Keep Cool and Listen On

We all have that album or song that screams Summer. The Mercury Prize nominated, ‘The English Riviera’ from Metronomy and ‘Pala’, the second offering from Friendly Fires are mine, as they are both wonderfully upbeat and have the ability to instantly lift any mood.

So with the sweltering heat we’ve been having, I’ve compiled my own playlist of 20 tracks, which, teamed with the luscious weather make for a fantastic combination. Whether your cruising along the motorway with the windows wound down, to soaking up the rays in your garden or supping on a cold beverage in a beer garden, the greatest accompaniment to these is a soundtrack So turn the volume to maximum, pop those ray bans on and make the most of this Sun, but do shy away from the lobster red burns that everyone has been sporting the last few days - not a good look! Although, who can blame anyone for embracing this lovely weather when British Summertime can be pretty abysmal.

In this playlist, expect to hear some tunes with that summery spirit from Friendly Fires, which will only induce MacFarlane-esque dancing and will surely motivate you to whip out that Hawaiian shirt that you've just been so desperate to use. The latest track from folk trio, Stealing Sheep, and dreamy jems from Beach House and Young Magic are also included. But, there’s just something about this pleasant weather that hinders my tolerance levels for the music that I would never listen to, ever, that comes tumbling down. This is the only reason why Professor Green has slithered his way in to the playlist. I don’t listen to him at any other time, especially not at 2am in a morning when I can’t sleep, honest.

                           You can listen to my playlist here. Press play and enjoy!

Daughter - Love

Metronomy - The Bay

Stealing Sheep – Shut Eye

Dead Man’s Bones – Pa Pa Power

Peter, Bjorn and John – Second Chance

Young Magic – Sparkly

Young Montana? -  Sacre Cool

Young Colossus - Sleeper

MGMT – Electric Feel

The Kooks – See The World

Two Door Cinema Club – Something Good Can Work

Miike Snow – Pretender

Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream

Wavves – King of the Beach

Best Coast – Boyfriend

Beach House – Better Times

Jai Paul – Jasmine

Boat Club – Memories

Professor Green – Remedy

Friendly Fires – Kiss Of Life

Dot to Dot Preview

There’ll be plenty of alcohol induced dancing and a sense of camaraderie over the jubilee weekend, but these scenes won't just be erupting across the country for the royalists celebrating the Queen’s lengthy reign. There’s another reason to celebrate – or 3. Bristol, Nottingham and Manchester will be assaulted by a barrage of bands once again for Dot to Dot festival, 7 years since its infancy in Nottingham.

Dot to Dot arrives at the perfect time; a month after Live at Leeds and 2 weeks after Liverpool Sound City, where we’ve all suffered from band overload, a depletion in funds and as our massacred feet have healed from wearing the brogues that clearly weren't the wisest choice of footwear to traipse around a city centre for hours. However, this will not deter us and of course we’ve missed the chaotic dash from venue to venue in order to catch that must see band.

Co headliners, The Drums and Pulled Apart From Horses lie on opposite ends of the musical spectrum. The former most known for their debut single, ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ and the latter for their raucous sound and energy. But what Dot to Dot has a knack for, is unearthing the talents that you’ve probably never heard of but who you’ll want to familiarize yourselves with. A few months may pass, or even weeks, and the Jools Holland appearances will filter in and you’ll be kicking yourself because you didn’t see them in that intimate venue. Last year, they even managed to bag Ed Sheeran as he was on the cusp of rocketing to the top of the charts.

Fresh from their appearances at Liverpool Sound City, Pond, who come from elite stock with 3 of their members also dividing their time in Tame Impala, and Clock Opera who wowed audiences are not to be missed. Also, expect lashings of new sounds from O Children as they return with ‘Apnea’, the follow up to their debut album, and luckily so after lead singer, Tobi O’Kandi faced deportation to Nigeria recently. Other anticipated acts include California’s Wavves who’ll hopefully be bringing a ray of shine with some 'surf pop' and Neon Indian, who, luckily for those heading to the Manchester date get to see one of the innovators of Chillwave after his impressive performance at Coachella.

At the measly sum of £20, and with music from midday up until 3am, it certainly is not to be missed, and assuredly a lot more fun than celebrating Queenie’s achievement. You can check out the venue breakdown for Bristol, Nottingham and Manchester here.

