AAF - I'm Back fuckers

Imagine yourself as a child, the age of 6 or 7, you're just chilling after school, like me. I was a fantastic kid for musical influence, my dad was the biggest fan of The Beatles I'd ever seen, also a bastard for some Stevie Wonder. My mum as well, listening to bands like HIM and Prince, don't get me wrong, I don't listen to prince myself but fuck me, the man is talented and knows how to put a show on.

So one day I'm kick in back after school watching music channels, because that's what we did in the late 90's early 2000's. Kerrang was the channel of choice in the beginning, getting me into the likes of Green Day, System of a Down, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Smashing Pumpkins (who, to this fucking day are one of my favorite bands of all time). I could go on all day naming bands that Kerrang introduced me to but I have one in particular that deserves all of the hype they got back in the day, keep it in mind that I love a bit of Michael Jackson because he plays a big part here. 

So I see a new video come on I've never seen before, I shit you not, that day I fell in love. Straight in loud guitars, bunch of guys in a boxing ring with their logo on the floor, playing a Michael Jackson song. That band, is Alien Ant Farm, one of the most underrated bands of that time, and of this time, not as consistent as I'd prefer, but I'm not a prick so I accept that they had their issues. This was the first time I had heard the band, and right there and then, trying to hold back my tears of joy, I heard Dryden Mitchell, the lead singer of the band wailing out that MJ classic with a strong 3 piece band behind him. 

Believe it or not, I'm not here to talk about Smooth Criminal, or anything from that album, fast forward 4 years to 2005, I no longer listen to AAF. In retrospect, biggest mistake of my life. They realised the album Up In The Attic, top album, top fucking quality, no hits, but big hitters, Around the Block, Lord Knows, Sleepwalker, all phenomenal songs, classic Alien Ant Farm. But as I said, at the time I wasn't listening to them much, maybe once or twice, but even then it was just the big hits. Now fast forward 9 years, present day, I spend most of my time listening to music, or working, I was just going through my itunes and listening to nostalgia. I came across my AAF section to find not one, not three, but TWO Alien Ant Farm albums, ANThology and TruANT. I had never really listened to them in much depth and once again, mainly the hits like Glow, Courage or Movies. So what I did was listen to both albums front to back, and my lord, I'll tell you that was a good day for music. I couldn't understand why I didn't listen to them all the time, and from then on I did. Then a month or so ago I decided I didn't have enough to listen to and downloaded the album in question Up in the Attic. I expected nothing but the best, and that's what I received from the gods of kick ass rock. But one song in particular stuck to me, for some reason, I can't really put my finger on why I like it so much, San Sebastian. The lyrics in this song, in my personal opinion, are incredible, Dryden Mitchell is a fucking genius, "I'll drown in a thousand lakes, if it means that you'll miss me", that part alone makes it a great song.

I connect to the message in this song, that bullshit about not knowing where yo stand with a romantic interest, losing sleep over it, the fear of being left, got to be honest, this song gets that state of mind perfectly, for me at least, the tone of the song seems happy but the lyrics can be read to be the opposite, I like that, contrast, always love a bit of contrast in a song. 

I will do nothing but recommend this song to anyone who has heard anything by the band, if not, I recommend the band to anyone, they're real easy to listen to, and they're fucking kick ass. Also, go check out their new single Homage from their upcoming album Always and Forever coming out later this year.

Give it everything you got - The Whitest Man Alive, Edgar Winter.

Don't Let Me Down - The Beatles

Jump in the time machine and let's head back to the fucking prime of The Beatles, but I don't mean prime as in Sgt. Peppers or Revolver, or even Please, Please Me, I'm talking about the Get Back single, and I'm talking about the B-Side of that fucking single, my favourite song of one of the greatest bands to grace this god forsaken world Don't Let Me Down by The Beatles.

This is the definition of a chill song, it's a fucking love song, about that rat piss woman Ono, yet that doesn't ruin it for me. The fucking guitar, so damn beautiful, that fucking Harrison man, he's the best Beatle if you ask me, it may have been written by Lennon but Harrison really took it for me with the guitar, very Hendrix in some ways. Back to Lennon, what I love about Lennon is his emotion, first time I heard twist and shout, the fucking scream on this man, he was really something else, he screams in this song too, and my fucking lord does he do it well. Come on Ono, don't you fucking dare let this man down after he wrote you a gem of a fucking song like this. 

