Thursday 28 February 2013

New Music: 28/02/13

Lots of new tunes today. Got a lot of music I've wanted to share for a while but not really had time to!

Louis Berry
This guy has a sick voice. I love it, it's really gravelly.  Reminds me of someone else but I can't think who. He's like a scouse Jake Bugg - his music is quite folk influenced.





http://louisberrymusic.com/

Coat and a Hat
Another folk act here. 2 Lads from my college, they've only just formed but they've posted one song thats sounded really good! The harmonies are great. Definitely for fans on Mumford and Sons, and Simon and Garfunkel.



https://www.facebook.com/CoatAndAHat

Sloppy Joe
Joe is a mate of me and my flatmate, and he recently had an interview at LCM to do the same course as me, so I helped him produce a track in my flat last week. This is what we did..



He also has a couple of other tracks on his page. He's done a remix of The Prodigy's Funky Shit which is pretty good. It was a live remix he did on decks, it has a proper hip-hop feel to it.



Sloppy Joe's Soundcloud

Father Funk
I've posted some of his stuff on my blog before, but he has a new EP out so I'll post that on here :) great tracks as always. Funky Basslines, Groovy Drums, and some great guitar + vocal samples. Check out Juggernaut, that's my personal favourite on the EP.





That's it for now. Some great music to listen to though!

Friday 15 February 2013

The Strokes release new song 'All The Time'

The Strokes are back! A new album, 'Comedown Machine', will be released in March, and they've released this new song as a teaser. I'm aware that this is actually the second song The Strokes have released recently, but quite frankly, i didn't think much of it so I didn't share it on here. However, i've barely stopped listening to this. It's awesome.


It sounds just like classic The Strokes. If I was told it was taken from 'Is This It?' I'd believe it. Some may say that sounding the same as an album released over 10 years ago is a bad thing.. but they have released very different music recently, so I'm happy to hear a return to the old sound. I'm sure the album  won't all be the same - the other song they released, 'One Way Trigger', sounds nothing like them! It sounds more like A-ha or something. I'll post it here for people who haven't heard it.



The more I listen to it, the more Strokes-y it sounds. But i really dislike that synth sound! it isn't.. rocky enough. However there was a few good songs on their last album, 'Angles', that strayed away from their traditional sound, 'Machu Pichu' being one of them. It's actually one of my favourites.

I know I haven't been blogging a lot recently but that should change soon, as my assignments are all handed in on monday. I have got a post coming up in the next couple of days with lots of new music to share though! Keep a look out :)

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Uni Assigments!

Just a short post today - I got some feedback from 2 of my Uni assignments!!

This first was a group project, where we had to get together and record a song in the studio. We had to produce it all, so we were doing all the mic techniques, the patching, the desk work. We did a cover of 'A Message to you Rudy' by The Specials. We got 62/100, which is a 2:1 - not bad!!

The other assignment is the Crimestoppers one that I've talked about a lot on here - where I had to produce 2 30 second long pieces of music in Logic to go along with these Crimestoppers adverts. I got 72/100 - thats a first!! I'm so proud!!

This week i'm concentrating on another assignment - I have a 2000 word essay to be in next monday, and also a Theory and Aural assignment - I've been given a piece of music and I have to transcribe it. Harder than it sounds, trust me!! It's a long and stressful week this week so I probably won't blog this week - and hopefully I'm going home next week which means ill be quite busy then too. So.. i don't know if i'll be blogging for a while!!

ALTHOUGH.. been working on a track with my flatmate. It's nowhere near finished yet, but it's a cover of the XX track 'Angels'. Hoping to get some massive psychadelic guitar solo in there. I'll update on that when its starting to come together a bit.

Tuesday 5 February 2013

Biffy Clyro for Leeds Festival

So, tonight, another announcement was made regarding Leeds festival. I tuned into Zane Lowe's show to hear them announce it live, but it was pretty obvious as so many rumours have been flying about for the past few days.



Biffy Clyro are the second headliner, along with Eminem. Eminem is a massive, strong headliner, and as much as I respect Biffy as a band and think they are good.. to me they don't feel like headline material. Headliners tend to have a much wider appeal, and have at least a few songs that everyone there is gonna know and love. I don't know that many Biffy Clyro songs, and I don't think a lot of festival goers will either. I know 'Many of Horror', aka 'When We Collide' which the X-factor ruined. I know 'Mountains', and maybe one or two others. I think they'd be a great sub-headliner to a much bigger rock band - someone like Foo Fighters or Muse from previous years.

It's also got me thinking about the third headliner. Hopefully they're saving the best till last, although Eminem seems to be the big shock of the year, so i don't know. I'm praying they haven't blown their budget on Eminem, meaning they have to settle for 2 sub-par headliners. The strongly rumoured bands are Blur, Arctic Monkeys, Black Sabbath.. personally, I don't think Sabbath belong at this festival. As much as they are a classic band, they just don't fit in with the general feel of the festival, and most Leeds goers wouldn't really want to see them particularly. Blur would much better fit in, however I've recently come to the epiphany that they're slightly over-rated, and apart from a few songs, I'd be a bit bored through their set. I would love Arctic Monkeys to headline as I haven't seen them live since November 2011. They also are reportedly working on a new album, but I don't think it'll be finished by the time the festival comes round, so I'm not sure whether they would headline. They did headline it fairly recently as well.. 2009 I think. Mumford and Sons are also rumoured - a band who I really dislike and will be more than pissed off if they are announced. They are sub-headliner at best, and still one I probably wouldn't see. I think they'd better suit headlining a smaller stage. If I could pick any headliner, it would be Red Hot Chilli Peppers, however i don't think it'll happen - apart from the general buzz that goes round every year, there are no strong rumours.



There were 5 other artists announced today: Jake Bugg, Foals, System of a Down, Bring Me The Horizon and the newly reformed Fall Out Boy. All in all, a pretty good announcement i'd say. I was kinda disappointed when Biffy were announced, so for 'Chop Suey' to be playing 5 minutes later.. well, I was more than excited. System of a Down are a quality band, and I am extremely excited to be seeing them live. They're definitely the act I'm most excited for out of all that were announced today. I'm also quite excited for Fall Out Boy - a band I used to love when I was about 12, It'll be a real nostalgic set to watch. Songs like 'Dance, Dance' and 'Sugar, We're Going Down' were the soundtrack of my Emo days. If they don't clash with anyone, I might go and see BMTH, just because again they're a band I used to love. Jake Bugg'll be nice to see too, if he doesn't clash with anyone. I like a few of his songs but he's a great artist and I'd love to see him live, I think there'd be a great atmosphere. I've never listened to Foals really, but I wasn't impressed by what I heard on the radio.



Overall, I think today was a pretty good announcement. After the initial disappointment of Biffy Clyro headlining, announcing Fall Out Boy who have only just announced their reformation today, as well as Jake Bugg and System of a Down, well, it's really got me excited. Bring on Leeds Festival 2013.

Friday 1 February 2013

The Who

Guess who got tickets to go see The Who in London?!?! They're playing the classic Quadrophenia album in its entirety, plus all the hits too. Its gonna be amazing!!