inthenews.co.uk: Music review - The Best (Janet Jackson)

This month has been a quiet one, though I'm sure you can see this as being relatively understandable. There's a few things to come in the next couple of weeks, namely a huge Album of the Year feature I'm writing over at Sound Screen. I'll keep you all posted, of course.

Until then, enjoy the latest review of Janet Jackson's 'best of' album.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - American Standard (Dayna Kurtz)

I'd not heard of Dayna Kurtz before this moment, so it was nice to have a fresh look at an artist who is clearly doing well for herself as well as someone who has at least one high-profile fan.

Is her new album any good? Click here to find out.

inthenews.co.uk: Interview - Stricken City

After reviewing an album which can only be described as Damn Fine (pronoun), I got the chance to speak to Stricken City, a band I genuinely tip for stardom of some kind, as much out of hope as expectation.

You can read about them by clicking here.

Sound Screen: Music review - Malice N Wonderland (Snoop Dogg)

No sooner had I taken the position of music editor alongside the venerable Richard Chamberlain that I received Snoop Dogg's newest album through the post from EMI Parlophone. As my first review - one which I had to quality test myself, as well as upload and optimise for search engines and the like - it signals the next step in my career.

You can read my opening piece at Sound Screen by clicking here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Unit 125 EP (Laroca)

In my continued coverage of Laroca, who I've previously reviewed and interviewed, I got a chance to cover their latest EP.

You can read the review here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Flip Skateboards' Extremely Sorry Soundtrack (Baron)

Sometimes, CDs can surprise you. This was one of those times.

Click here to read the review!

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Untitled (R Kelly)

Who better than R Kelly as the central focus for my 100th article of 2009? Pretty much everyone, sure. But here he is, in all his glory, with his next music project.

Find out what I thought of Untitled by clicking here.

Self-published: Game review - Need for Speed: Nitro (Nintendo Wii)

Sadly, due to the folding of Gamezine due to the inability for it to be monetised, it looks like my last review for Need for Speed: Nitro won't see the light of day despite promises and the like, so I've decided to take it upon myself to get it done myself below. Enjoy!


It's not Mario Kart Wii, so don't get your hopes up.

Still, it's much better than you may think. While the competition from in-house competitors is always tough when producing solely for a Nintendo console, it at least sets the benchmark to go up against, and the Need for Speed series seems to have cracked it - or at least laid the foundations for a great series.

Despite the graphics on the Wii usually leading to eternal discomfort over the lack of anti-aliasing and filtering on a vast array of games, there still manages to be a level of beauty about the presentation of Nitro. The menus are polished, the car models are attractive despite being out of proportion to the real thing (which is another trick of the Wii; see Madden 10) and best of all, the frame rate doesn't really suffer. In fact, 60fps looks pretty easy at the best of times.

The choice of cars continues to delight, with the likes of the Dodge Charger representing the old-school charm while newer models - notably the Lamborghini Reventon - bring the game into a more modern dimension.

What's more, the seemingly limitless car design abilities also allow for all manner of weird and wonderful designs, showing that EA is not going to strip everything out, owing to the smaller-capacity disc. Things like this give it longevity and this customisation option is one of the best ones out there.

Sadly, the gameplay can let it down in this sense. Given that all that's needed is a few different combinations of race type and track, if not the odd reverse course or circuit extension, the career mode is stupidly short.

It makes it a bit easier in that you need to unlock things for arcade mode and so it doesn't take long to achieve this, though the fact you need to do any unlocking in the first place is pretty questionably given that the Wii is predominantly a party console and should have immediate accessibility for everything. Either the unlocking must be a long process, or there shouldn't be anything to do.

That said, the actual controls and gameplay is bloody brilliant and makes up for it. Unlike a few NFS titles that have come before it, the feeling of speed is unparalleled and the responsiveness of the controller is wonderful, though the Heath Robinson-esque contraption that is the drifting mechanic is just strange.

Either way, you get used to it and you play it to your advantage, though it feels like getting a speed boost in Mario Kart: Double Dash; easy to do, yet you play a certain system to get it right and if you don't nail it perfectly each time, you'll be eating dust.

A couple of other things dragged the game down; the soundtrack's crap, for one. That covered, the lack of Wi-Fi multiplayer is frustrating. Why not, especially with crazy car designs that you can show off to your mates and strangers?

Luckily, domestic multiplayer is made of win. Game modes are rife, plus painting the city is a treat, though mainly with a couple of mates to fight with.

It seems like it's harking back to the good old days of brightly-coloured, functional racing games from the 90s such as the series' earlier outing Need for Speed 2, Automobili Lamborghini or the surprisingly fun Cruis'n World. While it's not massively, massively enjoyable on a consistent basis, it still has a charm that keeps you coming back for more. A proper workhorse game, one may say.

And with its Wii grounding, it's also a great game to rely on for Christmas and New Year in family houses across the country. Sure, they'll likely have Mario Kart Wii and the rest, yet it's a solid alternative racer with the added bonus of having real copyright licences and crazy tracks that don't see you firing out red shells, lightning bolts or bombs that usually ensure tears before bedtime.

It'll likely be down to more of a bargain price before World Jesus Day encroaches as well, so keep your eye out - even if it just kills time over Christmas, it's still a good laugh. Don't expect the world from it, though.

8/10

Matt Gardner

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Night Is the New Day (Katatonia)

This one looked like a bit of a write-off when I first got hold of it, though we all know that we should never judge a book by its cover. Or a CD, though it's a bit of an obvious thing to say as you have to listen to it instead.

Click here for my review.

The Latest: Skateboarding is the works so let's keep it going

A little while ago, I was faced with a dilemma and a tough one at that: cutting down one of my best articles from around 1,300 words to 800 in the space of a night for the sake of publication with Leeds Guide. Luckily I was able to pull it off, with the final article making the magazine and website.

However, my original article was still worth a lot in that it captured a more human side of things, particularly with those who skate at the park, whose quotes I had to remove.

Following a redesign of The Latest, I decided to post the original there and restart my posting with the website, which became limited following deadline commitments to music and game reviews.

The full piece (with edits) can be found here at The Latest, though the raw original is also below.


With a place as big as Leeds, it's no wonder that a lot of the city's major hubs of activity go unnoticed. Sadly, one of these hidden gems - the holder of a national record, no less - may no longer be around in 12 months time.

The Works skate park, which sits just outside the town centre hidden away in a former railway engine factory on an industrial estate, is England's largest indoor centre of its kind, treating kids and adults alike to over 25,000 sq ft of ramps, rails, bowls and epic drop-ins whether their discipline is skateboarding, rollerblading or BMXing.

Housed in a building over 120 years old, The Works takes its name from the former railway engineering workshop that was once inside. It has a charm which many of Leeds' many landmarks seem to lack: atmosphere. Alongside the history behind the warehouse, it's totally unique, with a complex upstairs café area complementing the vast array of snaking structures designed for riders.

Of course, with a park of this magnitude, people from around the area travel far to get in on the action, sometimes driving up to 80 or 90 miles to practice in the boarding sanctuary it provides. As a result, a strong community element has been created between regular attendees and rookies alike.

Despite this, the park doesn't have the support it needs. Although it has proactive bonds with the NHS, initiatives such as Change 4 Life alongside plenty of liaising with schools in the area to teach kids how to ride safely, local authorities, charities and lottery funds still overlook what's crucial to the park's longevity: financial support.

However, the show must go on. On Saturday 19th September, The Works hosted a Nando's-led three-part nationwide skating event known as the Xperi-mental Skate Jam, the brainchild of Marcel Khan, a Nando's managing director and affable skateboarding enthusiast who understands the importance of corporate social responsibility. Marcel shared the goal of The Works: creating a community gathering.

Elliott Turnbull, the park's manager, shows nothing but commitment to the cause of community spirit within Leeds. After diligently working with the event's organisers and skateboarders alike alongside his equally invested staff, much like he does on a day-to-day basis, he spared time to talk about the strong points of the park and, crucially, what Leeds could miss out on if vital funding does not reach the facility. Should this not happen, it could be closed for good within 12 months.

"It's grungy but it has genuine charm. If you build a new facility, it'd take away this element," Elliott explained. "People fall in love with the facility but it's just too expensive for them. People love what we're doing, they love what we're doing for the kids as well, it just needs subsidising from somewhere to drive prices down and make it more accessible to skaters."

Rodney Clarke, a professional skateboarder touring with Nando's, is the perfect ambassador for the sport and its community element. Speaking on the same level with fellow skateboarders nearly half his age and making many friends along the way, he belies the attitude which has been known to surround his peers at a similar level in other sports.

