This Charming Blog

Bangkok has him now

2011-05-30T09:01:00.003+01:00

That's me there with a soft ball bat in Bangkok, so yes I have been busy now as a English teacher living out in Thailand and perhaps I'll get back to actually posting on this here blog again now, but I probably wouldn't count on it, anyway I saw the Hangover 2 recently hence the quote.

Its been a while

2009-04-27T22:03:00.002+01:00

It really has been too long, so I'm just posting again to say that hopefully this time I can make it stick and start posting on this blog again, I'm posting now just to say I'm still here and still apprerciate all e-mails and comments. I've done a lot of things since I last posted on here by far and away the most notable was being on that freezing cold Washington Mall a certain day in January to witness history, I've also sent in a sitcom script to the BBC and most recently I may be back on the radio with a local radio station. So I want to post on this blog again and hopefully this time I'll keep it up.

A formidible leap

2008-02-29T23:28:00.000+00:00

It is no secret that this blog has clearly been neglected for some time now, the last post was three monts ago, and the last regular post was even further back, the truth is that I have had some life things to deal with (I now work 1-9 on week days) and I haven't really got organised with posting stuff on here, I still am not organised but I thought I'd post today just to see if I can start fairly regular posts going again and also I just checked one (of a lot) e-mail from a member of a band called The Joy Formidable it was a brief message but I thought 'hey why not' so I clicked on the bally ol' hyperlink and found to my slight (very good) surprise that rather then being a band like so many on MySpace sounding good but not great I found a band on the verge of greatness with a sound that manages to mash-up many influences into a big tasty music smoothy they'll remind you perhaps of the more anthemic sounding of Arcade Fire's songs and maybe the rock energy of the likes of the Duke Spirit, anyway they have three songs available on their MySpace to download, I would highly recommend that you get over there and download them all whilst you still can because if they don't get signed to a label sometime this year I'll eat my hat and become a reclusive newt obsessive. Well then right-ho hopefully I'll start posting at least a bit regularly from now on and all that rot.

My Shadow Falls over Blue Roses

2007-11-11T13:11:00.000+00:00

Something that caught my eye in my packed inbox (and believe me I will never get round to checking everything out but I'm going to attempt to do so this week, especially since I quit my evening part-time job) was a new musical duo of Dan Bejar and Sydney Vermont ( who are "romantically entwined" which sounds better then "going out with each other") who "conjure a timeless collection as Hello, Blue Roses" anyway it caught my eye and the available mp3 'Shadow Falls' caught my ear in that despite the presence of the highly recognisable (maybe even ubiquitous) vocals of Dan Bejar, and some of the guitar work certainly reminded me of Destroyer it actually sounded very different to a lot of music being pumped out at all times by everyone, I think that the fact that Sydney Vermont's vocals are really the lead vocals helps as she has a voice not entirely disimilar to the likes of Kate Bush and Elizabeth Frasier which lends a blissed-out 80s vibe enhanced also by the electronic backing sounds which sound like they have been taken straight from 'Blade Runner' at one point, worth a listen I would say and don't forget to check their MySpace for another different sounding but perhaps more immediate 'Hello, Blue Roses' (title track).

MP3: Hello, Blue Roses-Shadows Fall
Buy: Hello, Blue Roses-S/T (released January 22nd)

Frozen precipitation in German capital

2007-11-05T22:31:00.000+00:00

Or Snow In Berlin a newly available song from Austin's Zookeeper, a band I've taken a shine to recently. I think this song is an absolutely perfect song for the incoming long winter nights, not only does it have 'snow' in the title making it easy fodder for any winter compilation, its the sort of song that a family can gather round and enjoy as the nights come sooner and sooner.

