What I think of The Drums

This is a short review I wrote of The Drums' EP, sorry if you're offended by the controversy against the nme gods, but Surfer Blood are tonnes better.

The Drums - Summertime

The Drums haven’t made much attempt to avoid cliché with their debut EP Summertime which has been released this year on Island Records. They seem to have ticked all the  cool-crowd boxes for NME who have admitted their embarrassment for everyone else trying to make music in a world with the Drums in it. So added to the fact that the BBC have dropped their name into their not-so cutting edge musical menu, the Brooklyn quartet might be fighting over their street-cred as well as their Smiths T-shirts. 

They are however, undoubtedly catchy and its easy to be drawn in by the mix of stylish 80’s melody in ‘Best Friend’ and youthful summertime euphoria of ‘Lets Go Surfing’. Not many bands before have reflected their influences as much as general new-romantic obsession and The Cure infatuation shines through on the melodic ‘I Felt Stupid’. 

Their full self-titled album is due for release in early June, just in time for the festival season and trendy kids’ BBQs. 

Video for M.I.A’s ‘Born Free’ Banned From Youtube.

M.I.A’s single ‘Paper Planes’ reached such a high level of commercial success it may have earned itself the brand of mainstream, but people who have been with M.I.A since the days of her debut, Arular will know that this acclaimed and political artist couldn’t be cruising further away from the middle of the road. 

The recent single “Born Free” released on XL records, has made the news for its 9 minute long video companion, which shows a group of armed government thugs scouring a city and rounding up all the ginger-haired boys, who are taken to a dessert and brutally killed for sport. The director Romain Gavras who created the video for Justice’s ‘Stress’, appears to be using the mass murder of ginger haired people as a symbol for racial genocide and war crimes. 

A name which alludes to article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, suggests that the video has a deeply issue-based concept, making any claims of ‘gratuitousness’ seem sweeping and thoughtless. To draw a curtain across such crimes, puts them into the realm of the unspeakable, which is surely harmful and will become a breading ground for protest. 

The video could be a backlash against the success of recent war films which make no attempt to address the USA’s reasons for war, but to paint an emotional portrait of the American soldier and reinforce the view that the Iraqi and Afghan people are a threat, and identify them as  the ultimate enemy. 

So should the video have been banned from youtube? No. Age restriction, fair enough, I mean we do seem to be living in fear of an entire future generation of Venables and hoodys. If such a generation have indeed grown numb to scenes of violent warfare, then surely for that very reason the ban can be described as nothing else but online-censorship. 

The reasoning behind the ban is that youtube prohibit gratitous violence, but in my opinion, the only justification of banning a video which could have essentially been a documentary, is fear of the internet and its increasing power to round up troops of people towards a common purpose. 

Political activists now have more than a placard and a megaphone, the internet has given them the tools to publish controversial material with the world as their audience. Whether this is a step forward or back, is for you to decide. 

Darwin Deez

This is a short review I wrote of Darwin Deez's single - Constellations. 

Darwin Deez exudes a colourful and childlike cheerfulness with this effortlessly quirky indie corker. It makes joyful waves to the classic lullaby, twinkle twinkle little star, and the early stuff from fellow New Yorkers the Strokes’. 

The XX - XX

The XX are a young trio from south-west London who have blasted into the limelight over recent months. Their dark, minimal sound is made up by vocalist and guitarist, Romy Madley Croft, Jamie Smith insists that he prefers to play an electric drumkit, and bassist and vocalist Oliver Smith.  

While you sink into the album, and distract yourself by wondering which voice you are most amazed by, this band will catch you of guard, and gently creep under your skin until you won’t quite know what to do with yourself. 

After the intense track ‘Crystalised’ you might also wonder if the entire album was written in some sort of drowsy euphoria, or anesthetised state. 

The lyrics of ‘Basic Space’ will prove perplexing metaphors or progressions unnecessary, by just putting the most acute and passionate human emotion into simple and beautiful words, “I think I’m loosing where you end and I begin”, 

‘Heart Skipped a Beat’ is the closest thing to a commercial track after appearing on an advert for the messed-up-rich-kids American drama, 90210 but as most of the songs were written when singer, Romy was just 17, its edge and impressiveness remains firmly intact. 

Is this really a debut album? Are they really 20 years old? This record has left me asking questions, and after being skeptical of all the slick and stlyish marketing hype, it has left me taken aback. The rest of my life is making room for this album. 

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

There is no escaping the fact that this is one of the most brutal and exhausting films you will have seen in a very long time. Our cinematic palettes have been manipulated by the glamourous triumphs of the Hollywood Blockbuster which is, to make an utter genralistation, as politically neutral and conventional as possible. Any European film I have seen, did require an open mind and this is definitely no exception. 


