West Ham 0 Reading 1

Dire. Only way to describe today's performance. James Collins, a model of inconsistency if there ever was one, gifted Reading only their second win of the season with an absolute howler only five minutes into the match. What followed was one of the most agonizing performances of the season.

First Cut: Blue Cat

[youtube=http://youtu.be/jci-E-W9Sz4]

"Are you ready to rocksteady?" is the line that kick off this double sided slab of gold. The Pioneers, whether working with Leslie Kong or Joe Gibbs, were almost surefire hit makers from 1968 to 1970. On this Blue Cat outing it was Gibbs behind the controls once again and that means it is real hard to decide which is the better tune. "Shake It Up" is a lovely piece of late rocksteady magic while "Goodies Are The Greatest" is yet another one of those killer tracks taking on the topic of the rude boy phenomenon. It's a fitting start to the label, with many of the biggest tunes in its early days being Joe Gibbs productions. Oddly enough, for a Trojan imprint, it would also go on to feature some absolute stormers from Coxsone Dodd. Other producers popping up include Bunny Lee, Charles Ross and Enos McLeod amongst others. Biggest tune on the label? May just be "Dip It Up" by The Sparkers, a Rannie Williams production. But that's getting ahead of ourselves.

2012 Fighter of The Year: Nonito Donaire

Last night Nonito Donaire gave For The Suits a real nice Christmas present. What was it? Taking away any chance of even discussing anyone else as our Fighter of the Year for 2012. Going into the fight we felt the same. After he blasted our Jorge Arce in three rounds any sort of inkling of doubt was immediately erased from our minds. It's been a banner year for the Filipino Flash.

West Ham 0 West Bromich Albion 0

Winston Reid, a shining example of the sort of solid central defender we've lacked for awhile now, had maybe his most impressive display of the season so far as West Ham and West Brom played out a scoreless draw at The Hawthorns. Yes, it was The Hawthorns. The need for a reminder comes with West Brom being perhaps the quietest supporters in the EPL. Maybe our lads were out in full voice. Either way. throughout what was largely a middling match with bursts of action, "Forever Blowing Bubbles" and "Come On You Irons" echoed without fail.

First Cut: Clandisc

[youtube=http://youtu.be/m8KUZbLqckg]

The Dynamites were some bad cats. Clancy Eccles was a bad cat. So, needless to say, whenever they got together some real magic happened. This was certainly the case for the first 45 to be released on the Clandisc label: "Skokiaan". Clandisc was the Trojan subsidiary set up to showcase the productions of Mr. Eccles. In this track all the members of The Dynamites get their chance to shine, from Winston Wright down to Paul Douglas on drums. Really a skinhead reggae instrumental that deserves to get more love than it does. Then you flip it over and King Stitt is hanging out. His contribution is just as good, though not necessarily the typical DJ vocal he became famous for. Instead on this Stitt borders on singing throughout. Yet another impressive start for a label. Although later output on the label would vary from absolutely outstanding (see: most of King Stitt and the Dynamites further output) to absolutely underwhelming (see: Westmorelites "Zion") there's enough good on this label to make it highly collectable.

On The Bus

You're sat on the bus. Buzzing, absolutely buzzing. The feeling tends to be few and far between at times. Too many disappointed trips to record shops and clothes shops around town. It isn't easy to be pleased when you're so discerning, as you now know all too well. Everyone else can buy their mass produced music, clothes and beer if it makes them happy. That isn't you, it's never been.

The Idiocy After Defeat

Manny Pacquaio's devastating knockout loss on Saturday evening has brought about displays of both the sports greatest, enduring qualities and it's ugly, more recent, tendencies. Juan Manuel Marquez, seemingly possessed by a need to train harder than he ever has before in the desire to prove all his doubters wrong, achieved a remarkable victory. Both fighters prior to Saturday's fourth showdown made it clear their ultimate goal was a knockout victory, leaving no chance of a dubious judging decision deciding who would be declared victor.