From My Hammock Down a Tree and into Melbourne Town

The Melbourne skyline, certainly the most impressive I've ever seen!

Walking along the Yarra, no river is complete without a good bridge.

Moonlight over the Southbank

One thing that does't feel right is Christmas in summer, and I think the Aussies know it.

Not very often that someone recommends a toilet as tourist hotspot
but climbing to level 35 of this hotel is certainly worth it!
On the right is the sports complex which contains the MCG, Rod Laver Arena and AAMI Park,
a pretty good city for sport!

Free tennis at Melbourne Park, nice backdrop!

Melbourne Central, an old factory with a dome built above it
 and a shopping centre around it, makes sense!

An urban city of over 4 million people but there's still plenty of beautiful scenery and parks.

State of Victoria Library.

Can Avicii Save Chart Music?

Chart music is one dimensional and dull. It has become saturated with dance/auto tune and is devoid of genuine talent. Earlier this week a local radio station played a (very enjoyable) hour of music from 2005, and I decided to take a trip down memory lane and have a look at a Radio 1 playlist from that very year:

A LIST Bloc Party - Two More Years
James Blunt - High
Charlotte Church - Call My Name
Foo Fighters - DOA
Franz Ferdinand - Do You Want To
Hard-Fi - Living For The Weekend
Kaiser Chiefs - Modern Way 
Madonna - Hung Up 
Sean Paul - We Be Burnin'
Roll Deep - Shake A Leg
Bob Sinclar - Love Generation
Sugababes - Push The Button
KT Tunstall - Suddenly I See
U2 - All Because Of You
Kanye West/Jamie Foxx - Gold Digger
Pharrell Williams/Gwen Stefani - Can I Have It Like That
Robbie Williams - Tripping

B LIST
Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor 
Audio Bullys - I'm In Love
Olav Basosk - Waterman 
Mariah Carey - Get Your Number
Technotronic - Pump Up The Jam 
The Darkness - One Way Ticket 
Craig David - Don't Love You No More (I'm Sorry) 
Feeder - Shatter
Jamiroquai - (Don't) Give Hate A Chance 
Lethal Bizzle - Fire
Lil' Kim - Lighters Up
The Magic Numbers - Love's A Game
Maximo Park - Apply Some Pressure
McFly - I Wanna Hold You 
Ms Dynamite - Judgement Day
Razorlight - Kirby's House 
Starsailor - In The Crossfire

C LIST
Athlete - 24 Hours 
The Black Eyed Peas - My Humps 
Morning Runner - Be All You Want To Be 
My Chemical Romance - I'm Not OK (I Promise) 
Simon Webbe - No Worries 
The White Stripes - The Denial Twist 
Will Young - Switch It On 
Gorillaz - Dirty Harry


Without letting nostalgia blur my judgement I think the early 2000's were a golden age for popular music. If you take a look at that list, 22 out of the 43 artists play and write their own songs, while the likes of Robbie Williams, Charlotte Chruch and Mariah Carey (among others) are renowned singers in their own right. The rest of the playlist; artists like Craig David, Sugababes and Will Young can be categorised as inoffensive pop songs which many will look back on as the innocent soundtrack of a particular era.
I was unable to find a Radio 1 playlist from 2013 but this one from August last year should help illustrate my point about a decline of musical talent in the charts.

A LIST
Angel - Wonderful
Calvin Harris featuring Example - We'll Be Coming Back
Devlin featuring Ed Sheeran - Watchtower
Drumsound & Bassline Smith - Through The Night
Calvin Harris & Florence & The Machine - Spectrum
Jessie Ware - Wildest Moments
Little Mix - Wings
Muse - Survival
Of Monsters And Men - Little Talks
Pink - Blow Me
Porter Robinson - Language
Redlight - Lost In Your Love
Rita Ora - How We Do (Party)
Sam And The Womp - Bom Bom
Simple Plan featuring Sean Paul - Summer Paradise
The Vaccines - Teenage Icon
Trey Songz - Never Fade Away
Twin Atlantic - Yes I Was Drunk
Wiley - Heatwave

