Mozart Would Not Enjoy This

BANKS - You Should Know Where I'm Coming From - Goddess

2014-09-11T22:40:00.001+01:00

Although I've previously blogged about BANKS, her debut album has come out. And I couldn't just let that slip by could I?!

So I obviously pre-ordered the album, and am also going to see BANKS once again.

My beautiful Goddess

The first time I saw her live was at the HMV Institute in Digbeth back in March of this year with my sister - a gig I reviewed for Soundcheck that you can read here. She was simply breathtaking. There's no other way to describe her. How can someone so petite and fragile-looking produce such enormous sounds?

BANKS - HMV Institute - 21/03/14

It's something I really admire about her - she's probably not what you'd immediately expect. She's mysterious, graceful, majestic. She seems vulnerable and dainty, but with a core of steel. In her own words, "Fuckin' with a goddess and you get a little colder."

So when the album plopped onto my doormat yesterday, I was hugely excited. After listening to it a few times through, I can safely say that there's absolutely no filler. There are a couple of tracks that don't quite get me like the others do, but they're still great. Having actually heard most of it already, I thought this song in particular stood out. Maybe it's because I'm a pianist, and this song is heavily piano-based. But hey, this is just my opinion.

The first few piano chords set the tone immediately. They're sombre and wistful. The lyrics match the mood:

"What if I said I would break your heart
What if I said I had problems that made me mean
What if I knew I would just rip your mind apart
Would you let me out?"

The second verse is very similar, but has a slightly more definitive feel to it:

"Maybe you can stop before you start
Maybe you can see that I just may be too crazy to love
If I told you solitude fits me like a glove
Would you let me out?"

Up til now, it's been pretty melancholy, but it's the chorus that really gets you in the emotions. The change from the resigned tone in her voice in the verse to the huge, shocking, accosting hit here in the chorus is really quite special:

"You oughta know where I'm coming from
I was alone when I burnt my home
And all of the pieces were torn and thrown
You should know where I'm coming from"

She's just totally flawless - not only in terms of the pitching, but of the entire feel of the chorus too. The first couple of lines are punch-you-in-the-gut, completely upfront power and slightly pained. By the third line she's lessening the power, and by the last line she's back to the melancholy, resigned tone. It's beautiful.

"What if I said I was just too young
What if I said I was built on bricks of carelessness and crumbs
What if I said I'd be gone before I could come
Would you let me out?"

This verse is backed up by a string section - a perfect companion for the tone of this song. And then we're back to the chorus which is just even more stunning with the accompaniment of the strings.

The strings in the bridge section are slightly faster-moving than previously, which conveys this sense of stirring, as though something important is happening or being built up to:

"Your soul outweighs my own, my own
But you turn me away from my low blows
Boy, you shoulda known"

And then we're hit with the chorus for the final two times. Not only does it have the weeping strings over the top - there's also slow but powerful percussion behind these last two runs. It's all very emotional.

The entire album is most definitely worth listening to, but I found this song especially moving.

10 Songs or Albums That Got Me Through the End of My Degree

2014-07-18T17:20:00.000+01:00

I graduated yesterday.

OH MY GOD.

I bloody hate clichés, but I am actually in awe of how quickly the past three years have gone. Don't get me wrong, I'm not like crying over it - I think I'm ready to leave. But I can't help feeling nostalgic and cliché-y. It certainly has been the best time of my life. I've grown hugely as a person, and I can only thank the people I've met for that.

Here's me looking all smug in my grad gear

Before I start crying and you start vomming, let's crack on. The last six months have been THE MOST stressful. EVER. Not only was I scrabbling around trying to finish my own degree, but I was also responsible for a class of about 25 first years starting out on their own degree. Only one module, before you get the wrong idea, but by 'eck it's a tough one. Especially at 9am every single day. And it's not one where you can sit at the back and snooze, coz you're at the front. On top of this, there was a final project. I created a website aiming to help people find local musicians in their area. It's got interviews with the artists and a list of their gigs. You can check it out here.

These songs and albums kept me sane, inspired, calm, energised. Because music does have the power to do that (Cliché 5).

Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks

This song was on an advert around November time of last year. It was for some kind of Sky box equivalent, and it took me ages to find it. I'm still not bored of it, which is a miracle.

The singer, Ed Droste, has a very unique voice - it sounds soft and he sings quite quietly throughout, but there's a lot of power behind it, and it's pretty perfect in terms of pitching. The drums are really interesting as well, and I'm always a fan of any band who can integrate piano into their music without it sounding out of place. Kudos, fellas.

July Child - C O O L [Le Youth Cover]

After hearing the original, which in itself is samples previously unheard of Cassie Ventura's "Me & U", this cover then started appearing throughout the internet. It's very lovely.

It's a much more stripped back version of the cover, but it picks up towards the end and get a little more jazzy (not actual jazz though). They've got a nice vibe on this track, but unfortunately I couldn't find anything else I like on their page as much. OH and it's a free download from Soundcloud!

MISUN - Travel With Me

I hate to say it fellas, but this is another Made In Chelsea find. Actually, I don't hate to say it - the music on there is just amazing! All thanks to Andrea Madden; if you're interested, her Twitter is @missyamkm.

This track has what is sometimes call an Arch form. What I mean by this is that, instead of going 'verse - bridge - chorus - verse - bridge - chorus - middle 8 - chorus' as a lot of songs do, this one is in a different way. It goes 'part A - part A - part B - part B - middle 8 - part B - part B - part A - end'. A typical Arch form goes ABCBA, so this one is only lightly different. I hope you're not yawning.

What I really love about this song is the lyrics, and also the kind of Oriental thing it's got going on. The lyrics are wistful and sad:

Part A
"We were so close, whatever happened?
If you give up, nothing will happen
People will change, let's lie to ourselves
This song will keep playing and I will be changing"

Part B
"Well, you travelled with me close to your chest
Breaking the boundaries, often there is no rest
Travel with me, you were put to the test
Come on, get out of this mess"

Now, I don't entirely get what I've called Part B, but once you get to the end of the song and you're back on the last Part A, she just sings it so emotionally and if you can relate to the lyrics, that bit might really getcha.

This was a real earworm, I had it on repeat.

BANKS - My playlist

I've blogged about BANKS before, so I won't go into too much detail. But her calm overtones and aggressive undertones were the perfect combination to get me through this stressful time. Check out my faves of hers:

Bombay Bicycle Club - Luna

You've almost definitely heard this before, but the happy, upbeat nature of this song pulled me out of countless funks. It's fantastic!

Paolo Nutini - Candy

Although I am a HUGE Paolo fan, there are only a few songs that I truly love of his. 'New Shoes', 'Alloway Grove' and 'Coming Up Easy' are AMAZING. But 'Pencil Full of Lead' and others like that I just can't get excited about. After being introduced to this song for the first time, I couldn't get it out my head. Despite the obvious sexual lyrics, I think it's really lovely and has an incredibly calming backdrop.

Muse

This is another playlist I made. It's made up of Muse songs (obviously) that are really good when you need something thrashy in your ears but that still has a good melody to it.

The Feeling - Sewn

I love me a bit of Keane, and I think that the end of 'We Might As Well Be Strangers' is absolutely beautiful. So when I tweeted about this back in April, the fellas in the band Still In Motion [@STILLinMOTIONuk] reminded me of this fabulous track. It starts off nice and soft and chilled as you like, but slowly builds up to this huge amazing firework at the end. It's also got a weird as feck video.

HAIM - If I Could Change Your Mind

Again, I've blogged about them before, but this song from debut 'Days Are Gone' was just so chirpy and happy, and could immediately put me in a good mood.

Coldplay - Magic

And finally. We come to possibly my favourite band [a hard thing to say]. After seeing them on their 2012 tour (the one with the wristbands), I didn't know how they could possibly top their efforts.

So when I first heard 'Midnight', I was hugely disappointed. To be fair, I was listening to it on crappy laptop speakers, but I was still just like WHAT ON EARTH AM I HEARING. Remembering that I disliked a lot of Mylo Xyloto when I first heard it, I gave it a couple of weeks then listened again on my headphones. AND WOW. Brilliant. Yes, it's not what you're used to with Coldplay, but it's beautiful. And they use a LASER HARP FOR GOD'S SAKE.

'Magic' is another single from album 'Ghost Stories', and I loved it instantly. The lyrics are lovely:

"Call it magic
Call it true
Call it magic
When I'm with you

And I just got broken
Broken into two
Still, I call it magic
When I'm next to you

And I don't, and I don't and I don't, and I don't
No, I don't - it's true
I don't, no, I don't, no, I don't, no, I don't want anybody else but you

Call it magic
Cut me into two
And with all your magic
I disappear from view

And I can't get over
Can't get over you
Still I call it magic
You're such a precious jewel

Wanna fall
I fall so far
I wanna fall
I fall so hard

And I call it magic
And I call it true
I call it magic

And if you were to ask me
After all that we've been through
Still believe in magic?
Oh yes I do
Oh yes I do
Yes I do
Oh yes I do
Of course I do"

Although Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow have now broken up, I think this song is a lovely message to say that, although they've been through some crap, he still thinks she's great. And he still has hope for the future. Aww.

George Ezra - Budapest - Did You Hear The Rain? EP

2014-03-09T22:12:00.001+00:00

I never know what to do when I'm having my hair cut at the hairdressers and they start massaging my head. If you close your eyes then it looks like you're enjoying it too much. But if you keep your eyes open then it looks like you're hating it. AND you might accidentally make uncomfortable eye contact with the hairdresser. NOBODY wants that.

Luckily for me yesterday, they had a little screen over the tap things so that you actually have something to look at, thus avoiding this awful dilemma. It plays through various music videos and occasional fashion clips. After a remix of Elton John (which was hilarious), came George Ezra.

It was such a lovely song, and it's been stuck in my head since yesterday at around 3pm.

Courtesy of the George Ezra Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/georgeezramusic/photos/a.334867766578479.11968514.334867149911874/521947177870536/?type=1&theater

The song starts off with this guitar riff that continues throughout, which KIND of has an American Country feel to it. The emphasis in the bars is on beats 1&4, giving it a feeling of going somewhere, like a driving sound. The guitar has a beautiful sound as well - I am reliably informed that it is a Gretsch hollow body electric guitar. So there you go.

