Folllk

Firstly I have to say I'm properly addicted to the new Paramore track, I cant get enough of it and really considering pre-ordering the album.

I have been perusing the web for any kind of interesting blog about folk music and I have came across this video (link below) by Tallest Man on Earth. I have only listened to it a handful of times but I think his vocals are quite unique and his guitar playing is very impressive. I found the video on Folk Alleys blog, definitely one to check out for plenty of other good tunes :)

I have also pre-ordered the début Fidlar album which I'm looking forward to seeing them in less than a month, Feb 21st to be precise lol.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JLRTleMY_mc

New Paramore single

Well I have listened to the new Paramore track 'Now'. It is still as powerful as the songs they have made in the past, keeping the rock loudness and strong vocals. And after listening to it a few times it really is catchy.

I also went to HMV to see if I could get any cheap albums before they close down, and after a lot of looking around I found this album by Bob Mould which I have wanted for a while. Plus I got it for nine quid which was cheaper than amazon. Yeah!!!!

The season of new tech.

In the mail today after a lot of messing around I have finally received my nexus 7 tablet which is the final bit of tech I have gathered in this past season. I firstly bought a HP envy all in one desktop which has touch smart technology in the screen which is really fun to mess around with and great Xbox music program which is basically the same idea as spotify but with no limit on listening to single tracks. For Christmas I got an amazon kindle fire HD from my awesome girlfriend which is really fun to use and great for reading the Keith Richards auto biography on (which I'm currently powering through) :) and as mentioned the nexus 7 which I'm writing this on and so far it seems pretty slick and speedy so yea I've got more than enough to keep me busy.

I am totally excited for this new year in music, with all the great music promised let's hope 2013 produces a lot of good tuunes!!!

New Years Music

So Christmas is over and even now I have a shit load of chocolate and sugary treats to eat. I wanted to show my appreciation to my friends and family for all the amazing gifts and stuff I've received seeing as I'm writing this post off of my new kindle :) I also got a fair amount of money to buy some new CD's, the majority of which are pictured above and I'm just waiting for the last one or two to arrive but I've got more than enough to last me. Good times!!!!

Since I have had some time off uni I have been trying to sort out my room into more of a presentable state. My girlfriend (with the same idea) was sorting out one of her living room cupboards and found a box of old CD's that I gave to her to store before I moved house. Listening to them again has brand back a lot of good memories from when I was first getting into music. Its really nice to look back to good music just before the new years. Let's hope this 2013 will bring even more brilliant music.

Have a good NYE!!

Esquire

As the title suggests, yesterday I finished reading the latest esquire. The only reason I bothered to pick up such a magazine was the large photo of Jack White on the cover and it claimed to be the music issue.
Inside, the interview they had was pretty interesting, talking about his life growing up and his relationship with Meg and the several different bands he has been a part of. After reading it I'm thinking about picking up the book The White Stripes - Sweethearts of the Blues to find out more.
They also had a segment about The Rolling Stones which can never be a bad thing :)

On top of this I have got a ticket to see Fidlar in the new year! Lets hope it's a good gig.

Merry Christmas!!

New Albums

Only 3 days till Christmas 2012 and this morning I've been into town and picked up two albums. PJ Harvey - Let England Shake and Crosby, Stills & Nash - Greatest Hits.

I know I'm like more than a year behind getting L.E.S. seeing as it was the top of lots of different Albums of the Year 2011 charts but I am not the best for getting up to date albums :) And I wanted to start a bit of a collection for C.S.N seeing as I had none to begin with and what better place to start than a greatest hits album. Even more stuff to listen to in these 3 weeks off.

I also wanted to include a photo of a cardboard model I have made whilst at my 1st term in university. Not in the shot is a full drum kit and electric guitar which the team made.

Christmas Holidays

Over the past couple of months I have been extremely busy at university. But now its the christmas holidays and I have enough time to update my news/goings on. I am really lucky to have received tickets to see Bruce Springsteen in June at the Ricoh Arena. I'm really looking forward to it!! Also in the past couple of weeks I have seen Mumford & Sons and Florence & the Machine. Both of which were really good but very different. I probably would say I preferred Mumford just because the whole crowd were more up for it. They both put on a great show.