When I first reflected on the experience that was this film, I felt that the shocking rape scenes and images of murdered women to be gratuitous and that the powers of suggestion could have maintained the films strength. However, after thinking more about the message the film was portraying I realised that the story didn't want its audience to hopefully imagine a woman's experience with the misogynistic and evil characters to be anything less than traumatic. 


Besides, if poorly made teen horrors like 'Final Destination' can show an all-American cheerleader get empaled on a flying pole for the soul purpose of getting a universal "Ewwww" from the audience, then can't a skilled film maker explicitly represent the utter horror of rape in order to build and develop a highly disturbed and avenging heroine?


I didn't percieve any of the violence against women to eroticized by any stretch of the imagination, for me rape was portrayed as the ugliest thing in the world, which leaves characters broken and unfixable. For me also, Lisbeth was a definite feminist who was left without the ability to trust men. I think it would have been both unrealistic and unjustifiable if the ending saw her riding off into the sunset with her new hunky fella. 


A review in the Guardian (by someone who hadn't seen the film I might add) stated that "In the novel Larsson spares us many graphic descriptions, leaving a lot of the worst to our imagination. It seems, then, that the film has betrayed not only some of the book's original subtlety but also its feminism" . This comment was a result of accusations that the film was a indulgent of misogynist fantasy. I agree with this  eloquent comment left on the review which said:

"I can understand why someone would find the depictions of sexual violence in the film upsetting but can't imagine how anyone could see them as eroticized. They are simply truthful, and in my opinion, filmed in a manner that keeps the focus on the victim's experience. This is necessary to the narrative, because Salander (Lisbeth) will eventually behave in a ruthless and seemingly brutal manner as a result of the view of the world her experiences have given her."


This last sentence reveals an interesting moral dilemma which this film tackled, because Martin, who was eventually found to be responsible for an endless string of horrific crimes against women, was infact himself broken by his misogynist Father at a very young age. He made him into the brutal rapist that he turned out to be, so arguably his past experiences were responsible for his utter lack of conscience or human compassion. This is also the reason given for Lisbeth's violent and ruthless behaviour. When asked why she simpley left Martin to die an horrific death she says that he can't be excused, he is pure evil and everyone chooses who they want to be. There is definitely an intreguing connection between the two character's state of mind as the camera focuses in on the satisfaction in Lisbeth eyes as she watches Martin burn to death which Martin previously shows when he talks about the thrill of killing. 


If what Lisbeth said is true,  and that people do choose who they want to be, then I think thats exactly what she did, she truely felt that Martin desserved to burn, similarly to how the suffering she inflicted on her Guardian earlier in the film. It isn't just that simple though, Lisbeth doesn't choose to be left heart broken at the end without the ability to put faith in the man she loves. 


I think the most important thing to remember in this discussion is outlined again by the eloquent commenter: "Drawing a curtain across rape and other forms of sexual abuse should not be the default feminist approach to these crimes. Obviously, it's not always appropriate to be rigorously truthful about violence, but relegating it to the status of the unspeakable can be just as traumatic for those who survive as ubiquitous depictions of violence"

Sound of Rum Interview.

When this band get big, people are going to have a hard time pigeon-holing their innovative, lyric-based music. Really interesting and intelligent people. Great live. Catch them if you're at Glasto or Bestival. I understand that the interview is reeeeeeeeaally long and obviously needs cutting down, but it took me hours to type it up. So thats a job for another day. 

Welcome to Portsmouth by the way. Have you been before?

We came to Portsmouth to get the Ferry once.

Was that for Bestival?

Yeah. We had this amazing hour in Portsmouth. I got fish and chips.

Are you looking forward to opening the gig in Portsmouth tonight?

Yeah definitely.

How many dates have you done?

This is number nine. They’ve been amazing. Each one has been different. The first sort of five, we were finding our feet, but the last few have just been amazing. Really good strong gigs. 

How would you describe your sound to someone who had never heard your music?

Its sort of a collage of the things were are into really. Afro beat, hip hop, jazz, funk, rock. 

How did the name Sound of Rum come about?

Honestly, we were gonna come up with a really interesting lie for this, but there isn’t one. Its quite boring. We were in the car, we had just been at Glastonbury, and we were like, we really need a name. We need one else we are never going to move forwards. We were just looking at a map, and there are these islands that are just past Scotland, called Sounds. Sound of Rum, Sound of Egg. It looked good on the map, and I drink rum. It seemed really fitting.

And how about you guys? How did you all meet?

Just from giging in South London, playing in lots of different bands and line ups, then we just came together to start a new project. To try and see what we could do with small numbers and see how far we could push it. 

Who, or what would you consider your biggest influences?

We were in the car the other day, listening music that our friends had made, the contemporaries. I realised that I’m just as much influenced by the people that I’m around, and that music community, as I am these great poets and great writers that I love to read, great musicians and amazing rappers.

