Monthly Archives: May 2025

New Headphones Then

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I’ve recently made the change from Spotify to Qobuz, there were lots of reasons for this, but one of the main ones was the amount artists were being paid and how aggressively Spotify were trying to minimise this as much as they could by introducing ‘ghost’ music to the mix.

Music that isn’t really produced by active artists and Spotify holds the copyright to, with some rumours even going as far as to say AI-generated tracks.

These tracks were then proactively encouraged to us in our artist radios, Spotify-generated mixes, and weighted to nudge down original artists according to a report in Harper’s Magazine.

According to an article at ear Qobuz pays more than every other music streaming service, this is probably because there is no free tier and that seems to be one of the reasons that their income is higher than other services due to their commitment to encouraging the continuation of music production and their self-proclaimed love of music.

As soon as I saw all this I started the free trial, but it wasn’t long until I upgraded to the paid Duo plan for me and my partner as the sound quality is stunning! This was the next main reason I’d been told about, sound quality.

The lowest quality on Qobuz equates to the highest quality on Spotify and the difference was so noticeable even through ear buds but especially on our good quality headphones (it does make me want to buy excellent quality headphones now though).

The interface is a bit more grown up and there is a magazine section to read articles from music journalists all about music and hi-fi, been dipping into this now and then and it’s been really interesting so far.

When I transferred my files across there was a bit missing but when I looked into it it seemed to mainly be playlists generated by Spotify and one album, which is a shame as I really like that album, but hey-ho nothing is perfect.

Overall after a week of using it I’ve got to say how impressed I am by the service and quality, music discovery is a bit harder but it’s the ease of ‘discovery’ on Spotify that allowed them to get away with the slop they were serving their customers, and I’m sure after a bit of practice I’ll get more used to the way Qobuz works

Ionheart

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Lukas Kummer. Top Shelf Productions, (168p) ISBN: 9781603095587. Graphic Novel, read 21/05/25, eBook ★★★★☆

Ionheart

Ionheart

I’m pretty much asking for any non-Manga graphic novels from Net Galley at the moment (I received this in exchange for an honest review) as there is so many good ones coming to print right now across so many different genres.

Ionheart initially places us in a world of knights, demons, princesses, castles, and quests, with a returning knight and a some nods to Arthurian legends.

This is suddenly all upturned when the demon is revealed, though there are quite a few hints when magic items are shown.

Transdimensional high jinx then ensues, identities are revealed, motives and back story is expanded upon and the twists and turns get better and better.

The graphic style of the story telling is nice and crisp with a great use of bold colours and theming short sections of the story together with one main colour as an indicator really works and keeps the story going.

The story of Billy is a brilliantly twisting one with a fascinating ending (?) and lots of different threads weaving backwards and forwards through time and universes.

Little Visitor & Other Abductions

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Adam Szym. Oni Press, (168p) ISBN: . Horror, read 16/05/25, eBook ★★★★☆

Little Visitor & Other Abductions

Little Visitor & Other Abductions

The cover of this intrigued me when I saw it on NetGalley, and who doesn’t love a good old alien abduction? (and it’s put out by Oni Press who seem to be on such a great streak over the last couple of years)

Three interconnected stories involving aliens and their interactions with humans, all three are so strong as stand alones but the interactions between them and the end themes make this work wonderfully as a whole.

The black ink dark artwork with no colour is an excellent choice for such stark tales, the shadows are where all of the darkest acts of horror occur and this all plays out a bit like a pulp movie which in a way mirrors the first story, Little Visitor, where a communist film company tries their take on E.T. (the ameerican movie) but as the story unfolds a tragedy occurs and this is the story of that tragedy seen as flash backs, the whole story uses film techniques to great effect, strong and punchy visuals carry this along to it’s conclusion.

The next story, A Cordial Invitation, takes us to a New Year party in the middle of nowhere, with a twist, another that has a very filmic feel, almost Rocky Horror but with the horror amped up quite a bit. A sacrifice, a journey, a cult, what more could you want?

