music

T in the Park 2016 line-up

/ James Fenney

t-in-the-park-2016-lineup

Scotland’s biggest music festival has announced this year’s headliners. The newly reformed Stone Roses, DJ Calvin Harris and the Red Hot Chili Peppers will top the bill at this year’s festival. Also appearing will be LCD Soundsystem who got back together to perform at Coachella and The Last Shadow Puppets; a collaboration between Miles Kane and Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner. This will be the festivals second year in the new location of Strathallan Castle, a venue that previously caused controversy due to the heavy festival traffic and the disruption of a breeding pair of rare ospreys.

Brit Awards 2016

/ James Fenney

brit awards 2016

Britain’s foremost music awards have drawn to a close once again. Adele was far and away the big winner, picking up Best British Female, Best Album, Global Success and Best Single for ‘Hello’. There were some well deserved wins from James Bay and Tame Impala who won Best British Male and Best International Group respectively. Sadly Coldplay won Best British Group and Justin Bieber won Best International Male, continuing his meteoric rise from sinfully awful to plain mediocre. There were some pleasant surprises as Bjork won Best International Female and Catfish & the Bottlemen beat James Bay and Jess Glynne to win British Breakthrough Act (even though technically speaking they shouldn’t have been nominated as they didn’t release any new music in 2015). Top actor Gary Oldman gave a stirring speech in memory of his close friend David Bowie and Lorde gave a rendition of ‘Life On Mars?’ with Bowie’s backing band. Although not an obvious choice for a tribute, it was arguably the finest performance of her career and one of the highlights of the night.

Spotlight!: Scout Killers

/ James Fenney

scout killers

This Bath based band have a clear idea of who they want to be. With the Eddie Vedder-esque vocals of Scott Cox and the duelling guitar interplay of Julien Morrez and Beau Stevens, they were destined to create masterful, hard hitting alternative rock. Though for the most part they channel Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, they drift into heavy metal territory on ‘The Rains’, manage to blend indie rock with a hint of Tool on ‘Between the Lines’ and create great atmospheric build on ‘Honey’. They draw from all the right influences and certainly have the talent to go far. With each new release they edge closer to defining their sound and with new material ready to unleash it won’t be long until they are snapped up by a major label.

Scout Killers release their latest single ‘Rip Me Apart’ on 28th March and will be touring the UK in the beginning of April. Be sure to check them out!

Restricted Access Albums: A worrying trend

/ James Fenney

tidal

These days more than ever music is all about business. Less about the art and more about the money, which has sadly gotten far worse since the advent of streaming services. A world where all music is readily available to everyone at the touch of a button is a music mogul’s worst nightmare. As such the industry has been coming up with more and more nefarious ways to squeeze some extra pennies out of us, the latest of which involves making albums only available to an exclusive group. Continue reading →

Must Own Albums: American Alternative

/ James Fenney

surfer-rosaPixies – Surfer Rosa

In the same way that The Stone Roses acted as a catalyst for Britpop in the UK in the 90s, the Pixies kickstarted alternative rock in the US. Though their debut album had modest sales, most of the people who purchased it seemed to forever changed by the experience. They were on of the biggest influences on the exploding alternative scene and Kurt Cobain used this album as a template for Nirvana’s Nevermind.

SonicYouth-DaydreamNationSonic Youth – Daydream Nation

For their final album before signing on with a major label, Sonic Youth decided to give it their all. Writing and recording in long and often improvised jam sessions to try and capture their live sound, the end result was an innovative and enthralling double album. It stunned critics across the globe and was a revolutionary masterpiece that helped define a generation.

Mellon-Collie-and-the-Infinite-Sadness-by-the-Smashing-PumpkingsThe Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

One of the most ambitious albums in rock music; a double album (triple album in vinyl format) that lasts over 2 hours. With growing tensions in the band and everyone sensing the end, they tried to cram every single idea they had into one album. Rather than being almost solely written and recorded by frontman Billy Corgan like their previous albums, the band struggled to work together to create something special.

jeff-buckley-graceJeff Buckley – Grace

Even with such a short career spanning just this one album, Jeff Buckley is considered one of the greatest singers of all time. His rendition of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ is one of the most famous pieces of music ever recorded. He tragically drowned before releasing a follow up, and so Grace remains his lasting legacy. One can only wonder what more amazing music he could have created if he was still with us.

NME Awards 2016

/ James Fenney

NME Awards 2016

Britain’s premier music magazine has held the most riotous awards ceremony of the year thus far. Foals kicked off proceedings with an electrifying performance of ‘What Went Down’, the title track of what turned out to be album of the year. Belwood favourites Wolf Alice won best live band and best track for ‘Giant Peach’. Coldplay somehow won the Godlike Genius award but had little time to celebrate as Bring Me The Horizon frontman Oli Sykes trashed their table during his live performance. There were surprises to be found as The Maccabees won best British band and Run The Jewels won best international band, each having faced some stiff competition. The girls reigned supreme in the solo categories with Charlie XCX and Taylor Swift winning best British and international solo artists respectively.

Coldplay to headline Glastonbury

/ James Fenney

coldplay

Following on from their performance at America’s superbowl, Coldplay have been announced as the first Glastonbury headliner. The band, who will close the festival on the Sunday night, will now become the first act to headline 4 times having also topped the bill in 2002, 2005 and 2011. Coldplay have received a rather cold reception with the band being described as too boring and as a lazy choice by the festival organisers. The other headliners are said to also be British bands although they, along with the rest of the line-up, have yet to be announced.