What are your favorite poets?

I like William Blake, I like Samuel Beckett although he isn’t really a poet. I like good authentic poetry. Well written written words and lyrics and music. When something is amazing then I love it. I haven’t really been blown away by anyone contemporary. Most of the people I love have been dead for 50 years. Which is a shame. 

I just read a Samuel Beckett book, I had to read Murphy for my course.

Murphy is amazing! That was the first novel he wrote, he had been working with James Joyce write. He hadn’t written anything before and he just wrote Murphy. Amazing.

How long have you been involved in music?

I’ve been doing music since I was a kid. 

How is the new album going? 

Its going really well. We’ve got all the tracks down. They’re being mixed and produced, its going to take a few months. Then we have to decide which ones to keep and which to throw away. Its definitely happening, its really exciting hearing the past year of us making music, coming into this one thing that is going to define us.

Is it really hard when you got really attached to songs and then you have to let them go, because they don’t go with the album?

That hasn’t happened yet. Its going to happen though. We’ve got two many songs. The thing is, is that you want to drop the early ones because the current ones are what you are most excited about. But relatively speaking no one has really heard us yet, so we want to come out with stuff that we first came out with. 

What festivals are you heading to this year? 

We get around. We’ve got Glastonbury, We’re doing a stage called Pussy Parlour on the Saturday afternoon at 3pm, and I’m doing some poetry on the left field stage. Bestival, Secret Garden Party loads. Latitude, Big Chill. We need to make sure we have some fun this time. We never really find out whats going on. We just sit around and go “should we go and see something? Glastonbury is going to be good this year. 

Whats your favourite festival? 

Bestival! Secret Garden party I really like, its in Huntington. Its really nice. Tts beautiful. Thats the one we had to leave because it was the same weekend as Camp Bestival, which was good as well. 

it gets stressful when you’ve got to do like three of four in one weekend, thats when you can’t really enjoy it. But their all wicked. The best ones are the ones which are a bit unique, like Bestival and Glastonbury. 

I went to this one in America Burning Man, that was nuts. I just like the ones that have got their own feel, their not just generic. 

You’ve been described as the sound of new England, do you have any idea what they meant by this?

No. Well, he isn’t from London which means we embrace other parts of the world [laughter]. Growing up in London you forget you’re on an Island, and when you start hanging around with people from towns, especially northern towns that have a proper identity, you realise you’re from a country with a culture and not some mad metropolis. 

You’re songs seem to be pretty issue based, would you agree?

I tend to write really intense poetry and lyrics which are about things. So I guess they are issue based. They just are what they are. If its about a realtionship, or something I’ve seen in London, or a friend who has gone a particular way, its not really anybody’s issue apart from mine. I guess they are issue based though. 

So you wouldn’t say as a band you were really political then?

No, I think when I was younger I would have like to spread a political message through music. As I’ve got older, I’ve realised how naive an idea that is, and how little I know, actually about politics. I’m more interested in self-enrichment and improvement and just enjoying music and enjoying creativity. I think its a lot more useful to say love yourself, than fuck Esso. 

What other artists would you associate your sound with? 

Speaker’s Corner Quartet. Jamie Woon. David Jay. Polar Bear, John Merkovich. DJ Snuff. There’s a load of rappers, their called Speaker’s Corner, they’re like my peers. All these guys play with jazzers from around the way. 

All the people that Kate just mentioned, they’re the contemporaries, their the people that we’re moving forward with. If we were going to get a tour like this, their the people that we would want to come along with us. Or if they get a tour then we want to be on it with them. Its that all movement thing. Its not quite a scene yet, but I think in the next year, it will be something more definite, more defined. I feel like what we do is quite different from other bands so its difficult. If you’re in a punk band, you can get together with other punk bands and go do a massive punk night. 

When we play with Polar, or Jamie Woon it makes sense because its all music coming from a genuine place. Its less about genre, and more about people doing something real. 

Who would you most like to make music with? 

There’s a lot of people. Shall we go round? All the people in that list before, is on the cards. Speaker’s Corner I wanna do, their a Jazz quartet. We’ve both got drummers, but apart from that we’ve all got separate instruments. I’d like to get them down, and do a track with Kate rapping on it. Jamie Woon, because he is a really amazing singer, and it would bring a new vibe to back up a chorus, or a whole verse. We’ve done a collaboration with Polar Bear, which will hopefully be on the album, it might be promotional we’re not sure yet. 

I want to collaberate with Rizza and the Wu Tang Clang. I’d like him to make me a beat. I’d like to collaborate with Bjork. Willy Mason, I want to write lyrics with him. Anyone who you listen to and you just go wow. I love that feeling, when it makes you cry and stuff. I’ve been listening to Johnny Cash, he makes me cry, buy obviously he is dead so that would be a bit difficult. 

