Music of Our Years

So Semester 1, Year 1. Long road ahead and makes you a bit nostalgic thinking about the end of high school again. Well one of the most important things coming from school that I brought through with me was my music. Yeah, people say that I am a purist. It's true though. I love music and love to go back to the roots of popular music back in the 1920s. I love the crackle at the sound of the old LP's, 45's and 78's. Might not appeal to what everyone else is looking for in a record but that authentic, pure sound that sends you right to their living room or recording studio makes me shiver with excitement every time I put the needle on. It's time to look back at the most important music that I can take with me through university. Plato once said, “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” I can't think of anything better to describe the impact of music on my life. Music makes you cry, laugh, think and dance. For those that appreciate great music as much as myself, I'm sure they would agree with me that there are two kinds of people in the universe - lyric people and melody people. Quite simply, lyric people are those that always grab the record sleeve once they open their new vinyl or CD and read deep into the poetry before them. On the other side, all melody people need is a tune to dance or sing to, and we all know these kind of people. I can't help but always point all the good and bad things that have happened to me back to The Cure. The band from Blackpool, whom have passed through the cold age of UK post-punk into Gothic and alternative rock have endured the test of time, still going strong after 37 years. Robert Smith and company manage to bring out every emotion through their huge discography of work, from happiness to depression and everything in between. You only have to look at a few different songs to see how good The Cure is. I always fall back to the 1989 record, Disintegration, and in particular the track Prayers for Rain; quite possibly the saddest song recorded by the group. Yet, you only need to look 24 month prior to this record to witness their most "poppy" record to date and the regular radio hit Just Like Heaven () and then you really understand how brilliant The Cure really is. They got me through a lot of hard times and kept the good times going for even longer. Do you have a band or artist that got you through your life (so far)?

New Foals Record

So just listened to the new Foals record. Brilliant. The sound and energy bring the classic warmth and vibrant sounds that have accompanied their work. First impressions is that it is a record to watch for in 2013 and definitely will be featured on radio play all over the world. In depth review coming soon.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis Heist It

Look back to 2010. Macklemore for many means nothing. To some, he is an uprising Seattle hip hop artist working with his producer Ryan Lewis. Above average for sure, his debut record does alright though not hugely successful. Back in 2012, he creates this masterpiece - The Heist. Macklemore present a lot of awesome hip hop tracks and none is better than the hit track Thrift Shop. A fun and exuberant performer, Macklemore rocks this track like any other about simply second hand shopping to find that sweet suit for the party of the weekend. The Heist revolves with other classic upbeat hip hop tracks like Can't Hold Us and Wing$ (a song about materialism revolving around kicks or basketball shoes). But his most emotional and important work may be his plea to America for same sex rights and marriage - Same Love. Recorded with fellow Seattle vocalist Mary Lambert, this song deals with every pertinent social issue in the last 50 years of American history and makes me cry every time. I would highly recommend checking out Macklemore out and definitely find his Tiny Desk Concert on NPR or iTunes.

Now is the time

Now is the latest single from revamped pop-punk band from Tennessee, Paramore, and they deliver with a whopper of a classic single. Opening with a very upbeat intro, reminding me of what The Yeah Yeah Yeahs brought to the table 5 or so years ago. The vocals are simple and work beautifully with Hayley Williams' well tuned voice and she delivers a booming chorus to accompany the somewhat new sound that the trio have embraced with a variety of single tracks that have been released through their Singles Club. Throughout the track, it feels very much like Paramore and no doubt will be a favourite live track with lots of regular playability. In fact, Now sounds almost like it could be recorded live on one track (though that seems highly rare these days with the advancements in recording technology). They have come a long way since the inner turmoil that ruined their majorly successful 2010 with a plethora of radio hits and various live tracks that are staples of their ever growing set list.

Be sure to check out Now and their hugely anticipated full length alb coming soon!

Updates

Hey guys.

Just some quick updates. It's like 6 in the morning. I have been away from blogging for close to 2 years. I'm been travelling and working out my life and stuff like that. I'm back home to finish my studies. Been a real blast to take a break, meet some sweet buds over in the US and Canada.

I will be resuming this blog with regular posta (daily I hope) and also add a podcast shortly.

See y'all soon!

Heartthrob - Tegan and Sara

Tegan and Sara, the quietly popular indie duo from Calgary, return in 2013 with their new record released for the end of winter in North America. First impressions shout out pop record at once, and is no surprise with new producer, known for his work with many other indie/pop artists. Heartthrob presents a new direction for the Quin sisters into the pop arena, something which they always seem to be closing in on with their emotional, lovesick lyrics and beautiful harmonies that proceed to get even better after every listen. They are far from their original work with their acoustic guitars in their living room and now are producing top notch radio hits with a heavily processed sound, yet they still feel like the same duo 10 years down the track.

