Beach Slang - Punks In A Disco Bar YTV

A bit of a taster from their upcoming second album is the single Punks In A Disco Bar from my boys Beach Slang, (when I say my boys I mean I have never actually met or even talked to any member of the band, safe to say strangers at best).  And this week isn't as much of a video as more of a still image but the music accompanying it is what counts. A brief 2:40 of a song that almost expectantly flies by with punkish charm, PIADB does a damn fine job with the instrumentation levels, not overly prioritising the vocals and truly showing off some sweet ass guitar licks and other great beats for me and you both to enjoy!.  

Twin Peaks - Down In Heaven MA

This is coming only a few days late, but you know what they say 'better late than never'...... Anyways onto the feature. May has yet again been another fantastical month for music as I am sure everyone has grown to expect. Even on the quietest of months great LPs are made. Classics have been released from Spookyland, Nothing, The So So Glos, Outer Spaces and more. You can check out my full May playlist HERE

Kicking things off is my third favourite of the month, one Oscar with his debut Cut And Paste. A bit of a surprise hit for me, I was not sure what to expect when I started to listen to the album but I was pleasantly shocked at how great and high quality the music is. In terms of a first album, or even any album, this is definitely a strong hitter. Check out the absolutely banging single Daffodil Days below.

My second place LP is perhaps unsurprisingly the sophomore from the Catfish & The Bottlemen boys. I am a tremendous fan of their first album from 2014 and The Ride is more of the same. Just top level rock and roll tunes that are made for stadiums as well as the backstreet dive bars. Check out the soon to be club classic 7 below.

My numero uno album has to be Down In Heaven by the awesome Twin Peaks. This was probably the one album I was most hotly anticipating this month since Wild Onion was seared into my brain as an instant classic back in 2014. And boy oh boy I was not disappointed, 13 tracks of pure joy that seemed to flow by my ears with such ease that before I knew it, it had finished so back to the start I went. Below is Butterfly, on of the albums big hitters amongst 12 others. Check it out and go buy the album HERE. 

Car Seat Headrest - Fill In The Blank YTV

Matador Records ever so kindly released this clever lyric video of Fill In The Blank. Which is one of the tracks from Car Seat Headrests' upcoming second album out at the end of May, called Teens Of Denial. The guy behind CSH is one Will Toledo and this 4 minute track truly shows that he is one very talented boy. The screeching jagged guitar, crashing cymbals on simple yet powerful drums and use of silence that helps accentuate the catchy lyrics are just several reasons that make CSH an exciting musical prospect. For the cherry on the imaginary cake, he is coming to The Deaf Institute in June so fun times all round. Enjoy!    

Aftershokz Bluez 2S Headphones DOTM

Design Of The Month

I always have an ear out for interesting audio technology and recently I heard about this new headphone product from my girlfriend. The Aftershokz Bluez is an open ear wireless headphone system that uses bone conduction technology to deliver sound through the users cheekbones to the ear drum. This may seem to some people that they are changing headphones for no real benefit but as a cyclist who likes to listen to music when riding, these headphones allow me to hear oncoming cars and other possible surrounding dangers whilst listening to music without the two interfering with each other. It is also a great all round sports headphone product or just for lounging around the house in your pyjamas. Really smart idea!

Pretenders - Brass In Pocket YTV

20/10/15 YouTube Video

Excellent track this week from the Pretenders. I recently purchased the Chrissie Hynde book and as soon as it came through the door I couldn't put it down (without lack of trying). It documents her life, well the earlier years and I was interested to find out that she spent so much of her life outside of the U.S., travelling to the U.K. and France for substantial periods of her life. I don't know why I presumed she still lived in America but I just thought the bands sound had elements of that New York punk era. After completing the book, I have been listening to the first two Pretenders albums, the first one being where the track below (Brass In Pocket) is taken. A classic track that is still a hit to this day Enjoy!