The lyrics are as such:

"My house in Budapest
My hidden treasure chest,
Golden grand piano
My beautiful Castillo

For you
You
I’d leave it all"

George has got a surprisingly rich, deep voice for a 20-year-old. It's a lovely sound, and he's got a great range and all. How sweet are these lyrics as well?! What I would do for a golden grand piano. If one even exists. The guitar riff in the background also adds to the driving sound, like it's building up layers to the song:

"My acres of a land
I have achieved
It may be hard for you to,
Stop and believe

But for you
You
I’d leave it all"

I'm not really one for slushy romantic stuff, so find this slightly hard to believe. But it sounds nice anyway. Go on, George:

Chorus

"Give me one good reason
Why I should never make a change
And baby if you hold me
Then all of this will go away"

His tone is utterly beautiful in the chorus, and it's got a really addictive melody, great to hum along to. I think, anyway:

"My many artefacts
The list goes on
If you just say the words
I’ll up and run

Oh, to you
You
I’d leave it all

Chorus"

We're then given a little middle 8, an instrumental to break things up. And then it gets deep:

"My friends and family
They don’t understand
They fear they’d lose so much
If you took my hand

But, for you
You,
I’d lose it all"

It's then the chorus twice over ith added "Awoo"s, which builds it up a bit more and adds texture, until we get a repeat of the first chorus:

"My house in Budapest
My hidden treasure chest,
Golden grand piano
My beautiful castillo

You
You
I’d leave it all"
Lovely!

Youtube:

Spotify:

Late Night Chillin'... London Grammar

2014-01-11T23:51:00.000+00:00

I don't really like to blog twice about the same artist, but... WHAT THE HECK, THEY'RE TOO DARN GOOD.

These two songs are covers - "In For The Kill" by La Roux, and "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak.

Not much needs to be said about these, just have a listen.

La Roux - In For The Kill:

Chris Isaak - Wicked Game:

BANKS - Change - London EP [SBTV Performance]

2014-01-07T23:34:00.003+00:00

OK a quick apology for not posting in about 3 months, and on we go.

The first song by BANKS I ever heard was "Work" with Lil Silva. It's SUCH a good song. In fact, click here to listen and see how good it is. Please. You'll be doing yourself a big ole favour. [Courtesy of James Chapman.]

BANKS has been a comparatively slow riser to fame. Over the course of 2013, she got herself out there. It's been a relatively slow process compared to some people who seem to become "it" overnight, but her first single release, a Zane Lowe radio play and being a support act for The Weeknd hasn't done her any harm. In fact, she's listed on the BBC's Sound of 2014 poll... That's pretty damn good, I'd say.

[Update 8/1/14: It's been announced today that she came 3rd... YES BANKS!!!]

Courtesy of: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=599685910069092&set=pb.454463311258020.-2207520000.1389135831.&type=3&theater

This particular performance is totally different to "Work". It's incredibly emotional, very intense and you're totally drawn in. This is the thing about doing stuff live instead of a recording studio, you get the emotions of the song much more strongly. It also shows how versatile her voice can be.

She's singing of a relationship where it's pretty emotionally abusive. e's horrible to her, then she tries to leave him, but he promises he'll change if only she'll stay with him... Will he ever change? No he most certainly will not. Will the emotional abuse continue? Yes it almost definitely will.

Here are the lyrics:

"Always cold

While you'd self-incriminate

By avoiding all my questions

And calling me an instigator

Cut me down

Always calling me unstable

You so easily can make me cry

Just cause you are in a mood

And you'd say"

She's got a really beautiful and unique voice. The vibrato (wobbly bit) in her voice is perfectly controlled, something not many people can actually do well. A lot of people would also struggle just to sing without words, as she effortlessly does:

"Call me out

You would say I need attention

Just because I put on make-up

To ironically look good for you"

[What a good line!]

"Cut me to pieces

While you watched me disintegrate

Because you like to tell me how you hate

All the ways I'm not enough for you

Then you'd say"

[Chorus]

Baby don't go

I didn't know

I'll change I swear, I'll change I swear

Baby don't go

I'll make you wait

I promise I'll be better

All of these things they will..."

She's quite hypnotic to watch as well whilst she's singing.

"Never guilty

Say it ain't your fault

Because you had an emotionally abusive daddy

And cause of this you don't know how to act

Poor poor baby

Say you can't help the fact that you're so crazy

And you're so good at making me feel guilty

For trying to walk away

'Cause I'm tired of being mad

Then you'd say

[Chorus]x2"

The vocals get stronger with the second chorus and more powerful by slowly getting louder. Then she sings without words again, which is really intense and I find it quite impressive as well.

Please let me know what you think of this one by commenting at the bottom!

Youtube:

If you like this, check out "Warm Water", another of hers that I like and produced by Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs:

Remember Seasfire that I wrote about a while ago? They did a cover of this, and it's SMASHING:

Sia, The Weeknd & Diplo - Elastic Heart (The Hunger Games Soundtrack)

2013-10-07T14:15:00.000+01:00

I was a bit late to the Hunger Games thing. I only watched the first one this last summer, and I haven't even read any of the books yet. I will though. Don't you worry.

The much-anticipated second film of The Hunger Games trilogy, "Catching Fire", is due to appear in cinemas next month. The soundtrack seems to be slowly appearing on the internet and radio, with Coldplay epic "Atlas" being released online about a month ago. Christina Aguilera has also contributed something (which I'm not a huge fan of).

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/laubarnes/4180812856/

Coldplay - "Atlas"

"Elastic Heart" starts off by giving me the distinct that this track was ripped straight off "Shock Value II" by Timbaland, with it's heavy bass and underlying vocal rhythms.

Sia continues to amaze and inspire me. Her vocals are beautiful, and she has the power to convey such emotion with her performances. Not just live performances, but when recording you can just absolutely feel the emotion coming out of her. It's definitely not just her heart that's elastic, but her vocals too... Ha ha... *ahem*.

"And another one bites the dust
But why can I not conquer love?
And I might’ve got to be with one
I learned to fight this war without weapons

And I want it and I want it, it burns
But there was so many red flags
Now another one bites the dust
And let’s be clear, I trust no-one"

Quite brutally honest lyrics really. She goes on to the bridge:

"You did not break me
I’m still fighting for peace"

Let's be honest, at the end of most relationships, the people involved are always wanting to win against the other person, to not let them see how devastated they really are etc:

"Well, I’ve got a thick skin and an elastic heart
But your blade it might be too sharp
I’m like a rubber band, until you pull too hard
But I may snap and I move close

But you won’t see me move no more
‘Cause I’ve got an elastic heart"

It's a really fitting metaphor for what she's talking about, and she explains it pretty clearly here, I'd say.

The rhythm of this song is what I think gets me the most, especially the vocal rhythm of the chorus. It fits in well with the rhythm of the percussionIt's just so good!

The Weeknd brings the song an RnB edge that it was kind of missing before.

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourekillingmesmalls/7383757614/

"And now I stay up through the night

Let’s be clear, won’t close my eyes
And I know that I can’t survive
I walked too far to save my life

And I want it, I want my life so bad
I’m doing everything I can
Then another one bites the dust
It’s hard to lose a chosen one"

Their voices complement each really well, especially in the bridge: "You did not break me/I’m still fighting for peace".

You can definitely hear Diplo (he of Major Lazer) in the production, with the slightly trap-ish bassline and percussion.

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/caesarsebastian/1423683283/

There's then a middle 8 in which The Weeknd and Sia's voices are basically overlapping, there's no lyrics or anything. Just a lovely sound!

The last two choruses are so full, really rich in texture. GREAT TRACK.

Youtube:

Soundcloud:

Spotify:

V V Brown - Samson - Samson & Delilah

2013-09-30T02:47:00.000+01:00

So I just completed a month long spate of work experience at GLAMOUR.com, the sister website to the magazine (obv). Whilst there, I did quite a few interesting and fun things, including interviewing Mollie King of The Saturdays (who was just SO nice!!!). I also went to an album/film launch of V V Brown's...

Courtesy of: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153032340185436&set=pb.61524210435.-2207520000.1380403616.&type=3&theater

V V is a singer from Northampton, whose previous album was mainly upbeat pop music, has gone through (in her own words) a "spiritual transformation", and through this has produced an intense album with a kind of beautiful grace about it. As you can probably tell from the album title, she draws her inspiration from the biblical story of the guy whose hair made him strong, and the mean girl who cut it off and made him weak. V V didn't stop at making an album though; she also got together with the director of some of her music videos, Jessica Hughes, and created a short film - an adaptation of the story, with a couple of the album's songs serving as the background music to the it. She stars as a Geisha in the film for a couple of minutes.

The song has a kind of tribal drum beat to begin with, and there's a hint of synths. She's got a really beautiful tone to her voice; really rich and soulful. The chorus has quite a tribal feel to it as well, which could be to do with her spiritual transformation as there are links between old tribes and spiritualism - fans of Pocahontas know what I'm talking about.

"Samson, I told you
To stay far away and just slick your body right
Delilah, she tricked him
And took all his strength and turned him into the light
He's lost now, so lost now
Everything he stood for has come into the light

Chorus
Oh my God, what I'd give if I just had enough (just had enough)
Hold her tight, grab a sword, I'll get you
Oh my God, what I'd give if I just had enough (just had enough)
What you waiting for? What you waiting for? What you waiting for?
Get up and rise!"

The harmonies are fantastic, and rather sinister. It's a brilliant sound, and it's made even better by the fact that you can really feel her emotion coming through:

"Build up your power
And pull down those buildings and make your body right
Delilah, she cut off your hair
But it's nothing your gaining
You're fighting light, fighting light, fight light"

The chorus then follows this again, which is in turn followed by the middle 8:

"You've been deceived by the one who's the love of your life
And it has changed, now you're strong so just get up and rise"

The chorus rounds up the song after this. I haven't heard all that much of her earlier stuff, but in all honesty I'm perfectly content with this album, and don't feel the need to listen to her debut album. That might be bad journalism but... whatcha gonna do!

Or you can download it for free from her website: http://www.vvbrown.com/ Enjoy :)

Summer Songs

2013-09-09T19:30:00.000+01:00

This post will be dedicated to songs that I really wanted to write and post about over the summer, but didn't. Generally because I didn't have time, and by the time I DID have time, the moment had gone and it was too late. Sob.

A nice scenic picture what I took

Biffy Clyro - Opposite

So. As you may know if you scrolled down a bit before reading this, I did a week-long patch of work experience at NME magazine [read about it here]. During that time, we were asked to write reviews of particular songs. We were given a list of 6 and were told to do no more than 3. One of them was this song, and I loved it so much that I didn't write about it for NME, and instead wanted to write about for this. But I didn't have time blah blah. Anyway, here it is:

I just love how chilled out it is. The chorus is stunning, with beautiful harmonies. It's really emotional and moving. Check out the lyrics as well, he's talking about how two people in a relationship have come to realise that the time has come for them to go their separate ways. Sad.

