New UK Music Single Releases: 13th February 2012, AZARI & III, BLINK 182, EMELI SANDE and JESS MILLS

Allo' Darlin – 'Capricornia' – These guys are a indie rock back, formed by Elizabeth Morris in 2005 when she moved from Australia to England. The song is pretty catchy, I could take it in a mix but it’s not something I could listen to time and time again.

Azari & III – 'Reckless With Your Love' – I think I just found another Featured Artist post, this is the reason I love doing this so much. Step forward Azari & III, straight out of Toronto Canada this is house music at its best, the beat is so fresh, sampling a slightly older song maybe but this sound is very new and happening. You can be expecting to see more from Azari & III here at Movies Music & Television but, in the mean time check out the video for their latest release below.

Blink-182 – 'After Midnight' – I don’t need to introduce Blink 182, do I? The American rockers are back with their latest offering. Straight off, I’m not their biggest fan but I do like “After Midnight” they seem to have stripped things back a little from their usual full on guitar extravaganza.

Daley – 'Alone Together' – A soul singer from Manchester, England, not really my thing, go check out daley.tv, there you can get a free mixtape and download of this song, alternatively check it out on YouTube like everyone else.

Emeli Sande – 'Next To Me' – You will have heard this song from Scottish singer songwriter Emeli, the radio play has been massive here in England. I quite like it, very easy to listen to, you could throw it in there with some Allo Darlin.

Goldfrapp – 'Melancholy Sky' – These guys are a English Electro band, I’ve never been the biggest fan and if I’m totally honest I find this latest release a little depressing, I have no doubt someone will like it.

Lianne La Harvas – 'Forget' – An English folk and soul singer who I have never heard of, I took a listen to this her latest offering was impressed to start but quickly got board.

Jess Mills – 'Pixelated People' – An English singer and musician who again I haven’t heard of, that’s due to the fact that she is relatively new on scene but if your looking for someone to start and follow then this just might be your girl. I took a listen to this track and didn’t get what I was expecting at all, I was pleasantly surprised. Jess’ soulful voice comes across great over the underlying garage and dubstep tones, check it out in the video below.

Snow Patrol – 'In The End' – I’m a big fan of Snow Patrol, I think I have all of their albums including this latest for which “In The End” is the title track. I really like this single to, very easy listening and as always with Snow Patrol lead singer Gary Lightbodys voice comes across brilliant.

New UK Single Releases: 6th February 2012 Featuring WILL I AM, MADONNA, KELLY CLARKSON and KELLY ROWLAND

Again, it’s not the best of weeks on the music release scene nothing really stands out but I think there are a couple included that you will like, pretty much main stream pop stuff is the order of the week so let’s get on, first up,

Childish Gambino – 'All The Shine' – Maybe better known to most of my readers as Donald Glover, the actor who shot to fame starring in Derrick and more recently starred in Community (I have never seen either). Gambino dropped his debut album last November after he was signed to Glassnote Records, I like rap and hip hop but I don’t like this, maybe I just don’t get it.

Dropkick Murphys – 'Going Out In Style' – These guys are a Irish-American punk band, I hadn’t heard of them probably because I’m not into punk music, I took a listen to this and within the first minute I feared my ears were about to bleed, considering I wasn’t listening to it to loud I’d say that’s not a good thing.

Friends – 'Friend Crush' – No? Don’t worry I haven’t heard of them either, How can I describe their music? Eletrical, I suppose I really have no idea what they were singing about.

J Mascis – 'Circle' – An American musician who was in the band Dinosaur Jr, not really heard of him or that band. I took a listen to this and can’t say I’m that impressed, last year J Mascis was named in the top 100 guitarists, he was 86 on the list, I suppose that’s sort of an achievement.

Kelly Clarkson - 'Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)' – Probably the most famous talent show winner ever, Kelly won the first season of American Idol in 2003 and then went on to come second in World Idol. I actually really like this song, I’ve heard it on the radio a bunch of times and after watching this I’ve decided that Kelly Clarkson is pretty hot.

Kelly Rowland feat. Big Sean - 'Lay It On Me' – I don’t need to introduce Kelly do I? The former Destiny’s Child star and now X Factor judge is back with her latest release featuring Big Sean, can’t say I’m to crazy about it really.

Madonna - 'Give Me All Your Luvvin' – This is dreadful, Madonna surrounding herself with fresh and current acts like M.I.A and Niki Minaj trying to make herself popular in the now. Sorry Maj it doesn’t work for me, oh yeah, the video is rubbish to. Be sure to check back later on Madonna though I will be reviewing her Superbowl performance.

Paul McCartney – 'My Valentine' – It’s nearly the most romantic (horribly expensive) day of the year, so, what else do you expect than former Beatle Macca releasing a love song? I don’t think I will be dining to this of 14th February, how about you?

