Saltwater Grudge Chapter Four: The Weight Of Silver Chains

           Julian woke to the sound of Siobhan’s voice, sharp and rhythmic, like the clack of a typewriter. He was lying on the sofa in his office, his head throbbing with every heartbeat. The smell of antiseptic and burnt coffee filled the room. He groaned, trying to sit up, but a firm hand pressed him back down.

Saltwater Grudge Chapter Three: Whispers In The Crab Shack

           The Crab Shack was a low-slung building near the slipway, its walls covered in decades of salt spray and peeling blue paint. Inside, the air was thick with the smell of boiled shellfish and the low hum of men who had spent their lives at the mercy of the North Sea. Julian walked in, his presence immediately causing a dip in the conversation. He was a local, but he wasn't one of them. He didn't have the calloused hands of a fisherman or the thousand-yard stare of someone who had seen a rogue wave swallow a friend.

Social Media Discoveries 60: Frog Leap Live in Europe

We're up to episode sixty of our Social Media Discoveries series, and as the episode number has a zero on the end we're going to do things a little differently again with a show dedicated to one of the original discoveries I made on social media many years ago, Leo Moracchioli and his Frog Leap band for their 2019 compilation Live in Europe.

Saltwater Grudge Chapter Two: A Town Built On Shifting Sands

            The walk to the West Runton cliffs was a journey through a landscape that seemed to be actively trying to disappear. The North Sea was a relentless architect, carving away the soft Norfolk clay, inch by agonizing inch. Julian parked his battered Land Rover near the old slipway, the wind whipping his coat around his legs. The air was thick with the smell of rotting seaweed and the sharp, metallic tang of the coming tide. He climbed down the steep path, his boots sinking into the wet shingle. This was where Elena’s husband, a man named Thomas, had met his end.

Album Listen-Along: Music To Grow Up To II

I've got another album listen-along for you, and this time we're going to listen to the second of my Music To Grow Up To collections.

These collections include theme tunes and songs from shows I used to watch when I was a kid, remixed into a hard rock style using the Suno AI music generator. All of these shows are from here in the UK, so some people may not be familiar with them.

Saltwater Grudge Chapter One: The Tide Brings In More Shells

Last year an advertisement for a new AI service called Vivibook appeared on my Facebook news feed. It was a service that advertised itself as being able to write a complete novel in just a few minutes from a series of prompts. I was intrigued, especially as I've been experimenting with AI a great deal with regards to my own work and hobbies. So I registered for the site, came up with an idea, and typed in the following: “Write a story where I work as a private detective and solve a murder in my hometown of Cromer.”

            Low and behold, a few moments later, what you are about to read appeared before me, a short story called “Saltwater Grudge” in which I, Julian, work as a private detective in my hometown in Cromer. However, it’s not the Cromer you know. There’s all sorts of seedy dealings going on, and quite a few shadowy characters in and around town as well.

            It’s a Cromer that you probably wouldn’t recognize, but then again this is a work of fiction, written in reply to a few prompts by an algorithm that has never smelt the early morning, crab-infused coastal air. Or seen the pier. You’ll know what I mean by that if you read on.

            So here’s a short story where I, Julian, delve into the dark underbelly of the “Gem of the Norfolk Coast”. Just think of it as being a Cromer in another dimension, part of a grander multiverse as it were.

The Thursday Rock Show: 90's Rock Anthems V

It's time for The Thursday Rock Show once again as we make our fifth trip back to the 1990s for some more memorable anthems.

Social Media Discoveries 59: Shannon Clark & the Sugar, Elyose, Mitch Grainger, Frank From Blue Velvet and More!

It's time for episode 59 of our Social Media Discoveries series, and we've got the usual collection of songs from around the web, some acoustic blues, some dark country, some mashed-up metal, a group of vikings, and even some Northampton-based Atlantean warriors.

Album Listen-Along: The Soul of a Rainbow IV

The next of my album listen-alongs sees us taking in The Soul of a Rainbow IV.

The Artemis II Launch, to the Music of Pink Floyd

Footage taken from the onboard cameras of the launch of the Artemis II rocket, paired with the Pink Floyd song Time, from their Dark Side of the Moon album.

The Thursday Rock Show: 90's Rock Anthems IV

It's time for The Thursday Rock Show once again as we make our fourth tip back to the 1990s for some more memorable anthems.

Social Media Discoveries 58: Eleanor Collides, Freddy Charles, Plastic Harpoons, Marian Furch and More!

It's time for episode 58 of Social Media Discoveries, and having made it through the Easter weekend we're here to give you our usual selection of acts you've probably never heard of.

Polar Opposites: One of the World's Greatest Achievements, One of the World's Worst Leaders

Photo Credit: NASA

Earlier tonight, while watching the BBC News channel, I saw a fine example of polar opposites, of two distinctly different things that are happening in the world right now.

So I Said to This Bloke Reimagined and Expanded: Song by Song

In the second of these Song by Song things, we're going to take a look at my collection So I Said to This Bloke: Reimagined and Expanded, created on the Mozart AI music generator app.

The Soul of a Rainbow: Song by Song

I've been having a play-around with some of my AI-generated music over the past few days, turning the tracks into videos so I can compile proper playlists over on my YouTube channel. 

Then I thought that perhaps it would be a good idea to post these videos over here on the old blog in a song by song kind of way, hence this first post.

Easter Special: Jesus Christ Superstar Motion Picture Soundtrack

It's the Easter weekend, which means it's time for another of our music specials. Last Easter we listened along to the original 1970 concept album Jesus Christ Superstar, so to celebrate this Easter we're going forward three years to listen to the original motion picture soundtrack, written by Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice, conducted by Andre Previn, and starring Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson and Yvonne Elliman.

The Thursday Rock Show: 90's Rock Anthems III

It's time for another edition of The Thursday Rock Show, and we're continuing with our weekly doses of rock anthems from the 1990s.