Opening with their first single Closer, Tegan and Sara sound very different from their works from So Jealous and The Con. Instead, it reminded me of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, in the upbeat, high energy track yet still they remain deep and focused on the lyrics as always. This high energy has always been with Tegan and Sara, as much as they love to play the melancholy stuff as seen in previous tracks like Speak Slow and Northshore. Here we see a whole record of this sound with a lot of delay effects and synth work. It continues with Goodbye, Goodbye and Drove Me Wild.

And then we hit a very familiar sound. I Couldn't Be Your Friend begins with a very familiar sound (I'll leave it to you to figure it out) and they are again showing this new energy and sound that will please old fans and bring new ones to their plethora of shows I'm the next 18 months. There are a variety of tracks on this new record that will are a lot of radio airplays and the success of the record has great potential to what the Canadian duo have released after a decade of writing and touring around the world. Though they have left the concept of the great record, they have presented us with a gem and are looking forward to a long road of touring ahead.

Tegan and Sara head to Australia May for Grooving the Moo and headlines shows (dates to be announced shortly). Heartthrob looks to be an early leader for album of the year though its the first of my review since resuming We Called It Music. See y'all soon!

Best Debut Albums

Thev Shadows – The Shadows (1961)
Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan (1962)
The Beatles – Please Please Me (1963)
Dusty Springfield – A Girl Called Rusty (1964)
The Who – My Generation (1965)
The Mothers Of Intervention – Freak Out! (1966)
The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)
The Band – Music From Big Pink (1968)
The Stooges – The Stooges (1969)
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin I (1969)
Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath (1970)
Neu! - Neu! (1972)
New York Dolls – New York Dolls (1973)
Brian Eno – Here Come The Warm Jets (1974)
Bruce Springsteen – Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ (1975)
Patti Smith – Horses (1975)
Ramones – Ramones (1976)
Sex Pistols – Never Mind The Bollocks (1977)
Elvis Costello – My Aim Is True (1977)
Devo – Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978)
Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures (1979)
Killing Joke – Killing Joke (1980)
Depeche Mode – Speak And Spell (1981)
REM – Murmur (1983)
The Smiths – The Smiths (1984)
The Jesus And Mary Chain – Psychocandy (1985)
Beastie Boys – Licensed To Ill (1986)
Guns N' Roses – Appetite For Destruction (1987)
My Bloody Valentine – Isn't Anything (1988)
The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses (1989)
Operation Ivy – Energy (1990)
Massive Attack – Blue Lines (1991)
Manic Street Preachers – Generation Terrorists (1992)
Sheryl Crow – Tuesday Night Music Club (1993)
Oasis – Definitely Maybe (1994)
Foo Fighters – Foo Fighters (1995)
Super Furry Animals – Fuzzy Logic (1996)
The Get Up Kids – Something To Write Home About (1998)
The White Stripes – The White Stripes (1999)
Coldplay – Parachutes (2000)
The Strokes – Is This It (2001)
The Libertines – Up The Bracket (2002)
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell (2003)
Kanye West – The College Dropout (2004)
Arcade Fire – Funeral (2005)
Artic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am... (2006)
Klaxons – Myths Of The Near Future (2007)
Tokyo Police Club – Elephant Shell (2008)
The xx – xx (2009)
Bad Books - Bad Books (2010)

Mad Lib

I'm at a new school. It's name is the Hayley Williams School for Rock Stars. The courses here area small. My first assignment is to learn how to play the pedal steel guitar and sing like a rock star. To be a good rock star, I'm supposed to mosh around a lot, to poop across the stage and to meditate the audience. I did not act like that at my old school, so I think I will have to work on it for a while. My second assignment is to learn to have an entourage, which is a group of people that always seems to follow a rock star. I have a lot of friends, but for this assignment I suddenly have plain people following me around, telling me how spectacular I am, how they really like my huge, and how I am the most huge person ever. I can't be sure, but I think they're saying that. My final assignment is to put on a rock concert. I have to arrive in a snowmobile and walk the dookie green carpet, part the collaborating fans with cameras splashing in my face. When I get inside, my entourage will be there and I will be playing with them on stage. I will have to play one billion, seven hundred trillion, eight hundred katillion songs, all whilst skyping, singing and frisbeeing. This will be the hardest final exam ever, but it will the one to remember.

Operation Ivy

QUICK BIO FROM WIKI

Operation Ivy was a ska punk band formed in Berkeley, California, often being credited as the founders of the 90s punk revival in California. They are also well-known as one of the earliest ska-core bands, a genre that fuses elements of hardcore with ska punk. The band consisted of Jesse Michaels (lead vocals), Tim Armstrong (credited as "Lint") (guitar, backing vocals), Matt Freeman (credited as Matt McCall) (bass, backing vocals), and Dave Mello (Drums, backing vocals). Although Operation Ivy had little mainstream success during their career, they had a large underground following and influenced many bands of the 90s punk revival. Their only studio album, Energy, has been cited as one of the greatest punk rock albums of all time. The band's name, previously abandoned by another Gilman band, Isocracy, was derived from the Operation Ivy series of nuclear tests.

