ohtani's jacket

Yep, 1983. Marc & the Mambas's Torment and Toreros... this was a style of music called Dark Cabaret, which was almost like spoken word over the top of new wave, art pop. Some interesting songs, especially the up tempo tracks, but a wee bit difficult for yours truly. The Three O'Clock's Sixteen Tambourines... this is a Paisley Underground record. I keep saying how much I love jangle pop yet I'm so picky about it. I was never that big on the 60s psychedelic sound,so I've never gotten too deep into Paisley stuff. In fact, I always mistake it for a Prince side project. The album was okay. Black Flag's Everything Went Black... this was just okay? It felt like a comp tape of early pre-Rollins Black Fag material, including a shit ton of radio ads for Black Flag gigs. Cool vibe, but as a record it felt disjointed. Cabaret Voltaire's The Crackdown... nice record! I struggle immensely with industrial, but add a little electronics to it and hey presto, you've got one of the more distinct sounding of the era. For a borderline synthpop, new wave act, this was very anti-pop. I dug it. Dicks' Kill From the Heart... I love music, but I don't really know dick about it. What I do know is that one barometer for how much I enjoyed an album is whether I instantly want to hear more by that artist, and I definitely want more Dicks. Ritual's Widow... part of the fun of being an early 80s metal band had to be choosing the band name, then deciding on the album name and the cover art. I can only imagine these guys being a bunch of pimply-faced, greasy UK teenagers, getting high and spit balling the most metal ideas they. A lot of early metal & NWOBH blends together after a while, but this guys were going the whole occult route, which not that many UK bands did (from memory) and there tinges of doom metal here and there. Decent stuff. Severed Heads' Since the Accident... industrial record. Huge struggle for me, but that's more on me as I should have known better than to listen to this. Sounded like something stuck in the dishing washing machine. Asmus Tietchens' Litia... I'm not a big electronic guy, and was never that comfortable on the dance floor with that type of music, or on any kind of dance floor really, but this German electronic album was decent background music (is that a sin?) The Fixx's Reach the Beach... Very good new wave album. This was solid the whole way through. The kind of album where if you get into the top new wave releases from this year and you're looking for more, this is the perfect tonic. Takanaka's Can I Sing? -- this album is a perfect example of why people enjoy city pop, as Takanaka blends jazz fusion into his pop tapestry and produces another hidden gem for western ears. Verbal Abuse's Just an American Band... this either sounds like a bunch of snotty-nosed American teenagers or an awesome hardcore LP. I vote for the latter.

I don't think I'd ever listened to a Tears for Fears record before. If someone had mentioned Tears for Fears,I would immediately sang "Shout, shout, let it all out."

1983... X's More Fun in the New World... technically, X are a punk band, but they cross over into any sorts of genres like power pop and rockabilly, and frankly, they're fun, they rock, and make me happy. Big tick for this record. Ilegales's Ilegales... one of the best rock albums of 1983. Rock was in a tight spot in '83 with hard rock and AOR losing a ton of ground to punk and metal. Bands like Illegales were clever enough to embrace punk, post-punk, new wave, art punk, and still rock. The Ex's Tumult... straight out of the Netherlands, we have one of the best post-punk records of '83. Post-punk is one of those genres where you're really listening for something clever and brilliant to distinguish it from the multitude of other post-punk albums out there, and this delivered in spades. They released another record in '83 that paled in comparison. Probably not a great idea to release two albums in the same year unless you're a jazz musician. Krokus' Headhunter.. straight heavy metal, but gotta respect OGs that came up from their 70s hard rock roots and were part of the first wave of metal. Enjoyable record. Loquillo y Trogloditas' El ritmo del garage... Another fun Spanish rock album. This one had more of a garage rock sound. Kudos to Spain for keeping good old fashioned rock alive in the early 80s. Bauhaus' Burning From the Inside... I was expecting this to be heavier than it was, but it was a lot peppier than you'd expect from a goth record. Almost like new wave goth music. Not bad! The Robert Cray Band's Bad Influence... Super fun. Maybe I spoke too soon about those Spaniards. This was super enjoyable blues rock. Cleaners From Venus's In the Golden Autumn.. this was okayish. I love jangle pop so much that I have super high expectations for it, which leads to a ton of disappointment when those expectations aren't met. ESG's Come Away With ESG... speaking of expectations, this completely blew mine away. I knew it was a dance punk album, but I didn't realize it would be quite so danceable. They were clearly influenced by James Brown and other funk acts, and the punk element really came from being part of the New York punk scene. This was a bit of a find for me, personally. Strong influence on hip hop and dance. Toshiki Kadomatsu's On the City Shore... soooo 80s. City pop meets yacht rock meets smooth jazz. Japan was still in the midst of its economic bubble and this was every yuppie's dream of a beach vacation somewhere in Okinawa or Guam. Nice record.