Peace - 1998 [Delicious]

Peace are one of those bands where I just don't understand why people have a problem with them or don't like them. [That's a joke by the way, everyone's obviously entitled to their own opinion.] They released their debut album this year which has done phenomenally, had a tour and played about a million music festivals this summer. So things are going pretty well for them.

It's so Pink Floyd-y it's unreal. But it's still somehow really original. I don't know what else to say. Just fucking brilliant really.

P.S Don't be put off by the fact it's ten minutes long. You won't even realise, and it'll get to the end of the song and you'll feel emotionally exhausted by how fabulous it is.

Foals - My Number

Now this is just a great track, and it would have gone SO well on this blog. Sigh.

I LOVED Cassius, but wasn't fussed by the rest of the album, Antidotes. But the new album, Holy Fire, seems to be pretty banging, from what I've listened to. ESPECIALLY this track.

It's got this great hooky little riff throughout, and it's just nice and light, with a really open sound. It's fun, but still a classy piece of work.

Temples - Colours To Life

This is another track that was on the NME list, and I did use it for the reviews. I probably wouldn't have written an entire blog about it, but it fits in well with this post.

It's massively psychedelic rock, and you could well imagine your hippy parents smoking some ganj with this in the background. Well I can anyway. Fronted by Noel Fielding's long-lost brother [that joke never gets old], Temples have big things to come, methinks.

Mount Kimbie - Before I Move Off

In my crazy musical fortnight posts, I also talked about going to swanky parties, courtesy of You Need To Hear This (part of VICE) and Stereofox [read about it here]. At the second of these events, there was a secret special guest that was playing, which turned out to be Mount Kimbie. Not a general listener of theirs, I went in with open ears, and rather enjoyed it. It wasn't ground-breaking for me or anything, but I did really enjoy this track.

It's quite abstract, but it's got a good beat and I like the rhythm.

Ellie Goulding - In My City

I deliberately didn't write a post about this song, since I've got quite a bit about Ellie on here already. This song was apparently on her album Halcyon, which I bought, and it wasn't on there... Hmm.

I love the chorus, and it's just a great mix of electronica and pop with a hint of dub. Nice summer listening!

Hunting Grounds - Flaws

It was nice to finally once again listen to some good old-fashioned indie-rock. My music tastes of late have generally been mainly electronically influenced, so yeah - nice to go back to it.

Good song. There's nothing completely different that stands it apart from any crowds, but it is nice to just hear something that doesn't have any kind of electronic stuff in it.

Young The Giant - Apartment

This guy has just got an absolutely beautiful voice. It's got quite a unique tone, which is very pleasing to the ear. I'm also pretty sure this song was on an advert, but I can't remember which one it was on. Probs Ikea or sumin.

It's lovely and chilled out, but not bland. It's got something about it.

La La La - Naughty Boy ft. Sam Smith

This is the Naughty Boy of Emeli Sandé fame, and Sam Smith of Disclosure's Latch. Put them together and what have you got? Bibbity bobbi- jokin. A great song is what you've got.

I just think that Sam Smith has got such a beautiful voice. His vocal abilities are incredible, and he can convey such a lot of emotion through his vocals. There's great production by Naughty Boy as well, although his name means that I struggle to take him seriously...

Jamie Cullum - Pure Imagination

Come on, who doesn't love a bit of Jamie Cullum?! And if not, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the very least?! I've loved this song since I heard Gene Wilder's version on the original film adaptation as a child. I thought it was beautiful, but mysterious. Jamie's version was heard by millions of people when it was used over the top of the ending montage after Andy Murray's Wimbledon victory.

Jamie has done quite a few cover versions of different songs, notably Rihanna's "Please Don't Stop The Music", Pharrel's "Frontin'", and "Not While I'm Around" from musical Sweeney Todd, to name but a few. In each one, he absolutely and completely makes it his own. Fantastic.

AlunaGeorge - Your Drums, Your Love - Body Music

2013-07-11T00:26:00.002+01:00

As you can probably guess, AlunaGeorge is made up of a girl named Aluna and a boy called George. Ms. Francis and Mr. Reid met over MySpace in roughly 2009 after he remixed Aluna's band My Toys Like Me's track "Sweetheart".

This song is the first song they ever released together, and, oddly, the one I heard most recently of theirs. I was skimming through their Spotify profile and thought, hmm, haven't heard that one before. I must have missed it when I listened to "Attracting Flies" [their most recently released track] and "You Know You Like It", which have great remixes by Bauuer and Bondax respectively.

I first heard of them after listening to their collaboration with Rustie on "After Light", and then obviously on the massive banger with Disclosure, "White Noise", which will go down in history as an absolutely phenomenal track. What I really like about AlunaGeorge is that their music can get me pumped up when I'm about to go out or when I am out, but also when I'm chillin in my slobby clothes the next day. It's good music for most occasions. Probably not a funeral though.

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nrk-p3/9194427575/

It's mainly electronic effects and things before things kick off. That part is in a different key to the rest of the song, which I like because it does lead up to the song nicely, but also keeps a sense of mystery - you're not dropped straight in it. When the song does start properly, there are distorted vocals singing "your drums/we're drumming/your drums" over and over, it sounds as though the vocal track has been slowed down. It's got a fantastic beat and the bass is gooood.

I recently wrote a blog about London Grammar's "Metal and Dust" in which I referred to Aluna's vocals, but just to recap: they're very unlike most vocalists at the moment. It's child-like and sweet, and her accent comes through in a refreshing, colloquial kinda way, but underneath that there's a steeliness, a kind of "don't fuck with me" kind of thing, which I really like about her:

"You can't say that I'm going nowhere

'Cause you don't know where I'm coming from

And you can't say that I'm going nowhere
When I have been trying to reach you for so long"

There's then another line of "your drums/we're drumming/your drums" before the next verse:

"Friends say I've got something wrong,
'Cause I've been trying to reach you for so long
For so long, I've tried
To reach you baby, don't you know that"

Ahh, the age-old turmoil - someone is obsessed with someone else, and their friends are convinced it'll never happen/isn't a good idea/won't work out. Who hasn't been there?

The harmonies just sound so perfect and natural, like she's playing with them there and then on the day of recording, rather than doing what most recording artists do and work them out beforehand. Well, most recording "artists" get someone else to write them, but that's a different argument. This builds up to the chorus:

"I've been treading water for your love,
Whether I sink or swim, it's you I'm thinking of
I've been treading water for your love,
As my light grows dim maybe I'm not strong enough boy"

For me, this chorus absolutely makes this song. I can't get it out of my head. It's just SO GOOD. It's beautifully written, everything complements each other (yes, there are two spellings and meanings to the word "compliments") and I can't get over it. I think it'll be stuck there for a while. It really brings out how graceful Aluna's vocals really are.

But let's not forget the lesser-spotted George! His production is just so slick, I think it's what made "White Noise" so successful to be honest, none of Disclosure's other tracks have got the edge that the one has. It's as though he's been a professional for 50 years and has a wealth of experience doing work for loads of artists. Maybe I'm predicting the future here...

There's then a couple more lines of "your drums/we're drumming/your drums" before the next verse and a half:

"I can't say where I'm going, nowhere
This feeling goes on and on
I can't say that I'm going somewhere
When I've been failing to reach you for so long

For so long, I've tried
To reach you baby, don't you know that"

We're then back to the lovely chorus. I just think it's such a fantastic way to describe what's going on in this song: "I've been treading water for your love/Whether I sink or swim, it's you I'm thinking of". It's just perfect, and it gets better every time I hear it.

The middle 8 of the song is a nice way to break things up:

"Maybe all along (all along)

I've been holding on (holding on)
To the promise that you need some time

Making everything into a story
Making sure I never get to feel happy
Taking everything you do my own way
Thinking that you're begging me please"

Then the chorus again before the start plays us out. Great song!

A Crazy Musical Fortnight - Part 4 - My Weekend at Manchester's Parklife Weekender

2013-06-30T20:04:00.000+01:00

This was only the second music festival I've ever been to. I know, shocking. Parklife takes place in Manchester once a year, normally within the first fortnight of June and this year was situated at Heaton Park. After being thoroughly let down by Beach Break (they moved to Newquay and had a terrible line up), we started looking around for others we could go to. After seeing Chase & Status at the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, it only seemed right that we should go to the Warehouse Project's own music festival.

Taken at the end of Saturday

Saturday's timings

The weather was ridiculously good. Hardly any clouds whatsoever, and flippin boiling. Which was good in some cases, but we had expected rain and wind and dressed accordingly. Getting into the park was badly organised as they didn't have very many of the silver barriers, but never mind. The first thing I saw was the latter half of Delphic's set:

I'm a big fan of these guys so was slightly gutted we couldn't see the whole set. After Delphic were The Temper Trap who blew me away! They were SO GOOD. I was a big fan of their debut album "Conditions", but didn't really hear that much of the self-titled follow up. The set was brilliant.

I also took a video that heavily features mis amigos:

After that we went on a wander and saw various people that I can't really remember the names of, not stopping long in each. Then we went back to the 10 Years Of Metropoolis stage for Friction and then Sub Focus, who was the highlight of the whole weekend. He was just so so good!

On Sunday we got there pretty late which was a bit annoying, since a lot of what we wanted to see had been before then. But ah well. When we got there we had been aiming to see someone else, but got caught by Iggy Azalea who was brilliant. Her bum is HUGE. I also really like her hair. And she's a good performer too:

We then saw Danny Brown who was pretty good but his songs were quite samey after a while. Hudson Mohawke then came on, and since he's half of TNGHT, I was hoping he would play some stuff like that. But he didn't. The next performer we saw was David Rodigan MBE. Having not heard anything about him except told that he is reggae, I was intrigued but not overly excited. Well how WRONG I WAS. He was incredible! Considering he's 62, he's doing rather well for himself. Although not a massive reggae listener, I enjoyed the whole set. He also played some trap and other genres, but tied them in well to the rest of his set.