MP3: Zookeeper-Snow In Berlin
Pre-Order: Zookeeper-Becoming All Things (with limited edition autographed booklet)

Classic Video Day-Galactica

2007-10-23T23:14:00.000+01:00

any Galactica fan probably knows about these series of Adama flashbacks to the first Cylon war but this one is particularly epic, I can't wait for Razor and the 4th (and last!!) series. If you haven't already checked out Battlestar Galactica you are probably living under a rock or something.

MP3:Battlestar Galactica Music (why not)
Pre-Order: Razor

Becoming Beautiful

2007-10-19T16:34:00.000+01:00

Well, haven't posted for a while and I have been sent so much music I thought "I'm going to sift through this and actually start posting regularly" so I started with the most recent e-mail which informed me about a band called Zookeeper who are releasing an album 'Becoming All Things' on November 6th (in the US), they are from Austin, Texas (quite a hotbed of talent recently) and I really enjoyed what I've heard from this album thus far a kind of indie-folk-pop mix with vocals that suit the music down to the ground, the two tracks made available are 'Trumpets' a sprawling, laid-back melodious number and the album title track which is a slow burning build with incredibly well done instrumentation gradually adding layers to the song before it reaches its climax. Well worth a listen. Moving away from that perhaps I should actually write a review for 'In Rainbows' to make up for the 'First Proper Review' which seems to have annoyed (although also entertained) some people, let me just say I'm not sure what possesed me to write it and I didn't think people would actually read it anyway, maybe I'll review the Britney Spears album after that, as thats "on my level" according to one anonymous remark who also used the phrase "faux witticisms" which I never expected to read in a blog comment, brilliant.

MP3s: Zookeeper-Trumpets
Zookeeper-Becoming All Things

Pre-Order (or more accurately buy when its available): Zookeper-Becoming All Things

Dig It

2007-10-11T23:11:00.000+01:00

I really liked this video that was on Pitchfork a while ago, I just found it very endearing maybe it was the fact that it was a cover of a Beatles throw-away yet still sounded great, or perhaps it was the "London the home of The Beatles, sort of" anyway enjoy, also get 'Marry Me' its a great album I'd say one of the best of this year or perhaps I'm being "idiotic" as I was when I typed up that review a few days ago as one anonymous person commented, yes I kind of made that stuff up on the spot (like most of these posts) so oh well I got plenty of visitors from it so my ego is fed in some strange way.

Buy: St Vincent-Marry Me
MP3: St Vincent-Paris Is Burning

New from Apple

2007-10-09T21:00:00.000+01:00

It is the way music should br heard, also Radiohead album coming out tommorow morning, see yesterday for a 'review'.

First Proper Review: Radiohead-In Rainbows

2007-10-08T23:43:00.000+01:00

Well I got 'In Rainbows' earlier today, Thom Yorke came round on his bike with a copy (all very carbon neutral) I paid him £2.51 for it just to be clever, and what can I say? What an album who would have thought '15 Steps' would see Thom and the boys take their sound in to a sort of country-stomp direction I mean the lyrics "take your partner by the hand/ go 15 steps forward and 3 steps back/ you do it to yourself you fool, you had too much to drink" were entirely unexpected as it saw Radiohead go in a completely new direction but also revisit a lyric from 'Just'. If that wasn't enough 'Bodysnatchers' was simply snippets of audio taken from the 1993 film of the same name, I would call it Radiohead's boldest step since OK Computer. 'Nude' was a very strange track because it wasn't even Radiohead (literally it was actually taken from the 1981 album of the same name by Camel) it really sounded nothing like a bold fusion of Hail To The Thief and all music released since by everybody even The Kooks. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi was undoubtedly the stand out track as Thom Yorke ditched his trademark vocal style and instead opted for a bad Elvis impersonation with lines like "Don't step on my Weird Fishes/ You ain't nothing but a case of Mxamatosis crying all the time" Radiohead decided to make a interesting step into the realm of comedy-rock. Finally 'All I Need/Faust ARP/Reckoner/House Of Cards/Jigsaw Falling Into Place/Videotape" was simply a very long recorded piece of white noise (recorded on a poor quality cassete from what I could tell) an even more experimental sound then we heard on Kid A, at one point you can hear Jonny Greenwood humming to himself in the background which was defnitely the high point. Overall I would say this is Radiohead as you've never heard them before they take the guitar-driven drive of 'The Bends', mix it with electronic noise which may have been on 'OK Computer', it really defies expectations in every sense of the word, so I gave it 9.7 (Best New Music) in my totally original scoring system.