What more is there to say about this song, I suppose I could talk about Ringo, simple drums, as always, but you know what, just like every Beatles song, it fucking works, simplicity really worked for him, fuck anyone who talks shit about the master of the skins Ringo fucking Starr. Unfortunately this isn't a Paul heavy song even though I'm pretty sure the song is credited as Lennon-McCartney, one of these days I'll tell you about how much I love Paul McCartney, but for now, this song will do. Harrison is my favourite Beatle, but not by much, they're all the best Beatle in their own respect. They really were bigger than Jesus, still are, you can't go anywhere and talk to someone who hasn't heard of the Beatles.

Need to get myself down to the motherland of Liverpool, see some family, see the sites, but also, see some Beatles history, and stand next to the John Lennon statue outside the Cavern Club.

The Beatles man, they never let me down when I'm feeling bad about something, this post hasn't done this song justice, but then again no one in the world could write anything to do it justice.

Get back JoJo.  

Last Nite - The Strokes

This one is pretty spur of the moment since I haven't listened to this band in years, but I decided to listen to this song today and I'm hooked again.

The Strokes, I mean, what do I say about The Strokes, Julian Casablancas, shit faced drunk, clearly angry as fuck, just shouting, with a voice like a husky angel. This song is just fucking amazing, rough yet surprisingly clean guitars, consistent drumming, funky ass bass riffs, this song in my opinion is The Strokes, mainly because it was the first song I heard by them, back in the days when System of a Down were everyone and their mums favourite band. I liked this band.

The video just makes it better, Casablancas, out of his fucking mind, pissed off, just singing this damn amazing song, the rest of the band just playing this damn song. He's walking around, shit faced, walking into his band mates, they take no notice cause, fuck it, the guy's getting his emotions out while hammered, let him be.

The first time you see his face, blank expression, looking pretty sad, but what more can you expect. From what he's saying, he's had a pretty shit time, no one understands. The vocals in this song just make it for me, the shouting occasionally, the husky voice bastard really did it this time, I can really relate to this song for some reason even though I've never been in that situation.

Go and listen to this god damn song, and anything else by The Strokes because, fuck me, what a fucking band they really are, I'm lost for words, nothing I can say will do this band justice. Just go listen to them, now, get away from this blog and open the damn link.

Me, I ain't ever gonna understand, bitch.

Enjoy.

Creedence Appreciation

The 60's for me is all about The Beatles, Zeppelin, Hendrix, Sabbath and in the past few months, Creedence Clearwater Revival. Fronted by one of the greatest voices to ever live, John Foggerty, luckily the man is still alive, I dread to see the day when that changes.

I always wrote off Creedence as a basic band, nothing special, but one day I was at a friends house just listening to good music, as you do when you've got the day off work, and he put on the album Green River by Creedence. Holy fucking shit I'll never forget that day, what a band, what a man John Foggerty really is. His voice, his guitar riffs, his lyrical content about the south and about the 60's. All I can ever say about them is "what a fucking band".

They did a cover of a Marvin Gaye song you may be familiar with, Heard It Through the Grapevine, and damn, what a cover, Foggerty's voice is perfect for it, he does it justice, maybe even pushes better than the original. It's 11 minutes long, primarily guitar solos, to get through the whole song you have to commit, you can't just slip through it, you have to take it all in, sing along, dance, it's just a fucking beautiful song.

My Creedence recommendations, Born on the Bayou, Green River, Heard it Through the Grapevine, Lookin' Out My Back Door, and if you're feeling up to it, I Put a Spell On You.

Creedence are the band of the millennium, if you don't like them, then I feel sorry for you.

Keep on chooglin' brother.

Heavenly Father - Bon Iver

This next post is about a pretty new song, I only heard it about 2 days ago and it's already becoming one of my favourite songs. Heavenly Father by Bon Iver was made for an independent film called Wish I Was Here directed by Zach Braff.

There's really not much for me to say about Bon Iver, I wouldn't count it as a band, I give all recognition to Justin Vernon as he writes the majority of the songs, especially their first album For Emma, Forever Ago, on which he recorded every instrumental track and vocal track on his own. He did a damn good job on it too, to this day, I class that as my winter album as it perfectly sets the mood for winter. But I'll give that album the hype it deserves another day, for now, let's just stick to this song.

In classic Justin Vernon style, this song is absolutely fucking phenomenal, I posted this song the minute I heard it on my Facebook and described it as a song I've been waiting to hear all my life. There's something about it that every song I've ever loved has been missing. It's really just so god damn satisfying to finally hear something that makes me feel as good as this song does. It takes me back to a time in my life I quite miss, back when I was around 14 years old and just starting to have some freedom in my life from my parents, but before I had so much freedom to the point I was very cautious. Since hearing it, I find myself in the middle of the night, sitting in my bedroom, listening to it, and smoking a cigarette, just forgetting about the world for that 4 minutes and 3 seconds, everything about this song is perfect in my opinion.