A highly-awarded and eloquent skater, Rodney is a remarkably young-looking 37, which he attributes to the healthiness that skating promotes. He highlighted the necessity for The Works to continue its efforts in sustaining the community.

"You can go to any skate park in the world and after five minutes you've got ten new friends that you've never seen before," he explained. "It's the same for any skateboarder anywhere in the country and that's why skate parks like The Works are so important. Culture, colour, background, creed, race, that's all gone. There's no racism or bullying in this sport."

However, one of Rodney's primary concerns is that regarding the image of skateboarding as an anti-social menace to society. This, he feels, is probably the last thing it ought to be branded.

One woman who knows a lot about the societal perceptions of skateboarding is Deborah Lea, whose son Matthew has found much joy in skating - one of the few things he has gained acceptance through after being bullied. Matthew was born with a bilateral cleft palate - something which, 18 operations later, is now behind him.

Travelling through from St Helens, where she is also petitioning for an indoor skate park after her son was threatened with an Asbo for his suburban skating, this was the first event she had attended and she was immediately taken in by it.

"Everybody takes care of each other," Mrs Lea emphasised. "They're so friendly and relaxed in an easy-going atmosphere. It can't cost a fortune to keep a place like this going for the good it does for the community.

"My son has never been so confident. Skating to him is his freedom. He feels normal, he's one of the gang, one of the crowd and nobody gives him grief. There's nothing for him and people like him if places like this shut down, especially away from the summer weather."

Fellow skaters Jonny Hanson and Ryan Paul Swain are firmly in agreement. Chased from town centres for their sport, the amiable pair were quick to defend The Works. "Indoor skate parks like this? In the long run the money's always worth it," Jonny said.

Ryan also highlighted the negative side of outdoor areas, asserting: "Indoor parks close the door to the people who visit outdoor areas in gangs to cause trouble, leaving the skating to people who want to invest time in their own abilities."

One thing is for sure: in one event alone, The Works showed that it is the perfect base for faultless community spirit. Without it, a major culture within Leeds could disappear, along with the hard work and tireless dedication of staff to schools, learners and other initiatives pioneered or supported by the institution.

What's more, a major group of people in Yorkshire - one which has grown irksome, seemingly unfairly, to local authorities and citizens alike - no longer has a home, thus bringing back the unfairly-perceived problem to other areas and completely undoing hard work from both sides of the argument.

Yet while Elliott and his co-workers are concerned about the future and the current economic climate's effect on custom, they continue to soldier on. The manager wants to prove society wrong and defy trends, eventually creating the biggest park in Europe with classrooms, training facilities, gyms and, of course, more ramps, rails and funboxes.

"It's an uphill slog," he said. "I like a challenge, though!"

Rodney concluded: "See how indoor parks work. You'll see all the good points and you'll want to get involved in the place. The council and the government would probably want to throw money at it, if they visited and truly realise their importance."
Matt Gardner

The Works
Phone: 0113 2446015
Web: www.theworksskatepark.com

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Full Circle (Creed)

A vanilla genre: that's what Creed operates in. But after an eight-year hiatus, do the guys in the pseudo-Christian rock band have anything going for them? Will they stand out from the rest of the (packed) crowd?

You can be the judge, obviously, though I was as well; click here to read my opinion!

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - NME The Album 2009 (Various Artists)

A mixed bag, this one: the flagship NME release for the year aims to be the stocking filler that many clueless mothers, fathers, couples and teenagers are looking to buy.

Is it a good mix? Obviously you can be the judge, though my view on it can be read here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - The Performance (Dame Shirley Bassey)

Sure, it sounds like a bit of a weird album to cover, though as my 50th music review, I decided to go for something a bit different - an album that will likely catch a lot of people of guard.

But how? How?! Find out by clicking here, etc.

inthenews.co.uk: Interview - Kippi Kaninus

After getting the chance to review his album as well as listen to his other work on a compilation by Brainlove Records which I also reviewed, Kippi Kaninus was able to grant me time to interview him, with the Icelandic star getting across his ethos on his profession.

Read what he had to say to me here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - At The Ferranti Institute (Sisters of Transistors)

This strange offering looks like it has some pedigree behind it, with 808 State's Graham Massey at the helm of an interesting project involving vintage organs.

Does it carry on the prestigious music career, though? Click here to find out.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Phantom Limb (Phantom Limb)

This self-titled offering from the Bristolian soul/blues/country band is making waves everywhere, but what about Inthenews Towers?

Click here to find out how it fares by my ears.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Gorilla Manor sampler (Local Natives)

It's not often that I get samplers, so this is not a full representation of the finished product. Nevertheless, it's still a pretty solid effort for what's been submitted.

Find out what I think about Local Natives by clicking here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Sweethead (Sweethead)

The guitarist from Queens of the Stone Age has gotten together with a few other guys to launch a new project: Sweethead. They've been practising for a while now but nothing major until July when they released an EP, though their full release isn't out until now, two years after forming.

Worth the wait? Check it out here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Fear of a Wack Planet (Brainlove Records)

In this release, I was assigned to cover the work of the eclectic Brainlove Records, which supports a number of underground musicians across the UK and beyond. Having already sampled the likes of Kippi Kaninus, I decided to give a few more artists from their catalogue a try.

Read my review for the label here.

inthenews.co.uk: Is NFL losing appeal?

In a piece which was pretty much my bread and butter - writing about something I love - I talk about the highs and lows of this year's NFL regular season game at Wembley. It was an event of mixed emotions for me, so I proposed a comment piece about it. What's more, I got my first (relatively) professional photo published alongside it after I decided to put my developing camera skills to the test.

To read the article, click here. You can find a version of that photo, alongside many others also in a higher resolution, here on my blog.

Leeds Guide: A Skate To Victory

A while ago, I got together with the guys at The Works Skate Park to cover an event going on there and get a feel for what it was all about. It turned out to be a massive success and in order to give something back to the community, I decided to cover it for Leeds Guide, the definitive magazine for the area.

It should be in print soon, though until then, here it is in all of its online glory, sans line breaks. It's a truncated version of the original, which I ended up publishing on The Latest for double coverage.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - How To Do Battle (Senser)

Senser have been going for absolutely ages and have soldiered on to make a new record. Does it match their decent pedigree over the last few years?

Click here to read more.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - Halo 3: ODST

I was assigned to cover this game with fellow reviewer Chris Capel, who got the first look-in due to his longer experience with the job. I get the second opinion to Capel's excellent summary, though we agree and differ on a few things.

Click here to read the review and remember - scroll down. Mine is the second!

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - All My Mistakes (Teitur)

Teitur's surprisingly well-known for a few songs, though you'll probably not associate them with his name. People get the chance to listen again with this collection.

Is it any good? Click here to find out.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Songs About People I Know (Stricken City)

Sometimes someone you've never heard of before comes along and truly surprises you. Stricken City were like that with me.

Click here to read why.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Tongue Tangled Hair (Bleeding Heart Narrative)

I took on a review of Bleeding Heart Narrative, who are listed with Tartaruga, a developing label. Are Tartaruga onto a winner? Is the release any good?

There's only one way to find out: click here...

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - I Am Chipmunk (Chipmunk)

Grime isn't exactly my strong point, though it'd be silly to turn something down on that basis when it comes to reviewing. This piece is about Mobo-winning Chipmunk, though is that ringing endorsement as correct as we assume?

Read the review to find out.

inthenews.co.uk: Tough at the top? Try the bottom

Darlington FC are facing a bit of a crisis so I thought I'd go along and show my support... for Macclesfield Town, their rivals on the day. It's pretty hard to ignore the serious issues the club are up against though, so I thought I'd knock together this next piece about how the team are struggling.

Have a read of my latest sport article by clicking here.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - DiRT 2

It's safe to say that this game massively surprised me. It also led me to write over 2,000 words on it in my original draft, yet the powers that be (rightly) got me to cut it down.

So here it is: a comprehensive review of the new game in the Colin McRae series.

gamezine.co.uk: Has Turn 10 learnt anything from GT? (Forza Motorsport 3 preview)

In my first go at doing a preview of a game based on the demo, I was handed the opportunity to look at Forza Motorsport 3, the Xbox 360's equivalent of Gran Turismo. But does it match up?

Read more about it by clicking here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Happens Secretly (Kippi Kaninus)

I was approached by Brainlove Records to review this effort shortly after I released the Pentatonik write-up last month, where I reckon they identified that I was well into my experimental electronica. Not one to disappoint but happy to point out that it could be a good or bad article about Kippi Kaninus - their latest offering - I reviewed the album.

