Five Songs You Must Hear... #3

From the hierachy and class of the hometown of Radiohead in Oxford to the ghetto famous for raising one of the most influential rap artists this side of the mellenium, Ludacris. Here is the 'five songs you must listen to' post. Worship now.


#1: Apollo 440 - Stop The Rock

This track was featured on the FIFA 2000 soundtrack, and it remains to this day once of my favourite bolts of genius from the break-beat era. Its upbeat almost indie chords and contrasting dark lyrics, make this track insanely addictive.






#2: Radiohead - No Surprises

Possibly the most accessible song Radiohead has ever produced. 'No Surprises' is taken from the lankmark 1997 album 'OK Computer', it reached #4 in the UK singles chart. Even at the young age of 8, I could still appreciate the timeless quality of music production in this track.




#3: Muse - Hysteria

Absolutely mammoth tune from Muse and their multi-platinum third album 'Absolution'. This song can be compared to the climax of sex like no other in the world that I know. The first 20 seconds alone are likely to leave you with extreme withdrawal symptoms.






#4: Ludacris - Eyebrows Down

As the king of punk-rap, Ludacris delivered a timeless anthem with the penultimate song of his album 'Chicken-n-Beer'. I regard it to be his best work. This track talks about his increased fame, life changes and the reasons behind him changing record labels to Def Jam.



#5: DJ Tiesto - Adagio for Strings

The world's best DJ may be getting on a bit these days, but back in his prime he took the relatively unknown song originally composed by Samuel Barber and turned it into a global club phenomenon. Witnessing his brilliance on the decks is something of a natural wonder in the musical world.

Album Review #1: Does It Offend You, Yeah?

Does It Offend You, Yeah?
You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into

I've been lucky enough to lay my hands on a promo copy of the Album that's out next week (March 24th) and is unmistakebly going to be reviewed in this week's NME, so I thought why not, let's start my first ever album review with a certain hit. I'm gonna do this track by track, as minute by minute is just way too over the top, and takes fookin lightyears!

Review

Track #1: Battle Royale
As the album opens with the thumping of the bass and the finely tuned chords of synth heaven; you can already tell your in for one hell of a ride.
I'm wearing Sony Headphones for this, so I'm limited to what I can experience, but I can still feel the contagiousness of Does It Offend You, Yeah? running through my veins and into my nervous system. It's not Euphoric, but since when did anyone ever care about that

Track #2: With A Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)
The youth of the nation shouts out firmly at the beginning of the first true song on the album. "I Loved Her... He entertained her... then forgave her"
This is also the first time I've ever heard in a song, the sound of someone being hanged and gasping for breath! Fusing elements of intense 90s American break-beat and modern British licks, this is a sure song to get the masses jumping. Imagine being absoluely blitzed out of your skull in a crowd of a thousand or more at the point of 3:14 and you will understand my point. This is the Euphoria I was hoping for!

Track #3: We Are Rockstars
Their next single to be released from their 'epic' collection. 'We Are Rockstars' is brash and bold, it's one of those 'different' tracks bands put out. Everyone knows 'The Ting Tings' by now and their hits 'That's Not My Name' and 'Great DJ', but what really sets them apart from the pack is 'We Walk'. It does exactly the same to them as this track does to DIOYY. It's not a short track at 3:50, but it feels short, as though they're racing through to the 'better bits'. It was a short step down in tone from the previous track, but that's what happens when you take speed and run around in circles. Pills + Exercise = Fucked Up Head

Track #4: Dawn of the Dead
This song reflects the band's contemporary indie influences, with 'quirky anecdots' Matthew Murphy would be proud of. If you discount the synths and a weird man voice in the background going "HOOOHH... HA!" it sounds like GoodBooks, but with a very hippy backdrop. It's clearly the 'makes you think' track. I also detect hints of Bloc Party and Keane, but that's just me. It's a feelgood track, simple as.

Track #5: Doomed Now
This track is very catchy on the outset, and the robot voice synths complement the drums and bass very well. It's sweet and innocent like Britney was many years ago, but has a Paramore kick to it. Ultimately this is a standard record building song, it couldn't really work anywhere else on the album, because it doesn't follow any of their bands typical conventions. Although I have somewhat a small feeling this is a great spectacle live.

Track #6: Attack of the 60ft Lesbian Octopus
Boasting possibly the best title to a song, since the days of Winston Churchill, this is sure to have your Nan turning in her grave. It'll get people moving on the dancefloor to all kinds of strange dances. It's very short at exactly 2 minutes, but its the perfect pace builder to the masterpiece of the whole setup.