I really have to give it to Justin Vernon this time, I mean, I've heard some fucking great songs in my life, a lot of them by Bon Iver. I once said that Beach Baby from his EP Blood Bank was the greatest song I'd ever heard, since then I've been amazed by finding better songs. But in all seriousness I think this takes that title for me, I can't find anything wrong with it, there's a point in have song where he songs the lyrics "turn around now and you count to ten" where I just can't believe how perfectly he sings it, and just little things about it, it may seem repetitive, it may not seem "Bon Iver" cause it's not just guitars and an acoustic song, but go and listen to an older song called Woods from Blood Bank, a song that is completely written off because of how simple and repetitive it is. If you really listen to it, and how he sings it, you should really enjoy listening to it the way I do.

Seriously, take that 4 minutes, sit down, take this song in, I guarantee you won't regret it. While you're there, if you haven't listened to Justin Vernon's other band Volcano Choir, then give them a listen as well, I highly recommend Byegone from their 2013 release Repave.

Hopefully this will satisfy you like it did for me, damn good bit of music. For now, I'm going to go and listen to Bon Iver's debut release, because all of this talk of Wolves and Flumes has got me craving it.

Until next time.

Ma Fleur - The Cinematic Orchestra

The first bit of music I'm going to spin the shit about is Ma Fleur by The Cinematic Orchestra, do not let the name of the band put you off giving this album a listen, they do orchestral music, but this album has very minimal music of that type, this album is not confined to a certain genre as just about every song is it's own genre, I'm not going to do ratings, because that's pointless, no scale is accurate enough to really describe music, all I'll say is this is a fantastic album and definitely worth a listen if you have the time to spare to sit and really listen to this.

This is the bands third studio album, released in 2007. It's the last album they have released, which is a damn shame since I don't think they're going to be releasing anymore original material.

I don't know much about this band. but what I do know is that they never fail to really make me feel something when I listen to their music, whether it be the soundtrack the did for the documentary Crimson Wing or the first track from this album, which is probably my favourite song from the album, a lot of people will recognise it if they listen to it. the name of the song is To Build a Home and features Canadian songwriter Patrick Watson, it also has a partial second half near the end of the album called That Home which is only about a minute long yet if you listen to it in the right setting, it can leave you speechless.

Another of my favourites from the album is called Breathe which is a whole other world from To Build a Home, it heavily features acoustic guitar and piano, as well as some electronic sounds, but it all just goes so perfectly together. There is a woman singing in it named Fontella Bass, I couldn't find out, but she has quite a rough voice, yet pretty clean. She, in my opinion was the perfect choice for this song, whoever she is, the tone of her voice goes so perfectly with the instrumental track. There are 2 different tones to the song, one of which is the main tone of the song, quite slow and mellow, the verses are in this style, I don't even know how to describe it, it's a good song to get high to, lets just say that. The second part of the song, the chorus, a big change, loud, in your face, the first time I heard this part of the song, I got chills. It's so perfect, such a contrast and it works so god damn well, I don't know what else to say about it other than it's just such a great song, a hidden gem in the world of music, give it a listen, it's not for everyone, but it's worth a try, cause if it's for you, then you'll love it.

Like all albums it has some flaws, but it's acceptable when it's just pumping out good song after good song, you look past the small bad parts. I highly recommend listening to at least the 3 songs mentioned, and if you're feeling adventurous, have a go at Into You or Time and Space another couple of beautiful pieces of music.

This album is glorious, and this blog entry is finished, hope you enjoyed this shit, I certainly enjoyed writing about some good music.

In a while, crocodile.

Welcome to my shitty music blog!

Hi there, if you've gotten this far and you're reading at least this then thank you, this is the new home for my terrible bullshit rants about the shit music I listen to and love, music is a big part of my life, something I hope to make into a career one day but that's another story for another day.

In this blog I'll try and give a background about the band I talk about, and a good description of the song and a personal reaction to how the song makes me feel, or album, it won't always be single song because there are a lot of full albums that I connect to on a different level, for example Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins, I will probably never talk about that album though seeing as I have never been able to describe to anyone how good it really is, I barely understand it myself, I recommend giving it a listen if you haven't already heard the fucking beautiful masterpiece of 1995.

I hope you enjoy my ramblings on here, they could be sparse, or there could be too many, let's just see where the time takes me, I have nothing else to say to introduce this piece of shit, except, in the words of the late, great, Marvin Gaye "Let's get it on".

Peace out niqqa.