Wondering what to listen to this summer as you're soaking up the rays on holiday or maybe you're looking for something to listen to as you're having a mega chill out session? Never fear, for cliché Music Bloggery is here!Delivering emergency services to music, we've lined up a few brilliant singles and albums for you to listen to this summer.
1. Ghost Beach
Ghost Beach are my personal summer favourites and when I recently come across them, they shortly released their début album Blonde. This New York based electronic duo might be a fairly obscure band, but they have performed with the likes of David Guetta, Imagine Dragons and Vampire Weekend. Being quintessentially beach-pop, I think the marriage of powerful vocals, the synthesiser and encouraging use of slap bass make for a perfect summer album! Check out the video for Been There Before, and tell us what you think! Quirky and original, or are they singing the same old tune?
2. Foster the People
We at Music Bloggeryare massive fans of Foster the People, so when they released their second album Supermodel, we were jumping for joy! For those of you who don't know, this band received fame with their début single Pumped Up Kicks which eventually landed them a record deal.However, upon listening to their new album, we're not sure how to feel. Of course there are a few songs that really stand out (Coming of Age, Best Friend, Goats In Trees) but the rest of it seems a bit lacklustre and disjointed compared to their first album, Torches. The tracks we think stand out are great summer tracks nonetheless as they allow you to chill and unwind. Check out the video Coming of Age on the right hand side.
3. Charli XCX
Most of you may know her from her amazing 90s dress sense and her hit single Fancy with rapper Iggy Azalea, but Charli XCX A.K.A. Charlotte Aichison is a brilliant artist in her own right. Having experimented with synthesizers from the age of 16, she has made a name for herself on the pop scene (although she's more synthpop). She's gained even more recognition for her single Boom Clap for the film The Fault in our Stars, but we don't recommend this song as it's not even her best work. We love her 2013 single, SuperLove - it's got everything a good song needs, catchy beat and a stellar sing-along hook. The only thing I would say about this song is that the lyrics are a bit generic ('You're the bullet and you're making me draw/please save me') but nonetheless, it's a addictive song. Check the song on the right and tell us what you think!
4. HAIM
Brilliantly embracing that classic 80s sound, any single from Haim's Days are Gonealbum is a perfect chill-out song. My favourite has to be My Song 5 purely because of the energy and fierce rhythm of the drums alongside the overarching tone. Oh and that bridge! The guitar riff is INTENSE! Haim are a band named after the surname of three sisters from California, USA who grew up listening to their parents' 70s record collections. Having worked together and performed around the country for years, the sisters eventually got signed and released their début album, Days are Gone. We personally recommend Forever, The Wire, Honey & I and If I Could Change Your Mind for summer listening, check it out and tell us what you think!
5. St. Vincent
My goodness, I LOVE this woman! Thanks to the handy last.fm app (follow xAnthonyKiedis if you've got it), I've broadened my musical horizons and listened to some new music. Last.fm recommended St. Vincent for me, and after buying her most recent self-titled album (released this February) I have to admit, I'm instantly hooked. Her music can only be described as a creative pop rock/synth explosion. I first fell in love while listening to Rattlesnake because the intro is so goddamn catchy and her guitar solo, is quite frankly groundbreaking. Anyway, enough praise from me, listen to her yourself!
Keep checking this page as I'll be adding more songs throughout summer!
Weezer released the official audio for their single Back to the Shack from the upcoming album Everything Will Be Alright in the End (releasing 30 September 2014)! The band said in Entertainment Weekly that the 'record sounds like it’s going to have the tight structure of the Blue Album with a little bit more abandon like Pinkerton', which sounds great considering Raditude was pretty shoddy for a Weezer album....
Check it out and tell us what you think! What do you guys think? Yay or nay?!
THE DRUMS ARE BACK! That's right, you're reading this correctly! After a three year absence in which guitarist Adam Kessler and drummer Connor Hanwick decided they wanted out, the original line-up are back (Jonny Pierce and Jacob Graham) with their new single Magic Mountain. Excuse my French, but this song kicks ass!