Since starting uni, I have found out about a lot of new music, new genres and a load of artists. I'm getting into my great guitarists. Like right now I'm listening to a Susan Tedeschi greatest hits album and she is brilliant. But yea I have lots of new music to be getting through during the holidays. :)


Merry Christmas!

Howler

In just under a week I'm going to see Howler and The Cast of Cheers at the HMV institute in Birmingham. I have been listening to the Howler album a lot recently and am really enjoying it. Along with NME promoting them majorly, I think they are going to be a really good live act but we will see.

I have also been really busy at uni, below is one of my best drawings I have done so far.

More and more live shows

I'm really looking forward to getting my university timetable partly to see what dates I'm free to go to concerts. Up until early December there are lots of gigs that I want to go see. I found out about them thanks to SongKick, one of my favourite apps. Gigs that I want to see in date order are: The Enemy, The Gaslight Anthem, Ahab, Jack White, Jake Bugg, Bellowhead, Sonic Boom Six, The Vaccines, The View, Florence and The Machine and The Black Keys. Lets hope I can go to as many as possible, they should be really good.

I'm glad Impractical Jokers is back on tv. I have just watched the first episode of the second season and it is so so funny. I love it!

The Cribs

Exciting news, I am going to see The Cribs play at The Assembly in mid November I think it is. The same week as The Civil Wars. Also just today I bought three albums that I have wanted for my collection more than anything. Foo Fighters - In Your Honour, Green Days - Nimrod and Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly - The Chronicles Of A Bohemian Teenager. All on a three for ten pounds thank you Head.

I'm also starting uni in just over two weeks and can not wait. It's going to be so fun. :)

The Civil Wars

I recently got my next gig ticket through the door. I'm going to see The Civil Wars and The Lumineers at the Warwick Arts Center in a few months. I mainly got the ticket just to see The Lumineers but seeing as they are the support act I may as well stay and see if The Civil Wars are any good. I bought the debut Lumineers album after seeing them on the american Billboard charts and i really liked it. I definitely think their kind of folksy/rock music would be great to see live and if The Civil Wars are anything as good as them it should be a awesome night. I found out about this gig through the SongKick app and it is a great and very convenient way to find out about gigs in your local area.

And seeing as it was my birthday fairly recently I got a couple of HMV gift cards and so far i have got Oasis - Definitely Maybe, which I have been needing to get and Bellowhead - Hedonism and from having a good time seeing them live I hope the album equals their quality.

Lou Reed

Last night I went to see Lou Reed at The Assembly in Leamington. I didn't really know what to expect from him, what his voice would be like, who he would have on stage with him and what instruments he would play. It turned out to be a really good gig. His voice in my opinion has definitely not got worse with age and still sounds really good. Listening to both the songs I knew and didn't know I enjoyed both and his flair and style with playing them. Both him and the rest of the band played their instruments really well and sometimes in ways I haven't heard of before. You could tell he was a musician who knows his stuff. I would for sure see him again. After it ended I bought his latest record Lulu that he made with Metallica. I have heard a few mixed reviews but I'll see what it's like for myself.

I'm also currently watching season 5 of Breaking Bad and its still as good as ever and the drama is building and building. Brilliant show!

Art Of Rap

Last Saturday I was looking through a free magazine that came with the Guardian and I saw an advert for The Art Of Rap, it's a movie starring Ice T where he talks to all the big hip-hop legends in America. The advert was promoting the movie and afterwards a live streaming of a gig and Q&A. So when I get to the cinema to watch the movie there is only like seven people there so it was pretty nice to have a whole row to myself. After watching the movie I was expecting the live stream to come on screen or at least some cinema assistant to come in and announce something but after watching all the credits, the main lights coming on and the screen turning off I came to the conclusion there would be no more. I decided to walk out after about 10 mins leaving a couple of people there who obviously wanted to stick it out. It was really disappointing not to see the live gig featuring Ice T, Chuck D, Melle Mel and Raekwon. But I was really happy to pay seven pounds to watch a one night only screening of the movie. I'll definitely buy it when it comes to DVD.

Amy Winehouse

I have finished the book about Amy Winehouse. I seriously couldn't put it down since I got it on Friday and finished it on Monday. The whole book is written from the view point of Amys father Mitch. The book was revealing in terms of Amys addiction to drugs and alcohol and how the press and media played it to the public. It was also interesting finding more out about her relationship with Blake and how that affected her mainly for the worse. I have definitely gained a lot of knowledge about addiction and how it affects everybody around. It is a very sad book about a life that ended way too early. I would definitely recommend reading it.