Review of Energy coming soon!

States

PropertyOfZack had the chance to sit down with Mindy White and Stephen Laurenson of States just last week at their first ever show in New York City and their second show of all time. Mindy, Stephen, and I discussed the reception to the band’s debut EP, their writing for a full-length, label possibilities, and much more. Read up and enjoy!
For the record, could you state your names and roles in States?
Mindy: I’m Stephen Laurenson and I sing.
Stephen: I’m Mindy White and I play guitar.
Mindy + Stephen: We are States.

So, just two days ago you guys played tour first show in Nashville. Can you talk about that first experience?
Mindy: It was awesome. My mom was all over the place. It was a home show, so we had family there.
POZ: Hayley and the Relient K guys too right?
Mindy: Yeah, we had friends there too. It’s so cool to see that support because we always go to their shows. It’s kind of nerve-wracking because they’re really good friends of ours, but honestly, having Hayley in the crowd was like, “Well, here we go. We have this girl with angels in the throat watching me sing.”
Stephen: Angels in the throat?
Mindy: Yeah dude, she’s awesome. It was great though. For us, I think it was the best feeling in the world to have the first show and to have people around you that love you.
Stephen: Both Mindy and I live in Nashville and it was just awesome to see that kind of support from friends and family. Even the turnout. I think we were all just pretty excited.
Mindy: Pretty shocked. Nashville is a really bad market for shows and no one really goes to shows.
Stephen: I set my expectations kind of low. It felt great; I had a lot of fun. Definitely had some hiccups, but for the first show I couldn’t have asked for a better one.

How did it feel up there compared to your previous bands?
Mindy: Amazing. It’s like sleeping and then like partying. Now we’re partying.
Stephen: It is. Both of our previous bands were a little more mellow.
Mindy: Nap time. It was great. We had fun up there. We work so well together. Besides the music difference it’s just like working together as a band. It’s so much more fun.
Stephen: I think we’re all just suckers for pop music. We loved being in our previous bands, but I think we’re doing things a little different and maybe a little bit more fun; upbeat. It’s a blast. It’s a lot of fun.

Tonight kicks off the real start of the tour in Manhattan and then you guys will be going out with Anberlin for a few dates. How did those shows come together?
Stephen: Our management also manages Anberlin and we’ve been long time friends with Anberlin. We’ve known them for ten+ years. It kind of fell together. They had a headline tour for their new record and one of the opening acts couldn’t make a couple of dates and we were doing this, so it just worked out.
POZ: Those will be a lot bigger venues so those will be great.
Stephen: Yeah, those will be some really cool ones. One of them is the TLA in Philadelphia and I think that might be my favorite venue in the country.
Mindy: This way I can crowd surf all the way back to merch as soon as we get done. I don’t even have to walk.
Stephen: And there’s a philly cheese steak place across the street. I’ll probably eat there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s so good.
Mindy: There’s a vegan place out there that I’m going to that has vegan chilly steaks. Chilly steaks? It’s a new thing. Philly cheese steaks.

There’s only six songs on the EP, so will we be hearing a lot of unreleased stuff?
Mindy: We’re going to play the six songs twice. We’ll have twelve. I’m just kidding. We’re playing some new songs and we’re doing one cover that we can’t say what it is.
POZ: Justin Bieber.
Stephen: Dangit, it is! We’re playing three or four new ones and then a cover.

How has Line ‘Em Up been received so far?
Mindy: That was another thing. I think we didn’t really set any expectations for that because we were kind of scared, kind of nervous. We didn’t know what to think about it, we just wanted it to do what it was going to do and it stayed on the top of the charts on iTunes and Amazon and we were just blown away. These are songs that we recorded in Brain, our guitarist’s, apartment. We did it all on our own, we didn’t have any label or a publicity. We don’t have that help. We did it all on our own so that kind of really showed us our fans are so loyal. It means the world to us because we couldn’t sell it without our fans obviously. It was amazing.
Stephen: These were demos and we were like, “Let’s track these. These sound decent. Let’s put it together and make an EP out of it.” I remember going to bed and thinking, “Man, it would be really cool to sell enough for the charts, but it probably won’t go anywhere.” When I woke up it was like 50-something and then it started climbing. It blew me away. It was awesome. It was great.