This video was taken by my good friend Mr. James Harris:

After Rodders was Eats Everything back to back with Justin Martin. I wanted to see Everything Everything who were on at the same time, but I just love his track "Ruff Stuff" and his version of "Trap Shit":

So I was willing to go for it, seeing as Julio Bashmore was in the same tent just after them. It was a shame though, coz I was thoroughly bored right the way through! Which meant I was tired and achey by the time Julio came on. It all got too much after about half an hour, it was SO HOT and pushy that I had to get out! But I heard "Au Seve" from the outside so I didn't miss out on that at least! I then went and sat by the big wheel and watched the Example's set, who was very good:

So I missed out on quite a few people that I wanted to see, but still had a fantastic time. It's given me a flavour of what to expect next year and to prepare myself for that! :)

A Crazy Musical Fortnight - Part 3 - My Week at NME

2013-06-29T22:38:00.001+01:00

So THEN I travelled back down to London for my NME work placement on the Sunday of getting back from Muse.

I stayed with my lovely friend Anna in West Norwood, so it took roughly an hour to get there every day, which includes walking to and from stations so that's not bad at all! I always find it fascinating, working out how to get from one place to another in London. It's all just so clever! So every day I would get into the London Bridge overground station, next to The Shard:

And I would walk to the Blue Fin Building in which NME is based. Here's a view from the top of the building:

On Monday we were given a tour of all the important bits of the building that we'd need to know. Karen Walter is the Editor's PA, and was basically in charge of us whilst we were there. She gave us two tasks to complete by the end of the week; one was to go through last week's edition and analyse it by saying what we liked and didn't like about it. The other was to pick three of the six songs we were given and write up a review of them in 100 words... As you can tell from reading my blog, you may realise this was quite difficult for me to do! Anyway, the first day they didn't really need us to do that much, so we were mainly looking for news stories that the news writers may not have picked up on and that may be of interest to the news team, and send them to Jenny Stevens, who is the Deputy News Editor at NME.

Tuesday morning, Lucy Jones who is the Deputy Editor, came over and said they were looking to write an article on 60 interesting, lesser-known facts about Kanye West. As there were four people doing work experience in total, including me, three of us were given the task of finding the facts. We split it 20 each, so it wasn't so intense. That pretty much took up all of Tuesday and some of Wednesday.

Wednesday I actually found something useful for the news team! Huzzah! They wrote it up and published it here: http://www.nme.com/news/the-doors/70684. I also took the rest of the day to do the tasks that Karen set us to do. Here are my reviews below:

NME short reviews

Glasvegas – “If”

I’m gonna be honest and straight with you here – I’ve never been a massive fan of Glasvegas. Which is odd, as this genre is right up my street. I don’t know what it is though, I’ve always found them just a bit… well, boring. This is one of their better songs that I’ve listened to, it’s got a marching-drum beat underneath which is pretty interesting, and the guitar work is good as well. But the dreary melody just does nothing for me and the song doesn’t really go anywhere… Yawn.

90 words.

Temples – “Colour To Life”

If it’s sunny where you are, then put your speakers outside, get yourself a nice drink, make sure you’ve got some shorts on and put this song on. It’s just the perfect combination. If it’s not sunny where you are, don’t let that deter you. Search for some pictures of a beach and you can listen to it with your headphones and your dressing gown on. It’s psychedelic rock, perfect for the coming months. The video is exactly what you’d expect, a kaleidoscope background with the spaced-out band members playing on sleepily in the foreground, fronted by Noel Fielding’s long-lost twin brother, James Bagshaw.

104 words.

Peace – “Lovesick”

I am a huge fan of this Brummy band – their album “In Love” that this song is on is probably my favourite album so far this year. If you like mature riffs mixed with stroppy-teenager vocals and a general fun-loving feeling, then you’ll love this. It’s just so easy to listen to. It’s no intellectual masterpiece lyrically, the words aren’t particularly strenuous or difficult to follow, but the playing of the other instruments just gives Peace an edge in my opinion. This is another song that will be a great summer track, and will, I think, sound fantastic at festivals.

100 words.

I also transcribed an interview with Sam Halliday of Two Door Cinema Club on his opinion of bands who charge fans money to meet and greet them for David Renshaw, a news reporter. After that, I was finding around 15 bands that people "must see at festivals this summer" for Lucy Jones to add to the ones that were already there - published here: http://www.nme.com/photos/50-awesome-bands-to-see-at-festivals-in-2013/305308/1/1

Thursday I was transcribing an interview with Tom Meighan of Kasabian for Kevin EG Perry, Assistant Editor, on what it means to be a mod (he said he's the epitome of one), how he feels about The Who (big fan) and what bands he likes at the moment (Deap Vally). I was then asked by Jenny Stevens to write up a news story about Paul McCartney!!! Yeah, it doesn't have my name on it but I know I wrote the foundations of it! http://www.nme.com/news/paul-mccartney/70713 We had all been asked by Kevin to think of songs that would be good to listen to in the car on the way to a music festival and to write a little caption for each, which was fun! That can be found here: http://www.nme.com/photos/the-50-best-festival-road-trip-songs/309307/1/1

Friday there wasn't too much to do again, so we were scouring the internet for more news stories. We also got feedback on our reviews. My feedback was given by Rhian Daly who was very very nice! She said she liked my writing but I needed to faff about less and make it more third person, which I can understand.

I had such a brilliant time at NME, it's just the sort of place I would love to work at when I leave uni. The experience has only emphasised my want to do music journalism as a career, and how doable it actually is.

Plus they gave me a t shirt and it is sick.

A Crazy Musical Fortnight - Part 2 - A Night With Muse

2013-06-24T17:46:00.000+01:00

Saturday the 1st of June, I saw Muse at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. They were INCREDIBLE. My write up of it for Stereoboard can be found here, but the unabridged, full fledged version is below.

This band have been on my top-ten-bands-to-see-before-I-die list for rather a while. So when I opened up that envelope with the ticket confirmation email in from my parents at Christmas, I was suitably ecstatic. Regardless of whether you’re a Muse fan or not, you can’t watch a video of them at Glasto or similar doing their thang and not want to be there!

It was a suitably lovely day in terms of weather as well, and that is kind of what makes or breaks a stadium gig in my opinion. The support acts were Bastille and Dizzee Rascal. I’m not a massive fan of Bastille, but went in with an open mind. They were surprisingly good, so fair play to you guys! They played new single “Laura Palmer” really well, and “Flaws” sounded good too. I slightly questioned the judgement of whoever though that booking Dizzee would be a good idea. Don’t get me wrong, I think he's a great performer, but I didn’t know whether it would then compliment Muse. However, I really enjoyed it and he got the crowd going really well. The highlight of his performance was either “Holiday” or seeing the expressions on parents and children’s faces during “Bassline Junkie”.

The staging was really cool. There were screens at the side of the stage and also at the back. There were also these strange spikey things hanging over the unused seats, covered in material that was vaguely reminiscent of those morph suits in the video for “Supermassive Black Hole”. They had lights on them, and throughout the show these lit up to co-ordinate with the lights on stage. There were also 4 big massive white blobs on unused seats, and these kind of glowed from the inside, also co-ordinating with the colours on stage at that time. Tucked behind the stage to the right hand side was a giant inflated light bulb too. Curious.

There was then a sudden burst of sound, which was “The 2nd Law: Unsustainable”, and on the screen was a woman’s face, narrating the first verse of it. This then launched into “Supremacy” with an extended intro, which set off the concert nicely.

Arguably one of their best songs, “Supermassive Black Hole” was up next. It’s just one of those ones you can’t sit still to! The bass and drums sounded fantastic through the immense speakers, and had everyone stomping and clapping. They then launched into Panic Station, which I hadn’t properly heard before but now LOVE. It’s not their usual style, but it’s a good song nonetheless. On-screen behind the band were various animated versions of famous people, including Barack Obama in a States flag suit, David Cameron with his always-austere face and Paul McCartney looking grey and a bit ill actually. Anyway, these little animated people were dancing along behind Muse, and it was all rather hilarious! This song kind of reminded me of Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer”.

They then played “Bliss” which was another foot stomper with a really great drum beat, and that arpeggic thing they got going on in the background really gets your adrenalin going. “Resistance” was next, and it actually reminded me a bit of that tune they used to play in the old Mario game. Or was it Tetris? But yeah, the bridge of this is just superb, & they performed it with suitable vigour. Everyone sang along with the “It could be wrong, could be wrong” bit.

The screen then changed to this guy's face on it. Like, it was massive. At the start of the song "Animals", it was just there, but he slowly started to smile, and I thihnk it was in slow-mo too. Really sinister. After a while it then changed to him leading a boardroom full of people having a meeting about something. After the meeting, they all start doing the evil laugh, it had a massively sinister feel to it as well. After that guitar scriggle in the middle, I was thoroughly shocked as I had never seen anything like this before: the actor playing this terrifying guy then came onto the stage! He was followed by a camera that was put straight on the screen, whilst he was angrily trying to get away from it. It was insane! I've never known that happen before, it was really theatrical. At the point in the song where all the shouting occurs over the music, money confetti shot out of guns over the audience, as well as scary man throwing it out at them. As he got to the B-Stage, the camera on the screen changed to one that was somehow attached to the stage. It was on a kind of stand that came over the top, and must have been controlled remotely, but it gave a fantastic effect. At the end of the song, the businessman collapses on the stage (presumably due to a heart attack), all the while still clutching the money. The effect of the camera was great at this point because you really felt like you were on stage with him.

At the time I didn't quite understand what was happening with all of that, but listening back to the song, I get it now! When the song was fading out, the bassist, Chris Wolstenholme, came on stage with a harmonica, stood over the businessman and played "Man With the Harmonica", which is from the Western film "Once Upon a Time In the West". It then leads into "Knights of Cydonia", what a great move! It fitted perfectly! And because it fitted so well and (to me, at least) was so unexpected, it made it just too hard to stay sat down. Throughout the concert, I'd watched other people in seats like me try and dance and stand up, and be told by staff to stay seated. I can understand this, I mean you don't wanna piss off the people who don't want to stand. But I literally just couldn't help myself! It was so punchy, absolutely fantastic! The people around us eventually stood up too, and by the end everyone was punching the air on "No-one's going to take me alive" and were jumping around on the guitar solo.

This is a good example of what it was like.

They then did a cover of "Dracula Mountain" by Lightning Bolt, which in all honesty I can't remember that well. I think it was a good filler, but listening to the original now... Well I wouldn't listen to it again let's just say. It fit in well the pace of the concert though. They then played "United State of Eurasia", so it was nice to cool things down a bit after that - even if it was only briefly before the end of the song kicked in. They went through "Dead Star" and something they do called "Monty Jam", which is basically Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard jamming away. Bellamy came in on the piano and went into "Feeling Good". The Muse cover of this is definitely the best I've ever heard, and will always be my favourite. It was brilliant; it lived up to how I wanted it to be and more! Such a great version of this track. They went through "Follow Me" and "Liquid State", that weren't particularly memorable again.

