Zero 7 are the soundtrack of a generation of people, even if half of them don’t know it. The masters of soothing melodies and perfect vocals, Zero 7 recently released “Recordâ€, the “first ever collection of their finest moments including Destiny, In the waiting line and Homeâ€.
The thing which separates Zero 7 from a wealth of other similar bands has to be their courage and eagerness to do new and exciting things, even when they have absolutely no need to; while many bands tread water half the time, churning out the same old dependable style of music and never really expanding their fan base, Zero 7 have continually strived to introduce new elements to their work and sometimes, when appropriate, to change direction completely and follow a path that is entirely unproven. Yes it’s a risk, and nobody is saying they’ve got it right every time, but the times they did get it right the music was amazing and the songs were nothing less than memorable. Which is probably why their music has appeared in numerous films, to name Zach Braff’s “Garden State†to name but one.
If you’ve never heard Zero 7 then you are undoubtedly wrong: you surely must have done. Their music is the stuff that gets to you wherever you are, and their songs, when you hear them on the Record CD will no doubt remind you of being somewhere and thinking “who is this band?â€. Their music evokes feelings of rich aromas with oak furniture. Even though you get the feeling that Zero 7 could have been a mega band if they had wanted it that badly, you also get the feeling that they really don’t care either way, as long as they get to experiment. Where they excel is making interesting textured music, and as long as they continue to do that for a while, I don’t see anyone being dissatisfied.
Tiesto (his real name is Tijs Michiel Varwest) is the most famous DJ in world of house and dance music with more than 25 years on stage. His music is significant for the whole genre as the DJ dominated among the top DJs for more than 10 years, has created certain instrumental movements within the sound construction and has made a valuable contribution to the mixture of trance and house elements.
Born in 1969 in the Netherlands, Tiesto had a constant love for music and started taking part actively in organizing and conducting school parties when he was at the age of fourteen, he started playing clubs and gigs as soon as he could (which were held in locations that resembled a storage unit). By 1985 he was a recognized DJ after performing in several major clubs in the Netherlands being encouraged by his friend and manager. A significant part in his life played a small club in Breda, the Netherlands, where he was able to refine and construct his own style by playing 12 hours during weekends in a separate room specially designed for his parties. Later in his carried he signed a major music production Dutch company and started taking active part in the issuing of different house music series (such as the Sunrise series) thus gaining success and love among the fans. One of his most famous tracks is Traffic which hit the charts in the USA and Europe and became an all-time house&trance hit, symbol of the new generation in music. His career developed through many performances around the globe including the top party places like Ibiza (Spain), Miami (The USA), The Italian and the French beaches, the Eastern European summer resorts and most of the capitals of the European, American and Asian cities.
By successfully mixing and producing house and trance music, Tiesto has become one of the icons in the genre, having millions of fans worldwide and his music being respected by both fans and house music producers.
Ministry of Sound London is a nightclub in London that is one of the best nightclubs in the world (rated #6 among 100 clubs worldwide in 2009) and famous for its light effects, amazing sound systems, crowded rooms and high quality house and trance music performances by the best DJs in the sphere.
The club was the creation of DJ Berkman who, inspired by the famous New York, Detroit and Chicago house music clubs, wanted to make the first house music club in London. He wanted to make something so amazing that to be completely unique and to familiarize people more about the house music and its performance as well as the atmosphere that it creates. Features from the famous NY club the Paradise Garage were used and many details from the house clubs worldwide until DJ’s ideas about sound, design and lights was completed and the Ministry of sound was founded in 1991. Although you may think you need to go to Ibiza or property in Side to enjoy good house music. You can get the same feeling that you do on those beaches in the middle of London.
Berkman cooperated with the Ministry of Sound Corporation main shareholder (since the Ministry of Sound is a company that is involved in the production of goods as well) James Polumbo and together they created this fascinating place. The openning sets were by famous US DJs and the club rapidly grew in popularity among young people. Spreading the word and becoming more and more attractive, the club many won many new fans for the house and electronic music throughout the UK and even the whole of Europe since many of the UK’s visitors visit the place and enjoy the high quality performances each Friday and Saturday. The club hosts other parties during the weak and in Fridays and Saturdays becomes the stage for famous trance and hard house DJs (such as Armin Van Buuren, Sasha, Tiesto, David Guetta). This is the reason why even though in its first three years the club did not have an alcohol license, still thousands of poeple were queuing in front of the doors each night. Being available for private hire, the club might host performances of different progressive and tribalero DJs.
Having spent nine months very recently in Canada, I became privy to a whole host of new music and new bands. Most of them, I have to admit, did not hit the mark for me. The music scene in Canada seems like it is lingering in the past with some very "safe"sounding bands who are very, very similar to each other. It is almost as if the country has found a formula that it likes and has decided to stick with it.
Bands such as 3 Days Grace, Mariana’s Trench and Our Lady Peace are the types of bands I am talking about. Very generic rock music and not much variety. You could even add Breaking Benjamin to that list. Don’t get me wrong, these bands are very successful and deserve everything they have earned, but they just aren’t my cup of tea.
However, towards the end of my trip I saw, on TV, an advert for Alexander Keith’s beer and the song on the advert was very catchy to me. I immediately went on the Internet (Google is a godsend) and queried the song on the advert. I was led to The Stills. After sitting down and listening to their album; ’Oceans Will Rise'I believe I have found a Canadian band that appeals to me.
