Cowboy Bebop

I just watched the film for about the tenth time and it made me mourn afresh how I'm not in posession of the series' boxset. I borrowed it from a friend for a year or something and in that space of time, watched and rewatched it countless times. Every time I get thinking in the slightest about that series, I realize how deeply it's affected me. It might sound stupid, it's only an anime series, but it is one of the most iconic animations ever made. No smoke without fire, in that so many people can't be wrong about the brilliance of that series. I forget how much of my general thinking today I owe to Cowboy Bebop, and I'm not just talking about all its philosophy, I mean the whole thing - the imagery, the values. Very much the values. When I think of a 'cool' guy, I don't realize that it's basically Spike Spiegel. When I think of a guy that's 'the man', it's basically Jet. When I consider my trademark female fictional character, it's basically Faye Valentine. All my short stories are overpopulated by various parodies of Faye. When I daydream, it's all in Bebop terms. Somehow, that show managed to embody all the ideas and fantasies that had been developing in my head my whole life up until that point. Even as a child, the mental landscape in which all my thoughts ran riot was so noir...romantic, dramatic, formed of cynical one-liners and sharp silhouettes. Of course, only now do I see quite how noir it was...

Now Listening To:

The Word Alive - Deceiver. This is a great album and great background listening, some parts sound a bit christmassy if you ask me. However I do think they do screamo a lot better than melody. That accent can't help but be a bit of a kill. *COUGH*if they were Londoners it'd be amazing*COUGH* Must hear: Dream Catcher.

Deftones - Diamond Eyes. I'm a little late, I know, but when I did finally sit down and listen to these guys' latest effort, I was blown away and fell in love with it instantly. Dark, glacial beauty with tempestuous guitars. In other words, classic Deftones. These guys are now probably the main reason I'm looking forward to Reading.

Royal Republic - We Are The Royal. This album is hilarious, I quote: "Now we're playing on the stereo, it's your favourite song.It's the best shit you've ever heard. And it's on." Lyrical genius that. Why aren't these at Reading, they're perfect for it. At first they just annoyed the hell out of me, but listening to the whole album I see that this ridiculously high-energy ADHD sound not only works but is perfect Summertime mosh fodder.  Mouth watering to think of the chaos 'Tommy Gun' would (well, should) cause. Must hear: 'Full Steam Spacemachine'.