The Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance two-some who have been together since 1981 and are still going strong today. They have enjoyed world wide fame with hits such as ‘West End Girls,’ ‘Always on My Mind’ and ‘Heart.’ Their tenth album ‘Yes,’ produced by Xenomania, was released on 23rd March in UK stores, and reached an impressive number 4 in the UK album charts.
‘Love etc,’ the first track on the album and coincidentally the first track to be released, does not disappoint. Familiar funky electro beats, and the trademark lead singer Neil Tennant’s airy, breathless voice, with a chanting crowd over the top ensure that ‘Love etc’ is catchy, repetitive, and mesmerising. I’m not sure I could imagine it being an instant hit, but it’s good enough to catch on after a while, especially with the cool chorus “Don’t have to be a big bucks Hollywood star, don’t have to drive a super car to get far, don’t have to live a life of power and wealth, don’t have to be beautiful buy cheap viagra online but it helps” and drumming keyboard beat. Read more
Metric are a four-piece indie ro
ck band who hail from Canada. They’ve been together since 1998, and have enjoyed success with such previous hits as ‘Grow up and Blow Away’ and ‘Monster Hospital.’ Their highly anticipated fourth album ‘Fantasies’ was released in Canada and America on 7th April and came to the UK on 14th April.
Having heard the name ‘Metric’ before but never having heard any of their music, I was interested to hear what at the fuss was about and luckily I wasn’t disappointed. This first album track and debut single ‘Help I’m alive’ is great and really shows off the lead singer Emily Haines’ fantastic voice which is really smooth, deep yet melodic.
The Futureheads continued their UK winter tour with a live set in Cardiff’s Sub 29, after dates in London, Birmingham, Gl
asgow, Oxford and Norwich. The four-piece, who hail from Sunderland, have only recently retuned from touring America and Europe, and are continuing to promote new album “This is not the World”.
Before they took to the stage, support acts “Love Bites and Bruises” and “Johnny Foreigner” warmed up the waiting audience. Despite opening in front of a small crowd, “Love Bites and Bruises” proved to be
a hit, and were more worth than the limited numbers they received, sounding like a cross between Bloc Party and the Pigeon Detectives. By the time “Johnny Foreigner” were on, the crowd size had vastly improved and they played admirably to the excited Futureheads fans.
The Futureheads then burst onto the stage after a short break with old favourite ‘Decent days and nights’, and from there on the crowd were not disappointed. Read more
After a two year absence from the music scene, Sunderland rockers The Futureheads are back bigger than ever be
fore, with a new album and massive UK winter tour.
Best known for their mesmerising Kate Bush cover of ‘Hounds of Love’, the alternative punk four piece will be kicking off at top venue London’s Astoria on 29th November, and will play across the country, showing their talents to the likes of Glasgow, Birmingham, Cardiff and many more UK hot spots.
‘This is Not the World’ is the bands third album released in May 2008, and is jam packed with new hits, including recent singles ‘The Beginning of the Twist’ and ‘Radio Heart.’ Read more
This week I was lucky enough to see one of my favourite bands of all time, Oasis, perform live at the Cardiff International Arena, and boy
was I not disappointed.
The Manchester rockers have
been making sweet music since 1991, and are touring the UK in the wake of their seventh studio album ‘Dig out Your Soul’ which was released earlier this month.
I have always loved Oasis’ unique sound and have wanted to see them play for ages so when the chance of a ticket came up I jumped at the chance. The atmosphere at the CIA was electric if a little crazy, and plenty of beer was being thrown over the crowds by grown men who really should have known better, but all in all there was a very excitable buzz around.
Firstly the support act American band Alberta Cross came on to cheers from the crowd. However, after a couple of pretty average songs the audience had, had enough and the chants soon turned to ‘Oasis, Oasis’ instead. Not a bad performance from the band really, but none of the songs stood out for me and I just thought they sounded like a less decent version of Kings of Leon. Read more
Viva Stereo are a four piece band, who are all from different parts of the UK. Roar Lion Roar is the third a
nd last in a trilogy of albums that the band have released in the last few years.
The opening track ‘Another Night Out’ starts with a weird techno beat, and then kicks in with the acoustic guitar. To be honest with you nothing stands out very much about the song, it even takes over a minute and a half for the singing to kick in. The lead singer has quite an ordinary voice, almost like a duller version of Blur’s front man Damon Albarn. At about three minutes it gets a bit more upbeat and rocky when the guitars start going, but unfortunately it’s just too late in the song, and I think the album needed a much stronger opening track.
The second song ‘Glass’ was pretty similar to the last, but the only difference was it had the flute/pan pipes of some kind playing in the background. I did like the lyrics in this one though which were quite sweet. Again it didn’t stir any major emotions in me, but it was quite a gentle relaxing song. Read more
Bryn Christopher is an R’n’B singer song-writer who hails from Birmingham. The 22 year old has recently come on to t
he music scene and after the success of his first single ‘The Quest’ he has followed it up with second single ‘Smilin’ from his debut album ‘My world’ which was released on September 8th 2008.
When I first listened to the album I could definitely see the motown influences on Christopher. The first track ‘Help Me’ is a Latino sounding, upbeat song. It really managed to show case Christopher’s voice which has a real Stevie Wonder quality to it. I wouldn’t say it was exactly my thing, but it wasn’t by any means a bad song and if you are a fan of jazz and soul then you would really like this. Read more
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gn=”left” marginheight=”0″ marginwidth=”0″ style=”width: 120px; height: 240px”>It has to be said that is has been a pretty good year for singer song-writer Duffy. After the major success of
her second single ‘Mercy’ her music career is really starting to take off. The Welsh born singer is set to release her fourth effort from her best seller debut album ‘Rockferry’ titled ‘Stepping Stone’ and fans will be pleased to know Duffy is still rocking her unique style.‘Stepping Stone’ is a soulful and emotional tune with a hint of girl power thrown in for good measure. The verses which are sung in Duffy’s beautiful, soft, sultry tones are perfectly matched with the punchier chorus saying ‘I will never be a stepping stone.’ It is similar to her last song the very sweet heart tugging ‘Warwick Avenue’ but I preferred this song because it shows a racier, more independent side of the singer. Read more
The Infadels are a five piece rock band who hail from London and have been present on the music scene s
ince 2003. They released their debut album ‘We Are Not the Infadels’ in 2006 and followed it up with their second ‘Universe in Reverse’ in June 2008. Latest single ‘A Million Pieces’ is the third offering from this album, and has four tracks on it.
Lead track ‘A Million Pieces’ starts off with a strong techno beat but is quite rocky and indie at the same time, a bit like American rockers The Killers. I would describe their sound as a cross between the Pigeon Detectives and Bloc Party. I liked the way the song switched between a fast paced verse and a slow bit, and although the lead singer Bnann Watts has a pretty ordinary voice, similar to Oasis front man Liam Gallagher, it worked well. Read more
Four piece indie band The Splendour, formerly known as Kingsomniac, are set to release their debut album ‘Best Way to Make Mo
ney’ next month, and trust me their first effort is a like nothing you’ve ever heard before.
Right from the first track ‘Put Me into Bed’ you can tell this band are something very special. This is pure music from the soul, very chilled out and cool, but with a very old school Beatles-esque quality. I can definitely see this song being a hit, the lead singer Justin Gourlay’s voice has an almost lazy air about it, but it really works. Read more
