"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."

I love going to the cinema and many people know it. I go at least once a week. I drag my long suffering girlfriend along to see lots of films she doesn’t want to see. Sometimes I see movies that I will forever love and other times I see movies that I feel are a complete waste of time. But one thing is for sure.

  When it comes to watching movies, nothing beats a trip to the cinema.

  I have recently returned from watching The Amazing Spiderman 2 in IMAX 3D (and really enjoyed it). It was another movie that I am extremely glad that I experienced in the cinema.

There are three things that I enjoy most about the cinema. First of all – the screen size (bigger screens are truly better), secondly image quality and lastly sound quality. When all of these attributes are just right, for me at least, this is what makes a great movie unforgettable. Although there have are other “movie enhancing” features including 3D and D-Box, for the screen and audio are the fundamentals!

The experience for me in deciding that “going to the movies” was the best thing since sliced bread was in watching the movie Super 8 and most specifically the scene in which the train de-rails. I will never forget my jaw dropping to the floor when hearing the exploding, tearing and smashing of the train as the scene went on and on to my great delight.

Although linking to the clip in this post kind of defeats my point I would hope that you can see what  I mean.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXuCoQ3oQXc

As movies are something, that in modern day, many people enjoy as part of our everyday lives, I am pleased that I have experienced some of today’s most important films in what I consider the best way possible. Seeing a 100ft Heath Ledger before he robs a bank as the Joker or seeing Sandra Bullock at odds in space are some other scenes I am thankful to have experienced in the cinema.

There are many movies scenes from the past that I would have loved to experience first-hand and I regularly attempt to replicate that experience at home as technology becomes cheaper and more accessible. But my 5.1 system, Blu-Ray Player and Plasma TV are no match for the movie theatre and I constantly find that when I watch movies I’ve seen in the cinema with others who haven’t at home, it just doesn’t have the same impact.

I’m very lucky in the fact I have a great cinema near to where I live, the time and a willing girlfriend! I understand that many people can’t go as much as they would like or that it isn’t a priority for them, but if you ever get the chance go and do it! Movies don’t stay at the cinema for long and it could be an experience that you will never forget.

I picked up a Chromecast the other week from Amazon and thought for £39 it would be worth the punt for the relatively low cost. I didn’t do much investigation on the product before I clicked the buy button but I knew that it involved streaming content to your TV not dissimilar from the Apple TV.

  So when I first plugged it in and turned it on (I firstly plugged it in on a TV downstairs which wasn’t to be its final resting place) I was really impressed with how quick it was to setup and get working, it probably took all of five minutes.

  The first thing that I was a bit disappointed with was the lack of apps that actually work the Chromecast. The current apps that are supported are – Netflix, YouTube and Google Music/Movies and that’s about it here in the UK (I think in the US you may have the addition of Hulu). Basically, with the exception of the Google Music/Movies (Movies I don’t use and I never listen to music through the TV) all of these things are available on my Xbox 360. (YouTube and Netflix are also available on the majority of Smart TVs these days). I think the addition of the likes of iPlayer and other TV on demand services are very important to further the need for one of these little devices.

  Another feature of the Chromecast is the ability to use Chrome to display the image from your browser from your PC onto your screen. In all I found the image quality to be far from amazing and was no real comparison with Apple’s Mirroring feature used within Airplay.

  I managed to utilise the (somewhat limited) out of the box CEC features in no time at all. Using Samsungs’ Anynet+ I had the Chromecast turning on my TV and selecting the right input channel with no problem at all by telling my Chromecast that I wanted to Cast something to the TV. The simplicity in doing this pleasantly surprised me, but once you have turned it on that’s when the CEC usage stops. You cannot turn off the TV or take control of the actual TV volume. If I was a bit savvier when it comes to programming I’m sure that I would be able to build in my own application to fully control my TV with the Chromecast but my knowledge is unfortunately limited when it comes to that kind of thing.

  And for me that’s where the fun with the Chromecast ends. I have to say at this stage, the Chromecast hasn’t changed my life and it’s certainly no real match for Apple TV and Airplay at this stage. The apps supported are limited (4 or 5 in the UK) and you cannot Cast photos/videos from your phone/tablet/PC to the TV to show the family pictures of your holiday.

  I also found that in areas of weak wireless signal from your Access Point the Chromecast ceases to work. My Chromecast was meant to live upstairs in my bedroom which borders the edge of the wireless coverage for my house and although the Chromecast was informing me I was ready to cast my devices were not registering it on the network- pretty much useless in my room then!

  So to summarise:

  Do I need a Chromecast? : No- all the devices attached to my TV (Xbox 360/PS3/TiVo) all pretty much support the limited apps that Chromecast supports (with the exception of Google Music/Movies) and the CEC isn’t utilised out of the box enough yet.

  Who would I recommend it to? : At this stage- not to a lot of people. If you have a TV that you need to get Netflix to and have a spare HDMI port then maybe buy one of these. Or just buy a HDMI cable for your PC HDMI output.

  Is it better then Apple TV? : Well it’s certainly cheaper- and I would hope so too. It hasn’t got any real Airplay like features and Casting your Chrome browser image is clunky and slow.

  Are you thinking of getting Chromecast? My advice is wait and see what Google do with it over the coming months- there is not enough unique functionality at this stage.

So in the latter part of 2012 I began putting together Rock and Roll Over DJ Hire (www.rockandrolloverdjhire.com). My own little take on DJ-ing private events for clients who want to have an bit of an alternate feel to their wedding, birthday party or [insert event here].

