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Thursday 20 June 2013

Things That Make My Life.

My life isn't all about listening to and playing music. Although that is a big part of my life, there are other things that make me get up in the morning. (Some of these will be music related!).
Me at a the Hallraiser Concert at my school.

Music in general - I have never thought about my life if I'd never decided to sing or pick up guitar but it wouldn't be anything near as fun as the life I have now. Obviously, I love music. It is what makes my world go round whether it's playing, composing or listening, it is just great. If I didn't think so I'd not be doing two music based A-Levels next year.

The Smiths - I've made this one I've made pretty clear but have never really explained why they are such a massive part of my life. My Dad is a massive Smiths fan and when I was younger he played them in the car to get my brother and I into them and we absolutely hated it! I don't really know what it was about the Smiths I didn't like but there was definitely something - maybe the fact that Morrissey was so miserable and my naive little head couldn't take it? But anyway, as I grew older and I became more aware of culture and love and politics my love for the Smiths grew and grew and they have now become one of my most loved bands. The Smiths changed my whole outlook on life - whether that is a good thing or a bad thing I do not know at the minute but for the time being I like being the angsty teenager I am.
Karl Marx (in case you didn't know)

Politics - In my house I was always told never vote Blue. I find it funny that until about age of 12, I didn't realise the Conservatives had any other name but the Tories. At 14, my Dad started to talk to me about Marxism and Thatcherism because of a school project I had to do. He didn't force me to believe what he believed, he instead gave me both arguments and told me to make a decision on what I believed in. In a lot of ways I think that was one of the most important things my Dad has ever done for me because without it I wouldn't be here writing this now with my books on Occupy and Marx. I am very thankful to my Dad for giving me a choice in who I would grow up to support - the amount of  kids these days that will vote Labour or Torie because they grew up reading the Daily Mail or The Morning Star and they never had a chance to balance their views. It's sad that in a democracy your choices on who you vote for end up being made for you by your parents anyway in this modern day. I was told to teach myself about the Political world so it's my own view.
My favourite book

Books - I like reading, I'm a slow reader but I really do love it. I've made it clear that my favourite author and the author that got me into reading was and still is Iain Banks and that I wouldn't be doing literature if I hadn't been introduced to him. Stories and ideas make my head run wild. I have an incredibly over active imagination and if I'm having a night were the heating coming on becomes the start of a zombie apocalypse then books are my best way out of that frame of mind and into a calm state again. I like messages in books, if someone writes something I would one day like to quote I am a bad person and underline the whole passage for my future self.

My cat - About ten years ago, my parents bought me a ginger boy cat with green eyes. Little did they know, that was my dream cat and his name is Pharaoh. My cat and I are best friends and he's sitting in my lap right now. He means a lot to me because whether I'm feeling great or rubbish, he doesn't care - he only wants his belly scratching and that is it! So in essence, he's just always there for a hug even if he doesn't really want to be. Also what I like about him is that he only does this with me, I AM THE CHOSEN ONE!
Old photo but me and my buds!

My friends - Cliché, I know but it took me a long time to find them and it will take me a long time to let them go. All my life I've been hurt by people who thought it was clever or funny to take me in and spit me back out again and those people led me to my current social circle. These people are the best people I've ever met because we have all been through similar situations throughout my life. We are all incredibly happy to stand there in the corridor talking about Pokemon rumours and playing them on our new/old Gameboy Colours.

Gaming - I have a younger brother so I missed the Gameboy playing days of the 1990s because I was fixated on the Teletubbies - this is why I don't really count myself as a 90s kid. Although this is the case, my first games console was a my Dad's Gameboy Original and my first game was Super Mario. We then upgraded to a PS2 > Wii > PS3 and XBOX 360 and I'm a big fan of explorer games such as Assassins Creed and GTA. I sit there for hours and rarely get frustrated (unlike my brother) at the games, I just see them as another story for me to follow. Gaming is one of my favourite pass times and more recently I have been getting into the Pokemon games because my brother wouldn't let me on his when I was a kid - they are just great!

My Family - Another cliché but who cares. I am very lucky to have the supportive family I do, they are great. If I hadn't had my family to push me to do the things I'm doing I think I'd barely leave the house. My brother is my friend, my Dad is my teacher and my Mum is my councillor. They are so good to live with, when I think about where and who I could have grown up with it makes me feel so fortunate.

I think this covers the basics. Obviously this isn't in any order in particular, see this more as a mind map of things rather than a list. Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IAmRumbleRoar
 

New/old Twitter.

I don't like having to switch between Twitter feeds to get what I write out there so I've decided that all my twitter activity will go onto one account, my personal one. The link to that account is: http://goo.gl/J3gqn. I will keep the blog's current Twitter feed open because I've got a few contacts in there at the minute but it will go in the near future.