There is ZERO chance Jimmy stays on that Rockets team. Jimmy, Chris Paul and James Harden co-existing? Forget about it.

RIP, Andy.

More from 1983... António Variações' Anjo da guarda... this was fantastic. A sublime mix of art pop, synthpop and new wave from Portuguese singer-songwriter, António Variações. Sadly, Varjacoes only released two records before his untimely death at the age of 39, but what incredible records, mixing contemporary pop with traditional Portuguese rhythms and melodies. Acid's Maniac... Belgian speed metal band. Metal was still in its infancy at this time, but it was an incredibly exciting time for the genre with bands popping up in every corner of the globe. I like speed metal A LOT, so I was down with this. They released an earlier self-titled album in '83 that wasn't as good (didn't really care for the female vocals, tbh.) Stick with this record. Soft Cell's The Art of Falling Apart... this was so fucking weird. Soft Cell are one of those bands where you know they were famous for covering Tainted Love, then you listen to one of their LPs and realize they are nothing like you expected... So much weird shit like a Jim Hendrix medley and a bizarre, psychedelic song about a boy named Martin where they keep chanting "Martin! Martin! Martin!" endlessly. Memorable, if nothing else. Big Country's The Crossing... perfectly acceptable mashup of early 80s styles. An easier sell than a lot of post punk records mentioned, and even some new wave LPs, too. The Fun Boy Three's Waiting... didn't leave any real impact one me, which is possibly why I've never heard of this new wave group. Tomoko Aran's Fuyū-kūkan... a few years ago, the internet discovered Japanese city pop, largely through YouTube, I believe, which I guess is a thing now, and not surprising since Japan is absolutely useless at exporting its music to the world. So, nowadays, you get a lot of city pop album recognition when the genre had been all but forgotten in Japan. I love city pop, but it was basically yuppie music. This album, however, is a lot more sophisticated than I was expecting and almost reminded me of a Japanese Sade. Normil Hawaiians' More Wealth Than Money... one of those albums that washes over you, then goes back out like the tide. It came and it went.

It's a miracle the Celtics won in 2008.

More albums from '83... Steve Hiett's Down on the Road by the Beach... mellow surf rock/ambient pop. Nice album to listen to on a Sunday morning or whenever you're chilling. Djeli Moussa Diawara's Yasimika... This was outstanding. I listened to a remastered version which removed the reverb. Some people claim the original version is better, but I can only judge based on what I've heard, and this was an incredible record. I don't know the details well, but it's essentially acoustic West African music with exquisite singing. Tears for Fears' The Hurting... I try to be open minded about music, but even I've got to admit I was looking at this thing and thinking "Aw, man, Tears for Fears?" But this was good... Really good. Mad World, and its remix, is a great single, but there are plenty of good album tracks too. Much more experimental than I was expecting. It must have sounded like it was from the future compared to 70s records. Cocteau Twins' Head Over Heels... I've always struggled to get into the Cocteau Twins. Their music is pretty, but I can't understand a word they say. It's like they're singing underwater. Ashbury's Endless Skies... If you want to hear a hard rock album that could have been released at the peak of the genre and considered a groundbreaking record, but was actually released in 1983, then this is the record for you. Very good. No Trend's Too Many Humans...... This was the nosiest, and probably the hardest, record I've listened to from 1983. If you hate people as much as these guys do, you'll be in fine company here. Misanthropic to the core. Peter and The Test Tube Babies' The Mating Sounds of South American Frogs... interesting title for a record. Kind of disgusting album cover. This was some solid Oi! punk rock, if you like that sort of thing. Fernando Pellon's Cadáver pega fogo durante o velório... the language barrier lost me here as this was samba that was supposed to be fairly dark, pessimistic and sarcastic. And here I thought it was pleasant sounding music. OMD's Dazzle Ships... this didn't work for me. I think there's plenty of better New Wave and Art Pop records out there and I wasn't very impressed with any of the sampling. I have a high tolerance for experimental music, but nothing caught my ear on this record.