Mystery Jets, 28/03/12, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

Nestled on the outskirts of Leeds City Centre lies hipster haven: the Brudenell Social Club. Once you’ve weaved your way around the urban jungle; past the houses that not only have bars on the windows but bars on the doors too; you get the feeling that you’re roughing it and hoping that the car you arrived in will still have its wheels by the end of the night.

It seems like the most unlikeliest place to hone some of the best and intimate gigs in Leeds, but amongst these grim surroundings lies a thriving venue. On walking into the bar I was transported back to my 10 year old self.  It’s the archetypal venue for a proper northern gathering; except I don’t remember ruffians attempting to flog cuts of meat discreetly from a black bag outside. It’s the little touches makes it that bit special, like the blue glowing fairy lights flitting overhead on the 90 minute wait for doors to open.

Once being ushered into the venue it’s a complete transformation. With rows of red velvet chairs on its tiered seating above the dance floor; it created the illusion as if I was transported back to the 1920s starring in Bugsy Malone and I would be in the line of fire of a custard gun.

Before Mystery Jets appear on stage, the exposed black brickwork on the stage that usually shows a white ‘WELCOME TO THE BRUDENELL’, was instead festooned with a black and white American flag with ‘Radlands’ in a red swirling typeface scrawled over. They revealed that it was made by Blaine’s mum; paying homage to their new album and Austin, Texas - the place of its recording.

Launching into ‘Someone Purer’ was a charming opener but didn’t create much hysteria, just a few solitary bobbing heads. They had to work at getting the crowd warmed up with ‘Show Me The Light’ after asking with exuberance; ‘Leeds, do you want to dance?’ and after a few more prompts Leeds eventually did. As transfixed as the crowd was with Blaine, it wasn’t immediately apparent that there was someone missing; and it was only when they mentioned that they would be embarking on this tour without bassist Kai Fish. They assured us that he wasn’t gone forever and then introduced us to 2 new members including stand in bassist Peter Pepper, formerly of the band Palladium.

They predictably showcased songs from the hotly anticipated upcoming album ‘Radlands’, an offering characterised by a blend of Americana with its bursts of country-infused rock but with that classic Mystery Jets spin. The title track saw Blaine drift to an acoustic guitar that had an element of allure yet simultaneously mournful, leading to a gradual proliferation of drums. Even though the set was buoyed with the most recognisable tracks from second album ‘21’, it wasn’t until they unleashed zealous renditions of ‘Young Love’ and ‘Half In Love With Elizabeth’ that were far more appreciated, as proven by a crutch being pumped in to the air in time with the beat preceded by the owner of the crutch being lifted in to the air gaining a supreme view.

Departing to a hoard of swaying arms instigated by fan favourite; ‘Behind the Bunhouse’ captured a beautiful moment and ensured one thing, that this was a hopeful start to their stint of intimate shows, and thankfully, the wheels were still on the car when we re-emerged.

Planet Radio Huddersfield

You can listen to 'Machin Magic in the Morning' below, which was a radio show I was on as part of Planet Radio Huddersfield. Planet Radio was the final assignment for my Digital Radio Module and involved both the Music Journalists and Broadcast Journalists working together efficiently to run the station. From collating the news stories and the preparation of radio packages for the bulletins, to the design of the website and social media pages as well as the preparation that went into the shows - it was a lot of work but it went incredibly well!

 My role was as one of the Deputy Station Managers, but my friend Sam, who had one of the morning slots with 'Machin Magic in the Morning', asked me to be a guest on his last show. I enjoyed it immensely and far more than I anticipated as I was so nervous. Even though I'd already been on the radio before with my own show on Radio Hudd (University of Huddersfield's Radio Station) from January this year until the end of term I did this alone, so it was great to be on Sam's show as it's easy to build a rapport and bounce off someone else rather than constantly believing that you're just talking to yourself, with someone else you're having too much fun to even think about that!

Planet Radio was on air from 30th April up until 6th May from 10am - 4pm each day. Sam's last show was on at 10am on Saturday 5th May - so I do apologise if I do sound a tad sleepy! Finally, listen out for tracks from Local Natives, The Smiths, Eugene McGuinness and Deaf Havana, as well as chat about our differing views on music festivals and even Bob Marley - enjoy! :)

                                 

What Difference Does It Make?

Hidden away under the railway line of Leeds central station is a hubbub of excitement as four men take to the stage. The front man is instantly recognisable with a towering quiff, black wayfarer glasses and clutching a bundle of flowers in hand. As the iconic jangly guitars riffs reverberated around the room, the circulating gladioli were thrust in to the air with a flamboyant swish of the wrist. I haven’t sent you on a trip down memory lane, but this band just might. It’s a drizzly April night but this isn’t 1983- it’s 2012 and The Smiths Indeed have returned to the intimate setting of the Cockpit.