My general train of thought when deciding I was going to set up yet another mobile disco service in an overly saturated marketplace was that of letting the customer know I actually love the music I’m playing, I’m passionate about it and that this hopefully will transfer into creating the atmosphere for the night that they desire.

I feel that it is pretty easy for anybody just to ”DJ” (as in get a laptop, an amp and some speakers, download the top 40 and a couple of essential disco albums) and play a very generic playlist, fading between one song and the next. As a huge fan of rock music I asked myself; would I want just anybody to play music at my event? I quickly found that there aren’t many local DJs that would know Shinedown from Alterbridge let alone Pink Floyd from Deep Purple. Enter – me.

With this mind set I wanted to make potential customers aware that I am hopefully on the same wavelength as they are and that I actually know and actively listen to their favourite bands. Music is and always has been one of the core parts of my life, combining this with my DJ-ing experience and my love for tech seemed like the perfect match.

  The feedback I have received so far has been great, the interest is brilliant and we have played some top gigs and have some more on the way, all ranging from modern Indie, to Ska, to an evening of Metal.

  In terms of gear, I still like to use CDs although I carry my laptop. Much like my personal music collection; I’m a sucker for physical media! I have collected the rest of my gear over a number of years and adjust my setup based upon the gig.

A friend of mine allowed me to mess with and use his Fortune Ball (pictured). Now these things are great and highly recommended!

  Long live Rock and Roll!

  -          Jon

So, a couple of points I would like to mention before I begin writing;

1)      This is the first time I have ever reviewed anything (at least in the sense I have never documented before my thoughts on a piece of work)

2)      It is no secret that my favourite band of modern day is Coheed and Cambria.

… now we have that cleared up we can begin.

Depending on how you count it, “The Afterman” is Coheed & Cambria’s sixth studio album split into two parts; Ascension and Descension. True to their concept ways, this album serves as a prequel to the bands successful comic book series; The Amory Wars. If you’re interested you can read up on the story elsewhere on the Internets. I intend to review the musicality and song writing in this piece (although I am a big fan of Sanchez’s mythology.)

In essence, I am incredibly pleased to say that this album is a true return to form. Admittedly, the quartet had me worried after the last studio outing. I felt Year of the Black Rainbow and Good Apollo Vol 2: No World For Tomorrow were substandard by Coheed’s quality. I didn’t feel that YOTBR was as imaginative or intriguing as their previous albums, I felt the song structures to be somewhat mundane, I felt it lacked interest and I felt the album was very “safe” in terms of song writing (not production). NWFT, although at times, little more intriguing, I didn’t like the production style and overall feel of the album. Overall I would probably choose one track for a “Jon’s best of Coheed CD” from both.

But let’s face it. How do you follow up Good Apollo Vol: 1? In my humble opinion; an album is nothing short of a master piece.

So when I first heard the true opener of The Afterman: Ascension, Domino The Destitute I was instantly pleased. Fantastic Coheed melodies, quirky structures and popping in at the 8 minute mark, I knew Coheed were back to their best. The album continues in the same vain, at least in the intriguing sense anyway! With a fantastic mixture of moods filling the whole of Ascension, the album moves from strength to strength.

It was indeed fantastic to hear Claudio’s vocal range take over every song. (A stand out part for me is the Mothers of Men vocal middle section vocal melody.) And his lyrics are as bold and interesting as ever.

Through each track the style and feel differs fairly drastically from the softness of the title track through to the heaviness of “Vic The Butcher” and to atmospheric “Evagria The Faithful”.

As the Ascension drew to a close, I thought to myself, this has to be the shortest Coheed album ever. And then I remembered…

This was only half of it!

The second part, Descension is everything the first half is and more. It is heavy, it is exciting, it is unpredictable and it is plain brilliant.

The second track, Sentry the Defiant is a mind blowing swell of determination, angriness and well, defiance! But my favourite track of the whole album however has to be Gravity’s Union. It is a completely stunning piece of work and what I would call a true Coheed & Cambria song; strong melodies, time signatures, lyrics, a very interesting structure and a fantastic fist-pumping ending.

Thankfully, I would say this album holds some of their best work.

Major credit goes not only to Claudio Sanchez, for his brilliant song-writing, but also to Zach Cooper. It is clear that he has fit straight into the band with his musicianship top notch throughout.

Another big part of this album for (possibly the biggest for me) is the return of drummer, Josh Eppard. When Eppard parted from the group after Good Apollo Vol 1 I seriously felt they lost something. The following two albums, for me, were just not up to par but his return has given us another Coheed classic. His was sorely missed but I am glad to see he is back.

To conclude, this album (both parts) is a blinder and everything I could have hoped for. I think it has seen the band enter a new stage in their musical career and given the band a brilliant boost in many senses.

.. I just hope they tour the UK with Descension!

  Stand out tracks:

Gravity’s Union

Key Entity Extraction I: Domino the Destitute

Mothers of Men

Key Entity Extraction V: Sentry the Defiant

Dark Side of Me

For the past 12 months my old band and I have been working extremely hard on an EP.

And we have finally finished it!

Entitled "This neighbourhood sounds like a living organism" we have created our own little prog-instrumental album. A five track exploration into our instrumental side of song writing and we are really pleased with the out come.

The EP can be downloaded for free from www.maunaloaband.bandcamp.com.