Crackley Wood

Today I went on a walk around Crackley Wood which is just outside Kenilworth. Seeing as its such a gorgeous day, why not. I went with my girlfriend and a couple of her relatives and we saw the horses and looked at the colourful wild flowers. I haven't been to the woods in a long time. I remember going there as a kid with my brother and my dad for walks which is a nice memory.

I also got Johnny Ramones autobiography Commando in the post recently. I'm only a small part of the way through it and it's a really interesting read learning about the early life of Johnny (including his baseball interest and his young military life) and about how the Ramones started out. Hopefully the book stays this good.

Also Known As

I was browsing Kerrang magazine one day a couple of weeks ago as you do, and I happened to see that General Fiasco are on tour doing dates around England and Scotland. The show they are doing closest to me is in a venue called Also Known As in Banbury which is on the 1st of June. The gig is actually free which I'm glad to hear about because I am pretty low on funds at the moment.
I first heard General Fiasco when they were supporting One Night Only. I really liked them from that point and I downloaded their album. Its such a good cd. Its the kind of rock music that gives you energy and gets you pumped up. My favourite tracks are Ever So Shy, Rebel Get By and Sinking Ships but they are all great songs and I can't wait to hear them live.

Mick Jagger

I have recently watched the last episode of the season of Saturday Night Live. As a host for me Mick Jagger was surprisingly good. At first I wasn't sure if he was just hired as a big name for the finale episode and be bad/awkward in the sketches but he was actually really funny and good mimicking the accents he did. I also thought his medley with the Foo Fighters was great. The song he did with Arcade Fire I thought was a bit meh but I'm not a big fan of Arcade Fire, the stuff I have heard at least. I was also sad to see Kristen Wiig leave the show along with Jason and Andy. She was one of my favourite cast members. And I really loved the digital shorts which i have enjoyed since really early on.

British Design

On the same day that I went to the The Enemy gig I also went down to London with my girlfriend and mate to a British Design exhibition at the V&A. Arriving there I may have made a slight miss calculation with the directions and came out at the wrong station but at least we had a nice walk through Hyde Park. But anyways there was some really cool stuff in the show (some pictured below) and hopefully it may inspire me to design things in the future. They had the actual Bowie outfit on a manakin, alongside a couple of outfits from singers I hadn't heard of. They also had some Beatles vinyl on the wall that was designed by The Beatles, Peter Blake, Jann Haworth and Richard Hamilton. In the gift shop I found a cool Sex Pistols bag which will definitely stand out in a crowd.

On a different note we ate lunch at a lovely little Chinese place, I had a box of rice and a mix of spicy and caramel chicken which I have never tried before. It was really good!

Guitar

Over the next few days I'm going to be really busy working on my portfolio for my university interview so I won't be posting as much as usual. I will be back soon though. Part of my portfolio is a guitar I have designed (below) I have taken the measurements from my Fender acoustic as a starting point and added small things in my own style. So let's hope it all turns out good.

The Enemy Sold Out Gig

So yesterday i went to the The Enemy gig. It ended up being in The Coventry Kasbah instead of the planned Coventry Cathedral due to stuff about noise restrictions and health and safety stuff. It was a bit of a let down but as soon as they started playing their first song (Gimme The Sign) I knew it would be a brilliant gig. The place was packed to the roof and the energy was huge. I also really liked their support act whose name I couldn't hear but they did a cover of All Together Now which got all the crowd singing along. But yea I had a great time listening to The Enemy and I would totally see them again especially if they play Coventry again.

I have also just picked up their new album because they weren't selling it at the gig and I recognise some of the songs from last night, tis good.

Blunderbuss

Just recently I bought a couple of new albums: Jack Whites Blunderbuss and Jason Mrazs Love is a Four Letter word. If Sixteen Saltines is anything to go by I'm really looking forward to giving Blunderbuss a good listen. Speaking of Sixteen Saltines, I have watched the new video for it and there is some pretty messed up/ trippy stuff. Jack being kidnapped and set ablaze by a blue Mowgli being one of the saner parts :)

I have loved Jacks work ever since Elephant when he was in The White Stripes. Which was one of the first albums I bought.

Love is a Four Letter word I bought half on a recommendation and half because I wanted to see what other songs Jason Mraz has. From his third album the only song I really heard was I'm Yours which I really liked but I didn't buy that album. And from this album I Won't Give Up is the only track I've listened to and so far so good hopefully for the rest of the album.

Private Viewing

The thursday just gone I went to Banbury to see a private viewing art show that included work from my girlfriend. The photo below is one of the pieces she made, one of my favourites for looks and overall practicality :) She also designed and handmade a range of cinderella dresses and some beautiful prints of a fairy tale tree, bird and gravestone.

I am also glad to hear The Warped Tour is coming to the UK for the first time this year since 1998. It has always sounded like something I would really want to go to whenever I have heard about the festival in America. As far as I know it's on on a Saturday in early November and hopefully if it is popular it will grow bigger, better and become an annual think in Britian. Let's hope I can make it there.

Radiohead Fan

Well ever since my first listen to the Radiohead album Ok Computer I haven't been able to put it down. I love the album and listen to it whenever a get a chance. Brilliant. Yesterday I was reading Rolling Stone issue 1155 with Radiohead on the front cover. I read the article on Radiohead obviously and it was really interesting to find out about the band because I knew nothing of them before and honestly prior to listening to the album I would have probably skipped the article or at best skimmed over it but I read it and I'm glad I did. They are a very interesting band that have produced a lot of work. So now I'm thinking about the next album from them that I should buy, maybe In Rainbows but I dunno. I'll have to look into it a bit more.

