Song of the week

Be Your Own Pet - Becky



This band for such a young bunch have more rock in there little fingers than most bands put together so obviously at the age of 19 and after two amazing albums they had to have a I've had enough of this fame break up. RIP.

Brand New

Anyone who knows me at all know that I have one favourite band,one band that my love borders on obsession. This band have just released dates for there UK Tour and the pre-sale starts on Wednesday.

Here are the tour dates for Brand News UK Tour in June.

23rd June - Manchester Academy
24th June - Glasgow Barrowland
26th June- 02 Academy
27th June - London forum

This is maybe the highlight of June for me and possibly the beginning of the Summer. I will be at the London date and one other date that hasn't been decided yet. This is also means there will be a new album early summer which is ridiculously exciting. In case for some shocking reason you do not know who brand new are.


Brand New - Luca (Off there most recent album The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Of Me)


Brand New - Sic Transit Gloria Fades (Off there second album deja entundu)


Brand New - Soco Arametto Lime (Off there first album Your Favourite Weapon)

Tickets for the tour are available through there myspace or ticketline and come on sale to the general public on Monday.

Adam Green

I normally don't get hyped up too much about one guy.
But I just have to tell you all the genius of Adam Green and yes he has been around for a while and he started off out in The Moldy Peaches (who has a reunited briefly with the success of Juno) but he is just so good.


Adam Green - Baby's Gonna Die Tonight

you can get his ep on itunes or any decent music store.

This weekend

This weekend there are a lot of big gigs going on so I thought I'd list them so you can make your plans accordingly.



Thursday 5th March The Maccabees at London Barfly
This gig is totally sold out already but some of you might be clever in the way of getting tickets. This is the smallest gig that this band will be playing in a long long time. Indie types The Maccabees are known for putting on great shows.


Friday 6th March : Fall Out Boy w/Kids in glass houses & hey monday. 02 Arena.
The kings of emo pop punk hit the UK to start a one week tour. They're supported by my Cardiff party pals Kids in glass houses who I have seen countless times in Cardiff so I'm happy for them to be playing such a big show. If your into your pop punk and don't mind being surrounded by 14 year olds with emo fringes then this should be a good show.


Kaiser Cheifs at Wembely Arena.
Everyone knows who the Kaiser Chiefs are and rightly so one of the biggest U.K bands today kicks off a tour with a huge show at the Wembley arena expect sing alongs on a massive scale.

Festivals 2009

It's getting to that point where it is almost getting warmer and people are starting to think of what to do for the summer or I am at least. As I have just purchased my ticket for my chosen festival I thought I'd give you the low down of some the best festivals in Europe this year.

BENICASSIM FESTIVAL

When? 13th to the 21st July
Where? Benicassim - 50 miles from Valencia,Spain.
Who's playing? Oasis, The Killers, Kings of Leon, Franz Ferdinand, Paul Weller, White Lies, Friendly Fires, Boyz Noize are the bands confirmed so far.
What's it like This is the only festival out of this line up I've been too and I love it. It is a ten day party in a village on a beach in Spain. Lots of barely dressed attractive people which I always find a plus and the line up is always varied with rock and indie acts to some of the best Djs and electro acts around which could be why Benicassim is called the "Spanish Glastonbury".Cheap as tickets are £150 for ten days camping and 4 days of music but the only thing I will say it that it does get very hot.

The main stage at Benicassim.
Inside one of the dance tents.

Sziget Festival

When? 12th to the 17th August
Where?Budapest,Hungary
Who's playing? No one has been announced yet but expected are Arctic Monkeys, P.O.D and The Prodigy.
What's it like? A 5 day party on an island in Budapest and this festival is known to be messy and with an eclectic mix of bands as last years headliners were Iron Maiden,Jimiroquai, R.E.M and The Sex Pistols anything goes at this festival but for that reason it is also more dangerous than alot of European festivals so be wary but it still can be a lot of fun. This festival gets half a million visitors a year so that must be for a reason.

The crowd at Sziget.


Outlook festival

When? 27 - 30th August
Where? Pentcrane, Croatia
Who's playing? A mix of dub step,reggae and drum and base DJs yet to be announced.
What's it like? Dub step on a beach in Italy for £50 hard to go wrong. A lot of places are doing ticket and coach deals for £100. A brand new festival but still has a large turnout of around ten thousand people. Worth for people who are a fan of electronic music but do not want to put up with the trek to EXIT festival.

The edge of a stage at Outlook.

ROCK WERCHER

When? 2-5th July
Where? Belgium
Who's Playing Oasis, Coldplay, Placebo, Bloc Party, The Killers, Elbow, Metallica, Limp Bizkit, Kings Of Leon, Franz Ferdinand.
What's it like? Ok the line up for this is pretty bad ass,but this is too much like a British Festival for my liking and the tickets cost around £200 and it is in Belgium. The weather is one of the reasons I go abroad to a festival and Belgium is not known for its beautifully sunny sky. The line up does make up for it but you may aswell goto reading or Glastonbury.



