23 Sept 2011
I make no delusions of my love for Coldplay, they're definitely up there with my all time favourite bands. Which is why it was such a disappointment when Coldplay announced a meagre 3-date UK tour of their new album Mylo Xyloto. Yes, Coldplay are big; yes, they need no extra help in promotion, but with such an army of fans that they have earned since their inception 15 years ago, it's a big disappointment to know that many, many fans will miss the opportunity to see them live.
19 Jun 2011
The Vaccines' debut offering, What did you expect from The Vaccines? came a little early on in the year to be dubbed the sound of the summer, but I'd say the London 4-piece's 11-track, 36-minute album is a strong contender for the title. I'm often a little hesitant throwing the world 'pop' around, but I can safely say this is one of the best pop records I've heard this year.
8 Dec 2010
I saw Ratatat at the weekend, and, like a lot of artists in my music collection, they are a band I know due to a couple of songs I discovered by them years back. Ratatat were supporting Vampire Weekend at the Brighton Centre last week (who I'll get onto shortly), and as much as I enjoyed Vampire Weekend, it was Ratatat who left me yearning for me. Luckily, I managed to get hold of last minute tickets to see the twosome performing again a few days later at a much more intimate venue. I was not disappointed.
14 Sept 2010
I've never been able to decide how much I like Arcade Fire. After hearing Rebellion (Lies) back in 2005 I bought the album Funeral. Despite enjoying a handful of tracks of it, I never really gelled with the album as a whole. Arcade Fire, in my opinion, have a particular style that I think you either like or you don't; and in that respect, I suppose I'm in the former category.
31 Jul 2010
I've just finished watching the live feed of biffy's headline set at the iTunes festival and as much as i love the music the band produce, they lack something live.
9 Jun 2010
If you're a Strokes fan you may have noticed the strong rumour floating around the Internet yesterday that the band will be playing a secret gig in London under the guise 'Venison'. The band haven't really been around since releasing their 3rd album First Impressions of Earth in 2006 but have reportedly been back in the studio recently and are touring around the world in the upcoming months. I still regret not getting tickets for the Isle of Wight Festival this weekend, where the band will be headlining.
3 Jun 2010
After just watching the last ever episode of Flash Forward I can't help but feel a little disappointed at its demise. Although apparently it's not a foregone conclusion that this show has received the dreaded axe; for, apparently, ABC has simply 'halted' production of the second series. I've mentioned before, I like this show; and after seeing the finale of the first series, plenty more action is promised if there is to be a second series.
30 May 2010
Another brief post to bring to a certain song to everyone's attention. The song is Wavin' Flag by K'naan. You may have already heard it on the Coca Cola World Cup advert, and it's also on the new Fifa World Cup 10 game. Basically, it rules. It's the tune of the summer and most definitely the tune for this years World Cup.
17 May 2010
One of the first things I noticed when I first got a laptop was - plain and simply - the onboard speakers stink. However it seems a lot of people are satisfied with the tinny sounds these small computers put out. Which brings me onto the point of this post. You owe it to the musicians and artists who produce beautiful music to listen to it how it was meant to be listened to. Do your ears a favour and pick yourself up some speakers.
29 Apr 2010
As a follow-up to my previous post urging you to experience Black Rebel Motorcycle Club live, I was eager to learn the band has announced more dates at the end of the year. If you're even slightly in to this band, I urge you, book some tickets! You can do so from tomorrow (30th April). If you want to join me, I'll be booking up tickets for the London show at the Brixton Academy on the 11th December.
25 Apr 2010
Wow! Do these guys put on a show! On Friday night I went to see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the HMV forum in London. I wouldn't say I was a huge fan of this band prior to the event, but nevertheless I was looking forward to seeing some decent live music. Blown away would be an understatement! However good a band sounds recorded, they're really not worth their name in salt if they don't perform well live. Let me tell you, if you haven't heard or seen this band live, they were undisputedly born to play live.
11 Apr 2010
...It's good music. I hate adverts as much as the next guy. But it can't be denied TV adverts have proven to be a great platform for getting across a damn good tune, or even launch a band's musical career.
6 Apr 2010
It has to be said, I've grown a little partial to the band 30 Seconds to Mars. It's not something I'm ashamed of, but equally not something I will be shouting from the rooftops. If, after this revelation, you doubt my sanity and musical taste, before you judge, you must check out their collection of hits they're racking up. Their current single, This is War, is the latest song from the band to catch my attention. And it's 30 Seconds to Mars doing what they do best.
2 Apr 2010
A while back now, I raved about Biffy Clyro's single release, The Captain. Since then, I've had the pleasure of acquiring the album Only Revolutions, providing me with 11 more tracks to sink my teeth into. Hold onto your hats people, this album will rock your socks.
19 Mar 2010
I have recently come to realise something: I love the Smiths.
A short time ago I wasn't in a very good place in my life and thought to myself, "I feel like shit, I feel sorry for myself, I'm going to indulge in some depressing music. (Hey, we've all been there at some point) What depressing music do I own? The Smiths are depressing, right?". At first it did what it said on the tin, but then I began to realise The Smiths aren't depressing at all. Their music was having a positive effect full of uplifting vibes. This, from a band who sure love to sing about death and heartbreak.
