Tuesday 8 October 2013

Simon Neil and his Tattoos - A little update!

A report came on BBC Breakfast the other day about tattoos and whether policemen/women should be able to have them or not. I got talking to my Mum about different tattoos and why people get them and a name that kept popping up for me was Simon Neil.

Simon Neil is the AMAZING frontman of Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro whose entire top half of his body (excluding his head) is covered in tattoos and each one means a different one to him. Neil says he has about 30 tattoos all in all from lyrics to Di Vinci sketches. I thought I'd go through some of his best ones.
A Perfect Circle's Debut Album Artwork
from 2000.

For his 21st birthday, his girlfriend (now his wife) got him his first tattoo which was a reference to A Perfect Circle's debut album "Mer de Noms" and is the little symbol right at the bottom on the left hand side. Although he no longer considers himself a fan of the band, he says the tattoo still means a lot to him because it was from his wife.

Biffy Clyro's third album "Infinity Land"
artwork.
All members of the band have some kind of reference to their albums tattooed on them somewhere. I know Simon, Jim and Ben all have a puzzle piece tattooed on their left side of their ribs in reference to their 4th studio album "Puzzle" (which is personally my favourite) and a lot of fans also have this tattooed in the same place as a sign of dedication towards the band. Simon has the heart held in the hands of the figure on the front of "Infinity Land"'s artwork tattooed on his left arm.

Simon's mother's painting.
Taken from an interview from Radio 2.
To see the interview go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmJdfNXyl20
If you are a Biffy fan, you will know that Simon's mother, Eleanor, passed away in 2004 and that their single from "Puzzle", "Folding Stars" was written about their relationship with each other and said after the songs release "She really liked the quiet songs, so I wrote the song for her. It's the kind of song she'd like and although it was really tough to record, I'm immensely proud of it. it makes me happy when people say they connect with the song but I'm not sure if we'll ever play it live. Not any time soon, anyway". Since then he did perform an acoustic version of folding stars live at Wembley on their "Revolutions" tour without Ben and James (to see that performance go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE3S8S-gVRQ). Simon has one of his mother's paintings tattooed on his back in memory of her.

Simon with Brian.
Simon married his wife in 2008 in Ayr, where they live. Neil has been a Beach Boys fan all his life (he recently met Brian Wilson and interviewed him for NME as part of the heroes feature) and so his first dance with is wife was to "God Only Knows What I'd Do Without You". His most famous tattoo is the one on his chest which says "God Only Knows What I'd Do Without You" as a tribute to his wife.

I love Simon Neil's tattoos because they aren't pointless or to make a statement, the are each a small bit of the jigsaw of his life and mixed with his music, it paints a beautiful picture about his take on the world.



(08/10/13) This was the video I used for this article, Simon Neil does an interview with Jo Whiley for Radio 2. Hopefully this will give you a better view of what he was talking about!

The Subway Violinists - I Knew You Were Trouble.

This is one of the most annoying songs ever but surprisingly nice on violins. Rhett Price and Josh Holmes are awesome  musicians who busk on the subway in New York. Give them a listen and if you like them their album is completely free!

Album link: http://rhettprice.bandcamp.com/album/rhett-josh

Monday 7 October 2013

Sunday 6 October 2013

Laura Marling Gig Review.

00:20 Posted by Unknown , No comments
So then, here we are, my first review in 6 months. GASP!

If you don't know already, Laura Marling is one of the U.K's most talented and renowned folk musicians. On her fourth album, the 23 year old is on tour in the U.K again with just her guitar for company. 

This is a gig I was very excited about. I'm a bit of a Marling newbee as I have only admired her for about a year but honestly, she is one of the best musicians I have ever had the pleasure of listening to and needed to see her live.

And so, I booked two tickets for the Birmingham Symphony Hall.

I was incredibly lucky as the day of the concert coincided with the NUT strike and so my school was closed. It was nice to have a chilled build up to the concert with Josh and not feel that stressed feeling you get when you go to a concert after school whilst your homework sits on your desk.

So my mother drove us up and whilst we went to the gig, she watched that film about Princess Diana (which she says was crap, like I wouldn't have guessed!).

The venue was beautiful and I felt that we had amazing seats, right at the top. Although we were just about as far back as you could get, I really loved being able to look down on the person who has become one of my biggest idols.

Nick Mulvay was the support and he was brilliant. I can only describe him as Alt-J if they were just guitar and vocals and one guy. I don't think I've been so relaxed whilst listening to something before, I do think that he is one to watch in the future.                                                                                                                              

And so she began with the songs from "When the Bird was Saved" ("Take the Night Off", "I Was An Eagle", "You Know" and "Breathe"), her short film released just before the album as a preview, which were awesome but nothing compared to "Master Hunter" which followed it. Obviously, the song was so good that the guitar decided it had done it's work for the night as whilst she was tuning for her next song (which I think was "Ghosts") a string snapped. As a guitarist, I felt her pain and it was nice to see her frustration as it made me feel that even though she is one of my most loved and highly respected musicians, things still went wrong for her.

It wasn't the end of the world though because she had her old guitar on hand which she described as being a "grumpy old man" because she didn't really play it any more. A lot of people have described her as being shy because of comments like this but I put it down to not feeling too above her audience. In terms of stage presence, I would say she is one of the best I have seen because of it as although an amazing talent, there is also a lot of modesty there which I think is one of the reasons she doesn't do encores, though there may believe that that proves the opposite. Are people expecting her to prance around the stage like Mick Jagger?

