X Factor has been/never was James Arthur has signed a new record deal with Sony thanks to his management team at Hall or Nothing.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrit...record-6394903

Looks like we've found the next Manic Street Preachers.

Why are the lyrics to "Stay Beautiful" always shown as "Deny your culture of consumption..." on lyric sites etc... clearly sounds like "EMPTY culture..." to me.

There's this low, vibrato(?) voice in the chorus of Autumnsong that I cannot unhear, specifically on "song" and "run".

I know EIL is a shit and expensive site but bloody hell they've had the same Manics stuff in the "sale" section since the last DFS sale started.

I don't mind downloads - and of course they're more environmentally friendly in the greater scheme of things - but I do miss having the physical copy of a single (cover art, sleeve note, whatever quote Nicky chooses) in my hands. Downloads just aren't as real.

I didn't even mind the whole CD1/CD2, cassette, 12" 'got to get them all' rigmarole. (Or maybe I actually did, and I'm just looking back nostalgically on the number of new b-sides and remixes I'd end up with.)

When unbearable tooth pain kicks in I listen to Everything Must Go.

Suspect they fall foul of quoting from cd booklets rather than what's actually sung :
'throw some acid to the mona lisa's face'
'kill Yeltsin who's saying ' etc.

On the subject of Stay Beautiful did anyone decipher the demo version with the lyrics about gas chambers etc?

Happy birthday Rewind The Film album! Although we all missed it yesterday in the UK. :(
I still think you've got the best lyrics since JFPL.

I think it's something like:

"Find your faith in your cocaine
The only god I need is a brain
Jam your brain with broken heroes
Love your masks and adore your chains

Babes on the run with poison... (lips not said)
Wrap your arms around this everlasting kiss
Fuck your culture of consumption
This is the culture of destruction

Don't want to see etc.

We're a mess of eyeliner and spray paint
DIY destruction on channel chic
If you get your TV in danger
When wrists (not sure about that) are more, only get a gas chamber

Don't want to see etc.

Destroy buzz baby, ooh yeah"

That's what I got, anyway. Funnily enough, the gas chamber line is the hardest to work out.

I've got the 1991 NME 'Culture Slut' cover pinned up at my desk at work. One of my co-workers noticed it just today and asked, "Are you a fan of the Manic Street Preachers??!" This was a shock because I live in a country where the Manics are a barely known, late-90s one-hit wonder. Somehow this (mid-40s male) co-worker was familiar with the band image but none of the music. I'm going to help him out with some links.

(I'm still waiting with some excitement for someone with authority to inform me that picture is inappropriate decor for a government office. What can I say: those pretty boys cheer me up!)

"5 A.M." from David (I always thought he was called 'Dave'?) Gilmour's new solo album begins with the same sound filter effect the EMG album begins with. (But no sound of water, and at least EI:BP is a song!)

I once read an interview with him where he said that he prefers to be called David.

Mind you, nobody's calling James "Jim" so maybe the two different acts have more in common with their singers preference for how their name is pronounced!

Surely it must only be a matter of time before Gwenno and the band collaborate on something? I'd settle for guest vocals on a new track, a Gwenno remix of any Manics track, or a Manics version of an existing Gwenno song...

Never heard some of the Lifeblood demos that are on Youtube before! Solitude Sometimes Is in particular is very good. They're not very different, but still worth a listen if you've never heard them before.