The song delves away from their sedated sound as it is much heavier on the guitar. Could this be the start of a more punk-rock angle from The Drums? Frontman Jonny Pierce stated that Magic Mountain 'is a sparkling reflection of our last three years. It's
about shedding off what binds you and protecting what's good, finding a
safe place away from everyone and everything that wants to destroy you' and it feels like it with this track. I like that the band aren't sticking to the same rigid style; they enjoy experimenting and venturing to new territories, which is what all great bands do. The single is a unique marriage of the guttural guitar alongside Jonny's unique vocals and Music Bloggery wants to see more of this! What do you think? Yay or nay? Check out the song below.
For those of you who have been living in a cave, Lana Del Rey is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her distinctive vocal style. She found fame when her single Video Games went viral and followed this up with her 2012 album Born to Die. Now, in 2014, she has already released a short film (Tropico, which is just about the most pretentious thing I have seen) and a number one album Ultraviolence. I'm not going to mince words here, I strongly dislike Lana Del Rey. I think she's fake, overrated and just plain depressing, so here's my top 3 reasons for hate of this 'singer'.
Fakery
Let's face it, Lana is a fake. Her name, her collagen laden lips and her voice are all an act just because she couldn't make a career for herself without the use of cheap gimmicks. Listen to her stripped back, early performance when she was still Lizzy Grant and you'll see she doesn't actually need the bravado that Lana
Del Rey holds. I guess the music industry doesn't
want to see just another average performer so OBVIOUSLY that calls for selling out. Obviously.
I can't help but feel that her singing voice is completely put on. Again, in this old footage of her, the vocals seem much more natural and relaxed which makes for a pleasing sound. Songs like National Anthem and Ride sound so exaggerated and vexatious. The drawling notes of Ride sound like a drunken karaoke catastrophe. Her voice has become almost as annoying as Lights, and that's saying something.
2. The same old repeated themes
Yes Lana, you're 'depressed', we get it, can we move on now? In actuality, she gives off the impression that her music will deal with deep, philosophical ideas of life and death yet below the surface she sings about her seemingly mundane relationships. In her recent article for British newspaper The Guardian, she says: 'I
wish I was dead already' (read the article here) yet shortly after the article was published, she tweeted that the interviewer's questions were 'cold and calculated'. The moment she delves into these dark, somewhat interesting questions, she panics and wants out. Rather than addressing this in her music, she leaves it lurking behind and nothing is worse than bottling something up (trust me, I know). The only thing that comes close to this issue is Dark Paradise ('every-time I close my eyes, it's like a dark paradise') but even this illusion is ruined with the next line: 'no-one compares to you'. Same old love song. Depth please. Next!
3. Self-pitying
All of her songs force the listener to feel some sense of pity for this woman because she's lost the love(s) of her life and her heart is broken. Poor you, can we PLEASE move on to something else now? Nothing she actually offers is original and after the first album, it all gets a bit tedious.
Finally Music Bloggery is back, and we're kicking it off with our song of the week! This week we've chosen the single Mecca, taken from Wild Beasts' recent album release, Present Tense. The band originally formed in 2002, under the name Fauve (which means 'wild beast' in French - classy lads!). Eventually they were signed on Domino Records which was timed perfectly because following this, they achieved commercial success with their 2011 album Smother. Present Tense is their 2014 follow-up album, also received with acclaim (NME giving them 9/10 and Line of Best Fit 10/10!).
Mecca is a personal favourite - the untamed falsetto of front-man Hayden Thorpe, the timely drums and balanced sounds of the synthesiser work together in harmony to create a truly ethereal track that is genuinely a pleasure to hear. I have no idea whether this was the intention, but I like to think of the progression of the song as symbolic of the journey to Mecca. The chorus provides a culmination of emotion, while the sedate, dulcet tones of the bridge act as a representation of the end of the journey, almost if a feeling of enlightenment is reached (yes, we're mixing religions here).
The only problem with this song is that it takes a while to get used to. By this I mean that the chorus is catchy but the music is so sedate throughout, that might be hard for someone used to alternative rock to get into. Alongside this single, the band released the music video which is too weird for my liking. The psychedelic video is way out of line with the song itself - I just feel as if it is the music video for another song, not this one. Do you agree? Comment below! Check out the song below and share your thoughts, we'll tweet the best one at @musicbloggery.
Sorry, this review is about a week or two late! Anyway, my friends and I had a chance to see the Birmingham indie rockers Swim Deep on the last day of their tour in London. Getting there at half four in the afternoon, we were surprised to see we were the first in the queue! (bearing in mind the doors opened at 7pm) After waiting almost three hours to see this band (and stopping off for some KFC while we waited), the doors had finally opened right in-front of us and we ran to the front of the barriers. After being delayed for a few seconds because the venue didn't let me take in my own water (so you have to buy their overpriced water instead), I ran, and ended up right at the front!
