Review: Crazy Days - Your Man Alex Smith

When my friend Alex asked me to review his debut album I was like, “wah? You want me to do what now?” I’ve reviewed books before, and that was friggin hard, and I’ve reviewed comedy shows before, and that was also friggin hard, so I agreed wholeheartedly because I’m a numpty.

Alex has been making music under the name Your Man Alex Smith for some time now. He’s been doing live gigs and he’s been working his butt off to fund the recording of his EP. And I’ve not seen him perform once because we no longer live in the same town. Soz bro.

No but it has actually been a bit of an embarrassment to me, because Alex has always been super supportive of my endeavours, once gave up his time to act for free in a thing I wrote/made and once drew this picture of Boyfriend and me…

Basically Alex is a winner. So *that’s* why I agreed to review his album. Even though I don’t know what I’m doing. Even though I am super lame about music. Even though I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M DOING. Ok, let’s get into it.

**Crazy Days - Your Man Alex Smith**

Tragedy

The album opens with a really upbeat song about tragedy. In fact it’s a song about tragedies being “hidden behind a happy melody” – this is super meta, yo. It *almost* borders on being a comedy song. It’s not, but it employs a healthy dose of irony and I love it.

Alex has a super clear voice. It’s all about the vocals in this track. There’s great stuff in the background (drums and guitars and what not… lol music reviewing?) but you can’t help but focus on the really nice stuff Your Man is doing with his voice.

You know who Your Man Alex Smith reminds me of actually? Hank Green. That’s a massive compliment, by the way because yeah, Hank.

Gingerbread Man

Not the gumdrop buttons!

This song starts a lot slower than “Tragedy” which is nice after the upbeat craziness of the first track. In saying that, it’s probably my least favourite on the album. Not like, it’s bad or anything, but if I had to rank them in order in a life or death situation, I’d put “Gingerbread Man” at the end. What kind of life or death situation would include ranking tracks on a friend’s album? I really don’t know why I said that.

There’s a nice little bit about running as fast as you can ala the titular fairy tale. In fact there’s quite a few nice metaphors and motifs. Honestly there’s nothing wrong with this song, I just feel like I can’t be 100% complimentary or this won’t look like a legit review (yeah, THAT’S the problem).

Dream Girl

Blue eyes, blonde hair – nothing too exciting there/ But just go a little deeper.

Thought I’d found the girl of my dreams/ And I’m a heavy sleeper.

I would like to conclude from the first few lines of this song that Alex is super good at lyrics. I shall conclude that, yes, because it just keeps going. This whole song is so well written, like damn son, those are some good words you put together there. It’s a song about the girl of his dreams, like his actual dreams. It’s great. You guys should really listen to this album.

Tell Me a Lie

Oh lord the rhythm in this is magic. Also I’ve just learned I don’t know how to spell the word rhythm. But back to the music. I say ‘magic’ because the vocals in Tell Me a Lie use the natural pattern in the lyrics to create this awesome rhythm that just makes you move. It’s like Alex is pulling you in. And because I don’t understand how he’s done it, I’m going to assume it is magic.

This is my favourite song on the album. This is my favourite song I’ve heard in ages. This is a really good song. I feel like I’m doing it a disservice by not going into more detail, but I don’t know what else to say… it’s just brilliant.

Where I’m Going

These boots are lined with lead/ the words you said are etched inside.

And while they’re hard to lift/ they were a gift, I’ll wear them with pride.

Is this a song about shoes? I think this might be a song about shoes. And I’m glad because there aren’t enough love songs about inanimate objects in the world. Ok, no, this is actually a really nice serious song and I think I might be ruining it. Shhhhh Lizzy.

This song really showcases Alex’s voice and also his gift for melody. It’s a really beautiful song with a haunting undertone of something much deeper and darker. Urgh, are you guys seriously not going to get this album? Because you are missing out.