They hail from Montreal and are therefore French Canadian, but their music is very indie rock, much like the style of New Yorkers: Interpol. Whilst their music is more upbeat than Interpol’s I do get the feeling they both have similar tastes in music themselves and similar inspirations.
Stand out tracks on the album include ’I’m With You’, the song from the advert. It is very catchy and rather U2-esque. ’Everything I Build'is a slow-paced, beautifully crafted song and could be my favourite. ’Snow in California'and ’Don’t Talk Down'are both great songs in their own right as well. Give them a try, and I really have to say if you are into waking up and going for a jog in the morning, some of this upbeat Canadian music make for great running accessories.
Having spent nine months very recently in Canada, I became privy to a whole host of new music and new bands. Most of them, I have to admit, did not hit the mark for me. The music scene in Canada seems like it is lingering in the past with some very "safe"sounding bands who are very, very similar to each other. It is almost as if the country has found a formula that it likes and has decided to stick with it.
Bands such as 3 Days Grace, Mariana’s Trench and Our Lady Peace are the types of bands I am talking about. Very generic rock music and not much variety. You could even add Breaking Benjamin to that list. Don’t get me wrong, these bands are very successful and deserve everything they have earned, but they just aren’t my cup of tea.
However, towards the end of my trip I saw, on TV, an advert for Alexander Keith’s beer and the song on the advert was very catchy to me. I immediately went on the Internet (Google is a godsend) and queried the song on the advert. I was led to The Stills. After sitting down and listening to their album; ’Oceans Will Rise'I believe I have found a Canadian band that appeals to me.
They hail from Montreal and are therefore French Canadian, but their music is very indie rock, much like the style of New Yorkers: Interpol. Whilst their music is more upbeat than Interpol’s I do get the feeling they both have similar tastes in music themselves and similar inspirations.
Stand out tracks on the album include ’I’m With You’, the song from the advert. It is very catchy and rather U2-esque. ’Everything I Build'is a slow-paced, beautifully crafted song and could be my favourite. ’Snow in California'and ’Don’t Talk Down'are both great songs in their own right as well. Give them a try, and I really have to say if you are into waking up and going for a jog in the morning, some of this upbeat Canadian music make for great running accessories.
H’mmm, interesting times. I was out and about on my travels yesterday and I had the excellent, ‘Origin of Symmetry’ by Muse playing on my car stereo. ‘Not only do they rock,’ I was thinking, ‘but I just love that spacey sound they have!’ When I got home and unlaced my new mizuno running shoes (which are awesome by the way), I decided it would be a good idea to put on my investigation slippers and dedicate a little of my time to poring through YouTube… What other bands were out there with a similar kind of ‘cosmic-rock’ sound?
Well, I didn’t come up with anyone quite on par with Muse, but I did find a few interesting tracks that were based on that spacey thing. First up was Arjen Anthony Lucassen’s band, Star One. They come under the heading of Space Metal and their album makes very interesting listening (it also has a brilliantly drawn cover). Each song has been written around the stories from different Sci-Fi movies and TV shows. It has a distinctly ‘retro’ feel to it all, harking back to the Metal bands of old, particularly Hawkwind. My favourite track is the belting; ‘Intergalactic Space Crusaders’ (written about ‘Blake’s 7’).
However, my investigations into cosmically-inspired music are far from over… The latest thing I stumbled across was a Progressive House band called Deadmau5 (pronounced ‘dead mouse’). I’m not normally big on House, but it did make interesting listening!
Space-orientated sounds have resulted in some truly great music over the years. Think about stuff like the awesome ‘Moon Safari’ by Air, the sublime ‘Wish You Were Here’ by Pink Floyd or uber Ambient works such as the brilliant ‘Solaris’ soundtrack by Cliff Martinez. I am sure there is loads of other stuff out there to discover that employs that cosmic vibe. I am going to hop into my shuttle-pod, buckle-up and set the controls for the heart of the sun!
Jack White is a man who clearly loves his music. Obviously, all musicians love their trade, but Jack White seems to take that love up to an obsession. Not only does he have his original and very successful band, The White Stripes, he also has his side projects, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. And I must say he takes up a sufficient amount of storage space on my personal iPod.
All three bands arguably have very different and unique Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: the question of whether or not Radiohead are depressing. It’s a debate without resolution, and one that everyone has their own take on.
I suppose you could take the fact that they are one of Great Britain’s favourite bands to mean that they aren’t depressing, seeing as the last thing that anyone reasonably wants to be—bar a really depressed unreasonable person who is in so deep he / she doesn’t know Read the rest of this entry »
When Lady Gaga’s album ‘The Fame’ was released near the end of 2008 I am sure she never knew what was coming. The album has been a commercial success and there are obvious reasons why. First of all Lady Gaga can actually sing. Yes folks she has a very good voice and her music serves only to compliment the voice. There are no synthesizers her hiding that beautiful voice. This album shows off Gaga’s range and she outshines the music Read the rest of this entry »
In May 1997, the talented singer / songwriter known to the world as Jeff Buckley perished in the Mississippi river. He was just thirty years of age, and, like his father Tim—also a talented and highly praised musician—had died tragically, confounding critics and fans alike, leaving tremors of sadness behind which reach right up into the present day and surely into the future.
Much speculation has been made of the singer’s death, but it is widely agreed that it Read the rest of this entry »