Sunday 30 December 2012

New Music: Khafru

I was listening to my dad's radio show the other night, and he played a song by an artist called KHAFRU. I've never heard of him before - I don't think he's a big name or anything. But his music is really good! I've just been listening to his stuff through my new Sennheiser's that I got for christmas - his stuff sounds great. Influenced by Dubstep, IDM and many other electronic genres, he has an amazing sound. I was impressed when I first heard him, and that was from an iPhone speaker - hearing him through decent speakers has made me like him even more. I currently have his track 'Far Far Away' playing full blast in the new headphones, and i'm just surrounded in this amazing atmospheric music. I'm definitely a fan and I think that any other fans of electronic music will also like it. I'll attach his Dubstep set, and a few other tracks.







Friday 21 December 2012

The End of the World

So, its 21/12/2012. Potentially, the end of the world. The Apocalypse. The End. It got me thinking.. if this is the last day on earth, what music do I wanna listen to? If this is my last day alive, I can't possibly listen to all my music. So, I've compiled a playlist of 50 songs to listen to before the world ends later on. There's only one song by one artist so it doesn't get too crowded. There's some artists missing that should be in there - but narrowing it down to 50 is harder than it seems! I made sure there's a few genre's in there - Rock from various times, Acoustic, Reggae, Ska. A bit of everything. So here it is - my 50 songs to listen to before the imminent apocalypse.



Note: It may say there's less than 50 for some people, if some of the songs have been played too many times.

New Music: 20/12/12

Father Funk - Get Up
Father Funk is a producer who makes Ghetto Funk, something i'd not heard of until recently, but I love it. Lots of funky sampled basslines, it's real good music. I Saw him DJ at a party recently too, he played some bangers.  It wouldn't let me embed his most recent song, so have this instead. 



Quentins Basement
Quentins Basement are a mates band, now this music isn't brand new but I thought I'd share their EP because its pretty good! I saw em live a month or 2 back at Carpe Diem in leeds and they were ace. Think they're recording some new tunes aswell so there'll be more to listen to soon!

Quentins Basement - Folds EP


Thats it for this week. A great band +  a great DJ/Producer there though. Definitely listen to a few of their tracks if you can, and share them if you like em.

PS: Happy End of the World, maybe.



Friday 14 December 2012

New Music: 14/12/12

Thursday Night Dub Club - Dub Chemistry:
Some new Dub from a friend of mine, very chilled out stuff. 





Statik - Attack of the Demon Potato Monsters
Statik's new 'Monsterhop' tune. 





Sloppy Joe - Sophisticated Funky Shit
Reworking of the classic Funky Shit by The Prodigy.





3 songs by Musicians I know! This could become a regular thing. I'll pick a few songs by local artists if I like them and share them on here. Share this page or the Soundcloud links if you like any of them!

Thursday 13 December 2012

'Nirvana Reunion'

In my opinion, this whole Nirvana reunion thing isn't as big a thing as people are saying it is. I mean, ok, it's one of the first times Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear have played together since Nirvana. I don't think its really a Nirvana reunion. I mean, Dave, Krist and Kurt were the band.. but you can't have the band without Kurt Cobain. He was everything Nirvana was about personified. And they didn't even play any Nirvana songs, or anything that even sounded Nirvana-ish. It's great that the guys have played together again, and really impressive that they're working with the last surviving talented Beatle (sorry Ringo). But.. it wasn't a Nirvana reunion. Also.. everyone was going mental at what was happening.. did anyone realise the song was pretty average? Cut Me Some Slack i think it was called. I only caught the end of it so I don't know if they played anything else. But it was just Macca singing to some generic bluesy hard rock kinda stuff that just happened to be played by those guys. What did everyone else think to it? As a MASSIVE Nirvana fan, I'm not particularly impressed.

Happy for Dave Grohl though. Another thing he can add to his list. He's played with members of Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Queens of the Stone Age, he was in one of the biggest bands of the 90s and is in one of the biggest bands around today, as well as drumming for countless other bands!

Songs from my Bedroom

Wednesday 12 December 2012

R.I.P Ravi Shankar

'The Godfather of World Music'

RODE NT1-A


I finally bought a microphone! The Rode NT1-A Condenser Microphone. For 185.00, I got this microphone, a pop shield, a shockmount, and XLR cable, a DVD with loads of studio tips on, and a 10 year warranty. They also chucked in a boom mic stand! Can't wait for some of the stuff i'm gonna be able to record with this! Already recorded 2 songs for my flatmate tom - he's written them, performed them and sang them.





Finally got quite a bit of decent equipment, can record a lot of stuff from home now! I've got:


  • a Squier Acoustic Guitar
  • a Squier Classic Vibes Telecaster
  • an M-Audio Axiom-25 MIDI keyboard
  • an M-Audio FastTrack Pro 
  • a legitimate copy of Logic  
  • a Rode NT1-A Microphone
A decent set-up! Expect some acoustic tracks from both me and Mr. Killeen very soon! Leave any feedback on the tracks below!

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Eminem to Headline Reading/Leeds Festival

This definitely took me by surprise a little bit! Leeds always seem to leave it a long time before they announce any acts, so to have already announced acts is weird enough for them. But they didn't even announce that they were gonna announce a headliner until the same day! I also think he's pretty good for Leeds Festival.. they've had some good bands but recently they aren't as big.. My Chemical Romance were not headline material in my eyes. Eminems one of the biggest artists on the planet. Now I don't listen to Eminem a lot, but I do like a lot of his songs so I think he'll be a good headliner. People are bitching that he doesn't fit into the festivals scene/genre.. well for one, he played over 10 years ago and apparently he got the crowd going a lot. And tbh, who doesn't like at least one Eminem song? The Real Slim Shady, We Made You, Lose Yourself.. or my personal favourite, Like Toy Soldiers.