Pnau - 'Unite Us' – These guys are a Australian duo who do dance music, I’m not struck on this at all and have to say being a former DJ I wouldn’t have played their standard release as part of my set. I imagine hardcore dance music fans would probably go for the Tommy Trash remix, it’s suited a lot more to clubs.

Will.i.am feat. Mick Jagger and Jennifer Lopez - 'T.H.E (The Hardest Ever)' – I actually really like this, I saw Will.Iam interviewed on Top Gear recently, I really didn’t know he was such a talented (very rich) guy. I prefer Will on his own as apposed to being part of The Black Eyed Peas and like the song I really like this video (Mick Jagger bit is great), you can tell it’s had plenty money thrown at it unlike the Madonna one I mentioned earlier, check it out below.

New Single Releases: 30th January 2012, DJ SHADOW, METALLICA, FEEDER and LIL WAYNE

Clock Opera – 'Once And For All' - An indie rock band, I have heard of these guys but I haven't heard their music, I took a listen to this one and can't say I'm that impressed.

Cloud Nothings – 'Stay Useless' - Indie bands are all I seem to write about these days, they are literally coming out the wood work. I hadn't heard of these guys and judging by this song I won't be taking any sort of detailed look into thir back catalog.

DJ Shadow – 'Scale It Back' - I don't know why this is on the release dates again this week, It featured here a month or so ago now and I was pretty positive about the song then, and I stand by that. My release info comes fom the same source every week so I don't know why we get a repeat.

Feeder – 'Borders' - I've never been the biggest fan of this alternative rock band from Wales, I don't know why because their music is massive even making it into Hollywood movies, I suppose that's because they sound more American than Welsh but it has worked for them, this song is ok, I would have it as an album filler.

Fucked Up – 'Year Of The Tiger' - I have never heard of these guys but if your inetersted they are a hardcore punk band from the U.S.

The Kills – 'Last Goodbye' - Rock band? Yawn. Very boring.

Lil Wayne feat. Bruno Mars – 'Mirrors' - Lil Wayne is a American rapper who has been signed to Cash Money Records since he was nine years old, I'm not the biggest fan of his music but I do like Bruno Mars who features on this record. Not the best record but will probably do well in the charts thanks to the names attached.

Metallica – 'Beyond Magnetic EP' - One of my favoutite bands, I just hate the album with Lou Reed though, he should probably have stayd in the 70's. Lou is an aquired taste, what can I say? He does not feature here and Metallica are back ro their hardcore rocking best.

Youngman

 Pixie Lott – 'Kiss The Stars' - I was wondering why Pixie was on morning TV this week (only seen it because of days off), I have heard this song on the radio and have switched it off every time thinking it was Justin Beiber, oops.

Radiohead – 'Bloom (Jamie xx remix)' - Never been a big fan of Radiohead and this song does nothing to add to my confidence in them.

Youngman – 'Who Knows' - Save the best till last, that's what they say and that's hat I have done, you need to be sharing this video with your Facebook, Twitter or whatever wasily the best release of the week and a new favourite of mine.

New Album & Single Releases: 16th January 2012, EVENESCANCE, FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE, THE TING TINGS and SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA

This post is getting doubled up with the albums again this week, were still getting over the new year in the charts so the releases will be starting to come think and fast in the next two to three weeks, in the mean time here are all the latest single and album releases from this week.

New Singles

Evanescence – 'My Heart Is Broken' – Evanescence won’t need any introduction from me, they have been on the go for long enough now, they featured here with their previous single a few months back now.

Florence And The Machine – 'No Light No Light' – Absolutely love these guys can’t rate them highly enough, I saw them perform this on the Jonathan Ross show last Saturday and although it’s not my favourite I can still listen to it easily along with their album Ceremonials.

Little Cuts – 'Plastic Disaster' – A punk band from the U.S that I have never heard of, Punk is an acquired taste one which I’m not really into, I can go back to one punk band from the 80’s called Big Country, go check out the post I done on them not long after starting this blog.

Oberhoffer – 'Gotta Go' – Another one I haven’t heard of, nor are these guys easy to find much out about. It would appear that they are a indie pop group.

The Shins – 'Simple Song' – An American indie rock band who have been on the go since 1997, that’s quite impressive these days.  Indie music is good but I can’t say I have heard to much of these guys music.

Swedish House Mafia Vs Knife Party – 'Antidote' – A trio of European DJ's and producers who have a tendency to deliver big club hits, their last featured U.K rapper Tinie Tempah and was a massive hit across the clubs in Ibiza.

The Ting Tings – 'Hang It Up' – These guys rose to fame last year making a big hit at the festivals, they are a two piece band that the whole of the U.K went mad for them but, I wasn’t to impressed.

New Albums

Attack! Attack! – 'This Means War' – With a name like Attack! Attack! You can kind of guess that these guys are some sort of heavy rock outfit, they are billed as metalcore, I’m not sure what that means but I think it may well hurt your ears.

