Stef Has Headphones

TUMBLR-ing down all the stairs

2010-01-09T07:13:00.000-08:00

http://jigsawvolcano.tumblr.com

for all your stef needs.

i'm off to buy a tambourine x

p.s. this blog is closed until further notices

Review: Frankmusik - Complete Me

2009-08-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

Catchy electro pop, complete with a tonne of 8bit computer game-esque stutters and sounds? Great! Frankmusik's previously released singles have all carried this brilliant little charm, all three of which are found on this album. The singles in question being the loop-driven "In Step", the hook-filled "3 Little Words", and of course, recent hit single "Better Off As 2", and they are all brilliant, brilliant upbeat dance pop songs. Fact.

Unfortunately, something slightly sinister seems to have happened at Island Records, as current single "Confusion Girl" has gone from being a brilliant 8-bit-drum-laden pop song, to a bit more of a laid back daytime tv pop song. Possibly almost ballady. Bad times. All in the space of time between the album sampler and album proper being released. (About two months).

This sinister plot to make Frankmusik more like Frankmusak (wit) can also be found with two tracks found nestled in the middle of the album. Namely "Wonder Woman", which sounds like it should be a Mika b-side, and the title track "Complete Me", which is a truly upspectacular ballad. The annoying thing about this "watering-down" of Frankmusik is that his "glitchier" tracks are good enough to get on the radio anyway and has seen him appeal to a fairly wide audience already. Obviously, by removing these 8bit-drums and putting a few more lacklustre ballads on an album, Island are probably hoping to appeal to a lot more people. Good luck to them with that.

It's not all bad though, tracks such as "When You're Around", a glitchy gameboy-esque take on The Stranglers' Golden Brown, and "Gotta Boyfriend" are brilliant examples of what FM does best - upbeat electro pop tracks.

That's not to say that Frankmusik can't do good ballads - "Done Done" is a great album closer, with it's slow tempo stuttering over the chorus proving to be a euphoric way to finish. If only the rest of the downtempo tracks offered this emotional depth, this album would be greatly improved.

Overall, it's by no means a bad debut album, the singles are worth getting this for alone, and even the watered down version of Confusion Girl is still a good pop song, even with it being needlessly watered down. The slower songs are very hit and miss though, and you get the feeling that Frankmusik - already a fairly established remix artist as well - should stick to writing the upbeat electro dance pop that he is so good at.

Rating: B-

(Sidenote: Ok, so far, Little Boots, La Roux, Frankmusik. All electro-pop acts, all of which have been tipped highly by the BBC this year, but none of which have produced a truly amazing album this year. Can anyone recommend a brilliant electropop album this year? Use the terms "electro" and "pop" as loosely as possible, I just want to see if it's possible for there to be an album of such music without half of it being rubbish ballads/unoriginal songs. Something exciting!)

Preview: fun.

2009-07-21T14:02:00.000-07:00

The first band in ages to follow that old adage of "it does what it says on the tin", fun. are a new band formed out of the ashes of fantastic US should-have-been-bigger-than-they-were(-even-though-their-last-album-on-vinyl-regularly-fetches-over-£100-on-ebay)-indie-rock-band, The Format, with an ex-member of the-near-perfect-live-indie-orchestra of Anathallo, and it's the most cheerful indie-pop-rock band you'll hear this year.

Out of the few songs floating about online, "Walking The Dog" is a perfect example of fun.'s toe-tapping calypso-pop, with its cleaner-than-clean guitar lines being accompanied by cute little squealing synth sounds, and singer Nate Ruess's familiar vocals filling the entire song with hooks; Whether it's the "na-na-na"'s, or the middle section borrowing from the old Don Henley classic, "Boys Of Summer", you'll have learnt the words in no time.

"At Least I'm Not As Sad As I Used To Be" starts on more of a somber note, with Ruess asking if we have ever "wondered about our old nu-metal friends, and what became of them" over some understated piano. Of course, things then pick up again straight away because, hey, they aren't as sad as they used to be! Some absolutely lovely female vocals add to the casual upbeat nature of the song, which I'm sure has steel drums in the background, further adding to the happy-go-lucky music.

Comparison wise, if you took the afrobeat styles of last years big hype band Vampire Weekend, but replaced "Vampire" with "Sunshine", and "Weekend" with "Holidays", then you are almost there. It's music to be relaxing on a beach to, or even to be having fun to. (If there is ever a band called "Awesome", I think i'll be doomed when writing about them..!)

fun.'s debut album "Aim and Ignite" can be preordered on vinyl at http://hellomerch.com/shop/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=25&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=57 and you can hear some songs yourself at http://www.myspace.com/fun

Aim and Ignite is released on August 25, 2009.

Review: Dananananaykroyd – Hey Everyone

2009-07-15T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone is one of the most out-there fun records of 2009. Fact. The Scottish septet sound so upbeat and energetic that you can’t help but get taken in by the all-or-nothing rock music on this CD.

Things start off by building up to the absolutely brilliant “Watch This”, with its introductory group vocals of “Da-na-na-nan-ayk-royd!” leading into a cheeky little “Hiya! WATCH THIS! WATCH THIS” vocal, and that’s it. Hooked. The rest of the song is a brilliant little jagged pop song, and a great starter to the record.

Standout track number two is easily recent single “Black Wax”, which demonstrates the band’s ability to take their collective feet off the gas for a while, and create a slow burning singalong anthem. The energy is still there however, with group “woo”’s and quite lovely guitar work.

Talking of lovely guitar work, enter the brilliant “Infinity Milk”, which we given a preview of as such on previous Ep, “Sissy Hits”, with it’s 1-minute long finale of “Infinity Milk (Outro)”. Basically that one minute? Only the beginning of the ride, with it’s fantastic guitar riff building up to a collective group vocal of “Oh, my, god!” and bam, we’re away again, on another whirling, jagged pop song. Highlight of the entire record comes around 2 minutes in, with the little verse segment about atoms – “She, looks up and quietly says, “are these atoms?” “these are atoms” “I’m holding them” “ that just comes across so full of cheeky Glaswegian spirit. It’s a brilliant song. Fact.

Honourable mentions also go to former singles “Pink Sabbath”, and “Totally Bone” both coming with such awesome group vocal opportunities, that the band outline which lines you should sing along to in the lyrics booklet. Now that’s just lovely.

In total, Dananananaykroyd have delivered a brilliant debut album for jumping around your bedroom to/someone else’s bedroom to/the whole wide world to. You’d be honestly stupid not to give this record a chance. By far the most fun you can have on an indie-rock album this year.

Rating - A

Review: Discovery - LP

2009-07-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

Discovery is the side project from members of indie elite bands Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot, and is a brilliant little mix of pop, r & b and hiphop beats, combined with white-boy indie of course! Musically, it's not a million miles away from the output of mainstream american hiphop artists like Lil Wayne, as opener "Orange Shirt" demonstrates, with it's stuttering synth arpeggios, and almost falsetto processed vocals.

"Osaka Loop Line" continues in much the same way, with the stuttering synths almost competing to see just how stuttery they can get, before a 4/4 beat kicks in with a wonderfully understated chorus, complete with breathy vocals.

Things get amazingly poppy with the female vocals in "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", which is a vocal hook doomed to stay in your head for a long time afterwards. This is followed up with standout track "So Insane", a seemingly disjointed track, with drumbeats seemingly creating themselves up until 56 seconds in, where the chorus goes all half-time, and you find yourself slowdancing on your own, or you know, with whoever's in the room. It's that good.

Things are rounded off with a chilled out electro-pop cover of Jackson 5 classic "I Want You Back" and then brought to a close with the eclectic "Slang Tang", ending a really weirdly good album. The only major complaints are that the tracks can seem a bit same-y, but stick this on loudly on a really nice summer day, and I'm betting that's not something you'll care about.

Rating: B

Review: La Roux - La Roux

2009-07-04T13:03:00.000-07:00

The debut album from hotly tipped duo La Roux, aka singer Elly Jackson, and producer Ben Langmaid, is full of bitcrushed drumbeats, synth lines, and amazing vocal hooks from start to finish.

However, after the opening triple-punch of singles "In For The Kill", "Quicksand" and "Bulletproof", there is a feeling of musical deja vu, with highly repetitive choruses, and the odd chord change here and there that has the ability to almost make you think you've accidentally skipped back a few songs.

Standout tracks are easily "I'm Not Your Toy" and the aforementioned singles, but unfortunately the rest of the album tracks don't leave much of an impression, even though they really try to.

Overall, it's a fairly good pop album, but it suffers from the same fate as similarly-tipped Little Boots' debut, "Hands"; Some killer, but mostly filler.

Rating: C-

Review: Sam Isaac - Bears

2009-05-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

I wrote a few words about this album a month or so ago, but I feel like it's worth highlighting again just how amazing "Bears" is.

For the uninitiated, Sam Isaac is a singer-songwriter from Malvern, and writes big buzzy pop songs that manage to be triumphant and uplifting without ever breaching the line of "tweeness", and as summer approaches, his debut album "Bears" might just be the album to have on in the sunshine.

The opening track on the album, "Bears", is a perfect starter, starting little, with acoustic guitar and a little delay-laden synth line, it soon grows to a huge crashing anthem, complete with group vocals, massive guitars and drums, and lyrics that just manage to place you into an entirely earnest storyline. The first half of the album is full of these little anthems, featuring past singles "Sticker Star and Tape", "Fire, Fire", and the song that gained him a tonne of mainstream attention, "Sideways", and all of them sound absolutely huge compared to their previously recorded counterparts. Lead single "Come Back Home Tonight" is also a beautifully triumphant song, with it's chorus bound to stay in your heart for days.

Side 2 of the album (sure its a CD, but a guy can dream) kicks off with the ebbing flow of "Berlin", which grows and grows and grows into a wonderful refrain of "I'll see you in Berlin", highlighted with an uplifting trumpet line. This is followed by possibly the standout track on the CD, "I Traded My Friends For You", which is a brilliant little story of new love, and Sam amazingly manages to keep it from sounding trite. One thing worth pointing out is that everything on this record is there for a reason, and this song basically showcases that, with little occasional piano lines, and group vocal "ahh's", and perfectly understated drums, that all add to the song. Really, REALLY, good stuff.

The album comes to a close with "What Good Did That Do?", a heartfelt song full of romantic strings and acoustic guitar, and big closer "Apple Tree", with it's intricate piano melody holding the whole song together, and everything reaching a huge finale.

It really is worth highlighting just how Sam manages to write a whole album of uplifting pop songs, yet manages to avoid the whole thing becoming too much. "Bears" manages to follow the rules, yet not sound cliché'd, and the underlying romanticism behind all the songs just makes it a rewarding listen everytime. Definitely an album you should listen to.

Bears is released 22/06/09

Download "I Traded My Friends For You" for free here
Listen on myspace
Preorder Bears @ Sam Isaac's Online Shop

Review: Fightstar - Be Human

2009-04-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back, a friend of a friend mentioned the new single by Fightstar, "Mercury Summer", having just been played on Radio 1. I asked him what it was like. He replied "kind've upbeat and positive". I checked it out straight away, and wow. This was a poppier Fightstar for sure, and it got me very interested in the new album.

Kicking off with the dark, cinematic "Calling On All Stations", it's clear to hear that that this record is going to be a big one, and this tone is continued on "The English Way", which features lots of strings, and a wonderfully huge chorus.

