Well, here I am. The end of another letter. It's the end of 'B'. I've been doing this since the day I finished my A-Levels, and now I'm in university. That's crazy. It's weird to think about. It seems very fitting for it to end on this note.
When will 'C' start? God only knows. I wouldn't say this is the end of "My iPod", but I can't see a point in the near future when I'll start writing about my favourite songs in alphabetical order. It's a shame. It will be back... soon. Hopefully.
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The video for this song is now censored when it plays on "MTV Rocks" in the UK. It takes out all the best scenes too. Why?! I don't get it.
"By the Way" was the Chili Peppers' first single and title track of the band's eighth album in 2002. The song proved to be very popular in the USA and the UK reaching number one in the many charts they have in the former, and number two in the latter.
The music video features Dave Sheridan (Officer Doofy) who kidnaps Anthony Kiedis with his taxi, a lot of other shit happens, Anthony escapes and Sheridan picks up Chad Smith at the end. It's action-packed to say the least. If you haven't seen it, it's probably one of the best videos that accompanies the tone and mood of the song.
The song initially trolls you with its quiet, Scar Tissue-esque introduction before launching into a pumping combat/style instrumental break driven by Flea's bass and Anthony's rapping before launching into the uprising chorus. It's brilliant stuff to listen to.
I guess that's it. I'll see you when I see you. I hope you'll be waiting for......... me.
I leave for university tomorrow, and I can't wait. So many opportunities waiting for me.... But wait.
Where does this leave "The iPod Times"? Is this finished will I ever get back to this. You'll have to wait for the last song of the 'B' series. Which is also tomorrow. I really don't know what I'll do.
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"Buy Nothing" was released as a free download from the band's website, and was the first taste of new material in two years after their second album "Love/Hate".
I wasn't a huge fan of that album. The band had completely dumped their post-grunge/hard rock approach they had on "Everything Is" and replaced it with - what I think was supposed to be a more radio friendly sound - which just didn't work for me. It's an okay album, but that's really it.
"Buy Nothing" was the sign that everything had gone back to normal. It has a hell of a riff which drives the song along as lead singer San Forrest tells us to forget about the government, advertising and consumerism are meaningless. BUY NOTHING.
That's all there is to the song. It's one of the heavier songs on "Locked Out from the Inside", it's one of my favourite songs by the band too.
"Butterfly" is the acoustic finisher to Weezer's cult classic "Pinkerton".
It's a slow and solemn number which will make anyone become teary-eyed, especially after listening to the previous nine songs.
"Pinkerton" was written during a period of turmoil for the band's lead singer Rivers Cuomo, and you will never hear anything that could detail the feelings and emotions that he felt as you do in this album.
You should really listen to the album as a whole before listening to the song. At least that may give you something to lean on. When you're sad and feeling lonely, you might not want to listen to "Butterfly". It might make you feel worse.
With two hits of the hi-hat and two quick rolls on the snare, "Dookie" explodes into life with its opener "Burnout". The album was Green Day's major label debut and the first words 'I declare I don't care no more', however grammatically incorrect it may be, resonated with many a bummed out teenager of the nineties.
"Dookie" has been in my possession since Christmas 2005 but I never really appreciated it. I'd really only wanted it to hear the transition of "Chump" into "Longview" because I'd read on fan sites that the band liked to do that technique where songs seam into one another. I already owned "International Superhits!", the band's singles compilation, so why would I need to hear any more of their other stuff?
"Dookie" is a fantastic album. Is it my favourite....? It's up there. This song is one of the reasons why.
Also, next year celebrates the 20th anniversary of the album's original release, so look out for any Green Day gigs near you. That might just start playing the whole thing in full!
"Burn the Witch" was released as the third single from Queens of the Stone Age's fourth album "Lullabies to Paralyze". That album was their most recent when I started listening to the band's music in 2005, and I can remember the video for the song being shown multiple times on the television.
"Lullabies" is a much darker album, believe it or not, compared to "Songs for the Deaf". The guitars are much harsher and there is an overall sense of gloom and obscurity that is built in each song. "Burn the Witch" is no different. The song begins with these harsh whispers before jumping into its ominous stomping beat which carries on throughout the song along with the contrast of Josh Homme's falsetto vocals with Mark Lanegan and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top's gravelly, lower tones. The bass line which mimics the vocal melody of the verses repeats throughout too, and all of these combined make up a tune which will disturb you to your soul.
