Bands Set For 2011 Success

JESSIE J
Urban-styled and sassy, 22 year old Essex girl Jessie J recently shot into the mainstream with ‘Do It Like A Dude’, a commercial hip-hop track with a British reggae twist. Dubbed the ‘best singer in the world right now’ by Justin Timberlake she is also a proficient songwriter, having penned hits for Christina Aguilera, Alicia Keys and Miley Cyrus. Winner of the 2011 BRITS Critics’ Choice award, Jessie claims to have written ‘Do It Like A Dude’ for Rihanna to record, before deciding that she’d damn well do it herself. With a powerful voice and attitude to match, Jessie is essentially everything that Cher Lloyd wishes she could be.

Recommended track: ‘Nobody’s Perfect’


MATTHEW AND THE ATLAS
Despite being hotly tipped to follow in the folksy footsteps of Mumford & Sons (they are signed to ‘son’ Ben Lovett’s Communion label), Matthew and the Atlas recent 'Kingdom of Your Own' EP is far from a mere copycat effort. Matt Hegarty’s honest, earthy vocals combine with female harmonies, hand-clapping and banjos to create a captivatingly original sound. As hearty and warming as a bowl of homemade soup.

Recommended track: ‘I Will Remain’


JAMES BLAKE
With his debut self-titled album due at the beginning of February, Londoner James Blake’s fusion of moody dubstep and soulful electronica creates an intriguing vibe not dissimilar to the icy cool of The xx. A classical pianist since his early teenage years, Blake recently graduated from Goldsmiths College in London where he studied Popular Music. His edgy and experimental cover of Feist’s ‘Limit To Your Love’ demonstrates a refreshing confidence in the power of ‘less is more’. What Blake cleverly chooses to leave out renders his music all the more hauntingly futuristic and bewitching.

Recommended Track: ‘CMYK’


JONSI
Best known for fronting the band of Icelandic angels more commonly recognised as Sigur Rós, Jónsi released his first solo album ‘Go’ last April. Ethereal synths and resonating guitars combine with delicate Icelandic and English vocals to create an auditory potion of elegiac musical loveliness that is simply impossible to imitate. The music world’s meditative tonic of choice.

Recommended Track: ‘Boy Lilikoi’


MONA
Ambitious four-piece Mona hail from Nashville, Tennessee (home to Kings of Leon) and are intent upon raising hell with their aggressively energetic brand of youthful rock’n’roll. Having already incited a tangible buzz amongst critics, the boys are unrelenting in their quest for stardom. Recently named Record of the Week by Fearne Cotton on Radio One, latest release ‘Trouble On The Way’ is a driving hurricane of grandiose passion and sexy, grinding rhythms.

Recommended Track: ‘Trouble On The Way’


THE VACCINES
Arguably generic indie in many ways, you can still have a good old drunken dance to these four London boys and their guitars. Debut album ‘What Did You Expect From The Vaccines?’, out in March, promises to be a short but sweet woozy retro-pop delight with eleven songs that last under thirty-five minutes in total. ‘Post Break-Up Sex’ is one track that is guaranteed to make you, in their own words, ‘forget your ex’. They’ll undoubtedly be a firm favourite with festival organisers next summer.

Recommended Track: ‘Wreckin’ Bar’ (Ra Ra Ra)


CLARE MAGUIRE
Fresh from opening for Plan B and Hurts, the gothic and empowered Clare Maguire has been the record industry’s best kept secret for the past two years. Her seemingly effortless talent and vampy style suggest that she wouldn’t be out of place in Phantom of the Opera, with a theatrical voice that will enchant and enthral. Shades of Annie Lennox and Stevie Nicks permeate her gorgeously controlled yet mystically emotive vocals on ‘Ain’t Nobody’. Album ‘Light After Dark’ will be available to download from February.

Recommended Track: ‘Ain’t Nobody’

The Bucket List: What Would Be On Yours?