So as I was saying, "Ghosts". She did a lot more of the old stuff than I thought she would (only doing about six songs off the new album) but I liked it because I had forgotten how good some of the old stuff was as I had focussed so much on the new album. From what I can remember, she performed: "Alas I Cannot Swim", "I Speak Because I Can", "Rambling Man" and "What He Wrote" from previous albums which was a nice contrast to the newer, darker stuff.

I do believe that even though it was just her and her guitar, this gig was amongst the best concerts I've ever seen because she still captured the audience just as much as a full band could. It was also wonderful to see such a diverse audience, from about 8-80, as it was nice to see in practice how music brings people together. I honestly didn't realise how popular Laura Marling was amongst all age groups. Truly wonderful.


Friday 4 October 2013

Let's catch up!

15:57 Posted by Unknown No comments
Good day,

Hope you had a nice summer and are having a pleasant autumn.

You may or may not know that I now do most of my bloggy stuff on Tumblr now rather than on Blogger. That is great and all but I realised recently that all I really do on Tumblr is find photos on Pinterest and shove them on there instead rather than write all that much.

I haven't written anything really since I turned 16 so I thought I would start it up again in between my A-Levels.

Over the summer, I had lots of fun. Now, one month into year 12, I have a lot more stuff to write about because I now do the four most important subjects to me in more detail and am learning a lot. For example, I have got really into poetry from the First World War because that is what I'm studying in English Lit, becoming more aware of how media works in, you guessed it, Media Studies and I'm becoming more informed about music and how the industry works through Music and Music Tech.

All in all, I feel that all for of my subjects go hand in hand with this and so I decided to give the blog a new feel. Although I will always be talking about music, I should also talk about other things that mean something to me like books and politics so that's what I'm going to do. This is now officially, if it wasn't already, a blog dedicated to the ramblings of me!

Thanks,

Ava Forbes.

Saturday 13 July 2013

Biffy Clyro - "Folding Stars" Live at Wembley.

I stumbled across Biffy Clyro completely by accident. I was on iTunes and I saw "Only Revolutions" in the chart and really liked the artwork and so bought it two Christmases ago. I listened to it and loved it straight away. Around March 2011, I was in Morrisons in West Brom and I can across the live album of the Wembley Gig in December (at this point I'd only listened to "Only Revolutions") and begged my parents to get it and they bought it for me. I came across "Folding Stars" on that album and it is the most amazing song I'd ever heard by them and I thought I'd share it here because I just posted it on Tumblr. I love it so much and I also think the story behind it is so gorgeous that I should share it! There is more on the song in this post: http://goo.gl/tkxqG

Follow me on Twitter: http://goo.gl/29FG9


Who Needs Glastonbury When You Have Hard Rock Calling?



I turned 16 in May and as my birthday present my parents bought two tickets to Saturday at Hard Rock Calling at Queen Elizabeth Park (The Olympic Village). This was my first big festival and included bands such as Kodaline, Tribes and Kasabian. I'm very tired because we didn't get back until about 3:30 this morning but I loved every minute!



  • 14th May - My 16th birthday, I knew that my Mum had bought me tickets to something and she didn't disappoint me. As soon as I saw Kasabian I was instantly excited. There were two tickets so I just had to find someone to take.
  • The rest of May - I lost track of time a bit because of exams but eventually asked my friend Jack to come with me because I know he would appreciate the music there. He is an Air Cadet and so got a lot of hassle for not going to Armed Forces Day which was also yesterday (June 29th) so initially had to turn me down. I was starting to panic because all my other friends had things to do elsewhere and couldn't change the plan because of the short notice. He eventually said that Cadets could get stuffed and asked if he could cme again. My Mum did have to buy a ticket too because Jack isn't 16 until August and we didn't want to risk not getting in but game on!
  • 29th June - Early start - Jack's parents drove us all to the bus station in Leicester and we got on the coach no problem, just sit back and enjoy the ride we thought... 
  • 29th June - The Journey - We stopped at Tottington Services and a jobsworth decided to inspect the bus where he discovered our drivers were a few hours over the driving limit and so could not drive us any further. WE WERE THERE FOR THREE HOURS waiting for two new coaches to complete the journey and just our luck it was the day the weather had to perk up so you where either sitting in a very bright, fag smoke filled car park or a sauna of a bus (and I didn't have sunglasses). A bus eventually came and it was great because the bus was very old and when we got on they were playing ABBA on the radio which cheered most people up! 
  • 29th June - Kodaline - We got there and it was fine, we fond our spot just as Kodaline were coming on and sunbathed for a while. Kodaline were very good, I'm only just getting into them but I was very excited about seeing them, they were good with the crowd being lazy and not responding much because it was the start of the festival and very hot and seemed to enjoy themselves a lot! 
  • 29th June - Twin Atlantic - Next came Twin Atlantic. Twin Atlantic are a band I don't like anyway but I went away from the day hating them. I have always felt they are Biffy Clyro wannabes who just make noise not actual music but they are also a bunch of arseholes. The lead singer was getting to wound p at the crowd because they weren't clapping that much: 1. It is 3ish in the afternoon, 2. It's boiling, 3. You're just a warm up, not the headliner, 4. These people were probably just as shattered as I was, they have all just travelled here from all over, sorry that an hour in all they want to do is sleep! 
  • 29th June - Tribes - We gave up on them halfway through the set and went of to the Pepsi Max Stage to wait for Tribes. Tribes were awesome! Johnny Lloyd doesn't take himself too seriously which I thought was really nice to see. They band have just released their second studio album "Wish To Scream" and have been non-stop since. Tribes are a band who I'd recommend to see live and will definitely be buying some tickets to see them as soon as possible.
  • 29th June - Paul Weller - My Dad is a massive Weller fan and was gutted that he couldn't come and see him. He would probably be gutted if he knew that during Paul's set we decided to get dinner instead of watching that much. I'll be honest, I haven't listened to as much of the Jam as my Dad would like and I haven't listened to any of Weller's solo stuff either so we were sat there like lemons but I did enjoy the music. Like Johnny Marr, Paul Weller hasn't lost anything as he has aged. We did have a dance to "That's Entertainment" though.
  • 29th June - KASABIAN - Ok then, this is the bit my parents bought the tickets for because in my house Kasabian are Gods. I saw them at Brixton last year and they were great but it was really good to see them at a festival because the amount of people was INSANE! The whole thing was like one big party, nobody cared about who anyone was - everyone was just a Kasabian fan and everybody loved everyone for that. There were a few people who were past it when it came to the drinking at that point but nobody minded that much. There was a couple who decided to run through the crowd and tripped over our bags sending them flying, the girl got a bit winded but they were fine I think... 