Good or bad? Click here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Tulipomania (Boy Crisis)

Pitchfork called them the "absolute worst band in the world right now" long before they released this album. So then, will Boy Crisis defy their critics?

Err, read the review here.

inthenews.co.uk: Gig review - The Furious Five with Kurtis Blow

I'm a huge fan of hip-hop, so to hear that Kurtis Blow and the Furious Five were heading to Leeds was an emotional discovery. Within ten minutes I'd bought tickets to my first gig in about eight months.

Thing is, was it worth it?

Check out my first gig review for inthenews.co.uk right here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Routes to Riches (Mamas Gun)

This is one of the stranger efforts in the music scene at the moment and one definitely worth reading about; Mamas Gun are certainly different to the rest of the mainstream music scene at the moment, but are they historically speaking?

Read the review of Routes to Riches here.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - Euro Truck Simulator Gold

Sometimes, you have to embrace things you'd not usually think to buy, listen to, play, taste, smell, etc. Euro Truck Simulator Gold is, as a gamer, one of these. The thing is, diving head-first into this kind of thing can sometimes surprise you into actually enjoying it; I had that with nectarines.

Anyway, whatever; here's the long-awaited review of Euro Truck Simulator Gold.

The Latest (Column): Campaign of hate, sir? Here, have the Daily Mail

A little while ago I had a huge rant about how the Daily Mail is essentially a swear word; you can read it here. As it was such an important point to me, I decided to convert it into an article for The Latest, which I haven't touched in a long time due to other work commitments. I'm hoping this changes soon.

You can see the sub-edited version here at The Latest or read the raw cut below.


Sometimes, there's a fine line between investigative journalism and a vendetta or grudge. However, certain newspapers, blogs, programmes and radio shows make it all too clear just how much they're willing to go out and get someone… even if it's clear that the truth has been bent out of proportion to get there.

The worst offender? Fascist tendencies aside - which, in my opinion, likely expels the Daily Express - it's the Daily Mail, bar none. One moment on Monday September 21st encapsulated absolutely everything I hate about the paper in one swoop.

Before I go into detail, let me get things straight. I hate the Daily Mail. I hate the snobbish, classist bile that has been known to flood out of its pages. I hate how it needs to convey to people to loathe the poor who they don't agree with by following their name with "jobless, three kids, living off benefits". I hate how they back the Tory party with increasing fervour despite them being led by David Cameron, the only politician incapable of making steadfast policies that aren't purely reactionary.

I'm a left-winger, sure, yet I like to think that reasoning comes into every facet of day-to-day life. However, in its bid to take over the world, the Daily Mail's slimy tentacles are reaching out into many pies, turning a once wholesome filling into one not even edible.

The poor quality of journalism at its best in the paper's so-called TV and Showbiz section - a cavalcade of hate, deceit, lies and anger directed at anyone in the limelight. It all starts to fall into trends. Katie Price is doing this, for example. Oh, hasn't (insert name here) aged badly? My goodness, why's that little angel now a slag? And so forth.

One strange trend seems to have been surrounding the airbrushing debate - or, as everyone else knows it, Marketing 101. Considering we live in one of the most developed consumer economies in the world, you'd think the press - which is known for doctoring images themselves - would be the last ones to criticise others, given that's how you promote things. A lift here, a smudge there and the job's a good'n - more sellable, at that.

But no. In the last year or so - and you can search the Daily Mail website as proof - there have been at least 15 stories on the cult of airbrushing. Well, I say cult. It's essentially times when promotions have needed someone that's not only a good actor, singer or personality, but one that's perfectly attractive too. They do their best, of course, though they need a little bit of a boost.

For example, one article went into intrinsic detail about the lack of Keira Knightley's breasts. It's actually pretty sickening, really. Okay, we get it, she doesn't have a bust. We've known that since Bend It Like Beckham.

But what about Ricky Gervais, the love/hate figure from comedy shows and films around the world? Well, those wrinkles certainly didn't show on his recent poster for The Invention of Lying.

Kate Winslet, despite looking in her mid-20s anyway - and utterly stunning at that - isn't apparently allowed to have blotchy skin on a serious photoshoot according to the Daily Mail, which is why they got an expert in to say exactly why she isn't as attractive as she blatantly is.

And the worst thing is, the Daily Mail makes itself out to be a bastion of justice; a freer of minds; a firm proponent of truth.

Yet one twisted sentence was all it took to show just how needless vendettas boil over to seemingly incandescent rage. Congratulations, Daily Mail - only you could ever make me feel sorry for Kerry Katona.

On the morning of Monday September 21st, the Daily Mail put up a story regarding the questionable character entitled "Laughing Kerry Katona swigs an alcopop during family trip to the beach".

The implication of her "swigging" from a bottle was already enough, making her out to be a booze hound which many people have alleged her to be. Regardless of whether or not she was, she still only drank one bottle of Smirnoff Ice - something kids drink at parties when they can't afford better and can't handle the taste of any real drinks.

In just three or four hours, the headline changed to "Kerry Katona swigs vodka on a family trip to the beach", which is how it remains. Of course, the Daily Mail seems too thick to cover its tracks, given that the original is in the internet browser header and the url of the page, which reads Laughing-Kerry-Katona-swigs-alcopop-family-trip-beach.html.

So not only did they drop "laughing" out of the title - god forbid she tries to have fun while she's bankrupt and likely to fight for her kids - but they made out like she was sat letting her kids prance around in between bear traps and needles while she sat on the kerb swigging neat white spirit.

Sure, there's vodka in there, but is it *really* vodka? Well, no, not in the eyes of pretty much everyone.

It's like them seeing me on a Sunday evening in my front room, squinting through hateful eyes, first writing "Happy Matt Gardner watches NFL drinking beer" then changing it to "Matt Gardner watches violent sport while drinking ethanol".

"Well, ethanol's in beer," the idiots would claim. Yes. It's just remarkably diluted.

What next for the Daily Mail Pain Train? Will Kate Winslet be seen eating a cheese baguette, resulting in the Daily Mail screaming "Kate Winslet eating a pure fat sandwich... probably time for the airbrush!"? Who knows.

And as for the Daily Mail comments section, which is usually filled with reactionary and gullible bile, we have some common sense from some in regards to Kerry Katona from Mary M of Manchester:

"No more Jordan. No more Kerry. Please please please. Find somebody else to write about."

Cora of Maidenhead did pretty well, too:

"It's one Smirnoff Ice! 5% at the most. OK, perhaps unwise if you are followed by the paps but hardly the crime of the century. I know she has brought all this press attention on herself but give the girl a break!"

I'm addicted to the Daily Mail now (online, of course... I'm never going to pay for it). It's like watching a car crash's aftermath. Except the car has the wrong number plates, someone's made a hasty paint job to hide important evidence and the reporters covering the scene all turn up in opaque sunglasses, carrying white sticks.

Oh, and they ignore it if there's even the slightest chance of an immigrant or an ethnic minority inside.

Even if they want to sell papers, it's just not right. There comes a time when journalism is not needed, when it's no longer news. The Daily Mail's desperation in its last minute changing of 'alcopop' to 'vodka' only cements the fact that it was not a story: just a violent stab at a celebrity who's already, sadly, the walking dead.

inthenews.co.uk: Interview - Simeon Bowring, a.k.a. Pentatonik

After having one of the best albums to review in a long time with A Thousand Paper Cranes, the man behind it - Pentatonik, or Simeon Bowring - was more than happy to get in touch with me and take some questions about his career.

You can see it on inthenews.co.uk by clicking here!

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Leave This Town (Daughtry)

Not a genre known for its variety, the US mainstream rock scene is now the home to American Idol reject Chris Daughtry, who has led his band to their second straight number one album. But is it any good?

Have a look at the review by clicking here, here or even here.

gamezine.co.uk: Feature - The Madden Curse strikes again

This article was a bit of a doozy for me as it combined two of my main loves: American football and games. It's about the strange coincidences surrounding cover title players on the Madden NFL series and injuries, a lack of form or other mishaps.

It's on Gamezine, of course, so click here to read it.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Backspacer (Pearl Jam)

In my month of article madness, I had the chance to cover Pearl Jam's newest offering. As a big fan of the band, I tohught it would be a winner after hearing the new single and a couple of other promos. But is it?

Find out here.

gamezine.co.uk: Wii to drop console price in October?

Will the Nintendo Wii drop in price next month? Will it? Will it? No, but seriously, is it going to?

Insider scoop alert: find out here in another cover story for Gamezine.

gamezine.co.uk: Xbox 720 idea fired far past the horizon

In my next piece for cover while my boss is away, I address the future of Microsoft. A lot of these exclusives are found in other places so need attribution, but Gamezine as a site allows me to be a little bit more personal in my approach.