I hope I have narrowed down some of your festival choices this year. I personally will be going to Benicassim festival because I like the beach basically but there are so many new festivals popping up I'm sure everyone can find something they'll like.

Mixtapes

Once again I have been searching the internet high and low for the best mix tapes out there. Here are the best I have found this week.


New Cockroaches Dub Mix
I found this mix on www.mix-tapes.de and it is a fine dubstep mix with songs on I haven't found anywhere else except in clubs. Saying that it has one of the least elegent descriptions I've seen for a mix;
"sixty minutes of chilled out creative commons net audio! grab the hot pack and lean back." Still a fine mix which is worth the five minutes it takes to download.

HuisMix02
This is a electro/house mix that I found on www.house-mixes.com. It's definatley a party mix but has great remixes of Lady Gaga and Maroon 5 tracks so it can be a lot more acsessable than some of the other mixes.

Song of the week

So it is Friday night approaching 5am and you and your friends are about to fall asleep and then someone puts this song on and it blows you away.
This is why it is my song of the week.

La Roux - In for the kill (skream remix)

make sure you have a good bass sound system when you listen to this so you can do it justice.

Songs for the weekend

Here are my songs to get you through the weekend.


Bright Eyes - Lover I don't have to love.
Perfect for a hangover or the end of the night. Conor O'berst haunting vocals fits perfectly for an angry dark sing along.


Mr Scruff - Get a move on
Manchesters hero Mr Scruff in his finest moment with a song that'll get you pumped up to go out and hit the town. My favourite description of this song is trip-hop acid jazz.

Mixtapes

I've been scowering the world wide web for the last hour to find me some mixtapes. Here are the best ones I've found.


Jackmaster mix
I found this on viceland.co.uk. Vice magazines website.This is what they have to say about it ;
“I wanted to serve up a bunch of the stuff me and my mates at Wireblock have been digging recently: a good dosage of funky, some Baltimore, rave and good dubstep (Zomby). There’s also an exclusive sneak peak of two of our label’s forthcoming releases: “Bad Science” by Rustie and Ghosts On Tape’s massive “Predator Mode”, a track currently being remixed by Roska for release on Wireblock in the spring"

I think this is a very good mix from Baltimore it's almost dubstep and almost electro and at times funky house but definatley worth a download.

Dj Hurtem - Big Youth - Geeked Up
This is from datpiff.com and is very american hip hop and I love this one as it's just a lot of fun. It has fifteen tracks but unfortunatley it doesn't tell you the name of the mcs. It does have a cameo from Kanye West on it which gives it alot more strength. This is a good mix tape if you like your hip hop on the soulja boy side of things.

June's Mixtape
This is my favourite mixtape I have found today. It is a mix of electro,disco and house and has mabye one of the coolest descriptions I've seen.
June’s mixtape is built for flights and bus rides, benefit parties and best friends. It’s kind of a 130 BPM multivitamin, or like mixing beer and Coke. Ingredients include both kinds of music: disco and electro, remixed Ibiza house standards, hip-hop and Swedish girl pop!"
I completely agree with that review.

Enjoy these mixtapes.

Songs of the week

Dj Clipz - Ugly Another song to play very loud with lots and lots of base. New release from Dj Clipz and this song will be all over the drum and base nights very very soon.

Albums released this week

Here's a selection of the best and worst albums released this week. My ears will bleed so yours don't have to.

The Prodigy - Invaders must die.
I'm so excited for the release of this album that I'm going to tell you straight away that it is going to be biased. The single named after the album "Invaders must die" is full of energy and reminds me or earlier prodigy and also pendulum. I'm hoping they decide on Benicassim festival this year as this will be on of the bands to catch over the summer. This is an awesome album which is going to be an essential party album for the Summer and also a great gateway band for those people not really into electronic music. - 4/5

Beirut - March of the Zapotech
Hero to the skinny jeans indie set and rightfully so. One of the most experimental guys out there at the moment and on the first half of this album he travels to South America and has a 19 piece band behind him and the results are brilliant. La Llorona remind me of something straight out of a black and white italian film. A word for this album is epic. - 4/5

Emmy The Great - First love
Emmy the great should be something I love. Smart and makes catchy indie yet arty enough to be cool pop songs with deep lyrics about how vulnerable she is with lots of arty metaphors. I just find this album boring and with the lyrics about unplanned pregnancy and death it seems at some points like she is trying to hard. There are good tracks on it like "Absentee" but this album doesn't do it for me.
3/5
<

Brighton zine fest.

This weekend if you like to read zines and are into the alternative scene come join me and my friends at the Brighton zine festival.


I love zine fairs as you get music,magazines and a lot of people who believe in the same things I do. There is also some great music and on Saturday the bands that are playing are;
Cut Ups
Project Serendipity
Top Chess
Serf Combat
North Pole

The bands playing are everything between Hardcore to Hip Hop. If you aren't in the area or just can't get there check out the bands especially Top Chess.

Songs for the weekend

These are my songs for the weekend.


The Flobots Stand up.


Milk Knife song.

Re unions

It is official Blink 182 are back together and recording a new album.
All I can say is " YAAAAAAY!" I never got to see Blink 182 live and it had always bugged me but now we all have a second chance.