B LIST
Bloc Party - Octopus
Deadmau5 featuring Gerard Way - Professional Griefers
Dizzee Rascal featuring Pepper - Scream
Fazer - Killer
Fun - Some Nights
Justin Bieber featuring Big Sean - As Long As You Love Me
Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself)
Rustie featuring Aluna George - After Light
Scouting For Girls - Summertime In The City
The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten
The Killers - Runaway
The Script featuring Will.I.Am - Hall Of Fame
The XX - Angels
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs - Household Goods
Two Door Cinema Club - Sleep Alone

C LIST
We Are In The Crowd - Exits And EntrancesCheryl - Under The Sun
Friends - I'm His Girl
Labrinth - TreatmentPlan B - Deepest Shame
Steve Aoki & Angger Dimas - Beat Down
Tulisa - Live It Up (Big League remix)

Out of these 43 songs three of them feature Calvin Harris, another three of them are remixes whilst 23 of them overall are dance/electronic based and artists such as Florence & The Machine (granted popular in her own right) and The Script feel the need to collaborate or water down their style in order to produce a successful single. The likes of Wiley, Labrinth and Trey Songz are all part of a talentless mix-mash of genres infused with grime/hip-hop/electro/dance sounds.

The real problem here is the record label's unwillingness to change from a commercially successful formula, which will be allowed to continue as long as the Radio 1 playlist and clubs carry on overplaying this type of music. Branding, fashion and style take priority over songwriting, lyrics or even vocal ability (see Ke$ha), and anyone can be made to sound good with the help of autotune, computers and generic lyrics about finding love in a club. 
I mean do 'songs' like this even class as music?

Which brings me to Avicii. First let me say generally I'm not a fan of dance with its overbearing repetition and 'fire alarm' riffs, but after reading a couple of glowing reviews I decided to give Avicii's album a listen.
It features everything from country to acoustic to piano ballads whilst Beatles-esque jazz organ solos, trumpets and marimbas can also be found. By ditching drum & bass, screeching synths and autotune, Avicii proves that success can be attained in the commercial music industry by using real musical talent and a wide variety of instruments and genres. Let's hope others can follow in his footsteps.

So Much Music

2013 In Music So Far

Lately I've been listening to a lot of new music, plenty of albums have been released in the past few months so I thought I'd write a quick review of everything I've listened to so far.

Albums

The Strokes - Comedown Machine - 2/10 - The Comedown Machine doesn't offer anything new or original from The Strokes, there is some interesting electric guitar work at times but overall a massive disappointment.

Gabrielle Aplin - English Rain - 4/10 - Aplin finally released her album after her cover of The Power of Love catapulted her into the spotlight towards the end of last year. Please Don't Say You Love Me and Panic Cord are the stand-outs however the rest are, for the most part, fairly slow and forgettable.

Laura Marling - Once I was An Eagle - 4/10 - Marling's new album has received universal acclaim with an average rating of 8.7/10 according to metacritic. Her poetry and haunting song-writing skills have reached new levels but the album is largely devoid of the subtle melodies present on all of her previous work. More songs like Where Can I Go and Undine would have been better.

Phoenix - Bankrupt - 4/10 - A highly anticipated album and one I was especially excited about. Lead single Entertainment showcased a more electro and synth heavy sound which is apparent on the rest of the album, and seemingly at the expense of the catchy guitar riffs found on their previous work.

The Cat Empire - Steal The Light - 5/10 - The talented jazz/ska/pop/reggae band from Melbourne released their 6th album last month and it contains the same bouncy trumpet solos and catchy tunes as usual. There's a few unspectacular numbers but songs like Brighter Than Gold will appeal to most fans.

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City - 5/10 - Another album I was looking forward too but it fails to meet expectations. As an overall album it's hit and miss; Step is one of the songs of the year so far and Obvious Bicycle and Young Lion are also brilliant but some of the others are average at best.

Daughter - If You Leave - 6/10 - An album of minimalistic folk/indie accentuated by the powerful Youth and the beautiful Shallows.

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories - 7/10 - I'll admit that I've never listened to an entire Daft Punk album before and I decided to give it a listen after jumping on the Get Lucky bandwagon. The album was four years in the making and its musical depth and variety is to be applauded. Some of the tracks are too long and don't really go anywhere but overall I'd definitely recommend it. Beyond is the stand-out track.