The Big Pink – 'Future This' – An English electro rock duo who have been signed professionally since 2009 but to date have only released 5 singles from their debut album, this is their second album, I’ve not heard of the and electro rock ain’t really my thing.

Diagrams – 'Black Light'  - Never even heard of these guys!

Ani DiFranco – 'Which Side Are You On?' – A very famous lady who in her time has released over 20 albums as well as being a Grammy award winner.



Enter Shikari!

 Enter Shikari – 'A Flash Flood Of Colour' – A massive U.K band well known for mashing up all different styles of rock with electro, I have to be honest although it’s not my thing these guys do it very well and I have enjoyed their previous offerings.

Foe – 'Bad Dream Hotline' – Never heard of these guys either!

Frank Turner – 'The Second Three Years' – A well known U.K singer songwriter who’s not my idea of fun.

Anthony Green – 'Beautiful Things' – A musician that works on both sides of the fence as a solo artist but has also featured as the lead singer for many bands most of which I haven’t heard of.

Guided By Voices – 'Let's Go Eat The Factory' – A American indie rock back who were formed way back in 1983, they went till 2004 split up, got back together and are still releasing music.  You have to admit that is pretty impressive.



Howler!

 Howler – 'America Give Up' – A American rock band who made a massive name for themselves during 2011, so much so that NME named them the #3 band of the year and credited their lead singer Jordan Gatesmith as one of 2011’s coolest people, I haven’t heard much of what they do but I will be checking out this album after nods like that.

King Krule – 'King Krule' – Known formally as Zoo Kid, this guy changed his name on tour last year to King Krule inspired by some character in Donkey Kong, a bit stupid if you ask me.

One Sonic Society- 'Forever Reign' – No, sorry, I have not heard of these guys either!

The Red Inspectors – 'Are We The Red Inspectors? Are We?' – A new band that I’ve not heard of but, all of the members have been part of big bands in the past.

Tribes – 'Baby' – A four piece English rock band who are pretty well thought of in the music industry, I can’t say I have heard to much of their music but at least I have heard of them.

New UK Music: Album & Single releases 9th January 2012

This post will be familiar to you if you come here often but, it would usually only involve new single releases, as there aren’t to many singles released this week I have combined new album releases to. Usually there will be to many singles to get through and in the future the post will become two as I’ll do a separate one for albums which will replace the Mixtape posts that weren’t hugely popular around here.

New singles this week

Black Veil Brides – 'Fallen Angels' – These guys are a four piece American rock band based in Hollywood, I haven’t heard any of their music but they take their influences from non other than Kiss, you can really see that in their styling, they also take influences from many 80’s glam rock bands.  This son isn’t bad in fact I quite like it but you couldn’t listen to it for any length of time.

Gabrielle Alpin – 'Home Again EP' – An English singer-songwriter who shot to fame thanks to YouTube, on their she covered  “My Heart” by Paramore and also recorded a version of “The Liar and the Lighter” by You Me At Six, her cover of that song has had over 450,000 hits on YouTube.

Nicola Roberts – 'Yo-Yo' – Won Popstars the Rivals way back when with her group Girls Aloud, they have all split and gone their separate ways and now Nicola is joining Cheryl Cole in going solo.

Tribes – 'When We Were Children' – A British rock band, not really for me I took a listen to this song and it sounds pretty much like every other British rock band of late.

Various Cruelties – 'Great Unknown' – Mentioned these guys a while back on the Mixtape when they performed on the Jools Holland show with their debut single which was very impressive, this song a  more mellow tone than the debut but it’s not for me.

New Albums
David Crowder Band - 'Give Us A Rest Or (Requiem Mass In C)' – A six piece Christian modern worship band, I haven’t heard of them and don’t imagine that I would be to into their music.

Linda Lewis – 'Larks' – Must be a running theme this week because I haven’t heard of this act either, from what I gather she has had a very long career in music mostly as a backing vocalist to some pretty big acts.

Madison Violet – 'The Good In Goodbye' – A double act from Canada who are well known over there for their Folk music, again not really my thing.

The Little Willies – 'For The Good Times' – With a band name like that we should really have guessed that they are into country music, if that’s your thing then fine otherwise I would give this one a miss.

The Maccabees – 'Given To The Wild' – Finally, a band I have heard of. The Maccabees are a indie rock band from England this is their third studio album.

Alcest – 'Les Voyages De L'âme' – I haven’t even heard of these guys, I’m not sure if their a band or not.  Wikipedia has them a a musical project from France.

Charlie Haden – 'Come Sunday' – Again, I haven’t even heard of this guy.  Apparently he’s an American Jazz musician, probably pretty famous in the world of Jazz, It’s an acquired taste.

New UK Single Releases: 12th December 2011, FOO FIGHTERS, DJ SHADOW, COLDPLAY and CEE LO GREEN

Caged Animals – 'Pile Of $$$' – No don’t worry I hadn’t heard of these guys either, to be honest they are not the easiest of people to find out about, I read somewhere that they should be compared to Lou Read and The Velvet Underground that put me off before I even heard this song.  I didn’t even get a minute in and was bored already.

