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.

http://blocparty.com/
http://www.facebook.com/blocpartyofficial
https://twitter.com/BlocParty/

New album releases.. 17th Sept

17 September 2012
Artist	Title
Mika	The Origin Of Love
How To Dress Well	Total Loss
Muse	2nd Law
The Killers	Battle Born
Catherine Irwin	Little Heater
We Are The Ocean	Maybe Today, Maybe Tomorrow
Dinosaur Jr.	I Bet on Sky
Grizzly Bear	Shields
Michael Jackson	Bad: 25th Anniversary Edition
Skunk Anansie	Blac Traffic
Joe Mcelderry	Here's What I Believe
Nelly Furtado	Spirit Indestructible
P!nk	The Truth About Love
The Killers	Battle Born
Rival Sons	Head Down
The Script	Three
Band of Horses	Mirage Rock
Kreayshawn	Somethin Bout Kreay
James Walsh	Lullaby
thenewo2	thefearofmissingout
Hey Sholay	((O))
Presets	Pacifica

courtesy of NME.com

Flashback Friday.. Biffy Clyro - 'My Recovery Injection'

This is the best quality video that I could find - sorry!

Anyway, I welcome you all to 'My Recovery Injection' by Biffy Clyro! This was the first Biffy song that I ever heard at the grand old age of 11! 'My Recovery Injection' was taken from the 2004 album, Infinity Land, before the band decided that they were both mountains and sea, and before the somewhat theatrical and more commercially received Only Revolutions.

This is a 'typical' Biffy track, in the same way that I could name you a track which totally captures the essence of Muse, and Biffy Clyro have an immediately identifiable signiature sound, a lot of which may be down to Simon Neil's voice; as is with all memorable frontmen and women, the more unique the voice the more memorable the band, and Biffy Clyro are definitely one of the definitive British bands this side of the year 2000.

Biffy Clyro are due to release their sixth album (and double album!) Opposites, later this year!

http://www.biffyclyro.com/
http://www.facebook.com/biffyclyro1

Flux and Flow

ALEXISONFIRE TICKETS ARE HEEEEERRRRRREEEEEEE!!

Ahem.. excuse me... but apart from that!

Been a quiet one this week - apologies apologies! I finished work at the factory last Friday, and since then I've just had a bit of a laze and seen some friends and spent some quality time with my nan and grandad :) I have a ton of reading to do for uni that I need to get on top of too (about 12 books!), plus job search, and I'd like to try paint/draw some more too. Also, upkeeping this blog (because all writing is practice!) and getting back into writing fiction and fan-fiction - yes, I was one of those in a former life! - is something to keep me busy too.

I'm currently catching up on Reading & Leeds 2012 highlights, and watching The Maccabees, The Cure and Florence and the Machine atm, although I'll probably watch as much as the highlights as I can by later. I'm totally jealous of my friend who spent the entire weekend at Reading, it sounded like it was an absolute blast!  I've often struggled to justify the price of festivals due to the ticket prices compared to the amount of bands that I'd want to see, but my friend said that they saw at least 20-25 bands with only occasional overlaps, and apart from that there was tents with various activities and shopping and things going on, which was more than I'd ever thought was there to be honest, so I think next year I'll definitely have to go! Plus Muse are due for the festival circuit next year (though I have a feeling that they'll opt for Glastonbury) so I'll definitely put some effort into getting down there!

Apart from that, I've not much to say for now, but I think I may leave you with a LIGHTS live set just to give this post some purpose :) She's talented and a total beaut!

Flashback Friday.. Muse - 'Muscle Museum' (Soulwax Remix)

Seeing as Muse released their first single from their sixth album, The 2nd Law, this week, I thought I'd give you a bit of a Muse flashback, as I went all uber fan on the 'Madness' post and thought I'd educate (can I call it that? :P) a little!

So keeping with the conventions of 'Madness' and my Flashback Friday feature, here is a vintage Muse track with an electronic twist! Here, I present you with the Soulwax remix of Muse's third single, 'Muscle Museum', taken from their debut album, Showbiz. Showbiz was likened by many a music review to Radiohead back in the day, and in listening to the original song you will find elements of a Muse just waiting to hatch into the beast that they would become! Slightly faster, this remix retains all of that aggression and energy, just pinpointed through a laser and made somewhat more catchy and menacing, and channels drum'n'bass undertones.