Pre-Order:Radiohead-In Rainbows

Ghost Blog

2007-10-08T14:55:00.000+01:00

I honestly don't know why I can't quite stick to posting regularly on this blog, but it doesn't mean I'm giving up on it, even though this is a brief post really just to point you in the direction of this new Band Of Horses track which I think sounds excellent, more on the blog soon (hopefully).

MP3: Band Of Horses-Is There A Ghost
Pre-Order: Band Of Horses-Cease To Begin

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Now playing: !!! - All My Heroes Are Weirdos
via FoxyTunes

album you should get...right now:Gold

2007-09-18T16:54:00.000+01:00

Well this a post I wanted to put up longer ago (but haven't mostly because I wanted to do it justice but partly because I've had other things to do) because I suspect quite a lot of blogs would have included this excellent album a while ago Aaron Scroeder's second album 'Black & Gold' is perhaps in overtly record company speak an absolute gem, not so much in terms of that theres a couple of great tracks which you can 'cherry-pick' to download sense (I mean sometimes I think almost 76% of 'great albums' come under this category and thats a statistic not proven by eminent scientists), but more in the way that it fits together well as an album and shows a variety of influences starting from an indie base and working outwards with a variety of instruments, I particularly like the alt-country vibe on 'Cold Country' perhaps because it remnds me a little of 'Cancelled Check' by Beck off of Mutations one of my favourite ever albums, also the contrast between the woozy ending of the song and the breezy stomp of the opening of 'If You Please' is very pleasing. The style of music on 'Black & Gold' mostly reminds me of the catchy pop of Paul Simon mixed with the charming indie vibe of Belle & Sebastian or if you want a 'kooky' crtic soundbite: "Jaunty tunes twitching with genius" I'm quite proud of that one, anyway are you still reading this or are you buying it.

MP3:Aaron Scroeder-Fake Crimes (Demo)
Buy:Aaron Scroeder-Black & Gold

Coming soon: Murder Mystery

Classic Video-Worst Ever Fight Scene Ever

2007-09-17T17:57:00.000+01:00

In some ways you have to admire how bad this fight scene is, although it's almost so bad its good...almost.

Time to wake up

2007-09-11T23:16:00.000+01:00

Hello again, its been quite some time (not a massive amount but still) since I last posted on the blog but I now fully intend to get some things up that I wanted to have up a while ago but just kind of had other things to do, as an interesting for instance a friend and I are currently working on a sitcom script, partly just to see if we can do it but also we have wondered if there is a possibilty it could get picked up which would be great, anyway I now feel like I can start posting on this ol'blog a bit more regularly, starting with a bit of info-tainment namely the folk legend known on Earth as Seth Lakeman is releasing an E.P 'Poor Man's Heaven' which is set to be released on the 15th October and he is also touring the country, playing these dates:
September
Wed 26 Southampton Guildhall www.bigwheelpromotions.com
Thu 27 Exeter Great Hall 01392 263 518
Fri 28 Cheltenham Town Hall 01242 227 979
Sat 29 Aberystwyth Arts Centre 01970 623 232
Sun 30 Sheffield Leadmill 0870 010 4555
October
Tue 02 Glasgow ABC 0870 169 0100
Wed 03 Newcastle Carling Academy 0870 771 2000
Thu 04 Liverpool Carling Academy 0870 771 2000
Fri 05 Northampton Roadmender 01604 604 020
Sat 06 Leeds Met University 0113 244 4600
Sun 07 Manchester Ritz 0161 832 1111
Tue 09 Brighton Concorde 2 www.bigwheelpromotions.com
Wed 10 Cambridge Junction 01223 511 511
Thu 11 Bristol Carling Academy 0870 771 2000
Fri 12 Wolverhampton Wulfrun 0870 320 7000
Sun 14 Lincoln Engine Shed www.bigwheelpromotions.com
Tue 16 Oxford Carling Academy 0870 771 2000
Wed 17 Norwich Waterfront 01603 508 050
Thu 18 London Shepherds Bush Empire 0870 771 2000

