Phrazes...

Julian Casablanca’s-Leeds Review

The man is an idol. I could leave the review at that in all honesty. I have been blessed with seeing a few of my hero’s on stage before Madness, The Specials and even the Maccabees but having sadly never seen The Strokes live before I had never seen Julian Casablanca’s in the flesh until now.

What can I say! He has more coolness in his little finger than NME’s new bands of 2010. Some people are just born that way. I wasn’t really expecting much having not really listened to his debut album ‘Phrazes for the young’ and expected a bit of a one band show with a backing band but instead the 7 piece were all in their own right brilliant musicians and eager not to let The Strokes front man take all the limelight.

This album and tour has been around 3 years in the making, Albert Hammond Jr has managed to knock out two albums, a gossip girl appearance and date the world’s biggest super model in the time that this album was produced, but quality defeats quantity.

The problem that Casablanca’s has is that he is the voice of easily the best band in the last decade and unless he made a country album with Hannah Montana’s dad it would be impossible to escape The Strokes similarities and that is just the way it rolls. But what I saw was someone who has brought together a band of considerable talent and produced quite a few very good songs. The stands outs were of course the single 11th Dimension with its synth laden backing beat and Out of the Blue which is a joy to see live.

My favourite song of the night was the stripped down version of ‘You only live once’ and it wasn’t just me singing every single lyric back at Casablanca’s and it is nights like this that you wonder why the hell The Strokes haven’t got their ass into gear and brought out another wonderful and heart-warming album. The music world may have been taken over by Kings of Leon and The Killers but I know who I would rather be right now and that man has just left fans across the world awaiting with baited breath any new songs from The New York Hipsters.


Julian Casablanca's Myspace

Our native Fellows

It seems like they appeared out of nowhere.

They probably didn't, they may of been blogged about since someone overheard them doing their first ever band practice.

I certainly would of if I had known these boys had so much god damn talent.

Blessing our shores with their layered and heartwarming songs Local Natives seems to be everybodys new favourite band and I for one couldn't agree more.

The great thing about the new album 'Gorilla Manor' is the fact you could press shuffle and be instantly wrapped in cotton wool and be wooed into a slumber by the vivid lyrics that hit you.

Stand out tracks from the album come in form of 'Airplanes' which starts with a chorus of boo's and then unravels a story in which many listeners will relate to, the dreaded 'wanting the ex back feeling' heartfelt and beautifully rolled out this was the turning point for me.

Other stand outs are Camera Talk and dare I say it A fleet foxes sounding 'world news' but hey! with a voice that amazing we can forgive and forget!

Gorilla Manor was released on the 2nd of Nov on infectious Records and they hit our shores in early 2010 where I will be welcoming them with open arms!

Nath

Local Natives Myspace

oh to be youveful...

So it seems like forever since I first saw this band in Worcester on the back end of what was a lovely summer.
I'd never heard of any of the bands playing the free Worcester all-dayer and if I was to be truthful I wasn't expecting much until Youves hit the stage.

They were exactly the band that I enjoy seeing live, bursting with energy and looking like they are having the time of their lives.
The crowd obviously fed off this as it was getting a little riotous to say the least.

So two months down the line and in very different circumstances I luckily caught them again before I started Work at Leeds Cockpit.
Although there was by far a smaller turnout they didn't let it phase them and showed that you don't need many people to get the party going.

Playing trademark songs such as the jittery and cow bell lined Aladdin's Rave and the infectious Bigorexic they reasserted how much potential they have if they are caught by the right sort of people.

Having already toured with successful bands such as Rolo Tommasi its only a matter of time before they are dancing around with their shirts off(the lead singer is hence) and invading your mind.

Nathan x


Youves myspace

CRZY CRZY COLABRTN..

Less than cooly named Mstrkrft..seriously??? its only a few letters guys...

Always making good music however since the sad demise of Death From Above 1979 they have now brought out a classic with...drum roll...John Legend. I kid you not. Always sucker for 'Just Ordinary People' its understandable in a sense as the man has some talent.

And in fairness the song works, strangely complimenting the duo's beats it caught my attention straight away and ever since has been in my playlist.