If you could know in advance, would you want to know the exact day of your death? You may say yes as it would inspire you to live for the moment, or you may say no, because you would simply rather not think about it. In the case of Edward and Carter, choice is a luxury they do not have.

Directed by Rob Reiner and released in 2007, The Bucket List will stay with you long after the end credits have rolled. Oscar-winning Hollywood icons Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman portray two terminally ill lung cancer patients, Edward and Carter respectively, who find themselves forming an unlikely friendship in their shared hospital room. The pair could not be more different, yet as both are forced to accept the devastating news that they have less than a year to live, a strong camaraderie develops between them. Billionaire Edward encourages Carter to embark with him upon the adventure of a lifetime in order to complete their mutual ‘bucket list’, a list of things they want to do before they ‘kick the bucket’. In a whirlwind of spontaneity, Edward and Carter skydive, muse about love and life whilst watching the sunset over the Pyramids, race their dream cars, dine like royalty at a top class French restaurant, fly over the North Pole, witness the beauty of the Taj Mahal, motorcycle across the Great Wall of China and spot lions on safari in Africa. Through sharing their suffering, Edward and Carter grow to understand the common affinities that exist between all humans.

Dazzling performances are to be expected from the highly acclaimed Nicholson and Freeman, and they do not disappoint, complementing one another with a refreshing chemistry whilst managing to maintain their own unique styles. Nicholson’s trademark devious grin is out in force, as is Freeman’s screen-transcending aura of worldly wisdom. Nicholson has now well and truly established himself as the archetypal loveable rogue, and as for Morgan Freeman, who else could Tom Shadyac have chosen to play God in Bruce Almighty? The very reason I picked up The Bucket List in the first place was because I saw their names on the cover.

Edward and Carter's admirable struggle to both accept and defy the inevitability of their mortality is naturally moving to watch, yet the intended comic, light-hearted moments in the film fail to convince as cancer, quite simply, isn’t funny. Personally however, I found the tentative brushstrokes of humour all the more poignant given the canvas of unimaginable personal tragedy upon which they are painted. The DVD case may guarantee ‘lashings of comedy’ but, unsurprisingly given the subject matter, that proves an empty promise. That said, whilst you may not laugh until you cry, you will undoubtedly be left inspired by the courage of two men determined to make the best of the cards life has dealt them.

I suppose the question that the film leaves you with is what would be on your bucket list? For in the words of The Shawshank Redemption's Andy Dufresne, you can 'get busy living, or get busy dying'.


Trailer for The Bucket List, released in 2007.

What Makes A Great Live Act?

So you discover an awesome new band on Spotify, check out their musical goods and perhaps, if it really is true love (and in the age of the illegal download it will have to be), you even buy their album. Before you know it the time has come to take this budding romance to the next level. You somehow beat the touts and find yourself the proud owner of tickets to see said band live. Sadly it is at this stage that so many live musicians ruin what could have been the start of something beautiful.

Musical talent is, of course, arguably the most crucial aspect of a gig, but who really wants a live music experience akin to plugging in your iPod whilst cooking dinner? Surely it is the raw imperfections of live performances that make them real, memorable, and exciting? The band that focuses solely upon playing a flawless show that sounds identical to their record risks a lack of passion and stage dynamic, yet when an artist truly engages with their audience it can result in an unforgettable, transcendental experience.

I vividly remember, with a stupid grin on my face, being in the midst of a highly-charged festival crowd aged seventeen as Foo Fighters blasted out ‘Times Like These’. Looking back, I think it was then that I realised just how incredibly powerful live music could be. There I was surrounded by thousands of like-minded people all screaming the words ‘it’s times like these you learn to live again’, in a muddy field without a care in the world. For a music lover, little can compare to watching a band bring the songs that have meant so much to you to life. To quote Billy Bragg, ‘you can experience the download but you can’t download the experience’.