So lately he's sold out a bit, done a few poppy tunes.. he's still done some ok stuff. Fast Lane with Bad Meets Evil, No Love with Lil Wayne was ok too. I think he'll be amazing and definitely can't wait to get my ticket. It's got me thinking who else could be headlining though? I definitely didnt expect Eminem, so will they pull another surprise out of the bag? They tend to have a fairly recent band, a classic band, and someone inbetween (This Year was Kasabian who are fairly recent, Foo Fighters who are a little older, then the Cure who are Classic, The Year before was MCR, Pulp and Muse.)
A few bands that I'd love to see headline.. Rage Against the Machine, Arctic Monkeys, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim. Other likely bands that could do it that I'm not particularly bothered about.. The Killers, Kings of Leon, Mumford and Sons. I've heard Green Day, who would be ok although I wouldn't be too excited. I really wanna see some other bands there like Frank Turner, Enter Shikari, The Skints. There's 3 new stages this year so there's gonna be more music. I Know Nick Cave has a new album out with the Bad Seeds next year.. they could headline one of the smaller stages? What do other people think, who will be the other 2 headliners, and who else do you wanna see at Leeds Festival?

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Thomas McConnell

Just a short post here - stumbled across an artist called Thomas McConnell on another music blog (Rock Revolver), and I really like his music! He sounds very Miles Kane-y, and definitely has a big influence in The Beatles, but I think he has a really great sound. A couple of songs I'd recommend..


This one in particular sounds very Beatles. His voice sounds quite similar to John Lennons, and the harmony/bv's really reminded me of The Beatles. Another good one of his is this one..



Check out the rest of his music on his Soundcloud! - https://soundcloud.com/thomasmcconnell

Thursday 16 August 2012

Got into Leeds College of Music!

After all that doubt of wether i'd get in or not.. I'M IN! I'm going to University.. stress!

Got into Leeds College of Music!

After all that doubt of wether i'd get in or not.. I'M IN! I'm going to University.. stress!

Saturday 11 August 2012

Proud of myself!

This week I've actually got something done music-wise! Got the basic backing for a reggae track made, and I've started a cover of Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds! Got no idea where its gonna go, got nothing in mind but I'll just see what happens!


Monday 6 August 2012

Sheftival 2012: Saturday 4th August

Words cannot describe how excited I was when I was told about Sheftival. I'd never heard anything about it, then my mate said 'oi raven, Toots and the Maytals are playing sheffield in a couple of weeks'. I couldn't believe it! Toots is a bloody legend, he is credited with inventing the word Reggae in the song Do The Reggay, he's one of the pioneers of reggae. To find out he's playing not far from me for only a tenner, was amazing! Couldn't miss it. There was loooads of people on the line-up, but I only went for Toots, and The Selecter.

I was very hungover from the night before - this was the day after the Skints, and I only ended up getting a couple of hours sleep anyway - so i almost, almost considered not going. But, I put Toots + the Maytals on the stereo, and it gave me the strength to power through my hangover and get the bus into town. I met Max and Alex, and we got the best hangover cure there is:


More Beer. Which quite frankly made me feel extremely ill, along with the train shaking about. But I just about managed 2 or 3. Anyway, we arrived at Don Valley Bowl where the festival was, about 6 o clock. It was the first time i'd been to DVB since the Arctic Monkeys homecoming gig last year (which was probably the best gig of my life).

It was weird seeing The Selecter. I saw them when I was about 3 years old, and it's probably my earliest memory. I remember being held by my mum whilst they were on stage - I don't remember the music, I just remember it being them. So to see them live nearly 15 years later was pretty weird! They managed to get the crowd going pretty well - lots of old Skinheads were skanking! A couple of people were definitely off their head aswell, haha. Their set was only short, 40 minutes at the most, but It was good. James Bond was probably the highlight of the set, along with On My Radio and Too Much Pressure.

After their set, we made it over to the Juju World Music stage. Macka B was on the stage, someone i'd never heard of, but was pretty good. He sang a song about what food he liked to eat, which was bizarre but pretty funny. There was a pretty long wait between Macka B and Toots, so we sat down for a bit and chilled. When he finally came on.. it was so so so so so good. He opened with Pressure Drop, which is a beautiful song!! One of my favourite Reggae songs ever. His set included the classics Monkey Man (famously covered by the Specials), 54-46 Was My Number, Louie Louie, Funky Kingston and many more. It was a great set and i'm so happy I can now say I've seen both The Wailers and Toots + The Maytals live. Arguably the 2 biggest reggae artists ever!





Sunday 5 August 2012

Friday 3rd August: The Skints @ The Leopard

This Friday was great. I got to see one of my favourite bands perform, which is always good. But they actually performed in my home town of Doncaster, which made it even more special. Doncaster rarely sees any big names play here - you could probably count the well known bands that have played here in the past few years on one hand. I've seen The Prodigy here, and Dizzee Rascal, and I think Plan B has played. But none of them were as good as this.

