New Music: Florence + The Machine, 'What The Water Gave Me'.

South Londoner Florence Welch burst onto the music scene following her chart-topping breakthrough debut album, ‘Lungs’ back in 2009. Since then she has become a household name and a must-have on every festival’s lineup across Europe. Yesterday she gave fans and critics alike something to talk about when she released ‘What The Water Gave Me’, the first single from her up-coming and much anticipated followup to her first album.

Florence Welch.

New Music: †††(Crosses) EP †

          Deftones and Far fans were and continue to be pleasantly surprised with Chino Moreno and Shaun Lopez's new side project, strangely and somewhat pretentiously entitled †††(Crosses), the reasoning behind which can be attributed to the genre of music it's been associated and branded as, Witch house, who's artists more often than not opt to include typographical elements in their name/work for both aesthetic purposes and to make it harder for people to find on the Internet, ensuring the genre's underground and downplayed status.

          †††'s free digital EP † was released via crossesmusic.com yesterday evening to the delight of avid fans and the dismay of many hardcore witch house enthusiasts, who claim that the typographical ambiguity is the only feature ††† and the Witch house genre share.
          The age old genre debate aside, the EP †, composed of five synth driven songs, allowed Moreno's softer melodic vocals to come into play, a vocal range and style that I feel isn't truly explored with Deftones.
          Moreno's vocals with Deftones could be compared to a deadly weapon, that slices and rips through the instruments, creating a chaotic,violent sound with brief moments of melodic interludes. Whereas on †††, Moreno's soft tenor voice takes on the role of one of the only true instruments amongst the drum machines, synths and samplers.

          The opening track, †his Is A †rick's shifty beat and catchy chorus make it the strongest song on the EP with †hholyghs† being the weakest, in my opinion, for no real reason other than it's slightly bland, hollow nature. Generally, I think the EP's composition is spot on, it's innovative, interesting and completely FREE HERE so if you're in any way industrial, noise pop or shoegaze inclined, I would strongly recommend you invest a mere forty seconds of your time into downloading and importing this EP.

Chino Moreno and Shaun Lopez pictured together above.

News: Amy Winehouse found dead at 27 in her London apartment.

Amy Winehouse during better times.

          Mercy-prize winning, multi million dollar selling recording artist Amy Winehouse was found dead yesterday evening at 3:54 in her home in Camden, London. Tributes are being paid to Winehouse who's talent was overshadowed more often than not by her alcohol and drug addiction. Winehouse has since been catapulted back in to the spotlight in what I've come to call 'The Micheal Jackson effect', whereby the same journalists and photographers who plagued and scrutenizing her lifestyle, are the very one's who're writing their odes and complimentary writeups in tribute to the late singer. That said however, Winehouse was a woman of immense talent and will be missed sorely by both her fans, like me and the music industry(or racket) that eventually became her demise. May she finally rest in peace.

Fans lay flowers outside Winehouse's London home upon receiving the news.

Oxegen 2011 - Europe's Greatest Music Festival?

  
           Despite the fact that I am rather high maintenance in regards to my appearance and the conditions under which I feel comfortable, I decided that on the eve of my departure from secondary school that it was high time I lost my music festival virginity and so, the decision to attend Oxegen this year fell into place in December when I bought an early bird three day camping ticket. In apprehension and curiosity, I scoured the Internet in search of advice and opinions, only to very quickly come to the conclusion that there is no general consensus when it comes to Oxegen and opinions were and continue to be incredibly mixed and often shaped by the individual's personal experience with the festival. Now with all of it behind me, I hold fast to the cliche'd  idea that Oxegen is in reality, only as good as you make it and I hope this post serves to help others who find themselves in a similar situation.

          I arrived early Friday morning in the pouring rain, an inevitable annoyance that puts a dampener (pun intended) on every Irish music festival. By Friday morning, the campsites were already jam packed with dedicated festival go-ers who'd arrived a day early to pitch their tents and so, finding a spot for our lowly two man tent proved difficult. Oxegen's campsites are divided into green,blue and red sites and then subdivided into sections again, i.e R8 or B32, making it easier to navigate. That said, I feel as though more could of been done in the way of maps and signs. There were no shortage of people selling schedules yet I failed to see one map, free or otherwise in circulation. A few large laminated maps fixed to wooden planks with 'you are here' located where relevant would not of gone amiss, especially for a newbie like myself.