What were some of your influences for some of the tracks? I can definitely hear some Metric.
Mindy: That’s a great thing then [Laughs]. Metric is one of my favorite bands ever. I love Emily Haines. I’ve listened to every type of music ever, but my favorite to sing to has been pop music. I grew up loving N’SYNC and Britney Spears, but I never wanted to do the cheese ball, like written for me lyrics. Coming together with these guys, the music is so much cooler than regular pop-rock music, so I think it’s completely different. I think it’s different than a lot of stuff that’s out right now.
Stephen: I grew up pretty much solely on The Carpenters and The Beatles, so I just always had that kind of pop sense. I definitely love the previous music that our bands got to make, but I really feel like this is some of the stuff that I’ve always wanted to write. I love it.

I believe you guys went to Florida to record, how was that?
Mindy: It was awesome. It was hot.
Stephen: I like Florida people, but I don’t really like Florida that much. It was fun. We just tracked everything in an apartment with about 500 bucks worth of gear and a couple amps and mics and just did it in about a week or two. We tracked drums out of a studio. It was really fun. It was just the three of us for the most part. It’s just fun to get to wake up in the morning and hang out and be like, “Let’s track some stuff.” There wasn’t any pressure. There wasn’t a deadline. We didn’t have a label be like, “Let’s hear the singles.” We just got to write some music.
Mindy: I really liked going out to the car and warming up and then making sure that the thermostat was off. It was funny, but so personal. When I listen to that record now, the magic that Bryan did to it, it sounds pretty awesome.

You guys obviously wanted to give everybody a little taste, but are you writing for a full-length?
Stephen: Yeah, we’ve been writing a ton for the past several months and we have a bunch of new tracks. The EP, three of four of the songs were literally the first things we ever did.
Mindy: Experimentation.
Stephen: I feel like we’ve gotten a little bit more of our sound that we want. I’m really excited. We’ve got a fair amount of ideas and we’re gonna spend the next month or two after this run writing a little bit more and then hopefully in early January go into it. We’ll probably do it a little different this time though. It was fun doing it on our own, but I think we want to incorporate a producer and do it on a little bit more of a traditional route.
POZ: Is a late spring release possible?
Stephen: Late spring, early summer.
Mindy: We’ll shoot for that.
Stephen: Earlier the better, but it just depends on how things move.

I think I read that you guys recorded some acoustic tracks too. Might we see those?
Stephen: Yeah, we did a couple acoustic tracks and threw them on some thumb drives for a couple contestant winners for each one of these shows and they can do what they want with it. We don’t really have plans on releasing them, but if they want to leak them we’re totally cool for it. I always thought it’d be a cool thing to go to a show and get exclusive music. They might wind up on the internet or we might leak them eventually. I think I actually like one of the versions of the acoustic songs better then the actual version.
Mindy: Stephen’s going to leak them [Laughs], so if anybody wants them, just look for Stephen.

As soon as the project was announced people automatically started discussing labels. I’m sure you’ve obviously been in contact, but is there any shopping happening?
Mindy: I don’t know. I feel like at this point, no offense to them, but I don’t know if there’s anything out there right now that’s worth it at this point.
Stephen: We’re not throwing out any ideas. If the right people came along and we meshed, sure, we might go along, but it’s been fun to be our own bosses. I think we don’t really have a clear path set for this. We’re willing to go where it takes us.
Mindy: I want to work with someone, whether it’s a label or not, who’s as passionate as we our about the music. I don’t care who they are, where they’re from, our how much money they’re going to give us. That stuff obviously matters, but I just want someone to care. You can be on the best label with a ton of money, but if the people don’t care you’re not gonna get anything from it.
Stephen: They also don’t know how to market you. There’s some really awesome people who work for big labels and we’ll see. Unfortunately it’s dollar signs. People say, “Is this marketable?” and then it becomes that way. If we find people that are passionate about us and are music lovers, I’m into the idea.

Might we see scattered dates towards the end of the year at all?
Stephen: Maybe a few.
Mindy: We just got an offer today.
Stephen: We’ve gotten an offer. We might. I think our big focus is just writing. We really want to do a full-length. If they’re shows that are worthwhile then we might jump on. There might be a couple. There won’t be any touring until probably spring of next year.
POZ: And then should we just expect constant touring?
Mindy: Oh yeah, we’re going to be touring full-time hopefully. We even talked about maybe going overseas first. This was kind of like the tour for the EP. I think we might go straight overseas.
Stephen: Copeland used to go overseas and the response was always amazing. Kids are just so awesome in Japan and Australia and stuff. We definitely have a lot of kids say that they’ve gotten the EP someway and love it. We’d love to go overseas at some point next year. We’ll be touring as much as possible after we track our full-length.