Bonus Track – Tell Me a Lie A Cappella version

There’s a bonus track at the end that is an a cappella version of Tell Me a Lie, which is really exciting because I have decided it is my favourite track on the album and now I have two copies of it. And remember how I said the vocals were flippin awesome? Well guess what a cappella is losers?? It’s ONLY VOCALS so yeah it’s the best bit of the best one. Magic. Actual magic. How do singing? How do music?

And most relevant to me… how do reviewing?

So I know this was a little different, thanks for reading, and I do hope you check out Your Man Alex Smith. You can find his website here, his facebook here, and he is launching this album at The Zoo in Brisbane on March 1^st  so check out either of those links for more details on that and how you can get the album. I would recommend liking his facebook page because that’s how I stay up to date with things because we live in a modern world where we feel super free but actually owe most of our social interactions to a multinational megacompany that sells our data for money. Crazy Days.

It's the name of the album. #comedy

A Photo a Day

More than 200 days ago, on my 25^th birthday I took a photo of the new TARDIS apron my parents had bought me. I had known for a few days that I wanted to start a daily social media ‘project’ but it wasn’t until I took that photo that I knew for sure it would be a photo a day.

srsly though, great present. 

By the third day I was already struggling for ideas of what to photograph. I didn’t want to take boring pictures of my dinner, and I didn’t want to only take selfies, and I was already on struggle street. On days like today, when I haven’t left the house, I will often have to contrive a reason for a photo. Many times this means taking a photo of something I’m eating, or of my face, but more often than not it makes me do something. I’ll go for a walk, bake something or find something nice to photograph.

Initially, I felt weird about this, and some of the photos don’t seem completely genuine, it’s clear to me at least that I am guilty of glorifying the mundane in order to make my life seem more interesting for facebook. But as the days (all 208 of them) have passed, I’ve come to appreciate the impetus to do something worth documenting. Plus I’ve become more relaxed. I don’t try to force a photo as often anymore, and I’ve stopped caring if some of the photos are boring to others. Because while I have made the choice to share them publicly, I have also come to realise that the photos are more for me than for anyone else.

Since starting my weird facebook album I have had a few people ask me why I’m doing it. My answers usually vary between the rather flippant ‘I dunno, just for something to do’ and the comparatively deep, ‘because I wanted to document my life this year’. The truth probably lies somewhere in-between. I knew, on my birthday, that the next 365 days were going to be big. I was going back to full-time study, doing teaching prac and going on an overseas holiday. I also knew that I was struggling to find creative things to do with myself even when I had plenty of free time, so a ‘simple’ photo each day seemed like a nice project to do while very busy.

One of the most surprising things to me is that I’ve managed to keep up with it. While I admit that I have missed a few days here and there, I have been pretty consistent. 

Though I have created this image for emergencies.

Like the imposed regularity of a Sunday blog, making myself document a snapshot of each day has produced both not-so-great and really-quite-good results. I'm pleased I'm doing it, and I feel confident that I will always be glad that I documented this year like this. 

Graffiti on the toilet walls in the cafe where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter

I haven't yet taken a photo for today, day 209, I think I might do one of my dinner maybe, or one of my pretty face.

what a cutie

Bath-mas

I have had a long and tumultuous relationship with Christmas. Actually that’s completely inaccurate. What I mean to say is that I haven’t really liked Christmas since I was about 14. I’ve blogged about it before, in fact, so I won’t go into great detail, but basically it’s always been a disappointment, or stressful, or a combination of both.

As I’ve matured I’ve come to realise that vehemently hating things is kind of draining, and also not particularly amusing to friends and people around you who kind of just want to enjoy their day and don’t want to listen to you being so *different* by not liking *Christmas*. I’m not about to buy tinsel themed outfits or anything, but my objection to the holiday has certainly mellowed.

And this Christmas just gone was the best of my adult life.

After LonDon, Boyfriend and I caught a train to Bath. Due to flooding, this was an adventure in itself. Our train was cancelled, but we (along with hundreds of others) were allowed on the next one. This meant we had to stand in Paddington Station waiting for an announcement and then run (literally run) with all our luggage and amongst a mob of people to the platform. This also meant we were on an incredibly crowded train filled with young Londoners heading home for Christmas. I haven’t been in such a 20-something heavy crowd since university. If you’d done a survey you would have found perhaps 2 or 3 outliers represented in a baby and an old couple, terrified at their mistake, and everybody else would have been within 2 or 3 years of the mean age of 25. That’s right, statistics, people, statistics.