The music video builds this feeling of doom with very freaky imagery. It does look quite cheap and you don't know whether to laugh because everything looks fake, but who wouldn't feel a little discomfort if you witnessed a witch with an army of skeletons coming towards you? You wouldn't just feel a little bit frightened. You'd run away, duh.
"Burn the Evidence" is the closing track from Billy Talent's second album, "Billy Talent II", released in 2006.
By that time I'd been listening to Billy Talent for about a year or so, but it was only their material from their first album. When were they going to release something new? Well, it was when they uploaded their demo for "Red Flag" on their myspace page that I found out that something was coming pretty soon. It was an exciting time.
"Billy Talent II" came out and for me was just as good as their first. The band had a lot less anger in their sound but you could sense that it was still there. The album cover summed up that statement.
"Burn the Evidence" describes the scene of a man who drives a luxury Sedan, crashes and plummets through the windshield. It's unclear whether this is intentional. I thought it was. Users on songmeanings.com say otherwise. It seems to me that the narrator was also built up for great expectations, those didn't go as planned and so he kills himself. It's not a sad song though. The instrumentation is delivered with determination and the lyrics depict a person thinking forward instead of feeling pity on himself. Whatever it is, it's a very good closer for an album.
Did you know it's in the same key as "Living in the Shadows"? I'm very sure they are the same structurally too. I sing the bridge from "Shadows" to the instrumental break in "Burn the Evidence" all the time. They are very similar.
It was in the midsummer of 2006 when the advert for Feeder's brand new compilation "The Singles" started to be shown regularly on the television. If anyone doesn't know who Feeder are or you've never listened to their material, "The Singles" is a good place to start. Even though it is a compilation, it is one filled with 20 tracks of their most popular songs.
Out of the twenty, three new tracks were recorded for exclusive inclusion on the album. "Lost and Found" and "Save Us" were released as singles; "Burn the Bridges" was not, and it still amazes me that it wasn't.
In the wake of the compilation's release, Feeder's official website had a major overhaul in design. It was basically changed so it had the same colour theme as the album cover, but it also let users listen to short samples of the tracks that were included. "Burn the Bridges" was the one which I jumped around to and played my air guitar to all around my living room, but before I knew it the sample was over and I had to start from the beginning all over again.
My cousin bought "The Singles" for me and gave it to me as a present on Christmas Day. I then went ahead and broke my original Playstation 2 just as I inserted the disc into it. That was a bad time for me. That's a whole different story.
The point is "Burn the Bridges" is one of Feeder's best. I think it's great.
I owe a lot to EA Sports and their FIFA series. Not only because they made me more of a football (soccer...) fan, but because the music they had on their soundtracks was amazing! If I wasn't playing FIFA, I don't know what music I'd be listening to now. I definitely wouldn't have my diverse taste that I have in music, if I do say so myself.
It's going to be ten years since I've started listening to Lostprophets, and it's all because this song was in FIFA 2004. Oh wow. Remember those times when the whole year was in the title instead of the last two numbers? Yep, I have been playing FIFA for that long.
"Burn Burn" was released as the first single from the band's second album "Start Something", which is my personal favourite and what I consider to be their best. It was one of the songs on that particular FIFA game that I learned the words to and would sing-along to whenever it came on, just because it was so energy-inducing.
It's all about rebellion, which ties in with the theme of "getting up and doing something" which is present throughout the album. There's plenty of "gang vocals" too, and is a good song to yell to whilst on a drunken night out with your mates. I'm not speaking from experience, I'm just saying you may want to do that if you're into those activities.
Whilst lying in bed after finishing GCSEs, Tyler, the Creator appeared in an interview on Channel 4. I was left perplexed at how he behaved, it was like watching a six year old in an adult's body. I'd never heard of him before, but I certainly became eager to hear the music he did.
Mostly everyone knows him for "Yonkers" and its video where he eats a live cockroach and proceeds to hang himself. I won't talk about that anymore though, you can observe that in your own time. This post is dedicated to "Burger", 'a pretty cool track' according to Tyler himself.