What’s been the biggest shift from Copeland and Lydia to States?
Mindy: For me, one, I’m not sitting at a piano and just singing really falsetto soft stuff. I’m moving around the stage and belting stuff, so it’s a lot different in that sense. It’s also different in writing. In Lydia there were two guys who primarily wanted to write all the music. On Illuminate, our last album, I was able to do a little bit of writing, but not much at all. In this band it’s like we came together and everyone has an equal share. Everyone has ideas and it’s just awesome. It’s actually how it’s supposed to be. It’s a huge 180 being in States.
Stephen: I think for me, I jumped on the Copeland bandwagon, not late, but in ’06, so I had about four years with them and Brian and Aaron were much of the writing force behind Copeland. I’d write my own parts, but in terms of songs and stuff not much. So I definitely love being able to write and be a little more creative on that side. Just the music styles different and playing live is a totally different feel. I’m still playing guitar but,
Mindy: It’s more fun.
Stephen: It is. I enjoy this a lot. I loved Copeland, but I have a lot of fun playing this for sure.

Thanks so much for your time, is there anything else you’d like to add?
Mindy: Come see us, and freaking thanks to everybody who supported the EP and are just now finding out about us. We’re stoked to come tour everywhere.
Stephen: Check us out on www.Statesmusic.com.
Mindy: And Twitter, @Statesmusic. All those social networks.

Book Accompanied by a side project

So I have been thinking recently and just said that this book/thesis is going to take the latter part of 6 months so why not a get started from the beginning? This, of course, means that I am going to put together a little history of modern rock. After seeing bands over the last five years reach such huge reception like Paramore, Jimmy Eat World and Fall Out Boy that I would work on the history of these bands and a few others.

1. Punk Rock
2. Hardcore Punk
3. Alternative/Punk
4. Ska Punk
5. Pop Punk

These will be the contents of it I think at the moment. Going to start doing it tonight. I also want to get some permission from some of the acts so I can get a detailed history of the bands.

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Paramore - Courtesy of Drum Media

Openers, Kiwi duo The Jury & The Saints, have nit been around long, but you would not guess it with their confident stage show. Using samples to fatten up the sound produced by a powerhouse, back-flipping drummer and energetic guitarist/singer, the band sounded like the electronic-laced music of the new Good Charlotte, just a whole lot more fun. A cover of Tail Cruz's Dynamite and new single, Brand New, both got huge reactions from a quickly filling floor.

Christian pop/punkers Relient K took the stage next with a well-honed live set. The band played the three singles from Breakout album, Mmhmm, and drew heavily from most recent album, Forget And Not Slow Down. Sadly, a muddy mix made it difficult to hear their intricate, piano-laced pop/punk; for the majority of the set, the kick drum, one guitar and vocals were all that cur through. A cover of Toto's Africa seemed an odd choice considering the median age of the crowd wad about 15, but it was well received and featured a killer keyboard solo.

The crowd erupted as a black shroud dropped to reveal the new Paramore launching into Ignorance - with a sixth member, a huge show and confidence to boot. Hayley Williams showed why she deserving of all the praise heaped on her, as her vocal performance was incredible and it was amazing to hear such a powerful voice emitted from such a young, energetic performer.

Williams wasn't lying when she said the crowd could expect something akin to Soundwave, "but with heaps more songs." The band played a 16-song set pulling material from all of their three albums. Williams and guitarist paid homage to their Nashville roots with an acoustic cover of Loretta Lynn's You Ain't Woman Enough (To Take My Man) and set the stage for an acoustic intermission, bringing a couch on stage. Showing their versatility, Paramore played lounge versions of When It Rains, Where The Lines Overlap and Misguided Ghosts, which gave an illusion of intimacy in such a big venue. The band closed with a rocked-up version of The Only Exception and solified their stadium rock status with pyrotechnics during the final chorus.

A literally deafening encore chant brought the band back out for Brick By Boring Brick and a rendition of Misery Business with Australian Idol winner Stan Walker and Farrow stripping down to reveal Aussie flag boxers.

- Dave Drayton

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Introduction to the Book

Hey guys.

So, I am going to give you a brief insight into how the book is going to work. I am planning to begin with a foreword by a respected musician on the topic of authenticity of music and then my own introduction before entering the realm of soul, jazz and blues in the early 1900s.

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Paramore Revisited

Paramore, on the top of their game after touring North America with New Found Glory and Tegan and Sara on the Honda Civic Tour 2010 they enter down under on a high, back for another stint in Australia for the second time in 2010.

Back in February, they entertained Sydney with their half hour Soundwave set, making sure they kept it short fast and loud, while still promoting Brand New Eyes, and its upbeat tracks off the record like Ignorance and Brick By Boring Brick. Sure enough we knew that Paramore wouldn't leave Sydney without play the highly anticipated sideshow, featuring Rolo Tomassi.

Since, Paramore weren't headliners at Soundwave 2010 due to the Mega lineup that included Faith No More, Jimmy Eat World and Placebo. Nevertheless Sydney was entertained by Paramore at The Big Top at Luna Park, Milson's Point. Showcasing a full set, it was a fitting loud and fast performance, yet the venue didn't give them the praise that they should of, with a small and compacted arena. However, Hayley and her crew proved to SYDNEY that they are the band to be, further emphasized after claiming the KERRANG! Award for Album of the Year with Brand New Eyes.