We started the day the same way most of my days out start - alcohol. 20 pack of Fosters, sat in the sun, listening to Reggae - it was good :)


After this we went straight to the venue, and just sat around chatting with people, having a couple of pints. It was fun, although i am having trouble piecing together exactly what happened, because I was pretty drunk. Anyway about half 7, 8, we went upstairs for the bands. This was my first time at The Leopard, which has been around for longer than I have I think. The upstairs part where the bands perform is tiny! But I loved it.. it was such a good atmosphere! The first band that were on are called The Beaus. They're a local band, i'd heard the name but never listened to them. But i'm definitely a fan, their set was pretty enjoyable and i've listened to a couple of their songs since and they're good.



Whilst we were watching these, Marcia and Jonathan from The Skints came out and watched them! I went over and got a photo with them, talked to them for a bit and then they left.


The Skints came on about half 9, and their set was amazing. Being so close to one of my favourite bands while they played live was just incredible! They played all their best songs (apart from Live East Die Young :( thats my favourite), including Roanna's Song, Rise Up, Culture Vulture, and Rubadub. They also played brilliant cover of Bob Marley + The Wailers classic Stir It Up. And, I think they filmed something there, part of a video or something. It was a great gig - they sound brilliant live and I was dancing nonstop all the way through. I'm jealous of their talent!





Afterwards, we hung around outside the back of the venue and just chilled, talked to a few people. Then we saw Jamie Kyriakides, the drummer, just chilling with his girlfriend! So we went over and had a chat - he was one of the nicest guys i've ever met!


We also got chatting to the guys from the Beaus, who were pretty sound, and they gave me a free t-shirt, woo. Me and my cousin Aiden decided to let ourselves backstage, which looking back probably was a bit out of order and I wouldn't have done If i was sober. But, it ended up in us meeting the guys and chatting with them for quite a while! We got a photo with them, but Aiden's camera was pretty blurry, so The Skints' photographer guy took one on his posh camera, and has said he'll email it to me! :D top bloke haha. All in all it was an amazing day, and I will definitely be buying tickets to see them again! They're playing Leeds Festival, so I'll see them there. And they're playing Leeds Cockpit in october - I should be going to University there hopefully, so i'll probably go to that too. I would definitely recommend their live gigs - it was bloody brilliant!


Wednesday 1 August 2012

The Skints are my NEW FAVOURITE BAND!




On Friday Night, I go and see one of my favourite bands The Skints, then on Saturday i'm going to Sheftival, to see legendary reggae band Toots and the Maytals, and iconic ska band The Selecter. I'm too excited! Tramlines proved to me that the best day out is just one with music, your mates, and beer. That was one of my top days of the summer holidays, so i'm hoping this weekend will be just as good. I'll probably end up posting about the weekend on Sunday, or Monday if i'm hungover.

The Skints are a great band. Marcia Richards, Jonathan Doyle, Joshua Waters Rudge and Jamie Kyriakides are 4 insanely talented people. If you see their live show, Marcia can be switching between Keyboard, Saxophone + Vocals all in one song. They play Reggae/Dub/Ska music, and also a bit of Punk on their first album and first EP. They're just so cool and write so many catchy songs, if you're into reggae at all then I'm pretty sure you'll like them. One of me favourites from the new album is 'Live East Die Young' which is mainly Joshua on the vocals, but it's very catchy and very lively and i'm praying they play it live so i can skank out a bit. Having said that though, there isn't a bad song on the album - 'Ratatat', 'Ring Ring', 'Rubadub', 'Lay You Down' and new single 'Rise Up' are all amazing songs. I definitely recommend it to lovers of the genre.

Here's the new single - make sure you show it to your mates, its a tune :)



..aaaaaand here's a live performance of theirs, a cover of Stop That Train by Keith and Tex - just shows what a talented bunch they are. Check out that harmony:




Link to buy the album.. think the previews alone are enough to tempt you to buy it. http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/part-parcel/id501957297

http://www.theskints.co.uk/

@theskints

The Skints Facebook

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Lavender Town Project

so, i've finally got my act together and started something on Reason - it's gonna be a song based on the Lavender Town music from the original pokemon games - a song famous for how depressing it was, with one urban myth suggesting it made children commit suicide in japan. lovely.



These are just the basic melodies im gonna be using, i might use these sounds aswell as others, i may use just other sounds and not use these, i'll use some harder hitting drums most likely, add some reverb and distortion on to them.

Sunday 22 July 2012

Tramlines Festival 2012

On Friday, Me, Max and Alex all trekked down to tramlines in sheffield. It's basically a free festival that pretty much every venue in sheffield takes part in, they all put bands on and stuff. And they always get a couple of well known band's/artists playing on the main stage, and a few local ones. Tbh, we only went for 2 bands, the day was more just about dossing in sheffield and having a day out. But it was well good.

We met up in town about 2 o clock. After my footlong bacon egg cheese and sausage subway (which is sort of becoming a regular thing for me now), we all went Tesco's to get our booze for the day. We ended up getting 24 can's of Carling for 16 quid. It.. wasn't very nice. Warm and flat, bloated you a lot, made you burp a lot, and we were all on the brink of vomiting at some point in the day.

