Day #50 - Band of Skulls - Sweet Sour (Album Review)

You know what band I recently heard of?

Band of Skulls.

You know what album I quite enjoyed?

Sweet Sour by Band of Skulls

You know what I willingly wrote a review about?

Terrible things but also Band of Skulls' new album.

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Timing could not be more perfect for a shift in pop music. With Gotye having topped the charts with the unusually honest and well written “Somebody That I Used To Know”, slowly but surely the signs are showing that pop music is getting ready to move on, growing ever more tired of the beats and the predictable lyrics that come with them.

So it gives great satisfaction that in the same week as such a pleasant addition to the UK Charts, English alt-rock group Band of Skulls releases their second album Sweet Sour. Great because it gives the sense that, if there were to be a change soon, there are talented underground bands waiting to help make the push for more inventive music when the time comes.

From start to finish, the quality rarely lets up. Lyrically coherent, musically strong with fine timing and fantastic interweaving harmonies, every song feels fresh and memorable. The opening has an anthemic feel that could easily be a great festival song for 2012 if pushed hard enough. “Bruises” hits the right balance between Kings of Leon and Kim Deal (an odd mix) to carry both a pop air and an immensely satisfying rock underbelly. “The Devil Takes Care Of His Own” hits a chord with those missing some of the heavier chords from classic rock and “Lay My Head Down” brings the pace down for a beautifully written lullaby (interrupted shortly for a suitably scratchy musical interlude). If negatives must be drawn, production at times can be a little too heavy, drowning out some of the raw energy the musicians give, and the final track of the album is easily the weakest. But all are just minor qualms that shouldn’t deter you from giving this one a shot, as it could easily be one of the first great rock albums of the year.

Day #49 - Noel Gallagher (Live In The Odyssey Arena, Belfast) Review

A review of Noel Gallagher live in Belfast, which Andy Harris and I got to see thanks to Priya being a lovely person and having a guestlist spot she couldn't make allowing us to take it from her ;D

Enjoy!

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At Oxegen 2011, Liam Gallagher (brother of Noel Gallagher and the other half of the massively influential Oasis) and his band ‘Beady Eye’ played a fifty-minute spot on the main stage. During which, the played their only two singles in the first fifteen minutes and dragged out the rest of the show with album fillers and minimal grace. On the bus home from the festival, several disappointed voices could be heard from previous fans, some of outrage over Liam’s post-Oasis egocentricity, some more resigned in saying they had somewhat expected it, but were still overall let down. Most shockingly of all, Liam would not recognise Oasis in his set. Forming the greater part of his life, career and image, let alone being one of the most influential bands of the late 20^th Century, fans and onlookers alike would not be amiss to expect some sort of tribute to the band from which the musician gained enough reputation to even play a high-spot on a multi-staged festival. Not a word, just resentment towards the band’s end through silent protest.

It comes as no surprise then why Noel Gallagher and his ‘High Flying Birds’ were an overall superior show. As popular as Noel’s solo songs may be, fans of the Gallagher brothers were formed with Oasis, and to deny them the satisfaction of hearing even one Oasis song would be a crushing blow to the otherwise innocent intentions of such dedicated people. The difference in satisfaction could be seen from crowd reaction alone as Noel played almost as many Oasis songs as he did solo songs.

Crowds roared to ‘Supersonic’, and an entire four-song encore was dedicated to Noel’s former band. A combination of ‘Whatever’, ‘Little By Little’, ‘The Importance of Being Idle’ (a risky addition given its easy comparison to Noel’s solo “The Death of You and Me”, but a satisfying one non-the-less) and finishing the show on the classic “Don’t Look Back in Anger” left not only fans breathless and appeased, but more general supporters too. One can’t help but be swept up in the moment when an entire stadium erupts into song, and that’s something Liam’s band have surely missed..