Caro Emerald - The Shocking Miss Emerald - 7/10 - Modern catchy jazz with sampled beats and scratching. Another really impressive album from Miss Emerald. The Maestro and Liquid Lunch are both great but the album is a good listen all the way through.

Ludovico Einaudi - In A Time Lapse - 8/10 - The Italian composer is back and his new album is a mixture of the familiar echoing pianos and orchestral ambience. The addition of new sounds; glockenspiel, percussion, and even guitar really cement his position as one of the worlds leading classical musicians, and is the perfect soundtrack for revision (or almost anything for that matter).

Others from 2013

New Zealand's Lorde released her first EP to widespread acclaim, the 17 year old surely has a big future. Royals has been championed by a number of critics and The Love Club gets my vote for song of the year thus far.

Marika Hackman is seemingly another folk artist from the conveyor belt of British talent, fans of Laura Marling and Lucy Rose should appreciate the 21 year old who finds her niche in delicate guitar picking and melancholic songwriting. She recently released a video for the excellent Bath is Black.

It's hard to define the genre of We Were Evergreen's music, I suppose it's simply catchy pop with brilliant harmonies and great instrumentation. They are one of few bands who use a glockenspiel/xylophone as a primary instrument and for that they should be applauded! Check out Leeway and Summer Flings.


And also:

We're still waiting for their first album but Chvrches new song Gun is worth a listen. Primal Scream's new album isn't brilliant but lead single It's Alright, It's OK, is fantastic. Many people recommended Bastille's album to me so I obliged and gave it a listen. I'm not particularly a fan but Daniel In The Den and Pompeii are excellent. I'm not sure why I decided to give Dido's new album a listen but her collaboration with Kendrick Lamar; Let Us Move On is interesting. Youtube sensations Walk Off The Earth are the masters at music videos and Gang of Rhythm is no different.


So that's 2013 in a nutshell so far, if you've got anyone else to recommend, send them my way and I'll give them a listen! Also here's a few recommendations from artists whose music I've heard about this year but isn't from 2013.


Joshua James - From The Top Of Willamette Mountain (2012) 6/10 - The American folk artists continues to slip under the radar, The video for Queen of the City is rather strange but the song makes up for it

Caravan Palace - Panic (2012) - 6/10 - Parisian electro swing apparently, their mixture of jazz and electro is a little strange but brilliant at the same time. Dramohpone is a little similar to Caro Emerald but with more RPM.

Birdy - Birdy - (2011) - 7/10 - I've been meaning to listen to this album for a while, the then 16 year old released a record consisting of almost entirely covers, turned into piano ballads. Her adaptation of Phoenix's 1901 is melodious.

Incise - Daily Methods - (2010) - 8/10 - For the musicality and instrumentation of his beats and the lack of stereotypical lyrics (drugs, guns etc), I would highly recommend Incise to those who aren't the biggest hip-hop fans in the hope of changing their perception. Check out Got To Go and Magic.

The Staves - Dead & Born & Grown (2012) - 9/10 - The three sisters from Watford's album filled with the most blissful harmonies. Motherlode is particularly beautiful.

Dry The River - Bible Belt (2012) - 10/10 - Similarly Dry The River's acoustic version of their album is haunting, atmospheric and contains the most ethereal vocals and harmonies. A must listen. Shaker Hymns is one of numerable highlights.

My Premier League Team of The Season 2012/13

Team of the Season

Jussi Jaaskelianen - Made the most saves of any keeper with 166 and helped his team to 11 clean sheets.

Leighton Baines - Finished the season with most most accurate crosses (46) of any player in the league and excelled both attacking and defensively. Finished the season with 5 goals and 5 assists, and averaged 2.4 tackles and 3.1 key passes per game.

Phil Jagielka - Last season Fabricio Coloccini and  Vincent Komapny were the unanimous choice for CB pairing but this year has been lacking in real stand-out defenders. Jagielka was solid at the heart of the Everton defence that kept 11 clean sheets and only conceded 40 goals.

Jan Vertonghen - His form dropped towards the end of the season but the Belgian showed his versatility  with 4 goals and 3 assists while averaging the second most tackles per game of an CB with 3.1.