So after waiting an hour, at 8pm the first warm-up band came on. Sundara Karma was their name, and drinking a can of Fosters in-between songs was their game. If you like bands like The Drums, you'll love this band. Having a hint of Kings of Leon in them, they rocked the stage for the first hour. The crowd was jumping, the beats were thumping (wow, that sounded really bad). Although almost no-one from the audience had a clue who they were, they performed quite well, playing songs like 'Freshbloom', one of their most popular recent releases.
After Sundara Karma played their set, we were expected to wait even more for the SECOND warm-up band to come on which frankly was a little annoying. This was the much loved Wolf Alice, a more well-known band amongst the audience. This was when some considerate geniuses in the audience decided to try and crush everyone who was standing in order to try and push to the front. Not today, matey! Anyway, after high expectations, I was kind of let down because while the acoustics were good, the lead singer's (Ellie Rowsell) vocals were weak sounding. So weak that I could barely tell what she was saying. Her voice is quite calm and sedated and it was just being overpowered by the sound of the instruments. Nevertheless, the band had a cool sound and played songs such as 'She' and 'Fluffy' which are crowd favourites to those who have heard them. When I first listened to the band's music it reminded me of The XX, so if you like that kinda sound, give this indie band a listen to!
After Wolf Alice performed, the crowd got a little restless as they started chanting 'Swim Deep, Swim Deep!', but we waited patiently at the front. Swim Deep came on and a massive roar of cheering was heard from the audience. Austin's (plays lead vocals and guitar for the band) signature guitar looking colourful in the fluorescent lighting, Cavan (bass player) and his golden locks glimmering in the shine of the disco ball above, all was right in the world. Moving on from my melodrama, they played their set, all songs from the début album 'Where the Heaven Are We' (which you should give a listen to, by the way!) and a bouncy cover of 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'. Towards the end all the warm up bands came on stage and Ellie and Austin broke into 'Tassle Man', a song created by the two (photo of the performance on the right). The mood was happy, chilled and crazy at the same time. It was a great night with lots of singing and awkward dancing on my part.
To make it even better, good 'ol Fred Macpherson (lead singer of Spector) was there supporting his mates at the show, and some of us even got a cheeky selfie with the lad. All in all, it was a great night! Would definitely recommend giving this band a listen!
So I'm finally writing again as you have so smartly noticed! Quite a few albums as well as singles, have been released by a few of my favourite bands so I thought I would share them with you guys!
Okay, so first up is Swim Deep's 'Where the Heaven Are We?' released 5th August 2013. This album is rapidly becoming my top summer album simply because of the sedating tunes and Nirvana-esque appeal of the band. The Birmingham based indie band, having first formed in 2011 and releasing their first single 'King City', went on to perform with up-and-coming band from London who go by the name of Spector (we love 'em) and are now performing in festivals all across the UK. The album features sombre tones such as 'Soul Tripping', which is a perfect song to lie on a sandy beach and just click repeat. Swim Deep are great, but if you were like me a year ago and hadn't heard of them before, I would recommend listening to 'Honey', simply because it's a fun, bouncy tune to have a bit of a jive to. (I apologise for the use of the word 'jive') Their debut album is already set for a top 10 album in the Official Albums Chart. Bearing in mind, this is risky territory with the likes of Miley Cyrus and other mainstream artists. If this band reaches an influx in popularity, their old fans could drift away.
Music Bloggery Recommends: 'King City', 'Honey', 'Soul Trippin'
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Next up, it's another British band, White Lies and their third studio album, 'Big TV', releasing just today in the UK! (12th August 2013) This band is one of my favourites and has been since the release of their first single 'To Lose My Life' (if you haven't listened to it, do so now!). White Lies have always reminded me of Joy Division, as they've got that depressing, eerie mood about them. After releasing their first single from the album via SoundCloud for a free download ('Getting Even), they released short clips of various songs being played by different members of the band on YouTube in order to promote the album. We can only wait and see if this will be as successful as the last. So far it has received mixed reviews. Ben Beaumont-Thomas says 'First Time Caller' uses 'overwrought metaphors' and that 'dumb lyrics can be mitigated by robust anthems' If you're interested in the band, have a listen to the album and tell us what you think!