Cee Lo Green – 'Anyway' – Does not really need an introduction from me does he?  Cee Lo can simply do no wrong as far as the charts go right now, this latest release is taken from his album “The Lady Killer” for it to feature this song you need to buy the Platinum edition, “Anyway” is a pretty decent pop song which will most probably do well due to
who is singing it.

Coldplay – 'Charlie Brown' – Following on from their impressive number 1 single “Paradise” Coldplay are back with this disappointing second offering.  Coldplay are a bad who I’m not really a big fan of, I do like some of their music and their single before this is probably one of my favourites.  I suppose you could say they are an acquired taste.

DJ Shadow feat. Little Dragon – 'Scale It Back' – An American DJ/songwriter and music producer who to be honest I have not heard of, he is described as a prominent figure in the development of instrumental hip hop.  Again that’s not a genre I have heard of but I
do have to admit that the music and lyrics to “Scale It Back” are very relaxing and easy listening, I’m not going to rush to iTunes to buy it but I could listen to it no problem.  Check out the video and let me know what you think.

Foo Fighters – 'These Days' – Quite possibly one of the biggest rock bands on the planet right now and one of my personal favourites, this is typical Foo Fighters mixing heavy rock with a simmering ballad to fall back on.  It’s not one of my favourites but you have to go check out the video on their VEVO channel, very like the Beatles.

Gotye – 'Easy Way Out' – Don’t know why this has come back on the list again it featured a few weeks back now, you can go check the video HERE.


Mick Hucknall (top), The Naked & Famous

 Mick Hucknall – 'Happy This Christmas' – So here come the Christmas songs, this is the first one I can think of this year, it comes of course from Mick Hucknall formally Simply Red who I am a big fan of but I’m afraid I won’t be rushing out to buy this one Mick.

George Michael – 'December Song' – Song is shit and I can’t stand the guy.

The Naked & Famous – 'No Way' – These guys are a indie rock band from New Zealand and have been on the go for a few years now.  Indie is interesting and mostly I like it, once “No Way” kicks in it’s ok I suppose but I have heard better.

The Rapture – 'Sail Away EP' – Another indie rock band this time from New York City, can’t say I have heard any of their music in the past and to be honest “Sail Away” really does not impress me that much.

Steel Panther – 'Just Like Tiger Woods' – An American glam rock band who have been on the go for 11 years now, I didn’t know bands like this still existed, think 80’s rock Journey, Skidrow etc that is similar to these guys “Just Like Tiger Woods” is taken from their album “Balls Out”, I don’t know weather that’s golf balls or a certain other type of balls, I suppose that depends on what they mean by Like Tiger Woods!

Frank Turner – 'Wessex Boy' – An English pop and folk singer who has been in a few bands, “Wessex Boys” is taken from Turner’s fourth solo album, the song is good if that’s what you are into but it’s not really for me.

The Wombles – 'Wombling Merry Christmas' – Characters from a TV show called funnily enough, The Wombles.  It’s a Christmas song most probably aimed at children, personally I could not bring myself to listen to it.

Midweek Mixtape: FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE, DRAKE, RHIANNA and MIKE POSNER

Ok so I haven’t done one of these posts for a while now, not for any other reason than I was simply to busy, but don’t worry I haven’t finished with them as they are quite popular, this weeks inspiration comes mainly from a blog I read named Underground Charisma, go check it out, if you like music especially hip hop then it’s the place to be.  Over there I was given a little inspiration to overhaul my current Mixtape layout, so this is new, well I changed it a little.  Let me know what you think.

First up we are going to compare a couple of versions of “Take Care” a new song performed by American R&B artist Drake featuring Rhianna (are they dating?).  I have to be honest I’m not the biggest fan of Drake, I do like Rhianna though and in this compilation they work really well together.  It’s the perfect R&B song to sit and relax too, I would even bet that a quicker version of the song would feature well in night clubs, back in my DJ days it would definitely have been on some sort of Funky House play list.  I want you to check out their version of the song first, unfortunately there is no video as yet, so you will have to do with the picture compilation, either way I’m pretty sure you will enjoy this.

You have been away ages, you listened to it more than once didn’t you?  Never mind your back now.  The song is pretty awesome right?  Over here in England the main radio station is Radio 1, every year they do a Live Lounge tour inviting big bands down to perform songs by other artists Live.  It was the turn of Florence and the Machine this time and lead singer Florence Welch decided that they would cover Drake and Rhianna’s “Take Care”.  Now, being a mild mannered English girl that’s the last song you would expect her to pick, but pick it she did.  Did you catch her on my Jools Holland post a couple of weeks back?  No, then go check it HERE, she sang her own song “What The Water Gave Me”, it was really good, but can she rap?  Too right she can I think she pulled this off big style so much so I ‘m almost inclined to say that I would rather listen to her version, check it out and let me know what you think.

