[Photography] Another Four Polaroids.

A new batch of my latest four Polaroids from my series of shots from in and around Thorndon Country Park in Essex.  At least 2 of these (if not all four) will make it into my final project/book.  These were taken on a mixture of TheImpossibleProject PX680 beta film released in April this year, and PX70 ColorShade FirstFlush from last October.  Both sets of pictures were taken on a Polaroid SX70, the PX70 shots on a standard SX70 Alpha; and the PX680 shots on an SX70 Alpha that has had the ND filter over the electronic eye removed to part compensate for the difference in the standard ISO levels.

Both sets of shots were sheilded from the light upon ejection from the camera using the "darkslide between rollers" method as recomended by TIP, which I have found does produce the best results.

[Music] Perfect Partners: Izzy Stradlin & The Ju Ju Hounds - Eponymous | Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth - Eponymous.

My second installation in an occasional series where I link two albums by two different artists that just go together well. 

Izzy Stradklin' & The Ju Ju Hounds - Eponymous [1992] | Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth - Eponymous [2010]

I'll start with the older of the 2 albums on offer here, the eponymous début by Izzy Stradlin & The Ju Ju Hounds.  After Izzy left Guns N' Roses, he formed the JJH as an outlet for the more classical blues rock based songs he had been writing that didn't fit in his previous band.  The album was recorded by the band comprising of erstwhile Georgia Satellite Rick Richards on guitar, future Buckcherry member Jimmy Ashhurst on bass and drummer Charlie Quintana from Plugz; and released in October 1992, less than a year after Stradlin left GNR.  Pretty obvious to say that I came to this album because of Stradlin's work in GNR, and more specifically his 3 'solo' songs on the Use Your Illusion albums - "14 Years", "Double Talkin' Jive" and "Dust N' Bones" -  all of which being favourites of mine.  His solo album follows those in a similar path, it's a very simple rock album that harks back to the sounds of the Rolling Stones, vintage Aerosmith and The Faces - it comes as no surprise that Izzy gets Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood to write and play on a track on this album.  Also included is a homage to 2 more of Stradlin's roots in one song.  "Pressure Drop" was originally recorded by Toots & The Maytalls and is considered to be a roots reggae classic.  It was, however covered by The Clash, another band who's spirit looms large over Stradlin's work.

The guitar and organ driven first single "Shuffle It All" with it's soulful vibe and sorrowful lyrics is one of the standout tracks and gives the album a real focus point. An album split between straight up rockers ("Somebody Knockin'", "Train Tracks", and "Take A Look At That Guy" with Wood) and more mellow ballads ("Time Gone By", "Come On Now Inside"), it doesn't break any moulds or push any boundaries, but what it does do is prove that Stradlin is more than accomplished in penning an opus of good ol' classic rock as well as the next man... 

...especially if the next man is Steve Conte.  Conte is most well known for being the man that had the unenviable task to being the "new" Johnny Thunders in the reformed New York Dolls, and more recently of being one of the twin guitar attack (alongside Ginger of The Wildhearts) in ex-Hanoi Rocks front-man Michael Monroe's solo band.  So, he must have something about him them.  I first came across Conte and his music via the 'Dolls appearance on the TV show 'Later... with Jools Holland' on which they played new song "Cause I Sez So" and the classic "Trash".  Conte was, and I know this sounds sad, a freakin' cool looking guitarist on that show and I made note of him when I obtained the 'Dolls latest album.  A week or so later I think, one of his tweets on Twitter was re-tweeted by previously mentioned Ginger (who I followed) and I picked up on the name and followed Steve.  This album, the debut from his power trio The Crazy Truth is not the first Steve Conte album - he has released albums under various names with various people such as The Contes (with his brother John) and Company of Wolves.  Like Stradlin's album, this is a showcase for Steve's song-writing, singing and guitar playing.  Kicking off with the classic formula of an upbeat rocker in "This Is The End", the album is a combo of blues licks, punk kicks and glam flicks.