Bath.

Bath is nice. Incredibly nice. The entire city is heritage listed, which means everything looks like it did hundreds of years ago, except that instead of having sewing shops and teahouses it has Marks and Spencer and Starbucks. Actually that’s an exaggeration, Bath still has heaps of teahouses. Probably they are the same teahouses Jane Austen sat in and thought, “I’ll make him seem really aloof and cold but actually he’s just shy and dreamy! Genius!”

When we arrived at our hotel, there was a jazz band made up of teenagers playing really good jazz. We listened to the jazz and ate afternoon tea and thought about how is was 42 degrees back home. Then we walked back down to the train station to meet Amy, who is our friend, who has been living in the UK for more than a year and who would be spending Christmas with us. Back at the hotel the jazz band had gone, but the afternoon tea remained. It was a good compromise. Plus we discovered the cocktail list.

What followed was three days of eating and drinking and being stupid. On Christmas Day we went for a walk through the almost empty streets, looked at houses for rent and decided we definitely should move to Bath, the three of us, and have adventures. We came back to a five-course lunch, where we befriended our waitress, got tipsy and wore paper hats. 

Hats.

Ok, no I actually got a bit drunk, so while Amy and Boyfriend went to the bar to continue drinking, I (probably not so) quietly excused myself and retired to our room where I proceeded to have an hour long bath (in Bath, yes) and sobered up slightly.

After dinner that I can’t believe we had any room for, we watched the Doctor Who Christmas special, wherein I managed not to weep like a baby until Amy Pond’s surprise cameo, at which point I think I looked like my face had had a shower. As soon as it was over, we switched channels to ITV, and Amy and I watched the Downton Christmas special as well. As strange as it is to say, watching TV that night was one of the highlights. I discovered Doctor Who with these people (Boyfriend and Amy, I mean, as well as others) and we got to enjoy it as it aired in England, together. Similarly, Amy and I have been watching Downton together for some years now, and it felt so nice to lie on a bed and watch a silly English drama in England with her.

We spent Boxing Day drinking. I mean, we went for a walk and stuff, and things were open this time so that was nice, but mostly we continued to make our way through the cocktail list. The head bartender had some kind of degree in cocktails. The dude was amazing; he mixed us drinks not even on the list, had a vegetarian Bloody Mary recipe and gave us all gifts at the end of our stay. Basically he made our Christmas even more amazing (and drunk) than it was already. On the 27^th we did the obligatory Roman Baths tour, had lunch and said goodbye. Which was sad, in a way, but also ok, because we’d had this time together, and it filled us all up, I think, with the maximum amount of happy points.

Boyfriend bought me this owl bag for Christmas

Things I managed to not mention chronologically but definitely warrant a mention:

 - Boardgames in hotel lounges are the business.

 - We came third in the trivia despite being at a significant disadvantage when they started asking England-specific Christmas questions.

 - There was a “ski bar” outside the hotel that did warm cider and jars of cocktails.

I'm not kidding.

 - We went to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve even though Boyfriend and Amy weren’t actually that keen and it was basically just me bullying them into coming so that I could sing all the songs and pretend I was still in a choir and that was really nice of them.

 - Some swans tried to kill us.

Right after I took this I started running.

 - The meals were absolutely incredible and I discovered what celeriac is and it makes good soup.

 - I was too drunk to work out how to use the bath plug and had to get someone from reception to show me.

 - All traditional Christmas decorations make 300x more sense in cold climates and did not fill me with nearly as much rage as usual so that was nice.

 - Hey Australia, let’s get some decorations that don’t have fake snow on them, how about that?

 - Christmas can be really awesome.

 For those interested we stayed at Bath Abbey Hotel and booked the Christmas Package. Seriously, A+, 5 stars, would recommend.