for my part I saw him live at the Lewes guitar festival near me and he was bloody excellent.

MP3: Seth Lakeman-The White Hare

Buy: Seth Lakeman-Freedom Field

Classic Live Video Day-Beck

2007-08-21T22:46:00.000+01:00

I bloody love Beck, I wish I could see him live some day soon but until then these rather awesome videos will have to do, like 'Tropicalia' arguably my favourite Beck song.

a slow rocking version of 'Loser', rather damm good.

Where Its At, well its right here.

Mutations is my favourite Beck album, and heres another great track off it.

MP3 (I think its one of the few songs that describes me oooh self-deprecation thats a new one): Beck-Loser

Album I'm looking forward too:smokin'

2007-08-18T10:51:00.000+01:00

I really love the sound Devendra Banhart is developing further in his fourth album 'Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon' with 'Seahorse' being the first single or official mp3 or something, anyway it starts off with Banhart's uniquely understated vocals and guitar before building into what can only be called a jazzy number before morphing into rock territory without sounding in the least bit contrived, but in fact keeping his trademark organic yet freaky sound or as he calls it 'space reggae' which can defnitely be applied to 'The Other Woman' another great slice (think a folky version of 'Ghost Town' and you may be close to how this song sounds) of the upcoming album which can be heard here along with 'Samba Vexillographica' which is a folky-jazzy-samba number sang in Spanish (that is so Banhart) anyway I'm looking forward to it.

MP3: Devendra Banhart-Seahorse
Pre-Order: Devendra Banhart -Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon

Third Post Of The Day:Bloody Hilarious

2007-08-14T17:20:00.000+01:00

Say No More

A Quick One:The Great Pretender

2007-08-14T17:01:00.000+01:00

Now I can't say I was a huge fan of the previous two Foos albums, barring a few tracks they were not really as good as their debut or 'The Colour And The Shape', but I still feel its newsworthy enough to say that the myspace stream of their upcoming single from their upcoming album is actually rather good, anyway enjoy some mp3s of particularly great Foos tracks.

Mp3s:Foo Fighters-Everlong
Foo Fighters-Big Me
Foo Fighters-Break Out
Pre-Order: Foo Fighters-Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
Tracklisting:
The Pretender
Let It Die
Erase/Replace
Long Road To Ruin
Come Alive
Stranger Things Have Happened
Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make-Up Is Running)
Summers End
Ballad Of The Beaconsfield Miners
Statues
But, Honestly
Home

Classic Live Video Day-Cat Power

2007-08-14T15:03:00.000+01:00

I absolutely love this song and given the state of todays weather I think this will be a little escape portal for everybody brought down by the grim weather today, otherwise it is a great live performance and heres a few more.

a sublime solo performance.

taken with a mobile but with rather good sound and picture quality nonetheless, my favourite cover version of (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction.

a 'Rolling Stone' acoustic performance, its out of sync but its beautiful nonetheless. Finally for your listening pleasure another fine cover by Cat Power of 'Wonderwall'.

