Egg Rock Dudes

In the spirit of Easter I've painted a few eggs with a rock stars face. You would be lucky to guess all of them due to my marker skills but who cares.

Happy Easter Everyone!!

Peace in Leamington

I've just been to see Peace at Head record store in Leam. Annoyingly I got there really early and had to do a lot of waiting around. But anyway when they came on at just gone half 3 I was expecting quite a lot, seeing as I'm loving their brilliant debut album and NME have been promoting the hell out of them. Let me tell you, they did not disappoint. They played a nice 30 minute set full of passion and afterwards they hung around for a signing session. It was quite an intimate set, for me at least because I was basically in the second row.

They seem really decent guys and pretty decent musicians, alas I can't say much for the lead singers fashion style. I'm not the biggest fan of overly short jeans with a fringe and coats that are made for old women but what's fashion got to do with good music, nothing. I loved it :)

Marley the movie

This post is about the artist Bob Marley, not about a movie with a golden retriever to save any mix up :)

Firstly, this movie is an epic 2 hours 24 mins long. I lagged a bit here and there during that time but its generally hard to keep my attention for a long period.

Anyway I've watched the movie Marley which goes through the live of yes you guessed it Bob Marley. They have got a great selection of people to talk about him, ranging from family members to members of The Wailers and many friends. They talk about how he started off in a really bad part of Jamaica and how he rose to fame and grand popularity but he always stayed grounded and he always kept his faith/beliefs true. I found it upsetting in the last stages of his life, with the cancer all over his body and there was little to nothing the doctors could do. I wonder if he was still around today, what he would be like, what kind of music he would produce if any and his thoughts on the current state of the world. One things for sure, his massive volume of work over 36 years will definitely keep him in people's minds and hearts forever.

Check It Out:

The Strokes - Comedown Machine

I've been getting my Strokes on today. My Is This It record has been spinning and I was in Sainsbury's store the new Strokes album was £9 which after a quick check, I found out that it is cheaper than Amazon which doesn't happen often. You gotta grab the bargains when you see them. So far the reviews I've seen for Comedown Machine haven't been great but I want to reserve judgement until I hear it in full. They haven't really disappointed me in the past and I don't want it to start now.

On the art work, they have gone for a more stripped back feel with not much going on on the outside apart from the obvious detailing. The only thing (apart from the front cover printed again) on the leaflet is silhouettes of each of the band members, no lyrics, no little notes of thanks, nothing. Very minimal I guess.

American Peace Live

Two in one day yea I know, I have a lot of time.

So at uni I've been given a design brief to think about over the spring break regarding chocolate. 

More specifically, chocolate that fits in with the American culture and lifestyle. I thought what better way to get into this mind set than by a bit of hands on research. I started today by hitting up McDonald's for a breakfast of Pancakes & Syrup, Crème Egg McFlurry, Choc Milkshake and free Hot Apple Pie. I also picked up a selection of chocolate bars (pictured below) from a candy stall in the shopping centre to see the kind of stuff they produce. It should make for some good eating, especially the Butterfinger which is my personal favourite.

I'm glad I went in to town today as well because as I went into Head (Leamington local record store) I saw this sign advertising Peace performing this Friday in-store and doing a signing, so I picked up their album for that. I also saw a self titled album Blue Roses, never heard of them before but for 50p I figured its worth a try at least. 

Listening to Slashes self titled album atm, expect a post soon.

Reading Festival

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm gonna talk about the Reading Festival, the line up and what's going to be happening. Obviously there is still a load more acts to be announced but I figured I'll go with what they got so far on the main and NME stages and hope things can only get better than it already is.

I guessed the easiest way to talk through the bill would be day to day so here goes:
Fridays acts that I really don't want to miss on the are Main Stage Green Day and Frank Turner, I've seen New Found Glory before and System Of A Down aint my jam. On the NME Stage I couldn't give a toss about seeing Skrillex, and am not that fussed about A$AP ROCKY, but I wouldn't mind seeing Bastille, Peace and Deap Valley if the mood takes me.

Saturdays acts on main stage that I'm really interested in tbh is Foals and White Lies,. I have a small want to see Eminem but I'm not going crazy for him. But the NME stage have really cracked it on Saturday night. All of the artists playing I'm interested in seeing, especially Jake Bugg and Palma Violets. Both which début albums have packed a punch for me.

Sunday on the main stage, the big names like Biffy Clyro and Fall Out Boy are a big draw and The Lumineers I also really want to see, after The Civil Wars gig being cancelled made me miss my chance. On the NME stage nothing in particular is interesting me greatly. Possibly Haim but I have seen them before and want to see as many new bands as I can over the weekend. With everyone else I'm not that fussed about.

But on the whole, so far so good, lets keep the acts coming R&L!!

Slash

This album is huuge! The amount of talent he has with him on this album is incredible, from Iggy Pop to Ozzy Osbourne to Chris Cornell with a bit of Dave Grohl thrown in for good measure.

Ghost- before listening to this track I didn't have a clue who Ian Astbury was and after a quick google, I found out he was in a band called The Cult. All I know is this track has got some power and I'm loving it. His vocals are brilliant and a great way to kick off the album.

Beautiful Dangerous- I previously heard Fergie with Slash on a cover of Paradise City and she sung it with so much gusto and effort, its tracks like that and this one where you can really tell she is a quality singer. She really goes well with the big rock guitar sound, for sure.