This is quite universally considered the best Muse remix within their fanbase, and goes to show that electronic music and Muse have been thrown together rather well in the past, so this may dispell a few of the sceptics of their new direction, although the final results remain to be seen!

http://muse.mu/
https://twitter.com/muse
http://www.facebook.com/muse

New Waves.. Muse - 'Madness'

This is the third track debuted from Muse's,sixth album, The 2nd Law, following the official soundtrack to the London 2012 Olympic Games, 'Survival', and the dubstep influenced track, 'Unsustainable'.

The track above, 'Madness', is to be released as the first single from the album, and is of similar nature to 'Unsustainable' although, as a track it seems more promising; as odd as this may sound; to me at least, it feels like Muse, whereas the tracks that preceded it didn't. 'Unsustainable' was too 'dubstep' and 'Survival' was too 'Queen'. This somehow still manages to merge both, with Muse's recent penchant for taking Queen influence too literally as of late for my tastes, still being apparent here in the echoing of Matt Bellamy's backing vocal and a Brain May-esque guitar solo. The dubstep is far more subtle than the brashness of 'Unsustainable', and this works in the track's favour. The latter half of the track, following the solo reminds me of their Absolution track, 'Stockholm Syndrome', in the manner the lyrics are sung and the tempo changes of music.

There is no doubt in my mind that I will buy The 2nd Law when it is released. Muse are one of my favourite bands, and although I feel that their 'golden era' - for lack of a better term - may have passed (to me, Muse personified themselves most completely in their second and third albums, Origin of Species and Absolution - which is my favourite), I appreciate their openness to the influence of different musical genres and genuinely look forward to whatever they put out there! I have a feeling that I'll like this album more than I did The Resistance, as I am a big fan of dark electronic music, and the latter was more orchestral I feel.


'Madness' is out now via iTunes and the Muse webstore.
The 2nd Law is to be released in various mediums (and worldwide?) on 1st October!


http://muse.mu/
https://twitter.com/muse
http://www.facebook.com/muse

An eventful week!

Soo, the past week seems to have been pretty intense and busy on my front! My final English Language exam (100% for this module, waiting on results - fingers crossed), followed by pretty much completing my first year of university deadlines as well as my Nonna's birthday on the Wednesday (I got her some nice flowers and pretty silk scarf from River Island picturing a Japanese woman in traditional dress, which I can't find a picture of anywhere!). Saw my cousin's end of year dance performance on the Friday (v.good!) before going to my Nonna's birthday meal on Saturday, as well as seeing Irish comedian, Dara O'Briain do his Craic Dealer show at the Wolves Civic on the Sunday; it was a brilliant night!

Dara was a natural at making something funny out of what the audience provided him with (some contributions were pretty diabolical), I'll defintely be seeing him again the next time around and would recommend everyone else do so too!

Monday was spent practising for our first gig and waiting for my Orange amp to arrive (Crush 100BXT Bass), which cut it pretty fine by arriving at about 6 o'clock at night after I'd been waiting on it for approximately 2 and a half weeks!

The gig was on the Tuesday night, as mentioned in the previous post! I have to say, I have never been more nervous for anything in my entire life! Not even when I started uni did I experience nerves such as this! Restlessness, shakes, shallow breathing, I was a wreck! We played five songs, a cover of Yuck's 'Get Away' (vid below) followed by an original song, 'Forgot Me Too' (also below), a cover of Nirvana's 'About A Girl' (again provided below), then followed by two more original songs, 'Sleepwalker' and 'Don't Follow Me'.

The gig went better than I'd thought it would; I didn't drop any plecs on the floor to hunt for mid song! - and even though I myself know that I made a few minor mistakes, the audience didn't notice, and we received a lot of positive feedback which was pleasing!

After that, the week has been pretty quiet. Myself and some friends travelled to Birmingham for a day's shopping in the sun (it's been spectacularly hot this week!), where we mooched through some vintage shops such as COW, where I bought a khaki vest/blouse which I'll probably post about soon!

It's been pretty relaxed since then! I've spent some time drawing, writing, watching Eurovison,The Matrix and Lord of the Rings and trying to teach myself some chords on my old acoustic (I'm the "bass player") which is another challenge that I've set myself. Apart from that, I'll most likely be clearing out my wardrobe in order to sell some of my clothes and other possessions on eBay. I doubt this week will be as eventful as the past week or so, but I'll try my best to make it so!