Where do you want Sound of Rum to take you? Just a really really good legacy of albums. We’ve got our minds set on not just this album, but the next one and the next one. We want to make some truly incredible music. We want to keep blowing each other’s heads off with new ideas. We want people to know about it. Its not really fame, where you blow up and you’re massive for a few weeks and then you disappear. We want it to be sustained. Some bands just everything they release is a step forwards, its an amazing achievement to keep yourself fresh and interesting, and with the times, not getting stale. Keep being the sound of new England!

 Would you ever compromise your music to reach a certain goal, or level of popularity. 

These days if you’re a musician or a writer, and you need to survive, you might need to do a commission for somebody, or a company that can pay you enough money to pay you’re rent. I would write someone a poem, that I would have never written for myself if they hadn’t asked me to write it. But I don’t know if that is compromising your integrity because times have changed. Nobody is really making money from selling records. If you’ve made the decision to enter into this industry, and into this game then you’ve got to be prepared for it. You can’t be afraid of selling out. Great music is great music, and if you have to make shit music as well to pay your bills, then alright. Aslong as you’re still making great music. I wouldn’t want to be rapping for Mcdonalds or something I don’t really believe in, but I’m not going to say I wouldn’t do it, because there might be a time where I need to. Which is a horrible thing to hear myself say. 

We’re pretty lucky that the label we’re signed to, Sunday Best, they’re happy for us to put out what we want to put out. They’ve been guiding us, they know what is good and what is going to sell, they give us advice, but they don’t say “if you don’t put keyholes in this track, and vocoder over Kate’s vocals then I’m not putting this out. They’re giving us free reign. We’ve never been told do something that goes against what we think is good, if they tell us to do something, its normally a really good idea. 

I was pretty hurt when I heard Bright Eyes on a bank advert on telly, but have you ever stopped liking a band for ‘selling out’?

It is hard when a band you really love, does something crass like an awful advert or something. As I’ve moved into a position of becoming a professional artist myself I understand it a bit more now. 

I used to be really against advertising music on adverts but the more I think about it, the more I think its a great way to get you’re music out there, millions of people are going to hear you’re music without realsing it. The only thing is if it gets really annoying, but thats generally when the tune is already a bit annoying. You’ve got to make money, and you have the right to make money. 

Its tough though, I do think that when an artist a little bit of over exposure you stop caring. Especially when someone suddenly becomes famous then before you know it their music is on every advert and trailer. 

Bob Dylan is on a trailer at the moment, “times are a changing”, doesn’t mean thats going to detract from my enjoyment of his work, but he is different. 

Its all about giging, and people paying to come and see you. 

People keep saying to me, you’re not going to sell any records. But I’m just entertaining the thought of it, we have to get the album out. Thats the most important thing. I do want to sell loads of records. So much of that is out of your hands, you can make the best record in the world, but if it isn’t publicised and you don’t tour so not enough people know what it is. You’ve got to tell people they want it so they go and buy it. 

Its tough playing to a crowd who have never heard your songs before. When Pip goes on stage, all the mouths are saying every lyric. 

If they said that the gig tonight was cancelled how would you spend the evening?

Is there any parties happening tonight?

Not that I know of. 

Do parties ever happen?

Parties happen every night! 

We’re obviously not cool enough, only the lead singers get invited.

Exactly yeah. I’m not saying a word. 

Well obviously hope it isn’t cancelled!

Reviews. Reviews Reviews

So this entry and the last are chatting, about artists and records that everyone has, no doubt already made their minds up about, but they were written for my music journalism project so I thought I might as well chuck them up on here. Keep the anti-Ellie remarks clean please, if you would be so kind.

February 2010 [When I started writing this, then it got neglected]

Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History  (I always seem to want to call them Three Door, you can to if you like.)

Irish love spawn of Bloc Party and The Futureheads

At this time of year, hype generators like the BBC’s Sounds of 2010 poll can give bands a lot to live up to, and the ‘tastemakers’ didn’t leave ‘Two Door Cinema Club’ behind. This exciting Northern Ireland export are defiantly set to get some teenage knickers in a twist with their debut release Tourist History, which has eventually broken through to the masses after years of touring the array of small venues around the UK. But in fact this short and bitter-sweet marvel deserves the same level of admiration given to other distinctive bundles of inventive indie/electro such as Foals and Delphic which the band have opened for, during the time when most of their fans only new them as a myspace page or blog entry. 

The opening track ‘Cigarettes in the Theatre’ pushes the comic-book-reading student art-rock buttons and definitely shines some light on the Bloc Party comparisons. ‘This is the Life’ is a more indulgent melodic entry and ‘I Can Talk’ shows some cracking Futureheads inspired riffs and quirky vocals, putting them up there with some of the indie-pop names around this year. ‘Something Good Can Work’ is for me, the icing on the neatly iced sponge cake with heartening lyrical progressions and The dazzling catchyness of ‘What you Know’ show Two Door to be the  love spawn of many British bands before but still bringing something new and superb to the electo indie-pop table that you can’t quite put your finger on. The album ends on the ironically high spirited tune, ‘You are not Stubborn’ about arguing to the point that you can’t remember why on earth you fell out in the first place. 

