Give it a Name!

Once again I've had a little break in posting, but don't worry because I've got a treat for you today:



Give it a Name 2006 review!

Now if you don't know what it is, it's an all day gig that took place In London and Manchester this weekend, I however only went yesterday to London.

If you're particularly interested, here's the full line up:

1.30 : TAINT
2.15 : THE HONORARY TITLE
2.45 : THE BLED
3.20 : PARAMORE
3.55 : UNDEROATH
4.30 : DRIVE BY
5.05 : PANIC! AT THE DISCO
5.40 : MEN WOMEN AND CHILDREN
6.15 : THRICE
6.50 : BILLY TALENT
7.25 : ATREYU
8.30 : THE ATARIS
9.30 : MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE
10.30 FINISH!!!!!

There's a couple of bands in there that I hadn't heard of before and a couple that I'm not particularly a fan of so I didn't watch every single band.

The first band I watched were The Honorary Title, who I've admittedly never heard of before. They weren't too bad. Acoustic and quite indie sounding. I'd listen to their music when I'm relaxing.

I didn't watch The Bled, they're too screamo for me.

I did like Paramore. I think they're my type of music. They're the only band on the whole line up with a female lead singer. Their performance involved the audience clapping a lot but none the less was very enjoyable. I'm even thinking about getting their album, or "record" as they like to put it being American.

Underoath to be honest I can't remember because I was pretty much just waiting for Panic! at the Disco. Plus they were on the the main stage and I was a bit stuck in front of the smaller one.

That did mean I had a good view for Drive by when they came on. I quite like Drive by. I've seen them as a support act before but I don't usually take any notice of support bands! They're good live though, and the music's not band. Good old rock music, not too heavy and none of the screaming.

Next up: Panic! at the disco. They were on the main stage too and I couldn't quite manage to get in front of it. They were still great. They don't mess around though. No chit chat in between songs like most bands, they didn't introduce themselves until the last song! They don't sound a lot different to the album apart from a few lyric changes on the odd song. They seemed quite popular with the crowd as I could hear quite a few people singing along. Was good to see them so soon after becoming a fan.

Men women and children were, how shall I put it...interesting! Quite different to any of the other bands. My friend's a massive fan but I'm not sure. The most memorable part of their performance was the song in which they sing something like "We're monkey, monkey men and we really are your friends" to which the audience had to respond "We're monkeys, we're monkeys, we're monkeys". If you say so!

Sorry but I didn't watch Thrice, Billy Talent or Atreyu either.

We decided it'd be a good idea to get a good place during The Ataris. They seemed quite popular with the crowd. The security must have hated the lead singer though because he decided to jump off the stage and try and crowd surf.

Then finally, what I'd been waiting for all day. My Chemical Romance. They were everything I expected, and more. But their set wasn't very long, but I guess nor was any of the other bands. I'm a bit disappointed the didn't do Head first for Halos as it's amazing live. But I guess they were short on time. According to Gerard it was the first gig they'd done in 4 months but it seemed liked they'd never been away. The crowd seemed pretty happy. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a fan, they were the headliner. Definitely my fave act of the day. Didn't think much of Gerard's English accent though!

Oh, speaking of English accents, there wasn't one English band!

My Chemical Romance

I know they're not new to me but how could I not review one of my fave bands when I'm going to see them in just over a week!

Now, they're not everyone's cup of tea and normally they wouldn't be mine, but after I saw them live I was hooked. And I shall be seeing them for the fifth time next week. There's just something about them when they perform live. The lead singer Gerard, can have the crowd in the palm of his hands and they'll do anything he says. They always put on a good show and I can't wait.

Ok so that wasn't strictly a review but I had to get a mention in! If you haven't already, check them out.


Picture courtesy of MyChemicalRomance.co.uk

World at their feet?

I'm running out of people to review...or music that's new anyway. Who'd have thought it, there must be thousands of bands and artists out there! So I had a look around, and thought about what's in the news at the moment, and what did I come up with? Embrace's World Cup Anthem for England, World at your Feet.

Don't ask me why I think this but it does sound very much like a world cup song! Catchy, easy to sing a long to and I can imagine it being sung by thousands of football fans (the chorus at least). It's not something I would listen but it serves it's purpose. I read that it stands a chance of being Embrace's first UK number one single. Good luck to them. Even if it doesn't quite make it to number one, it's associated with England and the World Cup, so it's bound to do fairly well.