I'm not going to go into the journey back because I was very tired and was asleep for most of it. This is very late but I just didn't get round to finishing it off until now. I'm away on holiday on Wednesday so I may write some stuff but not a lot! Enjoy the opening of Kasabian's set below and follow me on Twitter!

Wednesday 10 July 2013

I'm an iPhone user who hates iPhones... lock me up!!

12:32 Posted by Unknown , , , No comments
... Awkwardly, I'm writing this on an iPhone!

There are a lot of reasons why I got an iPhone: it's top of the market, loads of apps, most of my friends have one. But after a year and a half, I'm coming to the end of my contract and so am starting think what phone shall I get next? Do I want an iPhone again? The answer is NO.

In fact, I'm jumping ship completely and considering Windows Phone as my next operating system. My friends gave me a bit of stick when I said this because "iPhones are always better!" but is that true or is that what Apple would have us believe? I know that when iPhone first came out it blew the whole world away and they have come up with some good ideas over the years (like Siri) but since the first model they haven't really innovated their product only repackaged it to make it look new. 

I have a 3GS and other 3GS users are upset because iOS7 won't be compatible with their device but why? Your phone will do exactly the same as the new iPhone (bar a few tiny improvements) but your phone will look a bit different. Big woop, they are changing how the icons look and big woop the wallpaper moves with you... the phone is essentially the same only repackaged. 

This is why I think Apple are one of the cleverest companies ever. They can manipulate their customers into buying something that is the same only prettier for double the price, it's genius.

The little activist in me also tells me not to buy an iPhone because their ethics are disgusting. The factories are appalling and I would say it is a small step up from slave labour. You may say they all do it but they would never get away with it if it was common knowledge. 

Copying is something that is always in the news when it comes to Apple. "Ooh Samsung copied us!" - yes they did but your slate isn't clean either. I won't ramble on about that but here is an article I found on what iOS7 has taken from Android alone!

The big killer is that I feel that iPhone lacks personality. What really says that my iPhone is exclusively my iPhone? Their cold, characterless machines that do the job just as well as the cute robot or the very pretty Windows Phone. I am not saying that Apple are crap or that everyone should stop using them I'm just saying that I'm bored of the same thing being carted out year after year for them and that we should be able to embrace the fact that Android, Blackberry, Windows... whatever do exactly the same job essentially. For God's sake, they're phones and they let you call people, isn't that enough.

... rant over!


*(14/5/14) Update, I got a Nexus 5* 

Agit8: Bring protest songs back into the public eye.


I was watching BBC Breakfast this morning and I was looking at my computer at the same time as you do when you're not doing anything but something caught my attention. It was a man talking about Agit8 which is a campaign being run by ONE trying to get world leaders at the G8 Summit to tackle world issues such as war, poverty and AIDs more efficiently. The way they are doing this is by getting some of our most loved artists and encouraging them to perform their favourite protest songs. Naturally, I spent the rest of my day watching videos and learning about the campaign instead of revising but it's for a good cause and I'm now 100% behind it.

They really are trying to do good stuff so check out their website and check out the videos below to educate yourself if you haven't already. 

                           

Just a note: this is not the same as the Anti-Capitalism protesters - this is completely different even though I'm not pro Capitalism myself!

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelecmangoclub

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Thursday 20 June 2013

Things That Make My Life.

My life isn't all about listening to and playing music. Although that is a big part of my life, there are other things that make me get up in the morning. (Some of these will be music related!).
Me at a the Hallraiser Concert at my school.

Music in general - I have never thought about my life if I'd never decided to sing or pick up guitar but it wouldn't be anything near as fun as the life I have now. Obviously, I love music. It is what makes my world go round whether it's playing, composing or listening, it is just great. If I didn't think so I'd not be doing two music based A-Levels next year.

The Smiths - I've made this one I've made pretty clear but have never really explained why they are such a massive part of my life. My Dad is a massive Smiths fan and when I was younger he played them in the car to get my brother and I into them and we absolutely hated it! I don't really know what it was about the Smiths I didn't like but there was definitely something - maybe the fact that Morrissey was so miserable and my naive little head couldn't take it? But anyway, as I grew older and I became more aware of culture and love and politics my love for the Smiths grew and grew and they have now become one of my most loved bands. The Smiths changed my whole outlook on life - whether that is a good thing or a bad thing I do not know at the minute but for the time being I like being the angsty teenager I am.
Karl Marx (in case you didn't know)