Also reuniting are Limpbizkit.

As much as I think that Fred Durst is a complete douche I had a couple of years when I was younger and didn't know any better where I loved this band.
This re union should be intresting as I read an article only two days ago which was ex-guitarist Wes Borland saying "I will never be a part of this band again."
Someone got offered a fat paycheck.

It is like the late 90s all over again.

Album Releases

I have reviewed some of albums that have been released this week so my ears are the ones bleeding and not yours.

Franz Ferdinand - Tonight Franz Ferdinand
It feels like I haven't heard anything from Franz Ferdinand in forever. I have always liked this band alot but I've never been a huge fan but I got my hands on this album somehow and it is good. The four art rockers from Glasgow which is an oxymoron anyway and this album is stripped down in sound but still retains the energy of their first album. Very good third album.
4/5

Ida Maria - Fortress
This is a re release as this was released last year through Sony BMG but now she is getting some well deserved sucsess and has left her label she figured it was about time to release it again. It's was a very good album the first time and has stand out tracks like "Queen of the world" and "In The End" but I preferred the old release. The album has been rearranged and has left out tracks such as "we're all going to hell" and replaced them with the more ballady songs. She is better when she is louder and if you have the first version I really wouldn't reccomend buying it again and if you haven't got it already find a copy of the old one and you'll get 5 scene points.
3/5

Van She - V
Australian Van She could be good but I just don't like them. There sound is bland although I liked break through song Kelly every song since then has been a watered down version of it. If you like light electro pop then you may like Van She. They have the potential to be huge as they are very radio friendly but more for me I'm afraid.
2/5

From Lily Allen to

These are my songs of the week.
I recommend you download them legally/illegally however you like to beef up your music collection. This week it is a mix of genres so there should be something for almost everyone.


The Fear -Lily Allen
I like Lily Allen and was lucky enough to get on the guestlist for the show at Kokos two weeks ago. She's just what you'd expect off her live.


Babyshambles - Delivery
Love him or hate him Pete Doherty is a genius at writing songs. This is one his latest releases and show he still can write songs that are ridiculously good.


Chase & Status feat. Plan B - Pieces
Big drum and base song. Chase and Status new album is phenominal if you like drum and base. Having Plan B one of the UKs best mcs makes this song even better. This video is one of my favourties I've seen in ages. Poor cat.


Simian Mobile Disco - Hustler
Kings of electro pop dance band djs. This is one of my favourites by them. They are playing Thursday at Kokos in Camden. I hope to see you there.

The Grammys

Not a fan of the grammys. Medicore music acts get told there the best in the world.
Anyway here are the winners.

Record of the year - "Please read the letter" Robert Plant and Allison Kraus
Album of the year - "Raising sand" - Robert Plant and Allison Kraus
Best new artist - Adele
Song of the year - "Viva la vida" - Coldplay
Best pop album - "Rockaferry" - Duffy

and basically winners were either Robert Plant,Coldplay or Adele.

I am pleased that fellow Welshy duffy won best pop album though but I do wish Robert Plant would just go back to Led Zeppelin.

Song of the day

Frank Turner - long live the queen.
If you buy this song on itunes soon the money goes towards a cancer trust.

BLINK 182

Blink 182 together again! Well sort of...
All three members of Blink 182 will be at the Grammys together and presenting an award together.
Not quite there yet but me and millions of other people want a reunion or more importantly a tour!

Benicassim

- 10 days on a beach in southern Spain? Check.
- Line up awesome already and they have only announced a handful of bands? Check.
- Cheaper than British festivals and you don't get mud? Check.

Benicassim is my festival choice for the year.

Gigging

The weekends coming up so here's a list of what i feel are the best gigs going on in this wonderful city.

Friday 6th February - Chiodos w/ support from Sonny Moore(ex from first to last) at The Underworld in Camden.

Chiodos - There's no hardcore dancing in the living room.(live in NYC)

Friday 6th Febuary - RAM Records at Matter - if you are into drum and bass or a dub head this line up is insane. Andy C,Skream,Goldie,Noisia,Chase and Status,Commix,Caspa,GQ,HYPE,Sub focus,Plastician,Fabio and Youngsta. Get all that?

Caspa - Cockney Thug (live in Amsterdam)
I've seen most of the above line up before on different occasions and I strongly recommend catching Andy C,Skream,Noisia,Chase and Status,Caspa and Sub Focus if you like your bass heavy.

Sunday 8th February - The Gaslight Anthem w/Frank Turner at Shepard's Bush Empire.

The best band this year supported by the guy who released one of the best albums of the year. I'm very excited about this one.

I shall be at The Gaslight Anthem and Chiodos so I hope see you around.

Save the world,get the girl.

While browsing last.fm for some new music for you lucky lucky people I completely forgot about one of my favourite bands releasing there new single this week. This song is described by them as being about the average guy overcoming all odds.

The King Blues - Save the world,get the girl.

Released on the 16th February from the album of the same name which was released in October 2008.

I highly recommended this band as they are one of the best bands in the U.K today.

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