Glen Johnson - Much criticised for his defensive failings throughout his career but after an impressive Euro 2012 for England the 28 year old has become a mainstay of a Liverpool side that kept a league's second best 16 clean sheets. Along with Jose Enrique, Johnson forms one of the best full back partnerships in the league.

Juan Mata - No-one could argue against the Spaniard's inclusion. With 12 goals and 12 assists Mata was the heartbeat of every Chelsea attack and remained consistent throughout the entire season.

Santi Cazorla - Another Spaniard who controlled the tempo of his team. Cazorla finished with 11 goals and 12 assists - one of only four players to record double digits in each (Rooney and Walcott the other two). He averaged 65 passer per game (PL's 5th best).

Michael Carrick - A player who almost never gave the ball away, Carrick was finally given the recognition he has deserved over the years, winning Man Utd's player of the year over Robin van Persie. The midfielder averaged 77 passes per game at 88% accuracy.

Gareth Bale - My player of the year. Bale scored 9 goals from outside the box this season (more than any player in Europe in the past 4 seasons) and if there ever was a case of a one man team Bale was it for Tottenham. The Welshman contributing to 26 of their 72 points with 21 goals from midfield after making the transition from  winger to a more central role throughout his career.


Robin van Persie - The decider in the title race? Robin van Persie's 26 goals certainly helped Man Utd to title number 20. The striker proving the difference when it mattered.

Luis Suarez - Much has been made of some of his pathetic on and off field antics but on football ability alone Suarez has to be on the list. 23 goals and 5 assists in 33 games helped Liverpool to a 7th placed finish.


Manager - Sir Alex Ferguson - No other contender, after seeing his side lose on the final day of last season Sir Alex made sure there was no repeat this year, the signing of van Persie obviously helped but you could argue it wasn't Man Utd's strongest ever squad and their manager was the difference.



Subs

Simon Mignolet - Unlucky to miss out on the starting line-up. The Sunderland keeper kept  his team in games single-handedly at times and made a league second best 149 saves.

Matt Lowton - An integral part of Villa's starting 11, Lowton took a while to settle but a string of excellent defensive performances capped off with a wonder goal vs Stoke gave him some well deserved recognition. Finished the season with over 100 interceptions, one of only two players to do so.

Pablo Zabaleta - The Argentine right-back finished the season with the most tackles per game of any defender (3.8) whilst also averaging 44 passes and helped his side to a league high 18 clean sheets.

Steven Gerrard - Another solid all round season for the Liverpool captain, 9 goals and 9 assists plus 2.4 tackles and over 66 successful passes per game.

Michu - 18 goals for £2m is quite some investment, the attacking midfielder was pushed forward by Michael Laudrup and helped Swansea to their first major piece of silverware. A promised Spain call up from Vincent Del Bosque still awaits.

Chrisitan Benteke - Aston Villa's season would have been a whole lot bleaker without the Belgian's presence up front. 19 goals in 33 appearances, the striker's strength was unplayable at times. Unlucky to miss out on the first 11.

Romelu Lukaku - 17 league goals in 35 appearances but with 15 of those from the bench Lukaku had the highest strike rate of any player worth a goal every 118 minutes. 


Other Mentions - Theo Walcott, Eden Hazard, and Frank Lampard all deserve credit too.



Goal of the season

Leighton Baines vs Newcastle - An unstoppable bullet of a free-kick from 35 yards out.

Robin van Persie vs Aston Villa - An unbelievable first time volley from Wayne Rooney's quarterback pass.

Loic Remy vs Wigan - A first time swerving side footed striker form outside the box. Ridiculous technique and accuracy at such pace.

2012 In Music

A - Asteroid Galaxy Tour -The brilliantly named Danish band returned with an impressive second album, the title track 'Out of Frequency' boasting one of the catchiest choruses of the year.

B - Breakthrough - The Alabama Shakes seem to have been fast tracked to success, the band was founded in 2009, championed as one to watch by the critics in 2011 and had a US number 8 album by April 2012. Boys & Girls is a solid album, especially 'Hold On'.