While I am on the topic of guest vocals a massive massive song at the moment is funnily enough by the normally talentless button pusher's Flithy Dukes.

Orlando Weeks from The Maccabees has his lyrics chopped up and moved around from the song 'William Powers' which features on the new album 'Wall of Arms'

It works, and really really well. No credit taken from The Original as it is my favourite song on a brilliant album. In all fairness it dosent even sound anything like the original and it would take a Maccabees fan to notice the lyrics

So...two brilliant brilliant new songs with guest vocals..

What next then?

Lady Ga Ga staring on Madonnas's new album? how ironic..

Big Boots to Fill...

So its been a while...actually it feels more like decade since I last spoke my free mind on this wonderful blog. Summer it seems has brought about quite a few changes ranging from me actually having a job to buy and actually do things. I am in a stable relationship which seems to be going somewhere...and last but not least Man City and Real Madrid have spent about the same amount of money that it will cost me to finish university and it’s pretty obvious that they will finish in the same position next year.

However good as come musically and in the form of Bombay Bicycle Club. It seems that for some reason they have bypassed me for a long time now and it was only until they released ‘Always like This’ that they finally caught my attention. In all fairness they never seemed to have much about them, a poor mans Good Shoes if you will. However after watching them at Live at Leeds and playing their E.P’s ’ How we are’ and ‘The Boy I Used To Be’ I fell in love with Jack Steadman’s shakey vocals.

In all fairness it would be easy to say that I have loved this band since they started and try and blag that I have ‘watched them grow’ into their new sound that they have on recently released ‘I had the blues but I shook them loose’ but I haven’t and instead found out about a wonderful band at the right time. It seems critics wise they haven’t found many friends with numerous reviews slating the album and ridiculously giving it 5 out of 10 or 2 out of 5. This all comes about in a period in which the most lyrically talented artists such as Little Boots and La Roux are being rewarded with success. Give me a break please. ‘I’m gonna take you out tonight, I’m gonna make you feel alright’ she’s no Bob Dylan that’s for sure.

Album wise BBC are pretty tip top with ‘Lamplight’ and ‘Cancel on Me’ being standouts. The whole concept of the album is brilliant in a sense that no one song sounds the same. They should in all fairness be awarded for having the steel to be able to not just get a safe sound and stick with it which seems a common pattern of late.

Highlights for the summer easily come from The Maccabees, Passion Pit and Animal Collective with a sneaky little number from the Virgins(only one song mind) in the form of ‘Love is Colder Than Death’ at least they have musical talent for 5 minutes.

Next Goal Wins will be vacating our not so sunny shores in a few weeks to visit the Rhineland and maybe catch Hasselhoff on the Berlin Wall...or not. So expect tales a plenty as well as some fabulous holiday snaps.
Nathanial Day-Lewis (Thanks Andy)

X

Stag And Dagger

After the huge success of last years Stag and Dagger Festival in London it returns once again boasting a fresh and talented line-up as well as two new cities. Stag and Dagger will now stake its claim in Leeds and Glasgow as well as the Big Smoke.

The festival last year was the first of its kind “the first one-ticket-gives-access-to-all music event” will be no different. The bands this year are also some of my favourites. Cold War Kids are intense live and you would foolish not to expect and emotional show. Texan Hipsters White Denim will also be there with a ferocious return. The line-up also boasts up and coming talent such as Delphic, Michachu and Dananananakroyd.

Tickets are priced at a tidy £15 and are available from the website http://www.staganddagger.com/ so be sure to snap them up before they all go.

I will hopefully be seeing u there!

The Mac is Back

So today I got the best news ever.


My friend Calvin posted me a link for the new Maccabees album...


now I wouldn’t usually get this worked up over and album...nor would I of imagined in a million years that I would download the album for free before its release as The Maccabees are in my world on par with Jesus. No offence intended to anyone out there but I have ye little faith in the old big G.


I am currently sat in my university Library trying to reach a deadline for 12pm tomorrow and I have listened to 'Wall of Arms' 4 times in 3 hours.


I know I got a tad little bit worked up about The Horrors even though it still is a masterpiece but this Maccabees album is what I have been looking forward too since they released 'Colour It In' although that album ranks in my top five albums of all time it was released at a time where many people had already heard the majority of the songs in the build up.


