Just a shorty today
Downloaded Dan le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip's debut Angles a few weeks ago, thought it was amazing; bought it legally today off Amazon and it got even more amazing. There are so many strong messages, clever lyrics and cool beats. It's occasionally bleak, particularly Angles and Magician's Assistant. Every song is brilliant. Please download it. Please.
Monday, 23 November 2009
Saturday, 21 November 2009
Q
I was thumbing through the december issue of Q magazine, and all was well. All was well, that is, until I came across a review of Biffy Clyro's Only Revolutions. Or more specifically, the opening paragraph. I'll type it up quick like for your viewing (dis)pleasure:
"It's tough being a young British band, specifically one on the heavier end of the musical spectrum. In rock, as in glabal politics, America dictates the agenda: musicians from that side of the pond are more confident, more image-savvy, more glamorous and just generally better, with embarrasingly few exceptions. Legions of jowly, guitar-toting Gordon Browns have stumbled their way onto the world stage, only to find themselves shoved to the sidelines as their polished counterparts recieved the full glare of the publics adoration."
I was stunned. Taken-aback. Flabergasted. I foamed at the mouth. I wrote a letter. I pity the poor Q email-lackey who bore the brunt of such a verbal firestorm. No doubt much quailing was done. Dave Everly, the pitiful hack who wrote that abomination, will meet with many puzzled stares as he fearfully stops, turns, and shuffles of warily, the uncomfortable impression that someone, somewhere, is watching his every move, waiting.
Q, your reputation has been sullied.
"It's tough being a young British band, specifically one on the heavier end of the musical spectrum. In rock, as in glabal politics, America dictates the agenda: musicians from that side of the pond are more confident, more image-savvy, more glamorous and just generally better, with embarrasingly few exceptions. Legions of jowly, guitar-toting Gordon Browns have stumbled their way onto the world stage, only to find themselves shoved to the sidelines as their polished counterparts recieved the full glare of the publics adoration."
I was stunned. Taken-aback. Flabergasted. I foamed at the mouth. I wrote a letter. I pity the poor Q email-lackey who bore the brunt of such a verbal firestorm. No doubt much quailing was done. Dave Everly, the pitiful hack who wrote that abomination, will meet with many puzzled stares as he fearfully stops, turns, and shuffles of warily, the uncomfortable impression that someone, somewhere, is watching his every move, waiting.
Q, your reputation has been sullied.
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Three Reasons Why Megan Fox Is Overrated.
1)Megan Fox looks like a pornstar, acts as well as a pornstar, but is for some reason in mainstream movies. Suuuure everything is in the right place, but she manages to be so boring to look at.
Even in pretty mode she kinda looks...blank.
2)Shes a freaking moron. "[Michael Bay, Transformers director] wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is". Umm no she isn't. Unless Michael Bay murdered millions of Jews on his sets. Moron. Intelligence is where it's at.
3)She has malicious little devil thums. Take a look:
Hisssss!
Even in pretty mode she kinda looks...blank.
2)Shes a freaking moron. "[Michael Bay, Transformers director] wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is". Umm no she isn't. Unless Michael Bay murdered millions of Jews on his sets. Moron. Intelligence is where it's at.
3)She has malicious little devil thums. Take a look:
Hisssss!
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Birdsong
Just finished reading this harrowing tale from Sebastian Faulks and though flawed I thought it was excellent.
Wilfred Owen and co have clearly had a big effect on Faulks' writing - theres no wishy-washy romanticised version of life in the trenches; Falks, even more that Owen, conveys the message the the war was an abberation against nature, an evil thing beyond words that scoops out the soldiers' humanity and leaves them scarred. The sheer relentless tragic conditions where a man expects to die at any moment can, I feel, only really be brought out by prose; the typically brief nature of poetry can't adequately convey the grinding misery.
If anything, the sections with the Granddaughter Elizabeth were even more dispiriting - is the bleak existance of her life really worth the sacrifice of so many men? At least Stephen experienced passion; there seems to be none to be found in 1978 England.
Steven's friendship with Weir was the most compelling in the novel, and Weir the most beliveable character and his death upset me more than any others. His death, with no pomp and circumstance - as is the case with the death of most of the minor characters - makes it all the more tragic.
What else? The Isabelle story petered out oddly, and Jeanne (how is that pronounced? Gene? Jane?) was never developed enough for it to seem likely that she could be in a relationship with Stephen, given how empty he was by the end. The image of thousands of injured English soldiers rising like the dead on the slopes near Amiens was an incredibly powerful image, as was most of that scene in fact. Also, allow being in a tunnel. Especially if your name is Stephen.