This summer will no doubt be a massive summer for Two Door Cinema Club, prepare to be singing their tracks around the fields of Glastonbury. 

ELLIE GOULDING - Lights.

This singer/songwriter has been blogged and discussed online for as long as two years, with her album only just released this month, so the power of releasing tracks online has clearly been staggering. She topped the BBC’s Sounds of 2010 poll, and took the critic’s choice award at the Brits, and it does appear that the young star has, willingly or not, tatooed her name across the arse of 2010 already. NME have deemed her average and said that excessive hype is to thank for her chart topping album success, despite giving her a place on their Radar 2010 Mixtape, perhaps just as an accurate prediction or hype reaction. Such foregrounded, pre-hype has made the mainstream an unavoidable destination for Ellie Goulding, and any wishes to sneak into the limelight were completely eliminated. Along with the likes of Mumford and Sons, she has kissed the London underground folk scene goodbye, and said hello to Fern Cotton interviews. 

Lights will please fans who were looking for a record that laid her enchanting vocals on a bed of charming pop-folk and electronica, but any big ideas of this being the sound of the future would certainly seem questionable. It offers a great folk-pop sound but doesn’t move far from anything but the middle of the road. Highly successful single, Starry Eyed includes some rather gimmicky synths and sampled vocals but undoubtedly catchy power melodies. Under the Sheets is a definite addictive electro-pop love song, admirable for the bewitching lyrical hooks, and quirkyness to rub Kate Nash up the wrong way. For the less mainstream ear, ‘Wish I’d Stayed’ would definitely be the best bet, with its weighty sincerity, opening with  “why can’t we speak another language. One that we all agree on”. 

Potential pop singles like ‘Your Biggest Mistake’ cripple any denials of moulding the record to include the most mainstream of listeners and will no doubt allow for ongoing commercial success. A great first album, but it does show signs of the pop-filler which may be a struggle for some. To be recommended, but familiarise yourself with the humble skip-button. 

I sit on the fence. Which isn't normally I place I perch. 

Kasabian gig review for school project.

Kasabian - Milan Alcatraz 18th Feb 2010.

After supporting Oasis in a sell out summer tour last year, as well as headlining the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury, Kasabian have earned themselves stadium status. This makes things difficult for a fan to remain calm and give a rational written recollection of a gig when in the UK the prospect of seeing them without the company of 30 000 other sweaty fans becomes ever more remote. The Alcatraz is an impressive and big-ish venue near the centre of Milan, it resembled a more stylish Cardiff International Arena or 02 Academy. 

When there is no support bands at a gig, you’re not sure if you’re excited or disappointed, its the kind of rare, confusing and elated feeling you get when you bite into a Kit Kat to find its all chocolate and no biscuit. It did leave a lot of time for waiting around, drinking beer out of plastic cups, and watching the happy hardcore cling to the bar for dear life. The multiplying crowd eagerly gazed at the roadies as they wallow in their on-stage banter and guitar groping. The slightly early arrival allowed for a pretty mint almost-front-row position which would have to have been camped out for 24 hours at Glasto, so this measly 1 hour 40 minutes, would be certainly be worth it. 

As the faint rumble of Led Zepplin 3 that was barely oozing out of the speakers came to a grinding mid-solo halt it was clear that the waiting was over. The lights dimmed, drummer took to his throne and mysterious tour guitarist Jay Mehler donning dark glasses set up camp in front me. Then on strutted guitarist and vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, while hired keyboard player got in position for his role in this musical spectacle. Then the silhouette of charismatic showmanship that is lead singer Tom Meighan emerged mid stage, dipped his head and flew out his arms to the enticing sound of the ‘Underdog’ intro mixed with the roaring applaud from the suddenly animated crowd. 

Throughout the exuberant performance I was captivated by the humble cheeky grins from a band who seemed genuinely beaming to be playing in Milan, in front of a crowd that knew every line and sang along from the word go. There was no feeling of Brits-abroad in the calm, collected crowd with not one high tempered face in sight. Perhaps lacking that welcoming sense of unpleasantness to match a UK crowd. The set would have pleased an avid fan and lover of Kasabian’s debut self titled album with highlights being ‘Club Foot’ and ‘Processed Beats’. ‘Vlad the Impaler’ and ‘Where Did All the Love Go’ stood out from the recent album along with ‘Shoot The Runner’ from the 2006 release Empire. 

