  

My late teens were similar in a sense where my mum would still kick me out for getting under her feet but the thing that changed was I had a job and was able to buy some decent gear.  Mcdonalds, parks and local estates where we a had a fairly stable relationship were the main places we resided, so the gear would generally be Timberlands, Rockport boots, Chevingnon Togs/Down jackets or puffas if you like and MA1 military jackets with big hoods, all practical and stylish..ah yes this takes me back, back to a place when fashion made sense. 

Nowadays Fashion rules and function and practicality are forgotten.

I wont rant but take for instance Barbour.  Worn by northern lads and east end barrow boys way back in the mid 80's to early 90's purely for practical reasons.   The padded versions were very popular amongst the rough diamonds but now the big companies have stole this idea and sold it back to us in a cheap and meaningless form but the masses seem to lap it up.  Is this down to lack of imagination on both sides, sides being the corporations and the masses.

Anyway back to me. 

My winter boots of choice are the delightful William Lennons.   Hand made on a bench in Stoney middleton.  No marketing strategy, no advertising just boots and shoes made by people who take pride in what they do.

Here is a lilnk to there site and a link to a write up by the loomstate blogger.

http://loomstate.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/william-lennon-factory-stoney-middleton.html
http://www.williamlennon.co.uk/

William Lennon Boots

Thank god its Friday

Struggling to find that Friday feeling, bit bored and want to listen to something a bit different.
Look or listen no further, The Meteors have landed. If this Psycho billy track dont get you in the mood for a friday piss up at home or down the pub nothing will.  Yes The Meteors are a Psycho billy band from the 80's, so think Stray Cats but with worse hair and better chord progressions.  I personally was not really into this sort of stuff although i did find King Kurt highly entertaining.  I say its not for me but after a few light ales mixed with a few stellas and a shot of voddie to boot i am sure i will be tearing up the dance floor and trying to puke in my hair.  Enjoy.

Campag Velocet - .Aint No Funki Tangerine - Video.

First foreign film I watched when I was 10.

UK Hip Hop

I have always been a fan of hip hop, right back to the break dance, electro days where it kind of all started and also various UK rappers. Its been an unusual journey from the early days until now in terms of the music, the rappers, different styles etc.  What I am trying to say is that the genre is very very broad and not easy to pin down.  Public Enemy were a great band and took the world by storm with streetwise swagger and political, anti goverment reference, but it just got a bit too commercial.  In comes NWA from LA.  Not political as such but upset the boys in charge and the whole female and gay lesbian community in just one song.  Looking back it was very tongue in cheek and was not really ment to be taking too seriously.  They wrote songs about day to day life in LA Compton,  with a bit of exaggeration and character. Effl 4 Ziggan ( Niggaz 4 Life) was not made for the music industry it was made for the kids and they loved it, me being one of them.  The record companies went mad and signed up any one with baggy trousers and bad language.  This was a very bad time for hip hop, for me personally the music indusrty killed hip hop in the states right at that moment for me.
Not everyone else will have this view but i just how i felt at the time.

British hip hop has always been exciting.  I have always found them to be more articulate, less bullshit and even less likely to be swayed by the big record deals.  I was really into London Posse, Demon Boys, and Blade.  I have no time for American hip hop now, I am sure there is some good stuff out there but i just can not be bothered to look for it.  Its stagnant according to the charts, where as British hip hop just gets better.

Here is one of my many favs
Cheers