It can be found on the extra disc of the deluxe edition of "Goblin", and probably for good reason. "Goblin" by itself is a clusterfuck of an album where Tyler raps about relationships, killing people, burning shit and fucking school whilst under the watch of his 'psychiatrist' Dr. TC. "Burger" does not fit in the album's concept whatsoever and would have been out of place if included on the original tracklist.
"Burger" is a song which you can sit, relax, and possibly take an illegal substance to as Tyler, with Hodgy Beats in the chorus rhyme about what they do best..... writing down lyrics on paper and busting them out on the microphone.
There's something about an album in which the songs have a musician playing their acoustic guitar with no other instruments. It's very bare, vulnerable, naked, and yet so beautiful. It's lovely to take a break from a continuing barrage of instruments and relax, turn off your mind and float downstream.
"Burden of Tomorrow" is the second track on "The Wild Hunt", the second album by the Swedish folk artist The Tallest Man on Earth. This song was not the first I'd heard by him, but the track I originally listened to really stayed with me for some time that I had to hear the rest of the album.
I am not able to sing along to it. I do not know the lyrics. I just really admire the music, his voice and the chords he plays. I could only wish to produce something like this. It's very uplifting.
Take some time out to listen. It was a very short post, I know. I'm sorry.
Jamie.
P.S. As my posts have only just become visible on my profile page, I'd like to say hello and check out my other posts too.
I'm very bored. I'm a bit upset too. I'm currently at home by myself and you would think "what's the matter with you, surely you could do anything you want?" Yes. I'm not that kind of person though. I have food in here, an eclectic choice of music on my iTunes library and a few games on my PS3. But it's not enough. The weather isn't great, and even if I wanted to go out there's nothing in my area that interests me. I may sound like a grouch, but it's true. This may be the sign that university will probably be the best thing I could have right now. Only ten more days to go.
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For today's song, it's be your own PET again. I didn't get a lot of views for yesterday's post. be your own PET haven't been a band for five years now which may play a part in that. It may have also been the way I outlined the song. There's a range of possibilities.
"Bunk Trunk Skunk" is the second song on the band's debut album. My sister had this on her Creative Zen Micro, but did not put it onto the Windows Media Player library that was on our old Windows XP computer. So when I snuck into her bedroom and took the Zen, I made sure that I listened to the song.
I realised why she may not have wanted me to listen to the song. Even though I was eleven at the time. It's basically about prostitution, or some sort of activity which involves sex. My sis was very much against my knowledge of that subject.
The song is a real rocker. Every instrument is loud, Jemina Pearl shrieks that she is an 'independent motherfucker with barely any effort. This track is definitely one to freak out to. Not dance. Just swing your arms around and lose control. Structurally, there isn't really a chorus because everything that is said is repeated more than once, but it's at the end when the band increase in tempo before not giving a shit what they're playing. The cacophony of noise ends with a drum roll which collides into the next song. It's better if you listen to both songs together just for that moment.
Jamie.
ARCTIC MONKEYS - "AM"
Oh, you thought I was finished? Oh, no. It was only the release of Arctic Monkeys' new album on Monday! (Or yesterday, depending on where you live).
I haven't bought it yet, but I listened to the exclusive stream on iTunes. I said in my "Brick by Brick" post that I haven't been very excited for an Arctic Monkeys release for some time, and that was very much the same for "AM" too.
"R U Mine?" was supposed to be the non-album single that wouldn't appear on another commercial release, but that ended up being the second track. I thought it was OK, when I first heard it. The song really relies on its scaly riff which plays throughout most of the track, and that applies to many other songs on "AM", including the first proper single "Do I Wanna Know?"
The one thing that annoyed me on this album were the constant high-pitched backing vocals which appear on almost every song but apart from that the rest of the album is very solid. You've got more of those observational lyrics that everyone loves to hear from Alex Turner. Most of the tracks are riff oriented as I've already said. It's an album to wear a leather jacket and sunglasses to, and then proceed to nod your head to the beat.
