Music Bloggery

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!

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