What is different this time is that like White Lies they have only given away one or two songs for people to listen to which are 'Love You Better' and 'No Kind Words', each completely different and wonderful in their own right. This album is fresh, new and unheard materiel which nearly knocked me off my chair.


This 5 piece sound like they have matured into their sound and rather than try something completely different like The Horrors they have instead tweaked their songs to make them even more heartfelt than before which I didn’t think was possible.


I will be able to give more of a detailed review once I have maxed out the album but for now I am just sat here with a small smirk on my face wondering how anyone could of ever doubted they weren’t going to nail it...

P.s I wont be posting a song up on here from the album until after the release date as I feel guilty for even having it.X

Oh Johnny Two Bands

It was to my dismay that I found out the other day that one of my favourite groups Vincent Vincent and The Villains had parted ways after what seemed like a long hiatus. The group in which Charlie from The Rumblestrips started out in had always been a firm favourite with me because of how different they were to other bands around at the time. Bringing elements of 50/60's rock n roll they were Londons Finest. Seeing them support Good Shoes in Bristol was one of my favourite gigs of all time, it just cant be beaten.

Vincent Vincent has a new solo project coming so check him out on his myspace.Wonderful.

Vincent Vincent and The Villains Myspace

Vincent Vincent Myspace

Vincent Vincent and The Villains-Blue Boy mp3

Peaches & Mean

So after finally getting a chance to listen to the Horrors new album in full and to which I have since then put on loop for about 5 days straight, I can still safely say that it is the work of art that I thought it would be...and none of this Turner prize winning rubbish! I mean Andy Warhol scale art.

As I have said before I was never a big fan of the Horrors. Always over hyped and over dressed they seemed to have no real heart in their music when compared to bands around in the same period such as The Maccabees who just shone with passion. Not to lump them in the same category however or to dismiss them as they have obviously had big influence on bands such as SCUM and Ipso Facto.

The album Primary Colours brings out a new and creative side I never thought I would see from a band that cared more about how big their hair was than making something worth listening too.

Starting with an electro beat feel “Mirrors Image” is to perfect antidote for people who are used to listening to the franticness of the old Horrors, we are then sucked in by their new sound as we move onto 'Three Decades' which finally reveals how good Farris’s voice is. 'Who can say' which is a personal favourite of the album sounds more like Joy Division than anything else with distorted Guitars and an eerie keyboard building up for Farris to declare to the world “and then I kissed her, with a kiss that could only mean goodbye”.

The album picks up the pace quite a lot with ‘The New Ice Age’ and we hear a more ferocious Ferris than we have in earlier tracks. Scarlet Fields which another personal favourite tones down the mood and allows the band to show their true colours with Rhys Webb on keyboards bringing a touch of magic to the track. It is at this point that the album really comes together and in which I realised how much of a complete and well thought album this is.

According to Interviews they recorded in a studio in Bath which had no windows and which sent them nearly insane and it is clearly evident on this album.
I can only assume that the influences from this album came from Farris break up with the Ditzy and rather unimpressive Peaches Geldof who is now currently dating The Lead singer of the Virgins who are hotly tipped but have as much talent as Mr Casablanca’s has in one finger. The lyrics aren’t as dark as their previous album but talk more of loss and desperation which is evident in ‘I only think of you’.

The next two tracks which include the Title Track and the newly released 'Sea within a Sea' are a brilliant way to round off such a stunning album. 'Sea within a Sea' lasts for exactly 7.58 minutes and it contains everything in one track that was needed to completely change my verdict on The Horrors and make me take notice and listen. You should too...

The Horrors Website

The Horrors-Scarlet Fields Mp3

From Dole to Stardom...

After following his career for a few years now and being rather a big fan it was a pleasant surprise to be able to interview Eugene McGuiness and try and find out what his personality is really like...

N.D-You’re currently on tour with The Rumble strips. How’s that going?

E.M-Yeah it’s going really well they are really nice guys to tour with.

N.D-When performing Live what is your favourite song to perform?