Music Bloggery Recommends: 'Big TV', 'First Time Caller', 'There Goes Our Love Again' (if you want to listen to their older stuff, we recommend listening to 'To Lose My Life' and 'Farewell to the Fairground')
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Next up is Panic! At
The Disco! This quirky band led by frontman Brendon Urie is back with a
fierce single called 'Miss Jackson'. I don't know if this is the same
Miss Jackson as Outcast sing about, but it's pretty good nonetheless.
When I first heard this track I was a bit confused as to what style the
band is now as they raked in the fans with their unique style but now they're becoming a little generic. If you have a look at most of the comments on their new videos (their newest release being 'This Is Gospel'), you'll see most people agree that they're sounding more like Fall Out Boy, and I'm afraid I have to agree. For me, Miss Jackson lacks the witty lyricism and fun style that I've come to love of the band.I think the fact that the other two band members left, they've become a little different. We've posted the video below, have a look and tell us what you think!
This page will be frequently updated throughout the summer to give you more updates so as much as I hate saying it, watch this space!
So, if anyone actually reads these posts you'll have realised I had stopped writing for a lonnnngggg time! Actually, looking at my last post, it has been exactly a year! This year has been pretty hectic with studies, but now summer is here I will be giving you guys more updates on all things music!
So while I get everything on the blog together, have a listen to the new Vaccines track and let us know what you think in the comments! Quite Nirvana-esque I think.
Two Door Cinema club have released a single for their long awaited second album 'Beacon' that's set for release September 3rd 2012. The band have made this new single 'Sleep Alone' available for free download on the band's website for a mere 24 hours, so you better hurry up and download it! Here's the link for the website if you need it: http://twodoorcinemaclub.com/. Here's to hoping you make it in time!
The single sounds to me almost like a sequel to a song on the previous album. What I mean by this is that bands usually experiment with different sounds and ideas, and it sounds like to me that they've stuck for the safe option and gone with what they know. Don't get me wrong, the song does sound good, it just sounds familiar to the songs on the previous album and could have more distinction. Make sure you have a look at the lyric video below, and we'll keep you updated on when the official music video releases, here on Music Bloggery!
Spector have released their new single and music video called 'Never Fade Away'. A quintessentially indie music video, follows the band being some sort of prisoners of war (what I think anyway), while someone films it with a bad camera. The song itself has a brilliant hook that finds itself inside your head within the first minute or so (And I only just got Celestine out of my head!). It's a simple video and a simple track that works brilliantly together and it's shows another slightly sombre side to the band, which I would love to see more. Have a watch of the video below, and tell us what you think. Their debut album 'Enjoy It While It Lasts' is releasing 13th August 2012.
This is the first edition of our Song of the Week and we have a brilliant song for you this week! The band who brought you the hit 'Chevy Thunder' are out with a new single 'Celestine'! The band that have been said as bringing classic indie back are doing everything right with this single. With great lyrics that you can understand (which are brownie points for me), and a awesome melody that is quickly making this song become my summer anthem.
The song has a similar tune to their previous single 'Chevy Thunder', which makes me slightly wary that their album will sound too similar. However, that doesn't mean they're not a good band! Secondly, I'm not sure if it's on purpose or by coincidence but the album art for 'Chevy Thunder' was a building in the shape of a dome and the artwork for this single is a curved shape which acts as a kind of frame for the dome? Comment your thoughts!
The music video for this song is not original, which they've made clear by the Anthony Kiedis (frontman for alternative band, Red Hot Chili Peppers) quote 'The desert - where all good music videos are made.'. The quote at the beginning and the little joke they make also at the beginning of the video shows the band has a good sense of humour and that they don't take themselves too seriously, unlike many pretentious bands nowadays. On their Facebook page, they wrote: 'Celestine is out now. Second best 99p you'll spend this week #mcflurry'. Musicians by day, comedians by night! ;)
Personally, the fact that in the video for 'Chevy Thunder' the frontman was reading Anthony Kiedis autobiography 'Scar Tissue' (which is an amazing book, by the way), and now in the video for 'Celestine' they've even quoted Kiedis, this makes me fall in love with them even more! This is because I'm a HUGE Red Hot Chili Peppers fan, if you didn't know already.
