Lana Del Rey - i'm not convinced

This is just an exerpt from a blog I've written for a competition.
Please click the link to read the full thing HERE (And please do click it because the more page views I get then the more likely I am to win!)
Featuring a review of Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy as well.
I've tweaked this version slightly...

Lana Del Rey's debut album Born To Die was released last week.
Del Rey first came to my attention when friends at university were talking about their love for her song Video Games. At the time I wasn't interested at all. I didn't hear her on the radio and I didn't want to actively seek out her music because I didn't think I'd like it. But after Juliette Lewis, one of my idols, tweeted about Del Rey's terrible performance on Saturday Night Live I just had to have a listen.
Her performance was mumbly and extremely boring. So much hype for nothing. Sure she's pretty, but music isn't all about style, she needs some substance.
After watching the SNL disaster, I decided to have a listen to her single Video Games, to see if the performance was just a one-off flop.
It was a gentle song, carried by Del Rey's delicate whispery voice. Her voice is very much reminiscent of Hollywood singers gone by. Her look appeals to this too; a hark back to Hollywood glamour.
Video Games felt to me like a mediocre single at best. I wouldn't seek it out again, but I probably wouldn't turn the radio over if it came on. It felt to me like the kind of single that might creep into the bottom of the charts for a few weeks and disappear back into nothing-ness.
Maybe her album has more to it, but it's not my style. Her voice is delicate and deserves a certain style of song to tease it to it's best potential.
Lana Del Rey should have been allowed to rise to fame, rather than be pushed straight to the top, because there could be a big fall.

Del Rey. Image courtesy of this website

C x

LIVE REVIEW: Professor Green & Rizzle Kicks @ Liverpool Guild Of Students

Professor Green (real name Stephen Manderson) has worked his way up the music scene since debuting his music in 2006 on Mike Skinners music label The Beats. It’s well known that he has had a turbulent time in the last few years; his father committed suicide in 2008, and in 2009 he was attacked and stabbed in the neck, on his tattoo which reads ‘Lucky’.  Tonight he should feel lucky. The debut night of his ‘At Your Inconvenince’ Tour in Liverpool is sold out and the queue managed to snake down Mount Pleasant as far as the eye could see.
The large size of the queue and the slow speed at which people were let into the venue lead to Rizzle Kicks playing most of their set to a half empty room, not that they let that affect their performance. They bounced their way through new single ‘When I Was A Youngster’, while the audience settled in. Their performance was reminiscent of a young, modern Madness.  They were eager to please and talked to the audience, encouraging chants and screams. A ska cover of the White Stripes’ ‘Seven Nation Army’ added some gusto to the set, not that it needed it. Energy was high throughout their performance, and they ended with their hit debut single ‘Down With The Trumpets’. It was a fun and bouncy set. I don’t know if they have the staying power to last long, but at least they are having a lot of fun doing it.

Next on stage was DJ IQ, and hype man Felix Billion. They announced that it was Professor Green’s birthday, so a round of Happy Birthday was sang.

Professor Green’s band took to the stage, consisting of two guys on laptops, a drummer, guitarist and bassist and two backing vocalists, who took their places either side of the stage. The lights went low and Professor Green burst onto the stage to sing album title track ‘At Your Inconvenience’. The first part of the set compromised of five songs from his newly released album. There was a very rock ‘n’ roll vibe, which worked very well in contrast to his spitting vocals. The audience seemed to lose interest towards the end of this, but energy picked up when he announced he would perform some ‘older’ songs. The band bounced through hits ‘Need You Tonight’ and ‘Be Good To Green’, with his male and female vocalists filling in for Ed Drewet and Lily Allen respectively. 

The set continued with new material, which seemed to be quite a strong contrast compared to his old msongs. The vocal remained strong throughout from Professor Green and you could feel the raw emotion from him on songs such as ‘Forever Falling’.

Tempo picked up with guest appearances during ‘How Many Moons’ and remained high with ‘Monster’ which completed the set.

A humble Professor Green returned to the stage for an encore of ‘Jungle’ and ‘Avalon’, providing a perfect example of his range of musical talent, and hit single ‘Read All About It’ was met by deafening audience interaction.

Professor Green was a success. His music has evolved into a much more grown up sound, but his fans are loyal, and he’s not going anywhere just yet.