Things take a turn for the dark with "War Machine", but then Fightstar do a complete 180, and bring out "Never Change", a Cure-esque upbeat pop song, with additional cowbell. Even the slightly upbeat nature of Mercury Summer couldn't prepare for this, although it is a great song, which a strange contrast to the darkness of the previous track, but it's this wrong-footedness that actually kind of works. Definite single material, and possibly the closest the band have come to frontman Charlie Simpson's previous band.

Things stay upbeat with "Colours Bleed To Red", with its absolutely killer chorus. The only downside to this track are the slightly cringey verses, which are a bit too over-dramatic for the tone of song, with lyrics about "jumping the bridge" sung in a weird half-shouting distorted fashion. This takes something away from the song as a whole, which is a shame, as this song could have been another great single for the band.

"Whisperer" kicks in next, with it's chilled out guitars and harmonica. This track almost, ALMOST, seems like it was influenced by Panic at the Disco's recent record, with the whole track taking a bit of a summery, almost funky, rock direction. It features yet another great chorus, and leads nicely into "Mercury Summer", which slots in beautifully.

Things take a turn for the epic again, with the huge, sweeping "Give Me The Sky", leading into the dark "Chemical Blood", which is a wonderfully epic song, only let down by a brief screaming breakdown, which just isn't required in a track like this. "Tonight We Burn" takes a brief trip into synth-pop territory, with another great upbeat chorus, and then we get back into the orchestral side of things with "Damocles", which features a fantastically heavy breakdown.

The album closes off with the beautiful "Follow Me Into The Darkness", which is very, very Bon Iver-esque, but with it's subtle synths and gentle vocals, it's given just enough character of it's own to close off the album in a gentle way.

Overall, Fightstar has created a cinematic work of art with this record, treading a neat line between poppy and epic, but still keeping their trademark dark sound for the majority of the album. The only real letdown are the occasional heavy screaming breakdowns, and the occasionaly cringeworthy lyric, but for 95% of the time, this album keeps you hooked. It's got the singles to bring in new fans, and the substance to keep the fanbase happy.

As Daniel Mount says, and I quote verbatim, "The new fightstar album is fucking awesome...."

Sorted.

Here's the video for "Mercury Summer"

-------------

Be Human is out now from the Internet Record Shops, the Real Life Record Shops, and the Imaginery Music Shops.

Stef reviews..a few albums in brief

2009-04-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks, I've been listening to tonnes of new albums, but alas I've just not been writing about them. Shocking I know! I'm going to rectify that by writing a few paragraphs on some of the best of the last few weeks. A round-up if you will.

First up, Sam Isaac - Bears. After several well-received singles and EPs, Sam Isaac finally releases his first full length album in April, and it's been worth the wait. Kicking off with a newly recorded version of old myspace track "Bears", now with added I-was-a-cub-scout-synths, Sam instantly draws you into a world of hope, naivety, and teenage dreams a little bit more "famous five" than "skins". Previous singles "Fire Fire", "Sideways" and "Sticker, Star and Tape" are all found in the first half of the album, with new single "Come Back Home Tonight" joining them in creating a fantastically upbeat start to an album.

Act 2 of the album is a bit more quiet and contemplative, with tracks like "Calendar" and "Berlin" being a bit more laid back. The pace doesn't completely slow down though, as "Carbon Dating" and "I Traded My Friends For You" make welcome appearances. Overall Bears is a fine indie-pop-rock album, and there is a feeling of pure love emitting from it from start to finish. Perfect for sunny days and adventures. http://www.myspace.com/samisaac

Talking of music for sunny days, Simple Times, the second album from Joshua Radin, is perfect for relaxing with the sun shining on your face. "I'd Rather Be With You" is an absolutely beautiful track that you can't help but mentally playlisting it to put on a mixtape for that girl that you like. No? Just me? Fine. Either way, its a fantastic song that deserves to soundtrack your summer.

Elsewhere, there's the beautifully hopeful "Sky" featuring Meiko on backing vocal duties, the uplifting "Brand New Day" (I dare you not to get uplifted by the refrain of "It's a brand new day/sun is shining...for the first time in such a long, long time i know..../i'll be ok") , and the achingly sad "You Got Growin' Up To Do". The record ends with a track about Radin's adopted mantra of "No Envy, No Fear", and as proceedings come to a close, you actually believe every single word of Radin's laidback trademark hushed vocals. http://www.myspace.com/joshuaradin

Next up, Grammatics' debut selftitled album, Grammatics. Surprisingly, I think I've yet to even mention this fantastic band on this blog, which is shocking! Take one ex-member of ace york band Colour Of Fire, put him in new band consisting of a bassist, drummer and a cellist, and then give him some intriguing instruments, and then put in a bowl with cursive and shake accordingly.

The result is a record so full of beautiful twists and turns that you don't want to fault a thing. Opener and single "Shadow Committee" features an ending to die for, and the guitar harmonics littering "D.I.L.E.M.M.A" make it a truly ethereal listen.

The chorus of "Murderer" will stick in your head for days if not weeks, the rhythm and call-and--response verses of "The Vague Archive" will have you confused about whether to tap your foot or sing along, and "Broken Wing" will drag you in with it's delicate acoustic guitars before throwing you off the top of a mountain with it's huge ending. It's truly epic stuff, and we haven't even reached "Relentless Fours" yet.

"Relentless Fours" is brilliant. Opening with a gentle loop of guitar harmonics and synths, Owen Brinley's vocals are soft enough to to sing you to sleep, as he sings genius lyrics such as "How can you call yourself an actress/When you cannot get your act together", and takes you up to the first mini-explosion of the song, announcing that "Everyone loves a breakdown". Laura Groves features on backing vocals in this track, and it adds an almost fairytale quality to the track, and the track swells and swells until it explodes into one of the most perfect guitar riffs in recent times. It's worth catching Grammatics live for this one track I swear. Beautiful.

Elsewhere, we get a re-recorded "Polar Swelling", an exhilirating "Rosa Flood" and the album closes on the epic "Swan Song". Probably one of the best alternative-indie albums of this year. Very highly recommended. http://www.myspace.com/grammatics

Lastly in this short round-up, the absolutely storming follow up to "I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child" from Manchester Orchestra, entitled "Mean Everything To Nothing". Opening with "The Only One", and it's almost beach boys-esque backing vocals, MO grab you, and deliver a brilliant rock album, with echoes of pinkerton-era Weezer in lead single "I've Got Friends", In Utero-era Nirvana in "In My Teeth", and of course, Themselves, in tracks like "Break It Out" and "One Hundred Dollars".

Overall this album feels like a natural progression from "I'm Like A Virgin..." and is great both musically and lyrically. This could be the album that gets them a bit further into the mainstream, especially as "I've Got Friends" has a chorus that refuses to leave your head at all. Perfect. http://www.myspace.com/manchesterorchestra

I think that's it for album review round up number one, any thoughts on the bands?

Stef Reviews - Calories - Adventuring

2009-03-06T00:00:00.001-08:00

I didn't even know, until coming to write this little review, that Calories were made up of members of former Birmingham band Distophia. And I used to like Distophia. Madness.

Adventuring is a brilliant little album to get excited about. "Off we go, into the sunset," they sing, "off we flee, into the sea" to kick off the record in "A Bear, A Bison", a great upbeat song that gets you in the spirit of things straight away, from each building verse, to each group-laden chorus. It's uplifting stuff.

Songs such as "Caught In The In-between" and "To Encounter A Deer" channel the spirits of Idlewild past (back when they were more punky and awesome, "When I Argue, I See Shapes" anyone?), before "Adventuring" kicks in with it's Futureheads-esque chorus of "Adventuring, is dangerous, but danger can be fun", and is by far the catchiest song on the record, with some inspired instrumental sections, and great guitar lines.

The next few songs take a turn for 90's indie punk again, before "Drugged" ambles in, with it's laid back verse leading into a group vocal lead chorus of "Everything is beautiful, and ends some way, and then it's gone, and then it's not", which I can only imagine creates some amazing live show singalongs.

"Same Ideals" almost sounds like a Johnny Foreigner song for the first 20 seconds, but then turns into a different beast as it merges into next track "(See You On The Expedition)", almost like a hybrid of Biffy Clyro and Jetplane Landing, but without the scottish and irish accents respectively. "See you on the the expedition" sing Calories, continuing the "adventuring" feel that this album carries throughout.

At only 23 minutes long, this album is Calories' self professed "punk album", but it truly is 23 minutes that you'll be listening to again and again; no song outstays it's welcome, and things are kept sounding fresh throughout. As the looped ending to "Forests Of Varg" plays out, you'll be (must avoid obviously reaching for repeat button review cliche) uurm, moving your mouse to click track one of this album in your iTunes again. So you hear it all again.

Myspace? Myspace. http://www.myspace.com/caloriesband

Calories - Adventuring can be bought from their myspace for £9, and comes with a 26 track bonus CD-R of demos and other tracks. This is what's called value for money! :D

Stef Reviews... Kevin Devine - Brother's Blood

2009-03-05T14:03:00.001-08:00

Kevin Devine, as I've mentioned before, is a fantastic singer songwriter from Brooklyn, New York. He's pretty much best friends with Brand New and Manchester Orchestra (His last album, Put Your Ghost To Rest, was reissued on Brand New's record label, Procrastinate! Music Traitors), and he releases album after album of clever, catchy indie rock songs. New album Brother's Blood follows this trend fantastically, whilst also treading darker, more epic, territories not previously heard.

The record kicks off with "All Of Everything, Erased", a simple sombre number that sets the tone of the record fantastically; dark, but catchy enough to whistle along to. This eventually subsides into "Carnival", an early highlight to the record. If it's possible to channel the spirit of blue album/pinkerton era Weezer into a song, then it's been done here, the song ambles forward in an almost lazy fashion, before all of a sudden, around the four minute, some absolutely genius backing vocals that sound like a party casually speaking the same lyrics that Kevin is singing, suddenly burst into a huge group vocal build up, screaming "you'll clutch your chest, and whisper oh no, what will i do", before the song suddenly lulls you into a false sense of security, before a wonderfully ramshackle ending, that leads fantastically into the second highlight of the record, previous limited edition single "Another Bag Of Bones", renamed here as "Time To Burn".

This song was amazing in it's original form, all insightful lyrics, and withdrawn muted guitars, but this version takes the song to it's limit, adding drums, bass and a brilliantly ethereal ending to affairs to truly create one of Kevin Devine's best songs so far. The song also has a bit of a "Jesus Christ" vibe to it (see: Brand New).

The vibe gets a bit more laid back with "Hand of God", a hand clap laden folkier song, that gives the listener a well deserved break before the absolutely epic "Brother's Blood", a guitar filled song, that features vocals that are absolutely filled to burst with emotion, and culminates in a huge ending, filled with guitar solos to order. "They don't need to know about my brother's blood" Kevin sings, with an almost defeated tone as the song fades away. Brilliant.

Other high points of the album are the wistful "It's Only Your Life", and the fantastically upbeat "I Could Be With Anyone", and the second half of album feels like a much calmer beast than the first half due to these more chilled out songs, which acts as a nice come down after the feel of the first five tracks.

For those of you who like Brand New, this guy is a must-hear. For everyone else...same rules apply.

http://www.myspace.com/kevindevine

You won't regret it!

Brother's Blood is released on April 28th via Favourite Gentleman Records.

My O.C.

2009-03-01T15:51:00.000-08:00

As a sidestep from music, I feel like I have to talk about real life for a bit.

I'm not sure how this entry is to start, I'm not sure how it will end, I'm not sure of a lot of things to do with this. I haven't even decided on whether I'll actually hit "Publish Post" when I've finished it. But let's try and begin this.