Anyway before I go all fangirl on you, check out the music video below, and comment your thoughts!
On 1 May 2012, Canadian indie band Metric released their new single 'Youth Without Youth' from their upcoming fifth studio album, 'Synthetica', officially releasing on June 12. According to Metric's frontwoman Emily Haines, Synthetica
is about "forcing yourself to confront what you see in the mirror when
you finally stand still long enough to catch a reflection. Synthetica is about being able to identify the original in a long line of reproductions. It's about what is real vs what is artificial."
'Youth Without Youth' is the story of a repressed child, and as the verses progress, so do the child's life. We follow the child through the teens and then being a young adult. I find the lyrics are compelling as they combine the idea of child games with destructive weapons. Lyrics like 'Hangman we played rubber soul with a razor blade' and 'We played double dutch with a hand grenade'. I find these two contrasting pairs work really well together. However, I find that the imagery would work better talking about perhaps a war-ridden country - how the youth are made to turn to war and violence at a young age, but that's just me. ;)
In terms of sound, the song differs from the style of the band's previous album, 'Fantasies', in which they received positive reviews from many different critics. 'Fantasies' is more of an acoustic sounding, slightly toned down album. However, the electronic, synthesized sounds of this album seem consistent to the title and theme 'Synthetica' while also being pretty damn catchy!
Check out the official lyric video and tell us what you think!
'Electra Heart' is the new 2012 release from Welsh singer-songwriter Marina and the Diamonds and by the mouth of Marina herself, Electra Heart is her response to rejection in love. Creating four 'archetypes', or characters (the Primadonna, Teen Idle and Homewrecker, to name a few), the whole thing is quite poorly constructed. She creates these characters but fails to actually achieve a effective end point. Most of the songs on the album contradict theirselves quite a few times - isn't an album meant to have a main, constant theme? For example, you've got songs such as 'Teen Idle', contemplating Marina's own youth (as stated in a previous interview) and then songs like 'Homewrecker', one of Diamandis' characters. For me, it just seems odd to be talking about little snippets of your life when you're meant to be creating a story, building characters if you will. Either write songs about your life or create a whole concept album. It's just inconsistent if you do both.
Also, I found that Diamandis has almost changed her morals completely. Her debut album, 'The Family Jewels' was about judging popular culture as well as promoting feminism (for example, on 'Girls', in which the lyrics are 'Not gonna bend over and courtesy for you.') and now she's talking about being a 'bottle blonde'. She's using the fact that she's aiming to portray the 70's type American dream as an excuse to completely change your image and sound. Honestly, I don't believe she's doing this conceptual album as a way to judge the types of love and personalities, she's just using this as an excuse to (as much as I hate using this term), 'sell out'.
I genuinely believe that the fame has caused Diamandis to change. When she released 'The Family Jewels', she looked like an ordinary, albeit beautiful person with an extraordinary voice, now she looks like she's walked straight out of a grandiose fashion show. You can't pretend music is not about the image as much as the sound, but her image almost overpowers her sound. She looked much more beautiful and natural in 'The Family Jewels' era. You can't be judging others when you look exactly like them.
Diamandis has stated that she wasn't happy creating music all by her stony lonesome, so she hired some top producers (who have worked with the likes of Katy Perry and Rihanna) to work on Electra Heart, which explains why her music sounds so 'poppy'. On her debut album, you would find that she had more simple, piano-driven melodies supported by her strong vocals. However, on Electra Heart, it seems like the music is doing all the work for her - which is why her vocals don't sound as quirky and strong as previously and the heavy beats and electronic sounds do most of the work. It seems to me these producers have perverted the sound of Marina.
However, Diamandis really comes into her own on the calmer, more acoustic sounding songs of the album. Songs such as 'Starring Role', 'The State of Dreaming', 'Hypocrates' and 'Buy The Stars' (Deluxe edition) offer a much slower-paced, simpler side to the album. If you get a chance to listen to her acoustic versions of tracks from the album on Youtube, you'll see it's stripped free of any heavy electronic beats. When listening to it, I found it's more like her than the actual album. I sure hope she releases an acoustic album, because it's definitely better than the original. You can compare the acoustic and original versions of her first single 'Primadonna' below.