The next song was "Madness", and contained something else I had never seen: the camera zoomed in on Bellamy's face to show that he was wearing glasses, and somehow they were showing a word from the song every so often - but then changing to a different word. Like LCD glasses? It was insane. The other thing that blew my mind about this song in particular was an instrument that Chris Wolstenholme was playing during this song. It was double-guitar shaped, and he wore it over his shoulder, and it had strings, it had some kind of synth board on it [http://muse.mu/images,the-o2-london-26th-27th-october-2012_164.htm?photo=4072] which I have never seen before.

"Time is Running Out" began with "House of the Rising Sun", which worked really well and fit in. Now, at some point during the conert, there was another businessperson, but this time was a woman. She also had a bit of a storyline, she was working hard throughout her part and putting petrol prices up. At the end, she runs over to the petrol pump on the B-Stage and drinks it, killing herself. The problem is, I can't quite remember which song this was during. I think it was during this song, "Time is Running Out", but I can't be 100% sure. There was then an image on-screen of a roulette board, with the options of "Newborn" and "Stockholm Syndrome", with the ball falling on "Stockholm Syndrome", which was great but I think I would have preferred "Newborn". The song had an outro of Rage Against The Machine's "Freedom", which was a great way to end it.

They then moved over to the B-Stage, and played "Unintended", and then "Blackout", which was nice and chilled out. At this point, the purpose of the giant light bulb came to light.. Ha ha... Ahem. It lit up and flew slowly over the crowd somehow, I think there were strings involved, but it was just lovely! Really nice. At the climatic part of the song, and the light bulb had come to a stop just over the middle of the crowd, the bottom of it opened up and a load of confetti fell out. So did a person! [http://muse.mu/images,emirates-stadium-london-saturday-26th-may-2013_173.htm?photo=4210] It was an acrobatic dancer, you know where they dance on the ribbon in the air? Really beautiful. They then went into "Guiding Light" - how fitting! On "Undisclosed Desires", Bellamy went through the crowd, shaking hands with people and hugging them etc. He also took a pair of light-up glasses from one of them, which he then wore for the rest of the song. Whilst on his journey through the crowd, he also went underneath the stage, where there were the businessman and the businesswoman in two coffins.

They went off-stage for a few seconds, and then "The 2nd Law: Unsustainable" played. It's quite a scary song, like people are shouting at you. Add to this a giant robot with steam coming out of its ears and occasionally yelling "UNSUSTAINABLE", and I was basically quaking in my boots. The robot was awesome though, it was easily about 15 feet tall! Apparently his name is Charles. After Charles vacated the stage, they played "Plug In Baby", that old classic. That riff sounded just fantastic in such a large venue. On official London 2012 song, "Survival", we were encouraged by little men on-screen to click our fingers and stamp our feet, which some of us happily obliged to. It was actually quite reminiscent of Queen.

For the second encore, "The 2nd Law: Isolated System" was played over the system, with the video running on the screen [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXPoJAyeF8k]. It was really interesting, and quite tragic as people get eaten up by this strange graphic that chases them. It was quite an intense atmosphere as everyone was concentrating pretty hard. The concert finished on "Starlight", which is such an uplifting track that it was a great way to end it all off. I would personally have liked to see "Hysteria" too, but it's such a tiny criticism that it's hardly worth mentioning. All in all, a bloody fantastic evening. Thank you Muse. I also want to say: to the two Scottish guys that were sat next to me and my sister, Sean and his dad whose name we didn't catch, you completely just made our evening. It was lovely to meet you both!

A Crazy Musical Fortnight - Part 1 - An Evening with VICE

2013-06-24T17:19:00.000+01:00

If you regularly follow/look out for my blog (which I should hope you do!) then you may notice that I haven't posted in almost two months. My bad. To be fair, May was filled with exams and university work. But what a month June has been! Gosh. Let me tell you about it:

Thurs 30th May: You Need To Hear This launch in London - writing for Stereofox
Sat 1st June: Muse at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester
Sun 2nd June - Fri 7th June: Down to London for my work placement at NME
Sat 8th June - Sun 9th June: Parklife Festival in Manchester
Thurs 20th June - You Need To Hear This party in London - writing for Stereofox

Let's just say The Trainline have done well out of me!

So the launch. You Need To Hear This is an idea created by Phillips and Noisey, the music section of VICE magazine. It's a fantastic idea, music documentaries that are topical. Check it out! It was down in Haggerston in London, at a place called "The King's Head". Looks like an old pub on the outside, but on the inside it is SWANKAY. You've got to pay to be a member of this club, and you've got to go through a screening process before you can even be allowed to pay! So you get the feel of this place. It was an interesting night - read about it here.

They then were very lovely over at VICE and sent some presents! A bag with the logo on:

Along with some stickers which I've put on my writing notebook:

And to top it off, some beautiful and amazing headphones that I have fallen in love with because they're JUST THAT GOOD:

Yay!

Delphic - Baiya - Collections

2013-05-04T19:05:00.003+01:00

I first heard of this band about 4 years ago, when their first album "Acolyte" came out. There's a great track on there called "Doubt", click here for the Spotify link. The whole album is pretty good to be honest, it's indie but is quite electronically focussed. When this album came out, there weren't that many bands doing that kind of thing, but obviously now there's quite a lot of bands doing this (just look at this blog!). They were supported by Everything Everything, who are also within this genre and also from Manchester, but are slightly more eclectic. Delphic are made up of Richard Boardman, Matt Cocksedge, James Cook and Dan Hadley.

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/infinitea/8671612371/in/photostream/

This song starts off with strings playing a motif that is used throughout the song. It's very different to most of the tracks on "Acolyte". After this motif, they sing "You wanted all the", which is also repeated throughout the song. The string motif plays through again, but this time with drums or potentially a drum machine.

The vocals, provided by James Cook, comes in after this, accompanied by the drums and the strings which play chords on the first beat of each bar, which emphasises the chord:

"Glass eye, broken jaw

400 legs kick down my door
On my life I swear I saw

The city burn, the jackals crawl"

There's then a bit just before the chorus which also adds in a bass guitar, and builds up the tension:

"Now I was dead before I hit the floor
I never stood a chance
A waste of sympathy, and burning effigies
I’m not a saint, but you’re a sin
I can feel you creeping"

The line: "I can feel you creeping" is on a diminished fifth chord, which gives it this creepy, sinister feel and builds up the suspense a bit more leading up to the chorus.

The chorus is fantastic, and massively catchy:

"All hell is breaking loose
Feel your fingers down my back
Leaving tracks

House of cards gonna collapse from under you

All hell is breaking loose
As you’re breathing down my neck
Tenderness is the only weapon left

I comfort you"

A guitar appears on the 1st and 3 + ½ beat of each bar, which has a great hook. Each line after "All hell is breaking loose" sounds as though it's sang slightly quieter, as though they're backing vocals. It's a pretty cool effect. The chorus plays through twice, and on the second playing, that string motif is also in the background.

The lyrics to this song are very interesting. I wonder if they're about anyone in particular...

The second verse sounds slightly heavier than the first. There's more guitar involvement and more activity in the vocals, with a varying melody to what there was before. As though he's building on the melody of the previous verse:

"You cry-wolf, you get wolf

Don’t close your eyes, keep dreaming on

Heads will roll for what you stole
Keep playing your broken game"
The chorus then plays through again, and after this there's a kind of linking bit which keeps the momentum going.

After this there's a middle 8 type thing, where everything is stripped back (as there always is):

"And now we’re standing back to back, to back, to back, to back
On an only stage the players play on,
And you turn around and see, see ṗeople, free people scream
Forever folding into you"

It's just the vocals with Oohs in the background. Claps then come in on the third line, and the whole thing keeps going so that it runs into the next chorus pretty much seamlessly. The chorus plays through twice until the end.

This will be a cracking summer tune! Let me know what you think.

Youtube:

Spotify:

Post War Years - All Eyes - Galapagos

2013-04-28T20:13:00.001+01:00

Haters of Made In Chelsea look away now.

No, I'm kidding. Please don't!

I used to be a hater myself, but my housemates forced it upon me once and... well, you can probably guess the rest. However, I'm safe in the knowledge that I'm not obsessed with it, like so many are. I just find it fascinating to see how these people live. Craziness.

Anyway, MIC (as it's affectionately known)'s redeeming quality for myself and many others is the music, chosen by a lady called Andrea Madden. Nice work Andrea! In one of the episodes was a song called "Nova" by this band. Click here for the Spotify link. It's a great song, so I looked for them on Spotify, and found this song, "All Eyes".

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmaswann/2428027562/in/photostream/

I'll actually talk about the band now. They're from Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, which is coincidentally not far at all from where I live! The band is made up of Simon Critten, Henry Riggs, Tom O'Hare and Fred McLaren. According to MySpace and LastFM they describe themselves as being: "Latin/Hard House/Jazz but they have an Alternative/Indie edge about them too." I'd say they're not far off Alt-J, or London Grammar, of whom my last post was about. Read it here.

This song has a slightly oriental feel to the start; there's an instrument being used that gives it this effect. I'm not quite sure what it is. It could be a keyboard, but it sounds a bit like a string instrument, like a mandolin or something.The start is really minimalistic, just vocals and INSTRUMENT. It's pretty chilled out, but with a kind of driven feel, so you can tell it's going somewhere.

"Every hour you undress it

Every eye on the finish line

You do realise you're obsessive

Every eye, all the time"

There's then something else added into the background, sounds like synths:

"Roll eyes

Immature lies

All eyes

Innocent lies"

There's then this massive chorus type part, but with no singing. There's drums, this massively heavy bass soon and some kind of squeaky sound effect over the top.

This effect then goes away, but the rest stays on. There's some cracking harmonies in this part as well:

"And you're a cigarette burning

You're on the rush until the glow is out

And your clocks forever turning

The strong will jump before the time is out"

Critten's vocals sound very relaxed, which could cause him to become lazy and get things wrong, but actually everything is completely right on the note, sort of like Harrison Koisser of Peace.

It's a bit weird to say that a song has attitude, but this song definitely does! We're then back to the pre chorus bit:

"Roll eyes on

You miss your lights on

All eyes on

Innocent lies"

The song is then stripped down to just drums and a guitar:

"You have all the time in the world

Time in the world

Time you have on"

In this part, there's another melody in the background overlapping with what's going on here [this is called polyphony]. I really like this effect.

That instrument then comes in again, the one that could potentially be a mandolin or something but is probably a keyboard . It's being played so quickly at this point that it sounds like a harp!