When someone effectively holds you in some kind of regard as being a potential start of a potential downfall in their own life, how are you meant to take it? I have always been the type of character that on the offchance that I have wronged someone, then I will apologise accordingly. And it's not often that I wrong someone, it's honestly not who I am 99% of the time. A friend of mine told me recently that apologising is a sign of weakness, and by apologising, you very rarely ever gain someones forgiveness. If anything, it just validates their reasons for feeling negative towards you even more. I can completely understand and sympathise with this theory, but it's not something I think I buy into. I've always been one for saying sorry when I feel it, whether that does me good or bad.

If you can remember back to the last time someone let you down, whether it was a loved one breaking up with you, someone breaking a promise, someone not keeping a secret, would you let it affect the rest of your life? Of course you would. You'd be a bit more careful in future, you'd take the time to know someone better before trusting them absolute, right? Unfortunately, we live in a society where sleeping around is normal, promises aren't worth as much as they once were, and secrets are loosened from tongues with copious amounts of alcohol. (Disclaimer; I'm not one for sleeping around, I keep promises, and I never let secrets slip, just in case you thought I was talking from experience)

I think what I'm getting at, is that I can't understand the rationale of people sometimes. We all make mistakes, that one thing is for certain, but it's when our past mistakes are held over our heads by others, as some sort of twisted trophy, that I get confused. Recently, I was interrupted from a conversation by someone who felt the need to take the person I was talking to to one side, and warn them that I was an absolute prick of sorts. (back story, it was a friend of an ex-girlfriend, whom I'd never really spoke to before). I totally applaud this in a way; All he was doing was looking out for a friend. But he had never spoken to me before, didn't know anything about me, other than what someone with an incredibly low opinion of me had told him. This had a huge effect on me. It still plays on my mind now, that someone can have such an opinion of someone pushed upon them, and then that's all they know. I feel there are certain conversations I need to have in the near future to hopefully clear things of this nature up. And most importantly; the most useful source of information regarding me? It's me. So don't believe everything you hear? Primary research is better than secondary.

I've always believed that if you are happy in yourself then, well, you're doing alright. If you can be happy spending a day with just yourself as company, and don't end the day feeling miserable or depressed, then that's a good sign. Not to say you shouldn't spend time with friends or loved ones, but I have seen so many people recently in bad relationships just because they don't want to be alone. Is this the right way to be? We're built to be with others, but I'm a firm believer that there's got to be the right "other" out there, right?

I was berated for following my heart recently, and to be absolutely fair, I don't understand why. I listen to what my head tells me, don't get me wrong, but if my heart knows what it wants, I can't stop that. It's why my new EP is going to be titled Butterflies, it's why i've made mistakes in the past, it's why I am where I am now, and it's why I always aim to be a better person.

If i've hurt you in the past, then i'm sorry. None of us are perfect, none of us ever will be.

But i'm going to try and be better. And i'm going to do what my heart tells me. And if my brain is agreeing with my heart, then that's poetry.

(There's every chance I'll reread this in the morning and delete it for being a bit too .. something. Honest? Not sure. Enjoy it while it's up)

Sincerley,

Stef

Stef Reviews...Emmy the Great @ Glee Club, Birmingham

2009-02-25T16:13:00.000-08:00

Those who read this blog regularly (maybe three of you? haha i kid i kid...two?) will know I have a fondness for Miss the Great, and tonight was the first time I've managed to catch her live, in about 4 years of fandom. With my current obsession of all things female and beautiful voiced, could there be a better act to have seen tonight?

First up were grunge-pop trio Young Husband, comprising of Emmy the Great's live band's guitarist and drummer, and another bassist, playing songs that would fit perfectly onto the 90's indie rock soundtrack of programmes such as Teachers and Asif (remember those?), with their laid back indie rock fitting somewhere in the middle of Blur and Pavement. The only criticism I had with Young Husband was that although they obviously have an ear for a catchy melody, they tend to take the melody, and add a strange chord change at the end so the melody ends on an almost sour note. Except for this occasional self-destructive tendency, they were a great little band to kick off proceedings.

Second to grace the stage were Exlovers, a band i'd recently heard good things about, and I was amazingly impressed with them tonight. Their songs were filled with sparkling guitars, beautiful male/female vocals, and the odd bit of percussion and glockenspiel. Each one of their more slower or midtempo songs were fantastic, lulling me into a lovely little dreamworld until the songs finished. However, the more uptempo songs that they played weren't as special, but held their own as tight little indie pop songs. I can't help but anticipate an LP by these, they had a lot of special moments on the glee club stage.

Finally, the main act, Emmy the Great. Starting off with just herself, a guitar and "The Hypnotist's Son", she had the audience in her hands from the start. Joined by the rest of her band, renditions of "We Almost Had A Baby" and "Dylan" followed soon in all their foot-tapping glory. A definite highlight for me was the mid-set rendition of "First Love", the title track of her recently released album, and a semi-homage to "Hallelujah" ("the original leonard cohen version" sings Emmy), with the song ending with the band playing faster and faster leaving you almost feeling breathless as the song finally comes to a halt.

Near the end of the set, a rendition of new album track "We Are Safe" brought a song that I had previously overlooked as album filler into it's own special spotlight (listening to it now, i'm noticing how uplifting this song really is). Emmy then finished up proceedings with a solo acoustic rendition of "her first song" "Canopies and Grapes", and even though her guitar strap breaks halfway through the song ("i'll have to do this like they used to," quips the singer, "before string was invented") she continues on almost unphased, and leaves the audience feeling pretty happy I think. What a way to spend the middle of a week.

Emmy the Great's debut album "First Love" is out now. You can hear more of her here, more of Exlovers here, and more of Young Husband here.

Stef Reviews...003) Two Tongues - S/T

2009-02-10T18:07:00.001-08:00

Two Tongues is a special little album. The backstory to this involves two amazing bands in their own rights; Say Anything, and Saves The Day, and the mutual appreciation that both bands have developed for each other in the past few years. Two Tongues is the long-awaited collaboration between both bands, with Max and Coby from Say Anything teaming up with Chris and David from Saves The Day, for 13 tracks of guitar-laden emo-punk-rock (for lack of a better genre description!)

Straightaway the album jumps into the dramatic "Crawl", showcasing straight away how Max's and Chris's unique vocal styles seem to mesh together quite awesomely. The middle eight of this song is also worth mentioning, as it's quite simply fantastic. "If I Could Make You Do Things" follows on from this, and starts off as a fairly calm duet between the two singers, before the drums kick in, bringing the rest of the distorted guitars with them, leading up to a fantastic chorus of "If I could make you, make you (GO AWAY!), If I could make you, (DO IT!)", which makes you want to sing along until the end I swear.

A beautiful little interlude track by Eisley's singer Sherri let's everyone take a bit of a breath, before the record kicks into life once again with the jagged "Tremors", which, with it's start-stop guitars, and Max Bemis's charasmatically downbeat delivery, is possibly the stand-out track of the record, and yet again, builds up to a fantastic chorus. "Silly Game" continues with the jagged guitars, and Max's vocals and words are again on top form, and will have you singing along with the "oh-oh-oh"'s in no time flat.

"Wowee Zowee" brings a bit more ROCK into the mix, as Chris Conley takes main vocal duties, with Max showing up with some gang-vocal style "Hey hey cut it out!"'s, whilst "Try Not To Save Me" brings in a mellow side to the proceedings, acting as a slow, longing confessional, with Chris's vocals almost taking on angelic qualities at times.

The record finishes up with "Even If You Don't", which is almost reminiscent of "Cars and Calories" from Saves The Day's "Stay What You Are", and whereas it sounds like a love song to a female companion, you get the feeling that the two singers might actually be declaring their mutual love of each other.

In conclusion, this is a record made with love, and if you've even heard of Say Anything or Saves The Day, I highly recommend it. Try this video out for size;

A Lightningheart Records Newsburst

2009-01-28T14:34:00.001-08:00

So I thought i'd take this opportunity to talk about Lightningheart Records, my little record label that I set up last year!

So far, we've had 6 releases, 4 of which have been available as free downloads from www.lightningheartrecords.tk, and 3 of which are available to buy as real CD's. Nice! My favourite release so far has definitely been the "Something Old, Something New" compilation, the packaging really worked out how I wanted it :D felt logos for the win.

In the next few months, I think I'm gearing up for 2 main releases. Firstly, my new album as teamABC, which is (still) going under the working title of "Hello Symmetry". It might actually end being called that you know! So far, it's gearing up to be around 11 tracks of alternative pop-indie, with instruments and hooks a plenty. It's going to be the first proper, proper, proper teamABC album, although Hurry Up, Hurricane was fairly proper. However, Hello Symmetry is going to see a proper physical release, and the packaging is going to be amazing. Trust me on that! You'll see concept images and stuff very soon. Good times! The album will also be available via all the usual download sites, iTunes etc etc, and there might be a free download single nearer the time of release. When's it coming out you ask? End of March. We'll say End of March.

It might be later than that. The artwork ideas i'm having at the moment might take a while to come together. Oh and finishing the music too. Haha!

Also on the agenda is the new release from Ben Forrester, formerly known as Testing Testing 123, formerly know as Ben Forrester ;) He will be releasing an amazing new EP around Easter time, and having heard some of the demos, I can say that it's going to sound amazing. More news to come on that as well!

Right, I'm going to have a mess with artwork ideas now... More Lightningheart News coming soon!

Remember, www.lightningheartrecords.tk for all of your Lightningheart related needs!

Stef thinks that if you liked MGMT, you'll love...

2009-01-27T18:48:00.000-08:00

Passion Pit - Sleepyhead

This band are incredible. The track showcased here - Sleepyhead (from their 2008 Chunk Of Change EP) - is a brilliant amalgamation of synths, looped vocal samples, and a falsetto vocal that doubles in effectiveness when the bass backs up the chants of "sleepyhead".

PASSION PIT - SLEEPYHEAD from FunkySpaceMonkey on Vimeo.

This song is like a danceparty for your dreams, and (as said in the title) if you liked MGMT, you'll love this. I bet this is soundtracking an episode of Skins in no time.

Opinions?

BBC Sound Of 2009; An Intervention

2009-01-26T02:10:00.000-08:00

This morning, I finally got round to checking out some more of the acts from the BBC's "Sounds Of 2009" picks for this year. Previous winners of their sound of 2009 accolade has been Adele and Mika, so you can bet any amount that whoever they choose will probably get quite big this year.

Anyway, Little Boots and Florence and the Machine both featured quite highly this year, and they are both fine acts; the former a bedroom pop star complete with tenori-on (it's the coolest musical instrument/sampler that you all want, i know i do!) and the latter a kookier-with-every-interview-but-still-less-weird-than-kate-bush Kate Bush for the new millenium. Kinda. Find their myspaces and make your own decisions - key tracks are Little Boots - Meddle, and Florence and the Machine - Dog Days.

Anyway, I digress!

Essentially the BBC Sound of 2009, who those aren't familiar with it, starts off with a shortlist of new acts, and then US - the general public - vote for our favourite. This time around, Little Boots won, and a lot of other acts featured quite highly in the top 10, but one name i'd noticed in the shortlist that didn't seem to be in the most voted was Frankmusik.

