M is for Music - Genesis

I have never been a big fan of the music of what I call modern Genesis prefer their earlier works more, while Peter Gabriel was still with the band. Somehow for me they lost their way and the sound that made them uniquely different from other bands, but they are still good at times. This did stop going to one of their concerts when I was offered free tickets many moons ago. 

   

I saw them play at Roundhay Park in Leeds with countless thousands of other people from the North of England and beyond. Thankfully they played just enough of the old stuff to remind me of their past, as this clip from a later concert tour shows, so not all was lost for me. Having said that they are still worth watching if you love quality live music. They are nothing but entertaining and the concerts are full of energy and feel fresh, which can't be easy when you have been going for so long. Their concerts now seem far and few between but when they do come along they live up to their reputation. It is a band I would recommend people to see if you don't dislike their Music, you might be surprised how much you end up enjoying yourself. I know I did in the end.

Hope Murphy

On Saturday I selected someone called Hope Murphy as act of the week and instead of selecting the cover on the show as a video I picked one of her own songs. I'm not sure she will win the show, you know what the British public are like, bust she deserves some attention from the independent record labels. So here are some of her own works rather than covers to add weight to the argument.

I find myself, asking the question will winning the show be good for her? Once she is taken in to the Simon Cowell music machine I wonder ifl she be allowed to develop her own style without having some style imposed upon her She is still young and developing musically. She is clearly a talented singer and songwriter, she just needs work to find a style that is her own. To do that she needs someone that will be in there for the long haul and not for the quick buck. Simon Cowell and his music machine might be the wrong thing for her at this stage.

If she does win, or Simon Cowell takes her under her wing, I hope I am wrong in whatmy fears I have expressed here. Simon Cowell has a good ear for singers and I have seen do wonders to people he rates on TV talent shows, like American Idol, but I sometimes wonder if he is to quick to exploit them and make them conform what he feels people want. If he has such a young artist he needs to given them time to develop so they have a future in the music industry and don't have to appear on the The Voice ten years later hoping to restart their careers after a being a one album wonder.

M is for Music - David Bowie

Continuing the theme of live music from last week we have another of the artists I have seen live over the years that were as good in person as they are on record we have David Bowie. Now past his peak but when I saw him he was still in prime.

I saw him at the old Sunderland Football ground, before they built the new Stadium of Light. It was an amazing show and the atmosphere was simply fantastic. After a couple of supporting acts David came on and the place became alive. It was just amazing to be there and to here him sing and perform classics as well as newer songs from more recent albums. 

Now his voice like many of his generation has lost that edge and power it once had, but all the same, I would love to see him perform again in a smaller venue, and for those big numbers we have loads of live recordings of his shows.

M is for Music - Jethro Tull

It is Monday and M is for Music, so lets talk Music for a bit. The other day I was looking back to what really made me take notice of music. Not an easy thing to home in on when music has been around you all your life, after all my mum use to listen to Radio 1 as I ate my breakfast every morning. Later I would listen to Radio Caroline because it seemed naughty to listen to a pirate radio station. Soon I discovered they where playing some of the best music on radio. As I was thinking one moment stood above the rest, a concert that show on television that was simultaneously broadcast on the Radio 1 in stereo.

The strange person in the video above is Ian Anderson, the lead singer of a band called Jethro Tull. It was this bands concert filmed at Madison Square Gardens in New York that helped me from the cornerstone of my thinking about what makes a good band or artist. The one thing I took from the performance, other than a love of the band itself, was the idea that any good band should be able to play as well live as they can on record. Jethro Tull certainly did that when they played that night and when I was lucky enough to see them myself at the NEC in Birmingham some years later. They were brilliant.

Over the years I have seen quiet a few bands and artist including big names, up and coming artists, and small local bands. In terms of the big names I have always picked them carefully and avoided the artists and bands that are over produced on records or are likely to use computers to improve vocal pitch. I would just feel cheated when they performed live if they didn't match what they sound like on record. It would be like paying for a high quality leather sofa only to find when it was delivered it was made of cheap PVC and it was falling apart at the seams. 

What I thought I would do over the next four Mondays is starting today is to feature bands that I have seen in the past that have influenced some of my idea's about music in some way with live clips. Clearly starting with Jethro Tull who started it all off and a live performance of "Thick as a Brick'. It might not be to everyones taste but the quality of the vocals and musicianship is excellent.