When the band returned to the stage after the encore, it was clear what was next on the set list and not a word was said before the evocative, and stomach turning intro to “Fire”.I remembered of the occult hold Kasabian had over Glastonbury 2009 with the hasty release of this single just before the festival. The set finished with the classic, epic, and distinctive Kasabian track, ‘L.S.F.’ Then, a wave of the Italian flag by Sergie before it flew into the crowd, and off they went. 

To see this band, in this situation gave this night the memorable moment factor, and knowing that people had travelled from all over Europe, like myself to be there made it an extra special show. The Alcatraz was packed, but the gig seemed to show a Kasabian stripped bare of hype, glitz and celebrity to reveal a fantastic live band who gave a crowd pleasing set enjoyed by all. 

Daisy Dares You - 'Number One Enemy'

A gimmicky approach to “I’ll do what I want” pop stardom, in a “girls want to be me, boys want to kiss me”, Pixie Lott clone, highly sellable package. ‘Number One Enemy’ lacks the mature, spot-on lyrical eloquence of Ellie Goulding but she does defer from sickly “he loves me not” teeny emo that may have been predicted. Daisy has followed her heart with her lyrics and takes more meaningful inspiration from family feuds and strong friendships.

The song could be completely believed as a 13 year old angst fueled rant, or a chart single attempt from a recently killed off Hollyoaks hottie, but as anything else leaves no excuses The video seems to be a feeble attempt at Lilly Allen’s ‘The Fear’, without the witty and topical song to match. 

I wonder if whoever harvested their money tree, or made promises of exploding record sales to Chipmunk for his weak rap appearance is the same person who encouraged Daisy to clamber head first through the Brit award shaped tunnel pathed by recent talents like Florence and the Machine and Marina and the Diamonds. 

More Avril circa 2002 than one to watch for 2010, do ‘know it all’ music predictors like BBC think the country has lost the ability to see through blonde hair and ripped Guns and Roses Tshirts? If (in the words of Chipmunk) Daisy is indeed “bout to take off”, then my faith in young British musicians will have to be restored soon, before it is lost forever.  

Foals - "Spanish Sahara"

Is a Maccabees style, second album chill-out and grow-up on the cards?

This track doesn’t only show Foal’s restraint to mount the alluring bandwagon of catchy vs quality, pop - indie boundary pushing, but with this anti-anthem they seem to have completely denied any acquaintance with it. 

With their second album, Total Life Forever not due for release until 10th May 2010, fans are left wondering if “Spanish Sahara” is an encompassing reflection of what we should know the Foals as from now on, or is it an emotive rose between the thorns of more Skins party hyper-tunes and more ornately and abstractly catchy tracks like Red Sock Pugie. Either way It seems a wise choice of first release for them to keep afloat in the unsettling and stormy current of indie-electro floor fillers.

After the first listen you may be blinded by the intensely mellow intro and distant vocals, leaving you feeling like a big flashing question mark, but you’ll be micro- seconds into the next when you’ll be goose-bump-riddled and lip-chewing at the prospect of this track being played live. 

Singer Yannis’ listless vocals and minimal beats initiate the record but then without time to wallow in ennui, the track makes a b-line for a mid-song progression that will hit you like the most sublime ton of bricks you’ve felt in a while.

When reading the mixed bag of online responses I conclude that “Spanish Sahara” is showing marmite-like properties. 

One word reviews

Mark Sharland - "Dynamic"

Anonymous - "Joke"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7tyLdKaru0

A Single Man

Amazing film. Too tired to blog properly now but will tomorrow. Want to put this quote up though, its the last lines of the film. 


" A few times in my life I've had moments of absolute clarity, when for a few brief seconds the silence drowns out the noise and I can feel rather than think, and things seem so sharp and the world seems so fresh. I can never make these moments last. I cling to them, but like everything, they fade. I have lived my life on these moments. They pull me back to the present, and I realize that everything is exactly the way it was meant to be. "


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My Trip to Milan

On thursday I went to an airport on my own for the first time, In the past I've been surrounded by family or a big group of people to follow so I was kinda scared, but it was a breeze. The amount of advertising at airports is extreme, there will be a massive terminal building with a 100 foot long "Emporio Armarni' sign across the top of it. Is that really necessary? Constantly along the process of getting a flight you are constantly being sold things, every spare second you are given the opportunity to shop. You have already payed for your flight, its like products within products within products until you eventually get out into the real world again. The flight back was better cos I had a window seat, I listened to Delphic while we flew over the Alps. The world looks so much more beautiful from the sky even if it made me feel really significant it also made me almost desperate to land so I could be part of it again. Foals is also really good in-flight music, I think thats because its so melodic and futuristic kinda. As the clouds because denser and greyer I knew we must be nearly at London town where the sun was definitely not shining. But anyway back to the beginning of the trip again:

Kasabian at Alcatraz, Milano 18 Feb 2010. 