Everything then comes back in again really forcefully with "All the time in the world" over the top.

What a goodun!

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London Grammar - Metal And Dust - If You Wait

2013-04-14T17:23:00.001+01:00

I normally like to start my posts off with a little bit of background about each artist. I feel like it helps us get to know them a bit better. Context always helps.

But I can't actually find very much on this band at all. They're from London (obvs), their names are Hannah Reid, Dot Major and Dan Rothman, and they played a very well received gig at Electrowerkz a couple of weeks ago, but apart from that there's not that much. Nothing is really given away on their facebook page, twitter or even on their own website. Maybe that's what they're going for though, they want to be elusive and aloof... Maybe not.

Anyway.

Courtesy of: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=515004201872328&set=a.515004195205662.111390.149707618401990&type=1&theater

It starts off with sounds overlapping. It could be a guitar with an effect on. It's a really good sound, sets the song up nicely. A guitar and piano then come in over the top of this.

Vocals then chime in. Hannah Reid's voice is lovely, really rich and textured and it's a really pure sound as well. I also love that she doesn't try to hide her accent like so many vocalists these days; it's like a colloquial London, similar to that of Aluna from London-based AlunaGeorge:

"And so, you built a life on trust

Though it starts with love and lust
And when your house begins to rust
Oh it’s just, metal and dust"

The word "house" is quite often used as a metaphor for love, as houses are safe with plenty of room and are cosy. They also signify the start of lives together and are full of personal things. So here I think they use the metaphor to show that the love is kind of breaking down - "And when your house begins to rust" - and then breaking the illusion - "Oh it’s just, metal and dust" - with the casual Oh at the start conveys a kind of nonchalance; starting to say what she really wants to say but then just leaves it.

There's an effect on the word dust, kind of like an echo, which then leads into a taster of the chorus, just half of it:

"We argue, we don’t fight

We argue, we don’t fight"

Is this showing that the passion in their relationship has gone?

There's also electric drumming in the chorus and some great harmonies. Simple but effective. The whole song is pretty chilled out at this point, all on the same level.

The electric drumming stops after the chorus, but there's still some light percussion in the background underneath:

"And all foundation that we made
Built to last, they disintegrate
And when your house begins to rust
Oh it’s just, metal and dust "

Things pick up a bit more again on "And when your house begins to rust" and the drumming comes back in the next chorus, which is now in full:

"We argue, we don’t fight
Stay awake in the middle of the night
Stay awake in the middle of the night "

This plays through a few times. The fact that it is repeated really shows how they're not doing much else other than arguing through the night and how frustrating that is.

The song draws towards a close, but not before strings are added, with some great ad-lib from Hannah. It's a really good texture. Right towards the end there are effects on her voice, similar to that used in the beginning with the potential guitar, overlapping each other and clipping off at the end. The song then ends quite abruptly.

It kind of reminds me of Massive Attack's "Teardrop" with Elizabeth Fraser.

Brilliant.

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Haim - Falling - Days Are Gone

2013-04-05T18:07:00.002+01:00

The thought of a band made up of family members used to fill me with a sickening sense of worry; visions of the Osmonds, the Von Trapps and the Cheeky Girls flooding my brain. But then I remember the coolness of Kings of Leon, the cutesie Jackson 5 and Irish group The Corrs (yeah I went there).

So it was better for this band that I heard the song before I heard who it was by and that they were sisters. Obviously I wouldn't have been so silly as to reject it based on the fact that they're related, but at least I went into it with a clear mind.

Haim (like the Corrs, Jackson 5 and Hanson) are named after themselves; Haim being their collective surname. (According to Wikipedia, the name Haim rhymes with rhyme. I know you've been wondering too.) These three sisters are from a musical, LA-based family and grew up listening to 70's and 80's music, which kind of explains the band's musical style.

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaredeberhardt/6886865398/in/photostream/

My first thought when listening to this song was how much Danielle Haim's vocals remind me of Amy Grant, who found fame in the (yeah, you guessed it) 80's. She has a really husky, velvety kind of voice. This was my favourite track of Amy Grant's, entitled "Sure Enough", you should find the Spotify link there where it says "this was".

So we already know they're influenced by the 70's and 80's. This really comes through as soon as you even hear the first bar of the song. It's especially emphasised by the bass. I'm not sure what it's called, but it's a very distinctive sound, something that players do with it to make it sound this way. Also adopted by French DJ's Justice and Madeon.

Danielle's vocals are very punchy, almost like she's performing live:

"I give a little into the moment

Like I’m standing at the edge (I know)

But no ones gonna turn me around
Just one more step, I could let go

Oh and in the middle, I hear the voices
And they’re calling for me now
But nothing’s gonna wake me now
Cause I’m a slave to the sound"

The next bit is all harmonised by (presumably) another of the sisters. There's a really great rhythm in the vocals, so this combined with awesome harmonies is just really appealing to me. I'm pretty sure there's some drum machine somewhere in there as well:

"And they’re calling,
Don’t stop, no, I’ll never give up
And I’ll never look back, just hold your head up
And if it gets rough, it’s time to get rough

They keep saying:
Don’t stop, no one’s ever enough
I’ll never look back, never give up
And if it gets rough, it’s time to get rough

But now I'm falling"

Over the next few bars they sing the word "Falling" repeatedly, with a panning effect on the earphones, which makes it sound as though they're coming from everywhere around you, an aural 3D effect. This last part felt as though it was going somewhere, being built up, but the "Falling" bit kind of diffuses it. So then we go back to the verse:

"I look up and down,

And I can feel the eyes, they’re watching us so closely oh
I’m trying not to make a sound
Cause I’ll be found out somehow"

There is some great rhythm and musical techniques in the vocals here, it's really interesting. We're then back to the "Don’t stop, no, I’ll never give up/And I’ll never look up, just hold your head up" bit of the song. We are then introduced to another part, which happens to be my favourite:

"Step into the fire feeling higher than the truth (I’m falling)
I can feel the heat but I’m not burning (But now I’m falling)
Fear and desire, feel the ? (I’m falling)
Feels like I’m falling, yeah
I can hear them calling for me"

I just think it's so catchy!!! There seems to be some uncertainty about the lyrics for that part, so I'll see if I can uncover the correct ones somewhere. The harmonies give it a beautiful edge as well. Lot of 8's synths in here too. This is played through twice, and then we've got the "Falling" panning bit again, only this time with an ALMOST guitar solo. It looked as though it was going that way, but then didn't quite go for it.

We then have a kind of middle 8 where they sing "Falling" over and over again, with a bit more accompaniment underneath than we had before. Then back to the chorus: "Into the fire feeling higher than the truth/I can feel the heat but I'm not burning". Her vocals are really punchy and defiant, but the melody really isn't. It's an odd combination but it totally works. The beat and the rhythm in this song is I think what has completely hooked me onto it.

At the end of the song, the instrumentation and accompaniment is all the same, but this time they sing:

"Never look up, never give up

Never look up, never give up
Never look up, never give up
I’ll never give up
I’ll never give up"

This is the same for 8 bars. For the next 8 bars, they sing it again, but the song winds down and eliminates the drums, and then the last 8 bars is almost a capella with this little guitar riff drifting through.

I am really struck by how rhythm controls this song rather than what I guess I am used to, which is for the melody to be more prominent for me personally. Anyway, I really loved this song, I hope you do too.

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Junip - Line of Fire - Junip

2013-03-27T17:31:00.002+00:00

I was in H&M yesterday when this song came on through the speakers. I've got a Shazam type thing built into the phone, so I went for it. Casually stood with my phone in the air. How does that even work anyway? How can it possibly recognise songs that way?

Anyway, I got home and listened, and it struck me that the vocalist sounded very similar to someone I had heard already, but couldn't quite put my finger on it. A few hours later and I searched the band, only to find that the singer was only José bloody González! If you dunno who that is, listen to this. I'm thinking you'll probably recognise it.

So this Swedish band are returning from a 5 year hiatus with a new, self-titled album that is due to come out next month, with this song being track numero uno.

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crashfire/5011057072/in/photostream/

This is another track that falls under the "chilled" category. The chord sequence would fit well with Florence + The Machine's "You've Got The Love". There's an acoustic guitar pattern with some kind of light percussion underneath and what sounds like an organ. The vocals are very simple and lovely, and the lyrics are almost like a self-help guidance, and incredibly passsionate:

"What would you do
If it all came back to you?
Each crest of each wave
Bright as lightning

What would you say
If you had to leave today?
Leave everything behind

Even though for once you're shining"

At this point, the chords change into a major key and seem a bit more uplifted. There's also harmony on the vocals:

"Standing on higher ground
When you hear the sounds
You realise it's just the wind
And you notice it matters who and what you let under your skin"

The song starts to pick up here, I think the drums introduce cymbals or play a bit heavier:

"If put to the test
Would you step back from the line of fire?
Hold everything back
All emotions and desires"

It seems that the song picks up a little bit more with each different section. José sings a little bit higher in this next section, and the drums again add a little bit extra:

"Convince yourself to be someone else

And hold back from the world
Your lack of confidence
What you choose to believe in
Dictates your rise or your fall
Dictates your rise or your fall"

This next bit is probably my second favourite part of the song:

"With no one else around you
No one to understand you
No one to hear your calls
Look through all your dark corners
You're backed up against the wall
Step back from the line of fire"

Then there's an instrumental bit, including a sound STRAIGHT out of Bedshaped by Keane. It's called a Moog Synthesiser... It's a bit onomatopoeic actually, as it does sound a bit like it's going "moooooog", but in fact it's just named after its creator, Robert Moog. The next bit is very similar to the beginning:

"What would you do
If it all came back to you?
Each crest of each wave
Bright as the lightning"

He then sings: "I'd do the same as you" four times over, and at this point the drums pick up a bit, and I'm sure I can hear maracas. This is my favourite part. Then he sings: "What you choose to believe in/takes you as you fall", and everything picks back up again, like it was at the most dramatic point in the song:

"No one else around you
No one to understand you
No one to hear your calls
Look through all your dark corners
You're backed up against the wall"

The end is very dramatic, as he sings: "Step back from the line of fire" about 8 times, but with the strings going for it, more harmonies, more drums and the Moog thing, and it's just very lovely really, a nice atmosphere. After the 8 times, there's an instrumental until the end which is very soothing.

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If you like this song, you will also probably like:

Cary Brothers - Ride

Thirteen Senses - Into The Fire

Best Bits: Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

2013-03-22T23:46:00.000+00:00

So this is the first of the HMV albums that I bought to go through. I've picked out the stand out tracks for me, but if you think that another song should was better, please comment at the bottom of the post.