A very New York album, there are hints of the city's famous sons littered all over the album.  The swagger and sneer of the Ramones on "Junk Planet" to the 'Dolls pouting campness on "Strumpet-hearted Monkey Girl" (which, incidently wins the battle for most awesome song title), the album is as much a homage to NYC as it is to rock n' roll.  A nice addition to the normal guitar/bass/drums formula is the inclusion of sax on most songs, giving them a more bluesy, sleazy edge.  The albums highlight for me is "The Truth Aint Pretty", a near perfect classic rock track if ever there was one.

So, why do these work so well together then? Well, just like the last installation of the series [The Distillers | Sorry & The Sinatras], both albums try to capture a period of music that is a golden age to the songwriters.  Both Stradlin and Conte have made albums that would not seem out of place if they had been released in the middle to latter half of the seventies, anachronisms aside.  Both albums give off a feel of good times, decadent rock n roll party and also that hazy next-day feeling that comes with it.

Check them both out: Izzy Stradlin & The Ju Ju Hounds on Spotify | Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth on Spotify

[Photography] The Holga [or the joys of plastic and 120 film].

My Holga 120N

I have had and used my Holga 120n for about 18 months now.  I first discovered the Holga via Flickr after I started to play round with film again.  The results I saw on Flickr instantly grabbed me and I knew I had to try one of these cameras out.

The Holga is basically the most basic camera type there is barring of course a pinhole. Formed from a simple plastic box front by a cheap plastic lens.  The early models featured 2 different aperture settings, although it is widely acknowledged that switching between these didn't actually change the aperture due to the way the camera was manufactured.  This mistake has been corrected on the more modern version including the one I have. The Holga also produces a pronounced vignette when shot at the smallest aperture setting. The focus is by the "zone focus" method, and the viewfinder is a simple view-finder type with no parallax helper lines - the viewfinder also shows a much wider view than is captured via the lens.  This combination of plastic body (which is prone to gorgeous lightleaks due to the lack of seals), zone focusing and plastic lens lends a dreamlike or vintage feel to the images produced on the film.

Another bit of interest on the Holga is the odd shutter switch, which is located on the side of the lens housing - pretty standard in the olden, golden days; but confuses the modern shooter no end.  The shutter itself isnt linked to the wind-on, meaning that double, triple or however-many exposures are available, be that planned or not.  Other non-planned effects are gained from the "bulb" setting which can easily be knocked on by mistake, changing the set 1/60 second shutter speed to "however long the shutter switch is held for", resulting in many a blurry, movement filled image.... and of course there is the problem of leaving the lens cap on - you are not a Holga shooter until you have got a roll of film back and realised the 6 black images are "lens cap on" moments.

The Holga takes 120 film, a format refereed to as "Medium Format" due to positioning between 8x10 "large format" and 35mm standard or "small format".  The 120 film is paper backed, and on the paper is marked frame number for the different aspect ratios that can be generated on the emulsion.  The Holga can be setup to produce 6x6 square images, or 6x4.5 portrait orientation images.  I choose to shoot my Holga exclusively at 6x6 as I find the square formatting give me something different to work with.  When used like this, you get 12 images on each roll of 120 film, with 6x4.5 yielding 16.

Getting 120 film developed and processed is still, despite what many believe, easy to achieve.  There are many online labs that allow postal orders of film, usually offering 2-3 turn around.  And of course there is always the option to develop at home if you are that way inclined.  I have my 120 developed by either Peak Imaging or Whole Picture Online, both of which also scan to CD at the time of processing as my aged Epson scanner doesnt take the larger negatives this film produces.

Ive shot both colour negative and black & white negative in my Holga.  I havent yet tried chrome (slide) film yet, either straight or cross-processed.  I have found that Fujifilm Colour Pro400 gives me the right blend of film speed, grain and colour rendering and is my film of choice when shooting "toy" cameras such as my Holga or Lubitel TLR.