Musically Different

If you look back at recent posts you will read about how I have been listening to the Radio, and in particular BBC Radio 6 Music, but that is not all I listen to. Sometimes I listen to music some might consider old fashioned in some kind of way. To me it is not old at all, as great music is just that, great music. There is more than what is in the charts and different kinds of music can grab you in a different way. Let me introduce you to Secret Garden, a group that you just have to listen to and let soak into your mind, and let it take you were it will.

I feel we don't have the time to listen to music like we did in the past although it there in our lives all the time, sometimes without us noticing. I know when I start the car the radio comes on for example, but sometimes I play no attention to the music that might be playing. The same can be said in shops which often play popular music that we just take in on a sub concuss level but rarely listen to. It even happens in our living rooms as we watch television or a film on a DVD. There is music all around us, but we are normally to busy just to listen and do nothing else.

The music of Secret Garden, and music like it, is different, in that it really demands you to take time to just listen to it while not doing anything else. It is not really classical and it not really easy listening, it is somewhere in the space between which has lead to the label "New Age" being applied to it. It use modern instruments and classical instruments to create a sound that will become the classical music of the future, carrying on the creative art of the composers of old.

It is sort of music I like to listen to if I just want to escape the modern world and all the problems I face. It is often beautiful, sometimes happy, maybe sad and always relaxing which gives it the power clam and take your troubles away, but in order to do that you have to let it become part of you. I often listening to it in times of stress and I know it helps me relax, and from that state I can see the natural beauty in the world and the beauty in the people in I know and care about, and that brings a warm glow to my mind.

Don't dismiss it as not being modern, for it is, but it just doesn't sound like it. Give it a go and sink into the music a let it take you where it wants. I recommend it for calming those hectic days we all have in this modern busy world. Take yourself some place and just listen to music.

Saint Patricks Day Music

This is the last of the posts on the week long celebrations of BBC Radio 6 Muisc's tenth birthday and it falls on Saint Patrick Day so it is only fitting I feature a Irish Band I have taken liking too. The band in question has been around for years and they are called "The Waterboy's" and the song in the video is called "Stolen Child".

BBC Radio 6 Music are rounding off the celebrations tonight with a special show called 6 Music At The Southbank, which will be broadcast at ten this evening. Gideon Coe will be playing a selection of live sessions recorded last night at London's Southbank Centre. These will include sessions by artists like Laura Marling who was featured on Wednesday's post, Public Image Ltd, Anna Calvi and many more artists who appear on the station. If you are out tonight, then don't worry, you can listen to the show on BBC iPlayer later in the in the early hours of Sunday morning, or watch the sessions on digital television by pressing the red button from Monday.

I have had a great time listening to the radio over the last week or so. It is something that I have missed and having music in my life is more important than I have realised. I will be dusting off the old iPod over the coming weeks and loading it up with music to enjoy and thanking my lucky stars that I have rediscovered BBC Radio 6 Music and some great shows again.

Finally whatever you are doing tonight I hope you all have a great Saint Patricks Day, a day that over recent years which has been embraced by the whole of the country to celebrate all that is good about Ireland. One thing is for sure they have produced some wonderful music over the years.

Fridays Musical Friends

Carrying on the theme from Wednesday of groups and bands that I have been introduced to through BBC Radio 6 Music, we have the now critically acclaimed band Elbow. It is a band I came across back in the mid to late summer of 2009 when I use to fill my evenings with music.

It is a band with strong connections to the station. Not only do they play their music but the lead singer Guy Garvey has his own show on Sunday Evenings.The track I have picked for the video clip is from a live performance they did for the BBC that was filmed in Manchester Cathedral singing the song "Starlings". In fact if you would like to see the whole of this concert you can follow this link - Elbow at Manchester Cathedral. What is interesting the show was originally recorded for BBC Radio 2 and features one of the few times I know of the station has broadcast a questionable word, but then I don't listen to BBC Radio 2, so I could be wrong. To be honest I'm not sure if they fit the BBC Radio 2 mould, but they probably wouldn't have got the exposure playing the BBC Radio 6 Music card where they fit so well.

If you have never heard of the band you are sure to have heard their music on various television programmes as background music. Have a listen, they are really good and deserve the success they are currently having. They might not be chart toppers, but they are special, and they will grow on you as they did on me back in 2009 when I heard "Station Approach" for the first time.

Thursdays Music

Once again I have been listening to BBC Radio 6 Music during my free time. I really warming to Gideon Coe's show late in the evening on the station. What is even better is I am discovering new artists that I like and want to hear more of in the future. Some hardly known others from the past and well know in the music world but who have been forgotten and who are still recording.