E.M- To be honest I love performing them all, I obviously like performing the newest ones the most but if I had to pick one it would Moscow State Circus

N.D-My personal favourite is “a girl who my eyes shine for...” do you mind if I be a bit cheeky and ask you to play it tonight?

E.M- That’s funny, someone asked me to play that last night, I must be on to a winner with that one.

N.D-Your brothers in Swanton Bomb’s who are starting to get a name for themselves. Do you help out at all with them?

E.M- Yeah I helped out on the last E.P and he is in my band. We both play with each other when we can and it’s a lot of fun. He recorded with us on my album. I’m currently recording the next one. It’s mainly down to if we are both free and it works then we love playing together.

N.D-You are normally based in Liverpool but I read you moved to London?

E.M- Yeah I was at university in Liverpool and then moved to London for a year which was really great. I currently have a flat In Liverpool but I’m moving back to London hopefully before or after the summer. I miss it too much

N.D - Is Liverpool not enough then? Haha

E.M- No, No It’s a great city but London just has so much life about it and so many different areas. Most people that visit London only really go to the Tourist areas or the Hip places like Shoreditch, Soho and Camden but there’s so much more too it.

N.D- You are signed to Domino Records. How did that come about?

E.M- It all came about through MySpace. I was on the dole when they contacted me so I jumped at the chance.

N.D- Did you have any labels chasing to get your signature?

E.M- I wish. It wasn’t like that at all. No one obviously wanted me ha-ha.

N.D- Who are your main influences?

E.M- I would say The Beatles, Nick Cave as well as David Bowie that man is a genius. I’m sure he’s a Martian.

N.D- Who are your favourite bands at the moment?

E.M- I love Grinderman, the new Horrors stuff is amazing as well, they have completely changed from the last time I heard them.

N.D- With White Lies gaining massive success in the charts to you feel this puts too much pressure on bands like this when they are returning with a second album?

E.M- It all depends if they have the right people and if they have their heads screwed on. If they have that then they will just produce something as great. As long as they are still enjoying what they are doing that’s all that matters.

Eugene Mcguiness Myspace

Imagine my Horror...

I have never been a big fan of The Horror's. It is always been too much style over substance and I personally feel they have never lived up to their hype..

However after managing to get my hands on their new album a few weeks before its release it was to my upmost suprise and shock when I realised that they had made a beautifully crafted album filled with something that I would of never of thought they had in them.

Sea within a Sea which you can download at the moment for free from their website is a hauntingly yet wonderful song which lasts 7.58 minutes but is as far as possible that they could of moved away from their below average former self's

I will be reviewing the album in its full once I have given it a well earnt on repeat listen but to be honest so far they have been the biggest shock for of 2009.

Its always nice have a good suprise...


The Horrors-Sea within a sea mp3

Return of the Mac

So its time for the return of the big guns to the indie pop world.

With the imminent return of The Maccabees, Jack Penate and Jamie T we have to ask the question...has the indie world changed too much for these bands and singer song writers to slip back into the stream.

With band such as Kings of Leon and White Lies scoring number ones and trying world domination it seems that the bands that were big favourites a couple of years ago may of just faded into the background for far too long.

I personally cannot wait for the return of these 3 great talents to shake things up and show us the real talent that comes from the homeland rather than having to put up with the below average bands such as Glasvegas and The Ting Tings. I think it will be interesting to see whether or not these bands will be able to progress from their stunning debuts as they have all had quite a bit of time to find their feet rather than just throwing out a second album straight away.

This week I will also be seeing Wild Beasts who will be showcasing some of their new material at their show on Wed 11th at Brudenell Social Club in Leeds. I am really really excited about this because their first album was such a mix of diverse talent and one of the most obscure but exciting albums to date. We will have to see how diverse their material is in comparison to their debut but I think they will pull out of something special.

The last couple of weeks have also been a big eye opener in terms of dub step and minimal. With max and the boys up stairs giving me more music I have found out the talents of Rusko, Skream, Tiga and Proxy. Massive Massive tunes are now being dropped in my bedroom before we go out. It took me a while to get into dub step but now I really can’t get enough of it and Wax On at New Year was when I really started to appreciate it. So I feel good that I have branched out into a completely different area of music and am getting really and truly on it.