For me at least, the Holga produces lovely evocative images and gives me a more freeform shooting methodology compared to shooting digital, instant ot even "normal" film.  The ease of use combined with the fact that you dont know exactly what will appear on the final image leads to a more creative shooting experience that it lacking in todays world of megapixels and ultra-zoom lenses.  Plus the camera is so cheap you don't mind taking more risks with it, putting it in situations you would dream of putting a DSLR.

I actually have a 2nd Holga 120N which I kind of won in  photo competition, and it set-up with a 135 adapter to take spooled 35mm film and exposure the image on the film and sprocket holes.  As yet, I havent had a chance to use it...

Some online Holga Resources:

• Holga on Camerapedia: http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Holga
• Holga on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holga
• Holgarama, UK Holga suppliers: http://www.holgarama.com/
• Squarefrog, Holga fan-site: http://www.squarefrog.co.uk/
• Holga Group on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/86881528@N00/

Some of my favourite Holga shooters on Flickr:

• FitzhughFella: http://www.flickr.com/photos/duncanholley/
• abdukted1456: http://www.flickr.com/photos/abdukted1456/
• Donnie Vendetta: http://www.flickr.com/photos/donnievendetta
• Skissen: http://www.flickr.com/photos/skiss1/
• Katworks: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bzphoto/
• nefoto...: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nefotografas/

[Music] Funeral For A Friend - Broken Foundation.

My latest current favourite tune. Heard it for the first time on ScuzzTV whilst flicking around the music channels on Sky.  Heard of FFaF before but not really liked their stuff.  This, on the other hand, I really like. Currently sync-ing their latest album on Spotify and the iPod.

[Music] Kerrang! turns 30.

Kerrang! Issue 1

The onomatopoeic sound that comes when a finely gripped pick is powered against 6 tense, steel strings, picked up by an electromagnetic coil and amplified to an ear splitting volume.  Kerrang....

That sound epitomised my life for a few years. Kerrang magazine was read from cover to cover rabidly in my teen years, right up 'til I was at Uni. It was a bible to me and some of my friends. The most important moment of the week was getting the new issue.

This week, K! reaches the grand old age of 30. Thirty years of filling the minds and ears of youth with metallic goodness. The first stand-alone issue was put to press and sold on June 6th (or 7th?) 1981. On that cover was Angus Young of AC/DC (see image left), a man who's guitar playing style epitomises the sound that titles the magazine.

This weeks cover stars are Metallica, probably the biggest band that K! have had on their radar; but usually I don't have a clue who the band on the cover are any more.  You see, me and the metal scene moved in different ways just over a decade ago when I found indie, techno, hip hop, hardcore, jazz, blues, country, punk, pop... classical! I matured, my tastes broadened. Metal is still there, but now surrounded by a lot of other sounds. A genre-specific magazine like K! just didn't fit with me any more, and to be fair the latest crop of bands they started to feature meant nothing to me - bands I couldn't relate to, bands that were not 'real' metal or rock to me. Odd, but true. In the last few years I have found myself drifting back into more metal sounds, and more modern metal too.  Hell, I follow Kerrang on Twitter (along with a load of other music magazines). But that's not to say I can't offer a salute to something that meant to much to me and my friends.

Kerrang! 30 Years

The first issue back in 1981 was overseen by editor Geoff Barton, and was a spin-off from the established 'Sounds' music magazine. There is an excellent interview with Mr Barton here, in which he details those early years and later dates. Some choice quotes:

On the birth of K!: "It was Sounds Editor Alan Lewis's idea to launch Kerrang! Along with the likes of Garry "Cockney Rejects" Bushell and Dave "Pink Military Stand Alone" McCullough, I guess my rock/metal ramblings were one of the mainstays of Sounds--but the tabloid newspaper format hampered the scope of our coverage. We needed glossy paper and we needed garish full colour! I remember.....He finally thought he'd got the go-ahead in 1979 or 1980 (can't remember the exact year) and asked me to write/commission/collate the first edition, which I did from a small, damp cupboard adjacent to his desk. But then management got cold feet and we had to divert everything into a pullout section within Sounds itself. (I think the pullout was called something like Kerrrrr-annnggg!!!!--later shortened to Kerrang! so the title would actually fit onto an A4 page!) Kerrang! was finally launched in 1981 as a stand-alone one-shot with Angus Young of AC/DC on the cover. It was an instant hot-seller and monthly frequency was established shortly afterward."

