Aldo Nova

It was in 1982 that I first heard of this Montreal based artist through the hit singles Fantasy and Heart To Heart from his first album for Portrait/CBS. My CD is the 2004 Sony Legacy series remaster.

His was a mixture of blistering Heavy Metal coupled with catchy lyrics and the use of the synthesizer that make the sound as contemporary as A Flock of Seagulls back in the day.

He followed this up in 1983 with Subject - a futuristic album with instrumental links that featured Monkey On Your Back - a hard hitting anti heroin number (the video was strong for the day) and the guitar driven Hold Back The Night released in February 1984

The follow up Twitch from 1985 wasn't so good and he dropped out of music making for a while assisting other Canadian acts with lyrics.

I've always liked him - bought all the singles - and recently Wounded Bird (part of Sony Music) have re-issued Subject and Twitch on CD. The first two albums just fit onto a single MD at 80:36!

July Anime Round up

Okie dokey, another month a few more episodes make their way to your ever expanding DVD collection.

First up is this Volume Three of Slayers Next that originates from 1996.
In this we treated - if that's the right word - to our heroine Lina and Amelia in cute dresses singing what is supposed to be a spell to get the Claire Bible (a book of vital spells) back. This is a sight to behold as it's well beneath her dignity!
Ad we encounter twin sisters Mimi and Nene who also badly want the Claire Bible!
The gags continue a plenty - Gourrey dressed as a girl is something else! - the Island where everyone is meant to be a Shrine Maiden is revealed to have many cross dressed males, never mind Amelia's annoying Sword of Justice fixation that drives Lina wild.
It's just one fun filled episode after another.

At long last the concluding episodes of the rather enjoyable Ghost Hunt series are here!
It's the story of Mai Taiyama's psychic powers that leads her to join the Shibuya Psychic Research team lead by Kazuya "Naru" Shibuya.
What's good about this isn't just the mystery of the hunt for peoples departed souls that are affecting others but the character development over the episodes.

Compact fashion

Compact

This is a lovely compact by The Color Institute that I own.
You can get this Argos in the UK for under £ 10 making a great starter kit to which you can add to later on.


    Set comprises the following:

    64 eye shadow pressings.

    32 lip gloss pots.

    2 face powder pressings.

    6 powder/blusher pressings.

    1 bronzer.

    3 pressed powders.

    1 shimmer.

    1 blusher brush.

    1 face sponge.

    3 sponge applicators.

    2 lip liner pencils.

    2 eye liner pencils.

    1 black mascara.

    3 brushes.


Pencil Skirt

A staple of my more formal wear is the Pencil Skirt of which this from Top Shop is good example. It is a knee length pencil skirt with back zip fastening. 75% Polyester,23% Viscose,2% Elastane.Machine washable.
Worn with a classic plain blouse, belt and tights, it has that business like feel but at the same time approachable.

Playsuit

Here's something I spotted at Topshop that took my fancy
It's Heart Print play suit an unusual choice of the name for a garment that otherwise comes under the heading of Tunic I feel but still.
Team with tights and a necklace it would look smart. 

Susannah and Trinny time!

You've see the ladies on TV now buy Trinny and Susannah's Full Circle Skirt!
I like the way each panel gently flows with the net at the hem.Ladies Denim Blue Full Circle Skirt. 76 polyester, 24 viscose. lining polyester. Hand wash only. Denim blue

Available at Additions

Kiki's Delivery Service

At the instigation of a online friend from a forum I recently bought this title in the acclaimed Studio Ghibi collection.
Adapted by Hayao Miyazaki from the Japanese childrens book by Eiko Kadono, it is about Kiki - a thirteen-year-old witch, and daughter of a witch - who is eager to leave home and spend a year working away from home. Her only talent is flying on her broomstick, but she sets off with her black cat JiJi) and finds a big city by the sea that she decides to live in.
She makes a deal with the bread store owner to work for her board in store that soon transforms into a courier service delivering anything from pies to pets. In this activity she -a polite, cheerful if naive child - encounters the rudeness and spoilt behaviour of others especially of a girl of her own age.
She encounters a boy on a bicycle who becomes her friend but undergoes a crisis of confidence losing her ability to fly. Only by looking into herself can she regains her abilities saving the boy from a Zeppelin flight that goes disastrously wrong.
What I liked about was the attention to detail in the drawings coupled with the message of triumph over adversity it presents.