Anyway we got our train and had a couple of cans each on there, then arrived in sheffield about half 3. None of us actually had a clue where we were going so we just wandered around. We got to Dev Green (main stage) about half 4ish, and they told us we'd have to drink all our booze before we went in. And we still had about 14, 15 cans left so we couldn't waste em. So we thought we'd just trek around sheff for a bit. We bumped into this guy called Slam - he was about 45, some old metalhead guy. But he was sound as a pound. We got chatting and he was like the coolest possible guy, he shared his vodka with us and everything. We literally just dossed around drinking with him until the gates opened at Dev Green, but we didn't even go in. We sat outside this bloody middle class bar finishing all our beer off. Don't think they liked us, we went in about 7 times to use their toilets. I had to run in at one point cos i almost threw up :( my mouth went watery and i went very light headed and my stomach was turning, it wasn't the nicest experience.

We went in Dev Green anyway, after we'd finished all but 3 of our beers., after that Violet May band which were a bit average by the sounds of it. We got approached by some very friendly lasses who Max was sure they fancied us, but they were definitely just blagging a pint off us because we had ID. Anyway, at this point we lost Slam :-( he said he felt like he was third wheeling so he left us. What a Lad. Anyway the ladies buggered off so we watched most of Dead Son's set - we missed most of it, but Shotgun Woman was amazing. I'll post a few links here now, they're a sheffield band, sound very Arctic Monkeys influenced.





very good. Great band and i proper wanna see em again. After about half hour, Reverend and the Makers were on. And they played an absolutely incredible set. I'd seen em before but they were a support act and i'd never really listened to em, so i didn't think it was great. But this was bloody amazing. Everyone there loved em, theyre a proper yorkshire band. Atmosphere was incredible, there was pits for every song. It was a bit rough but if anyone fell over everyone helped eachother up which was alrate. They opened with Bassline which is alrate but the rest of the set was so much better. You can see me bopping about in this video of it here!



They played so many good songs - I proper love 'Open your Window', and it was made even better cos Andy Nicholson came out and played bass on it! He used to be in Arctic blummin Monkeys! was so good. They filmed their new music video there aswell, so there's a chance we could be in the next Reverend and the Makers video! It's for Out of the Shadows, one of the best songs of their 3rd release.



They closed with Silence is Talking, which is a rate song. Everyone went mad for that, and these wristbands that theyd given out all flashed when it started, it was actually pretty amazing.



Quite frankly it was one of the best gigs of my life! Great atmosphere, can't believe this is the first time i've been to tramlines. Unfortunately we've not been off on the Saturday/Sunday because of either lack of money + throwing up :(. Missed a great band from Sheffield called Wet Nuns last night. Sort of really really heavy bluesy punky rock. They're good.



I will definitely come to Sheffield for Tramlines while i'm at uni. It was such a good experience and I can imagine it being even better when I'm old enough to legally buy a pint, rather than having to down warm beer :( Top Night.

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Got bored and painted again today..




hmmmmm

Leeds College of Music

If you follow my blog or know me, you may or may not know that I am applying to Uni, and for the past few months, I have had Hertfordshire University firmed. However, last week, after a trip to the pub (which wasnt the best time for them to ring as I was slightly pissed), I got a call from Leeds College of Music. They initially rejected me, after I made it through 2 phases of the application process - I fell at the final interview stage. The first stage was just applying and they approved me. The second stage left me with a task to complete - I was given 6 little sound bites. I had to use these in my own creative way - Loop them, chop them, add effects etc, and incorporate them into a piece. Here is the piece I produced..



(wtf, not been on my soundcloud in a while, I've just discovered people from Australia, Germany, America and Indonesia listen to my music!)

That track, which I am very proud of, got me through the second stage. I failed at the third stage - I had an interview, where I had to take 3 pieces of my own along that displayed my talent. They only listened to 2, which was a bummer. The third one was really good and I had a lot to say about it. But yeah. I failed.

ANYWAY. I got this call from LCM, and they said they were pleased to inform me that places had become available, and they could offer me a place! I'm absolutely ecstatic. Such a good, prestigious place wants me to study there! And they really do want me. Everytime I call them, they ask if I'm still interested and seem very happy when I say yes, repeating 'Oh, Excellent Raven, Fabulous' and things to that effect. The only only bad thing, is that I have to ring every Uni that I have accepted a place at, and ask to be released from my offer. So LCM really is my only hope once i've done this. By the sounds of it though.. i'm pretty much guaranteed a place there!

I'm a bit annoyed that I have to apply through clearing, which means I can't get anything sorted until results day. I have to redo part of finance, look into and reapply for accommodation. But i suppose i can't complain - I'm almost guaranteed a place at a GREAT conservatoire. I'm a bit nervous however.. it's a specialist place, so everyone there is gonna be great. and seen as i initially got rejected.. i'm only just good enough. I'm a bit intimidated by the fact that everyone there is gonna be really talented.. but I suppose being around more talented musicians can only rub off on me! And the staff there will be better as its a specialist place, so it's definitely gonna be a better place for me. Also I'm a bit dismayed about being closer to home, although when I think about it, it's not a bad thing. I was looking forward to being close to the capital, and I have a mate down there who I was looking forward to seeing haha. But it's easier being this close to home. If i'm skint or need help or owt, i can go scrounge off me parents!!

The Stone Roses @ Heaton Park, 1st July 2012

I bought the tickets for this gig SOOO long ago. Like October or something stupid. I can't remember exactly when. I paid 120 pound for 2 tickets, and the next day, they were on ebay for £10,000. EVERYONE told me to sell them, to just do it, and that I was stupid for not doing it. But I knew it'd be worth it. These concerts were going to be incredible, and I was gonna be one of the lucky few that got to go. I say few - about 225,000 people got tickets - it was the fastest selling gig in history I think! It was a bit disappointing that they announced loads of European gigs before it - i mean these were meant to be the reunion shows - but nevertheless, I couldn't wait.