Their arrival was imminent for Sydney siders and we see the band put on a huge sell out show at the Sydney Entertainment Centre with support from The Jury and the Saints and Relient K.

The clock was ticking down to 930, around the time when the headliner act would appear on stage. Nonetheless, the environment was vibrant and so was the introduction of Paramore to Sydney this time around. Opening with Ignorance, expected by most of the fans out there, it would be a night of promotion of Brand New Eyes, with the whole album being played throughout the night. The crowd grew excited and warm towards the ever vibrant Hayley Williams as Paramore kicked off the show with Feeling Sorry and fan favourites That's What You Get and For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic. As, the show progressed the crowd grew in energy and love towards the Nashville 5-piece and the noise erupted with the opening track of the first Twilight soundtrack - Decode. A title that the band accepts as the Twilight band has brought them a new group of young fans, and it seeks that every Twilight fans loves Hayley and Paramore.

Of course, Paramore entertained us through the middle of the feature set with their acoustic songs, many of which appeared on Brand New Eyes. Opening with a cover of Loretta Lynn and followed by When It Rains and Misguided Ghosts, the reception of their slower and softer material was positive all the way through the absense of distortion and sustain.

Of course, we were all waiting for the return to their loud and fast material and it didn't take long. Re-introducing themselves as rock giants they returned with Looking Up and the long awaited acrobatics that accompanies the feature single from All We Know Is Falling, Pressure. Of course, they finished up their set with The Only Exception onto a huge reception by the Sydney Crowd.

A short wait for the encore and the return of the band back to stage, with the sing-a-long and feature single from Brand New Eyes - Brick By Boring Brick. What other way to bring the house down? MISERY BUSINESS! The popular track from Riot! blew the minds of fans and every member of the audience got into it to make the sold out show a night to remember! Paramore brought energy, youth and noise to the table tonight and they put on a show to remember for fans and performers alike.

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Storm's Coming

There are a lot of good things about The Jezebels' new EP Dark Storm. For instance, it marks the final in the trilogy of three EPs as well as the fact that it is in itself, a great listen. A shining light amongst the negative coonotations of the word 'indie', their moody discourse is given amplified atmosphere live.

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Book in the Making

Boys and Girls,

I am having a book in the making. I see it as a future collaboration project about the authenticity of music and in particular popular music. At the moment, I am looking for writers and ideas but at the moment I am going to start off in the early 1900s and the emergence of blues and jazz as part of popular music.

For as for the big project, I don't know how long it will take or even it will be published, but I aim to get it done at some point in the near future. As for now, I have come with a title.

"How Does It Feel Be Unoriginal?"

Charts Update

U.S. (from Billboard)

Alternative Songs

1) Linkin Park - The Catalyst
2) Cage The Elephant - In One Ear
3) Neon Trees - Animal
4) Dirty Heads feat. Rome - Lay Me Down
5) Phoenix - Lisztomania
6) Brandon Flowers - Crossfire
7) Rise Against - Savior
8) Anberlin - Impossible
9) Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man
10) Switchfoot - The Sound


Alternative Albums

1) Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
2) Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare
3) Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
4) Soundtrack - Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
5) Hey Monday - Beneath It All (EP)
6) Black Keys - Brothers
7) Jack Johnson - To The Sea
8) Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
9) Nickelback - Dark Horse
10) Paramore - Brand New Eyes


U.K. (from BBC)

Indie Songs

1) Katy B - Katy On A Mission
2) Example - Kickstarts
3) DJ Fresh - Gold Dust
4) Count & Sinden feat. Mystery Jets - After Dark
5) Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
6) Adele - Make You Feel My Love
7) Xx - Islands
8) Caspa & Mr. Hudson - Love Never Dies (Back For The First)
9) Kano - Upside
10) Vampire Weekend - White Sky


Indie Albums

1) Xx - Xx
2) Vampire Weekend - Contra
3) Example - Won't Go Quietly
4) Dizzee Rascal - Tongue N'cheek
5) Union - The Union
6) Jedward - Planet Jedward
7) Mogwai - Special Moves
8) Temper Trap - Conditions
9) Faithless - The Dance
10) Prodigy - Invaders Must Die

Charts - August 16

U.S. (from Billboard)

Alternative Songs

1) Cage The Elephant - In One Ear
2) Dirty Heads feat. Rome - Lay Me Down
3) Linkin Park - The Catalyst
4) Neon Trees - Animal
5) Phoenix - Lisztomania
6) Rise Against - Savior
7) Brandon Flowers - Crossfire
8) 30 Seconds To Mars - This Is War
9) Shinedown - The Crow And The Butterfly
10) Phoenix - 1901


