The Adjudicator

July Shenanigans - Not gone AWOL!

2008-07-11T23:55:00.002+01:00

So it has been a while since a little music dose update, apologies, not that many will read but oh well!

What's been going on:

- 2-3 months locked in a university library

- 4 x 3hr45min exams determining the rest of my life

- 2 months of debauchery

- Nervousness from the worry of exam results

- Joy from the receipt of a 2:1 degree

- GLASTONBURY 2008 - first time of the visit of Worthy Farm and boy was it a good one!

- Music highlights - intimate Lykke Li set, Mystery Jets, FOALS!!!!!!!!!!!!, Florence and the Machine, Lightspeed Champion, Leonard Cohen, Emmy the Great, Get Cape Wear Cape Fly, catching Fanfarlo again! Vampire Weekend, Manu Chao, The National!

- Graduation day - the donning of our mortarboards!

- The new ice cream man job to keep me busy til Winter breaks

NEW FAVE WEBSITE -

Daytrotter - many a free mp3 downloaded session tracks - so far I have found Cold War Kids gems and Foals too, will keep digging - here's the linkage anyway.

NEW BANDS:

- Late of the Pier - new album sounding good, produced as like Mystery Jets by Erol Alkan

- Black Kids - new album sounding slick too, pop-rock

- Data Select Party - a slight Foals tinge to these guys but not a replica band like Venice Ahoy or Minaars

- Magistrates - great falsetto on the song featured on Zane Lowe's show, ones to look out for!

OLD GEMS LISTENING TO STILL:

- The Dodos - Visiter - have now located their 2006 debut album so will be checking that!

- Mystery Jets - 21

- Jens Lekman - Night falls over Kortedala

- Cazals - What of Our Future

That's all folks

Remix zis ef el pee!

2008-05-22T01:59:00.002+01:00

Ef el pee does some great remixes, check check check!

Lykke Li Black Cab Session

2008-05-10T12:09:00.002+01:00

After seeing her great live performance on the Camden Crawl this year here's a taste of the Swedish sensation soon to be sweeping the airwaves. One cab, one take.

Books To Ashes Gig, June 12th, Leicester, Firebug Bar!

2008-05-09T02:24:00.004+01:00

After pulling a few strings here and there we are putting on a night called Books To Ashes at Firebug Bar, Leicester on Thursday June 12th to celebrate after exams and raise cash and awareness for Cancer Research UK - click HERE for facebook link to the event and get in touch for tickets, only 40 or so left now going at £3.50 a pop.

Headlining this event is Rotating Leslie! Coming from Royston ,London, these guys are setting the scene alight at the moment, currently unsigned but already having a massive following down in Londonia and afar. After just getting back from LA on an Expotour they are hitting it hard back in the UK

Check their myspace songs for these great hard-hitting indie anthems which are quite different from your indie drab being churned out of the NME hype machine, I'm predicting these guys to go far in the next year or so, expect more banging tunes and the hype to surmount your radiowaves!!

The Sport from Stoke will be playing the event also, again they are a band for the future with support slots for The Wombats recently and various others around Stoke's top venues, they have their own fanclub and massive following after the formation of the group from the remnants from Agent Blue. Another band to watch this space for....

Leicester's own Autohype will be playing their tunes, with the band on the verge of being signed after gaining exposure on the Midlands circuit are setting out to take over the UK in the coming months, already with Radio 1 airplay expect more of it!

Beginning proceedings will be Leicester's Bukatchi Boss , blending rock, funk and rap. Set to recording their debut album over the summer in Brum, another band that will be making some noise for the gig and getting things off to a cracking start

Get in touch if you wanna come down, but it's strictly ticket only so get your hands on them asap!

London election time, it seems Boris has obliterated the opposition

2008-05-02T23:39:00.000+01:00

Emmy The Great - talented! check her MTV 2 video below

2008-04-24T18:55:00.001+01:00

One girl, a great voice and a guitar, lovely folk, check her MTV2 vid here

Lightspeed Champion at Paradiso, Amsterdam

2008-04-21T15:57:00.001+01:00

Check out the new song Marlene and my personal old fave "Dry Lips"

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Best vid this year.....

2008-04-06T13:44:00.000+01:00

My New Favourite Video...

2008-04-06T13:22:00.004+01:00

One word....quality.