Not surprised that the Warriors' shitty season ended early. Kerr put it best when he said the team was maxed out. It's too bad that Wiggins was hurt for the final game. They absolutely needed him to have another great game to slow down LeBron and force a Game 7. Playing every other day hurt the Warriors as much as it did the Lakers. it'll be interesting to see whether the Lakers can get past Denver.

I finished Matt Fraction's Hawkeye. It wasn't really a series I loved as I was reading it issue by issue, but it all came together in the end, and I thought the ending was cool. I can understand why it was well-received as the storytelling is completely different from a typical Marvel book, and Aja's art is stylish and chic. I really liked the character of Kate Bishop. I'm not sure if other writers can write her the way Fraction does, but she was the most memorable thing about the series, to me, and had the best lines.

I don't know about anybody else, but every wrestling match I watch right now is like a salut to Dean.

I've been deep diving albums from 1983 recently. Random thoughts. Charly García's Clics modernos... Argentina's great musician, or so they tell me. Can't understand what he's singing about, but the music is nice. Don't mind listening to music in a different language, but I know people who do. Liked this enough to listen to three more of his studio albums and an MTV Unplugged record. Mix of pop and singer-song writer tunes with a touch of New Wave. Brian Eno with Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno's Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks... sure is atmospheric. Dunno when I'd listen to this since I don't plan on heading into orbit any time soon. Maybe late at night some time? Really late at night? Oingo Boingo's Good for Your Soul... extremely 80s. I am 100% certain you could have only made this record in the 80s. It's a nice record that incorporates plenty of different sounds, including some world music influences, which helps make the tracks distinct from each other. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble's Texas Flood... Blues rock is my least favorite of all the blues genres, but this is pretty good for what it's intended to be and Vaughan's solos are good if you like that sort of thing. I did really like one of the tunes that was some really lowdown blues. The best thing about it was that it felt genuine and wasn't commercial sounding. Daniel Johnston's Hi, How Are You: The Unfinished Album... Daniel Johnston was a young, mentally unwell man who recorded albums in his bedroom and later turned into a cult figure, and in some folks' opinions, a musical genius. He never finished this album because he suffered a breakdown while recording it. It gives you a pretty scary insight into the struggles he was having at the time. He has this really weird singing style where he sounds like a teenager, but you get used it after a while and some of the tunes are really good. Lady Pank's Lady Pank... Polish New Wave, Pop Rock album. Couldn't under a word but bopped along to it anyway. I liked this a lot, though apparently the lyrical content is hugely important so I missed a big chunk of the album's importance right there. Bad Brains' Rock for Light... part punk, part reggae. I get why Bad Brains did that, but are you hardcore or are you reggae 'cos it makes my head spin switching between the two. Lewis' L'Amour... low key, ambient pop. Quiet record. I had a hard time hearing what he was singing. Listened to it twice but no impact. Oz' Fire in the Brain... Pretty standard early 80s NWOBHV influenced record. Some nice riffs. They get bonus points for being from Finland. Nothing on here is as cool as Turn The Cross Upside Down. Aztec Camera' High Land, Hard Rain... sounds like a mix of The Smiths and Crowded House. Pleasant enough but didn't jangle enough for my liking. Womack & Womack's Love Wars... smooth soul. I like my soul a little rawer, but it was well produced. Rudimentary Peni's Death Church... not as hard as I remembered or expected. I was expecting this to be balls to the walls, which it wasn't. Unless I wasn't listening properly, which happens. Minor Threat's Out of Step... this was also softer than I was expecting. I think I've been spoiled by other hardcore acts somewhere down the line. The Fabulous Thunderbirds' What's the Word... this was a lot of fun. Texas Blues with a strong Boogie element. Enjoyed this one from start to end. Stevie Ray's brother's band, for those of you who don't know. John Fahey's Railroad I... Fahey is an absolute legend as far as I'm concerned. I never got as far as his 80s albums when I binge-listened his records, but this was good stuff. Kinda crazy to hear when you think about 1983 and the type of music that was in vogue, but great to hear the legend continue to do his thing. Albert Collins & The Icebreakers' Don't Lose Your Cool... man, Albert Collins sure got goofy on this record. Fun, but goofy. I thought I was listening to Johnny "Guitar" Watson, or somebody else, the way he was jiving. Hell, it could have been a Screamin' Jay Hawkins record half of the time. However, it wasn't bad, and Collins' playing was rock solid.