Friday 14 June 2013

Ellie Goulding - Tessellate Cover (Alt-J)

I'm a bit of an Alt-J fan and I'm not that much of an Ellie Goulding fan but this is just great! Just thought I'd put it on as a Friday thing... maybe as track of the week? It really is top class, listen!!

   

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelecmangoclub

Wednesday 12 June 2013

Changes in music taste: Why is my music better than yours?

This is not my comment. It just got me thinking!
We have all had that debate in our families - you sit there and complain that your fellow relative is playing drivel and that they should listen to decent music like you. In my family, we're ok when it comes to music taste but my brother does tend to slip towards chart music which to the rest of the family is mindless nonsense. Why is this? Why does something seem like mind numbing crap that lacks substance to me yet be amongst the top played tracks on my brother's iPod?

This thought came into my mind why I saw a post on Reddit that asked the same thing and if you ask me what my opinion of what music today is it's that: music in general today lacks substance because it has become easier and easier for bands to get their sound heard and recorded. It is now easy to get a hit without much talent at all, only money. Jenna Rose and Rebecca Black are examples of this - with greed want-to-be music producers telling young girls that they have talent and auto-tuning their toneless voices to hell and posting it on YouTube the music scene is being watered down to a meaningless pulp.

The Change in Music Taste

In the 60s, the Beatles took over the world. Rock and roll was here and chart music was born. Back then, people were happy to listen to twee love songs that stuck in their heads and that they could tap their foot to. The music was modest and spoke of the ideal. People were just starting to throw away the barre chords and actually write something new and exciting which sparked off the whole issue that I am discussing today.

Eurovision 1974, ABBA blow away Europe and the rest of the world with "Waterloo". Although they didn't win the contest, it was the start of something big! Again throughout the 70s the themes to most of the music were love and heartbreak but for the first time there was music you and your Mum could listen to and not feel like your whole family thought you were the spawn of the devil. The 70s was the the musical era for everyone which is why it is a popular period of debate in these kind of discussions.

30 years ago, the Smiths got together in Manchester and took the country by storm. They would become my  and many others idea of "the perfect band". What was it that made the Smiths so successful? It is easy to say that the Smiths were one of the 80s most successful bands because for the first time ever they told the truth, in terms of politics and love. Morrissey summed up teenagers angst beautifully which is why he is a hero to so many people. When during the 70s music could be listened to by all, in the 80s it separated again - you locked yourself in your room listening to the words of Curtis, Weller and Morrissey whilst your parents still gripped onto the ABBA records. But of course, there was WHAM! and Duran Duran who lit up discos around the country and that your Gran danced to at Christmas - we shouldn't forget pop music in this decade, it was some of the best!

The 90s was another decade where parents and children stayed separate with the birth of grunge and Oasis. Nirvana brought heavy rock to the scene without constantly going on about the being the Anti-Christ, Kurt Cobain, like Morrissey, wrote about the hardships of being an awkward teenager which reached out to the entire generation. Oasis, Blur, Pulp etc carried on the rebellious edge to teenage music promoting getting pissed and laid and whatever but still made the decade one of the best in terms of bands to come out of it. But the 90s was very cheesy as well... Steps, Take That, Boyzone, PETE WATERMAN! If you could vaguely singing a tune and their were five or six of you, Pete wanted you and some may argue that put a downer on the decade - not me... I WENT TO GO SEE TAKE THAT AND I'M NOT ASHAMED!

This brings us to know.... the decade where teenagers with taste in music have gone backwards. There have been good bands but none of them have revolutionised anything or made teenagers feel any different. Take me for example: yes, I love Palma Violets and Biffy and Dry the River but if I had to choose a band that really speak to me then I'd have to go with the Smiths. I have others who would choose Nirvana or the Beatles or Oasis. The bottom line is music today sucks and that is why this debate has come about because unless today's pop music is all you have been exposed to, everyone knows there has been better. Today is a whole load of bands trying too hard to be different and edgy and they really aren't - they are just a bit pathetic and if they are good, they are saying what someone said 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago!

Parents argue with their children about music taste because they regret not exposing their children to something better in the first place! I thank my lucky stars my Dad put his Oasis CDs in the car when we went on holiday whether I liked it or not because at least now I have enough knowledge to make my own decisions about what I listen to instead of MTV telling me.





Monday 10 June 2013

Leicester Bands: Titan.

Being from Leicestershire, I thought it would be good for me to cover some local bands. Looking through my followers I found a band called Titan who are indeed from Leicester and have recently taken part in some of Leicester's biggest music venues including the Leicester O2 Academy and Glastonbudget.