Initially, I gotta say, the name put me off a bit. It made me think of Kraftwerk, which is no bad thing, but I couldn't imagine what I thought could be a modern day version of Kraftwerk. (See:Europop)

Anyway! Fairly recently my good pal Corin Bryant send me a link on youtube to some music video which is basically a girl in her underwear hula-hooping. That video was no less than Frankmusik's In Step. And it's a gloriously glitchy synthy pop track. Nice! Check that video out here:

Coming right up to date, today I saw the video for his new single Three Little Words. And it's absolutely brilliant. It's like if you shoved Alphabeat and Mika together into a blender and then put into a glass full of crushed Crystal Castles, and then Calvin Harris to drink it. Hold on, what the hell am I talking about? Time to go to work. Here's the video!

Stef Reviews...002) Pretty Girls Make Graves - The New Romance

2009-01-22T16:57:00.000-08:00

Okay, all you fans of female-fronted rock bands take note. Whether you are a Paramore fan, a No Doubt fan, hell, even a fan of The Saturdays, you are doing it wrong. If we're seriously going to talk about front-women in bands then may I direct you to the fantastic Pretty Girls Make Graves, lead by the spellbinding Andrea Zollo.

I bet you're excited now right? A female lead singer to get excited about? Well sadly, the excitement will have to be slightly posthumous; Pretty Girls Make Graves split up in 2007. However, they did release 3 fantastic albums, and album no. 2 - The New Romance - is the record I want to talk about today.

Title track "The New Romance" acts as an introduction to the record in a way, even though it's all the way down at track 10. As Andrea sings; "It started in a basement, it started in a bedroom...there's a fire inside my head", and you get an idea of the passion behind this music.

It's definitely worth mentioning that Pretty Girls Make Graves make absolutely brilliant music. Intertwining guitar lines, dancey bass guitar, drumming that continually innovates and improves upon itself. Each song is a little adventure with twists and turns-a-plenty.

The album starts proper with it's longest track, "Something Bigger, Something Better", and kicks off with lullaby-esque vocals and tribal drums and guitars, before it kicks into a synth-laden dance-punk track about a minute and a half in. This sets the pace for the next track too, before proceedings are interupted with a short synthy track "Mr. Club". Even for a short dancey instrumental, it does a good job at preparing you for the fantastic "All Medicated Geniuses".

This track is frantic to say the least. "Our ideas they die so quickly", sings Andrea over frenetically duelling guitars, and this rings true as the song constantly involves and changes, refusing to settle into a standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus end routine. Don't get me wrong, there are verses, there are choruses, but they all have a different flavour, a different rhythm, a different feeling. When it's all stuck together, it makes a brilliantly cohesive song.

"Blue Lights" and "Chemical Chemical" follow on from this, the former being a song split in two; one half an introspective, restrained monologue; one half extrovert confessional, with the trademark jagged guitars fighting each other to the death, and the latter being art-punk by number with hihat laden disco drum patterns playing host to playful guitars.

"This Is Our Emergency" is another big stand out track on this record. Like a more twitchy, energetic version of "This Modern Love" by Bloc Party, it's like an indie-rock call to arms, with Andrea Zollo stating, nay, DEMANDING that "This is Our Emergency", before the song explodes into life. This might be the most standard song in terms of song structure on this album, but that doesn't mean a thing, as it throbs with a determined longing, and has a certain feeling of triumph to it.

The album ends with the downbeat "A Certain Cemetery" featuring soaring vocals, and features a fantastic franz ferdinand-esque breakdown, before the track turns into a mess of fuzzy keyboards and music box, with the vocals taking a turn for the melocholic. The guitars kick in again as the track reaches an anthemic end, with a repetition of "When this is over...., it's alright, it's alright", letting the listener know that all they have to do is reach for the play button, or turn over the record, and the whole journey can start again.

In conclusion, this is a fantastic record, and really worth your time. I can't recommend them highly enough.

Stef Reviews... The Wrestler

2009-01-18T12:30:00.001-08:00

The Wrestler is a film that looks at the grittier side of wrestling. The high-gloss world of WWE this isn't! Mickey Rourke stars as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a formely professional wrestler living in a trailer park, mixing amateur fights with a part time day job. The Wrestler explores Randy's personal relationships as his career starts to be threatened.

Overall the film does a fantastic job of exploring the psyche of a guy who doesn't know anything other than life inside the square circle, and builds up what I can only describe as an absolutely brilliant ending.

It's definitely worth a watch, and the new Springsteen song that plays over the end credits fits proceedings absolutely perfectly.

First Awesomely Inspiring Song of 2009 - Emmy The Great - First Love

2009-01-17T17:15:00.000-08:00

This song is absolutely brilliant. "First Love" starts off simple, with acoustic guitar and Emmy's bittersweet vocals being slowly accompanied with a skittering snare drum, and then builds into an uplifting chorus that channels Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". It's a subtle lovestory of a song, that builts into an ending that builds pace and takes you along with it until Emmy's final gasp of the title lyric. It borders on exhilerating. Video? Video!

The single "First Love" is released on February 23rd, but the album of the same name is released on February 9th, and is worth checking out. Expect a review of that sometime next week!

http://www.myspace.com/emmythegreat

Stef Reviews... 001) Copeland - You Are My Sunshine

2009-01-07T17:47:00.000-08:00

Copeland are a great little band that, until today, I hadn't heard from since their 2005 album "In Motion", which was an amazing collection of up-tempo, melodic indie rock tracks, with an almost lullaby-esque quality to singer Aaron Marsh's voice highlighted against beautiful soundscapes of chiming guitars and piano.

A few albums later (that I feel I should go back and visit at some point) and they have released "You Are My Sunshine", which is an incredibly amazing album. "Good Morning Fire Eater" is a definite highlight, featuring a slow, lovely build up of vocals, guitars and synths that explode into life via a perfect drum beat.

The dreamy vocals of Aaron Marsh are still a highlight of this record, with every line he sings sounding as perfectly dream-like as the next.

The album is wrapped up by the epic 10 minute closing track "Not So Tough, Found Out" which is a wonderous swirl of electronic bleeps and buzzes, drum machine, electronic piano, and beautifully phrased female vocals.

Overall, I highly recommend this album for the chilled out end of winter months; It complements the weather of the current winter months, plus has the staying power to make the start of spring seem as magical as possible

Stefx

Stef Reviews... In Bruges

2009-01-04T17:48:00.000-08:00

Just saw this tonight and wow, such a great dark comedic film.

Short synopsis - Colin Farrell's character has just begun a career as a hitman, and finds himself and an associate hiding out in Bruges, in Belgium. And finding every single second of it boring. And from here a brilliantly written comedic film unravels itself, culminating in one of the best endings to a film i've seen in recent times.

There are so many quotable lines in this film too, most notable are a particular conversation/fight that happens in a restaurant, and of course, the multitude of "feckin' Bruges" that are littered throughout the film. Beware; There's a tonne of swearing in this film. There's even a feature on the dvd where it just plays every single instance of swearing.

I'd give this 9 gold stars out of 10. Definitely worth a purchase.

Stef Reviews... Revisiting Sonic 3 and Sonic 2

2008-12-29T14:00:00.000-08:00

Beginning christmas day, I started replaying Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 via a Sega Megadrive emulator on my DS (very cool). I absolutely love this series of games, and cruelly was denied a Megadrive of my own in my youth, so I had to make do with the Game Gear variants (which weren't even a tiny patch on the mega drive epics). Either way, a few years ago, when emulators and roms and that became all the rage (which they still are, to be honest), I downloaded and completed Sonic 1, 2, Sonic and Knuckles, and a plethora of other games. However, Sonic 3 got me stuck in the Carnival Night Zone, and so this was where I began.

SONIC 3

This game is probably the most epic of Sonic games, introducing Knuckles as a bad guy (because Robotnik had tricked him! Read the comics already!). At the time, this must have been one of the most epic games to come out, I mean, I didn't even own a megadrive, but I read Sonic the Comic and other gaming magazines almost religiously, and this game was HYPED. Especially in Sonic the Comic where the comic's storylines started being about the game's storyline. For a kid, that stuff is huge, and I still get that excitement now. Especially when re-reading all of the past Sonic the Comic's. And I've finally finished this one now too, the Carnival Zone bit where I was stuck was ridiculous. Stupid bouncing barrel thing.

SONIC 2

Right, I've gotten sidetracked, and am now going to spend my night watched the old Sonic TV series (Not the slapstick one, the GOOD one) and most likely read more STC. Sonic 2 was an ace game though, I finished it again today, in two fairly short sittings. Good times!

NOTE: In both game completions, I didn't collect all the emeralds. I do plan on doing this at a later date, but I'm all about quick fixes at the moment!

NEXT UP: SONIC 1! and SONIC & KNUCKLES!

Stef reviews... His christmas presents '08

2008-12-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

So, let me explain the feelings behind this post first; It's early saturday 27th december, and I'm planning on catching up on my christmas tv via iPlayer (Charlie Brooker and Gavin and Stacey are calling me...), but i'm currently listening to Okkervil River - The Stage Names on vinyl, and it's that lovely that I have to do something else than watch things for another half an hour, cos I'm a little bit involved in this record right now. So; My christmas presents '08: The Review.

Okkervil River - The Stage Names 12" LP

Released in 2007, this is THE alternative pop album you need in your life. Currently making my ears very happy. Recommended listening? Unless It's Kicks.

Pretty Girls Make Graves - The New Romance 12" LP

Sexy album, the beginning of track one is a bit overly scratchy due to the vinyl, but All Medicated Geniuses and This Is Our Emergency are absolutely classic art-rock songs.

Boys Night Out - Make Yourself Sick Blue/Black 12" LP

Loved this album for years, when I saw that Vinyl Collective were released it on black and blue vinyl, I had to get it. Arrived in the mail on christmas eve, this gets the "best timing of the year award"

Saves The Day - Stay What You Are 12" LP

F. I. R. E. F. L. Y.

Enough said. That song on vinyl is pretty much happy thoughts all round.

Watchmen by Alan Moore graphic novel

Having already read this on my computer via the interweb, I decided to actually get the real thing, and it is by far the best graphic novel I've ever read. Such a great story, and there is so much depth to it as well.

Sonic The Comic #100

Years ago, I collected Sonic the Comic. I read it every week without fail, and when I eventually stopped, my parents got rid of them all :( But now, pretty much over ten years on, I found a site where I could order the old copies, and thought i'd get the epic issue 100. I'm currently reading all the back issues online, i'm up to #55 :) And i'm back to playing Sonic 3 via a Sega MegaDrive emulator on my DS. Good times.

Rhys Darby - Imagine That! DVD

He isn't just Murray the manager off Flight Of The Conchords (or just the manager of Jim Carreys workplace in Yes Man (which is awesome!)!), he is also a wicked stand up, with an act that highlights his amazing talents at mime with sound effects. You ever wonder what the whole "trapped in a box" mime routine would be like with added noises? Wonder no more :D

Peep Show - Series 1-5 Boxset

I want to be more like Johnson if I'm honest. You know this series is ace already, right?

Russell Brand - My Booky Wook

Yes I like Russell Brand, he is both funny and interesting. And that whole Andrew Sachs thing was BLATENTLY Jonathan Ross's fault. Either way, this looks like a really interesting life story.

Lucky Charms cereal from my Dad

I was so excited I didn't see the lid of the cereal box was taped down a bit. My heart visibly sunk as my parents chortled at me. Inside the box was:

- A note explaining there was a credit crunch on (back story needed here; Lucky charms arent sold widely in the UK, just imported in from the US and sold for like £7.49 a box in Selfridges stores), and instructions on what to do with the rest of the contents of the box.