It is clear that these are not the same Arctic Monkeys from 2006. They have evolved into this new thing - I can't explain it, they've developed this new sound. It's a totally different band. It's similar to The Strokes. People look to "Whatever People Say I Am" and automatically compare the rest of their work to it. But Arctic Monkeys have grown, Alex Turner's voice has deepened into a smooth croon sufficient to make any lady weak at the knees. I think they've reached their stage of enlightenment.
"I Wanna Be Yours" is my highlight, it incorporates lyrics from a poem by John Cooper Clarke. It has a very dreamlike atmosphere about it. That's all I say. Get the album if you're interested.
ARCADE FIRE - REFLEKTOR
Goodness me. Arcade Fire too?
Uh-huh. Arcade Fire release their fourth album "Reflektor" this October, and this is the video for the title track.
One thing to notice is how bloody long it is. It's almost eight minutes! Don't let that stop you from listening. A lot of things happen in it. I can't remember enough to tell you everything, the word "Reflektor" is sung a fair amount of times and the legend that is David Bowie is in there!
It has a relentless disco 4/4 beat, similar to Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) and there may be a lot of fans who hate that. It is produced by James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. I'm not sure but maybe that could have had something to do with it. We'll just have to wait and see how the rest of the album sounds.
This is a very promising release though. It's very adventurous.
The song is not called 'Blummer Time', the person who spelt that is dumb. It is 'bummer', to feel down, to be depressed, to be disappointed in something. A bummer.
For today's post, I'm going to change things up a bit. I will take you through the song, and analyse the lyrics with you. Let's go.
Bummertime! Bummertime! - The song's name is "Bummer Time" It's bummertime! BUMMER! - Why is it called "Bummer Time"? We don't know. We'll see soon. (x4)
I'd think about you all week long - She'd think about who? My mind constantly singing your theme song - Oh, so it's like a character in a cartoon or something? And did you know i looked up to you? - I've felt that way people on the TV at some point in my life. I wanna be just like you! - Like a superhero kind of thing. No one knows how it was for me - She was a true fan of this person. No one else cared. No one knows what you meant to me - She loved this person/cartoon? A bit weird. Everyone talks about it like they were there - Self explanatory. All this nostalgia but nobody cares! - Talking is cheap. Narrator is stunned at people's ignorance. Everyone talks about it like they were there All this nostalgia but nobody cares! - So stunned, she had to repeat it twice. I woke up early just for you - Understandable. I waited all week long for you too - Any child does that if their favourite programme is weekly. And there you were on my TV - Yep. It's like you were there just for me! - Yeah! Bummertime! Bummertime! - Still don't get why there's a bummer involved. It's bummertime! - It is annoying when someone doesn't appreciate greatness. BUMMER! - What more could possibly happen? (x2)
When the time came I'd play along - Like Dora the Explorer? Man, I hate that shit. I didn't know that you'd soon be gone - Show got cancelled. Narrator gets older. And now you're back what can I say? - Show comes back on TV. Person she admired is older. I can't even look at you the same way! - He looks like crap. Narrator is disappointed. No one knows how it was for me No one knows what you meant to me Everyone talks about it like they were there SHE CARED SO MUCH FOR HIM. All this nostalgia but nobody cares! ALL THOSE TIMES WERE IN VAIN. Everyone talks about it like they were there All this nostalgia but nobody cares!
I woke up early just for you! I waited all week long for you tooPERSON SHE ADMIRED WAS NOTHING SPECIAL. And there you were on my TV HER CHILDHOOD WAS A LIE. It's like you were there just for me! BUMMERTIME! So that's why the song's called "Bummer Time".
"Bummer Time" is on be your own PET's second album "Get Awkward". It's short and sweet, and totally encapsulates that feeling of disappointment when your favourite TV show returns when you're older and you can barely look at it in the same way you did with amazement when you were a child.
It's time for another Editors song, and again it is one from their first album. Like "Blood", "Bullets" was also released twice which explains why it has two different videos. The first video plays the album version whereas the second plays a re-recorded version which the band did with the producer Jacknife Lee, a man who has done work with Biffy Clyro, Snow Patrol and Weezer.