C - Chvrches - The Scottish electro trio released single 'The Mother We Share' earlier this year to much critical acclaim and are featured as one to watch on the BBC's Sound of 2013.

D - De Novo Adagio - Alicia Keys' classical pianist background is showcased on album opener 'De Novo Adagio', the catchy 'Tears Always Win' also one of the best from her new album Girl on Fire.

E - Eyes - Rapper Hopsin's contact lenses are quite scary even if they are just a publicity stunt. He excels as a lyricist with a biting critique of modern youth culture in 'Ill Mind of Hopsin 5'.

"You’re an adult with no skills at all.
You don’t read any books or play ball.
You don’t draw, you literally do nothing at all"

F- False Pretences - Lupe Fiasco put his neck on the line by following up his poorly received album Lasers with the ambitiously titled Food & Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1 and it's fair to say it fails on both counts. 'Strange Fruition' is one of very few highlights.

G - Genius - Probably the best description for Jack White's musical talents. His first solo album Blunderbuss is nothing short of a masterpiece, featuring a range of different styles/genres and showcasing White's skill on a multitude of instruments. Worth listening to the whole record but in the meantime 'Trash Tongue Talker' is almost perfection.


H - Hair - King Charles has plenty of it. Debut album LoveBlood is full of melody and flamboyance. Mumford & Sons collaboration 'The Birghtest Lights' is musically sublime.  

I - Isolated System - Pondering thermodynamics and apocalypse, Muse's latest album The 2nd Law features a mish-mash of styles and ideas, with even some dub-step thrown in. 'Panic Station' (apparently inspired by the Scissor Sisters) sounds like Superstition mixed with Thriller. 'Supremacy' is classic Muse.

J - Jessica -  "I can't write a song for you, I'm out of melodies" sings Regina Spektor on one of the most beautiful and melodious song she's ever written. 'Jessica' along with 'Don't Leave Me (Ne Me Quitte Pas) are the two standouts on one of the best albums of this year.

K - The Killers - Battle Born is a rather uninspiring effort from The Killers but the slide guitar on 'From Here On Out' is exceptional.

L - The Lumineers - It just took one song to put The Lumineers on the map. Nothing else to say apart from 'Ho Hey'  is a great piece of music.

M - Middle Of The Bed – Lucy Rose finally released her debut album Like I Used To, and it was just as delightful as expected. Her sweet vocals and delicate songwriting style seem more suited to acoustic performances but the energy and volume of her live set is quite the opposite.  Fan favourite 'Middle Of The Bed'  and bonus track 'Little Brave' are both worthy of a mention.

N - Number One - Nothing particularly exciting topped the UK Singles Chart this year with the exception of Calvin Harris' and Florence Welch's 'Sweet Nothing'.

O - Olympics -  Elbow's incredibly powerful 'First Steps' provided the backdrop to the BBC's Olympics coverage, with booming drums, orchestras and choirs it couldn't be more befitting of the greatest sporting spectacle on earth.
Also, Channel 4's coverage of the Paralympics brought Public Enemy's  'Harder Than You Think' back into public consciousnesses. 

P - Pink - Not the artist but the colour of choice for Canadian band Jets Overhead, their album and title track 'Boredom and Joy' was praised by Travis's Fran Healy on twitter. 

Q - Quality not Quantity - Someone should tell this to Green Day whose idea of releasing a three part album ¡Uno! ¡Dos! ¡Tré! might have been original, however any quality control seemed to be absent. 'Kill The DJ' is a good attempt at a dance song but otherwise ¡Uno! doesn't have much else. ¡Dos! is filled with a collection of empty punk songs although ¡Tré! contains a lot more variety and melody, 'Drama Queen'  is impressive.

R - Ray Charles - Chiddy Bang pay homage to the great artist on the aptly named 'Ray Charles'. Groove and soul in abundance.

S - Stumpf Fiddle - The instrument of choice for Rend Collective Experiment, the Northern Irish folk group are very much the Christian equivalent of Mumford & Sons. 'Build Your Kingdom Here' their best new song in 2012.