Aallssoo, during the whole book Stephen did not kill one German until he set off the explosive right at the end, but that was accidental, in fact the only one he did kill was a mortally wounded man in a shared shell-hole who wanted to go quickly. Furthermore, none of the other characters kill any Germans either. Weird. Maybe Faulks wanted to keep the German presence defined only by their shells, which I suppose makes the war seem futile, though I'm grasping at straws here. Gray even said Stephen was a terriffic fighter. Odd
Wilfred Owen and co have clearly had a big effect on Faulks' writing - theres no wishy-washy romanticised version of life in the trenches; Falks, even more that Owen, conveys the message the the war was an abberation against nature, an evil thing beyond words that scoops out the soldiers' humanity and leaves them scarred. The sheer relentless tragic conditions where a man expects to die at any moment can, I feel, only really be brought out by prose; the typically brief nature of poetry can't adequately convey the grinding misery.
If anything, the sections with the Granddaughter Elizabeth were even more dispiriting - is the bleak existance of her life really worth the sacrifice of so many men? At least Stephen experienced passion; there seems to be none to be found in 1978 England.
Steven's friendship with Weir was the most compelling in the novel, and Weir the most beliveable character and his death upset me more than any others. His death, with no pomp and circumstance - as is the case with the death of most of the minor characters - makes it all the more tragic.
What else? The Isabelle story petered out oddly, and Jeanne (how is that pronounced? Gene? Jane?) was never developed enough for it to seem likely that she could be in a relationship with Stephen, given how empty he was by the end. The image of thousands of injured English soldiers rising like the dead on the slopes near Amiens was an incredibly powerful image, as was most of that scene in fact. Also, allow being in a tunnel. Especially if your name is Stephen.
Aallssoo, during the whole book Stephen did not kill one German until he set off the explosive right at the end, but that was accidental, in fact the only one he did kill was a mortally wounded man in a shared shell-hole who wanted to go quickly. Furthermore, none of the other characters kill any Germans either. Weird. Maybe Faulks wanted to keep the German presence defined only by their shells, which I suppose makes the war seem futile, though I'm grasping at straws here. Gray even said Stephen was a terriffic fighter. Odd
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Best of 2000-09
With night closing in on the noughties, it seems appropriate to make a list of the best song of this decade. A shortlist of 37 songs has been whittled down to just 10. Rules: songs are judged on how good I think they are, and also their influence on the decade. Beatles remasters don't count!
So, in ascending order:
10) Muse - Stockholm Syndrome
It's the best song from Muse's best album, who by the way would steal the best band of the decade award, but will it be the only Top 10 song? I have a sneaking suspicion that won't be the case...
9) The White Stripes - 7 Nation Army
Best bassline of the decade? Certainly the most recognisable. This sparse tour-de-force from the endlessly-creative mind of Jack White takes 9th spot.
8)Opeth - The Lotus Eater
Time for some metal methinks. Memorable mainly for 'just give me some beer!' line, and the funky keyboard section, this is nevertheless a brilliant song. The only other metal album of the last 10 years to touch this is Maiden's A Matter of Life and Death
7)Elbow - One Day Like This
Elbow were undoubtably the band of 2008 (far superior to bleedin' Kings of Leon) and this is the best song from an album-ful of 12 corkers. It shimmers with positivity from the strident, powerful strings and Guy Garvey's uplifting lyics.
6)Franz Ferdinand - Jacqueline
The first track from FF's debut, this song ushered in a dazzling new talent who single-handedly kick-started the boys-with-guitars movement - without this band we would have had no Scouting for Girls. From the softly-softly opening to the cutting arpeggios this is class from start to finish. Shame their following albums (mostly) failed to live up to the first.
5)Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Into the top 5, and there was something about Arctic Monkey's open, honest music and Alex Turner's bitingly realistic lyrics that struck a chord with virtually everyone with functioning ear-drums. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is the best-selling debut of all time (UK at least) and it was this song that was the song everyone knew from the start.
4)Muse - Bliss
The best moment in this song are the first 14 seconds, but what a 14 seconds they are. The opening, sweeping keys are just staggeringly beautiful, and I find personally there is no more relaxing song or melody or otherwise ever written. One doesn't, however, reach number 4 on the best song of the decade on the strength of 14 seconds of, well, Bliss - the rest of the song, underpinned throughout by that melody, is honest open songwriting at its best, with lyrics that anyone can relate to.