If any of you are wondering what's different in the song in both of the videos, I can only remember the arrangement being a bit different. I don't like the album version and therefore have not listened to it for a while. It was the second out of the two which I saw first on the television. Nothing much happens in it. Lead singer Tom Smith sings in slow motion and looks at an elderly man, a girl dances in slow motion and two guys drive a car into a field and proceed to vandalise it. It's not a very exciting video.
The song itself is very solid though. You've got Chris Urbanowicz's delivering that wailing siren-sounding riff which repeats itself during the choruses and outro. I'm sure the drumming pattern doesn't change but it certainly hits hard. It's very snare-y. A lot more so than "Blood". That doesn't take anything away though. Lyrically the song is very repetitive but it's good that the melody isn't annoying otherwise it would be very tiresome. The chorus "You don't need this disease" just runs into itself over and over again it becomes something of a madness mantra.
The word 'bullets' isn't mentioned anywhere in the lyrics. Listen to the song and figure out why it may be called "Bullets" because thinking about it now, I can't tell you.
I've never been a fan of "Happy Days", but I did attempt to watch a few episodes after seeing the music video for "Buddy Holly" when I was ten. The video by Spike Jonze was something I'd never seen before. How were Weezer able to perform in front of the cast of Happy Days? How did they get that man - who I assume to be 'Fonzie' - to dance to their music? Well, the video just combined footage of the sitcom with the band performing. A stunt double helped along too. The scenes were placed at very appropriate times to add great comedic effect, and I showed the video to my friend at his house and also found it funny. Especially at the Asian man near the end making a squee face. I'd found my favourite video of all time.
"Buddy Holly" is one of the main reasons I wanted "Weezer" for my eleventh birthday. It seemed that there was no way to actually listen to the full song online. Instead I was treated to a mash-up that included the song with "99 Problems" by Jay-Z. It wasn't on YouTube though. That wasn't around. All I wanted to do was listen to the song on Windows Media Player and put it on repeat, and it seemed that getting the album was the most efficient way to do it. That was a good decision on my part. Weezer's first album is a damn fine piece of work.
Did you know the song almost never made it onto the album? Rivers first thought it would be too cheesy, but it was the persistent encouragement from the album producer that changed his mind in the end. It's nice to know that Rivers once thought about how his songs sounded one time. I've pretty much given up on the albums they've released lately.
Oh, I don't want to be mean. Rivers Cuomo is a nice guy.
There are creepy people out there. There I was going down the escalator in Stratford's Westfields so we could wait for a mate who needed to go to the loo, when these two guys came over to us asking if we were born again Christians. They then directed their attention to me, and told me to 'talk to them privately' to say the 'prayer' and I was like "FUCK THIS, I HAVE GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE". So I told them a wrong phone number and made up a name for myself, and proceeded to leave the mall with my friends.
It was very scary. I've never wanted to be anywhere else in the world like I did during those moments. I'm really glad to be home. Typing to you.
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Right. Kings of Leon. I've probably said as much as I can on what I think about them in other posts. Thinking about it now, I'm positive that I've only done one post. But in short, from Youth & Young Manhood to Because of the Times = good stuff, Only by the Night onwards = the bad stuff. Except "Supersoaker" and "Wait for Me" which depicts "Mechanical Bull" as something that will be a return to form. We can only hope. Well, I can only hope.
"The Bucket" was the first song to be released from the band's second album "Aha Shake Heartbreak" in 2004, which is my favourite album they've done. I can't remember when I first heard it. I'll just say it was on MTV2. Yes, it was on MTV2.
I wonder who yells "Wooooooo!"at the start. It sounds like someone fucked up and didn't know they were recording, but I can't imagine the song without that exclamation. I'm just used to it after listening to the track for all these years.
The subject matter of "The Bucket" is the band's bassist Jared Followill, who was having problems dealing with the fame of being in the band.
The thing that I've always liked about older Kings of Leon songs, especially those on the Aha Shake and Times albums, is Caleb's vocals. Now he's older he actually sings from the stomach, but I preferred those when his voice was breaking almost every time he tried to reach the high notes. There's a bit of this in "The Bucket".
One of the better songs that the early twenty-first century years brought us.
Feeder have a fantastic set of singles; "Buck Rogers" is one which many people may be familiar with. Even people who don't know Feeder are might have heard this song in a TV show or an advert, it's just one of those songs.