Below are a few of my all-time favourite live music performances:

1. Queen play ‘Radio Ga Ga’ at Live Aid 1985

With 75,000 fans well and truly in the palm of his hand, flamboyantly fabulous Freddie Mercury takes the crown at Wembley Stadium.


2. Radiohead play ‘Paranoid Android’ at Glastonbury 2003

Thom Yorke appears to have been taken over by supernatural forces as Radiohead unleash their trippy epic upon the muddied masses.


3. Pulp play ‘Common People’ at Glastonbury 1995

‘If you want something to happen enough then it actually will happen, ok? I believe that.’ Jarvis Cocker inspires the crowd before launching into Pulp’s iconic anthem for the people.

Solomon Burke: The Soul King is Dead

On 10th October 2010 the world lost yet another legend when Solomon Burke was discovered dead by shocked air stewards on a flight from Los Angeles to Amsterdam. He had been on route to play a sold-out show and is reported to have died from natural causes.

When debating the greatest soul singers in history, Solomon Burke is often overshadowed by the fame of artists such as Otis Redding, James Brown and Aretha Franklin. Whilst the aforementioned are all undeniable contenders for the soul throne, it is Burke’s understated genius that in my view made his music all the more intensely powerful on a personal level. The singer himself once said, ‘If the message is meaningful in the beginning, it will reach across the waters and come back across time. If only one person is reached and touched by my songs, then the message through me is being heard, received and believed’.

Burke, who never relied on a set list during live performances, preferring instead to respond to requests and vibes from his fans, often described the thrill of sharing his music as a deeply spiritual experience. Philadelphia born Solomon explosively broke onto the music scene back in 1961 when his gospel roots led him to experiment with soul and blues. He was in fact creating a genre of his own when rock’n’roll had only just begun to erode the mainstream.

Burke reigned the 60s with velvety yet emotionally raw hymns to the soul that included ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’, famously covered by The Rolling Stones, and ‘Cry To Me’. The latter is well-known for featuring in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing (it plays during the sex scene in Patrick Swayze’s bedroom, naturally). Having racked up seventeen million record sales worldwide, Burke was awarded a place in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2001 and later went on to win a Grammy award in 2002 which helped re-introduce his music to our generation.

Having taken the meaning of ‘go forth and multiply’ a little too literally, 70 year old Solomon leaves behind a family of twenty one children, ninety grandchildren and nineteen great-grandchildren. His legacy has had an astounding influence upon songwriters throughout the decades so if you’ve never given the big guy with an even bigger voice a chance, do yourself a favour and look him up. At the very least, watch that Dirty Dancing scene.


'Cry To Me' plays in Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray

The Catcher in the Rye: Questioning the Notion of 'Cool'

"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it." As is Holden Caulfield’s theory on what makes a successful novel and The Catcher in the Rye by the late J D Salinger seems to fit it perfectly. Shrouded in both controversy and admiration, many teenagers will see themselves reflected in Holden, his disenchanted young protagonist.

Failing at school whilst struggling with the journey from childhood to maturity, the turmoils of youth are brilliantly portrayed through Holden’s experiences whilst Salinger’s effortless style and unapologetic humour are easy to relate to, inspiring young people to discover more about their individuality. Following his exploits in New York and psychologically affected by the death of his younger brother Allie, Holden reveals that he longs to become ‘the catcher in the rye’, preventing children from falling off ‘some crazy cliff’. His poignant desperation to protect innocence will strike a chord with anyone who has ever felt disillusioned with life.

Far from a comforting read, Salinger’s novel provides a disturbingly enlightening portrayal of an individual in conflict with the ‘phony’ world of adulthood from which he feels alienated. Readers will find themselves questioning society as Holden does, in a time when we are very much victims of modern culture, technology and all that is considered ‘cool’.