          After hauling our baggage around for the bulk of an hour, we finally found a small plot of land in B28 beside a security tower that became our home for three days. Camping at Oxegen is really not as revolting an experience as I was led to believe. Our tent was not ripped open, nothing was stolen and our neighbours were civil. Apart from the drunken screaming, the occasional naked man and vomit patches, it was rather tame. However, rest is a rarity and sleep even more so. The noise of the constant flux and flow of people and the dip in temperatures at night ensure that you'll have to spent your evenings doing something a bit more productive but with the fun fair and silent disco open until the wee hours so the issue in itself is nonexistent really.
          As far as food went, it was vastly overpriced and fairly limited and my only major complaint was the state of the portaloo toilets on site. They contained no toilet paper, could be smelled from metres away, were impossible to use after dark because of the lack of light, lacked a functioning flush and more often than not, were covered in excretion of all sorts. How people even managed to fling their shit around the porta-potty in such an extreme and sporadic manner is honestly beyond me...

          I was fairly pleased with the lineup this year and although it did contain a few heart-breaking clashes, like My Chemical Romance during Metronomy and Crystal Castles during Jimmy Eat World, it was broad and well-rounded with a good mix of genres and calibres. My major disappointment came in the form of Bink 182, one of the first acts to be announced, unfortunately pulling out fairly last minute due to a scheduling problem. I also found some of the staging decisions rather bizarre with big name bands like The Strokes being banished to smaller stages whilst new, less established musicians(and I use that term loosely...) like the Rubberbandits being granted the privilege of playing on the main stage.

          I found Friday(the 8th of July) to be the most fruitful day harbouring many bands of interest to me like The Original Rude Boys, The Riptide Movement, The Naked & Famous, My Chemical Romance, Weezer and The Strokes. The real highlight of the Friday for me, however was Metronomy who gave a humble and delicate performance in the 2fm Hotpress Academy Stage, playing bits and peices from across their discography including 'Holiday', 'Heartbreaker', 'The Look' and 'Corrinne'. They connected and made constant reference to the audience, especially bass player, Gbenga Adelekan who made the extra effort to exhilarate and elate the crowd via funky hip movements and a big welcoming smile. They play brilliantly live and are without a doubt only going to increase in popularity as they continue to play major European festivals. I really do hope to see Joseph Mount's promise to return to Ireland to play a full length gig fabricate.

         Other big-name bands that played on the Friday included the Black Eyed Peas, Example and The Script, all of which I have no interest in but upon being  informed all about Will.i.am's embarrassing mistake in which he was delighted to be playing in the '02 in Dublin' I wish I had of stuck around for the Black Eyed Peas. My Chemical Romance were disappointing and Weezer were shockingly impressive but the stars of Friday's main stage were The Strokes, who happily indulged in the success of their debut album 'Is This It' by playing a setlist mainly composed of hits like 'The Modern Age', 'Hard to Explain', 'Take it or leave it' and  'Trying your luck'. They played an amazing show, causing even the stiffest of people to shimmy and shuffle. I was also pleasantly surprised at how well Julian Casablancas gruff voice translated from the records to reality. Admittedly, I was dragged to their set by a friend and I was skeptical at first but left the vodafone stage with a new found love for that band.

           I felt that Saturday was a slow day in comparison to the day before. I found myself running around and missing the beginning or tail end of a few band's sets to see others on the Friday whereas I was restless and bored, waiting around for the festivities to begin on the Saturday. The earliest gig of interest to me, Two Door Cinema Club, didn't begin until five o'clock and so the waiting and misuse of controlled substances commenced. Come five o'clock, we were all set to go. That was my second time to see TDCC and I'm happy to report that since I last seen them, they have worked on their once meager communication skills that I once found issue with. Singer Alex Trimble complimented Irish people's vigor in general to which people yelled and screamed only to be stopped by the Bangor native again saying with a smile and through laughter, 'I knew you'd like that!'. They were extremely well received.

           I caught the beginning of the undeniably talented Eliza Doolittle's set but unfortunately missed out on The Vaccines due to a serious case of the munchies.
          However, We caught the bulk of Arctic Monkeys, who like The Strokes knew better than to play their newest material, belting popular tunes like 'Crying Lightning' and 'I Bet that You look Good On The Dancefloor'. Alex Turner looked at his sexiest void of his humbug hairstyle, in a gorgeous cobalt blue leather jacket.