Thematically, Diamandis' theme is definitely not original. There have been hundreds of artists singing about love, and Diamandis doesn't offer something new to the table. She even borrows The Beatles' 'Lonely Hearts Club' idea. I just wish she would have thought of a theme much more original and outlandish, like before.
Lyrically, Diamandis could have done much better. The lyrics on 'The Family Jewels' were much more memorable and effective. Yet, on Electra Heart, her lyrics seem to cater more to popular music. She sings 'when you're around me, I'm radioactive.'. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a billion other pop songs out there. It seems like Diamandis is catering to the pop genre and completely abandoning the quirky, indie style that she had introduced us with. Why introduce it to us if you're going to completely take it away from us? Fans expected an album much like the debut, yet they were shocked to find it's nothing of the sort.
Overall, because all of the reasons given, I am awarding Diamandis 3/5 musicos! It really disheartens me to offer her only 3 out of 5 as I am a big fan, but part of the reason I am offering her this score is because of the fact she completely changed and not in a good way. I want the old Marina. Comment your thoughts below!
Music Bloggery Recommends: 'Lies', 'Homewrecker', 'The State of Dreaming', 'Hypocrates', 'Lonely Hearts Club' (Deluxe edition only), 'Buy The Stars' (Deluxe edition only)
Mark Foster (Foster The People), A-Trak (DJ) and Kimbra (known for her recent feature on Gotye's 'Somebody That I Used To Know') created a rad collaboration in aid of Converse (Everyone's got to advertise!). 'Warrior', the title of the track, features the techno sounds, synonymous of Foster's style, and Kimbra's strong vocals. All in all, a very interesting mix!
Check out the official video below and tell us your thoughts!
A free mp3 of the song can be found here: http://www.fosterthepeople.com/us/news/warrior
Recently I've had quite a few obsessions. I had decided to take a big 'ol nostalgia trip and get songs from when I first got into rock music. Music from The Wombats, Franz Ferdinand and even the first Friendly Fires album have been played constantly! However, there is one exception to this. I had always heard the band name 'Foals' thrown around quite a bit, but I had never got down to actually listening to them. So, I decided to break the trend and buy one of their albums - the 2008 release, 'Antidotes'.
I have to say, this album is one of my favourites now! Their music is the epitome of indie. It's just so catchy and the fact that it's not extremely upbeat is even better. I am now officially obsessed! Everyone should listen to two of their great singles - 'Cassius' and 'Olympic Airways'. I think 'Cassius' is just too cool for school and 'Olympic Airways' is just simply beautiful and heartfelt. I've also thrown in another single in there just for fun. Check it out and tell us what you think of Foals!
Twin Berlin, the Boston based indie, alternative rock band have hit the scenes once more with the release of their new EP, 'There Goes My Virtue'. With a band comprising of three members, Matt Lopez (vocals/guitar), Sean O’Neil (bass) and James Janocha (drums), their latest 2012 release sees the band not only gaining a whole lot more recognition, but also a more experimental, indie sound. The band were lucky enough to get Travis Barker (drummer for the punk rock band Blink-182) to produce and record the EP as well as the late Mikey Welsh from alternative band Weezer creating the artwork for the band, which is quite amazing and will definitely help to get more recognition in the long run.
I personally like the artwork as I feel it is colourful and quirky, which is completely different to the bands' previous albums, such as Youth Scenes, which were much more darker in both colour and sound. I actually like the way that the brightness of the artwork contrasts with the theme. For example, when listening to this album, I got the feeling that the theme is quite negative. Just reading the titles of the song gives the jig up. Songs like Don't Hang Around and Give Up On Me aren't necessarily about frolicking through the meadows on a bright summers day.
When listening to the actual album,. I was surprised to find that the vocals of Lopez and the sound of the band sounded ridiculously similar to The Strokes. Then, when listening to it further, I thought that the vocals sounded similar to the vocals of Australian alternative rock band, Jet. There's nothing wrong with this, but perhaps the band need to develop more of their own individual sound, something that makes them set them apart from the other bands.
Nevertheless, the fast-paced rhythms and repetitive hooks are very effective and it's not long until these songs have wormed their way into your head. While the first two songs on the EP are The Strokes meet Jet, the latter song has a slightly different sound. The intro has a slightly ambiguous feel to it as the guitar starts up and the bass joins in a few seconds later.
