Lets Go Safari - BYOB

Hi All!

All around the world we have people angry at each other. We have wars in Iraq, Syria and other places. We have people willing to blow the shit out of other people, and people killing other people just because they live on the other side of a hill.

And in the midst of all this turmoil comes a band.

A band with a mission.

A band who are almost saccharine in their happiness.

A band who want you to bring your own beer.

This song is....is...happy. It makes you want to smile and jump around. It's a summer tune, so I'm a bit out of season here, but its very likeable. It's like a run on the sea shore, or in a forest somewhere out the way. Gets the heart rate going but is a pleasant experience.

This track is possibly one of the most original, clean, selfless songs I have heard this year.



Thanks for reading.

Jenni Alpert - Who We Are

Hi All,

Why isn't this playing in every night club and every student bar in England?

"Who We Are" is a great track. I can easily see groups of young women holding bottles of drinks in nightclubs desperately trying to sing this song.

 Jenni Alpert is a great singer. Powerful without being too harsh, and gentle without being too weak. I'm not sure I like the multi tracking. Or the effects. I think one or the other would have been fine. It sounds a little fuzzy to me. In my opinion, vocals for tracks like this need to be a bit cleaner.

Its got a catchy tune. It's got catchy lyrics. Meaningful without being too dull. It's got a good beat too. No it's not my thing, but I think that if you're looking for something light that you can dance and sing to then go for this. Its the chicken salad of music. Everyone likes it, but sometimes you just prefer a steak.

I'm not entirely sure about the video either. It seems a bit half assed. Either show lots of people, or none. It seems a little pointless to do something in between.

Here it is, let me know what you think:

Lillian Todd Jones New Video - Butter Soul

Hi all,

Somewhere in that place. That place between being awake and asleep. In the early Morning. You drift aimlessly between conscious and sub-concious. In this place you dream.

You dream of hills and valleys, you dream of what is and what could be, and you dream of blue skies and clouds.

Suddenly the sky darkens. The wind rises. The moon peeks out from behind the grey and forboding clouds. Thistles tear at your legs, and briars scratch and force your blood to drain slowly down your skin. It is this place that Lillian Todd Jones comes from for Butter Soul.

The song is emotional and powerful. And dark. So dark. The video is something special too. I can't imagine having dinner with Pan and the green man but having seen it I'm not sure I want to.

This is an epic track, and an epic video and I highly recommend it.

Stone Them Crows - Joker in the Pack Video

Hi All,

Whats black and white and rock all over? Well if you actually read the title of this rather than just idly clicking by because its lunchtime then you would know that its Stone Them Crows new video for Joker in the Pack.

Joker in the Pack is an aggresive, industrial themed rock track. It intros with a sturdy rhythm guitar riff and drum back beat as the video leads into american muscle car heaven.

The vocals are powerful yet lazy. No need to shout here (not until the end anyway). The question the band raise here is "Are you Listening?"

The track has a well constructed and well executed bass line which takes the lead during the choruses, which is a nice change from the usual quiet guitar, loud guitar format.

The guitar solo is almost effortless, but angry and fits the track perfectly.

Congratulations go to Matt Long, the drummer, for the video. It's fantastic.

So here it is:



thanks for reading

Another Cover - Time is Running Out - Muse

Hi all!

Time for my stuff. I've done another joint cover with a friend of mine.

This track by Muse is one of my favourites, and I don't like Muse at all really. I'm not sure what it is about them. I think it's the number of effects they use to cover the fact that their songs appear to be amazingly simple.

Don't even ask me about their new album. I hate it with a passion. There are no redeeming features at all other than the individual songs are only a few minutes long. At least with their original stuff I can stand it long enough to listen to it or learn how to play it.

Anyhew without further ado, here it is:



Thanks for listening

Arrow Haze - Music Factory - Casino Review

Hi all,

Arrow Haze are a rock band based in Belgium. On the 23rd November they will release their debut album Music Factory which is completely unlike the geography of their home country.

The opening track is a rolling, falling, flying, part anthem, part rock, part metal monstrosity. the intro holds a powerful repeating guitar riff that is almost trance-like in its appeal followed by some tech almost RHCP vocals.

The song then changes into the track proper. If you can imagine Pink Floyd on uppers, playing a song to Metallica, then Metallica playing it to Iron Maiden from the late 80's then that is pretty much what its like.

Chinese whispers then from the guys from Belgium. All in all the track is quite good. I quite like the way it changes over time, keeps you interested.

As a bonus, I'd like to add I found a track called Elly Kedward they did last year. This is a lot heavier, a lot darker. Again it's got a taste of Metallica. But this time, if they worked with Ozzy. The vocal pickups are very similar.