The Rasmus Announce New Single

I know I haven't posted in a long time, but I couldn't contain my excitement for this big piece of news.
My all time favourite band and Finnish rockers The Rasmus announced today that they will be releasing the longly anticipated new single 'I'm A Mess' on February 25.
That's all I know for now as the website they released the information on is in Finnish, but if anyone fancies having a look this is the website.
This could possibly make my 2012 amazing. Very excited to hear what kind of sound they've gone with for their 8th studio album, but I know I'll love it.
And before I start waffling on I'm going to sign off.
Expect to hear from me on February 25.

Lauri and Aki are happy about the announcement.
Courtesy of:  http://www.facebook.com/UudenMusiikinKilpailu   

näkemiin
C x

LIVE REVIEW: Electric Six & Support @ o2 Academy Liverpool

When I think of Electric Six I think of the song ‘Gay Bar’. I can image most people do. Or ‘Danger! High Voltage,’ which was undoubtedly their biggest UK single, reaching number 2 back in 2003. Since then, the hype around this strange rock band seems to have died down. I haven’t heard of any wacky, sexual songs since then. But when I heard they were playing in Liverpool I just couldn’t resist going to see them.


  I arrived at the o2 Academy wondering what to expect. The crowd was a mix of ages and subcultures and I’m sure I spotted a small child somewhere in the audience.


  I took my place at the side of the stage while two support bands managed to get very little enthusiasm from the audience. They’re Coming To Get You Barbara were first on stage. Their clumsy nerd rock failed to impress and the loudest cheer they got is when they left the stage. 


  Swound were next and were a lot better. They bounced on stage and made a lot of conversation with the audience, offering gifts of crisps in various packaging. The crowd warmed to their punk pop, which was reminiscent of 90’s American bands Nerf Herder and The Offspring, with shouts and bouncy riffs.


  Electric Six began with a very long classical song being played over the speakers. The band took to the stage looking extremely casual, and singer Dick Valentine had a glint of mischief in his eye. They looked like someone had thrown some hillbillies into a designer clothes shop and a jumble sale before placing them on stage. Despite the unusual appearance they were musically perfect. Electric Six very much have their own sound, but it’s not the kind of annoying samey rock as their first support band.


  Dick Valentine commanded the stage. He is known for his wacky character and he lived up to that tonight. He wore a Hawaiian shirt, a full grey suit and a metallic green cape. The layers quickly came off as the show progressed.


  Comedy was interlaced with shattering psychedelic music; Valentine delivering one liners and intricate stories before songs that he then danced to or performed press ups during. The crowd were drawn in by him; laughing away at him as if he was an Uncle at a Christmas party.


  The band remained professional and looked very relaxed and ‘rock n roll’. They were clearly very rehearsed and musically you could tell they were all experts in their field.


  Songs were played back to back. Classics such as ‘Gay Bar’, which was met by ear shattering audience interaction, alongside new tunes.


  Their tongue-in-cheek act went down a storm and it was nice to see a band who don’t take themselves too seriously, they just make brilliant rock ’n’ roll.

C x

LIVE REVIEW: Deaf Havana & Support @ The Masque Liverpool 20/10/11

Deaf Havana returned to the Masque for the first time following their sell out show in December 2010. After a successful tour in July this year the band are back to tour their new album’ Fools and Worthless Liars’ which will be released on November 7^th, following single ‘I’m a Bore, Mostly’ which was released October 11^th.

  The band brought Radio One favourites and fellow Southerners Lower Than Atlantis on tour with them.

  The Masque is packed as Lower Than Atlantis take to the stage. Two local bands kicked off proceedings tonight; Wallasey based We Were Beautiful and Pavilions, who seemed to get little interested from the crowd. Lower Than Atlantis manage to spark some enthusiasm from the audience when they finally take to the stage at 8.45, although it may have been the beer. Their Americanised brand of punk pop is easy on the ears and single ‘Beech Like The Tree’ goes down a storm. The highlight of their set was a cover of Foo Fighters’ ‘The Pretender’.

  The sound quality in the Masque tonight is muffled at best and drags down the feel of the evening.

  Deaf Havana struggle through a lengthy set, opening with crowd favourite ‘Friends Like These’. It is almost unrecognisable without the presence of Ryan Mellor’s vocals, after he left the band in 2010.

  James breaks up the set with a solo acoustic performance of ‘You Are Beautiful’, which was the highlight of Deaf Havana’s entire set. The simple nature of the song makes the most of the bad acoustics in the venue.

  A handful of new songs were played and the set ended with a surprisingly strong rendition of ‘Nicotine and Alcohol Saved My Life’, which the crowd sang most of.

  The tour continues on to Europe supporting Skindred.

                                                                Deaf Havana's James