The Two Sheds Mix Tape 26: Halloween Rock

So I’ve been thinking recently about Halloween, looking at what horror films are on television this weekend, that sort of thing. I was also wondering what to put on a Halloween-themed Mix Tape. You see, I didn’t want to go the usual route and fill it with songs such as Michael Jackson’s Thriller or Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Junior. I wanted to do something different. So I looked online at a few lists and decided to go down a slightly darker route, putting songs here that Satan himself would be happy to listen to.

I’ve put a few obvious ones here, but there are some here that you could easily sacrifice a young virgin on a fiery wicker alter to. Some of them may not make you think about ripping the head off a back-packer while rampaging through the Yorkshire countryside at night, but hopefully they’ll get your blood boiling.

No Offence Sheringham

I've got a job interview at Roys in Wroxham on Saturday. As I haven't been there in years, and as I've never been there on public transport before, I tried to plan my route on Google Maps. It's completely screwy. Here's the plan they gave me:

Walk from my house in Suffield Park to Halsey House so I can get the bus to Sheringham.
Get off the bus at Sheringham and walk to the train station. Get the train from Sheringham to Wroxham.
Get off in Wroxham, walk to Roys.

I've decided not to take their advice. Instead I'll be walking to the train station, getting the train to Wroxham, and then walking to Roys, cutting out Sheringham completely and taking ten miles off my journey.

No offence Sheringham.

The Two Sheds Mix Tape 25: Tribute to Marc Bolan

If you’ve been following these Mix Tape collections you’ll know that one of my earliest musical memories is listening to the late great Marc Bolan and T. Rex. I’ve gone into the reasons why Bolan is one of my all-time favourites before, and who was responsible for introducing me to his work.

So with the Mix Tapes hitting a quarter of a century it seemed kind of fitting to pay tribute to the man who was essentially my first musical hero, with a list that begins with Tyrannosaurus Rex days in the 1960’s through to his untimely death in in 1977, as well as a couple of tracks that hit the charts after his death.

The Two Sheds Mix Tape 24: Tribute To Eddie Van Halen

The music world lost one of it’s greats this week when guitar hero Eddie Van Halen passed away. He was 65 years old.

Eddie was a true pioneer, a self-taught player who had a glorious career with his band Van Halen, as well as appearing on one of the most recognisable songs in pop history when he teamed up with Michael Jackson for “Beat It”.

Rest In Peace Marina

A very sad day today. Marina, our youngest cat, passed away this morning. She was just two and a half years old.

The vet said it's possible that she had an undetected underlying health problem, and given that she was more or less the runt of the litter (she was the fifth of six kittens Tinker had, and the sixth one died after a couple of days) it's entirely possible.

Like our other animals she was always sweet and affectionate, and even though she was so young she was always a big part of our family.

Rest in peace baby girl.

New Fiction Addition: The Final Part of the New Age Story

So it turns out The New Age story didn't end when Anglo-Force defeated Darkmagus and his army. There was one strand left, one part of the story to tell, and that part happened nearly four hunded years later about the U.S.S. Valkyrie.

The final part, The Passing of the New Age, originally completed in December 1994, sees Captain Watt and his crew encounter a sleeper ship from the year 2000 that is surrounded in mystery, and you can read the chapters by clicking on the links below:

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Oh, and if you're wondering why there's an image of former England cricketer Geoff Boycott here, read the story!

The Two Sheds Mix Tape 23: Deep Purple in the 90's

I think it’s safe to say that the 1990’s was a somewhat turbulent time for legendary rockers Deep Purple. Former Rainbow front man Joe Lynn Turner replaced Ian Gillan, who had been fired in 1989, with Gillan returning at the insistence of the record company and everyone else in the band apart from Ritchie Blackmore in time for the band’s 25th anniversary in 1993. Blackmore only let Gillan back in in exchange for $250,000.

Blackmore himself quit during the tour to promote their 1993 album. He was temporarily replaced by Joe Satriani, who couldn’t join permanently because of his solo obligations. This led the band to recruiting Dixie Dregs and Kansas axe man Steve Morse, who’s remained with the band to this day.

The Two Sheds Review Facebook Group Is Back!

The Two Sheds Review Facebook Group is back! (Although it's actually been back since May!) Join the ever-expanding number to find out when new stuff is posted! It'll save you having to visit the blog once every five minutes!

You can also hype your own Facebook group if you want!

To join the group visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/twoshedsreview/

Anglo-Force: The New Age - Full Story Now Online!

Those of you who follow me on social media may have seen that I've been adding a few old chapters to the blog in recent times. The New Age was by far the biggest Anglo-Force story I'd written at the time,coming in at over 25 chapters. Hopefully you've already read the prequel, set during World War II, and there will also be a sequel of sorts, set during the time of The Valkyrie Chronicles.

All of the chapters been posted, and you can read them by clicking on the links below. More links will be added when the chapters go online. Enjoy!

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven 
Chapter Eight 
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven   
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen  
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen 
Chapter Sixteen  
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two  
Chapter Twenty-Three 
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five  
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine 

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One 

Two Sheds Mix Tape 22: Tribute to Martin Birch

There was a time in my life where whenever I picked up a record I saw Martin Birch’s name on it. He wasn’t a singer or some axe-wielding guitar hero, but he was someone who helped shape the sound of dozens of albums over the years.

As a sound engineer, and later as a producer, Martin worked with some of the giants of the music business. Martin shared studio time with the blues-heavy Fleetwood Mac, rockers such as Jeff Beck, the Faces and Silverhead, as well as hard rock and heavy metal icons Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Whitesnake, and most notably, Iron Maiden, and even though he retired in the 90’s the sounds that he helped produce continue to influence decades later.