Here they are on youtube:





thanks for reading

The Hazy Eyed Smiles - Redeemed

Hi all,

The Hazy Eyed Smiles who I reviewed very quickly last month or so have released their first EP on band camp.

Here's a taste of Redeemed. A song I know all the lyrics to already. I'd love to hear this at a festival somewhere. It's powerful, will scale well, with great guitar work and great lyrics.





There are elements of Oasis, Stereophonics and lots of others, someone mentioned Arcade Fire...listen for yourself, let me know in the comments.

You can find their EP here:

http://thehazyeyedsmiles.bandcamp.com/album/the-hazy-eyed-smiles-ep-1

Thanks for reading

thenewno2 - New album - thefearofmissingout

Hi All,

Beatles, Beatles, Beatles, Beatles. There we go, all gone (and google rank up).

This is thenewno2 with their new album "thefearofmissingout", and presumably space bars.

Thenewno2 are, from what I can make out, a poppy type dance music band. This stuff can easily be sampled and remixed by a bunch of unhappy DJs in small clubs just outside of Ibiza. I don't think professional DJs would bother, its great as it is, but falls short of the 45 minutes normal dance tunes require.

Their new single "Make it Home" is the only one that harks back into family history. It sounds very like late Beatles, but with a driving beat and piano riff that you wouldn't associate with the monsters of 60's rock and roll.

The album itself is dance driven, fast beats with slow lyrics splitting the difference. With driven bass beats and drums and lilting piano, you get a kind of dichotomous feeling. Like chilling out in the sun while having a small cat attacking your feet.

All in all, a great album. It'll be released on 17th Sept on H.O.T records.

Thanks for reading,

Bellowhead Album release - Broadside

"Will you stop jigging your legs!?" My wife screams at me.

No. No I can't. I'll tell you why. I'm listening to Bellowhead.

My secret musical love is Folk/Folk rock. I've listened to all sorts of stuff over the years, traditional folk (I'm from Devon originally) all the way up through to the more power chord and electric bass side of things.

Now here come Bellowhead with Broadside. Expecting more of the same from their last album I sat on one of my feet and turned the volume down. It didn't matter. Within about 20 seconds I was up.

From somewhere they have pulled an entire brass band. The sound you get is an epic strength of syncopathy, fantastic depth and a powerful new driving rhythm section.

Fans of traditional folk will recognise the metre of the lyrics, and the strength of the harmonies. Newer fans will appreciate the way in that they've have brought them almost literally kicking and screaming into the present.

What they have done here is brought their live show into the studio, and it works. I'm not going to do what they managed to get the fans to do in Sidmouth and break my floor, but its tempting.

Go and get the album. Stick it on at parties. Get a fire going. Get some beer. Get loads of friends round, turn it up.

What if you don't like folk? There's always Jedward for you I suppose. Help yourself.

Your biggest problem? Its not released until October.

Thanks for reading,

CANTO - Debut Album release 'HAHAHA'

Hi All,

When you are in a band, there is a lot to be said for the chemistry in the group even before you get together for a jam. This is made slightly easier when you have a band of brothers.

Canto consists of three brothers all under the age of 20; Seamus Blackwell (Vocals, Guitar), Aidan Blackwell (Bass) and David Blackwell (Drums), and this debut album is 10 tracks of brothers exploring their musical tastes.

The first thing that greets you on their debut album is a 2 minute instrumental track that hints at what you are going to find in the the rest of the tracks. Its a mad mix of Hendrix style riffs, blues, a little bit of Led Zeppelin, and some good rock and roll if you stuck them all under the psychedelia of 1960's "love not war" era.

They are pushing the envelope here in terms of bringing older musical styles into a more modern setting. The first 3 tracks are the most extreme and in my mind just don't work but by the time you get to "The Pit" its all forgotten, and you get to the place they want you to be. Enjoying some mind altering riffs from the history of rock and roll.

The best track on the album has to be William Byrd and his Contemporaries. Nice easy blues, self mocking and a set of amazing lyrics.

Here's the first single of their album with one of their more rocky tracks "Farewell well well":




Find them here:

http://www.cantotheband.com

Thanks for reading

Mark Grist vs Scroobius Pip - Video battle

Hi all,

What happens when you cross:
Scroobius Pip
Latitude festival
A camera
A bottle or 6 of red wine
10 minutes.

Well, if you are Mark Grist, you get a call out to do video battles. Here is the whole thing:







Thanks for reading

Vicky Musselwhite - Skylines EP Release

Hi all,

I'm sitting in a hotel in the South West, the kids are over on the sofa bed watching Harry Potter, my wife is beside me, and I'm lying on the bed with ear phones on listening to a new EP.

Its called Skylines and is an acoustic album released by Vicky Musselwhite. I like it, but only because its one of the few things I've listened to recently where I can write while listening to it. It just fits in the background.