          Saturday's real highlight however were Foo Fighters, who came on after Arctic Monkeys, fronted by Nirvana drummer and music legend Dave Grohl. They were the last act on the main stage on Saturday night and Grohl very quickly swore to play a jam-packed show with no pauses and vowed to continue performing until oxegen organizers told them to leave. They played from 11:30pm to 1:30am, with unsubdued, raw passion. Classic Foos tracks like 'My Hero','Long Road to Ruin','The Pretender','Times like these' and 'Best of You' were among the setlist. Although not my favorite Foo Fighters song, I think 'Wheels' really resonated with the massive crowd that had gathered by that stage. Adapted for the occasion, it was much less orchestrated and intimate than the studio version. Grohl asked the audience to sing along to which the response was incredible, so much so that throughout, he stopped singing himself and stood smiling, finally speaking, just to say 'I have the greatest fucking job on earth'. His attitude and outlook only served to further confirm the general belief that he is, indeed, the nicest guy in rock music today.

          By Sunday, I was beat. My hair was filthy, I was in desperate need of undisturbed rest and stomach wanted something more than rum and vodka to appease itself. Despite these disheartening factors, we were all determined to make the best of our last day. Unfortunately for me, two of my most anticipated acts, Jimmy Eat World and Crystal Castles clashed and so I was forced to choose, to which I regrettably chose Crystal Castles. Ethan Kath wore his elusive hooded attire and fixed his eyes firmly on his synthesizer while Alice Glass descended from the stage, ruffling peoples hair, holding people's hands and smearing their lipstick across their faces. Neither her nor Kath spoke throughout the entirety of their set which consisted of tracks like 'Celestica' and 'Crimewave'. My disappointment lay with the crowd, who were pushy,negligent and mean. At one point throughout the set, my ear tunnel was even ripped out of my ear. It's probably a very good thing that this happened after I had stopped drinking or else some serious confrontation would of went down, no doubt. I found Crystal Castles to be of moderate yet fair quality but in hindsight I probably should of seen Jimmy Eat World instead.

 

          Then came the most anticipated artists of the whole weekend, Oxegen's pride and joy, headlining acts Beyonce and Coldplay. Now I am admittedly not a Beyonce fan. In fact, Kelly Rowland was always my favorite destiny's child. That said, there's simply no denying that she and her voice are incredibly beautiful and held up to expectations on the day. I just felt her performance was flat and at times quite boring, especially in the light of her recent performance at Glastonbury. Upon exchanging opinions with some girls outside the toilets, I came to realize that I was not alone in thinking that. I did however like that she incorporated a melody of old school Destiny's Child songs, like 'Survivor' and 'Say my name' into her setlist. There was no major fault with her performance, she fulfilled her duties in regards to appeasing attending fans and giving us others something funky to dance to for an hour or two while we waited for Coldplay to come on.

          Coldplay's time slot of last act on the main stage on Sunday night could not have been more strategically and aptly chosen for them. Chris Martin's delicate yet pitch-defying voice soared above the masses and over the pumping beat laid down by Will Champion on drums. 'Viva La Vida','Violet Hill', 'The Scientist' and 'Lost' were a few of the tracks off the setlist that mainly featured their forever rel event anthems although one or two tear-jerking euphoric tracks were squeezed in in regular intervals, creating an easily perceived pensive, almost melancholy ambiance. There was a certain feeling of togetherness and empowerment about their set. There's nothing quite as beautiful as singing the final verse of 'Fix You' with thousands of other people, united in one passion, beneath the night's sky as a final send off. To say Coldplay were 'amazing' or 'great' would be harshly dismissive. I view that hour and a half of my life as an experience in itself. One I hope to one day relive at that.

          My knowledge of festivals and how good they could possibly get or are, giving the proper organization is extremely limited as, like I said, this was the first time I attended a music festival but I felt that Oxegen was, for the most part well organized. With hundreds upon hundreds of hired men and woman over-seeing the festival, Some more fit for the job than others, I was unaffected by violence or intimidation. That said, there were countless reports of stabbings, rape and people just generally acting the cunt afterwards but I feel like that is just another unavoidable reality of life.