Read the story here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Kings and Queens (Jamie T)

I was landed with this Mercury Prize-nominated artist's newest offering this week and I figured that despite my judgemental self after hearing his style, to give it a good go anyway. I reckon I did pretty well.

Click here to read the review.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Union (The Boxer Rebellion)

The Boxer Rebellion have a few ludicrous records to their name. It's an impressive resumé that, in all fairness, is detailed thoroughly in this piece (before the review itself, of course...)

Read the write-up of one of the hottest unsigned acts ever by clicking here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Central Market (Tyondai Braxton)

The composer and guitarist from Battles has decided to make his own seven-track offering and has departed from his usual work with the supergroup to get the sound he wants. It's certainly a strange one...

Find out why here!

gamezine.co.uk: PS3's iPlayer consumption hits hot hot heights

In my next story for Gamezine in the absence of the Big Boss Man, I made sure an interesting trend was covered: that of the PS3's gradual rise to fame with multimedia, particularly following the release of the PS3 Slim.

Read about the PS3's latest steps towards world domination here.

gamezine.co.uk: Journalistic greed targeted by EA ploy

As my boss is away in India for a week or so, me and a few of the other contributors to Gamezine have been asked to help out with an article or two every day to keep the site ticking over.

In the true spirit of Gamezine, we're wanting to get the stranger topics covered, so I made sure I prioritised this piece about EA's latest marketing ploy.

Click to read about the Dante's Inferno stunt here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - The Hot Melts (The Hot Melts)

I was given this strange indie-pop-rock concoction to review recently, and it's a pretty surprising effort to say the least.

Click here to find out about their first album.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - A Thousand Paper Cranes (Pentatonik)

In another opportunity to look at alternative music in the UK and Ireland, I was given Pentatonik's latest offering to mull over.

Click here for the review.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - Madden 10

Sometimes the greatest things can just fall into your lap as a journalist, and you find yourself nothing but grateful for what you get. I'm a huge fan of American football so to have Madden 10 coming to me for a review (most likely because I understand the sport through playing/watching) was an absolute treat.

But the game itself still has to be given a score. Does EA's offering deserve praise or criticism?

Find out here.

inthenews.co.uk: Interview - Laroca

A while ago I got the chance to sort out an interview with the wonderful Laroca shortly after writing the review for their new album, the Valley of the Bears.

Luckily Olly Wakeford was around, so here - albeit published a while after it happened - is the interview.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - Killing Floor

It's not often that I get the chance to have a crack at a PC game, though I was assigned with Killing Floor, which is available through Steam - an endorsement in itself, many people believe.

But is it really that good?

To see this PC review, have a look at it here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Mariachi El Bronx (The Bronx)

In one of the weirdest albums this year, a hardcore punk band decide to go off the beaten track and address the thriving mariachi music scene. Yep, I'm not lying.

Is it a joke or a serious outing? Click here to find out.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Temporary Pleasure (Simian Mobile Disco)

Another offering from another popular British band. It's a strange offering with a number of famous people collaborating with the duo - but is it better than The Nextmen?

You can find the review here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Join The Dots (The Nextmen)

The Nextmen are a duo which may have passed many people by, yet with this latest effort, they don't wish to be forgotten any time soon.

The review of their fourth album can be found here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - The Kids Don't Like It (The Stupids)

In another reunion, The Stupids are back together doing what they do best: making music. Perhaps. I'm not too sure.

Probably best to check this review out then, eh?

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - The Always On The Outside Of... EP (John Mullin)

John Mullin is quite the interesting one - he's completely free of a recording contract yet he was able to put together a four-track release with Bill Ryder-Jones, formerly of The Coral.

Click here to read the review on this independent's crack at an EP.

travelbite.co.uk: Hungary: The simple things in life

In the second part of my guide to Hungary, which I visited one month ago as part of a sightseeing trip with the Hungarian National Tourist Office, I address the lesser-known parts of the country - predominantly the eastern part of the landlocked nation.

Read my write-up at Travelbite here.

travelbite.co.uk: Paprika and Palinka in Hungary

It's not often that I get an offer I genuinely can't refuse. Of course, a free trip to Hungary for five nights was something I really couldn't turn down. I did a short write-up of it here, though this article - part one of two - explains the delights of the nation, with the focus this time being on the food and drink of the country.

Click here to read my first-ever travel review, click here.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - Battlefield 1943

I was lucky enough to be hooked up with the latest release from the world-famous Battlefield series on Xbox Live. For just over £6, anyone from around the globe can have access to this back-to-basics approach.

But is it worth it? Find out by clicking here.

The Latest (Column): Let's do it the American way

In a bid to get myself back on track with The Latest following my trip to Hungary, I knocked up this piece about the evolution of consumer culture and how changes to the system may improve the economic issues currently putting pressure on the UK.

To read more, click here or continue below for the raw, unedited version.


And so the world continues to fall apart. If we don't do something about the world economy now, the world will explode. Or we'll all die of swine flu. Or we'll have a protracted length of time where we'll register negative or zero growth before slowly getting back to normal.

There is one thing that I feel will help our situation, though. Hold on to your hats… it's an American idea.

I'm going to say firstly that I'm not an economist nor do I try to make out to be one. Although I know the ins and outs of the current situation, there seems to be a few obvious points many have raised in regards to the wholesale stimulation of the market which have been much worse.

Which is why for the most part, none of them to be implemented. If they have been, they're not working or won't be for a long time. Base rate changes don't really filter through for a few months and quantitative easing, for all intents and purposes, is doing well but only because we've all forgotten about it so there's no group of people complaining and thus undermining the measure.

We have two major problems which are affecting most things financially, including the housing market - a lack of confidence in spending, as well as an epic (though sadly expected) rise in unemployment.

So, what do we need? Well, ideally, we want something to create jobs and get more people spending, in turn making more money circulate and allowing more businesses to get a bigger income.

Now take a deep breath.

…why don't we just open shops a bit later?

We now live in a country dominated by the service, or tertiary, industry. My home area shut down its main production facilities of steel, coal and shipbuilding as far back as the 1970s. Since then, we've steadily become fascinated (hand over fist) with industries which, for the large part, have checkouts and tills.

Surely it stands to reason that we just open these facilities for longer?

Many people will be shaking their heads. Americanisation gone a step too far, many will say. But no. It makes more sense than that.

After all, we're now living in a world where the internet has practically usurped the high street anyway as the latter simply can't compete with the 24/7 nature of the online marketplace.
People like myself work a 9-5 job and, as a result, there's no way to get to the shops until a weekend. By that point it's saturated - why not spread it around a little during the week?

And true, chains may dominate as they can do whatever it wants because they have the money to. Now I could say "welcome to capitalism, ladies and gentlemen!" and that it's your own fault for buying from such stores, but think about it: can you think of many family-owned or small stores which would lose out to an extension of shopping hours if they're still afloat now?

Most family-run businesses tend to be either corner shops, which are open until late anyway; takeaways and restaurants, which are open forever or at least late; those found in market towns or villages, where there's no other chain-store option; or ones which trade with other businesses between 9-5, such as precision engineers or skilled artisans. They wouldn't be as affected as people make out, if at all, should this rule only apply to tertiary industry.

If not, they'll continue as normal during the regular hours - people don't change habits that much when it comes to such businesses.

It's simple, really. If we have more hours - even if it's just an extension until 7pm or 8pm - then people will either get extended working time or there'll be a few more shifts to go around. And customers will spend - after all, it's mainly the working folk who'll be filling these shops, after they've been grafting all day - where they get paid money for their troubles.

And there's plenty of legislation to stop unscrupulous employers from passing on too many hours, such as Working Time Regulations. Failing that, the unions are as strong as ever before, thanks to the credit crunch.

Sure, there are seemingly backward views in the UK. Stornoway recently accepted its first Sunday ferry, much to the anger of near-Puritan local Christians who thought that sailing was a slight against your Lord and mine, good old Jesus Christ.

While that's an extreme opinion in the context of the UK, many small towns and villages harbour similarly conservative views. Let them. Do a referendum everywhere - I'm sure certain places will reserve their right to remain closed after 5pm.

But if this doesn't happen in today's climate, with today's demands, there's a real chance that more shops could die out. If not, people will simply see shopping centres as a checklist-maker for when they finally get home and find lower prices online and pay for it there.

Luckily, we're all impatient. Why buy it for £1 less and wait for three days before it fails to be delivered because you're out of the house, when you can have it in your hands on the day for cheaper, as you actually had access to the shops?