Track #7: Let's Make Out
I think I first heard this track back in November when I found out the band we're supporting Hadouken! for their New Years Eve mash up. I feel instantly in love with it, as it did me: "I'm in love with you my baby girl" It sticks out in my mind as well as the only one of their songs on New Years that I actually vividly remember. It's just the most amazing experience to find yourself surfing on top of a crowd of sweaty people to the sound of "too many legs under the table"; it makes you feel really really slutty! But ohhhhh SO GOOD!

Track #8: Being Bad Feels Pretty Good
After that onslaught of madness, this track feels really refreshing and cleansing, just like the morning after pill! Ok, maybe not; but you catch my drift. The opening synths make you feel like you've just landed on mars amongst a strange race of people, who keep bowing to you and calling you the almighty 'gondolarse'. I really like this track, the riffs are unique and the lyrics are startling. "I will not go that way... I'll take it day-by-day." It reveals that this bunch of rave superstars can write songs as well as perform like a mass of exodus.

Track #9: Weird Science
The penultimate episode in this album of obscenities and nastiness, 'Wierd Science' sounds like something off of 'Lost in Space', and I don't have any other song in my musical caculated mind to compare it to. It's almost like a nu rave orchestra, great, but unless your under the age of 20 you won't understand its purpose or why it's so great.

Track #10: Last Epic Song
All good things must come to an end, and sometimes the best ones are the ones that end too early. I've heard nine distinctly different tracks on an album I thought would impress me, yet I can't help feeling I've been slightly shortchanged.
For a band that know how to throw a party and create an untold amount of carnage, they talk a lot about love and heartache, and it's really starting to rub off on me.
Some cheeky lines and plenty of fun, this was a decent round off, shame that Razorlight couldn't do the same with their last effort.

Verdict

Upon the ending of the first time I listened to the album, I proceeded to take out the Sony Headphones and plug back in the mother of all computer sound systems that be the Logitech Z-5500. Then I got myself ready to unleash the power of god unto the walls of my house and my neighbourhood with the full wacking 1000watt vibrating sound emitting device.
Then I had myself a little fist to the air moment, whilst utilising the other hand to press the 'play' button... again. This album duly deserves a fucking round of applause. However, if there's any complaints I have it's that I feel they rushed the album a bit. They could have given it maybe a month more, and included a few more sledgehammers in the middle. Although I feel the record was tame from tracks 3-5, it was topped off after 'Let's Make Out' with a delicious cherry. I feel There's definitely talent here, it just needs nurturing and time can only tell of that. It's a shame it's not going to get a chart place it deserves, with Panic At The Disco possibly stealing that illusive No.1, and Foals not far behind.

7/10

Storming The Charts #1: Hard-Fi - 'I Shall Overcome'

This was not a planned new style of entry into my blog, most forms of creation are sparks of the mind and desperation for success. Laying up tonight watching the first Grand Prix of the F1 season, a rampant example of racing where Lewis Hamilton re-instigated his claim for a World Championship after a faultless drive.

Christ!

Yes, its almost easter but whatever, I will blasfeme, i'm blabbing on again, gah! straight to the point!

This new entry will happen at random, when I feel a particular song I like can do particularly good in the charts. So here goes the first 'Storming The Charts' blog entry!

Several weeks ago, I expressed my personal views for the second track of Hard-Fi's second successive No.1 Album, 'I Shall Overcome'. For any of you that didn't read that part of the blog entry; then basically when I listen to it, its like receiving the same amount of pleasure as when the accumulated boner's initiated on train station platforms throughout Britain when millions of men open to Page 3 of The Sun during the morning rush hour are added together in tandem and multiplied by quite a few trillion.


The unmistakable sound of Hard-Fi is 'Hard to Beat' and 'Living for the Weekend', and even 'Suburban Knights' can be argued to be the link between the first and second albums. However, I feel Hard-Fi's second album really starts upon the opening of this track.
The sweet sound of a modern American west with a catchy riff, leads into Richard Archer's words "New day dawning/Wonder what it holds for me".
It might just be a coincidence that the song I feel is the beginning of the album has "New day" as the first two words, but that's just me.
When I interviewed Hard-Fi on the release day of 'I Shall Become' recently at their Staines HMV signing and free private gig in the Hob Goblin pub in Staines afterwards, another reason for this post.
One of the first things I directly said to Archer was, "Have you bought any new houses yet?"; to which he replied: "No, I still live round the corner, so do Kai and Ross".
I'm not a fan of thinking more of lyrics than they really are. Many people got to complete wrong end of the stick when The Enemy released 'Away From Here' and believed they wished nothing more than to be rid of Coventry. Quite the contrary, they wrote the song just after Tom had had a 14 day successive slog at his 9-5 job. Then on the first day off he got, he bought a car and drove it to Glasgow and back for the fun of it, because he was bored.