It was an amazing day. We got the bus into town about 10, got a McDonalds breakfast and then got on our coach. Apart from me and Daisy, everyone on that coach was at least 30 years old. It was clear these were original Roses fans from back in the day. Everyone was drinking, laughing, anticipating the days events.. It was a sick atmosphere! Eventually we arrived at Heaton Park - along with about 40 other coaches. There were Hundreds of people, and a fair few were wearing Reni Hats! Hehe. I remember walking to the queue, and that queue was one of the longest of my life. We were only actually stoof in it for about an hour and a half, but we were SO excited! I was also pretty nervous that we'd get searched and they'd find the vodka stuffed down me wellies. When those gates opened, us and thousands of other people LEGGED IT in. It was pretty funny seeing all these grown adults excited like little kids. We got a wristband that got us into the front pit, then went for a pint. The bar staff that served us were nice - I told them I was underage, and they just said for Daisy to give me her pint, and then for her to buy another one - so that was drinks sorted :P. We went into the front pit, sat down and chilled in the glorious sun, and waited for the first band.


By the time they came on, I was already pretty tipsy! Was on my third pint by this point. Had just enough to be able to dance like a dickhead to the band. They're a pretty unknown band, from manchester, called Dirty North. Reni namedropped them at the reunion press conference. They're an alright band, and they've got one song that sticks in my head so much! It's called Take Me Away.



Although no-one really knew who they were, they entertained everyone. There was a fair few people dancing, which can often be unusual for a support band haha. They were definitely a good opener!


Anyway, they finished their set, we went for what was probably the 5th piss of the day - Because i was drinking so fast I was pissing a lot. Must have been for 15 pisses while we were there. Got another 2 pints, and by the time we were back, The Justice Tonight Band were on. I was looking forward to these, because Mick Jones from The Clash plays with them! Was amazing to see such a legend on stage. Jon Mclure from Reverend and the Makers came on aswell, and they sung Should I Stay or Should I Go - one of The Clash's biggest tunes. Everyone was going mental for that one.




The atmosphere was getting even better at this point - possibly because everyone, including me, was getting more drunk. Infact, my memory after this part of the gig is a lot less clear. We went for 2 more pints and multiple more pisses at this point! I met a fellow Liverpool FC supported by the toilets and we had a good old conversation about all sorts. I remember being annoyed, because the music they'd been playing between bands wasn't that good - then they played True Faith by New Order while we were at the toilets, and I couldn't have a proper dance to it! Hehe. Anyway, we got back to the pit, ready for the third band of the day - The Wailers.


The sun came out as soon as they came on, was great! Of all the support bands, this is the one i was looking forward to the most - I've ALWAYS liked Bob Marley, so to see his band playing all his classics was amazing. I can't actually remember the setlist, but I remember them playing my favourites - Jammin, One Love, Three Little Birds, Exodus, and the highlight of their set, Buffalo Soldier. They were great - the first band of the night which engaged everybody for their entire set. I was definitely drunk at this point too - so I was dancing and singing without caring what other people thought, hehe.




After this, I don't remember what happened. We went for another drink + toilet break I think.. idk, it's a blur. But the main support act for the night, Plan B, really impressed! I was surprised at how good his voice was live - he's really talented! He opened with The Recluse, which is one of my favourites, and he did Prayin, and Stay Too Long. So that was my 3 favourites covered straight away! Then he went offstage, and some beatboxer came on.. and then Plan B and his band came back, theyd had a costume change, and they played some newer stuff - including Ill Manors, which is an absolute BANGER! Went a bit mad for that one.




So he went off.. and then that was it. No more support bands. Forget going for another pint/toilet break, we had to keep our spot, it was a good spot. And the crowd was getting tighter now. Now, and this is why I regret drinking.. I can't remember them walking on stage, which is always a great moment at any gig, but at a gig this monumental.. i wish i could remember it! But I do remember when Mani started playing I Wanna Be Adored.. that amazing bassline, followed by the amazing guitar skills of John Squire.. EVERYBODY was jumping up and down for that song!



Their setlist was amazing. Every song you could have wanted them to play, was played.

"I Wanna Be Adored"
"Mersey Paradise"
"(Song For My) Sugar Spun Sister"
"Sally Cinnamon"
"Where Angels Play"
"Shoot You Down"
"Bye Bye Badman"
"Ten Storey Love Song"
"Standing Here"
"Fools Gold"
"Something's Burning"
"Waterfall"
"Don't Stop"
"Love Spreads"
"Made Of Stone"
"This Is The One"
"She Bangs The Drums"
"Elizabeth My Dear"
"I Am The Resurrection"


I already believed it, but after this gig it was cemented into my mind that The Stone Roses are one of the best bands of all time, and are have THE most talented musicians! John Squire is insane at the guitar - yet so cool. He stands there, not a smile on his face, and plays the funkiest riffs. Mani has written half of the top 10 basslines ever - I Wanna Be Adored, I Am The Ressurection, She Bangs The Drums and Fool's Gold are 4 of the best basslines ever! And Reni - aswell as being an amazing drummer, his voice is amazing too, and paired with Ians it just sounds mindblowing. Ian isn't the best singer in the world - he's not even the best singer in The Stone Roses - but he is one of the best frontmen in rock n roll history. He just has a cool feel about him, the way he swaggers around the stage and doesnt give a shit about anything.