Tonight their was a group on the show called "Soap and Skin" performing a song called "Wonder". The group is lead by the Austrian artist Anja Plaschg who describes her work as an experimental musical project. All the songs are her own arrangements and feature, in the words of a NME review, icily rolling piano, violin and sudden, jarring fizzes of electronics which tell tales of crushed love and innocence. What she creates is a haunting melodies which she combines with thoughtful lyrics to which she adds the beauty of her voice.

She recorded her first album at the age of eighteen, achieving top ten sucess in her native land and making the charts in Germany, Belgium and France. Many critics have already tipped her to be the next big success to come out of Australia, and I can understand why. I know I want to hear more of her music. So once again thanks to this wonderful station I have someone new to listen too.

Different Music for Wednesday

Listening to BBC Radio 6 Music reminded me of some of the great music I have discovered through the station in the past. It got me going through my iTunes library and dipping in music I have heard for years. 

There is some music you come across that just grads you and takes you off to some dreamland with the way the words and the words combine to make you mind drift into some other place. One such group hat comes to mind is Hope Sandoval and the warm Inventions whose sound owes a lot to the amazing voice of Mazzy Star. The track I have featured is another great track played on 6 Music, that made me take note of the group, "Blanchard".

I have always had this love of music that takes you places and has a fresh distinctive sound and this group certainly ticks all those boxes. It might not be everyone cup of tea but I like it and it makes such a change from the more popular music played on mainstream radio stations. If you fancy something different they are worth listening too.

Tuesdays Music Surprise

On of the things that makes BBC Radio 6 Music different it doesn't have the same reparative mix of songs playing over and over again like the more normal popular music stations, but surprisingly they do have a playlist of core tracks which appear on the different shows. For example Laura Marling, who is featured in the video singing a different song, is featured in next weeks playlist with the song "All my Rage".

To me this came a bit of a shock, as I had never really noticed the existence of the playlist in their programming. It never seems to repeat that often you actually notice that any kind of playlist exists at all. This weeks list feature artists like the Arctic Monkeys, Laura Marling,Ladyhawke, The Shins, Paul Weller, Florence and The Machine, The Crookes and many more.

Personally the fact the station manages to have a playlist without actually over playing the songs is a big plus. The problem with lots of radio stations is that when you have listened to the station for a few hours the music just repeats over and over again and this seems to go on for weeks on end. The commercial radio stations like Capital Radio being one of the worse offenders. BBC Radio 6 Music avoids this and it always manages to sound different and fresh.

Music for Monday

I was listening to BBC Radio 6 Music and I was pleased to find that the station hadn't completely sold out to the BBC Radio 2 brigade which was the way it seemed to be going last time I listened. The show that really made me sit up and listen was the presented by Gideon Coe. It started at nine and the evening and finished at midnight, and it is well worth listening too.

A band that took my fancy was "Sergeant Buzfuz" and the historically correct three part song called "Here Come The Popes". I just loved the idea of putting history to music artistically, after all it is method of telling stories that probably dates back from mans first attempts to sing and create music.

The band themselves are from, according to their Facebook page, from London and they have been recording together since 2000 when they released their first seven inch single called "Plugged in". Since then they have recorded four full albums, a number of singles and various collections of tracks. If you want to see them live they can regularly found doing gigs in the London area and occasionally nationally.

Listening to there music it is a surprise that they haven't made more of an impression in the music world. Their sound is sound is distinctive and very pleasing to the ear, and their song writing is interesting. Hopefully with more exposure on the Radio we will be hearing more of them in the future. As for the show I listened to, I will certainly be listening to it again.

Happy Birthday BBC 6 Music

Having stopped listening to BBC Radio 6 Music daily when it appeared it was slowly being over taken over by BBC Radio 2, I almost missed the fact that today the station is 10 years old. It was only by chance I was in the kitchen and turned on the radio to hear the start of a weeks long celebration.

Two or three years ago I use to listen to the station almost non stop during the evenings. as well as when I could during the day. The music it features and introduced me to was simply amazing. Like many other listeners I joined the campaign to keep the station n the air when it was announced that the station might close. The station seemed to important to close and it was playing great muisc the main stream stations wouldn't touch, including music from many of independent lables. With the station playing music and live sessions from the last ten years I think I will be listening for the coming week, when I can. Hopefully listening again will bring music with a difference back into the house. Something that has been missing recently. As part of the celebrations for the next week I will write posts on some of the artists I have heard and like on the station past and present.