And the final story, Frolicker, is the most disturbing really as the strangers who encourage the violent thoughts into a teens head have been there before but this time they are more insidious, who are they and what is their agenda, Children of the Corn comes to mind here.

A brilliantly realised project, dark and haunting, otherworldly but firmly planted in a filmic tradition of graphic novels though this really seems to loan from film making quite strongly it turns it into a wonderful graphic experience.

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

British Journal of Photography

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British Journal of Photography

British Journal of Photography

As part of developing my photography practice I decided to subscribe to The British Journal of Photography for the more serious discussion and exploration of the art practice of photography.

I did subscribe to this before when I was part of the photography group at the now defunct Darlington Arts Centre and always appreciated the rigour of the writing and the breadth of works that were included in each issue of the magazine.

Really glad that they have a great app as well, especially for the sake of space as magazines just build up and tend to take over once you start collecting them. In fact there are two apps, one for the iPad for the main issue and the other for the iPhone delivering more regular content.

I do subscribe to another photography magazine and have for quite a while, Black+White Photography, and again this has a good workable app for the iPad. This magazine though full of good articles about artists and exhibitions also has quite a bit of practical information and project ideas.

I’m also looking for a third but this may be an art magazine like Aesthetica but I will have to play about and see what’s out there unless you have a recommendation for me?

Questions for Agents

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Questions for Agents

Questions for Agents

Alongside all the other interview series I’ve been quietly developing this Q&A series to get an idea of what an agent does and how they became an agent, along with a few more personal bookish questions to get a better feel of the person behind the title.

There may be more questions added in the future.

If you would like to be involved you can email me at bigbeardedbookseller@gmail.com

  1. How many years have you been an agent?
  2. How did you become an agent and what do you love about it?
  3. Are there any educational routes you feel that would be helpful in becoming an agent?
  4. Where are you based?
  5. What draws you to a project?
  6. What book do you wish you had worked with?
  7. Were you a big reader as a child, and if so what was your favourite book?
  8. What books have you sold recently?
  9. What genre do you normally work in?
  10. How many people work with you or at your agency?
  11. How can you be contacted? list of social media links and website if possible, thanks

Mayowa and the Sea of Words

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Chibundu Onuzo. Bloomsbury Children’s, (288p) ISBN: 9781526661005. Middle Grade, read 14/05/25, Paperback ★★★★☆

Mayowa and the Sea of Words

Mayowa and the Sea of Words

I’ve got to admit when I received this I was a bit trepidatious as the cover reminded me of so many book in the past several years and the blurb reminded me of a couple of books I had read and enjoyed in the past.

I needn’t have worried as the story of Mayowa and her growing ability to channel emotions through jumping on books, or as her Grandad calls it logosalting (yes I know, a bit of a mouthful) turned into an amazing adventure with appropriate baddies.

This is the first of a new series which explores this power and follows Mayowa as her skills develop and a good first book it is.

Mayowa has always been told by her mum and dad not to jump on books and not to copy Grandpa Edwards, but circumstances conspire to have her staying a summer with him and this is where she learns about her family secret (on dad’s side anyway), logosalting and how it has been used in the past for good and evil and that it should only be used if it causes no harm.

Mayowa and her Grandpa (Baron Edgerley) get involved in foiling nefarious racist bigots from getting a piece of legislation through parliament that would mean refugees would be left to drown if they capsized, this is being pushed through by evil logosalters who shouldn’t exist according to Grandpa.

Lots of adventures, training montages, upsets, evil twins, new friends, and family, always family makes this a well-paced read that you don’t want to put down. Read it in three commute sessions and would have read it in one long sitting if given half the chance.

“These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”

The end was exciting and satisfyingly left a lot open for book 2, especially mum’s side of the family, I think…

I received this from Bloomsbury Children’s in exchange for an honest review.

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