Now who like's Mike Posner?  You know that guy who thinks he's cooler than you.  That's pretty much the only song of his I know, turns out he's a bit of an aspiring rapper, below is his latest mixtape to be released, it's free (legally) to downlaod if you want it.  On the tape he has covered a few artists most notably of them all for me would be Oasis, why a guy who calls himself a rapper wants to cover "Wonderwall" one of Oasis' biggest songs is beyond me.  Posner should probably hope he never bumps into Noel or Liam, especially if it's dark.  All in all the mixtape is not really my cup of tea, I struggle to take Mike Posner seriously as a rapper, as an R&B artist I can take that, and one song off the mixtape that I would play in my car in "Marauder Music" featuring Blackbear.

I would say I quickly skimmed through the rest and was not really that impressed with what I heard which included a cover of Adele's "Rolling In The Deep", the mixtape is embedded below.  Take a listen if that's what your into, if not then at least take a listen to the track I mentioned above "Marauder Music", enjoy.

Download Mixtape | Free Mixtapes Powered by DatPiff.com

Enjoy the Mixtape, enjoy the new layout?  Remember to let me know what you think in the comments below,  you can SUBSCRIBE if you like, follow the blog for reviews of all the latest TV shows and movies, as well as weekly mixtapes and a weekly new music post, RSS, Twitter and Facebook are all availible at the top right.

New UK Music Single Releases: 28th November 2011, BLINK 182, JASON DRULO, JAY-Z and KANYE WEST

Alphabet Backwards – 'British Explorer' – No don’t worry, I haven’t heard of them either and to say they are easy to find out about on the Internet would be a lie.  Google “Alphabet Backwards Wiki”, you are treated to some info on a guy who can say the Alphabet backwards.  They are a relatively new pop band from Oxford, England.

Brett Anderson – 'Crash About To Happen' – Easier if you just say Suede, you know the band?  Yeah them, Brett Anderson was their lead singer, they split in 2003 and he formed The Tears, that didn’t work out so now he’s going solo.

Blink-182 – 'Wishing Well' – Need no introduction from me do they?  Blink 182 are a massive American rock band formed in 2003, their music is pretty good and the drummer is Travis Barker, you know the guy who wants to be a millionaire, so fricken bad.


Fixers

 Fixers – 'Imperial Goddess Of Mercy EP' – A British band, I think this may be their fourth single release, previous to this they released “Swimhaus Johannesberg” which was played quite often on Radio 1.

Gotye – 'Easy Way Out' – A one guy multi instrumental musician who is also in Indie band The Basics, he performs solo and this latest track is from his fourth studio album, I ain’t heard of him but this song is very good, more the guitar riffs than anything else.

Ben Howard – 'The Fear' – An English singer/songwriter making his way up the ladder, the song is not bad but it’s not my idea of fun.


Jay Z (top), Kanye West

 Jason Derulo – 'Fight For You' – Again a guy who really does not need any introduction from me, Jason Derulo has been on plenty mixtapes here before, this song is crap.

Jay – Z and Kanye West – 'Why I Love You' – Two massive names in the world of hip hop, they seem to be working together quite a lot lately. I have heard this song a lot on the radio and I have to be honest it’s pretty catchy.

King Charles – 'Bam Bam' – An English singer/songwriter who says he tramples the border of cool and not cool.  As far as Bam Bam goes, I would have to say not cool.

Lenny Kravitz – 'Push' – An American artist who can just about do anything, I have never been the biggest fan of his music but I can’t deny he is a talented guy, this latest release is not that good but does provide you with very easy listening.


Lenny Kravitz

 Christina Perri – 'Arms' – She might be pretty but don’t let that lure you into a false sense of security, I only caught a little of this song and was beginning to develop self harm issues.

Patrick Wolf – 'Together' – An English/Irish singer/songwriter who I hadn’t heard of, after taking a listen to this I can’t say I’m that bothered.  I was bored literally just after it started.

The Wombats - '1996' – An Indie rock band from Liverpool, England.  They featured here a couple of weeks back, I have never been their biggest fan but this song is ok.

New Music Single Releases 21st November 2011, CHASE & STATUS, MARY J.BLIGE, KASABIAN and KELLY ROWLAND

Big Deal – 'Distant Neighborhood' - Never heard of these guys, they are kind of alternative.  Only way to find them is by writing their name and song title into Google otherwise other songs actually named Big Deal beat them to the chase.

Bleeding Knees Club – 'Teenage Girls' - I have to be honest again, I have not heard of these guys.  The reason for that is simple, they are an up coming indie rock band from Australia, they consist of two members one who sings and plays drums the other plays the guitar.

Britney Spears – 'Criminal' - Don't like Britney Spears, don't know about you.  I just can't take her seriously as a musician or artist, piss artist maybe but her music is just not for me, not even as a teenager was I interested in this (music wise).