Christina Perri

One of the things that the blog has been lacking of late is music. Well with a wonderful live performance on Dancing on Ice tonight she is worthy of a post. The feeling in the song was so complete it made it an emotional and magical performance. It was simply spine tingling. The song was "jar of hearts" by Christina Perri. It is a song a lot of us relate too.

It is a song we have heard a lot of around the house, mainly because Catherine loves it. It just a shame she sometimes sings along. Even she will admit she doesn't have the best of singing voices. All the same she is right to like it, because it is a lovely song sung by a very talented singer which tonights performance showed.

So What Happened to...

So what happens to the old X Factor hopefuls when there dreams are crushed? Do they give up or do they carry on with the dream? The answer is here. If they belive in what they are doing is right then they carry on battling to achieve that dream.

The proof is in Jammie Archer's video for a recent single release. He was the man with the big hair who rocked the second audition of the X-Factor two years ago with "Sex on Fire" by the Kings of Leon and he is still out there trying to make his dream come true. Still touring smaller venues and woking in the studio and he still hopes one day he can make it, despite being knocked out of the X-Factor.

Artist of the Week - Paolo Nutini

This weeks artist of the week is a Scottish singer with a not so scottish name who I rediscovered when looking through my iTunes for something to play recently, it is Paolo Nutini.

I came across Paolo Nutini shortly after the release of his first album back in 2006. In particular the song the song "Last Request" sticks with me from that time when I heard it again. It is just one of those songs that starys with you and that is the mark of a good singer and songwriter, better still if they can repeat the process and Paolo Nutini has done that. His first album was a big hit with me, but somehow I missed the second album although I do know some of the songs for it.

Paolo Nutini is a singer, songwriter and musician from Paisley in Scotland. He was encouraged to sing by his music-loving grandfather, a teacher, who recognised his talent and rather than going into the family fish and chip shop this is the route he took. Starting out in the music business as a roadie and a studio hand gave him the chance to study music and the business. In 2003 he got his big break in his home town when a local radio station organised a concert and one of the acts failed to turn up and he took their place. Impressed by the crowds reaction to this unknown singer a record manager at the concert signed him and Nutini  moved to London. Nutini's debut album was called These Streets and it was released by Atlantic Records back in July 2006 and it was in the charts for a record breaking 196 Weeks. Three years later in May 2009 Nutini released his second album, Sunny Side Up, which debuted at number one in the UK and it went on later to win the award for "Best International Album" at the 2010 Meteor Awards. Currently he is recording a new album.

Well I hope you like and enjoy listening to Paolo Nutini if you join me and listen to some of his work. If you really like him then can always go and listen to him live, he is currently on tour and details of the dates are on his website. I think it is always nice to listen to music from the past and it sometimes can just surprise you like next weeks Artist.

Artist off the Week - Damien Rice

This Weeks artist of the Week sees the return to the more melodic sound that is great for late night listening. The Artist off the Week this week is Damien Rice. Not just as a singer but a writer of fine music too.

I came across Damien Rice while driving late one night when I heard him on the radio. I don't even remember what station I was listening to, but what I do remember is the song. It was called "9 Crimes" and it hunted me. Even now I find this song extremely powerful and moving. As soon as I got home I looked him up on the internet and listened to the song again and again. From there I discovered other songs and my appreciation grew for this fine artist.

Damien Rice is a Irish singer-songwriter and musician who was born on the 7th December 1973. He was raised in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland and began his musical career as a member of the 1990s rock group Juniper. In the end he left the group, and by 2001 he was working as a farmer and as a busker. A year later recorded his first solo album which made the top ten on the UK album chart. His second album was released four years later. He was received well by the music press but he has yet to find the acclaim he deserves. Personally I feel time will correct this oversight and one day he will receive the recognition he deserves. 

I hope have enjoyed videos and if you haven't please make sure you listen to the second video. It was the second Damien Rice track I came across before I was lucky enough to be given one of his CD's. It is really moving. Finally someone talking about the last video on YouTube said:

"Damien Rice somehow creates songs so melancholic, so tragic - but so uplifting all at once. I don't know why, but I find solace in the tears his songs create. I feel less alone hearing his voice echo my own feelings. I suppose it's like someone reaching into your heart and offering a hand, saying "i feel it too"."

I know what they mean about his music and I'm so looking forward to listening to him again over the next week. I just hope you join me.

Artist of the Week - Tracy Chapman

Completely inspired by Michael Collings perfomance of "Fast Car" on the final of Britain's Got Talent this week Artist of the Week is the one and only Tracy Chapman. Given the sentiments behind many of her songs I can compeletly understand why he sings her songs.