Fun.

Well I guess everyone in the world has now heard the Fun song We Are Young or so it seemed from all the fans on the Internet. And yes I really love this song too. Anyway I browsing around YouTube and apart from the acoustic videos Fun did themselves for the song which there are a few, I really like the cover by a couple called Liamandlmii (actual YouTube name) a guy on guitar and a girl singing and for what I know about music they sound damn good. I really love the girls voice and how it's different from the guys voice in Fun. And the guitarist is a lot more skilled than the other guitarists I've seen covering the song. Enough talk, check out the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ote11KTmVpQ

I also am glad to hear Jimmy Fallon is going to release an album of his songs on June the 12th. The album is called Blow Off Your Pants and so far I think you can only get it in the UK through import which will cost a little more but well worth it. Let's just hope it has the Bruce Springsteen/ Neil Young cover Sexy and I Know It :)

Wrecking Ball

So I'm writing this post mainly because of the lovely sunny weather right now, (in the midlands at least) which has put me in a good mood along with when I was doing some errands around listening to the Bruce Springsteen album wrecking ball which is majorly uplifting and definitely gave me some much needed energy. And as I was driving home I put on the song Wrecking Ball from the album, rolled the windows down and turned the volume up! Yea it's a great song to drive along to in what I hope is the start of the summer.

Isle of Wight Festival

Unfortunately this summer I will not be going to any festivals but that doesn't stop me looking at the line ups. The main band at T in the Park that attracted me was The Stone Roses, they are a classic British band with great songs and I'm glad they have reformed for however long it's gonna be. With Reading & Leeds I would have loved to be there when The Cure come on stage and The Foo Fighters would be another one I wouldn't want to miss. I love pretty much all of their songs and they are made for festivals. But the festival that beats all the others by far is the Isle Of Wight festival for headliners alone. On friday night they have Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, saturday is Pearl Jam (which after watching their 20 DVD I have fallen even more in love with) and on Sunday the legend that is Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. Maybe I have slightly old taste but this festival easily out strips all the others. So if you go to a festival make sure it's Isle of Wight!

Electra Heart

Well like I said I would I gave the new Marina and the Diamonds album Electra Heart a listen. Some of the tracks sound a bit Katy Perry and I'm not saying that's a bad thing but I always like bands that you can tell its them in the music. Don't get me wrong Marina does have a good voice and I really like the tracks: Primadonna, Lies, Hypocrates and Teen Idle. I would listen to the album when I was in the mood for some easy-listening music and maybe pop for pops sake music.

Also I know One Direction are big all over the world and all that but that doesn't mean I want to know what Harry had for breakfast yesterday morning thank you.

New Vinyl!!!!

Yesterday in a bid to increase my record collection seeing as I'm pretty new to the game I bought 3 records from a colleague at work. The Best of Rod Stuart Vol 2, Rolling Stones Through The Past, Darkly and Meat Loaf Bat Out Of Hell. All for a fiver, bargain. I got the Rod Stuart one basically because he is a bit of a legend. The Rolling Stones album has got some proper classic tunes and I'm really looking forward to hearing She's A Rainbow on vinyl and Bat Out of Hell, I first listened to this album when I was a kid on cd and I fell In love with it. Basically all the tracks on there I think are great so I can't wait to put it on and listen to some good rock muuusic.

Ok Computer

So I know I'm like 15 years behind everyone else but today I gave Radioheads OK Computer album a listen. I guess through all the hearsay about the band I was never really that interested in them. But a while ago I was reading a Best Albums Of All Time list and Ok Computer was at number one so I figured I should give it a chance. After hearing the album yes I like Paranoid Android, Karma Police and No Surprises but I also really like Electioneering and Lucky. I know people think of Radiohead as depressing sometimes and the album does have some depressing songs but it also has great songs and songs that I would listen to whatever mood I'm in. All together I would go with the chart and say yes it's a great album, maybe not the best ever though :)

A Positive Rage

So today I've been listening to the A Positive Rage album by The Hold Steady. Me getting this album happened a bit randomly because I was in a music store just browsing and as I was leaving, I noticed the album on the sale stand for 2 quid and I noticed it was the hold steady which I knew were a pretty decent band so I picked it up. Anyways yea it's a live album which is a bit unusual but the whole sound you get from it and the audience really add to the quality and in some weird way make it rock more! A couple of the tracks I really like are You Can Make Him Like You and Southtown Girls. Anyways yea good album and definitely worth more than the 2 quid I paid. So if you see it around pick it up.

Also today I picked up the new Marina and The Diamonds album, and yea before you say it, I know it's poppy and all that but I kinda like that stuff too. So I'll give it a listen soon and see if it is any good. So yea.

The Enemy on tour

Well about a week ago my ticket to The Enemy concert arrived. I am very much excited about this gig. Firstly just to see The Enemy live because I like basically all of their songs and haven't seen them live yet. And secondly they are doing two of their concert dates in the Coventry Cathedral for which I'm going to the first one. It will be a really great gig to go to in such a monument in the open air and the first gig I've been to in a really interesting/special place. Most of the others just being in academys and arenas so yea I'm pretty excited :)

Sleep Is For The Week

So I was listening to the Frank Turner debut album on vinyl which is basically the first completely new lp I purchased. This kind of record sounds so brilliant on vinyl. I dont know what it is about it but something works so well. Lets just hope my future purchases record wise will be of the same standard or better :)  We will see.