True, there may be flaws there but in principle, it makes perfect sense to me - even if it's just from a purely practical point of view.

Start small and build up if necessary. Giving Sunday full trading hours would be a start - last time I looked, we were a pretty secular society.

inthenews.co.uk: Book review - The Taking of Pelham 123 (John Godey)

I was lucky enough to be introduced to an upcoming blockbuster hopeful through the original book written in 1973, which is always the best way to prepare for the film (which stars John Travolta and Denzel Washington, out at the end of the month).

To read the book review, click here!

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - Fight Night Round 4

I was particularly lucky to be allowed to familiarise myself with one of my favourite sports - boxing - through the newest release by EA Sports on the Xbox 360. Is this the ultimate game for fans of pugilism?

Click here to find out.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - Fuel

This game certainly promised a lot, with huge open-world terrain and plenty of vehicles to keep the heartbeat racing. But is it enough to make this game into a classic?

Click here to find out more, as well as my take on the latest Codemasters release.

inthenews.co.uk: Book review - Can We Have Our Balls Back, Please? (Julian Norridge)

This is only my second book review since I started working for the consumer-facing websites, with Vince Cable's recent effort being the last. I got the chance to read another history of sport book. Luckily, this one was far from boring.

Check out my review by clicking here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Riceboy Sleeps (Riceboy Sleeps)

I was looking forward to this one - it's the next step for the lead singer of Sigur Ros, a band I value very highly. But does it deliver? Seriously though, does it?

Click here and find out.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - The Mammoth Tusk (Eslam Jawaad)

I'm not going to spoil this one. You just have to read a little bit about this guy to realise that this could be one of the most interesting people to hit the music scene in 2009.

Find out if Eslam Jawaad hits the mark by clicking here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Valley of the Bears (Laroca)

This is one of the better releases of the year and I'm not afraid to admit that before you've had the chance to review it. Encompassing a number of great traits from a number of my favourite bands, this album seems to be one of the better offerings out there at the moment.

Click here to read the review.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - London 0 Hull 4 - Deluxe Edition (The Housemartins)

I did this one a while ago, though for some reason we got it wrong and didn't realise it was released for a further two weeks! This is one of my favourite reviews to date.

Click here to read it, and expect a further four reviews by the end of the first week of July.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Live at Brixton Academy (Pendulum)

A treat was in store for me here: Pendulum's live album AND DVD release, giving me my first audio-visual music review.

You can read it, as always, by clicking here.

The Latest (Column): Build them up and knock them down

After a break from writing for The-Latest.com after a busy time with a number of other things - something I hope doesn't happen again - I put together another piece regarding celebrity culture and our obsession with building people up to knock them down.

Click here to read it at the website or continue below for the uncut version.


The British way of treating anyone remotely famous is getting pretty ridiculous. Recent developments with reality show us that it will likely be the case for the foreseeable future. Whoopee.

It’s a strange one, really. Whether it be through the aforementioned TV appearances, coverage in other areas of the media or real-life occurrences, newspapers are now littered with these folk. Of course, we all know this from a very young age, particularly the newer generations

Yet the people who get into the papers will inevitably get built up by everyone; the media, their 'fans' and people who, despite their general ignorance to such celebrities, will undoubtedly hold an opinion of them, even if it's just a one word answer. Why do we build them up? To knock them down, of course.

It's pretty sad. Susan Boyle was the latest victim. The truth is, no-one more than Susan herself knows exactly why she's famous: ugly, yet talented.

The press on both sides of the Atlantic were keen to get a slice of Simon Cowell's latest prodigy, talking down to her as if she was a crippled, alopecia-ridden household pet which suddenly started laying diamonds on the pavement. The Americans even gave her subtitles as if she was from a Celtic tribe in the fourteenth century.

Despite her obvious ability (which, in truth, wasn't particularly mind-blowing, just very surprising), the press soon became a major fixture in her life. They hounded her so much that she lost her temper after blatant mockery at an airport. Susan was angered because, unsurprisingly, she's only human. She knew exactly why they were doing it and she couldn't stand for it any longer.

The field day started. It was very close to the final and suddenly the voice was superfluous, with the press adding to her aesthetically-displeasing look by making out she had the personality to match. Cue a dance troupe winning it, even though Susan will still go on to be a bigger commercial success, with Cowell holding the Boyle marionette.

Journalistic arrogance in this sense is sometimes irreversible. Luckily for Boyle, a trip to the Priory was enough to set her straight - a bed for a few nights away from the media eye was probably all she needed. Some others haven't been so fortunate.

Case in point: Lewis Hamilton's fall from grace. Built into the notion of knocking someone down is the obsession with a person failing, particularly if they're initially successful. Lewis has done exactly that; after two years of success, he lied to track officials and the slippery slide started. However, on moral terms, it wasn't that which pushed him out of the media spotlight; just the poor performance of his car.

However, he was replaced by fellow Brit Jenson Button. Jenson, despite his slight arrogance, was not a well-liked person due to his inability to win a race. He was built up enough for there to be a celebration after chalking up one solitary successful race (Hungary, 2006), yet he was soon relegated to a status akin to Anthony Davidson, a driver with no success at the now-defunct Super Aguri team.

But then he started winning. The press didn't really know what to do - Brawn GP's team was created at the eleventh hour following a buy-out of Honda by Ross Brawn, the former technical director of Ferrari. Seven races and six wins later, Jenson is now the outstanding favourite to win the F1 championship.

And yet there has not been anywhere near the coverage for Button as there has been for Lewis Hamilton, who was the face of every advert and race for two years. The problem for Button was that the foundations which were once built up on were smashed thoroughly after getting everyone's hopes up, making his re-rise to fame in recent months a particularly unstable one.

Success isn't something we Brits can have for too long. Not even exempt from this rule (but only with the benefit of hindsight) was our fourth-placed effort in Beijing in 2008, when Team GB finished behind China, the USA and Russia in the Olympic medals table.

Everyone was united behind the British team regardless of interest in the sport because, well, we were winning. If we didn't, it would have only added more complaints to the regeneration of the capital for the 2012 Games, why training is a waste of time, yet how we're still better than everyone else for reasons unbeknownst to most people.

Still, it was nice to have a hiatus from the usual dross celebrities on the front pages, apart from when they got an ex-Big Brother porcelain doll or seven to paint their chest red, white and blue for the Daily Star. Luckily for us all in these few weeks, the right-wing ignorance of writers at the redtops was too busy being proud of Britain to focus on the 20ccs of breasts which their readership usually needs stat.

Team GB were the only lot able to mitigate the risk of being knocked down because the ones who didn't win weren't registering. Medals were pouring in at such a rate that the less-able entrants weren't even considered.

Since then, it's been back to the usual with the press: complaining about the government, gawping at the lovely ladies and harnessing the latest attention whore in order to set them up for another almighty fall.

Genuinely nice people in the media spotlight are seen as boring. If there's no filth on any of them or a sob story to support their ascension to fame, they're genuinely forgotten about. There's nothing to build up on the rug so they don't have the chance to pull it out from underneath them - they're too busy floating like angels.

Anyone with large breasts is in a win-win situation, so much so that you can already pick out the new batch of nobodies in the Big Brother house who will be in Nuts or Zoo six months down the line. Many will hang around for longer via a sex tape, or through a lack of fidelity or personal boundaries. Strangely, they usually last the longest in the media eye. It shows how much hate can sell papers, I guess. That's pretty much all that can be said on this flesh-based situation.

Ignorance is bliss for the media and their less mentally-able celeb pals, though. This aromatic blend of celebrity somehow has no understanding of the gradually-raising bar which the press puts up for them. The high jump becomes so high that when they're particularly sluggish one day, they jump, stumble on the yardstick and fall flat on their faces. The media huddles round them, cameras at hand, recording their inability to get back up on their feet.

Jade Goody was the only one to escape this, thanks to cancer. Not in that she escaped the mortal coil and thus the press, but was able to avoid the usual intense mockery which came soon after her ignorance on Celebrity Big Brother led to her being branded a racist despite her just being stupid (though Danielle Lloyd and Jo O'Meara still have a lot to say for themselves).

Despite this, you know something isn't right with the press when memorial issues of magazines are printed before Jade's even died. Ho-hum.

Here's some advice for anyone wanting to be a celebrity. If you're stupid, slutty, ignorant, idiotic, well-endowed, doing nothing valued by society with your life or you have a sob story which will land you with an attractive partner, the papers are calling - just make the initial jump into the spotlight first.