The Alcatraz is a big-ish venue (tiny for stadium fillers Kasabian) near the centre of Milan. We got there at about 8pm which we didn't think was that early but it was pretty empty, except the happy hardcore clinging to the bar obviously. There was no support and a multiplying crowd eagerly gazed at the roadies as they wallow in their on-stage banter and guitar groping. Due to the early arrival I was pretty damn close to the band myself, I would have had to camp out all evening for this position at Glastonbury when I was saw them headline the Pyramid stage. (photo on the side panel of me blog). Anyway I felt a bit star struck because the cheeky grins were so clear I couldn't stop taking photos. I hope you like them. I do think though that sometimes if you are too close to the stage sometimes the vocals get a bit lost, that might be a completely false observation but still, the middle is best. The crowd was also a bit young, and a UK Kasabian crowd would have been a bit angrier and more abrasive which I welcome at a gig, who doesn't? The bad were so happy to be playing in Milan and they delivered a spot on set with tunes from all three albums, Club Foot and Where Did All the Love Go? probs being the best. I made an epic video of the silence and riff-kick-in of Fire, because it was the enchore and I was pretty certain they were going to play it first. LSF to finish, tune, epic times.  I consider this a very memorable musical evening for me. Maybe even in the same league as the homecoming Muse gig.

I found myself falling deeper and deeper in love fueled lust with this guitarist throughout the evening. Lovely voice, lovely everything else. Yes please. 

The Rest of the Trip.

I spent most of Friday sitting on the sofa watching Chuggington and Dora the Explorer in Italian with my two little cousins who I stayed with. I got so attached to this one Italian cartoon called Barabapapa, They are like these little blob dudes who can change into anything to help people out. Totally lovable. Check the link in at the bottom if you like kid's TV. I know its not just me who enjoys a bit of Charlie and Lola with their cereal in the morning. I also ate pasta and ragu, yum, and played a few games of Italy's answer to snakes and ladders. 

Saturday my aunty took me shopping in Milan in the morning. When marveling at the Dior handbags half of me wished I had a credit card and the other half was thankful from my gut that I didn't. I bought Italian Vogue from a metro stand because I could. It looks so much nicer, and you have an excuse to just gander at the pictures and make no attempt to read the editorial. Winner.

There lots of balloons, and children in fancy dress throwing confetti everywhere because it was carnival weekend, when Italian's celebrate the end of the winter. If ours ever actually ended maybe we could do the same.

Saturday night we went for drinks in the city and it was nothing like any 'drinks' I've ever been for in the UK. I would like to introduce to you, the Italian Happy Hour. Happy hour to me means cheap pints or £4 all in at pizza hut. But oh no, we went to two awesome bars and the deal is that you buy a (pretty overpriced but VERY strong) cocktail, pick up a plate and munch out on the buffet at your leisure. The first, smaller bar was all cous cous, ham bread crisps dip etc. The second had lots of little serving points spotted around the open plan bar, where you would wait to be served a selection of random food. I love little food and buffets. This was heaven for me pretty much.

Then Sunday I flew home which I've already chatted about. Highlight of the whole trip including Kasabian? My little cousin Matia telling his Mother he didn't want Abi to leave at the airport. Children are so pure and special. Couldn't live with any though!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgZzieE39p4

I might have to move my defualt biro heart to the new part of my hand as a tribute to the awesome Ellie Goulding. No idea what I'm chatting about? Follow the nifty link below to her video for 'Under the Sheets". She won the critic's choice award at the Brits which was lets face it the only one which holds any sort of acclaim. I did want Delphic to take it but there is no doubting that she is fab. First of many for her I reckonsssss. Other Brit highlights for me were, The Spice Girls winning best memorable performance, the ultimate doss of nostalgia. The fact that Florence's voice sounds even more stunning live, and JLS Marvin in a suite. Don't get me started on the Gaga situation. X

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Navl4fYI-Zk

One Born Every Minute.

I think there is a time in every student's week that they feel the need to watch a Channel 4 documentary in their PJS. I just naively chose the new reality tv style docu-drama 'One Born Every Minute' which is made up purely of footage from cameras placed around a hectic maternity ward. The program was pretty much what I expected it to be. By myself though I was totally surprised. I found myself bursting into tears at random moments, and this freaked me out because that kind of emotional reaction could lead to me actually wanting to engage in the horrific activity that men have called labour, later in life. Blooming heck.