Link to Palatinate: http://www.palatinate.org.uk/indigo/books/palatinate-book-club-the-catcher-in-the-rye/

Fun, Fantasy and Fireworks at Bestival 2010

Splashing its colourful craziness all over the Isle of Wight, September’s Bestival sent the festival season out in a blaze of fancy dress glory. The usually peaceful island became a mind-popping candy shop of musical goodies as 50,000 happy campers piled onto ferries to begin their escape from reality.

The first day of the weekend extravaganza saw Example and Delphic transform the masses into high on blue smarties kids, whilst Californian songstress Lissie sparkled with that unmistakable ‘let’s skip through cornfields with flowers in our hair’ vibe. Meanwhile, over in the Big Top, an expectant crowd burst the tent’s seams to hear what Mercury Prize winners The xx had to offer. Later that night Dizzee ‘Dance Wiv Me’ Rascal drove his hyperactive audience bonkers for his energetic set, the highlight being his own dirtee version of Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’.

Saturday’s fancy dress parade (for which the theme was ‘fantasy’) sadly suffered from a typical English downpour yet many loyal fans still gathered to support Oxford quartet Stornoway. Fortunately reggae band The Wailers (of Bob Marley fame) soon cast their Caribbean spell and the sun magically shone to the tune of ‘Three Little Birds’, whilst The Correspondents whirled up a fantastically eccentric storm with their electro-swing remix of The Jungle Book’s ‘I Wanna Be Like You’. Brilliantly extroverted with the use of an on-stage trampoline and treadmill, they pulled some outrageous shapes as their oh-so-Soho style enthralled the crowd.

Fiesty little Ellie Goulding surprised everyone yet again with her powerful vocals as she refused to let herself be lost on the main stage. However, the crowd seemed reluctant to show as much enthusiasm for her set as they had done at Newcastle’s Evolution back in May, perhaps due to the rife and rather impatient anticipation for Radio One’s Festival Band of the Year, Mumford and Sons. The bass and banjo yielding foursome drove the crowd to a palpably high level of triumphant folk-induced ecstasy, satisfying their audience’s ravenous musical appetite with all the rousing hits from ‘Sigh No More’. Stunning new song 'Lover of the Light’, previously tried and tested at their Newcastle Union gig back in March, was well received amongst a set that could easily have been mistaken for a greatest hits album. Dressed as a musketeer, Marcus, an infectious post- ‘Little Lion Man’ grin on his face, yelled ‘I’ve never seen so many superheroes singing ‘fuck’ at the same time!’ to a great many face-painted cheers. If these lovely London lads aren’t headlining soon then I’ll stick my head down a festival portaloo.....maybe.

As the evening drew in the hotly tipped Roxy Music made the error of saving all the classics until the end of their set and dapper frontman Bryan Ferry instantly gained bore points for wearing a suit. Luckily Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips showed them how it’s done with glitter explosions and strobe lighting as he crowd-surfed in a giant zorbing ball to the psychedelic beat of his band.

Sunday saw French hip-hoppers Wax Tailor throw some European flair into the line-up and a variety of previously unknown performers promote themselves in the environmentally-friendly Tomorrow’s World. Following a DJ set from Bestival creator and Radio One legend Rob da Bank, Chase and Status ignited the main stage coals for closing headliners and original rave kings The Prodigy. Even the most tired and hung-over of the latter’s 'Voodoo People' were worked into a frenzy with riotous anthems ‘Firestarter’ and ‘Omen’. As the fantasy castle bonfire was lit and fireworks exploded across the sky, it was clear that this was one party nobody ever wanted to end.

Link to Palatinate: http://www.palatinate.org.uk/indigo/music/bestival-2010/

Irish indie film Once proves that it doesn't take a monster budget to make a marvel

Once was shot in only seventeen days back in 2006 and, in my humble opinion, the film world is a great deal better off for it. This Irish gem, written and directed independently with a tiny budget, was highly revered amongst critics upon its release, with the hauntingly emotive ‘Falling Slowly’ winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

The storyline may sound cheesy and clichéd but the reality could not be more delighfully different. An unnamed busker nervous about performing his own songs meets a Czech immigrant girl who is selling roses on the same Dublin street. They form an unlikely bond through their passion for music, as both attempt to express their feelings and experiences of loss and love to one another through their songwriting. Musicians primarily, lead actors second, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová composed and performed the soundtrack together. A little bit of research tells me that folk royalty Bob Dylan was such an avid fan that he invited the pair to support him during some of his world tour shows. The duo also covered ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’ for the 2007 film about his life, I'm Not There.