If you're clever, smart, personable, funny, talented or a hard-worker, prepare to have about seven minutes in front of the cameras. Your face will soon blend into the fabric of Britain again, so have the day job on in the back of your mind - if you can get hold of one in the current climate. It's not exactly a massive deterrent from becoming a media whore, I suppose; luckily, I have a job myself, otherwise I'd try it myself.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Surreal (Man Raze)

What do you get when you mix Def Leppard with The Sex Pistols? A new band, that's what. Pretty rubbish joke, though that's because it's factual. I'm a bag of laughs, me.

Anyway, said band - Man Raze - were reviewed by me. Definitely worth a look - click here to read the full thing.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Battle for the Sun (Placebo)

After a few years out of the game and the loss of a drummer, Placebo are back and have brought their trademark sound back to life. Is their sixth studio album any good though?

Find out here.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - Red Faction Guerrilla

Games are hard to review and this is another one which seemed difficult at first. Not because it's tough to play or full of errors, but because you're having so much fun that you have no time to consider why it's so great.

I may've given my mark away but it's still worth a read here at gamezine.co.uk.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Love & War (Daniel Merriweather)

There's always someone who belies their appearance in the music world, and this artist is one of the best examples of this.

Read about Daniel Merriweather's second studio album here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Catacombs (Cass McCombs)

Cass McCombs is launching his own brand of country music over here in the UK following a successful time in his home country of America.

Is he successful? Click here to find out.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Begging the 3 Ts EP (Duchess Says)

Here's another review of an upcoming band for inthenews.co.uk. A very surreal band - be sure to check them out.

Read the review here.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - Bionic Commando

This one one of the hardest reviews I've done and one I'm still not entirely sure of. The score is a product of not knowing whether to go higher or lower. I learned a few lessons doing it so I hope that my follow-up piece is much better.

Read it here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - House of Commons (White Light Parade)

It's not often that I truly understand what a band's trying to achieve. Fact is, many aren't really trying to achieve anything, apart from fame. White Light Parade are one exception and this affects the review massively.

Click here to read one of my favourite pieces to date.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Abnormally Attracted to Sin (Tori Amos)

Tori Amos has been in the industry for years so the chance to review her tenth studio album couldn't be ignored. It's a really interesting collection, particularly given that it's produced independently.

Read the review at inthenews.co.uk.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - In A Perfect World... (Keri Hilson)

It's not often that I listen to something produced by Timbaland, though this release includes the smash hit The Way I Are, so it was worth a listen.

Have a look at the review here or here or here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Made Up Stories (Go:Audio)

The CD reviewing is going really well and with another two on the way, I'm starting to get my style down a bit better. Below is the finest example of modern-day stereotypical pop rock up for review.

Click here to have a look...

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Heart of Fire (Innerpartysystem)

This band have been lined up online as one of the best acts of 2009, with this EP signalling Innerpartysystem's attempt to break the UK market as it's practically a re-release of a US-only 2007 CD.

Click here to see the toughest review I've done for a long time!

The Latest (Column): Battle stations! Swine flu is coming!

I haven't written a snap response piece in a while, so enjoy the vitriol of this piece for The Latest regarding the swine flu pandemic-which-probably-won't-be-and-we'll-be-fine-either-way.

Read the uncut and unedited version below, or the adapted version here on The Latest.


You might as well get everything in life that you've wanted to do for a long time out of the way right now. Swine flu is coming. We're all going to die.

People are dropping like flies and the pandemic is seemingly going global. By the end of May, to celebrate my birthday, I may be one of the lucky ones alive and well enough to spoon the carcasses of once-prosperous and healthy human beings into mass graves around the world with my disease-ridden hands.

The Beeb has just reported today (April 27th) that two people have swine flu in the UK.

It states: "Scottish Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said both patients were recovering well.

"She said seven other people who had been in contact with them were now displaying mild symptoms."

Oh… hang on. We're going to be fine. A bad cough here, a sneeze there. Gone are the days of exploding eyes and vomiting up your own intestines. At least, that's the gravity that seems to be conveyed by the media regarding swine flu. I was at least hoping for some severe necrosis akin to the effects of the T-Virus from Resident Evil.

As per usual, mainstream media is happily displacing real tragedy and issues across the world with an innocuous run of sad yet generally unimportant pseudo-news. Mortgage lending has dropped again, probably setting the housing market back another month or two. The police are now asking all communications firms to monitor every internet user and their contacts as an "upgrade" to surveillance. Graham Norton also broke his ribs, which is the funniest thing he's done since Father Ted.

I mean, hasn't influenza always been deadly in one form or another? According to several news reports floating around for the last few days, it's as if this form of one of the world's most common killers could suddenly wipe out the human race, including your mum, dad, kids, siblings, friends and anyone else who had the nerve to be in good health.

One hundred people have succumbed to it in Mexico: a country that, to be fair, is not on the list of the world's best health services, with the AIDS epidemic becoming the third-biggest killer across the nation. Our own NHS is hardly top of the table but, well, we've been geared up for this kind of thing for a long time now.

Despite having excellent healthcare in many cities, Mexico suffers from the Russian effect: too much land, too many villages and not enough communication. This, in any situation, is a recipe for trouble.

It all stems down to our seemingly unnatural fear of conditions which have creatures tacked onto the front. Before swine flu, we had bird flu. Chicken pox has always been a big threat to adults too.

Should that fail, an acronym or random grouping of letters and numbers can always strike fear into the most hardy of individuals, usually because they can't be arsed to figure out what it stands for. Fear of the unknown has been one of humanity's greatest flaws for aeons. Oh no, SARS! Uh-oh, MRSA! Watch out, here comes H5N1!

The fact remains: the flu jab is encouraged in older folk while general healthy eating, a solid daily dose of vitamin C and plenty of vegetables have all been linked to avoiding the worst parts, or the prolonged pain, of the virus.

I know this news detracts from the altogether very real problem of the recession - something else entirely exacerbated by the media - yet I think we're now all used to bad news being the only trump card against more bad news.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Set Your Head On Fire (The Black Box Revelation)

The Belgian music scene is, as we all know, absolutely amazing so to get a slice of the action through this release by The Black Box Revelation was just superb - I hope you enjoy the review.

Click here to read it at inthenews.co.uk.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - I Never Thought This Day Would Come (Duke Special)

This artist was a bit of a surprise package. He's a leading Northern Irish singer trying to break mainland UK with his third album, and I'm the one lucky enough to give it a listen.

Click here to read the review on inthenews.co.uk.

The Latest (Column): Children's TV is short-changing a new generation

As a one-time devotee to children's TV in full-blown nostalgic mode, I found it a good time to have a look at the current state of kids shows. It's not pretty. Click here to read it directly at The Latest or continue underneath for the uncut, unedited and preferred slice of hate.


It seems that everyone has the power to learn anything these days.

When I was growing up, I didn't have access to the internet. It wasn't until 2000 that I even went on the magical new system. It wasn't that amazing, truth be told; it was still remarkably limited, though a person could learn a lot from it even then.

Now, it seems that the internet has taken over. Children have all the knowledge they want at their fingertips. Wikipedia is the ultimate website which understands the power which people can bestow upon each other and YouTube can be both educational and, largely, pretty stupid (although I'm told that people can learn through such videoed mistakes, such as failing to walk up a slide repeatedly or realising that those heels are impossible to walk in).

Despite this, and in an ironic twist, kids are largely using Mr World W. Webbingtons for keeping in touch with friends through social networking tools such as Facebook, MySpace and Bebo. Although the social aspect of their lives is now enhanced to a degree unseen by previous generations, they're still missing out. Why is this?

Because, quite sadly, other forms of media which were once the mainstay of information, such as television, have become lazy now they know they have an insurmountable competitor. As one of the last bastions of data, the humble television screen is more concerned with poor daytime programming than it is committed to providing top quality shows for those still growing up.

The BBC has scaled back its operations to allow children the privilege of watching reruns of The Weakest Link following the bag-packing antics of Neighbours. Its average children's broadcasting hours been cut, though not as much as CITV's roster, which has literally disappeared from terrestrial existence since the expansion to the little-watched channels both companies have created on Freeview (which are simply awful, aside for the occasional Pocoyo marathon).

It didn't quite hit me until I considered my own childhood in front of the box. I was even fortunate enough to be able to watch Short Change, a clever programme which extolled the virtues of shopping around and teaching consumer rights at the same time. Although I'm sure it bred a lot of jumped-up little swines who would argue the toss over a bag of Mojos from their local corner shop, it also emphasised the ways in which teenagers could get more bang for their buck.

Starting in the early 90s with Zoe Ball, Short Change saw its action end four years ago when, for some unknown reason, the Beeb figured that nobody young cared about money. Ho hum. It's not as if anything bad's going to happen in the economy.