They closed with the best song - I Am The Resurrection. What a way to end a brilliant night. 3 Verses building up to that epic chorus - all 75,000 people there were screaming their hearts out to that song. There are no words to describe the atmosphere when that chorus hits - but its one of the best feelings i've ever experienced! They hugged at the end of the night, and stood on the stage in each others arms. As they walked off, Bob Marley and The Wailer's classic Redemption Song played, as a massive fireworks display went off. We watched that, then walked back to the coach. The atmosphere still felt great - and i was pumped full of adrenaline and alcohol which enhanced this feeling! As we got back onto the coach and slept on the journey back, I knew that that had to be one of the best gigs in history. It completely lived up to the hype and was completely worth the money and the wait. I know if I ever do see em live again, it will not be able to match that. Incredible.

Monday 9 July 2012

Painting

I haven't been using this blog at all - and now exams are over, I really wanna start using it more! I know exams have been over for like a month, but I've finally run out of things to do. I can't just sit on FIFA all day without getting bored! But yeah.. i've decided to take up painting. I have never done it before and never really been interested, but while I was bored at home i decided to look under my bed to see if I could find owt to do, and i found these old watercolour sets! got so much paint so I thought i'd give it a go! Here's my first attempt at a painting..


It's the Joker, from the Dark Knight. An amazing film, and one of the best villains in a film ever! Amazing performance by Heath Ledger in it aswell, RIP. But yeah.. I thought i'd attempt painting him and I think it went OK! I added the HAHAHAHAHAs in the background as a tribute to a famous frame from The Killing Joke, arguably the best/most iconic batman comic ever!


Sorry for the lack of blogging lately peeps, shall try be more regular!

Tuesday 19 June 2012

SCHOOLS OUT!!

Time to stark work on my first project of the holidays!! I'm working on a version of Cutt Off by Kasabian.. there's so many different sounds in the original so it'll be tough. Gonna give it a bash though! It's one of me favourite Kasabian songs, so good! Need to think of something else to do though - so if I get bored of this I can work on something else until i'm ready to work on the Kasabian again.

Friday 1 June 2012

How the hell?

How the hell did this get 39 downloads? It's one of my worst song i ever did.. a shameless rip off of a Skepta beat, done very poorly.. and its on 39 downloads and 451 plays?! Jesus haha.



There it is anyway. Definitely not one of my best.. but somehow it got a LOT?!

Wednesday 30 May 2012

Having one of them Nostalgic days..

Just listening to music that was my favourite music 3 or 4 years ago. Slipknot were my favourite band.. i remember me and my mate Staley sitting watching their live dvd Voliminal sat in my room just moshing to (sic) and eyeless.. they have some amazing songs haha. Listened to all my favourites today.. remember when i bought the 4th album and being so happy that it was better than the shit third one. Also remembered the day I found out Paul Gray was dead :( someone posted RIP Paul Gray and i was just praying it was a different person.. unfortunately not :/ RIP Paul Dedrick Gray.

I also remember when I went to see them on 9th December 2008 I think it was. Support from Children of Bodom (who weren't great) and MACHINE HEAD. They were amazing.. they played the songs I knew anyway hehe. Phil Demmel passed out during his guitar solo in aesthetics of hate though, so they never played Davidian. Anyway, all I remember is they put on an amazing show, and although it isn't my thing now, I would still go see them if they played the UK - they are amazing. I'm glad they havent completely replaced Paul aswell - having their ex guitarist play backstage while having an onstage tribute to Paul is good. I'm glad I got to see them when Paul was still alive.




Got this on now - amazing song :). Although not my favourite.. my top 10 slipknot songs in no particular order are:

1) Surfacing
2) Sic
3) Liberate
4) Me Inside
5) Disasterpiece
6) People = Shit
7) Left Behind
8) The Blister Exists (the only song I like from the third album)
9) Gematria (The Killing Name)
10) Sulfur

Amazing songs!! Anyway thats enough rambling about Slipknot. I'll leave you with a video from their headlining Sonisphere appearance - dedicated to Paul Gray. They looked amazing at this gig - some of them had their old school 1st album masks on, and the Red (or maybe the orange) boiler suits were the best.

RIP #2.



Tuesday 29 May 2012

Everybody check out that last post!

A link to my dads tribute to Donna Summer.

You, the Night and the Music: Donna Summer: I Feel Love

You, the Night and the Music: Donna Summer: I Feel Love: I'm sure I'm not the first, but here is my tribute to the Queen of Disco herself... Donna Summer! Recorded after hours over t...

Gonna start on a new tune tonight

no idea what type or anything. can anyone give me any ideas? If not i'll just start something and see where it takes me.. its been a while since i've done anything on reason. Maybe after a bit of time away ill have some fresh new ideas! hehe.

Monday 28 May 2012

NEVER HAVE TIME TO BLOG ANYMORE!

I'm overrun with exams. by the time iv revised and had a bit of free time.. im too tired. I'd do a half decent post not if i wasn't completely knackered. But in 20 days, i will have NO WORRIES FOR 3 MONTHS! In that time im hopefully gonna:

Get a Job
Get a Gym Membership
Go to town/parties a lot
GO fishing lots
Practice guitar and learn lots of new songs
Make more music on my laptop
Record music with the twins and possibly gig
Blog More
DO MORE PRODUCTIVE THINGS

Hope i do all this.. i'll have so much time and nothing to do!

