Is Spellling Just Trollling on ‘Portrait of My Heart’?

Seriously though, what the fuck even is this?

You can call this an emergency review. Generally, I would wait until the end of year Necessary Evil countdown to air all my bigoted grievances and problematic thoughts (I got a lot of problems with you people), but right now I can’t see this record making the top 40 and if I don’t air my bewilderment I will literally die. I don’t know what this album is. I don’t know what it’s supposed to be. I’m not even convinced how seriously we’re supposed to receive this record and if it’s all just a giant pissstake by Spellling.

Continue reading “Is Spellling Just Trollling on ‘Portrait of My Heart’?”

The Decline and Lull: The Manics Grow Dull Gracefully on ‘Critical Thinking

The Manic Street Preachers’ fifteenth album is one that is extremely easy to appreciate, so long as you’re ready to accept an entire trolley worth of caveats.

Firstly, this is the band’s 15th [FIFTEENTH] album. Few bands with any kind of success ever get this far, never mind a band that started out already preplanning their self-destruction, and coming 34 years after a debut-album the band promised would be their last. And, hey, for a group of three men in their mid fifties this ‘Critical Thinking’ is a great accomplishment. My colleague at work recently had her 50th birthday, and would she be able to produce an album of this quality? Highly unlikely.

Imposter syndrome, fuck that!

Statman Scoop (RIP): The Numbers Behind Necessary Evil 2023

Shhh…

Do you hear that?

That distant thunder rumbling? Rumbling hungry like a beast? The beast it cometh, cometh down?

Yes, it’s November, which means we’re just a month away from Necessary Evil 2024. That annual highlight of every year when all of you sad, fat, middle aged, lonely, fat (did I say ‘fat’ already? Well, you really fat, so it’s fine) finally learn the objective truths about the year’s music and perhaps become aware of some albums released after 2004.

Firstly though, we need (we need) to look at the stats behind Necessary Evil 2023. Why? I’m not so sure anymore. I’m also not so sure why I’ve started doing these stats as an introduction to the next year’s list, rather than posting them close to when I do the actual list they’re about. Well, I do: after I spend a month constantly writing on this dumb blog that nobody reads, I never want to write about these stupid fucking albums ever again. This might be the last time I do this statistical break down. Might be.

Having said that nobody reads this dumb blog though, 2024 has actually seen the most amount of visitors to Necessary Evil ever. Like, 43% more visitors than last year. And I haven’t even done the one thing this blog does this year yet! I honestly appreciate every reader this blog gets, and you all make me possibly think it might be worthwhile to continue this piece of shit.

Eugh, enough sincerity, let’s make dick jokes and stuff:

the stuff

Seth Manchester’s 2023

Aw man, it has not been easy to keep up with Seth Manchester this year. It’s been more than five years since Seth’s otherworldly production on ‘Goodness‘ convinced me to buy every single album that Mr Manchester produced from that point onward. This has lead to around 15 further entries on this list. And a lot of death metal. Well, it stops here.

Well, kinda stops. I use Discogs to keep up with Seth, and going off that they’ve been involved in a total of forty records in 2023 (!), though that is including some rereleases and a handful of albums I can just find no other information on anywhere else. This is obviously unsustainable, especially when you consider that Manchester works on quite a few records that I do not enjoy listening to at all. But there is also some very interesting stuff that I missed out on this year that might have made the list. were I not wasting money on more instrumental noise rock.

So the Seth Manchester run will continue. I still think they’re the greatest rock producer working and they introduce me to music that I’d overwise have no chance of coming into contact with. Already on NE2023 we’ve seen the Manchester produced Lingua Ignota project, who I only know in the first place because of the Seth ties. Only, in the future I’m going to listen to an album first and then decide if it’s likely to be worth me spending money on and adding it to the Necessary Evil rotation. Yeah, I know, you probably thought I did as much already, right? Nope. I’m a fucking idiot. Anyway, I’m going to run down some of the more notable 2023 Seth credits.

BEEN SOME DARK DAYS LATELY AND I’M FINDING IT CRIPPLING