T - Tallest Man On Earth - Comparisons to Bob Dylan aren't far from the mark, with a unique voice the Swedish singer received rave reviews for his third album There's No Leaving Me Now. The record is full of powerful vocals and melancholic guitar.  Hard to pick individual song on an album so fantastic but 'Revelation Blues' is a worthy shout.

U - Unicorn - The ever unpredictable Sufjan Stevens reached the 100 Christmas songs mark this year with the release of 58 brand new songs in volumes 6-10 of his annual Christmas EP's. Featuring covers of classic carols as well as original material, the prolific songwriter's variant style is prevalent on the 12 minute long epic 'Christmas Unicorn' which features a Joy Division refrain towards the end. Also the wonderful Lumberjack Christmas  combines Christmas cheer with the haunting "No one can save you from Christmases past".

V - Varðeldur - Sigurs Ros, the masters of ambiance and echoing instrumentation. Perfect music to serenade you to sleep. 

W - The Welcome Wagon - Onto their second album now and we first get to hear New York folk act The Welcome Wagon write for themselves without the aid of Sufjan Stevens who co-wrote their first album and EP. Overall a mixed album, some joyful songs like 'Rice and Beans (But no Beans!)'  and some more mellowed. Overall more good than bad.

X - Xylophone - Ok technically it's a Glockenspiel but I had to find something for 'X'! Anyway Tom Read's debut album Compass contains a lot of unique instrumentation. Apart from 'Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep' his work isn't readily available on YouTube yet but his album is definitely worth Spotify-ing.

Y - Yassassin - The most obscure act to feature on this list, the unheard of London rockers demo of 'Be The Ones' deserves a lot more attention! 

Z - Zone - Comfort zone that is, and Keane made a welcome return to theirs with their fourth album Strangeland. After the poorly received synth/pop effort Perfect Symmetry the band went back to what they do best - piano driven ballads like 'Disconnected'. Although they do try something different on the excellent 'Boys' which features marimba and a quirky guitar solo.

So there it is, I'd go as far as saying 2012 was one of the most memorable years of music in recent years.
A quick mention to Passion Pit whose catchy album Gossamer just didn't quite fit into my list and a nod to Howard Shore whose composing skills for The Hobbit soundtrack deserve recognition (and also, apologies to Mumford & Sons fans, I'm told by everyone that Babel is a great record but I just can't get into them).

To recap my top 3 albums of the year are:

3. Lucy Rose - Like I Used To
2. Regina Spektor - What We Saw From The Cheap Seats
1. Jack White - Blunderbuss

And my top 3 songs:

3. Sufjan Stevens - Lumberjack Christmas - (No-one can save you from Christmases Past)
2. King Charles ft. Mumford & Sons - The Brightest Lights
1. Elbow - First Steps

Graham Alexander Penalties

Managed to find clips of my two favourite penalties ever, (and I'm not even a Burnley fan). Graham Alexander with the outside of the boot twice in the same game!

A Tamboruine Eulogy

Often considered the spare part instrument or the the one to give the singer so they can 'join in', the tambourine actually plays an important role in rhythm with it's unique sound that spans across all genres and cultures.

It doesn't have to be used incessantly (as Chris Martin tells an eager fan!), although being tasered for using one certainly seem harsh, but from The Beatles to Motown to Florence + The Machine the power of tambourine will continue to slip under the radar.

Here's my 6 part appreciation:

1. The perfect intro:

 Jets Overhead - Boredom and Joy

 Jet  - Are You Gonna Be My Girl

Lupe Fiasco - Daydreamin' 



2. Dictating the tempo

The Beatles - Day Tripper

Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape

Jackson 5 - The Love you Save

The White Stripes - The Denial Twist

Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out

3. Keeping rhythm during quieter parts

Feeder - Just The Way I'm Feeling 

Laura Marling - My Manic and I

4. Power and Echo

Lucy Rose - Bikes

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black 

Florence and the Machine - Never Let Me Go

5. Adding percussive depth and layers

Florence and the Machine - Between Two Lungs

Diane Birch - Valentino

Fatboy Slim - Brimful of Asha

KT Tunstall - The Girl and the Ghost

6. Accentuating the snare drum

Jack White - Trash Tongue Talker

Jamiroquai - Blue Skies

 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Even You Brutus

Keane - Bend and Break