The five piece are made up of:
  • Vocalist - James Shaw
  • Lead guitarist - Sam Walsh
  • Guitarist - Ellis Goodwin
  • Bassist - Rees Clissold and
  • Drummer - Matt Allen
The band were influenced by Foo Fighters, Iron Maiden and Kings of Leon and have a sound that ranges from indie to heavy metal so reach out across the whole rock spectrum. The band have headlined at venues including the Shed, the Soundhouse and O2 Academy Leicester - which are all key venues around Leicester - as well as appearing on the Icon Stage at Glastonbudget. 

Titan write and perform 100% their own material and in March of this year they decided to record their first self titled EP, Titan - which I will be review within the next day or so. In the meantime though, check them out! 


Download/ Listen to the EP at the following sites: iTunes/Android/Spotify/Amazon

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelecmangoclub


Top 10 Albums Of The Year So Far

This year has been a pretty good year for music so far. This is my top ten of the best albums released this year.

10. "Exile" - Hurts. I waited a long time for this album to come out and I was worried that it wouldn't when the duo said they'd forgotten how to write music but obviously, it wasn't true. This album is a great follow up to their debut, "Happiness", continuing the moodiness that they captured so well the first time round. Listen to Hurts on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exile-Hurts/dp/B00AO2T9VU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370856703&sr=8-1&keywords=hurts.

9. "I Love You" - The Neighbourhood. I saw this album on my download site and clicked on the link purely because of the album artwork and it was one of my finds of the year. It is nice and dark which I like but was a bit more more synthy than I'd been used to. I think from the the opening bars to the first song I was a little bit in love with this album. Listen to The Neighbourhood on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/I-Love-You-The-Neighbourhood/dp/B00C2KCM0M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370857103&sr=8-1&keywords=the+neighbourhood.

8. "Random Access Memories" - Daft Punk. Oooh controversial! I put Daft Punk here because although I think the album is great, the genre isn't 100% my thing and so I feel there where albums that I would listen to more often than this one and enjoy more. Daft Punk have taken the world by storm with this album. Practically everyone was singing "Get Lucky" a month ago or so and it is definitely my favourite chart topper of the year. The album is full of other great tunes to get you dancing and will definitely be one of those albums that goes down in history as one of the best. Listen to Daft Punk on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Random-Access-Memories-Daft-Punk/dp/B00C061I3K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1370857591&sr=8-3&keywords=daft+punk.

7. "Wish to Scream" - Tribes. This is the follow up to the band's successful debut, which was loved by all and hailed one of 2011's albums of the year by many, but didn't get the same standing ovation when it was release last month. Yes there was a lot of new ideas and yes it wasn't necessarily the bangy crashy Tribes of late 2011 but it was still an amazing album. Listen to Tribes on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wish-To-Scream-Tribes/dp/B00BLDHQ5W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370857989&sr=8-1&keywords=tribes+wish+to+scream.

6. "In Love" - Peace. This is a gorgeous laid back album that will be played more and more as the summer goes on. It's another indie record that I like quite a lot. Peace where one of those bands we were told to look out for at the start of the year and they didn't disappoint. Listen to Peace on Spotify or buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/In-Love-Peace/dp/B00B9608R4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370859322&sr=8-1&keywords=in+love+peace

5. "Modern Vampires of the City" - Vampire Weekend. Their 4th studio album kicked off the summer with the release of "Diane Young" and "Step" rattling around indie fans heads throughout April and May. "Step" proved to be a triumph using Pachabel's Canon as a foundation which can be risky but they pulled it off to make one of my favourite tracks of the year. Listen to Vampire Weekend on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Modern-Vampires-City-Vampire-Weekend/dp/B00BB22GQM/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370859820&sr=1-1&keywords=vampire+weekend.

4. "The Messenger" - Johnny Marr. Ah rejoice, he's back! When my Dad and I found out Johnny was coming back we went into a little hype for a few months. It is full of excellent tracks that reach out to the old Smiths fan everywhere. My Dad still plays back the videos we filmed when we went to see him live in Birmingham. Listen to Johnny Marr on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Messenger-Johnny-Marr/dp/B00AG22JHY/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370860256&sr=1-1&keywords=johnny+marr.

3. "180" - Palma Violets. This is definitely the indie album of the year, Palma Violets are a revolution! I wasn't sure on them at first but they have become one of my favourite bands. The album is just pure fun to listen to you can tell that the boys are enjoying the moment whilst it's definitely there. It's a great album for the summer. Listen to Palma Violets on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/180-Palma-Violets/dp/B00AE1VXD8/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370860805&sr=1-1&keywords=palma+violets.