Alternative Albums

1) Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
2) Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare
3) Buckcherry - All Night Long
4) Jack Johnson - To The Sea
5) Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
6) Black Keys - Brothers
7) Soundtrack - Twilight Saga: Eclipse
8) Korn - Remember Who You Are
9) Secondhand Serenade - Hear Me Now
10) Nickelback - Dark Horse


U.K. (from BBC)

Indie Songs

1) Example - Kickstarts
2) DJ Fresh - Gold Dust
3) Xx - Islands
4) Fake Blood - I Think I Like It
5) Basshunter - Saturday
6) Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
7) Dizzee Rascal - Dirtee Disco
8) Radical Face - Welcome Home Son
9) Dizzee Rascal - Bonkers
10) Vampire Weekend - White Sky


Indie Albums

1) Xx - Xx
2) Vampire Weekend - Contra
3) Skream - Outside The Box
4) Example - Won't Go Quietly
5) Jedward - Planet Jedward
6) Chicane - Giants
7) Dizzee Rascal - Tongue N'cheek
8) Katie Melua - The House
9) Caitlin Rose - Own Side Now
10) Prodigy - Invaders Must Die

Top 10 Albums (for a Desert Island)

So, a few months ago I had a conversation with a close friend about something similar to this, with the 10 albums that I would take on my deserted island. These are in no particular order.

Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking
Pixies - Doolittle
The Beatles - The Beatles
The Smiths - The Queen Is Dead
Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
The Cure - Disingtegration
Pink Floyd - The Wall
The Runaways - The Runaways
Journey - Escape
NOFX - Punk in Drublic

She and Him

So usually I would stray away from any Hollywood actor/actress that him the music scene, especially the popular ones - of most recent times: Cyrus, Duff, Lohan and the list goes on. But, here I am going to break the rules. She and Him is an indie pop duo with Hollywood actress, Zooey Deschanel and indie singer-songwriter, Matt "M. Ward" Ward and have made some quiet success over the last 5 years, most prominent with their Volume 2 record which was released earlier in 2010.

Most know Deschanel from her appearances on Elf, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Manic and (500) Days of Summer. This side project, which in turn has seemingly become a major one for her has produced a relative amount of success without the mainstream pop title being labelled towards it. Her beautiful and innocent voice that she presents on She and Him EPs and 2 albums does she that she actually does have musical talent and her collaborations with M. Ward work wonderfully, and believe it or not, she does most of the songwriting.

I will be posting reviews and analysis on She and Him's two records shortly...

Updated Charts

U.S. (from Billboard)

Alternative Songs

1) Cage The Elephant - In One Ear
2) Dirty Heads feat. Rome - Lay Me Down
3) Neon Trees - Animal
4) Phoenix - Lisztomania
5) 30 Seconds To Mars - This Is War
6) Brandon Flowers - Crossfire
7) Rise Against - Savior
8) Shinedown - The Crow And The Butterfly
9) Phoenix - 1901
10) Civil Twilight - Letters From The Sky

Alternative Albums

1) Avenged Sevenfold - Nightmare
2) Jack Johnson - To The Sea
3) Korn - Remember Who You Are
4) Soundtrack - Twilight Saga: Eclipse
5) Black Keys - Brothers
6) Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
7) Best Coast - Crazy For You
8) Nickelback - Dark Horse
9) Godsmack - The Oracle
10) Various Artists - Vans Warped Tour 2010


U.K. (from BBC)

Indie Songs

1) Example - Kickstarts
2) DJ Fresh - Gold Dust
3) Basshunter - Saturday
4) Xx - Islands
5) Ash - Carnal Love
6) Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
7) Dizzee Rascal - Dirtee Disco
8) Fake Blood - I Think I Like It
9) Radical Face - Welcome Home Son
10) All Time Low - Weightless

Indie Albums

1) Xx - Xx
2) Jedward - Planet Jedward
3) Chicane - Giants
4) Vampire Weekend - Contra
5) Example - Won't Go Quietly
6) Buckcherry - All Night Long
7) Dizzee Rascal - Tongue N'cheek
8) Black Crowes - Croweology
9) Katie Melua - The House
10) Faithless - The Dance

Spontaneous Pop Quiz

Try this one! The answer is below question, highlight the text to discover the answer.

1. Which Kate Bush song did Nada Surf cover in their 2010 covers record - If I Had a Hi-Fi?

Love and Anger

2. Less Than Jake, ska punk outfit from Florida, USA refers to Fiorello's pet. What kind of animal is it?

A dog

3. The 2010 Honda Civic Tour is an annual concert tour in which a Honda Civic is the raffle prize. Paramore and Tegan and Sara were two of the three leading notable acts on the tour. Which band/artist was the third act?