Once is charmingly unpretentious and believable, with an intimate integrity far deeper than so many overstated romantic blockbusters. The honest portrayal of two strangers struggling with inherently human turmoils restores faith in the importance of music and friendship. A rough diamond of a film, its unpolished nature is what ultimately, and somewhat ironically, allows it to sparkle.


Trailer for Once, released in 2006.

Hitting up Guardian HQ!

The video shown below for 'I Heart NY' may feature Samuel riding on the back of a garbage truck, but in real life the 22-year-old found his way into the more glamourous environs of Kanye West's blog with his recent cover of Drake's 'Find Your Love'. 'I Heart NY' could be considered a lyrically downbeat antidote to 'Empire State of Mind', with Samuel paying tribute to the backstreets of the flashy metropolis, where so many are "made to grow up and be famous". Insanely (and almost irritatingly) catchy.

Link to my post on The Guardian's new music blog: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2010/aug/19/samuel-i-heart-ny

Folky Fusion in India

Whilst touring India last Christmas, British folk treasures Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons experimented with native Rajasthani musicians to produce an irresistibly sensual fusion of the very finest of musical spice. This intriguing collaboration is inventive in its exploration of music as a unique part of a country’s culture and soul. Hypnotism to the ears, the resulting four song EP will enchant and fascinate, as the Dharohar Project paint their Asian opulence upon Marling and Mumford’s soft, soothing, and oh so English vocals. Building, layering crescendos, experimental lyricism and the seemingly effortless merging of instrumental styles (most noticeable during the highly textural climax of ‘Mehendi Rachi’) create that magically ethereal sense of having travelled without physically moving at all. It’s innovative, it’s exotically mysterious, and it works.


Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons and Dharohar Project performing 'Devil's Spoke' live in Delhi, December 2009.

'Mon The Biff!

When a band of beardy, tattooed men kick-start a gig having already removed their shirts, their intentions are clear. Throughout the next hour, Camden’s Roundhouse was to be transformed into a visceral sweaty cave of musical treasures and the true Biffy fans amongst the crowd were expecting nothing less. Storming the stage like primitive wild animals, the three Scotsmen proved the pure yet unapologetically filthy embodiment of masculinity. Simon Neil’s gravelly vocals lent authenticity to his deeply personal and at times hauntingly romantic lyrics, whilst fiery-haired feral James Johnston assumed mastery of the pounding bass.

Cinematic pop-rock singles ‘Mountains’ and ‘Bubbles’ from Mercury-prize nominated ‘Only Revolutions' arguably incited the fiercest adulation from the crowd, many of whom would have been less familiar with the band’s earlier work having won tickets to the show. However, with a substantial and more importantly, impressive, backlog of hits to choose from, anticipation was rife as to what guitar-ridden beast they would unleash next. ‘Who’s Got A Match’ and ‘A Whole Child Ago’, pieces in crucial fourth album ‘Puzzle’ that most definitely fit together, were particularly welcome surprises that helped fuel the already burning fire of their setlist. Despite the distinct metallic shine to their melodies, Biffy Clyro offered the fans a glimpse of both their versatility and softer side with gentler ballads such as ‘Machines’ and personal latest album favourite ‘Many Of Horror’ allowing for a break from the mosh.

Ending the night with ‘The Captain’, the raucous rock trio bid farewell to the full-force armada of fans they now well and truly had on board. Mon’ the Biff!

Biffy Clyro played Camden Roundhouse, 31/07/10.