Yet again, I saw the "Buck Rogers" video on the television and was left in awe. The camera work and the special effects, the TARDIS elephant they walk into and that slow sweeping shot of the band playing the last two choruses at the end. The song itself is very catchy - it's stays in your head for days and days, but that video.... mm-mm-mm. If you look at it, you may think I am exaggerating but for me it's a perfect video for the song.
It was even funnier when I was in Year 6 and found out that one of my friends knew the song because of its presence in Gran Turismo 3 and we would sing it out loud during lessons (because those really didn't matter at the time) and classmates would laugh whilst the teacher asked us to stop singing. Those were good times.
It was also one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar - albeit only on the low 'E' string, but I thought I'd actually done pretty well to play along with it without tabs.
Here is it's Wikipedia page; there you will find information at length about the song. But for now, enjoy it. Comment on it if you want. Give it a chance.
Sorry people. I know I didn't do a post yesterday, I was busy playing FIFA and NBA at my friend's house before he moves to university next week.
Those of you who were expecting a blog, I know I could have said something and I do apologise. It's only good that whenever I miss a day I follow it up with two songs the next. Here's the first.
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..."Mon' the Biff! Mon' the Biff! Mon' the Biff!" It's only bloody Biffy Clyro!
I watched them headline the Reading Festival on the BBC iPlayer two weeks ago, and it wasn't hard to notice that there was a large decrease in reception whenever they played material pre-Puzzle and Only Revolutions. I'm not going to complain; I thought it was a bit funny, actually. I'm not saying that the people who were there weren't Biffy Clyro fans, but it was obvious to assume when they became them. It seems the band aren't into their past material so much, I think only two songs and a verse and chorus from tracks before 2007 were performed. But if Biffy Clyro enjoy their newer stuff that made them much more popular than they were before, who can blame 'em?
"57" was the first song I heard by them when its video played on MTV2. They look so young, and very clean. They're all wearing clothes, and Simon Neil has hair like Frodo. But for a band that looked so innocent, the song was very different from anything I'd listened to before. The song is good, but at the time I didn't think it was something that made me interested in the band. Later on, "Questions and Answers" came on the TV. That's nice too. It's very calm by Biff standards. That was pretty much everything I'd heard by them. But it was in year seven (2006/07) that Biffy Clyro became... mainstream. *gasp* oh my god.
I'm only joking. I feel I should save that for another time, 'cause I'll be babbling on for ages about nothing that has to do with the song for today. Bubbles! It's the third song from the band's fifth album "Only Revolutions", and was eventually as its penultimate single in spring 2010. It was a song of theirs that I couldn't stop singing to myself. It begins with a tickling lick on the guitar which is interrupted as the band begin to play. They've got that quiet verse/loud chorus dynamic going on too, just like Pixies and Nirvana, which can never go wrong if you know what you're doing. And then, just when you think the song should finishes, the band rocks out for a minute and in steps Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age to finish everything off with a guitar solo. It's crazy. It's brilliant.
I thought that preparing for university would be more of a strenuous task, but it appears that already I have most of the stuff I need. I have bought a few things here and there, just now I've chosen two pairs of new shoes and new socks, but it hasn't been as tiresome as I thought it would be. Life is good.
That was an unrelated introduction. I just wanted to tell you how things are going.
... I've never had an account on last.fm but without one four years ago, somehow, I was able to listen to "The Spine" by They Might Be Giants in full without any adverts. I'm very sure that I can't do that now, so it was surprising that I was able to pull it off. "Broke in Two" is the third from last track about a relationship which comes to an end. You have that situation in so many other songs; the list is endless, I know. The narrator also wants to make things better, but is very forgetful and a bit dim too. "I'm gonna run you down" does not sound like "I'm an orangutan" does it? The narrator takes this into account and admits that even though he would try to fix everything, the breakup would still happen just because of his behaviour. It's quite tragic. But it's so upbeat.
The instrumentation in the music is really good too. The opening riff was a bit of an ear-piercer, that really high note sounds like it's played wrong. But it's fine. It works. I don't know whether it's a keyboard or a guitar or both played simultaneously during the break, but how it ascends from low notes and finishes at the top is mesmerising. The song also glitches and disintegrates into silence at the end, which is intentional. It is one of my favourite songs on "The Spine", I hope you listen and like it too.
