My iPod #116: Green Day - Blood, Sex and Booze + GREAT NEWS

I HAVE A UNI TO GO TO!

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY.

I'm so happy.

I don't know if I can write enough for today's song. I might not be able to concentrate. Let's do it.

Well, well, well. It's Green Day.

It's the year 2000. I am five years old. I have no clue who Green Day are at this point. The band on the other hand have their fair share of fans after gaining a lot of success during the nineties.

Then comes the twenty first century, and the rise of boybands. Everyone begins to love boy bands again. What can Green Day do to regain their status? Nothing much to be honest. They release their sixth album "Warning" which - however bleak the album cover may be - captures the band at their most sophisticated point, mixing their original punk style with more accessible melodies and a wider use of instruments.

That's not apparent in "Blood, Sex and Booze", which is probably the band's sleaziest song to date. Well, the song's not sleazy. The narrator describes their love for being dominated in the bed. That's all. It's not my favourite from the album, but it rocks pretty hard. It deserves its place on my iPod.

I can't write any more. I can't think of anything to say.

If I have any British followers who also got their results today and got their places... CONGRATULATIONS. I'm happy for you.

Celebrate good times.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #115: Hope of the States - Blood Meridian

This song has an actual music video, but it appears to have been banished from the Internet. At least in my country, anyway.

The single was an exclusive on MTV2. I remember, the video would come on and then a banner at the top had a message along the lines of: 'Hope of the States are back with their brand new song "Blood Meridian". Watch this exclusive new video.' Something like that. It made them sound like this really important band that had been gone for ages. I had never heard of them though.

The music video is weird too. It's made to be set in a Russian-esque type factory, and a lady lip-syncs over the words. That's about it. So I still didn't know what the band looked like. That was until they released the next single, "Sing It Out", which shows the band being electrocuted whilst playing their instruments. I like that song too.

The lyrics to "Blood Meridian" remind me of a film that I've seen, or a book. Lyrics like "emergency, emergency, someone acted honestly, we should beat 'em up, lock 'em up and throw away the key' seem really familiar. Almost like it's happened in real life. I can't quite put my finger on it.

Listen to the song. See if you like it.

What's happened to Hope of the States? They released their last single, and then split up. All in 2006.

It's exam results day tomorrow, so good luck me.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #114: Editors - Blood

I've contemplated on whether I should keep this song on here. "Blood" is an alright song, but I don't really like Editors anymore. I wasn't a big fan of them in the first place. Their singles are pretty good, but there was nothing that appealing about the band that made want to listen to all of their albums or whatever.

"Blood" was released as a single from the band's debut album "The Back Room" in 2005, the year that all these 'post-punk revival'/'indie' bands started releasing new music. It was an exciting time. I think the first song I heard by Editors - this may apply for many other fans too - was "Munich", which has become to be the band's most notable song. They released that song once in 2005, and then again in 2006. It only took two releases, but the band got their first top-ten single.

The band did the same thing with Blood, only it didn't do so well the second time reaching 39 when a year earlier it got to 18 the year before. Chart positions are not the main focus though. The main priority is to tell you why I like this song.

Well, one thing is that sound that the lead guitarist Chris Urbanowicz gets on his instrument. It's got one similar to a police siren, and is used throughout their first album and their follow up "An End Has a Start". He left the band this year. The chorus is probably the best part of the song, I've always wondered about the way Tom Smith pronounces veins. To me it sounds like "venes" as in 'jeans' or 'genes', I guess the actual way it said wouldn't have sounded that good.

If you want to find out more about Editors, search them up on Wikipedia and listen to their stuff on YouTube.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #65: Supergrass - Bad Blood

When I was thirteen in 2008, Supergrass was the band that I enjoyed listening to the most.

I got "In It for the Money" and their self-titled album as presents for my eleventh birthday, listened to them and didn't think much of them. The songs just passed me by, you know? Except for "Richard III", which was the only reason I got the former in the first place.

Using the free music-video service that was available on my TV provider (Virgin Media ftw) I watched all of their videos from "Mansize Rooster" to "St. Petersburg" and realised that the band's music was one of the most enjoyable and exciting to listen to.

So it was no surprise that I was really excited and could not wait for the release of their then-new album "Diamond Hoo Ha". Although I was quite disappointed in the first song that they promoted from it, the almost title-track "Diamond Hoo Ha Man", it was "Bad Blood" that really got the heart pumping and the blood circulating.

The video played a big part in that feeling. You can watch the making of the video by clicking on this sentence. The weird camera shifting gave me a real sense of adrenaline, almost like being on a rollercoaster.

The song itself is a one of the highlights from the album. It's a great release of energy after the first track. With quiter, chugging verses accompanied by a rip-roaring chorus, the song is one of the best from the Supergrass catalogue of the twenty-first century.

It's a shame that this song didn't do so well commercially, and "Diamond Hoo Ha" turned out to be the band's final album after the members split in 2010. *sniff sniff*

Oh well, the music remains and the good times roll on.

Until tomorrow.

Jamie.

My iPod #28: Test Icicles - All You Need Is Blood

All You Need Is Blood! Get it? It's almost like that Beatles song.

Test Icicles certainly weren't the band who sounded like they were influenced by The Beatles. Again, they were a band, but unfortunately the music that made was not the music that they were particularly interested in. They formed in 2004, and later split two years later in 2006.

The album this track was released on 'For Screening Purposes Only', was released to positive praise on Halloween 2005. Test Icicles were the next biggest thing in dance-punk indie rock terms. Considered to be 'bigger than The Beatles' by NME and 'all cobra' by Pitchfork Media, the album indeed is very eccentric and filled to the brim with bursting energy, backed up with crazy guitars and a booming, yet pre-recorded, rhythm section.

My sister went through a period around 2005/06 when she started borrowing various albums from her friends. She borrowed this one.

Test Icicles had three main vocalists who all brought their own sound to the table. The main vocalist on this song is Devonte Hynes, though you may know him better as Lightspeed Champion. In fact, Hynes only sings this song and the mindfuck that is 'Catch It!' Sam Mehran sings part of the chorus and pre-chorus too.

I don't know what this song is about to be honest. You would have to listen to it for yourself to try and get something, but you don't have to understand a song to enjoy it.

Look out for the backwards rap at the end of the song, also done by Sam Mehran.

If you want to know how the rap sounds like forwards, click here. That's my video :D

The song ends. Then, out of nowhere, a bass riff starts. Reminds you of Jaws doesn't it? It hypnotises you, sets you in a real mysterious, foreboding mood. It leads right into the next song. That's for another post.

Until next time.

Jamie.