I was introduced to Tracy Chapman by a dear friend a few years ago and I almost instantly fell in love with the sound of her voice and her music. She really is one of those singers that stick in your head and I'm so grateful for that introduction. She is one of those artists you pull out of your collection now and again and simply sink in to the sound of their music. What she does is truly magical.

Tracy Chapman is an American singer-songwriter who is a multi-platinum and four-time Grammy Award-winning artist. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised by her mother who recognized Tracy's love of music at an early age and encouraged her talent. By the age of eight she was playing the guitar and writing her own songs. This love of music never left her and while she was at college she began performing on the streets and one of her fellow students hearing her play encouraged her to sign her first record contract that resulted in the release of her first album. The first album won critical acclaim and from there her career just took off. Eight albums in she is still an amazing artist and one of the real greats. Her last album was released in 2008, and although no rumors have been circulated, we should be due a new one soon.

If you join me in listening to Tracy Chapman then I hope you enjoy her lovely soulful voice and melodic music just as much as I do. If you are like me you will find songs that touch your heart and have meaning in your life. She is that sort of artist that has the power to understand the deeper meaning of life. So until next week, enjoy this weeks artist of the week.

Bring Me to Life

On tonight's Britians Got Talent Jai McDowal perforned his heart out singing the Evanescence song "Bring Me to Life". He sang the acoustic version  of the song [Click to hear to Jai's version of the song], but given that not every one will know the original version of the song I thought I would include it here.

I love Evanescence ever since I found the band a little under two years ago. The songs and the words have such deep meaning for me and I think for all of us in our lives. This is one of the songs that is magical for me and the lyrics have such meaning. If you haven't heard of Evanescence, please seek them out.

Artist of the Week - Pulp

I was just messing about looking at things on the web and I came across the first video of the three presented here. It was seeing them play live again that finalised my choice of artist of the week, who this week are the band Pulp.

Pulp are just one of those bands you come across in your life because they are in charts. I first heard them on the radio and loved them. It wasn't long after hearing them that I brought my first Pulp CD, back in the days when that was the main way of listening to music. Shortly after I got a second CD. The band at the time made a big impression on me.

Pulp are an English band who formed back in 1978 as a alternative rock group. Struggling to find success though the 1980's they eventually made it big in the mid 1990's with the release of the album "His n' Hers" and the follow up album "Different Class". The band went on to be major players in the Britpop movement and won an number of awards. Their last album was called "We Love Life" and it was released 2001. Nothing has come from the band since. It was announced last year that the band will return to live playing this year but no tour dates have been announced yet.

I'm really looking forward to listening to them again after all this time. It been a while. There something nice listening to old music again and all the memories that it can bring back from the past. Pulp is one of those bands that has happy memories associated with it. I hope if you listened to the music when it first came out it brings the same happy memories for you and if it is your first time you have heard them just enjoy.

Artist of the Week - Muse

Sometimes I feel I have an amazing power for the things I feel passionate about, I know what I love and I that love is part of my soul. This version of "Feeling Good" connects me with that raw power that makes me who I am and drives me. It makes me want to achieve the impossible just because the impossible can be had if you reach out and grab it. It the same feeling I get about things like acting which I'm still so passionate about. It is that which makes the Muse the perfect choice of "Artist of the Week" and it is what connected me with this band. The song is amazing in it's raw energy. I love it.

I'm not sure where or when I first came across the Muse. They sort of appeared from nowhere and they just became part of my play list. Once on the play list they have always remained firmly on my iPod. There is just something about them that makes you not get fed up with music and you can play it again and again. Like I said the power behind their music is amazing.

The Muse are an English rock band. Formed in 1994 the band is made up from a group of school friends. They are well know for their energetic live performance which encompass a varied music genres from progressive rock to classical music. They recorded their first album Showbiz in 1999, which despite being published on the recording studios own labile managed to go Gold in the UK. The real success however started with there second album, Origin of Symmetry, which went Platinum in both the UK and Australia. A feat repeated for all the other three albums that have followed it, all of which have been number one in the album charts. They are not without critical success either having won a number of awards over the years, all of which have been well deserved.

Well I hope you enjoy listening to the Muse and you check out their live music as well as they album tracks. They are really worth listening to and I know I am  looking forward hearing them when as I drive to work this week. I hope you do to however and whenever you have time to sink yourself into music.

Finally looking at these clips wants me want to return to Glastobury again. Just to be part of that experience again. I love live music and especially good live music. I was there once and I will be there again. I just hope when I get there I get to see someone as good as the Muse live.