I've been coming to this site since 1999, so for almost 25 years. There have been a lot of folks who've come and gone since then, but Dean's love for pro-wrestling never waivered. He was still posting about it while his health was declining. Aside from the future he could have spent with his friends and family, the thing that bums me out the most is that he won't get to see the wrestling that's still to come because I'm sure he would have loved it. 20-25 years ago, everyone wanted to be like Dean with the jokes, the amazing one-liners and the personal anecdotes. But no-one could imitate him. Each new DVDVR was event. You'd run off trying to scrounge a copy of whatever tape they'd reviewed, and as others have said, Dean was generous in sharing the footage, especially when it became easier to share media. There were a lot of flame wars back in those days, but everyone respected Dean. And then he became a vet and gave just as much, if not more, to the younger generations that followed. And he was an old-school message board dude until the end. I played with my kid in the park today and I thought about Dean. I watched some wrestling in the evening and thought about him again. Wrestling won't be the same without him, but it wouldn't have been the same without him either, if you catch my drift.

I'm in disbelief, but RIP Dean.

The last issue was released in 2019. Shanower announced that it was the last floppy and that future issues would be released through Comixology. It was the first color issue and since then he's released color versions of the collected editions. In fact, he just released a new collection last week. What that means for the future of the book, I'm not sure, but he's still publishing it.

I made it to issue #34 of Age of Bronze. I don't know if Shanower will finish the series, but even if he doesn't, it stands as a monumental work. One of the best series I've read since I returned to comics. It's a cliche, but every panel is a work of art. I wish there was more of an audience for these types of comics, however putting them out so irregularly doesn't help with sales. Still, what an incredible labour of love. Hats off to you, Eric Shanower.

I finished Sex Criminals. In the end, it went in a direction that I didn't particularly care for, and I could have absolutely done without the coda which did nothing for me. It was a fun ride, even if it did feel like they were changing things as they went along, but fell short of being one of the best series of the Eisners era. Some nice character moments, but I gotta have that tightly woven plot.

It's stupid that they don't count the stats. These ain't no pre-season games. They should just add them to the playoff stats.

Slaughter Lord may be the noisiest Aussie band ever.

I've been on a huge Running Wild kick this past week.

I finished up Julie Doucet's Dirty Plotte. Wonderful stuff. Honest, surreal, funny. I wish she'd stayed in comics longer, but what a brilliant legacy to leave behind. Of all the great early 90s alternative comics, Dirty Plotte was the most fun to read.

The Black Caps win another thriller this time scoring the final run on the last ball of the Test. .

The reason the 2001 test was so amazing was that Australia had won a record 16 tests in a row, and then Laxman and Dravid put on their incredible stand that broke all sorts of records, and then the Indian spinners went nuts when a draw seemed the most inevitable outcome.

Amazing victory for the Black Caps, but nothing will ever compare to that 2001 test.

H-Bomb are my new favorite French band.