3)The Darkness - Black Shuck
The Archetypical Underrated Band. Seen by many as a novelty act; seen by me as a breath of fresh air, the opening track to Permission to Land grabs you by the balls until you're squealing like Justin Hawkins himself. Perhaps the only band of the decade that brought big riffs and guitar solos into the mainstream at a time when that sort of thing was definately out of fashion, and for this Justin, Dan, Ed and Frankie I salute you.
2)Feeder - Buck Rogers
Maybe a song that is neither among my favourites or especially influential doesn't deserve to come in at number two, let alone the top ten, but there is something about having Buck Rogers so high up that just feels right. At the time of release it was played to death, but as it becomes more forgotten it becomes more loved.
1)The Darkness - Love On The Rocks With No Ice
Love On The Rocks With No Ice is here for the same reasons as Black Shuck - and then some. This is hard rock at its very best: the riffs, the solos, the licks - it's all perfect - not to mention the most powerful vocals Justin Hawkins has ever belted out. Also, the fact that this is something of a forgotten gem - it wasn't a single release - makes it just that bit more special.
Honourable mentions:
Flight of the Conchords - Business Time
It's just the funniest song ever, pure and simple
Kasabian - The Doberman
The first 3:45 of this song is great; the last 1:45 is unadulterated brilliance. The frantic build-up is silenced by a solitary snare-shot, setting up an epic, spanish-tinged instrumental. Kasabian really need to do this sort of thing more often.
Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl
Radiohead - Faust Arp
In Rainbows is fantastic, buts the songs work better together, hence no showing in the top 10
The Feeling - Sewn
EDIT - what was I thinking putting Opeth at #8?! But what to replace it with? Possibly The Doberman...though tempting to whack butterflies and hurricanes in there
EDIT 2: Okay, what the hell was I thinking? Buck Rogers?! Get outta here! New list:
10)Stockholm Syndrome 9)Outkast - Hey Ya 8) Jet-Are You Gonna Be My Girl 7) Kasabian - The Doberman 6) One Day Like This 5) Jacqueline 4)I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor 3) The Darkness - Get Your Hands Off My Woman 2) Bliss 1) Love On The Rocks
So, in ascending order:
10) Muse - Stockholm Syndrome
It's the best song from Muse's best album, who by the way would steal the best band of the decade award, but will it be the only Top 10 song? I have a sneaking suspicion that won't be the case...
9) The White Stripes - 7 Nation Army
Best bassline of the decade? Certainly the most recognisable. This sparse tour-de-force from the endlessly-creative mind of Jack White takes 9th spot.
8)Opeth - The Lotus Eater
Time for some metal methinks. Memorable mainly for 'just give me some beer!' line, and the funky keyboard section, this is nevertheless a brilliant song. The only other metal album of the last 10 years to touch this is Maiden's A Matter of Life and Death
7)Elbow - One Day Like This
Elbow were undoubtably the band of 2008 (far superior to bleedin' Kings of Leon) and this is the best song from an album-ful of 12 corkers. It shimmers with positivity from the strident, powerful strings and Guy Garvey's uplifting lyics.
6)Franz Ferdinand - Jacqueline
The first track from FF's debut, this song ushered in a dazzling new talent who single-handedly kick-started the boys-with-guitars movement - without this band we would have had no Scouting for Girls. From the softly-softly opening to the cutting arpeggios this is class from start to finish. Shame their following albums (mostly) failed to live up to the first.
5)Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
Into the top 5, and there was something about Arctic Monkey's open, honest music and Alex Turner's bitingly realistic lyrics that struck a chord with virtually everyone with functioning ear-drums. Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not is the best-selling debut of all time (UK at least) and it was this song that was the song everyone knew from the start.
4)Muse - Bliss
The best moment in this song are the first 14 seconds, but what a 14 seconds they are. The opening, sweeping keys are just staggeringly beautiful, and I find personally there is no more relaxing song or melody or otherwise ever written. One doesn't, however, reach number 4 on the best song of the decade on the strength of 14 seconds of, well, Bliss - the rest of the song, underpinned throughout by that melody, is honest open songwriting at its best, with lyrics that anyone can relate to.