Over and Out

x

Rusko Myspace

The Maccabees Myspace

Jamie T Myspace

Nath and Max Radio Show download

Golden Silvers Interview

So I caught up with Golden Silvers at their Hotel Room before their dazzling show at the Wakefield Escobar.

Heres there Interview

Golden Silvers Interview

Nathan-Why did you set up Bronze Club?

Golden Silvers/Will-We set it up so that we could put gigs on for ourselves and to put other bands we like on. We knew the guy running the Macbeth and he used to run a place called the Asylum where we used to go to this Jam. It seemed like the most obvious place to do it. Then it materialised from there.

Nathan- You’ve got Esser playing your club night right?

Gwilym-Yeah he’s playing in February because we will be on Tour

Nathan- So are you on tour properly at the moment?

Gwilym- At the moment we are doing three dates and then next week we are going to Mexico, to play a festival.

Nathan- How did that come about?

Alexis-Our management just told us that we had a gig in Mexico. I’d of never of expected us to be playing in Mexico.

Nathan- How long have you guys been together?

Alexis- About a year and a half yeah.

Nathan- I saw you at Latitude and then again in Birmingham last year before you supported Mystery Jets, but do you feel you have progressed a lot since you first started?

Gwilym- Yeah, we have just recorded our album and moved things along quite a bit.

Nathan-Did you get signed to XL?

Gwilym- Yeah we kind of had a bit of History with some of the guys from XL and when we were doing our tour a few Labels began to get interested and then XL came in at the last minute and were really keen and we felt that they were the best Label out there.

Nathan- How has the album gone?

Gwilym-Yeah its gone really well...

Alexis- Yeah it has been quite exciting. It is going to be out in April so there isn’t that long to wait.

Nathan-Yeah I thought you had recorded it quite quickly. What do think it sounds like?

Ben- Yeah it has moved along quite a lot to how we used to do it. We have changed the set quite a lot to try and get what we have done on the album. It has just sort of moved away from just going nuts.

Nathan- Yeah when I see you live you always seem to sort of Jam together

Gwilym- Yeah we have still got that, just trying to get the songs across is important

Alexis- The new sounds are important for us and to try and make it sound like the new album.

Nathan- What is your favourite song off the album?

Alexis- I still love Arrows of Eros. There’s a new version of that on the album. It is a bit slower than the original that came out last year. There’s another called locked in my head that I really like.

Gwilym- I sort of really like the new ones, there’s one called Please Venus.

Nathan- Yeah that’s my favourite as well. I also like true no 9 blues.

Gwilym- Yeah we have just done a video for that.

Nathan- I heard about that...Wasn’t it in London?

Gwilym- Yeah it was really cool

Nathan- I was going to ask about style, because you were in BUCK magazine. Do you feel that style is important for bands?

Gwilym- I think it is but I don’t think it should be the main thing.

Ben- Im sure if it was like a jazz band then they wouldn’t really care that much. I think alot of people do seem to care about it a lot.

Gwilym- I think for us the music is the main thing..

Nathan- Your obviously quite stylish people in my opinion, but do you feel that when people look at bands and think they are badly dressed do you feel they are put off.

Alexis-Yeah I think they do...they shouldn’t really because the music could be amazing but they could just look shit, but I do definitely think that people get put off by their style.

Nathan- What are your favourite influences, what do you feel you bring to the band?

Gwilym- For me its old folk songs to Leonard Cohen and further on. The way we perform the songs comes from so many different places. I love the Beach Boys and the Beatles

Alexis- There is a lot of funk involved as well such as 80’s Prince, Hendrix and Frank Zappa. I listen to a lot of Jazz. Anything really, we don’t just listen to one style of music.

Gwilym- We are kind of influenced by bands we like at the moment and bands that we get on at the bronze club like Invisible

Nathan- What do you enjoy doing outside of the band?

Ben- I don’t really have a life outside of the band (whole band laughs)

Alexis- I have a beautiful 2 year old daughter that I look after and that is amazing. Apart from that not much else because music is pretty much it for us.

Nathan- What would you be doing if you weren’t in the band?

Alexis- I would still be playing music in some form of a band.

Gwilym- Id would be a footballer or maybe a Boxer.