Politics - In my house I was always told never vote Blue. I find it funny that until about age of 12, I didn't realise the Conservatives had any other name but the Tories. At 14, my Dad started to talk to me about Marxism and Thatcherism because of a school project I had to do. He didn't force me to believe what he believed, he instead gave me both arguments and told me to make a decision on what I believed in. In a lot of ways I think that was one of the most important things my Dad has ever done for me because without it I wouldn't be here writing this now with my books on Occupy and Marx. I am very thankful to my Dad for giving me a choice in who I would grow up to support - the amount of  kids these days that will vote Labour or Torie because they grew up reading the Daily Mail or The Morning Star and they never had a chance to balance their views. It's sad that in a democracy your choices on who you vote for end up being made for you by your parents anyway in this modern day. I was told to teach myself about the Political world so it's my own view.
My favourite book

Books - I like reading, I'm a slow reader but I really do love it. I've made it clear that my favourite author and the author that got me into reading was and still is Iain Banks and that I wouldn't be doing literature if I hadn't been introduced to him. Stories and ideas make my head run wild. I have an incredibly over active imagination and if I'm having a night were the heating coming on becomes the start of a zombie apocalypse then books are my best way out of that frame of mind and into a calm state again. I like messages in books, if someone writes something I would one day like to quote I am a bad person and underline the whole passage for my future self.

My cat - About ten years ago, my parents bought me a ginger boy cat with green eyes. Little did they know, that was my dream cat and his name is Pharaoh. My cat and I are best friends and he's sitting in my lap right now. He means a lot to me because whether I'm feeling great or rubbish, he doesn't care - he only wants his belly scratching and that is it! So in essence, he's just always there for a hug even if he doesn't really want to be. Also what I like about him is that he only does this with me, I AM THE CHOSEN ONE!
Old photo but me and my buds!

My friends - Cliché, I know but it took me a long time to find them and it will take me a long time to let them go. All my life I've been hurt by people who thought it was clever or funny to take me in and spit me back out again and those people led me to my current social circle. These people are the best people I've ever met because we have all been through similar situations throughout my life. We are all incredibly happy to stand there in the corridor talking about Pokemon rumours and playing them on our new/old Gameboy Colours.

Gaming - I have a younger brother so I missed the Gameboy playing days of the 1990s because I was fixated on the Teletubbies - this is why I don't really count myself as a 90s kid. Although this is the case, my first games console was a my Dad's Gameboy Original and my first game was Super Mario. We then upgraded to a PS2 > Wii > PS3 and XBOX 360 and I'm a big fan of explorer games such as Assassins Creed and GTA. I sit there for hours and rarely get frustrated (unlike my brother) at the games, I just see them as another story for me to follow. Gaming is one of my favourite pass times and more recently I have been getting into the Pokemon games because my brother wouldn't let me on his when I was a kid - they are just great!

My Family - Another cliché but who cares. I am very lucky to have the supportive family I do, they are great. If I hadn't had my family to push me to do the things I'm doing I think I'd barely leave the house. My brother is my friend, my Dad is my teacher and my Mum is my councillor. They are so good to live with, when I think about where and who I could have grown up with it makes me feel so fortunate.

I think this covers the basics. Obviously this isn't in any order in particular, see this more as a mind map of things rather than a list. Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IAmRumbleRoar
 

New/old Twitter.

09:54 Posted by Unknown No comments
I don't like having to switch between Twitter feeds to get what I write out there so I've decided that all my twitter activity will go onto one account, my personal one. The link to that account is: http://goo.gl/J3gqn. I will keep the blog's current Twitter feed open because I've got a few contacts in there at the minute but it will go in the near future.

Friday 14 June 2013

Wednesday 12 June 2013

Changes in music taste: Why is my music better than yours?

This is not my comment. It just got me thinking!
We have all had that debate in our families - you sit there and complain that your fellow relative is playing drivel and that they should listen to decent music like you. In my family, we're ok when it comes to music taste but my brother does tend to slip towards chart music which to the rest of the family is mindless nonsense. Why is this? Why does something seem like mind numbing crap that lacks substance to me yet be amongst the top played tracks on my brother's iPod?

This thought came into my mind why I saw a post on Reddit that asked the same thing and if you ask me what my opinion of what music today is it's that: music in general today lacks substance because it has become easier and easier for bands to get their sound heard and recorded. It is now easy to get a hit without much talent at all, only money. Jenna Rose and Rebecca Black are examples of this - with greed want-to-be music producers telling young girls that they have talent and auto-tuning their toneless voices to hell and posting it on YouTube the music scene is being watered down to a meaningless pulp.

The Change in Music Taste

In the 60s, the Beatles took over the world. Rock and roll was here and chart music was born. Back then, people were happy to listen to twee love songs that stuck in their heads and that they could tap their foot to. The music was modest and spoke of the ideal. People were just starting to throw away the barre chords and actually write something new and exciting which sparked off the whole issue that I am discussing today.

Eurovision 1974, ABBA blow away Europe and the rest of the world with "Waterloo". Although they didn't win the contest, it was the start of something big! Again throughout the 70s the themes to most of the music were love and heartbreak but for the first time there was music you and your Mum could listen to and not feel like your whole family thought you were the spawn of the devil. The 70s was the the musical era for everyone which is why it is a popular period of debate in these kind of discussions.

30 years ago, the Smiths got together in Manchester and took the country by storm. They would become my  and many others idea of "the perfect band". What was it that made the Smiths so successful? It is easy to say that the Smiths were one of the 80s most successful bands because for the first time ever they told the truth, in terms of politics and love. Morrissey summed up teenagers angst beautifully which is why he is a hero to so many people. When during the 70s music could be listened to by all, in the 80s it separated again - you locked yourself in your room listening to the words of Curtis, Weller and Morrissey whilst your parents still gripped onto the ABBA records. But of course, there was WHAM! and Duran Duran who lit up discos around the country and that your Gran danced to at Christmas - we shouldn't forget pop music in this decade, it was some of the best!