Starlight - I think this is my favourite track from the whole album. This Myles Kennedy guy, I like him. When he sings, he is proper going for it, no holds barred whatsoever,

Gotten - As much as I'm not a fan of Adam Levine on the whole, this track actually doesn't sound too bad. Probably the balance of Slash helps it quite a bit but yea. It's quite mellow compared to the other songs I prefer on the album but a nice change, not too depressing by any means.

Overall I'm so glad I picked this up. If you see it, do the same!

Rodriguez

I've been watching a few different music related movies recently, one of them being The Search For Sugarman which was recommended by a mate at uni. It was an interesting documentary style thing about this artist named Rodriguez. Basically he went completely off the grid and no one had heard anything from him in years, but the people on the movie managed to track him down and have a chat. If you get a chance, give it a watch. Anyways, I was reading Mojo on the bus this morning and was pleased to see the little article (pictured) which basically says he has a bunch of new tracks and is going to produce a killer (hopefully) new album. If his past music is anything to go by, it should be brilliant.

Thank You HMV

Recently I have been making the most of HMV closing down (or whatever they are doing) to get discounted CD's. In the picture, the top 8 albums are from HMV and the bottom few I bought from Amazon but I figured I would include them because I got them around the same kinda time. I have definitely been getting into more rocky based genre of music recently, with the Tonight Alive album which is one I have been particularly lovin, Biffy Clyro, Kids In Glass Houses, and I'm proper looking forward to giving the Sound City and Slash album a good listen. From the looks of them both, there sounds like a few great collaborations and both albums produced by awesome musicians, you cant really go wrong :)

Back to the Tonight Alive's What Are You So Scared Of? album, it has been one of my more played albums so far. It has been one that has spent a long while on my Amazon wish list and the push I needed to get my ass in to gear and buy it came from a music mag (forget which one) that had an article reviewing a few different Australian rock groups latest releases and they were really bigging these guys up. A nice thing about this album is it ends with 4 acoustic tracks: What Are You So Scared Of?, Safe & Sound, Let It Land and Breaking And Entering. It just ends the album on a bit more of a relaxed feeling which I find refreshing.

Plenty to keep me busy over spring break.

I am also super excited to be going to Reading festival this year. I just bought my ticket this morning. I will no doubt do a post about it in the near future.

Rock It Out Blog

At the moment I am currently really busy in the final week of this current uni term. I basically just wanted to talk about how awesome the Rock It Out Blog on YouTube is. They post videos fairly often, like 1 every couple of days and I get a heap of my state-side music news from them. In particular, one special feature I really like from them is called RIO!Backstage where they showcase a live music venue. They talk about its history and all about the set up etc. It is really interesting, if you want to find out more hit up: http://www.youtube.com/user/RockItOutBlog

One great new track I want to promote is Arthur and The Invincibles - The Dream Maker

https://soundcloud.com/arthurandtheinvincibles/the-dream-maker

Check out fb for more info etc...

Peace

Maccabees Podcast et more.

I'm not sure how new this is but I've just finished listening to a podcast released by The Maccabees. They basically play a bunch of great songs that they are currently interested in and listening to during the production of their new album. They play a mixture of old and new tracks, a bit of Tom Petty, a new track by I Am Kloot which was new to me but I really enjoyed it. They also played some hip hop tracks that I didn't know, I got a along with them but don't remember what they were called. I have a great memory lol. So if you have a spare hour and a half give it a listen, who knows, you may find your new favourite track.
http://www.themaccabees.co.uk/mobile/blog.php?id=the-maccabees-hour-or-so-of-music-podcast

I have also recently subscribed to the Mike Harding podcast in which he plays a variety of folk music. I used to listen to the show on BBC radio 2 but I sort of fell out of the routine of tuning in so I'm looking forward to getting back into it.

One of my favorite podcasts has to be The Guardians Music Weekly with Alexis Petridis. Its such a laugh to listen to. You feel like it's just a couple of mates chatting away, it's so friendly and I also like the interviews they have. They are generally with really interesting people.

There is so much out there, it's just finding the time to listen to it all.

Amy Macdonald

Yesterday night I went to see Amy Macdonald at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham. As you can see, my seat location was brilliant, right up in the grand tier a few rows from the back. It was my first visit to Symphony Hall and it is quite a classy affair. I felt a little under dressed when near enough everyone was in formal attire and I was in scrappy jeans and a T-shirt.
As a general rule I do prefer the smaller venue and due to my seat location I was dubious about what kind of sound quality I would be able to hear. And as it turns out, Any can fill the room with supposed ease. She has a much more powerful voice than I expected, and I don't think the quality diminished over the distance at all.
Most of the concert was with her full live band, but just after half way through she did a slightly more stripped back few songs with just a drummer on a smaller kit. A couple of covers were played, Higher and Higher and an acoustic Dancing In The Dark which she sang beautifully. I think there are a few videos on You Tube if you're particularly interested.
Supporting Amy was a chap called Ben Montague who was an artist along the same kind of lines. He performed with just a drummer and him playing acoustic guitar. He came across as a pretty friendly guy, chatting to the audience after each song and even hanging out by the merch stand after the show for signatures, which is a lot less common than other gigs I've been to.

Great gig, definitely recommend her!