- A packet of standard marshmallows

- A packet of cheerios

- My epic sadness

I'll say this; The thought that went into this elaborate scheme is amazingly commendable. However, it calls for revenge at some point.

Lucky Charms cereal from my sister

LUCKILY (haha) my sis saved the day; She bought me some real Lucky Charms. WOO

New Wallet

It is okay, but I fear lack of card slots/money sections will prove an eventual hinderance. Will seek out more heavy duty alternative, relegating this to the still-quite-sexy "my night out wallet" status.

Chocolates and Sweets

Standard.

Aftershaves, Perfume stuff

Issey Miyake (?) stuff I already use, but I have run out of: Win.

The other two new ones I got: Win.

Should keep me smelling delightful for another year

Gift vouchers

Always appreciated.

I think that covers it, thank you's go out to all of my loved ones.

Note: I did actually buy the majority of my presents myself, with my parents letting me off two weeks of rent in compensation. There's still some thought that counts there :)

Merry Christmas 2008 all!

Top 25 Albums of 2008 15-1

2008-12-15T08:52:00.000-08:00

Part two of the biggest countdown this side of 2009. Oh yes.

15: Flight Of The Conchords - S/T

First off, the Flight Of The Conchords TV programme is absolutely amazing, and I implore you to watch it if you haven't already. Bret and Jemaine are two musicians from New Zealand who have their own special brand of comedy-folk. That said, this album is an absolutely fantastic collection of songs from the award-winning first series of the TV programme, and no track is quite like the last. Whether they are being influenced by the Pet Shop Boys ("Inner City Pressure"), Gangsta Rap ("Mutha'uckers"), or David Bowie (er.."Bowie"), Flight Of The Conchords always manage to bring a smile to your face. Definitely the comedy music album of 2008. Here's to the second series of the show, and (surely) the second album in 2009.

Mutha'uckers @ youtube

14:Hot Club De Paris - Live At Dead Lake

Despite the slightly misleading title, Live At Dead Lake is the second proper album from Liverpool alt-pop band Hot Club De Paris, and how it hasn't escalated them to levels of Wombat-esque stardom is absolutely mental. Lead single "Hey Housebrick" is a big highlight here, being one of the indie singles of the year. Elsewhere, the quality remains high, with the ever-so-slightly dark "My Little Haunting", and the ultra-catchy "This Thing Is Forever". "Boy Awaits Return of the Runaway Girl" is also worth mentioning, with it's perfectly mellow chorus. Hot Club De Paris are a band who definitely deserve your attention right now. Check out the "You've Been Framed" style video for Hey Housebrick below.

Hey Housebrick @ youtube

13:Pockets Filled With Matches - Strobe Lights and Ambulances EP

First off; EP's count in my top 25. Just in case a fuzz was kicked up. This debut EP from Sheffield's Pocket's Filled With Matches is a brilliant 7 track showcase of beautifully fuzzy female-led post-punk rock, with splashings of Pretty Girl Make Graves and Help She Can't Swim all over. Stand out tracks include the exhilarating "The Monophonic", and the frantic "So Sorry, Simone", and between the clever guitar lines and the energetic vocals of siblings Paul and Elie respectively, you'll barely have time to catch your breath. With several singles being lined up to follow up this EP in the new year, bigger things are surely on the way for Pockets. Oh, and did I forget to mention that this EP is entirely free? Download it from here (rapidshare link)

Pockets Filled With Matches @ myspace

12:Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Pershing

This is one of the most blissed out indie-rock albums to come out of America this year, and it's not hard to see why, with opening number "Glue Girls" inducing the type of surf-rock feeling that the Beach Boys were once king of. The whole album just gives off the aurora of one of those perfect sunny days you see on adverts where everyone is just chilling out at the park eating ice-creams, so as you can imagine, listening to this album in the depths of winter is an extreme headfuck, but a worthwhile one at that, as it warms you up inside quite awesomely. I also challenge you to get album highlight "Modern Mystery" out of your head after a few listens. Perfec'

Modern Mystery @ youtube

11:Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs

Speaking of blissed out indie rock, we come to number 11, and Narrow Stairs by Death Cab For Cutie. This album took all the good parts from previous album Plans, and combined them with the atmosphere of album-before-that Transatlanticism, and it is absolutely fantastic. Obvious album highlight is the 8 minutes-plus "I Will Possess Your Heart", a song about longing made perfect by a 4 minute intrumental buildup at the start of the song. Single of the year? Very possibly. After this, the album turns into a mix of american indie rock anthems ("No Sunlight", "Long Division") and slower, more atmospheric numbers, which are what we've come to know, are Death Cab's strong point. And they don't disappoint, with "Talking Bird" and album closer "The Ice is Getting Thinner" being so full of longing, that you can feel it in every drum hit, every guitar line, and every syllable of every word. Overall, this is one of those albums where each track has it's own special reason for being, but when brought together, they become something special indeed.

I Will Possess Your Heart @ youtube

10:Lykke Li - Youth Novels

About a day after reading Lykke Li's name for the first time, I entered a competition to see her live in Manchester for free. I won said competition, and then saw her for the first of two times in the same month on that night, and both times I was absolutely in awe the whole time. Lykke Li's stage presence is so unique, so demanding, that it's hard not to get trapped in the almost tribal performances of the synth pop tracks that dominate Youth Novels. That said, Lykke Li's music sounds a lot more organic than the synth pop tag gives her credit for, and tracks like "Dance Dance Dance", "Breaking It Up" and "Little Bit" can't help but make you want to groove along with them. Online bonus track "Tonight" proves to be a fantasticly longing closer to the album, and demonstrates an exposed fragile innocense that the rest of the album manages to hide behind tribal drums and acoustic guitars.

Little Bit @ youtube

9:Laura Marling - Alas, I Cannot Swim

Laura Marling must surely be on track to becoming a national treasure. On the the release of this, her debut, mercury nominated, album, she has had only just turned 18, and the songwriting on display within this album does not suggest such a youth. From the start of "Ghosts", to the end of the hidden track, this album swells with a timeless romantic yearning, sometimes so close to the edge of despair that it can literally pull your heartstrings and start sawing at them with a small, delicate blade. 2nd Single "Cross Your Fingers" puts an upbeat alt-folk backing track to otherwise downbeat lyrics ("Cross your fingers/Hold your toes/We're all gonna die when the building blows"), and it has a habit of being one of those songs you start singing at random times without really realising it. Warning;This could be a potentially awkward situation.

Ghosts @ youtube

8:Anathallo - Canopy Glow

Whenever I try to describe Anathallo to people, I always tend to go for the description of "Like the Arcade Fire, but a lot more uplifting", and this seems to be a good starting point. Anathallo is a 7-piece band from Chicago, and they play some of the most delicate, uplifting music you are likely to hear. Seeing them live is an utter delight, and I was honoured to support them down in London recently. Canopy Glow builds a lot of the grandiose foundations laid by previous album Floating World, and is absolutely full of alt-pop moments, from the "When you wake up" vocal lines on "Italo", the killer chorus of "The River" and pretty much everything about "John J. Audubon", from the handbell intro, to the enchanting "Ooh's" and "Doo's" and background vocals. In all seriousness though, it's live where these guys truly astound, when they are next playing near you, I recommend you see them. You can download "The River" here. (right click save target as)

Italo (live) @ youtube

7:Tokyo Police Club - Elephant Shell

From the strange machine like drum beats that lead into album opener "Centennial", Tokyo Police Club grab you and don't let go, taking on a tour of their short snappy indie rock, like The Strokes hyperactive younger brothers. Almost every track on this album clocks in at under 3 minutes, and because of this, it is absolutely impossible to get fed up of it. The more mellow "Juno" appears at track 4 with its glacial lyrics and glockenspiel to slow proceeding down again, but as soon as the last glockenspiel note rings out, we're straight back into the urgent post-punk indie rock with the fantastic single "Tesselate". This album also wins an award for the strangest chorus to get into my head on a regular basis, and this is "Elephant shell/You're my cave and I've been hiding out" from "In A Cave". I can't fault this album. Even though it's only about 25 minutes long, it all fits perfectly.

Juno (live) @ youtube

6:Los Campesinos - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed

To say that Los Campesinos are prolific is nothing. This was their second full-length release of 2008, and if anything is improves on their debut wholeheartedly. This record is a feast of amazing lyrics, and the twee instrumentation highlights Gareth Campesinos amazing vocal work. The title track's lyrics in particular are amazing, if only for the brilliant little run where Gareth reminisces about "the one in Canada/when you got drunk/ate loads of crisps/and threw up by a football pitch". Elsewhere, teenage heartbreak, revenge and hundreds of awesome little references are to be found on an album that manages to switch between naive optimism and sharp realism at the drop of a violin bow. Almost perfect indie pop. You haven't seen the end of team campesinos in this countdown though...

All Your Kayfabe Friends @ youtube

5:The Maple State - Say Scientist EP

The second EP to make this top 25, and rightfully so. This EP is a collection of six songs by The Maple State that are absolutely perfect. Opener "We Swear By The Light Life" is a great little pop song, with driving bass sneaking underneath the glossy guitar lines, and passionate vocals, that are found all the way through this EP. Things turn dark on "Don't Take Holidays", which is the most straightforward rocker on here. However, the best is saved for the second half, leading off with the anthem-in-the-making of "For Our Temperature Lives". I dare you to find another song that utilises the line "Now i'm not so fucking chipper". I dare you. The syrupy sweet synth lines in this track are absolutely perfect, and manage to dig inside you and just take up residence. Personal highlight for me is "Starts With Dean Moriarty", a song which seems to fit my whole year of being an overly poor student perfectly, with it's chorus of "This is a bad sign/I'm believing my own lies/The money is gone/Now there's no-one left to bail me out". With the members of The Maple State still being at university themselves, i'm guessing that they were in the same boat as myself. Nice. Roll on 2009, and hopefully their debut album.

For Our Temperate Lives @ youtube

4: Los Campesinos - Hold On Now, Youngster

The debut album from Los Campesinos (their first of two this year;see no.6 on this list) was pretty eagerly anticipated by myself. Ever since hearing "We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives" on a Drownedinsound podcast (which is a song that has been cruelly left off this album, uncondonable), I got officially hooked on Los Campesinos. Hearing the opening track "Death To Los Campesinos" for the first time before the album came out was the icing on the cake; It's possible the track that encapsulates what LC are all about - good clean fun indie pop-rock, with subtle dark undertones. Early single "You!Me!Dancing!" acts as a centrepoint for the album, with an extended post-rock noise intro bursting into dancey twinkly indie pop town. Good times all round. "We Are All Accelerated Readers" deserves extra special mention as being one of those "gets in your head" songs, and the exhilarating ending of "One blink for yes, two blinks for no" makes "Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks" one of the uplifting highlights of the album. I just realised that I almost forgot to write about "My Year In Lists". This is probably THE track of the album, and the video to it can be seen below, and I HIGHLY recommend it!

Even though this album is rated two space higher than "We Are Beautiful..." I think I rate both albums about the same; This one just edged ahead due to the fact I've been listening to it all year, whereas i've only had "We Are Beautiful.." for just over a month. So there that is.