Ben-I would be a cycle Courier

Alexis- That’s because you were one.

Nathan- What does that entail?

Ben- You basically had to deliver post around London.

Nathan- That sounds pretty cool.

Alexis- Yeah when we are walking around London he’s always like nah it’s this way ha-ha.

Luke- Yeah that’s what Steve did, Steve from Good Shoes used to be a Cycle Courier.

Nathan- What will you be doing this year?

Alexis- Yeah we will be busy doing a lot of shows and a lot of touring

Nathan- Have you got any festivals you have been confirmed for?

Gwilym- At the moment we have been confirmed for Bestival and hopefully some others.

Nathan- Thanks for your time Lads, I hope you have a good show.


Golden Silvers Myspace

Golden Silvers- Arrows of Eros Mp3

I can tell why daddy's gone..

So it has been an exciting few weeks since I last blogged on here.

We have had the NME Tour at Leeds Academy featuring Florence and the Machine, White Lies, Friendly Fires and Sadly Glasvegas. This will be reviewed fully later on.

Then we had the much anticipated Golden Silvers gig at Wakefield Escobar which I had luckily been given the chance to interview them and then got put on the guest list. So a very good night all round. It was also time for 'Nath and Harry's' second outing on Leeds Student Radio after a successful yet slightly shortened debut. This went a lot better than we had planned and we also got to do a full two hours of radio due to another show having outside circumstances so we got to max our playlists to our hearts content.

On this same fun fuelled weekend I also managed to get completely and utterly destroyed at Cockpit after Golden Silvers with my trusty wingman Luke so it meant I slept alllll the way through Valentines Day which was a good thing in Ernest as I am terrible at romance. So on Sunday I felt I needed to make up for this lost day by doing some podcast work with harry in the studio and by chance bumped into Das Pop who were lovely fellows. So we managed to get put on the guest list for their show that evening and so became 'Jean Pierre' for the night. Much to Harry's delight as for his love of Das Pop.

They were in fact surprisingly very very good live and a lot of fun. The Drummer also looked like a mix of Michael McIntyre and Nick Grimshaw which was entertaining.

So back to the NME Tour.

I will now Rate each band individually.

Florence and The Machine (8) this was only because we only caught the last song but it was my favourite Dog days are over’ and she did look stupidly hot.

White Lies (9) they did everything that I expected of them. As good as they were in Bristol and a vast improvement since Latitude and Field Day. However it has been a good 4 months and a number 1 album since I last saw them and they haven’t changed much or improved in anyway. However Florence did make a guest appearance during 'Unfinished Business' which gave me another glimpse of the Fiery Redhead.

Friendly Fires (10) I have known about this band since they first released 'On Board' and had their wacky videos of strange racing taking place on Athletics’ Tracks. However I have never been able to catch them live which have always gotten to me. So seeing this band for the first time was always going to be a bit special and it didn’t not disappoint at all. I knew as soon as flashing disco lights were wheeled onto the stage that they were going to bring the house down and that is exactly what they did. From the epic dance anthems of 'White Diamonds' and 'Strobe' to the soul shaking 'Paris' they had the crowd dancing into a frenzy from the moment they stepped on stage.

What was really great about Friendly Fires live show was that they seemed to be enjoying it as much as the crowd were and Ed's crotch thrusting and non stop energy showed how much playing live meant to the band. It was like a non stop Carnival from the word go.

Glasvegas(3) Miserable, Dull, Lifeless- There are many words that I could describe their Live show but that sums it up. As well as playing easily their best track first to leave us with Shockingly bad lullabies sung in Scottish, they would not survive for a second without the lights they had obviously stolen from the ' Geraldine' video. After 2 brilliant up and coming bands as well as a band who brought disco funk into the 21st century it baffles me as to why NME thought that this band were going to do anything other than ruin the night. It also makes me wonder how long it is going to take until the Glasvegas bubble bursts. Especially with all the up and coming talent coming out of our shores.

Over and Out!

LsrFM.com

Golden Silvers Myspace

Friendly Fires Myspace

Golden Silvers-Arrows of Eros Mp3

Nath and Harry's Radio Show Week 2 pt 1

Nath and Harry's Radio Show Week 2 pt 2

Colour me in?

