I was going to write something about how I was enjoying this new album by The Bug, but how I felt there was something missing compared to Pressure, something raw, something abrasive, something a bit RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR. On “Angry”, for example, Tippa Irie doesn’t sound that angry; perhaps about as peeved as I get when I make toast and then realise I’ve run out of butter. Gah! Someone needs to poke him with a stick or something. Then I read that Carl Impostume had already said something similar, if a bit harsher and a whole lot more articulate than my effort would have been. So, instead of making a completely redundant post (even more so than usual, perhaps), I’m choosing to entertain you with some photos I’ve taken at various zoos around the world – including London – over the last couple of years.
It has to be said that I reckon London Zoo is the nicest I’ve been too – they seem to look after their animals pretty well; you don’t see any demented bears pacing up and down or humping logs. Hey, that is a review, isn’t it? Does that count? Anyway, the photos: I bet you at least one of these looks like someone you know…
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August 6, 2008 at 12:27 am
Colin
You don’t mention Rhythm & Sound’s W/ The Artists in your review of The Bug. Does Impostume? I’m not clicking on the link you supplied just in case it gives me a nasty virus. Every review of London Zoo should refer to R&S. LZ hasn’t really done it for me which is sort of disappointing. I did want it to, honest. Two good tracks though – Poison Dart and Fuckaz, I like hearing Spaceape angry – which I agree is confusing when there is a track called Angry already. I reckon Mr Bug should have been a lot more minimal. But then it might have just sounded like R&S. Would that have been a bad thing? I don’t know.
August 6, 2008 at 12:28 am
Colin
PS for the benefit of your readership, could you annotate your pictures thereby informing them of which worldwide zoos they were captured at? Thanking you in advance.
August 6, 2008 at 10:20 am
mapsadaisical
Would that be an aaaalien virus, Colin? I really wanted to like this too, in fact I was convinced I would. Actually I did enjoy it on a superficial level the first couple of times I heard it; less so when I really listened to it.
I have annotated the photos, from memory – if you hover the cursor over them , it should say where they were taken. I wish it also said a bit more about what sort of animals they were, but my zoological qualifications, such as they are, and there aren’t in fact any, are woefully inadequate.
August 6, 2008 at 10:32 am
marxsbeard
only the sheep look happy…
August 6, 2008 at 10:50 am
mapsadaisical
As an Aberdonian, I know how to keep sheep happy.
August 6, 2008 at 11:29 am
Colin
Hmm. Colour me underwhelmed: 1. you’ve annotated with species not location, 2. you’ve neither updated the post nor made any reference in your response to Rhythm & Sound, and 3. surely that first image is a fish not an IMG_332??
Sigh.
August 6, 2008 at 12:41 pm
mapsadaisical
I’m clearly destined not to whelm you today. I’ve got some cookies going spare over here, would it help if I offered you one?
Hmm, the pictures seem to work fine here. I hover, location appears. The manual suggests that CTRL+F5 should fix that. Unless you mean the flickr page itself? Ah, done that too now. Should all be fine now. Apologies for some lazy uploading there. London, Helsinki, Lisbon, Munich. Trans-Zoorope Express.
Given the relative disparity between my limited knowledge of the R&S album compared to your near-obsessive familiarity (not to mention the fact that I am – possibly incorrectly – picking up some tetchiness on your part) I didn’t really want to go there. Does my lack of knowledge of it make me as unqualified to find reference points for The Bug as I am to stick tags on species? Probably – nothing new there then.
That isn’t to say that I wouldn’t like to hear you discuss it. Feel free to illuminate me.
September 2, 2008 at 10:26 am
Mandrew
Nice pics. Fortunately, I recently discovered the Razor X Productions (The Bug and The Rootsman) album from a couple of years back. That has all the RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR you need, Maps. Believe.
September 2, 2008 at 10:36 am
mapsadaisical
Well, that sounds more like it. Are you re-acclimatising yourself with the sounds of London? I’ve got an albums worth of field recordings I made on the tube I could send you*
*actually, I don’t. But I should make one, shouldn’t I?
September 2, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Mandrew
Well, I have half-arsedly tried to keep up with the urban flavours*. The grit, grime and gun-talk sound just as exciting and a little less threatening when you’re surrounded by trees and mountains on the other side of the world.
Yes. I wish I’d made field recordings while I was away. I kept meaning to buy something to do it with.
*and your blog – as you can see it’s been about a month.
September 2, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Mandrew
PS. Doesn’t Kevin Martin look silly?