Kelly Rowland – 'Down For Whatever' - Argh Kelly, the lady who is currently judging on the X Factor UK, yo all know who she is her music is pretty up beat and entertaining, it's not the kind of thing I would have in the car but it's good pop music.

Seranades – 'Come Home EP' - There English apparently, I have never heard of them but they have been on the go for some time, since 1993 in fact.  In that time they have only managed one album though, I think that speaks for itself really.

Will Young – 'Come On' - The winner of the original Pop Idol, Will's carrer ha gone on the up and up, not only does he do music but he also stars in TV shows and has even had a movie role.  He fought against Cowell to prove that he ws a real artist, not being a smug guy I think he quietly beat him.  His music is not my thing but the guy is pretty talented.

Wu Lyf - 'We Bros' - A strange group of guys from the UK, who incidentally form another indie band, they are pretty secrative about who they are or even what they do, I took a listen to this and to be honest they have no reason to be secrative, it's shit.

Chase & Status – 'Flashing Lights' - These guys have featured here a few time lately, they are an electronic duo from London, artist is a word that you can associate with them unlike Britney, this song is actually quite good, I really think I'm starting to get into this dub step thing, it's not really my sort of music but these guys do a very good job at it.

The Duke Spirit – 'Don't Wait' - An English rock band that I have never heard of, they must be doing ok though.  Just as you start typing their name into Google or YouTube it knows what you want to write, still this song is not for me.

EMA – 'Marked/Angelo' - Not to much about this girl on the Internet, she works alone although her band name wouldn't suggest it, I haven't figured out the name of this song yet it's one of the two words I have mentioned, the other is the title of her album.


Enrique (top), Grouplove

Grouplove – 'Lovely Cup' - What is it with indie rock bands right now, ever sine Kings Of Leon became such big stars indie groups are coming from everywhere, some of them are quite good, not as good as KOL of course but good all the same.  As far as Gropulove goes, I hope that's a motto they follow as they may only love there own music.

Enrique Iglesias feat. Pitbull – 'Like How It Feels' - I have to make a little confession, I actually quite like Enriques music, not all of it granted but some of it.  He has taken the safety ption here and got Pitbull on board, for that reason this will be a top ten hit, I have no doubt.

Mary J.Blige – '25/8' - Never heard of this lady for a long time and I'm sure she needs no introduction from me, I can't say I have ever been the biggest fan but I do like some of her stuff, not this though.

Kasabian – 'Re-Wired' - This is an English rock band that I really like, I can listen to pretty much all of their music and this latest release is no exception to that, I heard these guys perform this live on TV last week, I think it may have been better than the actual video version.

The King Blues – 'The Future's Not What It Used To Be' - A pretty famous English punk group who I have never heard of, this song ain't bad though, It's not something that I could enjoy time and time again but one listen is not to bad.



New Music Single Releases: 14th November 2011

2:54 – 'Scarlet' - Haven't heard of them them?  Don't worry me neither but these guys are the reason I love doing this post.  They are a rock band from London and are currently unsigned but this song is very, very good , seriously you have to check it out.  I have a feeling these guys are going to be around for a while.  Wondering how to pronounce their name?  It's Two Fifty Four and the song is available to download from iTunes now, enjoy.

The Collective – 'Teardrop' - A collection of just about everyone who's popular right now, Teardrop is the official Children In Need single.  As always it's for a great cause and your efforts to download it (legally) will help towards Children all over the world.  Friday Night BBC is devoted to Children In Need, don't forget to dig deep.

Death Cab For Cutie – 'Stay Young, Go Dancing' - An American alternative rock band who have been on the go now for 14 years, this latest release is from their seventh album "Keys and Codes Remix EP".  It is a very good song but not something I could listen to over and over, maybe it's a grower.  I can't say I have heard to much of their music at all, note to self.  Go check out on YouTube.

Dry The River – 'Weights & Meisures EP' - A new band from the UK who I hadn't heard of until today, this track is taken from their album of the same name.  Not my idea of good music but I suppose it's what ever floats your boat.

Death Cab For Cutie (left) Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran – 'Lego House' - Acts simply don't come any bigger right now, Ed Sheeran's debut album and first two singles took the UK charts by storm.  This latest offering isn't his best in my opinion I like "You Need Me, I don't Need You" better but, of course that's just me maybe you like this.

Estelle – 'Back To Love' - An English singer songwriter who I first heard of when she featured on Kanye West's "American Boy" track.  Since then I really haven't heard to much of her, great voice no doubt but this is not something I could listen to.

Hyde & Beast – 'You Will Be Lonely' - Yeah I know don't worry, I have not heard of these guys either, it seems this week is quite popular for dubut artists.  A name like Hyde & Beast suggests an American Trash metal group, I couldn't have been more wrong these guys are a band from the UK.  Unfortunately for them they are no where near as good as 2:54.