New Found Glory

4. Morrissey's full name is (no middle name required):

Steven (Patrick) Morrissey

5. Johnny B. Goode is the classic rock and roll track by which famous rock and roller?

Chuck Berry

6. The Talking Heads first formed in Rhode Island with three of the members in 1974 performing as:

The Artistics

7. What is Keith Jarrett famous for doing during his recordings and live performances?

Singing/Humming

8. Why did Jimmy Eat World rename their 2001 record Bleed American to Jimmy Eat World?

They deemed it an inappropriate album title because of the events during September, 2001.

9. The Beatles' song - Yesterday was originally written with what words instead of 'yesterday'?

Scrambled Eggs

10. Who joined Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green to play with 'Shotgun Express'?

Rod Stewart

Blitzen Trapper - Destroyer Of The Void

Written and produced by frontman Eric Earley, Destroyer Of The Void is the fifth offering from the Portland band and sees the convergence of 60s folk, 70s country, 80s prog and contemporary indie. To illustrate this, the title track leaps from polite, mid-tempo country-folk to piano balladry through stomping indie rock and vocal harmonies within its six minutes. It may show the increased ambition on this album, but it's hardly the Bohemian Rhapsody it perhaps hopes to be.

The truth is that Blitzen Trapper are actually best when keeping things simple. THe Man Who Would Speak True proves this, with just acoustic guitar and howling harmonica accompanying this old-fashioned country yarn. "On a drunken night with a stolen gun/I show my lover as she made to run," Earley sings, and it's clear this man is a fine storyteller. "The judge sent me away/And they buried my Grace, yeah, the very next day."

Heaven And Earth is similarly simple with piano and strings allowing the song to breathe and The Tree - a lovely folk duet with Alela Diane - further illustrates this is a band that doesn't need to throw the kitchen sink at songs.

It seems a waste then - considering how mich heart this record has - that the six-piece litters it with unmemorable and fairly bland outings like Love And Hate. Alluding the arena rock, there is nothing specifically wrong with it, but it demonstrates the unnecessarily overblown nature of much of Destroyer Of The Void. In this case, less would most certainly have been more.

Deez Nuts - This One's For You

When I Killed The Prom Queen called it a day, drummer JJ Peters formed hardcore outfit Deez Nuts, and not only does he handle all of the drumming and vocal duties on their second album, The One's For You, but also a vast majority of guitars. Peters has called it some mates to add guest vocals, most notably Ollie Sykes from Bring Me The Horizon on the angst-driven If You Don't Know, Now You Know, aiding the record's collective and inclusive nature.

Deez Nuts tread the line between the guitar-driven simplicity of hardcore and hip hop-inspired vocals that are riddled with common themes of self-expression and pure, unabashed anger. The music has common themes as well, the tracks have driving rhythm sections and simple guitar lines. The Deez Nuts project is about creating an atmosphere and a mood, with less emphasis on musical technicality and a stronger focus on conveying their mood of being pissed off into the world.

Opening track Don't Call It A Comeback has an old school punk ethic at its core, whilst title track This One's For You is dedicated to the downtrodden, blue-collar worker and is, surprisingly, an endearing song - a prime example of the Deez Nuts vibe. On the other hand, the ode to his party crew DTD is simply about getting drunk and enjoying the ride. The same goes for Party Song, which takes a less subtle tack in inciting excessiveness. Peters provides the atmosphere for yoy to shake the working week off and forces you to enjoy the little things in life, music, your mates and good times.

Teenage Fanclub - Shadows

Bandwagonesque (1991) and Grand Prix (1995): two albums, both by Glaswegians Teenage Fanclub, which together constitute an epochal moment in joyous pop music. That no other album quite matches the glory of these two is of little consequence. Grand Prix alone is almost perfect. The band's meticulous fusion of My Bloody Valentine's noise, Neil Young's guitar work and Big Star's sunshine pop remains a watershed moment in songwriting history.

Shadows is the first Teenage Fanclub album in five years and happily, it wipes the floor with its predecessor, 2005's Man Made. In keeping with the Fannie's protocol, it is a balanced mix of songs by Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley and Gerard Love, and as always, Blake's songs shine just that little bit brighter. Here it's in Baby Lee, another rolled-gold TFC hit: a little bit cheeky, just earnest enough to be meaningful and catchy as all hell. And Dark Clouds is playful enough to warrant its too-cute, fiddle-heavy production. Yet the Bowie-esque The Past loses its momentum within its polish, and Shock And Awe flounders without distinction. That said, When I Still Have Thee overcomes its pretentious title by being impossibly nice. The folk-waltz of Live With The Seasons is also impeccable, and the almost Beach House sunshine of Sweet Days Waiting and The Back Of My Mind actually work. It's not the Fannies' best - since toning down the Neil Young and the MBV, the band was become one-sided - but it's a nice side to keep.