YouTube Video Of The Week! 04/03/14

This is a video I have been waiting for for a while now. It is from the well hyped band Circa Waves with their latest release Stuck in My Teeth. As a video concept it is kept pretty simple, nothing too crazy. The camera is on constant rotation showing the members of the band singing the song whilst time passes in various contexts. A slightly amusing bit is watching their shadows mimicking their movements...as best they can haha. I am looking forward to hearing and seeing more from these boys. Great track.

YouTube Video Of The Week! 18/02/14

These guys can do no wrong in my books. Yea I have chosen NeedToBreathe for a second week running, (which I think is a Musicopedia first), what you gonna do about it? they deserve it. Another great song with the same feels as the last track. Looking forward to their latest album to come out in April and I am going to check out their back catalogue after this post. Hopefully you enjoy it half as much as I do.

YouTube Video Of The Week! 01/10/13

So it's the start of October and I'm back at uni for the second year of my product design course. Lots of work is expected to come and also experimenting with clay which should be fun stuff. Anyway as you know last week I went to see Paramore and this week my video is from said band Paramore. A track called In The Mourning. I never heard it before I saw it performed live and now I'm in love it. A nice slowish song with what I hear to be a country music kind of sound. I have been listening to this song on repeat since last week, such a beautiful song. Enjoy!

1 Year Old

I really wanted to get a post out on the first of may seeing as at that point my blog would have been 1 year old but due to uni deadlines I have been crazy busy and only managed to find the time now.
A few days ago now I went to see Never Shout Never and We Are The In Crowd play at The Institute Birmingham. NSN were on first and played a large handful of songs. It seemed to be over pretty fast as they stopped playing at like 5 past 8. I enjoyed Christopher Drews playing of various different instruments and in doing so, showing what a talented guy he is. Also the random banter that him and his bandmates had was fun to watch. I would like to see them as headliners sometime, I think they would put on a great longer show.

WATIC also were a full of energy group, the female lead I really like and I think I particularly enjoy female vocals with rock music. There is something about it that works really well. As for seeing them again live I don't think I would be that bothered, something about the sound they made was very samey to me that a lot of bands could reproduce. But I still enjoyed it.

To sort of commemorate my year I have purchased the latest Frank Turner album Tape Deck Heart on vinyl which if you remember my first post is the best way to listen to the dude.

Isle Of Wighttt + More

As a few festivals line ups have been released, I figured I would take a look and see which festivals line up sounds the best, and what's going on.

Straight away initially you can see some names that are clearly doing the rounds this summer: Ben Howard, Jake Bugg, The Vaccines, Emelie Sande and Alt-J to name but a few. Obviously not all of them I'm interested in or I think would make particularly good live performers but I would definitely love to see The Vaccines on a main stage and I think Jake Bugg would be brilliant in like a larger tent for a more intimate feel.

It does seem a thing this summer so far for a big female as one of the headliners, seeing as T In The Park have got Rihanna on the bill along with The Killers and Mumford & Sons, and V Fest has Beyonce with Kings of Leon. Reading and Leeds have only released a handful of artists but it will be interesting to see who they put in the headlining slots. There is so much hype for who is going to be headlining Glasto, quite a few huge names have been thrown around but as of yet no confirmed artists. I really wished I managed to pick up tickets :( stupid popularity. Another festival worth a mention is Boardmasters. A slightly smaller fest than most but is awesome with The Vaccines, Everything Everything and Cosmo Jarvis playing. And in such a beautiful location right by the sea. Awesome!

My favourite festival line up so far happens to be the same as last year, which was surprise surprise Isle Of Wight.For a start, they've got your big names: The Stone Roses & The Killers, they've got the older crowd draw with Bon Jovi, Boomtown Rats and Blondie (which is fuckin' awesome) and fresh newish bands like Palma Violets, Everything Everything and Bastille. Plus loads of other bands, check it out!!!!: www.isleofwightfestival.com/

I've also been listening to the General Fiasco album Unfaithfully Yours pretty much non stop for the past week. Great album by a great band, for sure worth a listen.