So, anyway, back to Hard-Fi. The song pretty much is about overcoming difficulties and problems in anyone's life really, which means you could relate it to any problem and anyone can relate to it. However, the lyrics are also strikingly powerful, but words like "I hear your name in my heart" sort of narrow it down to problems relating to love, so be careful in how you think your problems relate to it.


Anyway, regardless of how Archer meant the lyrics to mean, or the limits of how these lyrics can be interpreted and related to by anyone and everyone, its still quite an upbeat and laid back track you can listen to again and again.

I caught up with Ross Phillips (lead guitarist for Hard-Fi) after the signing for the new single took place and he spoke about the songs chances in the charts and Hard-Fi's plans for the near future.

Lee: "Firstly, congratulations on your second successive No.1 Album."
Ross: "Cheers mate."

Lee: "How successful do you think 'I Shall Overcome' could prove to be as a single, and do you see is becoming your second top 10 single to date?"
Ross: "Well it's been getting good radio play and it's always been one of my favorite tunes off the album, so I was hoping it was gonna be a single. It just felt like the right one. Hopefully it'll be a top 10, but ya' never know. Fingers crossed."

Lee: "Did you enjoy the 'Once Upon a Time in December Tour' and we're there any particular highlights for you?"
Ross: "Yeah it was amazing, playing Wembley Arena was an amazing experience! Right up in Scotland it's always a good laugh, they're bit mental int' they up there! But yeah, every night, just had a good time. I really enjoyed it."

Lee: "Are you looking to play any festivals this year?"
Ross: "We're actually more looking to get some new stuff together now, but we're going over to America in a couple of weeks for this Jack Daniels thing, and possibly this festival being held at Victoria Park. We really just want to get cracking on some new stuff."


Lee: "How did the Africa Express you got involved with go for you, especially with having the opportunity to play with a wide variety of Africa artists?
Ross: "It was mental it was. Went up on the bus, us and loads of other bands and Africa musicians. We played with this world class African percussionist, and this bloke with this funny Arabic loop kind of thing. They played some stuff with us, but I can't for the life of me remember any of their names!"

Much laughter ensued with me suggesting he was quite merry for most of the time.
After which I asked the last, but possibly for the future the most important question.

Lee: "Looking towards the future do you anticipate to be getting back in the studio any time soon, or will you be taking a well earned break?"
Ross: "Well we've got quite a few numbers knocking about and we've already wrote some new stuff, but Rich wants to go to El Salvador and visit his new girlfriend's country. So yeah, we'll be taking a very short break, but we're all very eager to just get back in the studio and crack on with the third one. I've got a really good feeling about this next one!"

I'll leave you with a short clip of Hard-Fi playing out some of 'Suburban Knights' at the secret gig, back on Monday 10th March. Hopefully come 6pm on sunday, Hard-Fi will be in the top 10; it'll be tough, but not totally out of the question.

Hard-Fi - Suburban Knights

My New Podcast! Pilot Episode!

ITS FINALLY HERE!
The most exciting new thing to hit the web this month!
I told you it was something special!
I now have a Podcast that will acompany this blog
Although I was already thinking of doing this for some time, it was Sid (Music Liberation) and my Radio lecturer Amanda who finally gave me the kick up the arse I deserved, and I spent most of the weekend that I was awake putting it together!

I would like to thank several people for this, firstly Amanda and Sid, but also Georgie my flatmate who contributed to the little 'Get in the know' segment that is so well needed! Also my mum, my dad, everyon...... WTF am I doing!
Twat... *slaps self with wet fish*

Moving on from that moment of complete and utter bewilderment!

This is the first Podcast that will acompany this blog, couple of glitches and slight sound faults on this pilot, but I did make it in my Uni room so that may be why. On the later ones it will be scripted a bit more, as well as being recorded in my University Radio Studio... "oooo doesn't that sound swarve!"... so check out the Podcast, have a good listen, subscribe to it through iTunes, and comment on this blog about it. Hope you enjoy it!

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Many Thanks, Lee

Five Songs You Must Hear... #2

Serving up another wonderful dose of musical billiance, I attempt to get your ears and minds gaging in an orgy of songs that will make your dance and make you cry. This is the second installment of songs that I think you should not go your lifetime without listening to. Period.

