Pink Floyd were an amazing band. And not only did they deliver us with fourteen excellent albums, but they also jump-started solo careers for both Roger Waters and David Gilmour. Unfortunately, over the years, there has been a lot of bad blood between these two musicians, although they did manage to bury the axe (careful with that, Eugene) for their awesome Live 8 performance. It was the first time that Waters and Gilmour had played together in almost twenty-five years.
JJ72 (Mark Greaney, Sarah Fox, Fergal Matthews and Hilary Woods) were a brilliant and much underrated band. They may only have recorded two studio albums but both were full of some excellent songs. After releasing their self-titled debut album in 2000 it seemed that they were going to be a big success. The single, ‘Snow’ got a great deal of airtime and it reached an impressive number 21 in the UK charts.
Other singles that followed from the album included, Read the rest of this entry »
Every so often, someone will come along and record an album that is as close to perfection as you could possibly get. One such instance was in 1985, when Kate Bush created ‘Hounds of Love’.
The overall effect of the album is dreamlike. Many of the songs have got a strong cinematic feel and ‘Cloudbusting’ is actually based around some of the philosophical writings of Wilhelm Reich. Its content is highly stylised with sound samples, complex rhythms and super-slick production. Read the rest of this entry »
Have you ever heard of a band called, ‘The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy’? If you haven’t then I am not surprised. They only recorded one album together and it has been sadly overlooked since then.
The group consisted of two very talented individuals; Rono Tse and Michael Franti. Their songs were full of social commentary and they chose many interesting subjects to write about.
Okay, so up to now they do not sound that different… but the thing is that Read the rest of this entry »
It is nothing new for singers to try their hand at art but it is always something that is interesting to see. Over the years I have seen pictures by David Bowie, Lou Reed and Marilyn Manson. Some of them have been good, others have been bad, but they have all been worth having a look at.
This is a really good selection of pictures from some of the music industry’s most famous names. Several of them look very much Read the rest of this entry »
Who is Hannah Montana you ask? Well, unless you have been living under a rock this past decade, you would know that Hannah is today’s teen popstar sensation. Just turn on the Disney Channel and you will see her all over it. Despite my age, I absolutely love watching her on TV and think her music is fabulous.
Hannah Montana is actually Miley Cyrus, daughter of the famous singer Billy Ray Cyrus and Leticia Cyrus. She was born in Nashville, Read the rest of this entry »
I knew of this band before, just by name and reputation, but hadn’t actually heard their songs. I dont know why, but it never quite worked its way into my listening list. I recently listened to the album Black holes and Revelations… and I have to say that its pretty much blown me away. Musically speaking the guys are quite amazing. The keyboardist and Bassist lock in fantastically, and the drums complement them beautifully. Yes, the rhythm section rocks, and Read the rest of this entry »
Performance anxiety, (which is also known as stage fright), is something that affects most new musicians. And the reason why is obvious. If they mess up on their songs, they put their career in jeopardy and that would not help with improving conversion rates on their record sales. They may also get ridiculed by the press for their bad performance.
However, most musicians fail to realize that they got where they were because of their talent. So, it’s unlikely that Read the rest of this entry »
In the world of music, people with perfect pitch are viewed as being incredibly talented. What is perfect pitch? Simply defined, perfect pitch is the ability to recognize notes without hearing them first. Such abilities can make singing and music creation much easier, since you don’t have to do as much work with music notation.
However, there are very few that can achieve perfect pitch. In fact, according to Wikipedia, pieces demonstrating perfect or absolute pitch are very rare. So, Read the rest of this entry »
STOP PRESS!!! A new night has started (well new-ish; it’s already been going for about 6 months but I just heard about it last month, so it’s new to me, and therefore, new to you!!) and it’s called CHEMISTRY! They run a music showcase type night every first Thursday of the month and have been featuring some top up and coming soul/funk/gospel artists. And boy oh boy is the talent fresh and , well, talented!!
Forget your Pop Idols and Read the rest of this entry »