2. "Opposites" - Biffy Clyro. So far this has been the rock album of the year. The band had everyone waiting for near enough 5 years for the release of their 6th studio album and from the fans perspective, they didn't disappoint. The album consisted of 20 tracks which made up for their absence and had some great stadium anthems on their too. It really is amazing. Listen to Biffy Clyro on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Opposites-2CD-DVD-Biffy-Clyro/dp/B009AWRF9I/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370861111&sr=1-2&keywords=opposites+biffy+clyro.

1. "I Once Was An Eagle" - Laura Marling. At the start of the year I didn't think anyone would beat Biffy to the top album wise but last month they were smashed by Laura Marling's beautiful 4th album. The songs are like poetry and the Indian influences throughout the album blew me away the first time I listened to it - it was a magical moment. Listen to Laura Marling on Spotify and buy the album at: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Once-Was-Eagle-Laura-Marling/dp/B00BQWR9BO/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1370861471&sr=1-1&keywords=laura+marling+once+i+was+an+eagle.

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Sunday 9 June 2013

Maintenance...

Wow... I have noticed a boom in traffic over the past day or so and I would like to say thank you to people for looking at my blog. I have just hit 10,000 page views which may not seem like a lot to you but is a lot to me.

I would just like to remind people that I do this completely for fun, there is no money making ploy in this blog  it is just me writing about the things I love. I am 16 and am just finishing my GCSEs and have an interest in music and media which is why I started up the blog - to make myself more aware of the industry and make people more aware of me. I will be carrying on with these subjects as A-Levels next year.

I really do appreciate people looking, whether that is just a one off or a reoccurring thing and I would also really appreciated the odd comment or share. Your feedback is always welcome (good or bad) as I really do want to improve my writing and knowledge of music and media as a whole. Although I try and post as much as possible, it is difficult because I am still at school and I'm trying to do that to my best ability at the same time but as long as you keep looking, I'll keep posting!

Follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/thelecmangoclub


Want free Smiths sheet music?

http://www.smithsonguitar.com/
All musicians have been there, you want to learn a song on guitar or piano or whatever but you don't want to spend money on sheet music or online tabs are too vague. I have a solution, http://www.smithsonguitar.com/! This is obviously just for music by the Smiths but I really do think it's a good blog for sheet music.

It is has a nice layout which makes finding the right song very simple: Album>Track and the music is just a lot of JPGs which makes it easy to print and transfer with friends. Ta
ke a look!

Iain Banks, 1954-2013

This isn't music related but I still think it's important. I have a lot of heroes and a lot of them are musicians but not all of them. Some of them are writers and one of those writers is Iain Banks.

My English teacher decided to give everyone in the class a book to read over the summer last year to try and get us all reading, he gave me "The Wasp Factory" by Iain Banks. I wasn't struck on the book when he first gave it to me but I read it anyway and it changed my life! It was the first book I could actually get into, one of the first ones I actually finished. I read more and over that summer he became my favourite author.

Anyway, today he died. He announced two months ago that he had terminal gall bladder cancer and would live no longer than a year. I have to say, when I found out he had actually gone my heart stopped and I'm still in shock. It is sad that just as I was starting to appreciate his work it has stopped.

Iain Banks not only captured my imagination but inspired me to carry on English as an A-Level and fueled my politics more and more. He is up there with Morrissey and Marx on my list of people who benefited my life and I think he needs recognition now that he's gone. As a fellow Scot and lover of literature, I can safely say we lost a great man today.

Thursday 6 June 2013

The Smith's have regained their credibility!

David Cameron at the Salford Lads Club.
Today, after a grueling few months of misery at the idea of David Cameron being a Smith's fan, the people won. It was announced today that David Cameron is looking for a new favourite band to fill the gap of his so called love for the Smiths. What I really don't understand is - why he even liked them in the first place?

The Smiths were four working class boys from Manchester who formed a band in the middle of Thatcher's iron reign and weren't very happy about the job she was doing. Morrissey soon became a working class hero who not only stood up against the Conservative ethos but also wrote beautiful lyrics that captured the average teenagers heart and still does to this day.

In a way, I can see why Cameron may have liked the sound of the Smiths with the "to die by your side..." and "sing me to sleep" stuff but if he really listened he would know that this wasn't just an angsty young man but also an angry one who hated everything that Cameron had been brought up to stand for. For goodness sake, I would have thrown out my records if I were Tory when Morrissey released "Margaret on the Guillotine" - that would be like Ian Curtis singing a song about defacing Karl Marx's grave for a lefty!

I think the point is you can't be a Tory and listen to Lefty music... it's just a little bit ridiculous. He's just buried Thatcher yet when he gets home, he relaxes by listening to Morrissey slag her off... is it really any surprise that Morrissey and Marr banned him in the first place? If you ask me there is a slight wiff of hypocrisy here... In future Mr Cameron, stick to Joy Division!