Fall Out Boy

Love them or hate them? My friend saw them as a support band a few years ago and couldn't stand them and since being at home this Easter my brother's been playing a few of their songs. But I can't make up my mind.

I've heard a few of their songs, and as I said my brother's been playing them and my boyfriend likes Dance Dance. I've gotta admit the music's catchy and as you may have guessed I'm a bit of a sucker for a catchy song. I must admit, I do like Sugar we're goin' down. Parts of it remind me of Panic! At The Disco, but I can't make out why. They have pop punk sound, similar to Good Charlotte with plenty of guitars and drums.

I don't know a lot about them but they have an almost sold out UK tour next month, so I guess that can't be bad?

Matt's back!

Recognise this guy? That's right, it's Matt Willis, former member of Busted. I know what you're all thinking, but Matt's back. Charlie Simpson has Fightstar, James Bourne has Son of Dork. And 16 months after Busted split, Matt's going solo. His first single, Up All Night is due out May 22nd.

It's slightly rockier than Busted, but I'd still call it pop. While it does have that Busted vibe about it, and no doubt anything they do is going to be compared, it has its own sound. The song suits Matt's voice. It's upbeat, catchy and yes, I like it. I think it has the potential to do quite well in the charts. But you never can tell these days.

I also happen to have heard another of Matt's songs. It's called Broken. I don't know if it'll be on his album or not. But it's a nice rock ballad with plenty of soft guitars and a good drum beat. It's a beautiful song, if not a little sad. I'm definitely a fan.

And guess what? Matt's got himself a MySapce page. Take a look to hear clips of a few of his tracks.

Picture taken from Matt Willis' MySpace page.

Where's the pleasure with you?

Firstly, apologies for the break in posting. I've had a very busy week and haven't had a chance to get online. But now I'm back and I'm going to make up for it. Shall we say a review every day this week? I'll see what I can do.

So, I said I was going to try and find new music via the internet and so far I've used internet music shops to buy CDs, I've used MySpace and band websites and also websites that create "radio stations" with music you like.

Any other ways I can find music? Good old word of mouth! A friend of mine has been recommending Protocol to me and pretty much anyone who'll listen for months. And its worked. I've heard a bit of their single, Where's the pleasure, and have been meaning to check out more of their music for a while. So that's what I did. I popped over to their official website for a listen.

The first song I listen to was Where's the pleasure, which is one of those songs: once you listen to it, you can't get it out of your head! The beginning sounds a bit like Franz Ferdinand, but once the vocals kick in, it has a unique sound. The vocals are very distinctive, especially the chorus line "Where's the pleasure with you?" The tune is also extremely catchy.

I had a bit of a problem getting the music to play on the website so I went to their page on faithful MySpace. There I listened to a remix of Love is my drug. It starts off quite dancey, but I guess that's the remix? Again it was quite catchy once the vocals started. It sounds like something I've heard before but I can't quite think what. Not sure what genre I'd put them into but it's quite poppy. The sound of the vocals make their songs quite unique and the songs are catchy, the type that makes you want to dance.

Favourite song I listened to: Deborah: Fast and catchy with a good beat.


Picture courtesy of: www.myspace.com/protocol

McIntosh and Murdoch

My Online Journalism class had the pleasure of a visit from the Deputy Editor of Guardian Unlimited, Neil McIntosh this week. I found it really interesting to hear from someone who works in the business, and has his own blog.

He talked to us about podcasts. I didn't know a lot about podcasts until he spoke to us. Guardian Unlimited not long along launched their own podcasts and they're planning something special around the time of the world cup. He also happened to mention that a certain tabloid newspaper once recorded one of their podcasts in a loo!

One other thing I found particularly interesting, as a regular user of the site, was what he said about MySpace. He said that he has no idea why Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace, as he doesn't think he'll make any money out of it. I did wonder what Murdoch would want with MySpace.

Crazy!

Something happened this Sunday that has never happened before. The song that went to number one wasn't even in the shops yet. Yes that's right, it went to number one the day before the CD was avaliable to buy, so it got there purely by the amount of downloads.

I first read about this last Thursday then I saw a report aboit it on BBC news the same night. And I've got to say I've never heard of Gnarls Barkley, or heard the song, Crazy, before that day. And I can't say I particularly like it either.

This is a pretty major thing for the music business though.

So is this proof that downloading is becoming more popular than actually going out and buying a CD? Only time will tell...