And I received a early birthday present. A ticket for Lou Reed at the Assembly, yea.

The Stones

When I was down in cornwall I brought a book to read during the rainy days. It is called The Stones and its a biography of the Rolling Stones as a band. I just finished reading it and started a new book yesterday. I found it really interesting finding out about life inside the band, about Brian Joneses and his death, about the changing guitarists and the drug usages & busts. I really wanted to find out more about the band because I knew about them being like one of the worlds biggest rock bands but to be honest I didn't really know the ins and outs of the group or much about them at all. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes a truly interesting read.

As for the book I'm reading now is Amy written by her father Mitch Winehouse. I'm only a few chapters in to it but so far so good.

Chris Moyles

So yesterday I heard the news that Chris Moyles will be leaving the Radio 1 breakfast show. And pretty much everywhere I looked (with a few exceptions) everybody was happy and slating him in dislike. I would just like to say I think he is a really funny person and love listening to his show. Yea maybe he is rude occasionally but he is just a loveable guy, it makes it all right with me. I definitely will prefer him doing the show over the newly appointed Nick Grimshaw who I think is wholly less interesting, funny and not someone I particularly care for.

In other Radio 1ness, I am a fan of the review show on Tuesdays, and in the recent past I had a little break from it and in my return I found Edith had taken over from Nihal. Another change I'm not a fan of. I do like Edith but from what I have heard of the show with her presenting it seems to be missing a certain banteringness that was in the show with Nihal. I also much preferred the layout of the show like more guests and the scoring system etc.

Jimmy Fallon - Blow Your Pants Off

So as soon as I had a chance I put my new Jimmy Fallon album on. I was dying to listen to it after hearing the Bruce Springsteen and "Neil Young" cover Whip My Hair which was so funny and actually a really nice cover.
I also heard Walk Of Shame with Dave Matthews when it was performed live on his show and I loved it.

After listening to it I really like Balls In Your Mouth (which I'm currently learning/messing around on guitar), Scrambled Eggs which is done to the tune of Yesterday by The Beatles and features Paul McCartney.
I also think You Spit When You Talk is a great comedy song, lots of funny lyrics partly written by Fallon and brilliantly performed. The tracks I were less keen on were The Doors Sing "Reading Rainbow" basically because I didn't have a clue what Reading Rainbow was to begin with and I just didn't really like the sound of it and My Upstairs Neighbors Are Having Sec (And Listening To The Black Eyed Peas). I know he was being Ramonesy but I didn't really think the lyrics worked that well and I'm not such a big fan of BEP. On the whole it's a great album for what it is (a comedy album) and Jimmy Fallon is great at impersonating Neil Young & Bob Dylan and hopefully he continues to do so for a while. I'll definitely be listening to this for a long time and will be really interested in what he does in the future.

Local Gigs

Seeing as I don't have any gigs planned for the future due to low funds and not hearing of much happening, I figured I would browse to see if anyone decent was playing at the local Leamington Assembly. The three that interested me were Lou Reed, The Enemy and Bellowhead. The last two I have seen live before but were so good I would happily see them again and Lou Reed because it's Lou Reed basically, however he is a bit more expensive than the other two so I'll see how the money goes, my birthday is coming up so hopefully I will get some monies and that will decide it for me.

MoshCam

Basically I was messing around on my phone today checking out apps and Genius recommended MoshCam because of my other music related apps so I thought I would try it out. I have to say its really fun to use and it's good to see the amount of bands you can see performing live straight from your phone like your there in the room. So far I have watched half of The Vaccines set and interviews with the latter and Does It Offend You Yeah?, Ani DiFranco and The Get Up Kids all talking about their gigging experiences and venues etc, all really interesting stuff and I'll definitely check it out some more.

www.moshcam.com

Cornwall

Last Saturday my girlfriend and I came back from holiday in Cornwall. It was definitely nice to get away and relax. I also managed to get a good haul of music and music related products from various shops. A lot of classic albums that I really should have bought by now and some classic artists books. I'm looking forward to go back down later on in the year to visit Newquay etc. fun fun fun. It was also good to see a bunch of new CDs that I ordered had arrived along with the latest edition of Q.