The overall show was an enjoyable affair. Most solo songs were strong enough to stand out on their own, such as “AKA… What a Life!” and “The Death of You and Me”, but the surrounding cover songs definitely helped elate the atmosphere. Noel’s backing band shifted constantly to fit each song, sporting a choir and a brass band at various points, and while such back-ups would spell murder for most musician’s career (see: Guns N’ Roses), Noel was capable enough to get away with it by keeping them as mostly low-key background sounds and by even addressing praise towards them later in the show. As the show continues, becomes apparent that Noel knows he can’t top Oasis, so he tries not to. Instead, he puts on a strong show that is half-tribute to the band, half showcase of his own songs, and it all seems to be in the fans favour. While the final thought of the night may have been longing for a genuine Oasis concert instead, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds put on a show that felt close enough to the real thing to tide those remaining fans over. 

Day #48 - Album Artwork: A Dying Medium?

Another article for the Gown, this time one for Features about album artwork. Hopefully you'll enjoy this one too!

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Album covers have always been something that perhaps the music industry has taken for granted. Of the Official Top Ten UK Albums (ending 18^th February), nine simply have a picture of the artist as the cover. Rarely does an album make use of clever photography or memorable artwork to help sell the music anymore. And perhaps it’s down to how albums are sold now.

In the past, an album would rely on its artwork more heavily to catch attention. The only way an album sold was by either having heard of an artist and actively deciding to find the album yourself, or by browsing in a music store and judging by the covers which musicians you would like to hear. So, album covers were made to reflect the tone of the music inside. Black Sabbath’s earthly-ghost cover debut suggested the dark attitude that came with metal at the time, Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ had an uncensored picture of a submerged baby reaching for a dollar to reflect their tone of rejecting societal clichés, etc.

Sure, there were plenty of albums that have sold with just the face of a celebrity in the past, there’s no denying that. But rarely has there been so little imagination in the music industry that the only thoughtful way to summarise a musician’s work in nine of the ten chart places available, is by placing their face on it. The reason for this is the rise of artist identification. In order for a pop musician to stand apart today, they need a public identity to be explored and exposed. So, record companies simply apply the artist’s face to the album to simplify the process. If a child is at the supermarket (or, more likely, iTunes) and they see the artist’s face, they’re already well aware of the artist’s profile and so can readily decide to purchase the album on that image alone. This cuts the difficulties in trying to advertise the album through other means and spending otherwise unnecessary amounts of money introducing an otherwise ‘difficult’ art piece to the public.

Doesn’t this show a frightening lack of thought in pop music? That people work tirelessly creating an album, just to slap a picture of their face on it and call it a day? Not to think it through and try to make something as memorable as Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’ or The Beatle’s ‘White Album’, concepts which give the album an existence beyond the next two months of sales reports? A pop album will benefit from artist identification in the near future, but after several years pass by, people are far less likely to be interested in a cover face that doesn’t identify anything about the sound of the album. Even marketing suffers here, in choosing a quick ‘cash injection’ rather than staying power and lifetime sales, and the artists suffer from lack of interest. To make a lasting impact in music requires effort, something both musicians and companies are forgetting with the album cover.

Day #47 - The Boys in the Photograph (Fusion Theatre Review)

Here's a review of a musical Maria and I went to see on the previous Saturday to this date. Wrote it up for the Gown, we'll see if it gets published, but as with all my Gown articles this is more of a unedited prototype!

Hopefully you'll enjoy reading it :D

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When you think Andrew Lloyd Webber, you tend to think Phantom, or Cats, or even Jesus Christ Superstar. When you think Ben Elton, you tend to think Blackadder, Mr Bean or maybe even the unintentionally hilarious We Will Rock You (or “That Queen Musical” colloquially). So putting the two together, you might think of some sort of big-scale musical with a decent sense of comedy (if Blackadder is anything to go by), probably not a politically-fuelled musical about the Belfast/Northern Ireland Troubles.

The Boys in the Photograph, originally written as The Beautiful Game in 1998, is a 2009 re-write about the growing pressures of political violence and unrest in Belfast on a local football team, most of whom are Catholic bar one Protestant who continually identifies himself as an Atheist, and the women who get caught up with the team.
The show, held in the Island Hall Theatre, Lisburn from 8^th-11^th February, was significant because it was the first time the show had ever been performed in Northern Ireland. Held capably in the hands of Fusion Theatre, a youth group from the area, the show was displayed fantastically. With a reasonably-sized cast of actors and actresses under the age of 19, praises for the group can’t be higher. Acting, singing, choreography, music, set design and direction were all undertaken by the group and handled incredibly well. Characters were made as believable as the script would allow, choreography managed to make a game of football without an actual ball into a dangerous dance scene with relative ease and surprising tension, costumes and set pieces were handled well and overall the show felt like every effort was made to bring this piece to life. All of which would be make for the perfect show if the writing by Webber and Elton had more life in them.