One thing you will notice if you have been listening or following Vicky recently is the addition of a Bass and a mandolin to add an extra layer to the tracks. I'm not sure if its entirely needed as much as it is, but it does fill out the sound.

Of the five tracks on the EP I prefer "Shoulders Of Giants", but thats probably because I'm a fan of the more pop end of this spectrum. I'd love to hear a rock cover of it.

How to describe it? Soulful. Powerful. Emotional. Have a listen, let me know what you think.

It's available for purchase here:

http://vickimusselwhite.bandcamp.com/

Thanks for reading

Hazy Eyed Smiles - Love Rages

Hi all,

Me again. But then, it is my blog.

I came across these guys, who are based in Portsmouth, on twitter of all places. You know. The thing that has no audio whatsoever. What attracted me was the name. Hazy Eyed Smiles. Hmmm, is this a 1960's stoned covers band? What is going on?

In fact it's a million times better than that. Check out "Love Rages".
Crisp vocals, crisp guitar, really clean wholesome rock and roll.

Imagine U2 vs Rolling Stones and you wouldn't be far off for this track.

Lyrics are excellent. Definitely "in-car" singable.

Find them and it here:




Thanks for reading,

Michael Addison - Blinding Shadows review

Hi all,

Its the school holidays over here in the UK at the moment. All the kids are off, and the parents have been forced to have at least one weeks holiday during this time to look after their Offspring.

I decided I'd take the kids to a tank museum, as our big thing to do, as I thought it'd be cool. Small children, large explosions, tanks and things always, always go together. The only pain was that the vending machines were out of order so I had to ram one slightly to the annoyance of the staff.

I was shocked when I checked my bank balance. I had to blink. £182!
There was only one thing for it. Get drunk, although my wife doesn't like it when I ask her "What's my age again?" while falling downstairs on a homemade skateboard. No Regrets there. It's what you see in those college freshman movies right?

You will like this album if you are into pop rock. You don't need to listen with All Your Might.

Why the rambling story? Well, in case you hadn't noticed I've hidden most of my review in there. You'll find bands, tracks and comparisons. This is exactly what you'll find with Michael Addisons new album "Blinding Shadows". Inside the beats and riffs and lyrics you will find some of your favourite ear fodder. Some of it more blatant than others, but it does mean that it'll go down easily. You've heard it before, you're ready for it. You are already a fan.

My only negative point is that, yes, the album has a story but, it goes through several genres and feels disjointed. If you want proof of that, the one track you want to listen to is "You Tonight". Don't get me wrong, it's a good track. But all the varying timings, beats and fills just leave you reeling.

Vocally, if Joey Ramone never smoked, never drank and went down the Gym every Tuesday night with a guy called Terry, this is what you would produce. Its great. Lyrically, he's not brilliant. He won't paint a masterpiece in your mind while you listen. Saying that he will make you sing along, and thats the point. It's music to sing along to, not music to listen to.

Michael Addisons Album "Blinding Shadows" will be released on the 2nd October.

Thanks for reading

Scroobius Pip - Thou shalt always kill

Hi All,

Another hip hop video. I found this guy after I saw a video on Don't Flop where he calls out Mark Grist.

The backing track can come and go as far as I'm concerned, it does what it needs to, technically it works. Dan le Sac has done more interesting and better stuff. What is most important with this track though are the lyrics.

Great video work too.

Let me know what you think in the comments.




I went on a mad linking spree after this. Through some dubious connections I came across this all girl Punk band from Hastings.




They are called Maid of Ace, and it's nice to see the return of 70's and 80's style punk. We more more of this type of thing! thanks for reading

Meet Dlugokecki

Hi all,

As it was hot and sunny for once, I decided to go and track down Dlugokecki. This is quite hard as at the moment they are doing a UK tour. I did however get hold of someone...

1. Can we have a quick intro? Who are you and what do you do?

Hi! I'm Aidan, I'm the bassist for Dlugokecki though I do also dabble in guitar, keyboards and backing vocals too when required.

2. For those who haven't heard of Dlugokecki, how would you describe your music?

Rocky-poppy! Andy Wild is never going to live that down. He was very pleased with himself when he came up with on on a flight to Texas, now he's starting to hate it...

3. What was the first album you bought?

Travelling Without Moving by Jamiroquai - still one of my favourite albums!

4. Dlugokecki have supported some big bands and artists in the past. If you had the choice, who would you like to gig with next?

Out of anyone ever? How about supporting Paul McCartney at the O2? That would be cool.

5. What was the last thing you bought for band use?

My in ear monitors. Expensive but very much worth it...

6. Which venue would you like to play that you haven't yet?

We've played in all the venues in Southampton including the Guildhall (nice place but awful acoustics). I've also played Royal Festival Hall a few times and The Royal Albert Hall. I used to work at Wembley Arena but have never been on the stage, so probably there...