The Undertones!

Recently Salvo Records a small independent company re-issued these two albums plus a Anthology appropriately titled The Undertones Anthology.
The Undertones were formed in Derry (or Londonderry) in the mid 1970's and came to prominence through the release on the Good Vibrations label of the Teenage Kicks EP which was picked up by the late John Peel for his BBC radio show.
This was followed by a contract with Sire Records of America home of the Talking Heads and the Ramones new wave bands.
Following the signing the single Get Over You was issued followed by Here Comes The Summer and an album prepared "The Undertones" which in its original form had 14 short tracks clocking in at under 30 minutes being everything a 'punk' album should be -full of short snappy songs with attitude.
It was issued in the Late Spring of 1979 selling very well.
This was repackaged in a new sleeve in the light of the bands increased success on the charts adding the singles to the line up but this altered the whole feel of the album.
This re-issue sets it right by keeping to the original version but tagging on no less than 21 bonus tracks and a video!
It remains a classic British album from the New wave era.
Its follow up Hypnotised released in the summer of 1980 keeps much of the feel but sees the band experimenting more with the likes of the plaintive Wednesday Week a number 11 single as well as being the home to the gem that is My Perfect Cousin referencing Subbuteo (a table top soccer game) and the New Romantic group the Human League!
Like the first album this re-issue sees bonus tracks 6 plus the video of My Perfect Cousin added to the end of the disc.
Mastering generally very good keeping the quiet and loud parts as they should be but with just a couple of tracks sounding a little brighter than the original vinyl issues.
Recommended for all who lived through the era and anyone who loves pop-punk.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya & Manga update

Well this was going to happen sooner but I got waylaid so here goes...

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

I wanted this so much when it came out around November time last year but if ya hadn't noticed there's a recession on and one consequence of this was threat Beez's UK distributor went into receivership but I managed to get this reissue.

The story revolves around Haruhi Suzumiya, a high school girl obsessed with finding all forms of the extraordinary and supernatural, and Kyon, a cynical classmate who proclaims his non-belief in such matters and narrates the series. After being displeased with the mundane happenings at school and the lack of interesting after-school clubs, she forms her own, the SOS Brigade, to investigate any mysterious happenings, with Kyon forcibly drafted as its second member.

She drafts in additional members into the SOS club and in time they are revealed to be the extraordinary characters she is seeking (Yuki, an artificial human created by the extraterrestrial Integrated Data Entity; Mikuru, Time Traveller; and Itsuki, esper), sent by their various organizations to observe Haruhi. All see Haruhi as possessing a superhuman control over the universe, capable even of recreating the entire universe in a state of dissatisfaction and attempt to prevent this by keeping her entertained, holding her powers in check, and maintaining the illusion of a normal life.

The series became an Internet phenomenon and in the absence had to make do with a subbed import with so-so quality but have now gotten the UK R2 Re-issue 4 dvd set


Also on June 8th Slayers Next Vol 2 DVD arrived here - you wouldn't believe the trouble wanting Dragon dishes can cause! - and that was fun to watch.


I am presently reading Otomen 1 by Aya Kanno

The plot revolves around a conundrum.
Asuka Masamune loves girly things such as knitting, sewing making cute animals and reading shojo comics. Ryo Miyakozuka can't sow or bake cakes but is draw to Asuka!
Asuka inhabiting a world that calls upon boys such as him to act manly must hide his real identity in order to play the Jock which is what attracts Ryo as a girl.
Can they ever get it together? What really happened to Askura's father???
In many respects it's a story about sexual politics in Japan, the function of sexual identities in society and how that applies to those who don't fit in them.

I quite like shojo beats' titles and this published by Viz in the States is a great thought provoking manga.