The 90s was another decade where parents and children stayed separate with the birth of grunge and Oasis. Nirvana brought heavy rock to the scene without constantly going on about the being the Anti-Christ, Kurt Cobain, like Morrissey, wrote about the hardships of being an awkward teenager which reached out to the entire generation. Oasis, Blur, Pulp etc carried on the rebellious edge to teenage music promoting getting pissed and laid and whatever but still made the decade one of the best in terms of bands to come out of it. But the 90s was very cheesy as well... Steps, Take That, Boyzone, PETE WATERMAN! If you could vaguely singing a tune and their were five or six of you, Pete wanted you and some may argue that put a downer on the decade - not me... I WENT TO GO SEE TAKE THAT AND I'M NOT ASHAMED!

This brings us to know.... the decade where teenagers with taste in music have gone backwards. There have been good bands but none of them have revolutionised anything or made teenagers feel any different. Take me for example: yes, I love Palma Violets and Biffy and Dry the River but if I had to choose a band that really speak to me then I'd have to go with the Smiths. I have others who would choose Nirvana or the Beatles or Oasis. The bottom line is music today sucks and that is why this debate has come about because unless today's pop music is all you have been exposed to, everyone knows there has been better. Today is a whole load of bands trying too hard to be different and edgy and they really aren't - they are just a bit pathetic and if they are good, they are saying what someone said 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago!

Parents argue with their children about music taste because they regret not exposing their children to something better in the first place! I thank my lucky stars my Dad put his Oasis CDs in the car when we went on holiday whether I liked it or not because at least now I have enough knowledge to make my own decisions about what I listen to instead of MTV telling me.





Monday 10 June 2013

Leicester Bands: Titan.

20:38 Posted by Unknown , , No comments
Being from Leicestershire, I thought it would be good for me to cover some local bands. Looking through my followers I found a band called Titan who are indeed from Leicester and have recently taken part in some of Leicester's biggest music venues including the Leicester O2 Academy and Glastonbudget.

The five piece are made up of:
  • Vocalist - James Shaw
  • Lead guitarist - Sam Walsh
  • Guitarist - Ellis Goodwin
  • Bassist - Rees Clissold and
  • Drummer - Matt Allen
The band were influenced by Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden and Kings of Leon and have a sound that ranges from indie to heavy metal so reach out across the whole rock spectrum. The band have headlined at venues including the Shed, the Soundhouse and O2 Academy Leicester - which are all key venues around Leicester - as well as appearing on the Icon Stage at Glastonbudget. 

Titan write and perform 100% their own material and in March of this year they decided to record their first self titled EP, Titan - which I will be review within the next day or so. In the meantime though, check them out! 


Download/ Listen to the EP at the following sites: iTunes/Android/Spotify/Amazon

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelecmangoclub


Top 10 Albums Of The Year So Far

This year has been a pretty good year for music so far. This is my top ten of the best albums released this year.

10. "Exile" - Hurts. I waited a long time for this album to come out and I was worried that it wouldn't when the duo said they'd forgotten how to write music but obviously, it wasn't true. This album is a great follow up to their debut, "Happiness", continuing the moodiness that they captured so well the first time round. Listen to Hurts on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exile-Hurts/dp/B00AO2T9VU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370856703&sr=8-1&keywords=hurts.

9. "I Love You" - The Neighbourhood. I saw this album on my download site and clicked on the link purely because of the album artwork and it was one of my finds of the year. It is nice and dark which I like but was a bit more more synthy than I'd been used to. I think from the the opening bars to the first song I was a little bit in love with this album. Listen to The Neighbourhood on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Love-You-The-Neighbourhood/dp/B00C2KCM0M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370857103&sr=8-1&keywords=the+neighbourhood.

8. "Random Access Memories" - Daft Punk. Oooh controversial! I put Daft Punk here because although I think the album is great, the genre isn't 100% my thing and so I feel there where albums that I would listen to more often than this one and enjoy more. Daft Punk have taken the world by storm with this album. Practically everyone was singing "Get Lucky" a month ago or so and it is definitely my favourite chart topper of the year. The album is full of other great tunes to get you dancing and will definitely be one of those albums that goes down in history as one of the best. Listen to Daft Punk on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Random-Access-Memories-Daft-Punk/dp/B00C061I3K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1370857591&sr=8-3&keywords=daft+punk.

7. "Wish to Scream" - Tribes. This is the follow up to the band's successful debut, which was loved by all and hailed one of 2011's albums of the year by many, but didn't get the same standing ovation when it was release last month. Yes there was a lot of new ideas and yes it wasn't necessarily the bangy crashy Tribes of late 2011 but it was still an amazing album. Listen to Tribes on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wish-To-Scream-Tribes/dp/B00BLDHQ5W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370857989&sr=8-1&keywords=tribes+wish+to+scream.

6. "In Love" - Peace. This is a gorgeous laid back album that will be played more and more as the summer goes on. It's another indie record that I like quite a lot. Peace where one of those bands we were told to look out for at the start of the year and they didn't disappoint. Listen to Peace on Spotify or buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/In-Love-Peace/dp/B00B9608R4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370859322&sr=8-1&keywords=in+love+peace

5. "Modern Vampires of the City" - Vampire Weekend. Their 4th studio album kicked off the summer with the release of "Diane Young" and "Step" rattling around indie fans heads throughout April and May. "Step" proved to be a triumph using Pachabel's Canon as a foundation which can be risky but they pulled it off to make one of my favourite tracks of the year. Listen to Vampire Weekend on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Vampires-City-Vampire-Weekend/dp/B00BB22GQM/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370859820&sr=1-1&keywords=vampire+weekend.