3)The Darkness - Black Shuck
The Archetypical Underrated Band. Seen by many as a novelty act; seen by me as a breath of fresh air, the opening track to Permission to Land grabs you by the balls until you're squealing like Justin Hawkins himself. Perhaps the only band of the decade that brought big riffs and guitar solos into the mainstream at a time when that sort of thing was definately out of fashion, and for this Justin, Dan, Ed and Frankie I salute you.
2)Feeder - Buck Rogers
Maybe a song that is neither among my favourites or especially influential doesn't deserve to come in at number two, let alone the top ten, but there is something about having Buck Rogers so high up that just feels right. At the time of release it was played to death, but as it becomes more forgotten it becomes more loved.
1)The Darkness - Love On The Rocks With No Ice
Love On The Rocks With No Ice is here for the same reasons as Black Shuck - and then some. This is hard rock at its very best: the riffs, the solos, the licks - it's all perfect - not to mention the most powerful vocals Justin Hawkins has ever belted out. Also, the fact that this is something of a forgotten gem - it wasn't a single release - makes it just that bit more special.
Honourable mentions:
Flight of the Conchords - Business Time
It's just the funniest song ever, pure and simple
Kasabian - The Doberman
The first 3:45 of this song is great; the last 1:45 is unadulterated brilliance. The frantic build-up is silenced by a solitary snare-shot, setting up an epic, spanish-tinged instrumental. Kasabian really need to do this sort of thing more often.
Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl
Radiohead - Faust Arp
In Rainbows is fantastic, buts the songs work better together, hence no showing in the top 10
The Feeling - Sewn
EDIT - what was I thinking putting Opeth at #8?! But what to replace it with? Possibly The Doberman...though tempting to whack butterflies and hurricanes in there
EDIT 2: Okay, what the hell was I thinking? Buck Rogers?! Get outta here! New list:
10)Stockholm Syndrome 9)Outkast - Hey Ya 8) Jet-Are You Gonna Be My Girl 7) Kasabian - The Doberman 6) One Day Like This 5) Jacqueline 4)I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor 3) The Darkness - Get Your Hands Off My Woman 2) Bliss 1) Love On The Rocks
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
You Can Kiss My RIAA
Right, so this is my attempt to throw my considerable international influence into the "File-Sharing: Yay or Nay" debate. I've not done much research, so this could be horrendous.
What spurred me to write this post are a few links I Stumbled Upon a while back, a various reports I've read of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) targeting evil file-sharers and forcing obscene amounts of money out of them.
Firstly, this one: http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/9172/1245456677307.jpg it's fairly self explanatory. $80'000 FOR ONE DOWNLOAD! YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME! How can the RIAA possibly justify such harsh penalty? The fine would be less if that woman nicked the CDs from a shop!
There was another one but I can't find it :( Sad Face.
The government has done an about-face on its previously somewhat-liberal stance on file-sharing and now has pledged to crackdown on it instead, with threats of disconnected internet and fines and blahblahblah. Let's be clear on this - if people can file-share they will, and theres nothing anyone can do about it: people are too cheap and the internet too hard to govern (but thats a whole different discussion). The old cliché is true - if you can't beat 'em join 'em, which is what many musicians are now doing. The highest profile of these is of course Radiohead's famous you-choose-the-price download of In Rainbows (I paid £4 and probably would have got it illegally if i had to pay a tenner), but recently Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame and apparent foreward-thinker has given his ten cents to the discussion, concerning how aspiring musicians can embrace file-sharing to build a fan-base for free and then start charging, which can be seen here: http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?30,767183,767183
The man's talking sense.
There's more to add but i'm tired an no one is going to read this anyway.
What spurred me to write this post are a few links I Stumbled Upon a while back, a various reports I've read of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) targeting evil file-sharers and forcing obscene amounts of money out of them.
Firstly, this one: http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/9172/1245456677307.jpg it's fairly self explanatory. $80'000 FOR ONE DOWNLOAD! YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME! How can the RIAA possibly justify such harsh penalty? The fine would be less if that woman nicked the CDs from a shop!
There was another one but I can't find it :( Sad Face.
