April BUZZ

Out with the old and in with the new as they say, and seeing as April is now behind us, I'd like to welcome you to the the first installment of my new feature - MONTHLY BUZZ!

In this feature I'll be highlighting some of the very best music that I've come across this month, amongst other things. So, to get the ball rolling.......

Peace @ The Kasbah, Coventry

I finally caught Peace live, and let me tell you they were brilliant - literally flawless! Whilst Superfood dropped out last minute, the support band JAWS were also very good and, as a whole, I have never seen a crowd so euphorically happy to be dancing and singing to their favourite band's songs! May the world be converted by the cult of Peace!

Swim Deep - 'She Changes The Weather'

This time, one month ago, I found myself pleasantly shocked by the first new song to be revealed to the world from their forthcoming debut album, Where The Heaven Are We. Even listening to it now, the song it still beautifully arranged and is easily their most mature effort; if you've missed it, it's a must listen!

No Doubt - 'Just A Girl'

You'll be seeing more of this further on in the week because, as I'm sure we're all aware, there are only a certain amount of Fridays (and therefore Flashback's) in each month. But yes, it's that time of year when the sun finally shows its face and certain genres of music become absolutely essential - in this case, ska and  No Doubt, and whilst I've mainly been listening to Rock Steady - the album from the 'Hey Baby' era - 'Just A Girl' is a classic song which encapsulates what the band is about.

Charli XCX - 'True Romance'
Charli XCX finally dropped her debut album, 'True Romance', and whilst it may have felt somewhat overly familiar to certain fans who lap up every single snippet that she drops (ie. me), it was a really strong effort, replicating that seamless feel of a mixtape and is jam-packed with high quality alt.pop choons. 'Cloud Aura' feat. Brooke Candy is a grower!


Daft Punk - 'Get Lucky'

Need I say more? It's the song that blew up April and threw everything else out of the water because, despite the retro disco makeover, Daft Punk are back and are back and milking the hype machine for everything that it is worth, they're going to be bigger than ever. 2013 is already their year.

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So there it is, the first MONTHLY BUZZ installment!

What do you think about April BUZZ? Do you like the installment? Do you think what I've posted above is BUZZworthy? What are your picks from April?

Flashback Friday.. Daft Punk - 'Digital Love'

When 'Get Lucky', the new Daft Punk song (even writing that feels surreal!) featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rogers dropped last week, I went on the biggest of Daft Punk binges! It's almost a shame that it takes something to revive a longstanding love of a band or artist, but I'm glad it did. It's not very often that I pinpoint Daft Punk as my soundtrack of choice for the day, but I did, and Discovery was my weapon of choice.

The 2001 album is easily Daft Punk's masterpiece, though whether that continues to be so with the release of Random Access Memories, we shall soon find out. If you were to hand Discovery to a Daft Punk novice, they would be more than a little surprised to find that they probably knew a good portion of the songs anyway, they have been absorbed by pop culture/ used in TV advertisements and soundtracks that much. 'One More Time', 'Aerodynamic', 'Digital Love', 'Harder Better Faster Stronger', 'Crescendolls' are all immediately identifiable songs. For much of the album, Daft Punk incorporated samples of songs that they recalled from their childhood, reworking them into an addictive blend of electronic disco pop! The videos for the singles were all comprised using extracts of the corresponding anime film, Interstella 5555: the 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, for which Discovery was the soundtrack. Watch the music videos in the order posted above to see a portion of the film.

In aiming to create an album in homage to the soundtrack of their own childhood, Daft Punk created the soundtrack to mine; the singles especially being instantly loveable. Above is the video for 'Digital Love', which persists in being one of my favourite songs ever! Enjoy ;)

Do you like Daft Punk? What is your favourite Daft Punk song? Are you excited for Random Access Memories?

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New Waves.. Daft Punk - 'Get Lucky'

It's here and it's BE-A-U-TI-FUL!

After a mere (!) 8 years between forthcoming album Random Access Memories and its predecessor, Human After All, Daft Punk have been churning up the hype machine in recent weeks, now culminating with the surprise drop of new single, 'Get Lucky'.

After various images and artwork have been floating around cyberspace since the beginning of the year, last week saw the first musical evidence of a Daft Punk comeback with the above song being teased via video trailer at Coachella Festival and during Saturday Night Live ad breaks, and what a great song to begin with!  N.E.R.D/Neptunes maestro Pharrell Williams and Chic guitarist Nile Rogers both feature and co-wrote the track with Daft Punk, and it carries a soulful, retro feel, and definitely would not be out of place in the classic disco heyday.

Whilst feeling familiar, it also manages to feel like somewhat of a departure for Daft Punk. It is much less electronic, and Thomas Bangalter stated via Rolling Stone that they 'wanted to do what we used to do with machines and samplers, but with people'[1], and this certainly is apparent. 'Get Lucky' has reminded us of what a well written and slickly composed Daft Punk song can sound like, which is somewhat of a relief, as I found songs from Human After All somewhat repetitive, however this feels like much closer to the realms of brilliance that the duo reached with their second album Discovery, featuring classic songs such as 'One More Time', 'Aerodynamic', 'Digital Love' and 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger'. I am getting beyond excited for the rest of the promo campaign in anticipation for when Random Access Memories drops (hopefully) in May!

Random Access Memories is due for release May 17th.
'Get Lucky' is out NOW!

Did you enjoy 'Get Lucky? Are you excited for Random Access Memories? What's your favourite Daft Punk song?

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Rapid Review.. Bloc Party - 'Four'

If there's one thing that this review isn't, it's time effective. Once again, apologies, part 1 - because I didn't even get this album 'til a month or so ago, and part 2 - becuase after I started writing this review, I actually forgot that it was there...

The fourth album by London based quartet, Bloc Party, imaginatively entitled.. erm, Four, dropped in late August (almost 3 months late - sorry!) and in my opinion it is easily one of the best efforts from the band as of yet, and most surprisngly of all...

It's heavy.

Yup, who'd have guessed it?

Four is a tightly wound, if not ragged beast; a scruffy powerhouse collection of songs that you really wouldn't expect from an often soppy and sentimental band such as Bloc Party. That's not to say that they don't do soppy and sentimental well, and sure, they have the some amazing belters under their, er, belts (puns galore!), but for this quantity to be in a Bloc Party opus is unheard of.

The album itself is incredibly consistent in the quality of the songs, but unlike their previous albums, it feels like there is no real stand-out track. Silent Alarm had many - 'Banquet', 'Helicopter', 'So Here We Are', A Weekend In The City - 'The Prayer', Intimacy - 'Mercury', but with Four, a track doesn't leap to mind. At a push, I'd say 'Kettling', and at a further push, perhaps 'Octopus' (with it's Daft Punk guitar), whilst '3x3' surprisingly wouldn't sound out of place with Matt Bellamy on vocals - it really reminds me of something old Muse would have concocted.

Somehow, this review had turned out sounding negative - it's really not! If you've ever had reservations towards Bloc Party, end them by listening to this. They were never run of the mill, and always worth your attention, but with Four they grab you buy the collar and shake you and pull you until your reservations have been blown to smithereens.

Something which I don't think anyone, fans and fence riders alike, was expecting.

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