#1: N.E.R.D - Rockstar (Jason Nevins Remix)

Nothing needed to be changed with the original. However, obviously when your talking about Jason Nevins, your talking about a mass orgy at the mixing table. The legend once again delivered a top listen in this track. Pharell thought it was good enough to be on the band's second album 'In Search Of' back in 2004. Think about what happened when Alien Ant Farm raped Michael Jackson's 'Smooth Criminal' and your about half way there.


#2: Xzibit - Eyes May Shine

Xzibit may be annoying people with his 'Pimp My Ride' appearances, but in the Hip-Hop world, he is God. This track is taken from his debut album 'At The Speed of Life' which remains to this day one of the most influential Hip-Hop albums of all time. The words from a man not influenced by fame or money, but the desire for America to wake up and realise its problems.



#3: Mos Def - Ghetto Rock

Some of you might not recognise the name Mos Def, but if you need a spark to the brain, hes the black dude from 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. I wouldn't exactly say he's breaking any genre boundaries with this track, it's more of a false reality; but let it be known, this is a don of a tune. The urban scene doesn't need to collaborate with alternative rock artists to make good music, they already know how.


#4: Arctic Monkeys - If You Were There, Beware

I've come to terms with the fact that even though this band are responsible for the killer songs 'When The Sun Goes Down' and 'Fluorescent Adolescent', this for me is their best piece of work to date. The fluid thunder of noise that echoes through your skeleton at the beginning and end with the sweet melody of lyrics in the middle. This is indie-rock at it's most catastrophic.


#5: Motorhead - Metropolis

I thought i'd leave you with an ultimate listen in Motorhead's thunderbeat 'Metropolis'. I first head this track a few years ago when my ex girlfriend's dad introduced me to the song on the band's 2004 Inferno Tour DVD and I was blown away within the first thirty seconds. If any man can keep track of that many drums for one song, they deserve an olympic medal. If there's one song you should listen to from this list, it's this one by miles!

Five Songs You Must Hear... #1

This is that mid-week blog that I promised to do for all you music crazed yuppy children of the nu rave jilted generation.
This won't be one of those, oh you have to listen to this song cos if you don't then your not cool sort of things; but it's going to be a weekly list of five songs thatI think deserve that special mention. Some of these songs you may already know very well, however, I'd like to think that some you will have never of heard, and suddenly it jumps upon you like
Without further or do, lets hand you to the first list of five songs.


#1: The Crystal Method - Keep Hope Alive

Crystal Method are a break-beat/electronic duo from LA. I could go on about their sound and how distinctive it is, but that would take years; so in a nutshell they are The Chemical Brothers, but a more hard-core, grittier American version. Keep Hope Alive's heartstopping beat could bring down an army with one swift stroke. If anyone were to play this song amidst a drunken house party, then expect a riot, followed by a knock on the door by the police.


#2: The Chemical Brothers - Bass Test

You can't possibly involve Crystal Method in a conversation about the break-beat/big-beat movement of the 90s without mentioning the British duo, who with their 5th consequtive No. 1 album last year, are still blowing cranium from the minds of the youths of the world. This track has possibly the loudest and most penetrating bass i've ever heard in my life! If you have a decent system, turn the thing up to the max, and feel your tonsils vibrate.

#3: Reel Big Fish - Sell Out

At about the age of 8 or 9 I always remember this song bangin' out on FIFA 2000; I think at one point I changed the game settings so that only this track was played, over and over again! This song become ultimately popular in 1997, after substantial radio play in the United States towards the end of 2006 when it was released and most of 2007. Quality Song

#4: Keane - Hamburg Song

A much slower paced track the last three, but making up in sheer musical beauty, amazing with lyrics and vocals from Tom Chaplin. This is definately the best, if not one best song they've ever written. It's the sort of song that should acompany a beautiful sun set, with the curtains of your spanish villa blowing in the wind. Timeless, and epic.



#5: The Jam - The Eton Rifles

An Absolute barnstorming song from the Woking three-some. Richard Archer drew on the influences of this song and 'A Town Called Malice' to write the brilliant Hard-Fi anthem Suburban Knights. So what can I say, about this song... I guess you just have to be a London lad to understand it's true value, or otherwise, good luck to you.


Really give those songs at lease one listen, they are all great!
Remember to keep voting for my blog at the top of the page; everyday if you wish :D
Sorry I haven't posted a band blog this week, but i'm still working on the review of the NME gig at the moment, it's been almost a week but there was so much to write about, and I wanted to condense it down into something really worth reading. I've also got some really exciting news in the next blog so keep checking back here! Cheers!
T'ra!