I've been listening alot to Laura Marling this week which I think is fantastic. Her voice is amazing and so mature/developed/distinct, especially when you consider that she's only 18! Also, she sounds great on this record.

http://www.myspace.com/lauramarling

My record of the week - Yes, Yes, Vindictive by Operator Please
- Stand out tracks: Zero Zero, Get What You Want and Leave It Alone

http://www.myspace.com/operatorplease

Records of the week, new finds and old finds

2008-04-05T21:19:00.002+01:00

My albums of the week if you're interested:

- Max Richter - The Blue Notebooks - check his myspace the first song makes you need a hug - http://www.myspace.com/maxrichtermusic

- Apparat Organ Quartet - Selftitled - they recycle organs from Iceland, awesome synths and build up - click for a place they may be found

- I just discovered Belle & Sebastian - i know, late but my my my - so their discography

Finally record of the year so far: - Mystery Jets - 21 :):)

Find of the Day

2008-04-04T18:44:00.003+01:00

Apparat Organ Quartet : awesome band from Iceland - synthy organs, pounding drums, vocoder for vocals in places! simply awesome

A few reps and comparisons:

"A pulsing electronic drone - hints of Kraftwerk, Wagner, Sigur Rós and terrifying prog rock bands from the dark ages” Ian Watson, NME

“Now this you have to like - deadpan Icelanders playing like a clockwork replica of the Glitter Band intoning the vocodered slogan ‘Stereo Rock & Roll’ like a catechism” The Guardian"

check it: http://www.myspace.com/apparatorganquartet

25/03/2008 Lightspeed Champion at Rust, Copenhagen

2008-03-27T12:54:00.003Z

10pm start for a concert? We must be in Europe outside of the curfewed UK, and away from the nanny cultured 11pm, sup up and leave!

I had been looking forward to this concert for a good while, immersed in the album for the past couple of months and Dev's (Lightspeed) addictable read of a blog.

There's circa 40-50 of us in this Copenhagen nightclub in Norrebro, most singing along, hips swinging. The Danish crowd seems more genuine than a Swedish crowd which can border on pretentious premadonna interest (i.e. they all nod and wear their carefully selected second-hands with the pompousness of last night's Apprentice hopeful, "Raef")

The band begins with "Happy Birthday" with Dev signing off every song with "Thanks" to express his gratitude which seems to help him get on systematically with the set (or I'm just reading too much into it!)

Next comes "Dry Lips", my favourite on the album, about a break up I'm assuming! The song's very melodic, folky and tells a story of sorts, warm fuzzy feelings all round despite the melancholy tone.

Dev has apparently penned the next album to be delivered in two parts and with the constant release of singles and covers through his blog (http://www.lightspeedchampion.com/) we can probably expect this by the end of the year (that's just pure speculation).

The set continues with hits from the album; "Galaxy of the Lost", "Tell Me What It's Worth", the one apparently about hip-hop "All of My Friends Are Listening to Crunk" (one of my faves), and "No Surprise" where Dev takes to the keys

Dev introduced a few forthcoming songs from the next album including;

"Fuck Suckers" about sleeping with your ex (by accident) and "Marlene" a funky number about a german girl he met in Tokyo. Marlene will definitely be the next hit off the new album with awesome electric guitar riffs and a great guitar solo from Dev.

Dev keeps the rapport with the crowd going throughout the gig especially sharing his conquering of his fear of vessels in getting over from the UK, being told at the harbour that he would be getting on the boat.

Anna Prior, educated in my home town of Doncaster, who's developing a following after this tour is the band's drummer and delivers a tight, perfect set and shares her vocals on many of the tracks.

Martin from Train Chronicles delivers the bass succinctly but you can tell the band hasn't been playing with each other for a while, in SXSW (Austin) Lightspeed played alone with Mike Sidell (the violinist) thus they are fresh on the European road. There needs to be more violinists in bands! The x-factor added by Mike's style really made this concert special.

Before the ten minute long "Midnight Surprise" closes the set the band play the Star Wars theme immaculately (clip from the Nottingham gig: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTTIORVUJIs ), George Lucas would be proud of the arrangement and time put in to master this classic from Lightspeed - comic book geek and star wars addict! Midnight Surprise is again superbly delivered and the crowd appreciated this closing with rapturous applause.

The band then comes on for an encore, with Dev unsure of what to play, buoyed by the overexcited Yank in the crowd he settles for a medley of Weezer's "Buddy Holly" and The Strokes' "Heart in a Cage" delivered with the gusto of Julian Casablancas!

Definitely a must to see live and catch him in an intimate venue!

Genesis: The Beginning: Initial Bloggage

2008-03-27T10:02:00.002Z

This blog will principally be for reviewing music concerts, new artists, albums and with the potential to adding some cool features once I get my head round it.

I will NOT be posting download links, just myspace samples as music has worth like any other consumerable!

In the words of a famous songwriter, if you could download bread, there would be no bakers left!

My background: 21 years young, student and traveller with keen interest in all types of music, no door is closed.

Frequent gig-goer and new talent searcher via myspace, recommendations and excessive use of bandwith.