Noisettes are a band who came along near the end of the 'indie rock/post-punk' revival that was happening in the mid-noughties. Their first video that they made for "Scratch Your Name" came on MTV2 one day, but it was one of those really rubbish ones that bands do before they become loaded. So it didn't really do the song justice. "Scratch Your Name" is a proper rocker though, with a cool riff and a lot of effort put into the vocal delivery by the lead singer. It shouldn't be a big deal but Noisettes were also one of the few indie bands with a black member in it too, which was a cool thing to see.
"What's the Time Mr. Wolf?" was the band's debut album released in 2007. The album was exclusively streamed on NME's website, and that was the first time I heard "Bridge to Canada". I've never actually paid attention to the lyrics but looking at them as I type to you now, the song appears to be about missing a loved one whilst being on tour. I always thought that there was some weird irregular time signatures used in the chorus, but it's all 4/4. It's just the way the chords are played. I can't explain it properly to you, if you listen to it you'll know what I mean.
Noisettes aren't very good anymore. At least to me. They had an indie rock sound with their debut which they could have expanded upon and added more depth, but instead they went in a totally different direction. THE POP ROUTE. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed "Don't Upset the Rhythm" and "Never Forget You" when they were about... but it wasn't the same. Shingai didn't even play the bass in the music videos anymore. The drummer left, probably because he couldn't take it anymore, and the band remain to be a two-piece. The band have three albums to their name, but I'll stick with the first.
Are all you Arctic Monkeys fans out there excited? Well, I can't blame you if you're waiting in anticipation for their new album "AM" which comes out next week! Yes, it is another Arctic Monkeys song. This wasn't deliberate, "Brick by Brick" just happened to be after "Brianstorm".
Can you remember when you were waiting for "Suck It and See" to be released? I do. It wasn't a very exciting time. GCSEs were going on and everything. Furthermore, the thought of a new Arctic Monkeys album just didn't matter to me anymore. "Humbug" was alriiight. It was a bit moody, darker and very mature compared to their first two albums. So when 'their new song called "Brick by Brick" appeared on the front page of the NME website, I was curious but wasn't expecting anything amazing.
It was the first song to be revealed from "Suck It and See" but was more of a teaser than anything. It has its own video too, which you can obviously see above. I didn't pay much attention to it, because nothing much happens in it. Personally, "Brick by Brick" is my favourite song from the album. It's a standard 3 minute rock song, the lyrics are easy to remember and the lead vocals are shared between Alex and Matt. I remember doing my Spanish GCSE in 2011, finishing it and knowing that I aced it and "Brick by Brick" just came into my head on the bus home. I felt so good.
I did end up downloading "Suck It and See", but wasn't very impressed by it. "Brick by Brick" is the only song from it that I have on my iPod. Oh, well. "AM" should be better. Right?
I've said enough about "Favourite Worst Nightmare", I talked about it in previous posts. This was the Arctic Monkeys' burst back into the limelight, even though they really hadn't been far from it for any long period of time.
They had released "Leave Before the Lights Come On" in early 2006, they played at the Reading and Leeds Festivals too and everyone ranging from the public to the NME were so excited about the band from Sheffield that they didn't stop talking about them. "Oh, that Alex Turner is some lyricist." "That band is so cool". It never ended.
Then came 2007 and the news that the band's next album would be ready. Would they sound the same? Would their songs still be about nights out and drinking at the weekend? "Brianstorm" answered both questions with a firm 'no'. The band sounded bolder, it packed more of punch, the drumming during the introduction was crazy and the guitars delivered at full force but it was still those same four guys who gave us "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" a year before. Except the big-boned bassist who left, he was replaced.
"Brianstorm" is not a misspelling of the word 'brainstorm'. The guys actually wrote the song about a person called Brian, who they met on tour one time and didn't really like. It's not my favourite song on "Favourite Worst Nightmare", but that's only because I'd heard it and seen the video so many times before the album was released to the public that it wasn't as exciting anymore. However, it was the perfect song to get pumped up to as the release date came closer.