4. "The Messenger" - Johnny Marr. Ah rejoice, he's back! When my Dad and I found out Johnny was coming back we went into a little hype for a few months. It is full of excellent tracks that reach out to the old Smiths fan everywhere. My Dad still plays back the videos we filmed when we went to see him live in Birmingham. Listen to Johnny Marr on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Messenger-Johnny-Marr/dp/B00AG22JHY/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370860256&sr=1-1&keywords=johnny+marr.

3. "180" - Palma Violets. This is definitely the indie album of the year, Palma Violets are a revolution! I wasn't sure on them at first but they have become one of my favourite bands. The album is just pure fun to listen to you can tell that the boys are enjoying the moment whilst it's definitely there. It's a great album for the summer. Listen to Palma Violets on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/180-Palma-Violets/dp/B00AE1VXD8/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370860805&sr=1-1&keywords=palma+violets.

2. "Opposites" - Biffy Clyro. So far this has been the rock album of the year. The band had everyone waiting for near enough 5 years for the release of their 6th studio album and from the fans perspective, they didn't disappoint. The album consisted of 20 tracks which made up for their absence and had some great stadium anthems on their too. It really is amazing. Listen to Biffy Clyro on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Opposites-2CD-DVD-Biffy-Clyro/dp/B009AWRF9I/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370861111&sr=1-2&keywords=opposites+biffy+clyro.

1. "I Once Was An Eagle" - Laura Marling. At the start of the year I didn't think anyone would beat Biffy to the top album wise but last month they were smashed by Laura Marling's beautiful 4th album. The songs are like poetry and the Indian influences throughout the album blew me away the first time I listened to it - it was a magical moment. Listen to Laura Marling on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Once-Was-Eagle-Laura-Marling/dp/B00BQWR9BO/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370861471&sr=1-1&keywords=laura+marling+once+i+was+an+eagle.

Follow me on Twitter and don't hesitate to leave a comment or share to other people if you liked. Your feedback is appreciated a lot!

Sunday 9 June 2013

Maintenance...

20:26 Posted by Unknown No comments
Wow... I have noticed a boom in traffic over the past day or so and I would like to say thank you to people for looking at my blog. I have just hit 10,000 page views which may not seem like a lot to you but is a lot to me.

I would just like to remind people that I do this completely for fun, there is no money making ploy in this blog  it is just me writing about the things I love. I am 16 and am just finishing my GCSEs and have an interest in music and media which is why I started up the blog - to make myself more aware of the industry and make people more aware of me. I will be carrying on with these subjects as A-Levels next year.

I really do appreciate people looking, whether that is just a one off or a reoccurring thing and I would also really appreciated the odd comment or share. Your feedback is always welcome (good or bad) as I really do want to improve my writing and knowledge of music and media as a whole. Although I try and post as much as possible, it is difficult because I am still at school and I'm trying to do that to my best ability at the same time but as long as you keep looking, I'll keep posting!

Follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/thelecmangoclub


Want free Smiths sheet music?

19:53 Posted by Unknown No comments
http://www.smithsonguitar.com/
All musicians have been there, you want to learn a song on guitar or piano or whatever but you don't want to spend money on sheet music or online tabs are too vague. I have a solution, http://www.smithsonguitar.com/! This is obviously just for music by the Smiths but I really do think it's a good blog for sheet music.

It is has a nice layout which makes finding the right song very simple: Album>Track and the music is just a lot of JPGs which makes it easy to print and transfer with friends. Ta
ke a look!

Iain Banks, 1954-2013

17:22 Posted by Unknown , , No comments
This isn't music related but I still think it's important. I have a lot of heroes and a lot of them are musicians but not all of them. Some of them are writers and one of those writers is Iain Banks.

My English teacher decided to give everyone in the class a book to read over the summer last year to try and get us all reading, he gave me "The Wasp Factory" by Iain Banks. I wasn't struck on the book when he first gave it to me but I read it anyway and it changed my life! It was the first book I could actually get into, one of the first ones I actually finished. I read more and over that summer he became my favourite author.

Anyway, today he died. He announced two months ago that he had terminal gall bladder cancer and would live no longer than a year. I have to say, when I found out he had actually gone my heart stopped and I'm still in shock. It is sad that just as I was starting to appreciate his work it has stopped.

Iain Banks not only captured my imagination but inspired me to carry on English as an A-Level and fueled my politics more and more. He is up there with Morrissey and Marx on my list of people who benefited my life and I think he needs recognition now that he's gone. As a fellow Scot and lover of literature, I can safely say we lost a great man today.

Thursday 6 June 2013

The Smith's have regained their credibility!

David Cameron at the Salford Lads Club.
Today, after a grueling few months of misery at the idea of David Cameron being a Smith's fan, the people won. It was announced today that David Cameron is looking for a new favourite band to fill the gap of his so called love for the Smiths. What I really don't understand is - why he even liked them in the first place?

The Smiths were four working class boys from Manchester who formed a band in the middle of Thatcher's iron reign and weren't very happy about the job she was doing. Morrissey soon became a working class hero who not only stood up against the Conservative ethos but also wrote beautiful lyrics that captured the average teenagers heart and still does to this day.

In a way, I can see why Cameron may have liked the sound of the Smiths with the "to die by your side..." and "sing me to sleep" stuff but if he really listened he would know that this wasn't just an angsty young man but also an angry one who hated everything that Cameron had been brought up to stand for. For goodness sake, I would have thrown out my records if I were Tory when Morrissey released "Margaret on the Guillotine" - that would be like Ian Curtis singing a song about defacing Karl Marx's grave for a lefty!