Given the current financial quagmire the nation now faces whether they're affected by it or not, surely it stands to reason that television executives should be prioritising this kind of programming?

The only stab at speaking to Them Kids on Their Level is through Condescension Today, or Newsround, as many people know it. Although it's a news round-up for kids (surprisingly), the emphasis is on the latter part of their brief and it is still able to tell kids the news in a baffling fashion.

"The Indian bombings in Mumbai are a very bad thing," some faceless presenter will state while surrounded by pretty colours and plush couches. "India is a country in Asia. A lot of people live there. A lot of people are sad," they will usually add.

Then a lucky Press Packer will be able to talk to the Minister for Patronisation about why kiddies may not like the sound of this. Hooray for news!

So, if that's the only real link between reality and children, what are we creating?

For goodness sake, anybody over the age of 14 can be considered an adult now. Whether we like it or not, children are more headstrong and street-smart. They know about sex at a much younger age. If they know about the oldest bonding experience known to mankind, why can't they learn about economics or politics? Are they not entitled to their own views?

Many will see this argument as a lose-lose situation. Sex, for example, is seen as both fun and cool. Economics and politics are not sexy, even if Caroline Flint is still in the Cabinet and the likes of Andrew Neil, Michael Portillo and Diane Abbott are regularly on the box to talk about it. Phwoar.

But would we rather have misinformed children with some tiny degree of interest in modern goings-on, or kids who simply don't care at all because they were never approached in the first place? I would take the first one every time; after all, children ARE children and will continue to build on the foundations of learning. If those flagstones are solid, then they can evolve their viewpoint over time through experience. If they have no interest in the first place, why would they want to build on it?

I simply propose that the BBC and ITV at least put some money into television for the young ones. Sensible programming which is immediately watchable and not filled with little sods who are blatantly child prodigies wanting to massage their egos, or presenters like former Blue Peter host Zoe Salmon, who seems less about teaching and more about sex appeal.

Hell, get national forums up and listen to every single viewpoint, however ridiculous it may be. Allow school participation. Make it multi-platform to cut down on costs by consulting Mr Webbingtons on matters.

I'm not saying all social ills will be cured by this audio-visual shot to the arm, but I think that children should be treated as intelligent. Programming ethics from years gone by do not appeal to them any more. The world can be seen as a much scarier and intimidating place on a social, cultural and economic level. Simply explaining their options will not only make them more prepared for the future, but more rounded as individuals.

Peer pressure, nurture and other important factors will always exist when it comes to a child's development, but whether you're Christian or not, the power of freewill allows people to do whatever they want. At least give the new generation that choice with the remote control.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - The Godfather II

Everyone's been going crazy for the long-awaited sequel to the original Godfather game, which was shrugged off by most gamers. Luckily, EA gave it another shot and I was privileged enough to be able to give it a go.

Click here to read the review.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - We Fell to Earth EP (We Fell to Earth)

A new band is poised to take the UK by storm in We Fell to Earth, with their album released later in the year. This three-track EP provides a taster of things to come, but is it worth a listen?

To find out, click here for my review.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - No Time For Later (The Trews)

Although this record came out quite a while back, I was assigned to cover the release. This Canadian rock band were quite the surprising package, so I hope you enjoy the review - it may result in a few people remembering their name, after all.

Click here to read the review.

politics.co.uk: Book review - The Storm: The World Economic Crisis & What it Means (Vince Cable)

I had a shot at my first ever book review. I've become much more of a reader over the last few months and with my work on a newsdesk of sorts, I thought I'd give this book a shot as I understand the ramifications of the topic.

It's for the Adfero consumer-facing website Politics.co.uk, which is a well-designed and very informative site.

Check out my review of Vince Cable's book here.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time

I carry out my first review for the Wii in the form of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time. It was a good experience although it wasn't a de facto Wii experience.

Find out why by clicking here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Asbo 4 Life (Goldie Lookin Chain)

Another music review in the form of Welsh rap is below, with Goldie Lookin Chain releasing their fourth album in five years. It's an interesting piece but obviously not everyone's cup of tea, though I'm proud of the review nonetheless.

You can read it by clicking here.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - WWE Legends of Wrestlemania

I used to be a huge fan of the then-WWF a long, long time ago and so reviewing this was a wonderful blast from the past. I have a couple more games reserved for the next couple of weeks so expect more of the same soon.

Click here for the full review.

The Latest (Column): Work together or fall apart

This is one of my favourite articles in a long time, although to keep to a decent length I had to cut it down a bit. Ideally I would've loved to have done two separate ones on this but it seems to fit together nicely in light of the events at G20.

Usual drill applies: click here to go to The Latest or continue below to read the raw, unedited cut.


In the coming days, the world's leaders will come together to discuss the crippling problems of the current global financial crisis and how to solve it. Better late than never, I suppose.

After several months of frantic last-ditch attempts to do everything within their own countries, leaders have finally accepted that global problems need global action. Many people have been telling them this since before the worst effects of the recession took hold of the world, but leaders know best. Or don't know anything at all, as it's turned out, with countries continuing to slip up.

The worst thing is, the G20 summit is showing us a lot about ourselves. Getting together at such an important event highlights that we are not galvanised into action through the desire to do good things for people across the world and the futures of younger generations, but out of fear that if we don't do anything together at all, there won't even be a future to think about.

However, if people are getting worried about the current state of affairs, the future we are creating ourselves already could be a very troublesome environment for anyone to live in.

Armed with the information handed down to us by worldwide and national governments through their mistakes and attempts to get out of economic difficulties, people are starting to truly understand the fickle nature of capitalism, the stock market, pension plans, the property/mortgage sectors and, perhaps most importantly, politics in general.

What a lot of people may not realise is that a new group of humans around the world – those currently between the age of 0 and 25 – is the ultimate generation. Even some of the people in that group will likely not know this.

Surely it stands to reason though: with the freedoms in technology, reporting, claiming information and the like... do they not have all of the information they need at their disposal to sort out the mess of their forefathers and stop it from happening again?

I know this sounds like a big claim but bear with me. The demographics of the UK and worldwide are set to change dramatically over the next few years through developments in technology, medicine and socio-cultural ethics.

Essentially, the real problems humanity will face will be created by recession, just not out of the debt we are left with - it will be the attitudes they gain from the whole experience that will cause trouble. If we do not work together on a much deeper level, the entire exercise exampled at G20 could be a joke.

Here are a couple of points which have frequently crossed my mind over the last couple of weeks which lead me to believe that our future is officially shafted without meaningful intervention.


1) Lack of a strong employment sector

The most important changes to opinions will come through employment issues. With the prediction that the British unemployment level will reach three million by the end of 2009, people have already established that a lot of these jobs were, before the tightening of purse strings, unnecessary when money is not being spent (as many industries are not conducive to the quality of life of many people when food and housing are the only major concerns).

With the population of most countries growing continually and people living longer, the working age needs to shift higher to match life expectancy. If more people can work, more people will need factories and offices to support their twilight years.

Which is a shame, considering the UK's primary industries are all but dead and everything hinges on the tertiary service industry and other invisible trades such as those operating in the City of London. The same is happening across the world too.

2) No support for people in later life

Perhaps unsurprisingly, pension plans have been largely exposed as a sham. Although many will focus on the boring tribulations of one or two annoying individuals like Sir Fred Goodwin, the real tragedy of pensions is that of the outright destruction of schemes due to a lack of confidence in the stock market. Investors are – or at least were – gambling with people's futures, which many people are happy to ignore to focus their hatred onto one or two greedy bankers.

So if there's more people needing to work, more jobs will be needed, with all pension plans having to withstand market forces such as inflation which could devalue them. Is this possible to sustain in an ultimate generation full of criticism for a boom and bust ethic?

Nope. Work won't be there, or will not meet the demand. Banks are not trusted institutions any more, so pensions will also largely fold in the private sector or, in fact, have already. The ultimate generation will face ultimate hardship unless this problem is not sorted out.

3) Developments in life-saving techniques

The allowance of stem cell research in medicine is already working to treat previously cureless elderly problems like Alzheimer's disease, stroke and Parkinson's disease. Other major killers are also being stopped in their tracks. More people are going to stay alive, which is great.

However, speaking over a much longer term and despite us morally doing the right thing, buzzwords such as the carbon footprint suddenly ring that little bit more true and the effects on the environment could be devastating. Demand for food will also heighten, which is a bit worrying given the climate is set to change dramatically in the next couple of decades.

