Rapid Review.. SO MANY REVIEWS!

I exist, say whut?

Just a brief one to end my absentee ways and - more specifically - to keep a record of some of the reviews I have written for other sites. I'm gonna link to some of the better ones I feel I have written on this particular blog post - please go have a read if you're so inclined!

Aside from that, I currently appear to have mislaid my blogging mojo. I'm afraid I'm still looking for it. Creative block sucks.
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1. AlunaGeorge - Body Music

This was a really good pop album - surprisingly so - and it was pretty amazing live and tipsy when I was at Reading. (READ HERE)

1. Swim Deep - Where The Heaven Are We

Because - let's face it - that other album cover was just far too cringey! Bit disappointed by this album in all honesty; the singles were very promising but I can't help but feel the band failed to back it up. (READ HERE)

3. The Civil Wars - The Civil Wars

This album was seriously beautiful, and the voices of Joy Williams and John Paul White are exquisite! (READ HERE)

4. Fenech-Soler - Rituals

Fenech-Soler's second album changed tack a little; it was far more pop than their previous (which was also very good!), so it's really up to preference. (READ HERE)

5. Arctic Monkeys - AM

Easily one of the most hyped and anticipated albums of the past year, ever since 'R U Mine' blew everything out of the water! Being almost 2 weeks since I first got my PR through Renowned For Sound, I'm still of two minds about it. I do like the album, it has some very good songs, and even the ones that I don't run to, when they crop up on my playlist, I still like them. On the other hand, 'R U Mine' almost set the bar too high in my opinion, and it almost feels like a separate entity in comparison to the rest of the album. I tried to articulate my feels better in the actual review, however I still feel that I'm not quite managing to hit the nail on the head with my p.o.v.  (READ HERE)

6. MGMT - MGMT

I didn't particularly enjoy this album so to speak; it is very dense and experimental, though I could still recognise that it was artfully done, if slightly self-indulgent. However, I feel I concluded very succinctly in this review, so here we are. (READ HERE)

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There were a lot of other reviews I've done of the past month or two that don't really fit the nature of this blog, so I've skimmed over those, but if you are so inclined, feel free to read my entire Renowned For Sound works here :)

BUZZ Playlists.. 'Summering'

A few weeks ago, when I was rejoicing at the emergence of Brit summer 2013 (3 weeks and possibly counting), so I put together a quick lil playlist of big happy bummer choons! There's quite a big mix in there, including Everything Everything, my fave CHVRCHES song, new CSS and Bloc Party, plus some old faves by Phoenix, The White Stripes, The Police and Grimes :)

Have fun!

Let me know what your favourite songs are!

New Waves.. Hadouken! - 'Bad Signal'

A fair few years ago now, circa 2006/7, in my early to mid teens and observing a wave of electronic music dubbed by the press as 'Nu Rave', was when I first encountered Hadouken!.

Finding themselves lumped in a fickle sub-genre with fellow bands such as CSS, MGMT and Klaxons - all of which, may I add, have incredibly little in common, and reinforcing the irrelevant desire of music press to needlessly generalise music for hype - Hadouken! appealed to my juvenile ears.

In hindsight, back then, Hadouken! were a somewhat artless band, subsisting on whoops, beeps and videogame noises, overlaid with sarcastic, often witty yet often - dare I say it - juvenile raps, and subsequently celebrated by teens in neon brandishing glo-sticks.

Flashforward to the present and you will find that Hadouken! have matured. Their second album, For the Masses, was an awkward blip between Music for an Accelerated Culture and their as yet unannounced forthcoming album, which will hopefully be a more streamlined affair.

Following singles 'Mecha Love', 'Oxygen' and 'Parasite', 'Bad Signal' samples classic Supremes' track, 'You Keep Me Hanging On', layering it over Nero-esque dubstep and frontman, James Smith's raps about a tricky relationship, surprisingly complimenting in a way that doesn't sound too good on paper.

As Hadouken! progress, they may be losing what it was that originally made them fresh and exciting when they first burst onto the Nu Rave scene, however, if they continue to make brilliant, yet nameless and faceless club tracks such as these and the post For the Masses singles, I most certainly won't be complaining!

'Bad Signal' is released on 5th August

http://hadouken.com/
http://www.facebook.com/hadoukentheband
http://soundcloud.com/hadouken
https://twitter.com/#!/HadoukenUK