But that aside I found it pretty amazing to be honest. Whoever is responsible for capturing some of that footage (the less graphic parts) should be so proud. I found myself particularly attached to the younger Mum to be. As the intense venerability drew me closer and closer to the edge of my seat I was comforted by her witty sarcasm and the nurses which remained cool as a cucumber throughout the entire ordeal. She was eventually told that due to the problem her baby had when developing she needed to give birth to him by cesarian section which left her completely petrified, and I was right there with her. She was told it would take 10 minutes to get the baby out, and I imagined that the only thing more terrifying than giving birth must be the thought of leaving it up to a group of complete strangers while you lie there with numb legs. When the midwife (or doctor I'm not sure but they were important) announced that the baby was out, the concerned Mum (we can call her that now) waited anxiously for the sound of her child crying. The look of complete shock, amazement, pride and relief as soon as the little treasure started wailing was magic, and whoever captured that must be a proud little media monkey.

I really can't believe how attached I got to everyone involved in such a short space of time.
I just know I'm going to hear my 'I hate everything' TV lecturer make a subtle dig at this in a lecture and I'll be glad that I appreciated it. I'm also glad for broadband and 4od. And contraception.

The Record Fair.

I'm pretty silly with money sometimes. 

I bought this Sigur Ross calendar because I thought it was pretty stunning.

I later wondered why I had bought a calendar which is pretty clearly for 2009.

But alas, I have it, adding to the clutter of my uni room. 

All the images are fractured, topical and are yet beautifully separate from reality. Which is pretty much how I feel about their music. So yeah you could stay I'm glad I still bought it. Its pretty inspiring. 

I also bought the best of The Smiths on CD and it has a pretty creepy looking dude on the front cover, and a promo album of a band called This City cos they got well good reviews in Rock Sound. Haven't bothered to actually listen to it more than once though. Too addicted to Bombay Bicycle Club and The Smiths at present. I saw three albums which have covers that are being made into stamps. Primal Scream is the nicest. 'A Rush of Blood to the Head' shouldn't be there I hate that picture its so pretentious. 

Anyway, record fairs forever!

XXX

Bristol Temple Meads: 4th Feb 2010 From 5pm till about 6pm.

Waiting outside a train station for an hour waiting for your sister to pick you up after herwork that makes her important lets her out late, is boring. When I have to wait somewhere like this, surrounded by people but completely on your own I make friends. I make friends with everyone around me but completely in my head. I do this by imagining what I would buy them if I had to spend a grand on them. This could be the result of a radio one quiz which lets face it I must have sucked at to get this prize. But forget about the technicalities because its quite a fun game. If I see a really snobby looking middle aged couple with children I might think "a week in centre parks", or an interestingly hot geekish guy I might go for a retro hi fi system or something. A chic working girl would get a rail of the hottest vintage dresses that Park st could give you. Sometimes my head gets clogged up with sarcastic comments like "a haircut". Or when the Frank Carter wannabe on the next bench along who keeps gawking at me spits on the ground in front of him all I want is a £1 to get him a second hand copy of a Jane Austin novel. Emma or Mansfield Park. That might sort him out.


I love things that are, at the time, scary or intimidating, but in hindsight are pretty interesting.
Mary Poppins would be proud of me.

DELPHIC

Discovered. Loved. Chuffed. Must share.
Their music sneaked onto my itunes via a free Radar mixtape I downloaded from the NME website. (I know I know, if the Daily Mail made a music magazine) I loved the laid back, effortless upbeat music mixed with the poignant lyrics in Couterpoint. Quite heart-rendering. While at the same time being as far away from any emo or Snow Patrol-ish as you can get. If Friendly Fires were a beach party, then Delphic would be a moonlight walk with your toes in the sand. A bit more mature, but equally awesome and more likely to be remembered.

Doubt is the first official single release from the debut album Acolyte. Radio One have been obsessively playing Doubt in their usual desperate attempt to be diverse and all-encompassing. Its is another brilliant song though. I can't wait to get my hands on this album. These guys are really imaginative, innovative and expressive. 2010 is going to a massive year for them.

The photos on the website are also pretty impressive, take a peak. http://delphic.cc/photos/

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Definitely the geekiest post so far!!

The niftiest little guy in a bookworm's life.

Seriously though I am well chuffed with this bad boy, holds your book open a treat.

Copying quotes out has become one of the easier parts of the essay writing adventure.

I do believe the little muscly pink dude would help me more if he wasn't so well, plastic and tiny.

Every student should have someone buy them one of these.

I mean they did win the Gift of the Year award last year. 

Not DJ Hero for the XBOX elite, not an Experience Day with Ferrari, but the little book holder.

They get my vote for 2010.

Baby Lucas.

My heart nearly burst looking at the photos of my cousin's new baby!
The future is bright!

"You and you're cousins and me and my cousins!"

I love the stories that you're parents have told you about a million times, they must realise. Just laugh and say "oh really? What a funny story!"

Proper blogging will commence after the beastly essay and exam are romeo done. Reviews of some of the four lushes albums I got for crimbo, and the new Vampire Weekend album I will inevitably not be able to resist buying tomozzzzzoooo!!!!! EXCITING. I'm already addicted to 'Cousins'. As you probably already realised. X