I think the point is you can't be a Tory and listen to Lefty music... it's just a little bit ridiculous. He's just buried Thatcher yet when he gets home, he relaxes by listening to Morrissey slag her off... is it really any surprise that Morrissey and Marr banned him in the first place? If you ask me there is a slight wiff of hypocrisy here... In future Mr Cameron, stick to Joy Division!

Tuesday 28 May 2013

Idol Page - Laura Marling.

11:24 Posted by Unknown No comments
You know that feeling when you absolutely adore someone just because you wish you were them. This is mainly how I feel about Laura Marling.

Ever since I was a little girl driving up to Oben in the car, I have listen to and been interested in folk music. I let it slip a lot until I got to my current school and saw my friends folk band on stage in year 10. I joined and dug out the old Waterboys CDs that I'd listened to as a little girl and sang. I have since learned the mandolin for the band and I am still singing in it but in the process I discovered something beautiful - Laura Marling.

She not only had an amazing voice and was talented on the guitar (understatement) but was 23 and had release three albums with success with her 4th one coming later in the year (today). She was really what I wanted to be if I could choose one thing to do for the rest of my life.

Since listening to "Devil's Spoke" for the first time I have gained a lot more confidence in playing and singing at the same time and now do it most of the time for the band with the occasional solo here and there.

I will be reviewing her latest album very soon (maybe when Iomoio let me download it?) but until then listen to her if you haven't already - she is just awesome!

Listen to "Devil's Spoke" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QirL0HXnyS4 (the first song I heard.)
Listen to "Master Hunter" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO2gm29rI7E (latest single.)

Maintenance...

10:55 Posted by Unknown No comments
Sorry I haven't been about for such a long time... I had a big coursework deadline and I'm now in the middle of my GCSEs. I've got a little bit of a break this week because it's half term and my exams will be finished on the 14th June so I should have time to write some stuff for you guys!

So, since 2nd March a lot has happened... I turned 16; Tribes released their 2nd album; Vampire Weekend returned; I saw Biffy Clyro at the O2 and most recently, Laura Marling has released her 4th album "Once I Was An Eagle". There are other things but I can't remember them right now...

Hopefully I'll be writing some stuff as soon as possible!

Saturday 2 March 2013

Directioners, why you so angry?

As much as I'm not fond of NME's review writing at the minute, the NME Awards are still my favourite music awards ceremony of the year.

It was a good night for a lot of my favourite musicians - Biffy Clyro won best British band, Johnny Marr won Godlike Genius, Palma Violets won best new band. Although the success of my music collection did put a smile on my face, I was ecstatic to see One Direction getting worst band and Harry Styles getting villain of the year but not everyone shared my view as you probably know.

Styles, respect to him, took his award with a pinch of salt and showed that he could be a grown up about the "tongue and cheek" award saying 'And thank you to NME for my award tonight. Gotta take the rough with the smooth eh?' - I'd like to say the fans showed as much respect for themselves when they found out about One Directions success at the ceremony...

Almost straight after Harry's tweet, his following sharpened their pitch forks for yet another rant at someone for daring like anything other than vaguely attractive young men singing, with the aid of autotune, other people's songs. The only good thing about the situation is now 11,274,851 know there is something beyond chart music as I'm sure that about 75% of that sum had never heard of NME before that. 

Fans wrote very angry letters, YES LETTERS, to NME as well as a number of very aggressive tweets saying "I'M GOING TO SHOOT YOU IN THE FUCKING HEAD" and "MY BAAABBBYYYYY HOW IGNORANT PEOPLE CAN BE !!!! PIECES OF SHITTTT!". But why are they so angry?

I understand they are hurt that their favourite people in the whole have been slagged off  (I would be) but to me, I'd take 1D's success at the NME awards as a complement. Firstly, NME have considered One Direction as a band which is a lot more than their readers would consider them and isn't it what Directioners have wanted for years? To have One Direction seen as a band? Secondly, lets face Harry Styles is an arse. How many women has he bedded in the last year? As a girl, I can honestly say this is one of the reasons he's so unattractive - HE HAS NO RESPECT FOR WOMEN, he just picks and chooses which women he wants when he wants and that to me is utterly repulsive! I mean it really is a low to be hated more than David Cameron but he deserves it. Cameron, as much as he is a posh twat, is a family man who loves his kids and his wife and as much as he's not doing a good job at running the country, I get the impression he's a pretty nice guy.

Styles' 19th birthday party photos are enough to put you off him - £3k bar tabs, cake fights, band member getting close to strippers - it's pathetic! He's a silly 19 year old who is too big for his boots and I hoped his award would give him a reality check but to be fair I think it has made his ego even bigger.

Of course not all Directioners are bad, I have Directioners as friends who were hurt but understood the fact that it's obviously other people's opinion and dealt with it. Harry too, he just took it as another award to add to his collection and was very civil. The problem these days is their is a fine line between loyally following musicians and being emotionally and mentally unstable.

Saturday 9 February 2013

What has happened to NME?

Hello all, I haven't posted in a while because I've been extremely busy with coursework but I'm back to talk about what was my favourite music magazine NME

Now 2013 was meant to be a a year of great music and great artist and to me (even though we're only two months in) it has but apparently, NME doesn't think so. I don't know if others agree but I'd say a good review from NME is 8/10 but NME have been a bit picky with those and aren't handing them out very often this year. 