The chance of The Smiths reforming is as likely as Morrissey devouring a Hog roast. So when an avid fan is faced with the prospect of seeing their idols diminish with their youthful looks; why not turn to the alternative – the tribute band. They aren’t something to be sneered at but bands that are becoming increasingly prevalent and not all of them have ridiculous names; that’s just Slack Babbath, probably with shaven heads nestling under their unconvincing wigs. Surprisingly, they successfully encapsulate the raucous and chaotic energy of Ozzy and co.

But what happens when the band that you’ve been gushing about for years, the one you missed out on the first time round because  you wasn’t even born or just regrettably never managed to get tickets reconcile their differences?  “As tempting as it is, I don’t think I’d want to see The Stone Roses. I have saw them once before and they were mind blowing. But then knowing what they were like at Reading festival, I’d be so disappointed if that were to happen again,” says Derek Gannon, a regular attendee at tribute band concerts. “I just wouldn’t want to take that risk to build up my expectations. The memories I have are great and I’d like to preserve them rather than ruin them. They could be absolutely phenomenal and I’m missing out but I can get my Roses fix through various other means.”

The Stone Roses return is one that has the potential to go terribly wrong, as is the risk with all reforms, but they have something extra to prove, as they didn’t leave with a bang, more like a sparkler coming to the end of its inadequate fizz. Would you even risk spending your money to see them? With tribute bands it can be an unprecedented experience for the eyes and ears when a band has the art of imitation down to a t, displaying a glowing performance that sounds musically sound and even more so, mannerisms of act  they’re emulating are so convincing.  “I’ve saw The Smiths Indeed who are probably the best tribute out there, he just oozes Morrissey and it’s like watching the real thing,” Derek enthuses. “I’ve seen the Clone Roses too. I don’t necessarily think they sound as similar to the band but sometimes I don’t even think it’s whether they sound like them or not that creates such an uproar.”

There’s a uniting factor and a sense of solidarity when chanting along to a song you love amongst a crowd of like-minded people. “I think if you’re with mates singing along to a shared interest, you have a sense of camaraderie. It’s like going on a night out, but you’ve got control of the DJ booth, you put your favourite albums on and it’s just a bonus that there’s someone on stage sauntering about like Ian Brown.”

However, the most successful bands are the ones who have that sound, the one where if you were to close your eyes for a second, they so sound hauntingly close. You can layer the guy liner on and you can wear a wig to transform the look but that authentic sound is a lot harder to unearth than many of these bands think. You shouldn’t discount them either for not being the real thing. There isn’t this whole comedy value aesthetic which can often be the impression. They have to be a skilled musician to pull it off anyway; or in the case of the Mathew Street Festival you may envisage a hoard of The Beatles imitators with the bad mop top wigs. If that isn’t your thing, never, ever go. It will be hell.

There’s a huge market for tribute bands. Aside from the devotees wanting to cling on to something they love, there is money to be made and clearly still a demand. The Clone Roses have supported The Happy Mondays and The Complete Stone Roses even have their own record deal with Pet Lamb Records. Similarly, The Australian Pink Floyd have embraced a comparable amount of successes, having toured extensively across the world, and every August in Driffield, East Yorkshire, there’s an invasion from The Police Academy, Meet Loaf, Coldplace, Green Date, Musest and Snow Control for Tribfest.

A band in their prime will always be superior and it would be outrageous to contest this but the tribute band is becoming an increasingly popular option for some. Why not pay the miniscule ticket price to see an act that are musically just as competent, instead of dishing out an extortionate fee for a band to hobble on stage and then give a lacklustre performance? Undoubtedly, they will lack the presence and spark that the original band has but they can give it a fine attempt and in the process be treated as if they were the true heroes, except without the egos. Derek recounts, “When watching The Clone Roses, everyone goes mad for ‘I Wanna Be Adored,’ same goes for the Smiths Indeed with ‘This Charming Man,’ there’s just an eruption of hysteria and chanting as if it were the real Morrissey, Johnny Marr or Ian Brown.”

It’s probably for the best that bands such as The Smiths don’t reform; Morrissey could sulk off stage in protest like he did when a bottle careered off his head in Liverpool. So, save your money and pay a visit to the tribute bands instead. After all, what difference does it make? It makes none.