Kate Bush – 'Wild Man' - Second time this lady has been on this post recently, probably one of the most successful UK recording artists of the last 30 years Kate Bush's talent is undeniable.  As far as her music goes, well it's not for me.

Oh Land – 'White Nights' - You are thinking what I did, I've never heard of that band.  Well that's because it's not a band, Nanna Fabricius performs under the stage name Oh Land, she is Danish, a singer songwriter who currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.  The song!  Is crap.

One Direction (top) Rammstein

One Direction – 'Gotta Be You' - We all know who these guys are, manufactured last year thanks to the X Factor (UK), the guys are currently releasing their debut album.  They performed this song live on the X Factor results show Sunday gone, I didn't like it then and I still don't like it now.

Owl City – 'Dreams Don't Turn To Dust' - Fronted by American singer songwriter Adam Young, these guys really are not who I could listen to daily, I remember hearing "Fire Flies" by them, this song sounds the same it even features the same little sample in the background.

Rammstein – 'Mein Land' - A German band from Berlin, set up in 1994 these guys are nearly 20 years old.  That speaks for itself really, as you would expect from the name the guys are pretty heavy  I actually quite like this song although I don't understand a word they say, it is very good.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers


Red Hot Chili Peppers – 'Monarchy Of Roses' - You don't need me to introduce these guys.  I have never been the biggest fan of the Chilli Peppers, don't get me wrong some of their music does really get my foot tapping but in general they just aren't for me.

The Saturdays – 'My Heart Takes Over' - A British girl band, very sexy?  Indeed, but as far as their music goes, well it's pretty much what you would expect.

Tom Vek – 'Someone Loves You' - I have not heard of this guy but if you play video games, particularly Grand Theft Auto then you may know him his music has featured on that before.

Westlife – 'Lighthouse' - These guys have recently split up after a good 13 year (approx) run, I don't know why they are releasing more music.  The only person who really cares that they have split is Louis Walsh.

Mixtape: LOU REED ft METALLICA, FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE and VARIOUS CRUELTIES

Ok I'm trying to catch up from all the decorating so here is the mixtape which should have gone out on Thursday.  This week I decided upon a special mixtape for you, last week we looked at 80's retro.  This week we are going to to take  look at some live performances from the bands I mentioned above when they appeared on Later Live with Jools Holland.

First up this week is a collaborative effort from rock singer songwriter Lou Reed and heavy metal band Metallica.  I'm a big Metallica fan especially their older music from late 80's early 90's, I'm not so much a fan of their newer stuff.  Lou Reed, I hadn't heard of.  A quick check on the Internet and a chat with my parents (who thought it was hilarious I hadn't heard of him) and I find out that this Lou Reed guy is actually pretty famous.  His music was pretty alternative, out there you might say, I've tried to listen to some of his stuff but it's not for me.  The collaboration came about after Reed performed with Metallica at the 25th anniversary of the rock and roll hall of fame concert.  The album is named Lulu and they were over in England doing some promotional work playing two songs one named White Light/White Heat which I really didn't like  and before that a song named Iced Honey, the video is below see what you think.  For me the music is good, it gets your foot going but as far as the singing goes from both Reed and James Hetfield it's really not that special.

Next up I'll move onto Florence and The Machine, a band that's featured here on both mixtapes and weekly music release post's.  I like these guys, the band features the vocal talents of Florence Welch and consists of a collaboration of other artists/musicians who are there to back her up.  They made it big back in 2009 when they released their debut album "Lungs", the album was a massive success and sat at number 2 in the albums chart for 5 weeks.  Since then the band have gone from strength to strength and have received praise throughout the music world.  On Jools Holland they performed What The Water Gave Me, very capturing and a whole lot better than Lou and Metallica is my opinion.

Last one to mention now, there a new band from the UK called Various Cruelties.  They are so new that I can't even find anything out about them on the Internet, imagine this.  Various Cruelties get Jools Holland's booking agent on the phone "hey your a new up coming band, Jools wants you to perform on Later Live".  "Wow ok no problem who we on with".  "Ergh Lou Reed and Metallica, good luck".  It's got to be pretty nerve wracking for a new band to perform in front of such huge legends but these guys definitely pulled it out the bag.

80's Retro Midweek Mixtape: STEVIE WONDER, HALL & OATES and FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS

Like a real blogger I have a story I have a little story for you this week, what does 80's retro mean?  Well judging by the title of this post I'm hoping you got that already born in 82 I'm 29 (just), my latest phone is a Blackberry and Luckily for me or maybe you guys Blackberry are feeling really generous lately, thanks probably to their network downtime problems they have been giving away free apps.

I have to admit downloading apps to my mobile is not really my thing, I really don't have time.  Last week at work a colleague with the same phone said to me have you seen the free gift on Blackberry app world this week, no was my initial reaction because I never look at app world.  I use my phone for four to six things tops, ringing people first off, checking e-mails (3 accounts), Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry messenger, listening to music in my car and I use the Internet occasionally but not often.