3: Gregory And The Hawk - Moenie And Kitchi

I've only had this album for just over a month, and it's completely sucked me into it's delicate off-kilter world. This record is one part acoustic guitar, one part off kilter drums and percussion, and multiple parts of sweet, beautiful vocals, courtesy of singer Meredith Godreau. I can say with complete 100% honesty that I think "Oats We Sow", "Doubtful" and "Ghost" are absolutely perfect songs, and the rest aren't far behind. Also worth checking out, although not strictly album related, is her acoustic cover of Beyonce's "Irreplaceable", with is absolutely stunning. You can listen "Oats We Sow" here, and I really recommend you doing so;

Oats We Sow - Gregory and the Hawk

Irreplaceable cover @ youtube

2: The All New Adventures Of Us - Best Loved Goodnight Tales

This album is so close to being my favourite of the year. For one, single "Firetruck Doki Doki" has been one of my most played tracks since TANAOU put it on their myspace page for the first time. Next, when the actual album was first released earlier this year, it was released on vinyl only, which made me madly excited, being a huge fan of albums of vinyl to say the least. Next up was when it arrived, because it wasn't just a vinyl record; there was a (photocopied) handwritten lyric booklet, a badge, a 7" record adapter in the shape of the TANAOU logo, a sticker, and even a CD-R with the album tracks on, as well as a tonne of random sideproject songs and demos. Can I say awesome?

Onto the actual content of the album, and every single second is filled with beauty. Singles "45 Forever", "Firetruck Doki Doki" and "St Crispins Got Our Back's" shine out brightly, and they are surrounded by beautiful tracks such as "Loftets Grand", which is an amazing 8 minute centrepiece that somehow manages to place you into a snow covered carpark outside a service station in another country. The lyrics are picturesque and subtle, and are delivered with one of the most sincere and emotional voices in musical history. This album is your new best friend on cold quiet nights, I promise.

Firetruck Doki Doki @ youtube

1:Johnny Foreigner - Waited Up 'Til It Was Light

Firstly; Salt Peppa and Spinderella, otherwise known as song of the year. Birmingham's own Johnny Foreigner score the number one slot on my top 25 albums of this year, making a perfect messy indie rock album. This band are absolutely exhilerating live, and this album is the perfect collection of songs that showcase how amazing they are. In particular, "Salt Peppa and Spinderella" features the most satisfying build up and finale in any song this year, fact. Elsewhere, single "Our Bipolar Friends" and "Eyes Wide Terrified" speak for themselves, whereas tracks such as "Lea Room", "The End and Everything After", and "Yes, You Talk To Fast" are all waving their arms in the air trying to get your attention, with both Alexei and Kellys vocals on great display all over. Some quiet respite is offered with a slower acoustic track "DJ's Get Doubts", but as soon as you hit "Absolute Balance" and "The Hidden Song At The End Of The Record", you are hit with the most beautiful cacophony of noise. Which sums this album up quite succinctly really.

So, that's it for this year! Coming up soon, my tips for 2009, and a few other more brief lists.

Like top 10 tracks of the year perhaps.

What are your favourite albums of this year?

Top 25 Albums of 2008 25-16

2008-12-14T16:43:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year! Let's kick this off in reverse order style;

25: Ladyhawke - S/T

When I first saw the video for "Dusk Till Dawn", I was convinced I was watching the new Ting Ting's video, as Ladyhawke definitely shares a lot of synth-pop characteristics with the here-today-hopefully-gone-tomorrow indie-dance outfit. However, after hearing the 80's-tinged (not a pun) "Back Of The Van" played inbetween bands when I went to see Hot Club De Paris in Birmingham, I checked out Ladyhawke's Selftitled album, and was amazing to find a pop album where every single track is as catchy as the singles. Definitely a party soundtrack album.

Back Of The Van @ youtube

24: Fall Out Boy - Folie A Deux

Although this album technically isn't out yet (god bless the internet), it has definitely managed to creep onto the end of my top 25. Essentially, those who gave up on Fall Out Boy after the last album will still hate this one, but for those like myself who still like Fall Out Boy (heaven forbid), this album is a mixed bag of amazing songs, from the synth-rock single "I Don't Care", to the absolutely awesome "typical" Fall Out Boy tracks, such as "(Coffee for Closers)" and "27". This album is all about clever lyrics, big choruses, and switching between pop punk, rock, and r n'b at the drop of a hat. Album centrepiece "What A Catch, Donnie" is a major highlight, with a huge ending that brings in a ton of guest vocalists, and the ghosts of Fall Out Boy songs past. Nice.

I Don't Care @ youtube

23: Elle Milano - Acres Of Dead Space Cadets

I have a pretty strange history with this band. First off, i only realised a few years after hearing Elle Milano that i'd been a fan of a band called Psirens, that some of the members of Elle Milano had formerly been in, so that was quite a weird coincidence. I first saw Elle Milano live supporting Nightmare Of You in Manchester in 2005, and was quite impressed by them, but after a few weeks listening to random demo mp3s of theirs, I kinda forgot about them. That is, until this year, with the release of their first full length. The album explodes with "Laughing All The Way To The Plank", which has one of the most amazing, adrenaline inducing choruses you'll hear all this year and next. See youtube link below for proof! Elsewhere, this album is packed full of dark indie-pop tracks, such as the almost spooky sounding "Curiousity Killed The Pop Star", to the amazingly upbeat indie-west-west-saloon-piano-led "I Know It's Good But I'm Playing It Down", which could almost pass as a happy indie-disco version of Muse. Sadly, Elle Milano have parted ways now, but I am definitely glad they released this album before splitting. RIP.

Laughing All The Way To The Plank MP3 (right click and save target as)

22: M83 - Saturdays=Youth

From the cover art, to the music videos, to the synth laden dreamy poptronica found when you press play, it's clear to see that this album is in the wrong decade. Everything on this album, from the drum fills on "Kim and Jessie", to the guitars on "Graveyard Girl", just screams 80's. This is an album for those that loved the soundtrack of Donnie Darko, as this album perfect channels the spirits of 80's bands such as Tears For Fears, and Echo and the Bunnymen, and combines this with the most dreamy atmospheric vocals this side of the next millenium. Perfect morning-after music.

Kim and Jessie @ youtube

21: I Was A Cub Scout - I Want You To Know There Is Always Hope

When I first heard "Pink Squares" I got hooked on this band way too easily, almost from the word go. I was playing Pink Squares like there was no tomorrow. After follow-up single "I Hate Nightclubs" was released, I was officially excited for the eventual album release. A few months later, and bam, IWYTKTTIAH is released. And I think I was initially disappointed, I mean, from the first few listens, nothing on the album topped "Pink Sqaures", not even the newly version of the same track. I soon forgot about the album for a while, until I noticed that everytime one of the album tracks played on my ipod or itunes when in shuffle mode, I was really loving them. Tracks like "The Hunter's Daughter" (which bursts into life spectacularly) and "Our Smallest Adventures" were absolutely amazing, and when listening to the album again as a whole, I came to appreciate just how goddamn amazing it was, from start to finish. I came to the conclusion that I was an idiot, because this album is ironically a lot more immediate than I took it for on the first few listens. Quite annoyingly, this the second RIP in this list already, as the beloved IWACS have sadly parted ways already.

Pink Squares (original version, because the video is much more awesome) @ youtube

20: We Are Scientists - Brain Thrust Mastery

In a year where the 80's have been influencing everyone left, right and centre, I don't think anyone thought that the No.1 american indie export We Are Scientists would be taking the same influences on board, but, nonetheless, they did. Brain Thrust Mastery continues on the same track that With Love And Squalor was taking, but instead of continuing on the same, easy, well lit route, they have taken the dark, winding route through the creepy haunted woods, and have created synth laden tracks such as the spooky opener "Ghouls", and the much-more-upbeat single "Chick Lit". It's not all darkness and 80's keyboard sounds though, elsewhere there are more standard rock tracks such as "Impatience" and "Dinosaurs", and of course, lead single, and potentially album highlight "After Hours". The amazing BBC session version of this can be seen at the youtube link below, in all its slide-guitar and strings-laden glory.

After Hours BBC Session version @ youtube

19: Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off The Lavender Bridge

After Test Icicles, the awesome synthpunk band from 2005, I don't think anything really expected an album of US-tinged acoustica from Dev Hynes, yet here is an album full of exactly that. By recording with Mike Mogis in Omaha, home of Bright Eyes and everything Saddle Creek related, Lightspeed Champion has created a great collection of chilled out tracks, that have amazing lyrics, and make up an absolutely pleasant listening experience. Highlights definitely include the uplifting "Dry Lips", the poetic "Everybody I Know Is Listening To Crunk", and the amazing 9-minutes-long album centrepiece "Midnight Surprise", the video to which is below;

This album comes under the category of great morning-after music, or even just perfect music for a sunny morning.

Midnight Surprise @ youtube

18:Friendly Fires - S/T

My love affair with Friendly Fires has been a short one so far. Having first heard them during the same DJ set that I first heard Ladyhawke - Back Of The Van, I have become addicted ever since. Singles "Jump In The Pool" and "Paris" are songs I expect to hear everytime I ever go out now, as they have such good crossover potential, it's not even funny. Their energetic note-perfect performance on Later with Jools Holland just solidifies how bright this bands future is. Their performance of Jump In The Pool is linked to below, in all in percussive glory.

Jump In The Pool (live on Later) @ youtube

17: Forgive Durden - Razia's Shadow; A Musical

From the start of this concept album to the very end, I was completely hooked. Featuring a tonne of guest vocalists all taking different roles in the story (Such as Chris Conley of Saves The Day as a wise man, Max Bemis of Say Anything as a scheming spider, and Greta from The Hush Sound as a love interest), this album pleases from start to finish, with a story that takes a few listens to figure out properly, but each listen proves more rewarding than the last, given the amount of little nuances that pop up on this each track. Love song "The Missing Piece", with all it's sweeping strings and stabbing horns will stick in your head for weeks, and the crazy evil-disney stomp of Doctor Doctor (featuring Shawn Harris of The Matches) paints a fantastic picture of an incredibly imaginative storyline, and altogether this album proves to be one of those albums where you always feel like hitting repeat as soon as it finishes.

The Missing Piece @ youtube

16: Foals - Antidotes

CASSIUS IT'S OVER, YOU'RE SECOND BEST!

Weird video, but this song is amazing. The whole album is an amazing listen. Bring on album number two already.

Stay tuned for 15-1, they will be coming tomorrow, for I am sleepy.

What are your top albums of 2008?

Kevin Devine - Split The Country, Split The Streets

2008-12-10T15:14:00.000-08:00

I'll start at the beginning. The main facts that influence this story are these;

1) I love vinyl records, and am on a quest to purchase all of my favourite albums in this format.

and

2) At my work, after 6pm, everything goes quiet, and my workload decreases in an epic fashion.

You know what, this isn't even the beginning, it's more like the middle, but we'll get where we need to go eventually.

So, recently at work, wikipedia has been my best friend, and it was on wikipedia that i found out that "Split the Country, Split the Streets" and "Make The Clocks Move", two albums by american singer-songwriter Kevin Devine, had been released on vinyl. In the same package no less.

I got excited. And my debit card got scared.

Further reading and research uncovered some important, and some troubling facts. Firstly, it was only released in Germany. This is ok, thought Stef, with a bit of luck and babelfish I'll be able to decipher this cryptic language. However, secondly was the fact that there were only 500 copies pressed. Ever.

My debit card almost melted thinking of how much this record might end up costing me.

As luck would have it, the website of the label who'd pressed the record (Defiance Records) seemed to still have it in stock. Phew. Lots of translating later, and i'd sent an e-mail (in english no less) asking if I could order it (for only 18 euros and postage, not too bad!)

As luck didn't have it, I had an e-mail back stating that they were sorry, but they sold their last copy the week before. Ouch.