Saturday 5 May 2012

RIP ADAM YAUCH

Rest in Peace Adam Yauch :( I'm not a huge Beastie Boys fan - I just know a few songs, I think theyre great but am only really a casual listener. But theyre so cool, I love the songs I do know and to hear he's died at the age of 47 is so sad :(.

Tuesday 1 May 2012

Just as i thought I was getting better at Music Theory!

I got my worse mark yet in my practice paper today! Last time I was 2 marks from a distinction.. I only just got a pass this time! :( damn! To be fair, it was the first one i've not done at home - I did it sat in the common room so i probably wasn't concentrating as well as I should have been. Bloody common room is terrible at our school - at some schools they have a 'study room' where they encourage you to work.. they SAY they want us to work in our common room, but its just loads and loads of sofas and no desks or computers.. how are we meant to work there! :(. I've also done 2 essays the past 2 days! Practice exam ones. I did a history one today - that went terribly. Was like, a high E/low D. It wasn't even finished though. We're expected to write 6 pages in an hour - thats a page every 10 minutes, about 3 or 4 lines every minute. Constant writing, without even thinking. It's impossible i'm sure! We have to write about 6 different things in that part of the exam, as well as analysing sources, and remembering other historians opinions, comparing them and saying if they're reliable. Thats only half the exam as well, we have to do another essay! :( History is so hard! However, yesterday I did a music essay. I had to write about Jazz between 1920s and 1930s - basically New Orleans Jazz. And I think I did better on that! I get my mark on thursday, I really hope its good! I sort of made up 2 musical quotes because we're meant to remember scored music to write down in the essay, but its so hard to learn em! Apart from that though, I think I did alright. I mentioned loads of artists, like Louis Armstrong and the Hot Sevens, Jelly Roll Morton and the Red Hot Peppers, Duke Ellington, Joe 'King' Oliver and his Creole Jazz Band.. hehe, i sound like I know my stuff. Anyway, i'm hoping for at least a C in that part of the exam! Higher if possible, just to take the pressure off! Cos i'm feeling a lot of pressure with school recently! So much to revise for.. there's just so little time!

Saturday 28 April 2012

:(

Not a lot to blog about recently! As i've started getting a bit more serious about my school work, i've not worked on any music! Although I am gonna buy some concert tickets soon. Peter Hook and the Light are playing in sheffield! I can't wait haha. I'll just post this for people to listen to, maybe get a bit more feedback on it! I'm Still working on ideas for it.

Sunday 22 April 2012

Reached 500 pageviews!

First Grime Beat I ever produced!

Arguably one of my best.. used cubase instead of reason. Let me know what you think. Inspired by 'Kidulthood to Adulthood' by Bashy, produced by Maniac. Compare them, see if you can hear the influence!

Friday 20 April 2012

LCM Audition Piece

I produced this for the LCM Audition. They gave me the little violin sample, the piano sample, the acoustic guitar sample, and that organ sample, and I had to use that in my own piece, and this is what I made. Definitely some dubstep influence in there, you can hear it in the drums, and obviously the wobble. Let me know what you think cos I really like this, its unlike anything I've done before!

Thursday 19 April 2012

Not posted in almost a week

Sorry guys! Been so busy with work. But i noticed i'd not posted (and i'd made nothing with google adsense :P) so i thought i'd do a quick update. I've got History COursework and EPQ deadlines in the next week so thats why i've not been posting! Once they're over I can get back to recording/writing little ditties. Alex (who is one day gonna be part of my chart topping band) said we need to start writing stuff together, and he has a point. I come up with all these little ideas but we need to form stuff together so it's actually a band thing. Check my last post though to hear my latest idea. Also, RIP Levon Helm, drummer for The Band. Don't listen to them myself but my mum loves them and she always watched The Last Waltz DVD, so it's pretty sad to hear he's died.

Sunday 15 April 2012

The new project i was talking about!

Sounds very much like Miles Kane, The Last Shadow Puppets, and Humbug-era Arctic Monkeys. Which is not a bad thing. I'm taking this off soundcloud tomorrow until I finish the song so y'all best listen quick! I'm gonna add another section, vocals and harmonies, and maybe another instrument at some point!

Virtual DJ Home

Anyone ever had a play on this? It's so good once you get the hang of it. Definitely think I could be a real DJ!
Not got much to blog about today - got a history essay to do! Otherwise I'd be working on the new song. So i'll post an oldie. I made this back when I was really into Grime, Garage etc. Couldn't stop listening to Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, More Fire Crew.. More Fire Crew - Oi used to get played about 30 times a day in my house. Was an amazing tune at time! Anyway, i basically recreated the beat. Oi 2 or something like that, it's not the same but its very similar. Leave any feedback you want! I'm aware this is probably one of the worst things i've ever done! just thought i'd share it incase anyone likes more fire!

Saturday 14 April 2012

New Project is coming along nicely!

Going for a The Last Shadow Puppets/Humbug-era Arctic Monkeys sound on this one! Will work on this for the next few weeks and post it as soon as its done!

Thursday 12 April 2012

Revenge

One of my favourite songs i've produced! Sounds pretty sinister. Its intended to be like, a soundtrack. Was watching the TV series 'This is England 86' and the scene where Lol kills her dad i thought was ace. And i know the series has some pretty dark sounding piano songs in there so that inspired me to make this track. There's a drum loop i sampled from a Slipknot song in there - its a loop I made years ago, and this is the first time i've been able to use it in a song and it fit well! I also took this to my Leeds College of Music audition, but they never listened to it! :( I always think if I had played it to them, they might have accepted! Anyway. As always, leave your feedback in the comments, always greatly appreciated :)

...