While dramatic scenes such as a riot at an Orange Parade, an IRA home invasion and the internment of the main protagonist are scripted well and are genuinely tense and unnerving, at times the script tries to force its message too much. Even during a party scene, where you’d think in real life the people could wind down and enjoy the night, one character serves no other purpose than to remind the audience that the Troubles are still happening, rather than letting the audience put that to the back of their mind and then surprising them as the violence reintroduces itself. Certain characters, including one who remains a vocal point from start to finish, have little to no character and are simply used as dramatic points in which the audience are expected to feel sorry for the characters, despite having no personal relation to them. At these points Fusion really shines, converting what could have been several disappointingly dislocated scenes into highly dramatic, well acted moments. The difficult subject of The Troubles may not have made the perfect musical idea, but the group handles it fine, giving it enough humour and balance to make for a strong show that, if it gets a second run anytime soon, can only be a recommendation.

Day #46 - This Song Is Literally About Nothing (And Would Make Millions)

In a tired mood on this day, I wrote the following pop song! With I've tentatively titled "This Song Is Literally About Nothing (And Would Make Million) feat. Pitbull". I hope you'll agree ;D

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I can hold you
I want to be up all night
Like the dance beat
Moving to the moonlight

Yeah yeah
Yeah yeah

It's you and me tonight

Yeah yeah
Yeah yeah

It's you and me tonight

Now hold me
And we can dance until it's dark
With the music and the DJ
Dancing in the park

Yeah yeah
Yeah yeah

It's you and me tonight

Yeah yeah
Yeah yeah

It's you and me tonight

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Pitbull Rap
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Yeah yeah, been far and wide
But you beautiful ladies keep me up at night
Yeah, I got more money than Mario, ha-ha
But puerto musca, via rodeo (WHOO!)

Uh, can't hold me down, nuh uh
Gotta keep coming round
And running out, I'm running out
'cause these words ain't nothing bout (yeah)

--
End Pitbull Rap
--

Yeah yeah
Yeah yeah

It's you and me tonight

Yeah yeah
Yeah yeah

It's you and me tonight

Yeah yeah
Yeah yeah

It's you and me tonight

Yeah yeah
Yeah Yeah

It's you and me tonight
Tonight
Tonight
(Wooo!)

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Hopefully you notice how real Pitbull's part is in this song. Woo HaHa Puerto Musca Haha Woo Ends With Song Title.

Day #45 - 13 Licks

Time for the weekly artistic update! On Day #45, I wrote lyrics and guitar to a song I've titled "13 Licks".

Relatively personal, but I like how it sounds. Hopefully I'll get to recording it at some point! Until then, here are the lyrics.

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Carving out my own shape
The colour not quite clear
So many months under your notes
Speaking back your words

Thirteen licks by sundown
Still can hear your doll
First disc in the car ride
Last tune in the dark

And still I'll stand by my choice
Though phases always try
The greatest songs of our youth
The greatest songs of our lives

And here I stand by my own right
Some broken strings by my hand
A new perspective on my life
While the same old words are ringing

It don't matter what they try to say
I'll never believe the truth
With all I know I've got my place
I can only hope for the new youth

And still I'll stand by my choice
Though competition's not run dry
A thousand songs by my ear
And their strength can't match your eye

And what I hope is that I can say
That a child may someday smile
When they're holding up my own box
Even though the formats died

But maybe I'm just a bloated fool
And maybe I'll never do right
But at least I've got those old tunes
And I know, for now, that's fine.

Day #44 - The House of the Rising Sun

Today, I recorded a cover of 'The House of the Rising Sun' (or finished an earlier attempt).

Which you can listen to here:

The House Of The Rising Sun (Cover)

Enjoy!