As luck still actually had it (it never lost it, to be fair), i had a browse of some of the vinyl distro sites linked from Defiance Records, and jackpot, greenhell.de had it.

Skip forward two weeks to this morning, and i'm skipping towards the door thinking my new phone is being delivered, only to be given a vinyl shaped package to be signed up, covered in German packing tape and stuff. Score!

So. thats the middle of the story. The ending is that i've been listening to "Split the Country, Split the Streets" all day, but let's set the scene and go to the beginning.

I first heard Kevin Devine when I heard that Jesse Lacey, frontman of Brand New, had sung on Devine's track "Cotton Crush". I promptly got hold of the track, and adored it. It's the lead track on "Split the Country" and it builds up to such a brilliant breakdown, that it's become one of those rare songs that i've loved for years without ever getting sick of it. So what of the rest of it's parent album?

Cotton Crush Live feat Jesse Lacey

After the intense beginning that is "Cotton Crush", a more straightforward rock affair is found with "Afterparty", a bittersweet love affair of a song that drags you in the amazing "No Time Flat". This is one of the standout tracks on the album, a mid-pace ambling acoustic-rock song that is lyrically amazing, where Devine sings about aging, Iraq and politics, but somehow manages to not sound preachy whilst doing it, which is a pretty impressive feat.

Side A of the record is completed by another two upbeat fuzzy songs, "No-one Else's Problem" (whose catchy "you're no-one else's problem but you sure are mi-i-ne" refrain will be in your head for the next x amount of years) and "Buried By The Buzz".

Side B is a much more intimate affair, with Devine singing quiet acoustic tracks about stealing a wig that remind him of an ex ("Haircut"), and the assumptive thought process that occurs when noticing someone on the "other side of the train" ("Probably"). Devine closes the album with an ode to love ("You are the daybreak") and an open letter regarding religion ("Lord I Know We Don't Talk"), and honestly leaves you wanting to start the album over again.

I think where the record is so effective is that Kevin Devine manages to sing clever lyrics with an emotional voice that verges more towards "passionate" than "whiney", and especially when combined with Jesse Lacey's background shouting on "Cotton Crush", it manages to both impress and inspire at the same time. Elsewhere, it's lyrical couplets like "The quiet can scrape all the calm from your bones, but maybe it should, maybe we need to be hollowed" and "I got a fistful of shattered seashells that scream like soldiers stuck down an oilwell/I saw a bad sign lit up like broadway, and I watched my head spin, and I heard my voice shake "I'm buried by the buzz of a year gone numb"", that just get stuck with you, and really make you stop and think about the words.

With "Split the Country, Split the Streets", Kevin Devine really managed to create an album that manages to tread a line between romance and politics, and it really manages to hit the mark on both subject matters, with a great mix of anthemic heavier tracks, and subtle slower songs. It's an album I highly recommend, purely because in the three years since it was released, I haven't managed to get sick of it. If anything, I think I love it a little bit more.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

2008-10-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

"MODERN MYSTERY"

"It’s a pointless, small place, On a map in outer space. Every second, every day you’re gone Got a job, but I can’t keep working on. Yeah

I think you are so anointed,  That’s why you get so disappointed.  I swear you are so important,  Nothing you do is pointless.  Yeah

There is no modern mystery,  No “mystic chords of memory”  There is no modern mystery  We’re makin’ up our history.

You could really put me in my place  On a map in outer space.  You got a real cool constitution   And that’s a come-on, but it’s not an allusion."

This song is almost perfect, and i highly recommend it. It has a feeling to it that makes you want to hear it again and again. Perfect chilled out american indie rock.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Modern Mystery

Joshua Radin

2008-08-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

For those of you that are fans of Scrubs, you'll have probably heard two of Joshua Radin's songs without even realising it. He writes the perfect music for a lazy day in the sun, or the rain, or whatever. He is releasing his sophomore record "Simple Times" on Sept 30th, and I reckon it's going to be the exact album that we'lll need in the hazy Autumn months. Here are two tracks that are going to be on it that were posted on his myspace page a few days ago,and if you are a fan of chilled out acoustic singer-songwriters, this is exactly what you need in your life right now.

I'd Rather Be With You
One Of Those Days
(from the forthcoming album, Simple Times, released 30/09/08)

Myspace
Amazon

So, you want to read some amazing comic books? Part Two!

2008-08-25T15:29:00.001-07:00

Okay! I put this off unwittingly, but now it's time for part two of my adventures into graphic novels. These are the ones you really want to check out, even if you don't know it yet. I can safely say this: All of these graphic novels are fantastically written, have fantastic artwork, and are just basically a good time for all. Lets begin...or continue even.

The Watchmen by Alan Moore

This is hands down amazing. It's not surprising to hear that a film is being made from this fantastic graphic novel. The story largely centres around a defunct group of superheroes in a future where being a superhero-vigilante-type is outlawed, and the death of one of the team starts drawing the original team back together, with an absolutely thrilling finale.

What's also brilliant is how there are so many brilliant characters, from the anti-hero Rorschach, the controversial Comedian, and the enigmatic Dr. Manhatten. Each of the main characters gets a bit of a back story as well, as this adds to the feeling of the whole story, as we are constantly being introduced to characters all the way through, keeping the story entirely gripping.

Needless to say, as The Dark Knight has been my mostly anticipated film of 2008, Watchmen will be my most anticipated of 2009 by a long way.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

Frank Miller completely takes hold of the Batman franchise, and makes it his own. Set in a future where Bruce Wayne has retired Batman for the past ten years, we are shown a future Gotham City, where crime has essentially spiralled out of control. Needless to say, Batman doesn't stay out of commission for long, and as well as brief encounters with Harvey Dent, A new Robin, and even Superman, he has absolutely epic battles with the leader of the vigilante army terrorising Gotham, and of course, his old enemy, The Joker.

This is an absolutely out of this world story, and it guarantees gripping you until the end. If the Batman film franchise gets stale again, this would be the perfect story to knock it back into shape again, no doubt.

Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again by Frank Miller

The sequel to The Dark Knight Returns is another fantastic Batman story by Frank Miller. Without giving too much away, the story goes on a big Batman vs Superman tangent, and if you want to see an absolutely epic battle between Batman and Superman, this is the comic book for exactly that.

I can't give away anymore about this one, but again, it's worth the read!

Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb

After Frank Miller's futuristic Batman books, we jump back to the "present" day, and a mysteriously bandaged villain is attempting to sabotage Batman's every move. As with The Long Halloween, and Dark Victory, Loeb yet again writes another fantastic Batman mystery, and even broaches the subject of Batmans' romantic links with Catwoman.

Oh and expect The Joker, as well as Harley Quinn also. Another great story.

300 by Frank Miller

This is absolutely beautiful. This whole graphic
novel is set out in a painted, double page layout, and if you've seen the film, this is like reading storyboards for the film, it's that amazing.

The story, of course, is all about King Leonidas, and his 300-strong army of Spartans, who attempted to go to war with thousands upon thousands of the Persian army, in a battle for Greek honour.

This is one worth buying for the art alone, every page would make a stunning picture on any comic book fans wall.

Ok, that's it for now, i'm sure i'll write more regular, maybe even LONGER reviews of comic books as and when i read them.

So, you want to read some amazing comic books? PART ONE

2008-08-13T16:23:00.000-07:00

In the last week I have been astounded by the amazing works of art that I have found in the medium that is comic books. Here is a round up of what I read, and why it was so good.

1. Batman: Year One by Frank Miller

I'm not sure how this journey into comic books started. Wait that's a lie. This starts with the newest Batman film: The Dark Knight. After watching that, I spent quite a few days reading all manner of Batman-related information via the internet, and when reading that a lot of inspiration for the script of the film was taken from the Batman comic books "The Long Halloween" and "Dark Victory", I set about finding them. Of course, Batman: Year One is the prequel of sorts to these books, and is a brilliant starting place.

First and foremost, it's written by Frank Miller, the man behind 300, Sin City, and a whole host of other acclaimed comic books (his name will come up again in this article, be sure of that!), and the story is impressive, giving a realistic beginning to the relationship between Batman and Jim Gordon, not unlike the same events in The Dark Knight's prequel, Batman Begins. All in all, it's a fantastic starting point in this version of the batman story, especially if you've enjoyed the recent films. The darker, more realistic feel to the story adds as much to the comic book as it did the film.

2. Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb

Even though Batman: Year Two is the official sequel of sorts to Year One (although not written by Miller), many online sources regarded The Long Halloween to be a much better sequel, and I couldn't find anything to disagree with.

As mentioned before, the writers of The Dark Knight found this to be a big inspiration to the script of the film, and it's not hard to see why, with the mob, the joker, and Harvey Dent all featuring prominently. The main story of the book is of a mystery holiday killer slowly going through the members of the most notorious mob family, killing on every major holiday. Well almost, but that's telling.

The book features appearances from Joker, Scarecrow, Catwoman, The Riddler, and many other well known bat-villains, but of course, it's the story of the white knight DA Harvey Dent that will be of the most interest, especially in the books concluding chapters. A fascinating read.

3. Batman - Dark Victory by Jeph Loeb

Jeph Loeb brings closure to many of characters explored in Year One and The Long Halloween in this book, and he does it in a stunning fashion.

There are breakouts, a hangman killer leaving clues, a tonne of bat-villains, and an introduction to the boy wonder too. Yes that's right, Robin is in this one. And it's good, and still quite realistic, something this trilogy of sorts definitely delivers with.

After Year One and The Long Halloween, there's no way that you wont want to read this.

4. Batman: The Man Who Laughs by Ed Brubaker

An alternative sequel to Year One of sorts. (That's right, another alternative sequel!). This one gets quite a lot of good press though, and it's not hard to see why. Continuing where Year One left off, it explores the relationship between Jim Gordon and Batman, as a crazed madman starts killing important city officials.

It's not hard to see that this first batch of comic books were all read with a fascination of the joker character in mind is it? Either way, this is a more straightforward introduction to the joker character in the Batman universe than, for example, The Long Halloween.

Ok, that's it for part one of what's been a mostly Batman-centric comic book feature so far.

Next up: The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Knight Strikes Again, The Killing Joke, 300, THE WATCHMEN.

Beware, you have no idea how much I loved the next batch. Be prepared.

SNAPSHOT OF MY LIFE: Part One

2008-08-07T05:17:00.000-07:00

Listening to surround sound Jack's Mannequin
Need a job
Want to play Final Fantasy VI
Want to install and figure out MIDIDS, and install Cubase on my laptop for this reason also
Need to book check up with dentist
Need to put washing out
Need a job
Need money
Want to do awesome Lightningheart related stuff
Want to write music all day and all night
Want to finish reading Nick Hornby - Slam
Listening to surround sound Beirut

Q:WHAT THE HELL SHOULD I DO TODAY
A:ALL OF THE ABOVE

From my draft text's folder tonight:

2008-07-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

the amount of intertangled stories there are on one single night out; An absolute tonne.

Conflict of interest, endings that create disaster, masked as simple victory.

night allx

Gig tickets

2008-07-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

Back at home (where i currently am for a bit) in my bedroom, all that remains of all my old band posters (that followed me to university) are a trail of gig tickets winding their way around about 2 sides of my room (i think if they were in a straight line i could make it all the way round you know). And for the first time in ages, I had a proper look at them tonight, and it's a strange experience.