          So, Although Oxegen was sorely overpriced, subject to bipolar weather conditions and slightly overrated, I would give it a fair 6.5/10 because when the music was good, it was very good and in the end, that's all that matters.

New Music: 'You are a Tourist' by Death Cab for Cutie.

Death Cab's music video for the first single off up-and-coming album 'Codes and Key's, 'You are a tourist',  was streamed to the internet at midnight GMT, becoming the first ever one take, live, scripted music video of it's kind. The music video, which features the band in LED encrusted suits in front of a projected image of a city skyline, was generally well recieved by fans, new and old.

'Codes and Key's is set to be released on May 30th.

Gig Review: Two Door Cinema Club.

     
      The massive success of Northern Irish band, Two Door Cinema Club is undeniable, with their music featuring in advertisements and on mainstream radio stations across the board. They first gained international attention with the release of their debut album ‘Tourist History’ back in March of 2010 and have been touring off it’s success almost constantly since. As It’s becoming increasingly evident that not many Indie bands care to play under 18’s shows here in Dublin, fans were ecstatic to hear that their age wouldn’t serve as a debilitation when TDCC announced their return to the Olympia Theatre from the 18^th to the 19^th of March to play two underage gigs. I went along on Friday the 18^th of March.
      The doors were set to open at 7:30 but upon my arrival at 6 o’clock, there were already dozens of adamant fans waiting outside, despite the less than desirable weather. There was an eclectic mix of people in line which at first was refreshing. It’s widespread appeal was evident and reflected the band’s versatile sound and style. After the 10 minute fumble to find somewhere suitable to stand, I quickly realised that this did not come without it’s problems. I had the misfortune of being surrounded by a large group of rude, obnoxious ’howiyas’. I’d never seen such disregard and un-respectful behaviour towards fellow fans and the band before in my life. It was disheartening and put a damper on not only my concert experience, but others too but I digress. 
       TDCC were supported by two bands, the first being Miracle Bell, who opened up first. Miracle Bell play fun electro/synth pop music that was very well received by the crowd. Admittedly, I wouldn’t be a massive fan of that type of music but I did appreciate their efforts to excite and elate the audience. The second support act, Girls Names performed afterwards but I think they would of been better received as a prelude to Miracle Bell because people were too exhilarated after the first set to care for the trio’s brand of gothic surf-rock. Girls Names also fell victim to the terrible sound quality of the equipment that was being used that night. The feedback and distortion was so bad at times that the singer became completely drowned out. With a knowledge of their back catalogue, I can say that their performance on the night did their music no justice.

      TDCC came out at around 9:30, much to the delight of the crowd, triggering screams from every corner of the Olympia. They opened with Darude’s ‘Sandstowm’ which went down like a charm and then delved right into their set, hastily and without breaking between songs. The setlist worked very well and contained a great variety of their music although one or two covers wouldn’t of went astray. They played some of their best tracks like ‘This is the life‘, ‘Come back home’ and ‘Eat that up, it’s good for you’ off Tourist History as well as newer, unreleased material like ‘Handshake’ and songs off previous EP’s like ‘Costume Party’. They strategically left one of their most popular tunes ‘I can talk’ until the very end, during their encore, as a final send off before the older folk went to the after party and the under 18's headed home.
 

      No beat was missed, no chord was out of place and every single note was hit by singer, Alex Trimble. They play incredibly well as a unit and their music is extremely fluid and composed, sounding identical to how it does on the record and by the end of the night, my opinion of the crowd shifted and the atmosphere became enjoyable and a fraternal bond grew among fans. Yet, they lacked any real essence or passion. I felt that they weren’t playing at us but rather over our heads. They made no eye contact and no real effort to communicate with the audience as much as they should have. They wore expressionless, tired faces and I felt that they weren’t enjoying themselves in the slightest. 
     Although they are obviously very talented young men, with the ability to write catchy songs and play flawlessly, It was an impersonal and abruptly short performance which I felt somewhat disappointed with. I cannot however say I wouldn’t see them again or recommend them to others. I’m under the impression that they have the capability to put on a great show but unfortunately due to their over booked and packed schedule and clear fatigue caused by their constant touring and performing, they are unable to do that right now. Perhaps one day they will reach their full potential but for the moment, fans will have to suffice with half-hearted performances and half-arsed attempts at conversation.

New Finds: Warpaint:

Warpaint - Exquisite Corpse (EP).