So it seems like a lifetime ago that I have written on here and a lifetime ago that I have heard anything new from the Maccabees...Until now.
They are back and have a brand new tour. Praise the lord. By far the best band to come from our shores for a long time it has been overdue for a while.

The past few weeks seem to of flew by in a haze of hangovers and lack of university attending but from now on it can only get better. This weekend see's the start of my radio show at Leeds Student Radio (www.LSRfm.com)at the very very early but refreshing time of 9am on a Sunday .However it will mean I have to stay in and do Uni work on a Saturday night but oh well. This weekend is also the NME Tour at Leeds Academy which I am very much looking forward to. I am hoping White Lies blow me away again as well as seeing Friendly Fires for the first time. Florence will also be very good to look at; Glasvegas however will have to be a miss after their dismal performance in Bristol.

I am also very looking forward to Jack Penate’s new album after hearing Today’s Tonight which is nothing like he has done before and has a much more funk/Caribbean sound about it which fits his voice perfectly.

More after this much anticipated weekend!

Over and Out x

Nme.com

Maccabees Myspace

Leeds Student Radio

On my T.V! I think not...

It has taken a long time for me to fully appreciate T.V on the radio..After watching them Headline the Carling Stage at Reading I was blown away by how powerful they are live but once it came to their albums I found it difficult to wrap my head around what they were really aiming for.

Gracing from New York and forming in 2001 the band consists of Tunde Adebimpe, Kyp Malone, Jaleel Bunton, Gerard Smith and needing no introduction after his work producing Foals album and appearing at number 1 on the often debatable NME cool list is Dave Sitek.

The first album I was fortunate to get my hands on was the 2004 release Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes

Then comes their most recent release Dear Science which is the most easily accessible of all of their releases but comes with brilliant Gems such as Golden Age all the way to spellbinding "Family Tree" which has to be one of my favourite songs from 2008 to date giving a softer side to a usual erratic TV on the Radio

Yes they have always been critically acclaimed and are loved by the 'it' crowd but I can finally confess to being a TV on the radio follower and although it is now 2009 I can happily say that Dear Science is the album in which TV on the radio just made sense.... which contained the brilliant and mesmerising Staring at the Sun. This album intrigued me a lot but I could still not listen to it the whole way through without feeling something was missing. I came across their 2006 release Return to Cookie Mountain which seemed to change my mind about this band completely. Here was a life changing record which gave new dimensions to music being produced in this current era. Yes it is easy to produce an easy pop record like Vampire Weekend or Little Boots but it is much more difficult and rewarding to produce a pop record which takes 20 listens to fully understand the brilliance of what they are trying to do.


Tv On The Radio Myspace

Tv On The Radio-Family Tree MP3

Over and Out!

New year,New times..

So New Years Eve was messy, epic and just downright good fun.

Wax:On at Leeds University was brilliant.Erol brought in the big 09 with Justice's Water of Nazareth which nearly brought the house down..the rest of it is one biggggggg blur which ended up with a room full of lads and a wholeeeee lot of pizza.

One clear memory however was the dubstep room which was insane.I wish I could comment on it more but we spent NYE for what it was meant for.Getting blindo'd.

So this year shall be one of the best yet.Fingers crossed.Its back to the books for exams in January but from then on I can spend lots of time enjoying Leeds and various other places.

I am most looking forward to the up and coming NME tour with White Lies, Friendly Fires and Florence and The Machine..oh and Glasvegas sadly. Emmy the Great will also be gracing the Brudenell Social Club along with me and chris's good friends Ipso Facto.

So its onwards to the predictions for 2009..musically and socially..

1) Man Utd will win everything in their grasp with Berbatov getting his act together and scoring 30 goals

2)Me actually passing my first year at university with a first after a magic boost of intelligence and punctuality

3)Obama-Will he live up to the 'Dream' ???

4)Golden Silvers-Has to be the band of the year after their English Breakfast interview in Buck"Bacoooon and Eggs"

These songs arnt very relevant but I am enjoying them very much at the moment

Help!She Cant Swim-Are you feeling fashionable?

White Lies-From The Stars

Friendly Fires-Jump in the pool

Over and Out