Bat For Lashes is the stage name of Natasha Khan. Her sound is very kind of mythical, and ethereal. This album, "Two Suns", came out in 2009 and is her second album.

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/loveleeannette/508397794/

Glass

Glass is the first track on the album. It's incredibly atmospheric, and there's no what you might call "proper" accompaniment until the second verse. It's really quite interesting. The video of this at Glastonbury was amazing as well, to check that out please click here.

Khan seems to be more focussed on her emotion and what she's singing about, rather than concentrating on making it pitch perfect. It just adds to the emotion of the song, in fact, that it's not completely pitch perfect. There's no noticeable off notes, don't get me wrong.

The drums are very tribal, and there's a lot of bass. It's an interesting combination that surprisingly works. Like I said before, it's very spacey and spiritual. A bit Kate Bush.

This album is meant to be like a concept album, so it has a recurring theme running through. Khan described this one as being about a girl called Pearl who is very much in love with someone called Daniel, the name of another song that we will come to later.

The lyrics are incredibly passionate:

"I will rise now

And go about the city

In the streets

Broadways I seek

Him whom my soul loveth

Went over the sea

What did I find?

A thousand crystal towers

A hundred emerald cities

And the hand of the watchman

In the night sky

Points to my beloved

A knight in crystal armor

And I tried to hold him

I tried for the creed

I'll make a suit of colours

To stop the blinding mirrors

Sew a cape of red and gold

Stifle up the beam

With the perfect armour

With a perfect dream

To be made of glass

When two suns are shining

The battle becomes blinding

To be made of glass

But we ride tonight

Tonight, tonight, we ride

And with two suns spinning

At two different speeds

Was born a hot, white diamond

Burning through the rainbow

Flames fell into orbit

To hold eternally

Two heavenly spirits

That just wouldn't seem

To be made of glass

When two suns are shining

The battle becomes blinding

To be made of glass

But we ride tonight

Tonight, tonight, we ride

Hey, oh

Hey, oh oh oh

Hey, oh

Hey, oh oh oh

Hey, oh

Hey, oh oh oh

Hey, oh

Hey, oh oh oh"

We find the album title in the chorus. Perhaps a reference to "Pearl" and "Daniel"?

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Moon And Moon

This song is incredibly simple, but very beautiful, full of wistfulness and longing. It starts with a simple piano melody which recurs throughout the song. It's very lovely. The lyrics are good as well; the character, "Pearl", sings as though she's completely lost without her lover: "Lover, when you don't lay with me

I'm a huntress for a husband lost at sea

If I had you here, better here together

I'd be boy and you'd be girl, beautiful"

I don't really understand why, in the first line, she describes her man as "lover", and in the second line she calls him her "husband". "Lover" conveys a kind of frivolous, non-committal relationship, whereas "husband" is obviously quite the opposite. I also don't really know what a "big bad hand" is either, as appears in the chorus:

"Calling moon and moon

Shoot that big bad hand

It'll drag me to your door

And I won't see you no more"

Again, in the second verse, she talks about a "big bad hand". Does she mean like when you describe bad luck as a bad hand? There's also a really interesting effect, a rhythm created by backing singers in this verse. It gives it a slight edge, so rather than Khan/Pearl lamenting over the loss of her love, it makes her sound slightly more determined to find him:

"When this wild world

Is a big bad hand

Pushing on my back

Do you understand? When I get home

Down in the jungle

Where's my bear to lick me clean?

Feed my soul milk and honey"

The backing singers keep on in the last chorus:

Calling moon and moon

Shoot that big bad hand

It'll drag me to your door

And I won't see you no more

I won't see you no more"

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Daniel

Now we get to the song about The Guy.

This was the first single released from this album. I personally think it has more of what you might call a "normal" sound. It's still very mystical and all that, I mean, how many people can combine maracas and synths in one song?! But yeah it's a bit more regular.

The lyrics portray an obsessive, deep and intense love, like before:

"Daniel

When I first saw you

I knew that you had a flame in your heart

And under our blue skies

Marble movie skies

I found a home in your eyes

We'll never be apart

And when the fires came

The smell of cinders and rain

Perfumed almost everything

We laughed and laughed and laughed

And in the golden blue

Crying took me to the darkest place

And you have set fire to my heart

When I run in the dark, Daniel

To a place that's vast, Daniel

Under a sheet of rain in my heart

Daniel, I dream of home

But in a goodbye bed

With my arms around your neck

Into our love the tears crept

Just catch in the eye of the storm

And as my heart ran round

My dreams pulled me from the ground

Forever to search for the flame

For home again, for home again

When I run in the dark, Daniel

To a place that's vast, Daniel

Under a sheet of rain in my heart

Daniel, I dream of home

When I run in the dark, Daniel

To a place that's vast, Daniel

Under a sheet of rain in my heart

Daniel, I dream of home"

Now, I really do like this song, but I've got to be honest, it makes me laugh a bit. Please don't take offence if your name is Daniel, but I just personally think... well it's not the most romantic of names is it? I just struggle to take it seriously... hehe.

Something you can say for Natasha Khan though, is that her lyrics seem incredibly intelligent and smart. It's almost as though she's putting music to poetry. And yes, I know you could say that about a lot of songs, but how many lyrics could stand on their own without music and still work as poetry?

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Siren Song This song starts off with a piano and simple vocals. The lyrics this time are more like a stream of consciousness from this character, Pearl. It's like a diary entry, what's going on in her head. She sounds a bit crazy: "Are you my family?

Can I stay with you a while?

Can I stop off in your bed tonight?

I could make you smile

In the morning

I'll make you breakfast

In the evening

I'll warm the bed

And I'll always be happy to kiss you

Promise I'll never get sad"

The accompaniment up to this point is literally just piano chords, giving it an atmospheric feel, like the previous songs. It's really great. Then the chorus:

"Till the siren come calling, calling

It's driving me evil, evil

I was a heart breaker, I loved you

The same way I do

But I've got so much wickedness and sin"

At the end of the first line of the chorus, bass, drums and strings are also introduced and the piano plays fast chords, which heightens the atmosphere and makes it more tense. This continues into the next bit:

"My name is Pearl

And I'll love you the best way I know how

My blonde curls slice through your heart

And the siren come calling

In the night, till the light"

This is then all dropped, and it's simplicity once again with the main melody, piano and harmonies which have some kind of effect on which could be distortion.

"Help you dress yourself up fancy

Bathe you when you get sore

I'll be good, I think I could be all

You would want and more and more

Be proud when you dazzle the wondrous

Glitter your eyes for the town

Tell every last boy that you're my man

Try not to let you down"

The same thing happens again in the next chorus, everything builds back up:

"Till the siren come calling, calling

It's driving me evil, evil

I was a heart breaker, I loved you

The same way I do

But I've got so much wickedness and sin

My name is Pearl

And I'll love you the best way I know how

My blonde curls slice through your heart

And the stars are exploding in the night"

The tension is heightened some more with the introduction of a snare drum, played like in a marching band throughout the last bit until the end:

"It won't be long until you'll break

No, it won't be long until you break

It won't be long until you break

'Cause I'm evil, 'cause I'm evil" In this song, we get more of an insight into this character; what she thinks about herself, how devoted she is to this guy Daniel, even what she looks like. Youtube:

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So that's what I think. What do you think?

Which was your favourite track?

Tune of the Week: Ben Howard - Old Pine - Everything Everything Remix

2013-03-11T13:29:00.000+00:00

If you look back through old posts, you'll see that I love me a bit of Ben Howard (ok a LOT of), and I'm also a bit partial to Everything Everything (not to be confused with the Kevin Bacon phone network). This is a masterful combination of the two.

Old Pine is track numero uno from the album "Every Kingdom". Great track, great introduction to the album, sets the scene nicely. Click here for the youtube link, and click here for the Spotify link. Ben Howard's is the type of music you might listen to were you up for a nice chilling out session, it's acoustic, almost folk music. See here for my thoughts on "Only Love", same album as "Old Pine".

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thequeenshall/6899514215/in/photostream/

Which brings me to Everything Everything. They are completely NOT chilled out. They're incredibly eclectic. Check out my thoughts on their song "Final Form" from album Man Alive. They're more electronic music with synths but also incorporating traditional band instruments as well, like guitar and drums.

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/villageunderground/8118595978/in/photostream/

So I was a bit dubious about listening to this. But it actually really works. I can't stop listening to it! See what you reckon. Prefer the original? Or love this version? Or both?

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Original or remix?

Lucy Rose - Shiver - Like I Used To

2013-03-09T21:05:00.000+00:00

It's been a while since I found a song that I literally wanted to listen to on repeat. All day. For a week. But here it is!

Lucy Rose Parton lives somewhere in Warwickshire, and is the youngest of various musically talented sisters. She's featured in a lot of other people's songs, for example she sang on both of Bombay Bicycle Club's albums, "Flaws" and "A Different Kind Of Fix". She also did a lot of UK festivals last year and this year, and is touring Europe and the US. She's doing pretty well I'd say! This song is from the album "Like I Used To", which was released September 2012.

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24365773@N03/7367866024/

This song starts off with a simple guitar chord pattern. The chords really complement each other beautifully, quite moving. Lucy Rose's vocals come in after a few bars of the guitar. Her vocals are completely pitch perfect, and it sounds as though there's no effort needed. It's utterly natural and simple, no playing around with trills or anything like that. The lyrics really mean something as well:

"We broke
Everything that was right
We both enjoyed a good fight

And we solved
All the holes we had to breathe
To make the other one leave"

The music really reflects the lyrics. It's kind of wistful, longing. Is she talking a past love that she misses?

"And I loved the way you looked at me

And I miss the way you made me feel
When we were alone
When we were alone"

A piano comes in at the chorus. It brings now a really rich texture, emphasising the beauty and grace of the chords even more.

"And I'll shiver like I used to

And I'll leave him just for you
And I'll shiver like I used to
Just for you"

Simple but effective, as they say. There's a big similarity to Damien Rice here, massive comparison. Especially in "Delicate".

With the next verse comes bass, which again just adds further depth, and a beautiful rich sound. It's like chocolate cake for your ears.