Exquisite Corpse is LA-based, experimental rock band Warpaint's debut EP, released on Manimal Vinyl. It features five songs and comes in at about thirty minutes in all. This album is clearly folk inspired but merges that inspiration with elements of dream pop and art rock to create a pleasantly atmospheric and haunting EP that I think most people would find unoffensive. Warpaint's talent is undeniable with acoustic oriented tracks like 'Billie Holiday' which feature adapted lyrics from Mary Well's 'My Guy' and fragile harmonies. In contrast to their softer songs, more chaotic and guitar oriented tracks like 'Beetles' show the broad nature of their music. Warpaint are an interesting find and I would recommend them to people who like musicians like Bat for lashes, Cat Power or CocoRosie. 3/5.

Warpaint - The Fool (Album).

The Fool is Warpaint's first full-length album released on Rough Trade Records and has brought international success and accreditation for the quartet. It is described by the band themselves as Exquisite Corpse's "older sister'' which I think is a fair and accurate representation of Warpaint's evolved sound. This album is a lot more clean-cut and polished then their previous EP and is lyrically stronger but still maintains the same sense of psychedelic dreaminess and mysticism that sets them apart from others. It contains nine songs and comes in a little under fifty minutes. The strongest tracks being 'Undertow' which has gained mainstream attention for it's infectious chorus, liberating lyrics and strategic use of overlaying vocals and angelic harmonies and 'Shadows'. Both of which are the singles off the album. 'Shadows' is a beautiful song characterized by it's etheral vocals over prominent drumming and occasional acoustic interludes. The only folly I have to pick with this album is it's placement of the song 'Set your arms apart' as the opening track, 'Set your arms apart' was the weakest song on the whole album, but I think it could of been better received between 'Undertow' and 'Bee's'. All in All, I thoroughly enjoyed the album. 4/5.

Scarling,'Sweet Heart Dealer'.

    Scarling, fronted by Jessikah(of Jack Off Jill) are a noise pop band from LA with two albums under their belts. Interested by their style and their listed genres - noise, shoegazing, psychedelic rock, and gothic rock, I decided to go ahead and download their first album, 'Sweet Heart Dealer' as an introduction to their work.
I'm delighted to say that Scarling not only excel where Jack Off Jill fell short but manage to successfully create a unique sound of their own - a rarity in modern day music.

   Having listened to the album in it's entirety about four times, I can really say that it's terrible album cover does absolutely no justice to it's content. It's composed of seven songs and is about a half an hour in length.  All seven songs are dark, melancholy and morbid, exploring themes like superficiality, drug abuse and unrequited love. 

      The strongest tracks on the album were 'The Last Day I Was Happy', 'Crispin Glover' and 'Alexander the Burn Victim':

'The Last Day I Was Happy' - This song starts with very soft vocals almost drowned out by the grungey guitar riff and the the light but still evident percussion, then the second guitar strategically starts strumming violently during the pre-chorus. Then the chorus erupts loudly with angry fast-paced drumming. I like the contast between Jessikah's delicate voice, the beating drums and the effects pedals. Lyrically, I'm under the impression this song is about a boyfriend or lover that isn't as interested in her as he's lead on. The frustration of the situation is evident as she gradually transitions from singing to shouting.

'Alexander the Burn Vicim' - This song's beauty is in it's hauntingly beautiful chorus and painfully sad subject matter. My lyrical interpretation may differ from others but in my opinion, it's about a previously beautiful fellow who's crippled by his injury and destined for a life of loneliness due to the fact that no girl can see past his damaged exterior. The emotional tone is reflected in the musical composition as It's one of the slower songs on the album. It's very simple. The effect pedals almost drown out the other instruments in parts and the bass adds an extra layer of emotion and sadness to this song. This is my favourite song on the album.

     There isn't much to criticise with this album apart from the last song, 'Can't(Halloween Valentine)'. It's one of those songs that you instinctively skip. With that said, it is a good conclusion to the album as it weans the listener off the music they've just listened to, leaving them with a sense of finality. Though, a song is a song in it's own right and it's important to review everything separately before putting it into the context of an album and I just don't think it's up to par with the rest of the album. It's simply uninteresting.

   All in all, their music was described best by Robert Smith who said it was "dark, desperate, chaotic, gorgeous pop music, the sound of the end of the world''  4.5/5.