7. What has been your most stand out experience so far?

The USA trip, particularly the meat in Texas. Amazing.

8. What do you do after a gig?

Try and calm Ben down!

9. You're on tour at the moment, what's the best/worst thing about being on the road?

It's great to meet the far flung Dlugokecki fans that usually only exist on Facebook. To travel 2-300 miles and meet people that know the words to the songs better than I do is amazing. The worst thing? Trying to calm Ben down, even freezing his shoes didn't work!

10. What's next for Dlugokecki? 

Our next gig is North Crawley Village Hall, Newport Pagnell on Saturday 28th July. Tickets are nearly all sold out, I can't wait!

That's 2 days away guys. So get your tickets as quickly as possible and get over there!

Thanks for reading

Citizen Cope - Album Release - One Lovely Day

Hi All,


So there I was sitting in the UK sun when I get an email. This isn't unusual, I get several every day. But this one had a message on it asking if I could review an album.

This is new to me. Reviewing one song is fairly easy, you learn a bit about the band, compare them to some well known bands so someone knows roughly what to expect and whether you like them or not.

Reviewing an album is different. Especially when you are dealing with a guy like Citizen Cope. His new album, which coincides with a tour of America, is a mixed bag of tracks.

To be honest, though, there is nothing exciting in this album. It's all very safe. You can hear nice gentle pop, going through to southern blues and into some form of acoustic dance. This isn't the kind of album you sing along to either. You'll find no anthems here.

Saying that, you could easily imagine some pre-produced Simon Cowell-ites singing this stuff to a different arrangement. The songs themselves are quite good. He's not a bad singer. The album is well produced, but in my opinion it feels a little soulless. I don't believe in his lyrics, and if that's the case it may as well not be him singing them.

Personally, I'd wait until he releases "One Lovely Day" as a single.

Thanks for reading

Hand By Calloused Hand goes International

Hi All,

That's right! You heard it here second, I've gone International. As well as writing about local unsigned bands I have been offered, by the awesome guys at Smokin' Charlie Brown, to partner up and write reviews of new music for them.

Everything I write will be available on both sites, but my main concentration will still be local bands. So look out for me in the crowd tapping my feet, struggling to type notes into my phone while holding a drink, and taking lots of pictures....So these days I don't stand out from anyone else really.

Thanks for reading

Trev - Hand By Calloused Hand

The Cryptics - Lennons Review

Hi all,

I promised myself that I would go and see The Cryptics live. I've been listening to their stuff in the car for about 2 weeks. So last Friday I left, at the last minute, to get to Lennons.

A quick note on this venue. If you are a band, you can do better. There is room for 3 people on that stage, no more. The sound guy is crap and doesn't move from his Troll hole and the stage is more of a recess into the wall.

It is the most uncomfortable place as a punter to be. You spend 10 minutes in between each band staring at the sound guys ass as he repositions the (pointlessly) mic'ed up drum kit, or generally gets in the way of the guitarist or bassist. That and it stinks of piss. And its dead. No, I mean dead. Even though it could hold about 100 people with elbow room.

The Cryptics were on at 9.30 so not exactly early, and I was expecting there to be a bunch of students in there as its on the way into town. I counted about 20 people in there.

I learned something valuable that night. Venue does matter. Did they play well? Yes. Was it a good set? Yes. Was it a good gig? Not really.

I met 2 out of 3 of the guys, and they seem like a great couple of blokes, but I think we all knew it wasn't going to be great.

The only advantage with the venue was that it was reasonably easy to get some pictures.

I will have to see them again to do this properly. Their next gig is at The Brook on the 1st, which is known for buzzing with people who like music and people not stinking of piss. I can promise that it will be a much, much better event.

Armada - New Single

Hi all!

Armada are a band from LA that have been compared to the likes of Spoon,
Wilco and Radiohead. I disagree with this - if I had to compare this track
to anyone it would probably be early Placebo in both style and vocal sound.

Especially in the case of "Badge & Gun" the bands new single.

The simple opening riff drags you into the track, and keeps you there
easily. The vocals - which are driving without being aggressive - are
clean. Cody Page wants you to hear his opinion and leave you knowing
exactly where you stand, without needing to shout at you. It shows a
maturity that you just don't get with some other bands at the moment.

It's worth mentioning the bass line at this point. Personally, I think they
could have brought it forward a bit more, as the bass riffs are definitely
worth playing with an EQ for.

In short, if you're looking for clean wholesome rock go with this. You
won't be disappointed.

Badge & Gun is a single released from Armada's debut Album "Paper Ghosts"
which will be released in August 2012.




You can find them here: http://www.armada-band.com