The government has done an about-face on its previously somewhat-liberal stance on file-sharing and now has pledged to crackdown on it instead, with threats of disconnected internet and fines and blahblahblah. Let's be clear on this - if people can file-share they will, and theres nothing anyone can do about it: people are too cheap and the internet too hard to govern (but thats a whole different discussion). The old cliché is true - if you can't beat 'em join 'em, which is what many musicians are now doing. The highest profile of these is of course Radiohead's famous you-choose-the-price download of In Rainbows (I paid £4 and probably would have got it illegally if i had to pay a tenner), but recently Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame and apparent foreward-thinker has given his ten cents to the discussion, concerning how aspiring musicians can embrace file-sharing to build a fan-base for free and then start charging, which can be seen here: http://forum.nin.com/bb/read.php?30,767183,767183
The man's talking sense.
There's more to add but i'm tired an no one is going to read this anyway.
Wednesday, 12 August 2009
Acrobat - Jo Webb & the Dirty Hands
11 songs about failure
On his website, Jo Webb states his influences as Andy Partidge, Roger Waters, Frank Zappa, the Beatles and Iron Maiden, but in truth, Acrobat, Jo Webb's debut, sound more like a mixture of Maximo Park and The Feeling, or an English counterpart to Harvey Danger.
Jo Webb also claims that the Dirty Hands are 'the best band you've never heard of', and after listening through he may well be right. At times, the songs crackle with energy, and none more so than in Acrobat - the first single and album opener - an ecclectic mix of crunchy guitars, hooky synths and a catchy chorus, Acrobat has a youthful exuberance not heard since the aforementioned Feeling's Twelve Stops From Home. And Acrobat isn't even the best song. No, that title lies with Happy Man. Its a darker song than Acrobat and perhaps less radio-friendly, clearly the 'Happy Man' is anything but. Lines like "Dont need to drink yourself to sleep/don't need to bury the food you eat" and "Break it down, life is full of misery so why participate?" show the darker side of Jo Webb's lyrics.
Its not all plain sailing. Towards the end of the album the quality takes a dip, notably Invisible and Dissolved, but perks up again for the final two. Invisible is incongrously uninteresting, with some awkwardly phrased melodies and lyrics (what would people do if all the money in the world dissapeared and all their treasures were worth absolutely nothing at all?). Similarly, Dissolved never really gets going either, though not quite to the extent of Invisible. Given the overall quality of the record these blips can be mostly overlooked, but its just a shame they're present because Jo Webb can undoubtably write better songs.
The million-pound question is, Will they ever become well-known? In a fair world, where music is judged by quality, and people have time for a more modest band exempt from celebrity-crazed egotism and well-crafted, infectious pop songs, then yes, but sadly this is not the case, and despite the quality of this record, I get the impression that that Jo Webb and the Dirty Hands will plug away as unknowns without making much of an impression on public consciousness.
Tracks to download:
Just buy the damn album!
On his website, Jo Webb states his influences as Andy Partidge, Roger Waters, Frank Zappa, the Beatles and Iron Maiden, but in truth, Acrobat, Jo Webb's debut, sound more like a mixture of Maximo Park and The Feeling, or an English counterpart to Harvey Danger.
Jo Webb also claims that the Dirty Hands are 'the best band you've never heard of', and after listening through he may well be right. At times, the songs crackle with energy, and none more so than in Acrobat - the first single and album opener - an ecclectic mix of crunchy guitars, hooky synths and a catchy chorus, Acrobat has a youthful exuberance not heard since the aforementioned Feeling's Twelve Stops From Home. And Acrobat isn't even the best song. No, that title lies with Happy Man. Its a darker song than Acrobat and perhaps less radio-friendly, clearly the 'Happy Man' is anything but. Lines like "Dont need to drink yourself to sleep/don't need to bury the food you eat" and "Break it down, life is full of misery so why participate?" show the darker side of Jo Webb's lyrics.
Its not all plain sailing. Towards the end of the album the quality takes a dip, notably Invisible and Dissolved, but perks up again for the final two. Invisible is incongrously uninteresting, with some awkwardly phrased melodies and lyrics (what would people do if all the money in the world dissapeared and all their treasures were worth absolutely nothing at all?). Similarly, Dissolved never really gets going either, though not quite to the extent of Invisible. Given the overall quality of the record these blips can be mostly overlooked, but its just a shame they're present because Jo Webb can undoubtably write better songs.
The million-pound question is, Will they ever become well-known? In a fair world, where music is judged by quality, and people have time for a more modest band exempt from celebrity-crazed egotism and well-crafted, infectious pop songs, then yes, but sadly this is not the case, and despite the quality of this record, I get the impression that that Jo Webb and the Dirty Hands will plug away as unknowns without making much of an impression on public consciousness.
Tracks to download:
Just buy the damn album!
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