Til next time :)

Zwei.

Hello again!

Here's a picture that I drew of Alec Turner!

Looking back at my last post (almost a year and a half ago!) it's pretty clear to say that I've got lost along the way in regards to this blog. An update is in order! So after some minor layout changes, I've decided to re-motivate myself into doing something productive on here. In the past year, I'm glad to report that I have successfully passed my A-Levels (in English Language, Media, History, and an AS in Art)and got accepted into university. After some deliberation and soul searching, I decided to not to move away to Nottingham to study English and Media. It was an ambition of mine to move away and make steps towards becoming more independent, a large part of which was to do with trying to build my confidence as well as - let's admit it! - wanting to participate in the 'stereotypical uni experience'! Putting it bluntly, I chickened out, switched my firm choice to English and Creative Writing at Birmingham City University and continued living at home for my first year of study which, due to the common first year undertaken by all students in the English department before we separate onto our different routeways for years 2 and 3, was somewhat underwhelming and non-motivating due to my not really studying what I had signed up to study. Thankfully, in the second year I get to choose my own modules and am looking forward to studying Creative Writing and Life Writing (what I actually signed up for!) as well as Children's Fiction and Contemporary Theatre!

My personal life has also undergone some changes in some regards. I'm trying to build my confidence as mentioned previously, and in the past year I made a promise to myself to say 'yes' to challenging situations instead of avoiding them as my natural instinct would tell me to. OK, so I was inspired by 'Yes Man', but it really is surprising how much more interesting and enjoyable life gets if you just say 'yes'! Going to university by myself (the majority of my friends stayed at the local uni or moved further afield) meant that I was responsible for making my own friends instead of inheriting them through others. This may sounds trivial to the majority of you, but as a pretty shy person, this was a big deal for me, and I admit, I was petrified! Similarly, I was invited to play bass in my friend's band around Christmas time! As I had only sporadically played an acoustic and bass guitar around the age of 10 or 11, this was quite a challenge to accept and I did so readily, as I felt that I was lacking some purpose since starting uni, perhaps because it wasn't what I expected it to be, or because I had been so comfortable in my personal situation for so long (steady friends and routines through high school and college) that all of this change unsettled me mentally for a while. Anyways! I practiced and tried my hardest, finding motivation through needing to be at an adequate level or so for my bandmates, and recently we played our first gig at the Wolverhampton Varsity for a charity night, raising money and awareness for SENSE, a deaf-blind charity! We are officially the last band to ever play the venue, as Wolverhampton University is sadly buying the building to turn it into offices. I won't lie however, I am far more excited to be standing on the same stage where Muse - yes, that Muse! - once performed on! It is very likely that I was standing on the same spot where Matt Bellamy once stood, allow me my fan-girling please!

Other than that, I have (so far) passed all of my modules at uni without having to resit, become even tighter with my group of friends, and now that I am free for the summer, intend to job-hunt and paint and draw the summer away, hopefully aiming to sell some of my paintings or get commissions if I get good enough. I also really want to take this blog more seriously, so this time I mean it when I say 'expect to see reviews'! Music! Film! Books? Plus whatever else is on my mind! Perhaps some creative writing! I definitely need to organise myself better!

Until next time (in the NEAR future):)

Kayleigh

PS: Follow me on Twitter and Instagram, both of my usernames are @ooKayyy :)

Ein.

Hello merry wanderers!

Bonjour!

Guten tag!

Hola!

Konnichiwa!

You get the idea, aha ^^;

This is my new blog - 'Noxx-Thoughts! Why 'Noxx-Thoughts'? Simply because all of my usernames on various things appear to involve 'Nox', and this particular blog is my thoughts on things!

Unlike my other blog noxxnoctis.blogspot.com, which is mainly used for practising my review writing (feel free to check it out, comments and follows are appreciated ;D), 'Noxx-Thoughts' will just be things which I find interesting at the time, a personal blog for my own enjoyment just like anybody elses!

I have other accounts on other sites such as...


My Last.fm
My Tumblr
My FanFiction.net
My deviantART
My Twitter
My MySpace


Feel free to add me on any of those! I'll also put these on the side of this blog page!

Well I hope to update soon. In between all of the school work that seems never ending!

For now I'll leave you with a video of Matt Bellamy from Muse. I never fail to laugh at the plain awesomeness of this stage walk!

Til next time!
♥