Flashback Friday.. Phoenix - '1901'

And here was me thinking that this stellar performance had fallen into the BBC abyss of space and time!

I have recently developed an intangible love for Phoenix! However, I am rather loathe and ashamed to admit that prior to seeing them live at Reading as they headlined the NME/Radio1 stage on a Sunday night, that I had not really listened to a lot of their music. I had given their fourth album, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix a casual listen when it first came out in 2009, but hadn't delved any deeper in the time since then.

But that all changed with seeing them live at Reading! They were absolutely fantastic, the band were totally on point, the light show was impressive, and singer Thomas Mars had absolutely no fear in regards to diving into the crowd!

The song I've chosen - '1901' - is one of their most well known singles and was an absolute riot live, even this TV performance on Jools Holland was good, and you're guaranteed to be humming it for the rest of the day after. Recently, I've really enjoyed listening to their recent fifth album, Bankrupt!, which is far more electronic than anything they've done previously. If you ever get the chance to see Phoenix live, take the opportunity! The band are currently touring the US before heading over to Mexico, Europe and Australia, with Haim (also spectacular live!) joining them over in Europe.

http://wearephoenix.com/
https://www.facebook.com/wearephoenix
https://twitter.com/wearephoenix

New Waves.. Findlay - 'Off & On'

Hailing from Stockport, singer-songwriter Findlay is a fireball of energy. Her most recent track,'Off & On' is an addictive blues infused riot of a song that manages to bear resemblance to something Jack White would write or approve of.

Introduced by a sultry, seductive guitar and stomping beat, the song slowly intensifies, building into a high intensity laserbeam of sound, with Findlay's bark seemingly grabbing the listener unceremoniously by the  collar and dragging them viciously through the turmoil of the song which, despite being a mere 2 mins 48, is a snippet of time that you won't forget in a hurry.

The 4 track Off & On EP is available on iTunes. You can download 'Off & On' for FREE by entering your email here!

Findlay will also be playing the Secret Garden Party 2013 in Huntingdon from 25-28 July and also Reading and Leeds Festivals from 23-25 August.

http://www.findlaymusic.com/
https://twitter.com/FINDLAYmusic
https://soundcloud.com/findlay-music

Flashback Friday.. The Cure - 'Boys Don't Cry'

Alas, another night on the tiles dictating this Friday feature!

Last week was my 20th birthday, and after celebrating with a nice meal with the family on the Friday, I went on the razz up Birmingham on Saturday night with some friends. After flitting between The Yardbird - a jazz bar - and Lloyds, we found ourselves in Snobs, an idie/alt. music club; from my slightly patchy memory, I can clearly remember The Cure's 'Boys Don't Cry' permeating through the haze!

'Boys Don't Cry', along with 'Love Cats' and 'Friday, I'm In Love', has to be one of The Cure's most well known songs, if not the most mainstream. It is easily, a cult song. Released in 1979 (!), it still manages to sound fresh, and will no doubt continue to withstand time challenging musical shifts where the music of today most likely fail.

The Cure returned to the festival circuit this year, headlining the 2012 Reading and Leeds festivals in the UK, have a looksee at their set here.

My favourite Cure song is 'Love Song', how 'bout you?

http://www.thecure.com/

Life update!

Apologies, cyber denizens, but this blog has taken a backseat these past two weeks! It's taken me a while to get back into the swing of things with some early days and late nights and prioritising my activities is becoming a must!

Last week, I started back at university for my second year on an English and Creative Writing course. We were told during our first year (practically a taster year for different subjects) that it didn't count towards our degree, and that our highest credits during out second and third years would give us our ratio, therefore I'm more determined this year to do all my required reading (which is a hell of a lot of reading!) and complete all of my assignments in good time!

I also plan on making the most of the opportunities that being a part of the university community throws my way, and intend to take part in the student magazine and even possibly join the student radio team. My department were also advertising for novice copywriters, so that may also be something that I'd like to try, with the possibility of being paid.

Apart from that, there's this blog, which I plan on upkeeping, and hopefully, when I feel that my writing is of a good enough quality, I'll start throwing reviews and the like at music websites and build up a little portfolio! I also plan on getting back into writing regularly, as is par for the (uni) course.

I'd also like to try my hand at customising denim jackets. I know, I know, I've mentioned the whole clothes thing in previous posts, but it feels rather large scale, and the denim customising is something that I can do easily on my own without having to rely on anyone else yet, and also without the expense of printing. I've found a lot of nice materials so Hobbycraft, here I come!

Anyway, my gift for the day/week/month! The Maccabees at this year's Reading Festival, I've been listening to them a lot all week :)

Flashback Friday.. Florence and the Machine - 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)

Not completely random! This post was written yesterday whilst I was watching Reading Festival 2012 highlights, and I caught Florence's set. She really is a true artist, her singing is so powerful and effortless and her songs so heartfelt and emotional. And she completely embodies the music around her, as if channeling spirits at a seance! Catch her set whilst it's still on the BBC website.

Anyway, the first song that I ever heard by Florence was 'Rabbit Heart', and it was magical, the pop-folkiness of it and her huge belting voice had me bought from the get go! Her first album, Lungs was phenominal and so is Ceremonials. I can't sell it better to you than to just get you to listen to it! And Florence's career is going from strength to strength due to the Calvin Harris remix of 'Spectrum (Say My Name)', which went to the top of the UK singles chart.

http://florenceandthemachine.net/
http://www.facebook.com/florenceandthemachine
https://twitter.com/flo_tweet

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!