My first issue was review of Pure Love's album "Anthems" which they gave a measly 1/10. The writer of this particular review Tom Howard said the album "consisted of 11 tracks of unimaginative pub rock" which to me is a bit harsh because, all though Frank Carter was previously the singer of Gallows and Jim Carroll was once the guitarist of Hope Conspiracy, Pure Love are a new band and this is their debut album it's not going to be The White Album and also my understanding is that NME write about Indie music with ultimately is pub rock, no? Mr Howard then went on to say that "Ultimately it just proves that all Carter did in Gallows was sing." which may have been the case but I've listened to the album and the album may not be perfect but it's still very good for a new band's debut and if you ask me has some catchy songs. Reactions to the review weren't very good I must admit but the point is still the same, a 1/10 is basically saying that it isn't worthy of existence and I don't think any album deserves that and definitely not this one.

Secondly, there is Fionn Regan's "The Bunkhouse Vol 1: Anchor Black Tattoo" which Kevin EG Perry gave a 5/10 because he recorded it himself with a mic and four-track instead of a big studio. Is it just me asking whether or not NME have forgotten what kind of bands they write about? Regan has independently recorded and released his own album and by the looks of things is doing quite well in the great scheme of things, Spotify like it - it's all over there so how could it be bad? I think it's a lovely album which has a nice relaxed feel to it and I would just like to add "reciting his careful poetry while flicking at the strings as if trying to dislodge a piece of chewing gum." is called finger picking and is a well known guitar technique.

The last album I'm going to mention is one I'm annoyed by simply because I love the band so much. Dan Stubbs gave Biffy Clyro's album "Opposites" a 7/10, which to me is a shock straight away but then when you read what he didn't like about the album it goes beyond ridiculous. Stubbs writes "A pained atmosphere hangs over CD1, broken only by the bit in 'The Joke's On Us' when 'our souls' sounds like 'arseholes'" which is not only very immature but also quite offensive, it is like he's saying "Hahaha, their Scottish... Hilarious!". To me it's fairly obvious that Mr Stubbs here listened to the album once as I'll even admit that after my first listen I didn't really get what Biffy were getting at with the album after all, there are 20 tracks on the new album so it's a lot to take in at first but after a few listens you do start to get it and it becomes clear they have pulled off the double album.

If you ask me NMEs review writing has become a bit bitchy and desperate to cause controversy but it brings down the standard of the magazine completely. To be honest, if NME want to regain the respect of their readers they need to listen to the album more than once and write more than a paragraph on the album. This is meant to be a well established music magazine, they need to start acting like it again.





Wednesday 2 January 2013

"Opposites" Album Preview - Biffy Clyro

13:06 Posted by Unknown , No comments
"Opposites" Album Artwork.

This month, Scottish rock giants, Biffy Clyro will be releasing their sixth album “Opposites”. Over the past ten years, Biffy have experimented with many different instruments and playing techniques on their albums from playing around with synths and drum machines to combining heavy guitar with beautiful string arrangements. Over the years, Simon, Ben and James have amazed their fans with overwhelming music and now the question amongst fans is “How can they make it any better?”

We have already had a good taster of what is going to be on the album, during the summer, the band released their first single in four years, “Stingin’ Belle” which created buzz all over the music scene with amazing riffs and the use of bagpipes in the instrumental. More recently, last month Biffy released what will be the 2nd single, “Black Chandelier” which when compared to “Stingin’ Belle” and to a lot of their other songs could be called pop-rock and tame because of the simpler 4/4 arrangement and did make the fans question whether Biffy were coming back as the Biffy they remembered. I was actually very happy with “Black Chandelier” after a while because I accepted it for one of Biffy’s love songs which made me think of “Blackened Sky”, their debut album which is made up of songs for his future wife.

From both of these singles it is hard to tell what is to come next month from the band and so, to get an idea of what will be on the album, we need to look at Biffy’s performances over the last year. Because over 2012, Biffy have been in California recording, they haven’t had much time to stop working and appear at festivals. The Scottish rocker’s most famous festival event this year was Download at Donnigton Park alongside AC/DC and the Prodigy. They also were part of the line-up for this year’s iTunes Festival and from these performances you start to get a nice feel for the album.

Looking back to last autumn, when Biffy Clyro did the iTunes Festival, you can see that Biffy haven’t lost anything when it comes to putting on a good show – they are still the guys who go on stage with no shirts on and all wear converses and still prance about the stage. The only new thing I can see is Simon has a new guitar and James has a new bass.

One thing that comes across quite strong is they’re going back to their obscure days when it comes to song titles for example new songs include “Modern Magic Formula” and “Sounds Like Balloons” which definitely have a “There’s No Such Thing As A Jaggy Snake” ring to them and has a ring of the old Biffy.

Over the years, Biffy started writing nice easy songs with a structure that was easy to follow but from what I’ve heard they’re going back to the days when half the songs didn’t really make sense but somehow worked. For me that is quite exciting because for a while, I thought they were going to start trying to please everybody and go all namby-pamby for the sake of a few more album sales but they’re not (I hope).

As always, a lot of the new songs seem to be about Simon and his wife and their relationship over the years which is nice because one of the things I love about Biffy Clyro is that the fans seem to know the ins and outs of the band’s lives (especially Simon’s) because every song seems to be autobiographical - for example, “Folding Stars” was written when Simon’s Mum died and the new songs are like the latest instalment of their lives.

So onto putting all of this together and getting a picture from the pieces we have so far. I feel the new songs fit in with the old and that although they are trying to make the sound fresh, they are taking little bits from the very old (past “Puzzle”) days and explains why in their performances over the past year, they have played more songs from “Infinity Land” and “Blackened Sky”. Honestly, I don’t really know what to expect later on this month, there are a lot of songs to guess about because it’s going to be a double album but I think we can safely say they will be staying a gem to the fans and won’t be going all “mainstream” on us all.

All I can really say is be excited about this album if you’re a fan or not because it really looks like it’s going to be one of the rock albums of the year.