Its goes something like this: First gig experiences (incubus, jimmy eat world), crowdsurfing (rival schools, A), meeting bands (36 crazyfists, coheed), amazing singalongs (dashboard confessional, brand new), crushes, both the crowd and other (lostprophets, the distillers), first gig on own (boys night out), first gigs Not on own ifyougetmymeaning (colour of fire, reuben, horrorpops), gigs when the Not on own stuff started to go bad (v 2004, datsuns), crazy photography days (taking back sunday, my chemical romance), crazy streetteaming days (bloc party, steriogram), WHSmiths crew gigs (Bright Eyes, Yourcodenameis:milo, we are scientists, Regina Spektor x 2), Silly gigs in birmingham with train station overnight stays (we are scientists, the first time), gigs with good friends (mc lars, fightstar, motion city soundtrack, maple state), university adventures (help she can't swim, panic at the disco, we are scientists, be your own pet, get cape, tanaou, maria taylor), university outings with fun endings (nightmare of you, the paddingtons, ok go), gigs with hillard that ruled (goldie lookin chain, we are scientists (in wales no less)), summer-after-first-year gigs (jeremy warmsley, regina spektor (again!), say anything), LONDON BABY! gigs (brand new!),Budg in stoke gigs (mc lars, :(, fightstar) , gigs notonown again (motion city soundtrack), -Pausebuttonforawhileforreasonsbestnevermentionedasusual - then Gig that fixed me (The Maple State at the Roadhouse, namely "Our Temperate Lives"), gigs notonown again for a bit (blood brothers, get cape, brand new, regina), gigs on own but with friends again (klaxons) ,gigs notonown again, but better (emily haines, Manchester Orchestra w/Anathallo, regina spektor again!)

and then whoa. basically up to date, bar the gigs i went to in the last year, and my memory fails me there. i remember athlete, lykke li (twice, both amazing) M.I.A. with Mia, Rival AWESOME i mean Schools, ermm Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip.

There's a story of the last 6 and a half years of my life wrapped inside the pattern of those gig tickets.

Deep man.

Stef outx

Bam! Its typing time!

2008-07-10T01:50:00.000-07:00

Hey boys and hey girls, time for an everything update!

I have spent the last week of my life being absolutely obsessed with Doctor Who, and it's not a good obsession! I seem to be living in this little inbetween period of my life where I need to be making important career moves, jobhunting, all that jazz, but the idea of time travelling and mad adventures seems a hell of a lot more interesting.

Anyway, as I said, that's how I've spent my last week, and don't get me wrong, I've been jobhunting too, but today, it changes. I'm going to be much, much more focused on the job thing from today. Besides, once all that is sorted, then I can probably laze about and watch saturday evening sci-fi comedy-drama all I want. And House too.

This-

Be the change you want to see in the world
Everything changes with change. That sounded cooler in my head.
Most things seem to, this is an honest fact.
You have no idea. But then neither do I.

Years can be amazing when their potential is reached.
Onto brighter, lighter places seems like a good ideology now.
Underneath stars and planets there is universal truth.
Can normality make real sense of today?

My brain finds fiction amazing. But still finds space for fact.
Old lessons teach everyone new tricks.
Dealing from new decks of cards makes new games happen.
Everyone loves card games. RIGHT?

Or just create a new idea of what "sense" is?
Ultimately I've no idea, but I like the idea of thinking about it.
Love the idea of thinking about it, thinking is never overrated.
Don't you think so? Thoughts are absolutely worth everything.

Left Right Up Down A B & Start. Rearranged. Level Select.

and...that.

I can't wait for the next bit of my life to start really.

What's been interesting is putting my newest album - Hurry Up, Hurricane - online for people to download (http://www.hurryuphurricane.tk if you are interested). I've had so much good feedback from people, it's definately the work i'm most proud of so far. Lyrically i'm improving as well, although I can never put my finger on what I'm writing about, some of it seems rooted in fiction, but I know some of it is based on fact, I just forget what though. It's essentially all from my head. I think the first track is the most honest, that was an honest snapshot of where my head was at when writing the album. I'll transcribe it at some point, will be good to see it written down.

In terms of music, I can't get enough of Hot Club De Paris recently, their recent single "Hey Housebrick" is the best pop song of this year so far, and i just found out the other day, after about a month of loving the song, that Lucy and Nicola from Puzzle do the "Hey!" vocals in it! This is doubly awesome because I've recorded Puzzle before :) Six degrees of seperation or what!

Somehow everyone knows everyone.

Right, I'm off to eat breakfast, write 14 job applications (maybe 15 to round things up) and then as a reward maybe play Final Fantasy XII. Good game.

Crowd participation- tell me your favourite song of the moment in the comments, I think i'm going to make an awesome compilation of everyones current favourite songs...that would be quite cool thinking about it :)

Stef!

Another pleasant valley monday

2008-06-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

I'm off to see Rival Schools in Manchester in a very short time indeed, so this will be kept short, concise, and to the point.

Number One:

This is why Rival Schools was so awesome (if you are on my facebook notes, click HERE to go to the full multimedia experience!)

I KID I KID. Either way, the game was still awesome, so awesome that Walter Schreifels named Rival Schools, and their only album (so far), United By Fate, after it.

What I really meant was, this song is why Rival Schools are so amazing. Forget all your fancy boyslikegirls, hellogoodbyes, and other haircut emo bands (yes i'm generalising). This is what emo should still be; Rocking. This is Used For Glue.

I'm willing to bet that will the encore song tonight :)

Number Two:

Laura Marling is already amazing, but her new single, "Cross Your Fingers" is in fact more amazing. I tried to do the maths, but I failed. The video can be seeeeeeen here>

Thats all for now folks, I'm off to the gig! Review later? Oh yes!

One Tree Hill, The Cure, and Tokyo Police Club

2008-05-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

Today I watched the series 5 finale of One Tree Hill (yes i watch One Tree Hill, it's nice mindless viewing) and there was this one moment where Peyton (who is in love with Lucas) painted a huge comet on the RiverCourt (an outside basketball court) with the lyrics to Lovesong by The Cure all around it. Lucas sees it later on, and is suitably impressed.

I thought this was amazing, and have been listening to that song a lot today. Video? Video. Listen to the lyrics, and you'll see why I think the whole basketball court thing is amazing.

Other than teen melodrama and The Cure, today I'm loving Tokyo Police Club a lot. For those who have yet to hear this amazing band, here's a primer: They are four guys from Canada, they released a mini-album last year called "A Lesson In Crime" which was 7 short tracks of energetic brilliance, and they've just released their newest effort, Elephant Shell. Single no.2 from this in "In a Cave". Video of which is...here: Love the concept of this.

Tokyo Police Club are surely on their way to bigger things, for one,
In A Cave is one of the catchiest songs on the album, and its refrain of "Elephant shell/You're my cave and i've been hiding out", is the stuff of msn names and scribbled lyrics on the fronts of notepads worldwide. The band also put on a pretty awesome live show, the things they do with tambourines are impressive to say the least. They are playing Manchester Night n Day cafe the day before Lykke Li interestingly, on the 1st June. Two nights in manchester, two amazing acts. I personally can't wait.

Also interesting news, if you visit their myspace now, you can download an exclusive remix of former single "Tesselate" by Tom from Los Campesinos!. Sorted, and sorted.

The single, "In A Cave" is out on June 26th through Memphis Industries.

Lykke Li

2008-05-17T17:41:00.001-07:00

Ok, storytime.

I entered a competition in the Metro free newspaper a few weeks ago. I was up at stupid o' clock in the morning due to my housemate's need to get to Staples to get his dissertation printed off and bound, and I decided to get mine printed off too, you know, just to have lying around for fun. Reading said free newspaper on the bus, I saw that they were offering free tickets to see a singer called Lykke Li. Having heard one song from Lykke Li the previous day, for the first time ever, I though, what the hell, and entered. Not even a question, just a text number.

- Little Bit

Bear in mind the last time i was on public transport at stupid o' clock in the morning, I did the same kinda thing, and won tickets to see M.I.A. in birmingham...i was travelling back to Warrington when I entered, and I was in Warrington when they called me to say i'd won. I was on a train back to Birmingham within the next few hours. Snappy.

Anyhow, I entered the competition, then got dissertations bound, headed back home, and ended up falling asleep around 1pm. Very late nights + early mornings = Tired.

Needless to say, around 3pm i was awoken from my slumber and politely informed that I had won tickets to the Lykke Li gig later that day. I was sleepily grateful, and I think I woke up a bit after that. Thank you Metro.

Skip to the gig, I was astounded, having only really heard two songs beforehand, I was in awe the whole time. Upon getting back home, I downloaded her debut album "Youth Novels", which is absolutely fantastic. However, the two songs that she played live that I was truly wowed by aren't even on the album. Crazy.

That said, a short period of searching later, I found that Wow track No. 1, a beautiful song about being on a night out but not "feeling it" (i totally "got" this song, its a feeling i'm very familiar with haha), called "Everybody But Me" was a B-side to her "Little Bit" single, and Wow track No. 2, her closing track "Tonight", was posted on her very own website, as a kind of online bonus track to the album.

- Everybody But Me

If you didn't watch either of the videos in this post, I recommend you do so now, I don't think I can do justice to describing how she sounds. A more delicate poetic version of swedish singer Robyn perhaps?

Either way, her album is worth a listen to, as well as the random bsides/bonus tracks dotted about. She is also playing Manchester at the Night n Day Cafe at the start of June. You know I'll be there.

Stef outx

Today is saturday

2008-02-23T06:16:00.000-08:00

Today, technically the same day I wrote the last post, i'm sitting about in the living room, whilst everyone else in my house is watching the rugby, and getting set for a day of SPORT.

Meanwhile me, corin and ian are heading off to chester campus, to A) watch rugby as well, and B) watch me play a gig! A real gig, hows about that.

Right, break, as 1) i can hear an instrumental version of "cassius" by foals playing on bbc sport, and 2) I need to find out how much bomberman for the gamecube costs...

Goodday

2008-02-22T19:27:00.000-08:00

So its 3.27am, i'm sitting in my housemate Mike's room typing this on my laptop. He's watching Black Books and playing Poker. I need sleep, but i know i'll end up sleeping in tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be the first day of the rest of my life. Need to practise songs, record stuff, and many many many etcs.

at 3.30am, i discovered writing blogs doesn't work too good!

This continues tomorrow, with performance, music and dissertation based areas to cover!

The Maple State

2007-03-06T04:19:00.000-08:00

The Maple State are a fantastic emo/indie/pop band from manchester, and blend amazingly catchy lyrics with sparkling keyboards, and some pretty damn good guitar playing.

I have caught these live quite a few times now, and they havent disappointed yet, and in the near future, they should be releasing their debut album (i hope!)

Claims to fame: Mark Hoppus (of +44 fame) has played the band on one of his podcasts, the band have recorded some songs with members of Motion City Soundtrack producing, and more recently, they have been recording with Andy Gill, from the band Gang of Four.

The single Joanna is out now, via iTunes, or on 7" vinyl.

Recommended: Arguments (myspace)

Out of boredom...

2007-03-05T13:05:00.000-08:00

I just decided to start a blog.

Yes, completely out of procrastination.

Basically, the long and short of this matter stems from the fact i'm about to spend another £11.70 that I don't have on buying The Postal Service "Give Up" on vinyl, after hearing Such Great Heights for the millionth time. Funnily enough, this purchase was inspired through hearing the Iron and Wire cover version, which just came on randomly through my iTunes.

Either way, I just thought I'd stake my claim on a piece of the internet (yes the internet can be divided into pieces), to just write about music. Nothing new there, however, I hope you enjoy.