8 Mar 2010
Everyone has their own opinions on this. And it's something that often can't fully be explained or justified: the hatred for a song. A hatred so strong that you can't possibly listen to it in its entirety. I've compiled a short list off the top of my head:
19 Feb 2010
There's definitely a debate to be had about the use of Shuffle when listening to music. As usually seems to be the case in these situations, I'm still somewhat undecided over which I prefer. Although the term is sufficiently self-explanatory, to clarify, shuffle involves the playback of your tunes in a random order. This is usually a pre-determined list, to enable you to skip backwards and to ensure all songs are played at least once before being played again. But now we're just getting into technicalities.
18 Feb 2010
Despite the fact that I get the grand average of around 3 visitors a day on my blog (hey, I'm happy it's not 0 ;)), I feel compelled to write this anyway. I've played guitar since the summer after my GCSEs, so, with a quick bit of maths, that adds up to about 6 and a half years. Wow. Didn't know it had been that long. I've only had the pleasure of playing with fellow musicians for about 2 of those years. That, I have decided, must change. And thus: Project Rock Band (Nothing official about this title, I do believe Jack Black already coined it in School of Rock. Meh.)
10 Feb 2010
I thought I'd break my week long lull (don't ask) with a hats-off to an album I have recently rediscovered. The album is To Lose my Life and the band is White Lies. I'm not too sure how successful this album was, as I dip in and out of the mainstream music quite erratically throughout the year. I remember when I acquired this album last year, I tipped it as a good'en, but I'm only now really discovering how good an album it is.
28 Jan 2010
No where near as sinister as it sounds. I'm talking about Jason Derulo's chart topping number 'Whatcha Say'. I'm not as behind the times as this statement suggests. In fact I have just taken this long to decide my true feelings. I love Hide & Seek by Imogen Heap, I think it's a brilliantly unique song. Now usually I try to avoid the mindset that a remix or sample taken of a good song must be bad. But in this case, I must agree.
16 Jan 2010
Well, perhaps a bit of an exaggeration. But I always get a little overexited whenever I hear this. The song is Plan B - Stay Too Long, which, as a whole package is an alright song. But the verse riff stands out for me as something special.
2 Jan 2010
I haven't written a blog in a while. No excuses really, but I hope to get back on track in the upcoming weeks. This is mainly a catch-up post, going over a few things that I probably should've mentioned earlier, that have happened over the last few weeks. Namely:
New lighting gear
Website re-design in the pipeline
Happy New Year!
18 Dec 2009
Oh the weather outside is frightful. But it can only mean one thing. Christmas is upon us once again. And the weather is trying so hard to be festive this year. It is for this reason I'm in the mood to list my top 10 Christmas songs. In no particular order.
10 Dec 2009
This song is featured on the latest advert for PS3. I initially thought - that is a nice sounding song, goes well with the content of the advert. Well today I figured out what the song is.
4 Dec 2009
I mentioned the sounds of Julian Casablancas in this post. It wasn't much of a review post as I hadn't heard much of the song at that point. Since then, I've bought his album - Phrazes for the Young - and I thought now would be a good time to review it.
25 Nov 2009
We're all aware of how fast the world is moving. Technology, fashions, work. And it's easy to trick yourself into some relaxation at some point during the day. But - these days - do we ever really just stop and do nothing? And I mean nothing. Just you and your thoughts.
2 Oct 2009
Actually, it's Julian Casablancas, the front man of The Strokes. He has a solo song out called 11th Dimension. And it's an audio dead-ringer for the Supergrass hit, Pumping on Your Stereo. Seriously. Is it possible New Yorker Julian hasn't heard of London band Supergrass? Quite likely.
28 Sept 2009
Biffy Clyro have a new single out, The Captain. It's the follow up to That Golden Rule and features on their upcoming album Only Revolutions. I never really got fully on board with That Golden Rule, but The Captain, in my opinion, better represents the sound that Biffy hinted at in That Golden Rule. It's like they've made the perfect rock/pop fusion track. And I love it!
26 Sept 2009
I've noticed a trend amongst several people's iTunes libraries. Now this is just a fleeting thought, I haven't done any extensive research. But it seems the top 10 songs most played in peoples music libraries tends to be quite embarrassing. Your actual favourite songs probably tend to vary over time and, for me at least, the top 10 highest played rarely seems to reflect this.
14 Sept 2009
I have to admit, I wasn’t looking forward to the new Muse album much after hearing the first single off it. Uprising didn’t really do anything for me. It was the Muse we’d come to expect, but it just had no kick to it or anything to make it stand out. Then I heard another song off the album: Undisclosed Desires.
8 Sept 2009
I want to post about a band that interested me from the moment I heard this particular song (pronounced my keys, your boyfriend - in case you were wondering). It's one of those songs that I just can't decide if I like or not. Regardless, the band Everything Everything has definitely caught my interest.
5 Sept 2009
I’m not a film critic, so I’ll keep it brief. I went to see 500 Days of Summer last night at the cinema. I was intrigued by the description "The romantic comedy for people who don't like romantic comedies". And I was actually pretty impressed by the film. Although it managed to avoid the clichéd predictable plot of your average romantic comedy it was still fairly easy to guess how it would play out. Still, I found it refreshing.
31 Aug 2009
I love the Kings of Leon. They’re easily my most played artist and they have an immense sound live. Which is why I was disappointed to hear about their performance at Reading. From what I’ve heard, they had a bit of an uninspiring set and somewhat of a meltdown at the end (expensive guitars were smashed). Apparently the same thing happened at T in the Park earlier in the summer. In my opinion it’s probably a mix of a long tour and becoming a little too Rockstar. But I sympathise...
30 Aug 2009
This list was originally going to be a top 5, but I couldn't narrow it down to 5, so I've gone with the next round number. Here goes...