Overall, I would award this EP 4/5 stars! The music of the band itself is very good, however, like I've mentioned, the music does sound very similar to many other bands and I would suggest perhaps being a bit more experimental and try out different sounds and see which one works best. Check out their single from the EP and their thoughts on working with Travis Barker below!
Music Bloggery Recommends:Can't Take, Take, Take, Don't Hang Around, Give Up On Me
Tourist History, the début studio album from the Northern Irish indie band, Two Door Cinema Club, was released February 2010 and it was not without positive reviews. The indie band sky-rocketed to quick fame with the release of singles such as I Can Talk and Undercover Martyn.
When listening to this album, I thought that it was a vibrant, eclectic mix of fast-paced bass and guitar. Their music gives off quite a pop-punk, upbeat, techno sound. Especially when listening to the Deluxe Edition of the album. The normal edition of the album is comprised of 10 normal songs. However, the Deluxe Edition comprised of 11 remixes, more songs than on the actual album! I found this not only overwhelming, but slightly repetitive and pointless. Most bands usually feature a separate album for remixes, but I was a little surprised to find they would have all the remixes on the same album. That in mind, there's only one remix on there that I really loved. Come Back Home (Is Tropical Chilla Black Edit Remix) has a real Dubstep style to it, and it instantly makes me want to get up and dance. If you know what's good for you, check out the link below and give the remix a listen!
The songs on the album are all really fast paced and there's no doubt about it, they're all pretty catchy too! However, when listening to all of the album, I found that it started to get a little repetitive. They used the same instruments in the same style and for some songs, you couldn't really tell them apart. Although, there were a few exceptions to this. Songs like Something Good Can Work and Kids sound slightly different from the rest of the album. Something Good Can Work has a beach pop sound to it, and Kids sounds much more powerful as opposed to the rest of the album.
So, because of the reasons given, I am awarding this album a 4/5 stars! The sound of the band sounds very original and unique, however, given the fact that a lot of the songs sound the same slightly ruins the experience for me and it therefore becomes a little repetitive.
Music Bloggery Recommends:Something Good Can Work, Kids, I Can Talk, What You Know, Undercover Martyn, Come Back Home and Do You Want It All?
This week has been a great week for music. We've had the release of M.I.A.'s new music video, and now sees another one! That's right, if you hadn't guessed already, Coldplay released their video for the upcoming single 'Charlie Brown' from their 2011 release 'Mylo Xyloto'! The video features two young loves having fun and strolling the town. In the midst of all of this, Coldplay are playing in what seems to be a brightly coloured club. It's all a bit of old-fashioned fun, really. Accompanied by a peacefully beautiful song. Check it out!
Bombay Bicycle Club have just released the video for their upcoming release from their third, most recent 2011 album, 'A Different Kind of Fix'. The track is called 'How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep', and it is the first track on the album, with hits such as 'Shuffle' and 'Lights Out, Words Gone', soon following after.
The video is a short animation film, created by director Anna Ginsberg, the video follows a little clay animation boy and his journey onto the moon and back. The way it's constructed is really quite beautiful and it works really well with the song. When I actually watched the video, the animation reminded me of the video for the song 'Bedshaped' by the British indie band, Keane. Check them both out below and see the similarities! Anyhow before I go on one of my classic tangents, I definitely recommend giving it a watch and going out and buying the album.
Thought I'd add a new segment for the blog. This segment simply discusses various rock artists and their seclusion from the music industry. Hence the title - 'Where'd They Go?!'. The idea for this segment came to me while I was thinking of the New Zealand born indie musician, Ladyhawke. I was introduced to her quirky, odd style of music when I first began listening to rock music. Made famous by her hit song, 'My Delirium.' and other acclaimed songs such as 'Paris Is Burning', 'Dusk 'Till Dawn' and 'Magic', this Kiwi girl is just getting started.
Ladyhawke's been away from the music scene from quite some time. Ever since she released her debut 2008 album, she's been out of the limelight for a while. It got me to wondering where she went to, and don't you worry music fans, Ladyhawke's planning on making her comeback this year! That's right, Ladyhawke's is planning on releasing her follow-up album on the 19th of March, and us fans can't wait!
If you've been living in a cave all of your life and don't know who Ladyhawke is, you should start by listening to her self-titled, 2008 debut album. Every song on the album is a new burst of synthesiser quirkiness. Check out the video for 'My Delirium' below. A real female equivalent to MGMT, I would say.