"And we stole

Every moment we had to make the other one feel bad
And we hoped that we could be what we knew
We'd never turn out to be real"

Following this was the bridge, and then another chorus, this time with electric guitar and some kind of light drumming, I'm thinking maybe a snare drum. The electric guitar adds again to the wistful element to this song. There's then a middle 8:

"And if we turn back time

Could we learn to live right
And if we turn back time
Could we learn to live right
And if we turn back time
Could we learn to live right
And if we turn back time
Could we learn"

In this part, there's a few other voices singing with Lucy Rose, including a male voice. They all sing in unison, and it makes me think that they're singing to each other, hoping to reunite but maybe both knowing that it's not a good idea, seeing as it didn't work the last time.

In the last chorus, all of the elements from before (acoustic guitar, piano, bass, electric guitar, drums) are playing, and Lucy Rose sings a harmony over the top of the other voices who are singing the main line. It's perfect.

I look forward to hearing more from her. It's really beautiful songwriting. She's gonna be big.

Do you agree?

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Paramore - Now

2013-02-24T19:03:00.005+00:00

I was one of those people who went through a "Paramore" phase. I was about 15, and I absolutely loved them. It was brilliant to see a female leading a band, and one with so much confidence as well.

So as you can imagine, when I found out that Zac and Josh Farro were leaving I was absolutely distraught. And even more so when I read THAT blog post by the brothers [http://joshnfarro.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/josh-and-zacs-exit-statement.html] which kind of revealed the back story of how the band began, and showed Hayley to be... Well let's just say I was pretty disappointed.

So this time round, with just Hayley, Jeremy and Taylor, I'm feeling a little bit disheartened. But I will try not to let my feelings of them as people cloud my judgement of their new stuff.

I needn't have worried really, as their new music is quite consistent with their old stuff.

The first bit is really weird, as Hayley is almost rapping "Don't try to take this from me, don't try to take this from me now". Think The Ting Tings. The word "now" is sang with a little motif that recurrs through the song. This plays through twice.

The lyrics are quite clearly about the two band members that they have lost:

"Feels like I'm waken from the dead
And everyone's been waitin' on me
'Least now I'll never have to wonder
What it's like to sleep a year away
But were we indestructible
I thought that we could brave it all
I never thought that what would take me out
Was hiding down below"

Sounds as though there's still a lot of animosity between them, especially in the bridge:

"Lost the battle, win the war

I'm bringing my sinking ship back to the shore
We're starting over, or head back in
There's a time and a place to die but this ain't it"

Basically saying that they're not done yet.

In past Paramore songs, it kind of felt as though the songs were mainly focussed on Hayley's vocals and the other guys were just there for the backing, but on this song it sounds a bit more equal between them. The guitar work is really good as well.

The chorus I was personally really disappointed by, it had so much potential! It's literally just:

"If there's a future, we want it
Now-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow
If there's a future, we want it
Now-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow
If there's a future, we want it
Now-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow
If there's a future, we want it
Now-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow"

It hasn't even got a really great tune to it that hooks you in. Muh!

It then has the bit from the beginning again, but this time on the last one everything drops, and it's just the vocals and the drums emphasising the rhythm of each "now-ow-ow-ow".

Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/51560935@N04/7858027906/in/photostream/

The next verse also seems like a bit of a dig at the Farros:

"Wish I could find a crystal ball
For the days I feel completely worthless
You know I'd use it all for good
I would not take it for granted (granted)
Instead, I'd have some memories
For the days I don't feel anything
At least, they would remind me
Not to make the same mistakes again"

I could have got this completely wrong, but who knows...

The bridge just before the last chorus really feels like they're gearing up to something, they really go for it! But then it's just back to the disappointing chorus, so it's let down a bit.

I'm intrigued to know if any other Paramore fans feel the same as me. Or even if you're not a Paramore fan. Or you were one. Let me know what you think :)

Youtube:

Spotify:

Blog Update

2013-02-23T18:54:00.000+00:00

Just thought I'd let those of you who have subscribed know that I have a fancy new design! Hope you like it. Would love some feedback, do you think it looks more professional? Tidier? Easier to navigate? None of the above? Let me know! Ta :)

P.S here is a smiley meerkat

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28990363@N05/6414241501/in/photostream/

HMV Closure

2013-02-15T15:48:00.003+00:00

I don't know about you, but the closing of HMV is the most upsetting high street shop close for me so far. It's where I get all my music from (excluding spotify). I went along to the stores near me to see if they were closing, and sure enough one of them was. The only upside to this was that they had a massive sale on, but I just felt a bit like a vulture circling.

I tend to find songs that I like, listen to a couple of others to see if I like them but then don't really do much more research than that. So I decided to use this opportunity and bought albums by bands from whom I liked maybe one or two songs, and I'm gonna go through them all. Watch this space!

Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
Damien Rice - O
Ellie Goulding - Halcyon
Friendly Fires - Pala
Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
James Blake - James Blake
The Maccabees - Colour It In
Naked and Famous - Passive Me, Aggressive You
Passion Pit - Manners
Various Cruelties - Various Cruelties

Everything Everything - Final Form - Man Alive

2013-01-10T22:10:00.001+00:00

I got to this band through the song "Qwerty Finger" (btw that was really fun to type) [Spotify link & Youtube link]. It was free single of the week on iTunes I don't even know when, probs around 2010 when this album came out. At that time I wasn't really interested, and dismissed it as being too eccentric. I was then introduced to "MY KZ, UR BF" [Spotify link & Youtube link]. First off, I went back to my original thoughts in thinking it was just a little bit weird, but it wouldn't get out of my head, and it hooked me in! I didn't hear anything else from this band for a while, I hadn't done any research into their debut album, "Man Alive", but the impending release of their second album, "Arc", due to be released on the 14th of January, has brought me back round to them. If you haven't heard "Cough Cough", get on it IMMEDIATELY. I'll make it easy for you, click here for the Spotify link, and click here for the Youtube link. You won't regret it.

So I finally decided to go back through the album "Man Alive" [Spotify - whole album]. Of the whole album, I found I really liked "Schoolin'", which is a lot of fun and quite cheeky, but I absolutely LOVED this song, "Final Form". I've given you quite a lot of links to peruse because that stuff is like quintessential Everything Everything, kind of skewiff but it all still works brilliantly. So, if you haven't heard them before then you'll understand, because this track is a bit different.

Courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/magnus_d/4599121125/

It's slightly more melancholy I think, and sinister isn't the right word but there's something a little bit dark or unnerving about it. If you think of the right word, PLEASE comment at the bottom, I'm gonna be thinking over this for ages. The band had this to say about the track, you can find it on the Youtube link:

“Our fourth single from Man Alive is Final Form, which is mostly concerned with the idea of a withering body, and your ability/inability to use it.”

I then found this on the internet search app, Cha Cha:

“The meaning of the lyrics to ‘Final Form’ is it’s about a friend of Jonathan Higgs [singer]. He couldn’t move for much of his short life, but he always had a smile for everybody. His name is Greg.”

:(

The vocals are very different to begin with as well. Higgs' usual style is to sing pretty high, in the range that most guys can't reach. Fair play to you Jonny. In this song, he starts off by singing in a regular male range, and then going back to his higher register after the first verse.

The song starts off with a simple guitar riff that becomes the main motif throughout the song, which, by itself, sounds major, so when the bass and vocals then join in the song becomes [INSERT APPROPRIATE ADJECTIVE HERE]. I'll stay with dark for the time being. The bass is like a chugging sound, gearing us up to something. It's a really good rhythm.

The first verse lyrics sound like this:
"What is that incessant humming? Coming from your manga maw?
Oh, you breathe twin towers, oh - you gave your powers up.
....and I can't teach you how to stop it, and you can't make me understand
Break, the withered habit, mmm - I need your rabid smile"

That first line sounds like someone who is really exhausted and irritable, as though they've had to put up with something for a while, and the tiniest little thing is pissing them off. Which would coincide with the meaning behind the song. I have no idea what a "manga maw" is though, so again, if you've got any ideas, please let me know at the bottom of the page.

The drums come in just before the line "and I can't teach you how to stop it". They are syncopated, aggressive and sharp. Higgs moans Ohh over this into this line, at which point he goes back up into his normal register. After that verse there's this bridge bit, preparing us for the chorus:

"Your home, (with the family wife and child and wife and)
Your head, (days in the cemetery come the calm the calm the)
Take form, (Time as your figure becomes the stone the stone your)

First body, Last body"

Backing vocals join us on this part, the rest of the band singing the lyrics in brackets. The rhythm of the singing also has an awesome rhythm, it's really interesting. There's also an introduction of synths. This is all dropped, bar the beginning guitar riff and the vocals on the "First body, Last body" part. The drums give us a brief introduction into the chorus:

"I wish the summer was over us in bursts
We're in the middle of nothing we can hold
and the sewers erupting life in gold
I'm gonna happen and happen until my whole give up the ghost
I'm gonna renew my sinew until my cells divide no more"

It's so beautiful musically. It almost becomes an entity of it's own, leading the band in which notes and rhythms to play. The lyrics confused me before I'd researched the back story, but now they're incredibly sad, wistful.

We're then back to that guitar riff which leads us into the next verse:

"So lean me up and take a picture, I can't move my legs and arms
It's too much information, too - much to be thinking of
and each of us have separate houses, and each of us have separate souls
and some of us do nothing, some - some of us do nothing more

Your home, (sleep as your figure becomes the stone, the stone, the)
Your head, (time with the family, sleep the wheel, the tomb, the)
Take form, (dance with the atrophy cold and warm and warm your)

First body, Last body"

Again, slightly wistful, longing.

The chorus has a difference in lyrics as well:

"I wish the cesspit would open like a bible
I wish the rotten would blossom with the tidal
and, I've never been able to divide us
I'm gonna wrestle and wrangle until my legs become unreal
I'm gonna stumble and scramble my way to lactic ecstasy"
Slightly more aggressive.

After this chorus is a new type of something. It's introduced by a single bass note, and Higgs is back to his kind of almost yowly style of singing in this part. It's a bit lighter, unlike the rest of the song, but it's kind of a red herring, as the lyrics are still dark:

"Yet while I can slumber, rest, move so slowly
It's creeping across his chest, like some cold weed
He's not as afraid as me, like some dancer"

The guitar motif is subtley singing under everything else, and it all becomes slightly more intense again and heavier. All the instruments are really going for it, and Higgs is singing "My home, my head, take form", and it's really passionate, there's a lot of feeling coming out.

He finishes the song in this really intensely passionate way, and you can really tell he's feeling what he's saying as he repeats both of the choruses twice. At the end, there's this kind of distorted sound with Jonathan singing distantly over the top. It completely drops the moment that the song has created.

Spotify:

Youtube:

Cheers guys, let me know what you think :)