On K! staff writer Mick Wall : "I used to work with Mick Wall on Sounds and I always thought he was at his best when he wrote long, in-depth, atmospheric, rambling pieces. Mick was a typical money-hungry freelancer insofar as he would always come back from an exotic foreign trip and say, "I can't possibly write just 1,000 words. So much happened, this has got to be a two- or three-part epic!" But invariably he was right and the results were riveting--although Axl Rose might not think so."

Kerrang! KC Issue

The period I can relate to K was edited by the excellent Geoff Barton and then by current Mojo editor Phil Alexander. The days of Jason Arnopp, Xavier Russell, Ray Zell, Paul Elliott, Malcom Dome... So many important albums from my formative years were read about in K! either before buying them or whilst listening to them.  The Wildhearts 'p.h.u.q.'; Pantera 'Far Beyond Driven'; Rage Against The Machine's debut; Green Day 'Dookie'; The Offspring 'Smash'; the list is endless. I've still got some old Kerrang!s in the loft. Some choice issues. The Kurt Cobain memorial issue (see left), some with Wildhearts articles, maybe a special edition I think (maybe a 10 year special, not sure)

30 years is a long time for a magazine dedicated to a subset of a subset of society to last. It's seen off many a competitor - RAW, Terrorizor... A few like Metal Hammer have stayed on and are still alive now. So congratulations, K!, on 30 years of metal mayhem.

Here's to another 30. \m/

I might just pop down the newsy and pick up the latest 30th anniversary issue...apparently it comes with a free 15 track CD of choice metal cuts. 

[Cycling] Wet Sunday Blast.

First proper wet ride today, a very quick 9 miles out to Bulphan and looped back as I was soaking.  I only went out in my lycra gear and a cotton tee underneath.  2 notes: 1 my saddle-toolbag isn't waterproof at all; 2. put your BlackBerry in a ZipLock bag next time Toby.

The road bike was OK in the wet.  Lots of spray off the wheels and the front was a bit skittish round some of the bends.  Amazed at how much faster you want to go when you are dripping wet, I even took a tractor towing a trailer or hay at one point by putting it in top gear and grinding up to 25mph on a rough road.  Was pretty cool, but needed some peddling to keep ahead afterwards.

[Cycling] Lunchtime Figure-of-eight 15.

Went out for a quick ride at lunch today as the sun was out and I'm in need of getting some mileage under my belt before Im on holiday and sans velo for over a week.  Had to be the road bike as I fancied some speed/pace rather than woodland.  Couldnt decide which route to take so I decided to just get on the bike and ride.  Ended up going on a figure-of-eight loop around Bulphan and North Ockendon.

Ended up being a very decent lunch hour route.  14.58 miles, 53 minutes, 360odd foot of climb.  Nice, will have to bank this one for more lunch rides to check for improvements of pace and speed.  The last 2mile leg on the A128 was a bit so-so with all the HGVs and delivery vans; and there was A LOT of headwind when heading east...

The sun also seemed to bring out the SMIDYs ("Sorry mate, I didnt see you").  Had a few, managed to catch a couple on the helmet camera:

The first was 1 minute into the ride, she just wasnt looking for a cyclist when she started to pull out of her drive, but I could see that from a long way back so I pull out and slowed down.  Thankfully she did stop and smiled an apologetic smile.  2nd one was stupid, the camera shot doesnt show how close I actually was to her; either she didnt look up the road she was entering or she assumed I was going a lot slower than I was.  She did the classic if-I-look-dead-ahead-maybe-they-wont-see-me and sped off down the road.  A few close passes (1 plonker on the phone in his aged Renault Escape whilst close passing), lack of indication and some engine rev'ers to get by you after you have filtered... never mind, I enjoyed the sun and the ride.