It's funny, really. By the end of my lifetime, there could be the very real concept of there being a limit on children which a family can have. In even very recent years, people have criticised these ideals put forward in China, where many people are not allowed to have more than a certain amount of children. It may, rather ironically, be the only safe way to save the world as a whole in future.


So with the economy now seen as a bit of a joke and everyone generally lacking trust in individual governments, doesn't it stand to reason that we all need to get together and sort this one out?

Not to many. Here, we've seen the Tories – a party characterised by anti-European ethics and more isolationist policies – use the entire recession as a way to bolster their standings in the UK. Not necessarily out of real support either, just ignorance. The global crisis is being used as a way to blame the domestic government. Such is politics.

It's not all wrong though – the Labour government have been far from the top of their game in the last year – but it wasn't long ago when Gordon Brown would have walked a general election when he came into power. Then the CREDIT CRUNCH – which Charlie Brooker states must be capitalised to carry more unnecessary shock factors – hit everyone.

The laws of personality politics have distorted our view of the real issue at hand – one that must be solved through international cooperation and not through solitary conservative politics which will, in effect, bring about the same capitalist structure which continued to grow before things got too much for everyone.

Sadly, world leaders have also used the current crisis to blame each other in a set-up more like a boxing match than an international summit. The most recent example of this mud-flinging came from Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek, who described Barack Obama's policies as the "road to hell". Well done mate – that's going to be comfortable this week in Prague.

Yet people need to understand that if everyone has problems, everyone must sort them out. Right-wing ethics simply will not work in this situation as the recession is already characterised by a lack of trust and confidence. Add international scapegoating and isolationism into the mix from conservative governments and it is almost certain that problems will be exacerbated.

Sadly, this brotherhood we must have to move forward in a safe world is very unlikely to happen. Many people are hung up on national identity and will likely shun their European or worldwide neighbours out of fear, ignorance or contempt.

What will likely happen at G20 is that the world's leaders will get some photos together, have a few harsh words here and there, get a scapegoat or two and then propose a so-called plan which will not be really seen by anyone. The recession will take a couple of years to see the back of through simple causality, the whole period will go in history books and we'll move on.

I just hope that the ultimate generation read these books. If we do not learn quickly that the foundations of our lives are generally shambolic, years of hard work in all sectors will be ultimately fruitless.

Through working internationally, everyone will feel the benefits. I'd go as far as to say that in a refined European structure, it could very much work. And yes, I'm openly saying that we should join Europe and, by extension, the Euro – after all, a centralised bank powered by major Western forces would, in my view, continue to be stronger.

This is also unlikely to happen however because, dear reader, people find it very hard to make short-term sacrifices for long-term comfort and safety.

Greed, selfishness and ignorance are holding us back. It's what started the damn recession in the first place. If G20 leaders don't learn this in the next few days, they might as well have stayed at home.

gamezine.co.uk: Game review - Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X.

A flight sim was on the cards for me, in, of all things, a Tom Clancy title. My work for Gamezine is expanding at the moment so look out for forthcoming reviews of WWE Legends of Wrestlemania on the Xbox 360 and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time on the Nintendo Wii!

Look at my review on Gamezine by clicking here.

inthenews.co.uk: Music review - Silver Poetry EP (Digitonal)

In another music review for inthenews.co.uk, I tackle Digitonal's Silver Poetry, a four-track EP released this month. It provides both a great song and a surprising score, given my usual tastes in music.

Click here to read it!

The Latest (Column): Sport is the untapped resource Britain needs to exploit

After months of thinking about this subject, I decided to put pen to paper. Sport's role in the UK is bigger than many people may think, although many may not realise the true extent as to how much we really do need it in our society.

Click here to read more about it, or continue below to the raw version.

In times of economic strife, it's easy to lose touch with the things that will be most dear to us in the future. With the upcoming Olympic Games in London, one thing seems key to helping the UK on more levels than may initially be realised.

Despite adjustments to the national schools strategy by Ed Balls and the number of developments popping up left, right and centre to support the international sporting event of choice for London in 2012, we've lost focus on the role of sport in modern society.

I'd go as far as to say that if I was appointed Prime Minister in the immediate future - a future I'm not particularly inclined to rule out at this current stage - the first change I'd make would be to completely restructure our sporting system to that of a close ally. Or an unwanted friend, many may say. That's right, the US have definitely got something completely correct. Who'd've thought, eh?

The whole epiphany moment for my ideas on sport came when yet another debate about an English national team took hold in one of the many studios at one of the hundreds of sports pitches in the country. Were we good enough? Well, no, because we never are. Why not? Because our players are rubbish. But aren't they meant to be the best? ...yeah, that seems to be a problem.

So who did they blame? The manager came pretty highly. As did the coaches, the players themselves and - the one I always find most funny - the fans' expectations being too high, as if people are being bad by not wanting their team to win. Not one of them even considered that the players on the team had, at best, played the sport at school and ended up being spotted by a plucky talent scout So, what's the argument against making sport another huge cornerstone of education?

The National Collegiate Athletic Association of America (NCAA) works like this: all schools and colleges in the country compete in local and national leagues. The best usually go to a fairer-than-fair playoff to see who is the best, much like the current March Madness of men's collegiate basketball currently taking hold of Stateside as we speak. They get a platform to show their skills and later get picked to bolster the roster of a sports team in their chosen field.

It stands to reason: why do we not do that here? In today's sport-obsessed, health-fearing culture, are we not in dire need of such a strategy?

Sports in schools across the nation, apart from in various anomalies such as those found in Loughborough, are substandard. Most people's experience of sport in their early years is that which is foisted upon them by the physical education department, associated with cross country running, all-weather pitches which constantly defy their name, and the national staples of football and rugby.

Very poor indeed.

It's weird, isn't it? Fitness is one of the biggest topics in Western culture. Scare stories tell us that all kids will likely be obese in 20 years, will die trying through choking on a pie crust or will have their hands, feet and head amputated after diabetes ravishes their body. Why not bond them through sports they actually like, or can learn to like, or will at least play? There's a whole host to choose from. They could even use the Jasper Fforde theory of croquet becoming the number one sport in the UK if it meant the young ones would get outdoors and improve their quality of life and thheir desire to win and take defeat graciously.

There are dozens of emerging sports in the country, from ones established elsewhere such as basketball and ice hockey to the European fair game Korfball. Most people will never play them in their life and many - including my favourite, American football - seem to be written off by some kind of xenophobic attitude which pervades the psyche of most people (myself included, until I played it for university). How can children and young adults know if they hate it when they've not engaged in it?

A recent trial in New York City helped establish a number of floodlit basketball courts to the streets. The use of sport here largely dropped the rates of crime in the areas they were installed. Simple things for simple minds many may say, but the same could happen here. Many half-arsed attempts have been tried in a number of areas in the UK, but a programme to respect sport as a social medium needs to be employed to accompany these things.

Sport is also packed with incentives. Aside from competitions and trophies galore, the actual following could prove enough of a push. One of the greatest feelings I ever had was playing in front of a large crowd at an established stadium in the north-east of England. In the US, university sports alone can attract upwards of 80,000 people, putting money back into the game and developing the abilities of those who enter it.

What's more, valuable lessons can be learned from playing sport, particularly team-based games - even if it's those we already play, such as cricket, rugby or football. Teamwork is a very obvious one to say but from that, we can develop skills such as communication, selflessness and mental strength and agility. CVs across the land are already buoyed by the simple mention of a team game - after all, many workplaces require you to interact with fellow employees. A happy workplace is a productive workplace.

Speaking of offices and other such establishments, why not expand the industries in which people WANT to be employed? In a country ravaged by job cuts, it stands to reason that the development of small stadia and arenas would not only create jobs for stricken builders and surveyors but also require others to run them. Fitness and team coaches can enhance the quality of the games in which they operate. Build it up on an increasingly quickening scale and we have income from the gate, an improvement in sporting standards, and plenty of people employed by schools, colleges, universities, councils and local governments between counties.

The best bit is that the European Commission would jump to support such an initiative. Sport is a wonderful way to bond people both in a specific team and area as well as on an international scale. Boundaries would be broken down through various plans to link educational establishments with one another on the continent. Competitions would thrive and money would continue to come in. Unfamiliar things such as baseball diamonds and basketball courts would become a more familiar sight, as would proud parents and talented youngsters.

Essentially, sport characterises so many of the essential human demands and traits that it is impossible to overlook its benefits. The need of the average person to be noticed, to make friends, to be good at something... it's all there. If we don't do it now, the technological revolution will firmly nail the derrières of those in education to their seats, too busy to look outside due to the pixellated screen that sits in front of them. Hello, continuing obesity epidemic... goodbye, human interaction.