MP3: Cat Power-Wonderwall

Up All Night

2007-08-09T22:55:00.000+01:00

I'm still trying to thrash out some posts for some other new music which I want to give a good mention too and I wasn't entirely sure what to put on todays post until I just received an e-mail telling me to check out Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, who are by all means pretty big on the other side of the pond (given that they are appearing on chat shows and have just released their third album) but I hadn't honestly heard of, so I clicked on the freely available track 'Ah Mary' which I loved from the brief piano intro which for a milisecond sounds like the start of 'Rockin' All Over The World' and the general country-rock stylings of the band's sound (especially that guitar solo close to the end), needless to say I look forward to hearing more.

MP3: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals-Ah Mary
Buy: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals-This Is Somewhere
Buy:

Always use Mouthwash after brushing

2007-08-08T22:57:00.000+01:00

Its the next single from Kate Nash's surprisingly great 'Made of Bricks' album, I mean I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to get with the album but simply put if you take the best aspects of Lily Allen's music and stick them together with the most upbeat catchy moments from Regina Spacktor you may well end up with this album, although 'Foundations' is now beginning to grate with constant radio play, its an album well worth picking up (rather then downloading the odd track). Also thanks to some recent e-mails, I will aim to post about some new and lesser known stuff over the next few days (I just want to really do justice to some great stuff I've received, so keep on e-mailing).

MP3:Kate Nash-Pumpkin Song (great album track)
Buy: Kate Nash-Made Of Stone

Littlest Things that get you banned from the U.S...or not

2007-08-07T21:56:00.000+01:00

In another 'whats the deal?' post I'm really not sure about (even though it has really nothing to do with me in any remote sense as I don't live in the U.S) is the reports and backtracks surrounding the Lily Allen U.S airport saga (perhaps saga is a bit strong, maybe two part episode would be better) after all you would think that she either has a visa or not, apparently she said she doesn't and her manager is saying she does, who knows? Heres some spiky pop.

MP3s: Lily Allen-Alfie
Lily Allen-LDN(non-album version)
Lily Allen-Mix Tape part 2

Classic Live Video Day-Arcade Fire

2007-08-06T22:48:00.000+01:00

Back once again with the renegade feature, in other words here are some rather excellent live performances from one of the best bands on the block right now, namely Arcade Fire

next single, and a performance with typical passion

a modern classic performed with none other then a certain Mr Bowie

small stage, big sound

my favourite from 'Neon Bible'.

Well I wish I could say more but I'm feeling a bit off today, and besides I think the videos speak for themselves anyway.

MP3:Arcade Fire-Intervention

Album I'm looking forward too:limelight on blacklight

2007-08-03T10:27:00.000+01:00

So previously it was the upcoming New Pornographers album, but today it is the return and reinvention of Rilo Kiley, returning with from what I can tell a part funky rock ("The Moneymaker") and part folkish ("Silver Lining") so quite possibly something of a reinvention which is pretty refreshing with perhaps too many bands taking a "if it ain't broke..." sort of approach which can be good and even excellent depending on the band (although it could actually be broken and they just end up flogging a dead horse) but can get a little waring after a while, so this album could be a hit or it could fall, either way it should be pretty entertainining and hopefully a great album.

MP3s:Rilo Kiley-The Moneymaker
Rilo Kiley-The Frug

Pre-Order: Under The Blacklight (released 20th August)

I go out posting after midnight

2007-08-02T00:15:00.000+01:00

This post has nothing to do with the song in the title, it just seemed like a nice title in reference to this my second post-midnight blog post which will be brief, it is simply about a song which has been stuck in my head all day (and on my mp3 player) as I walked the streets of Brighton, namely it is the rather country rockin' 'Wild Mountain Nation' by Blitzen Trapper maybe its the oo-ooos, maybe its the well timed slide guitars but at the moment this song really sticks with me, and the album of the same name is a rather excellent piece of alt-country or folk-rock or whatever you want to call it (and you don't even have to take my word for it either). Anyway just thought I'd share that with ya'll.

MP3:Blitzen Trapper-Wild Mountain Nation
Buy:the album