People should let me know what they think to the Kasabian covers from yesterday! Think i'll leave it a day or two before i post anymore new music, otherwise ill have posted my entire repertoire by the end of the week! But yeah.. anyone whos not listened to them should. And anyone whos never heard of them, because im not sure of their popularity overseas.. well you should. Just one of their many songs. I've not covered this one, but its one of their best! One of the top 5 modern british bands.. they have loads of anthems. Songs that just make you wanna sing! Can't wait to see them headlining leeds festival!

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Kasabian Covers

2 Kasabian covers i've done! If you like kasabian, check em out. The switchblade smiles one is loads better. neither are finished but I just did them to see if I could recreate the sounds in them at all. Also id never played guitar on a track like this so i wanted to try it! :)

Not much to say..

I don't have much to blog about today! The only musical thing I have done is practice my performance pieces. I'm definitely getting better! Now i'm just having an hour listening to the music channels, chilling out, then i'm going to bed. But I could post you something and write a bit about it.. ok then. I'll showcase some of my remixing work :P Jme and Tempa T - CD is Dead. They released this with an acapella and encouraged people to remix this. There were hundreds that I heard, each taking the song in a different direction. This was around the time Tinie Tempah brought out Pass Out, and I was listening to that a hell of a lot. So i added a Drum n Bass breakdown at the end. I basically wanted to give the song a grittier, darker sound, and I think I achieved it. What do people think? The original is here: Let me know what you think, which you prefer etc. Remember this was one of the first songs I completed!

Sunday 8 April 2012

2 of my songs..

Ok, so I thought i'd post 2 examples of my music and write a bit about them. Firstly, i'm not just a guitarist. I don't just play and write in a rock style - here's a piece that still has some of my guitar playing in. It's called Ocean Breeze, because i'm terrible at naming songs and the organ sounds reminiscent of the seaside (to me anyway). I wrote this for the failed LIPA audition back in January. I really like the echoey guitar sound i used - again, sounds like a surfer sort of guitar. I never know wether I actually like this one, so people will have to let me know what you think! Anyway. Here's a second track - completely different style, uses different skills - I produced this in Reason. It's called Deep Forest. Its called that because it sounds a bit mysterious. A bit fantasy-ish. Again, terrible at naming songs! But i used to produce little grime beats which I intended MCs to rap over, and this was one of my original ones. But i added to it, expanded it and added another section - and I think this is one of my favourite songs I've produced. What do you think?

Squier Telecaster (Classic Vibes series)

Someone asked to see my guitar so here it is :). Plays amazingly, I love it.

Saturday 7 April 2012

Tables Turning

My Girlfriends taking me out for a Nandos tonight! So happy :) I love that place, best restaurant ever. Got a history essay to do though, if i wanna go out :( i wanted to spend today working on music! Decided I don't get that done enough.. although a new song I'm working on is starting to come together a bit. I'll upload then when I get it recorded - for now have an old track of mine, 'Tables Turning'! :) I recorded this for a LIPA audition - i got rejected :( - but it was just a little guitar idea i had. the first second of the song basically, was just something i did whenever i picked up a guitar, but i just developed that into probably my best guitar song. Which reminds me, I have another little riff that I wanna build a song around. Maybe get that recorded next week too!

Thursday 5 April 2012

Tomorrow

Going to bed now. Tomorrows plan includes practicing Alka Setzer and X Blues III with a band.. and that's about it. Family are away so house to myself! Might use the free time and empty house to record new music. It's something I need to do - apart from Ballad of the Banks, i've done nearly nothing for a long time.

Wednesday 4 April 2012

My AS Composition.

Stuck in doing revision/work all day again! Working on a composition for my AS level music resit.. I'm not going to post it on here because i don't want anyone else copying any ideas, this is months of work! But it got marked pretty badly even though it should have been marked hihgher. Apparently there's lots of problems with marking when it comes to music composition, and even towards the arts in general. It can be very subjective, and it'll be marked on wether the examiner likes the sound, rather than the techniques used and how complex it is etc. Basically, a grade 8 trained musician could be marked as a D while an untalented musician could get an A. Basically though, my composition is a piece i've written for flute, clarinet, bassoon, 2 violins and a cello. I think it's pretty good, it used loads of techniques. There's 2 key changes, 2 tempo changes. There's 2 definite motifs/themes that occur throughout the piece, varied at different pitches, speeds, on different instruments, but always definitely there. Plus theres plenty of dynamic markings, there's both Pizzicato and Arco strings. I personally think the piece is a B grade.. I'll post it when i've finished tweaking it and it's been sent off etc. But everyone who has listened to it, including my teacher, is very impressed by it.

Ballad of the Banks

A link to my latest musical project. Did it as part of the EPQ at school. Basically it's a folk song that i've written and recorded. I researched and analysed loads of different folk to make it as typically folk as possible - I think it was relatively successful!

Think i'm gonna start using this blog again!

Just blog about everyday things, what i've done with my day etc. May or may not be interesting.

My last pos was about a year ago, and that was complaining about sixth form. God, sixth form wasn't even that hard back then. Today I've been filling out my EPQ log, and reflection. Also I learnt 2 guitar pieces for my exam when i go back - alka setzer and X blues III. Need to perfect these for the exam!