Anyway I'm getting off track here back to this app, it's called Shazam, it's one of those song recognition apps that you can hold up to a stereo and it will tell you the name of the song and the person or group who sing it, I thought that might be pretty cool, being a former DJ I can't keep up with everything music wise nowadays, this could help.  I didn't think it would help me this much though, in a way I could put out a whole post on it.

I was at my Grandma's house yesterday, we get dinner there every week (it's awesome) she had her stereo on and a song came on that I've heard many a time before but didn't know the name of , this is the time to put my new app to the test and guess what it worked and threw me the answer I was looking for.  Stevie Wonder - Part Time Lover from 1985, can you believe I was 3 and still I think this is some cool shit (I don't mean shit as in shit).  Of course I never heard the song when I was 3, well I probably had but didn't know about it.  I had the song title now time for YouTube, I have to check this out later when I get home.  I do and bang a post is born.  Check out Stevie's video and I'll tell you the rest after.

Ok I told you I'd be back with the rest of the story, you enjoyed that last video didn't you!  Yeah well keep reading I promise you'll enjoy the next one too.  Back to the story now, I have been away on holidays with my parents since I can remember, I consider myself pretty well travelled.  One thing my parents did is make sure I knew all about England.  I have covered England (British Isles) from head to toe John O Groats to Lands End, pretty much.  I know what your thinking where is this going and what does it have to do with music?  I'll tell you. 

My parents love music and when we went on a staycation as they are now called, the car would be loaded up with CD'S, maybe even tapes (cassettes) back in the day, music was on where ever we went and thanks to the Stevie Wonder YouTube video above I got to find out one of the songs may parents played in the car.  The recommendations was throwing out some guys named Hall and Oates, I had never heard of them.  Looking at the picture I thought 80's, then I saw the song name "Maneater"  I've heard that before.  I took a listen and it lead me to this gem, you have to check out the video.

That takes me to the last track of this weeks mixtape 80's special, the songs I've mentioned above were in my parents Civic (Honda), I'm going Gene Hunt style now and onto my dad's Audi 80 (how retro), I heard a band here named The Fine Young Cannibals, we had the tape how cool is that, do you remember them?  They were like mu favourite band to listen to in the car, I couldn't get enough and that's how I finished my evening off last night, enjoy.

New Music Single Releases 31st October 2011, BEYONCE, PROFESSOR GREEN, CHER LLOYD and KELLY ROWLAND

Beyonce – 'Countdown' I like Beyonce, I really do but I just don’t know what she’s up to lately other than in this video she seems to be trying to impersonate former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland.  None of her music since “Crazy In Love” has really done it for me and this latest release is exactly the same.

Birdy – 'People Help The People' This is another one of those acts where you think the name is referring to a band, it doesn’t Birdy is the stage name of British Musician Jasmine Bogaerde who at the age of 12 won an open mic competition.  This song is the follow up to her cover of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love” which she had quite a hit with.

Cher Lloyd – 'With Ur Love' Some people honestly do get recording contracts having very little talent.  Cher appeared on this week’s X Factor results show to showcase this new song, much like the X Factor itself this song is absolute trash.  Cowell is clearly running the popularity band wagon on this one which is the follow up to her debut single Swagger Jagger, which incidentally was also appalling.  I really didn't want to put a Cher Lloyd video here for you, so instead I've opted for a very funny impression of her from Celebrity Juice comedian Keith Lemon.  (sorry about the quality, best one avalibe and I didn't have time to download the episode and cut it up myself).

Probably known more in his blues/rock group Connan & The Mockasin’s the New Zealander has now gone his own way, as far as this song goes I actually switched it off out of boredom.

Connan Mockasin – 'Faking Jazz Together'



Connan Mockasin (top) Charlie Simpson

If you are into dubstep and all that retro shit then this probably won't interest you.  I'm not eally into it and I ain't ever heard of Doctor P

Doctor P – 'Neon'

Charlie Simpson – 'Cemetery' I’m thinking WHO?  This is the dude who was in rock band Busted, he has since gone on to set up his own band named Fightstar and has now gone solo also.  It’s nice to see some real music done where people actually play instruments and I haven’t decided weather or not I like this yet, maybe it’ll grow on me.

The Drums – 'How It Ended' These guys are an American indie rock band, I haven’t heard of them and after taking a listen to this song I don’t think I’ll be downloading any of there albums.

Gruff Rhys – 'Space Dust 2' Remember the Super Furry Animals, a rock band back in the 90’s?  Yeah!  Then you will know who this guy is but don’t get to excited this songs not all that.

 

Avril Lavigne (top) Sean Paul

Kelly Rowland – 'Down For Whatever' Following my comment on the Beyonce tune Kelly should probably be impersonating her this week but she’s not.  This song is actually pretty good she has kept with her upbeat R&B style and this will probably prove a bit of hit in the clubs.

Avril Lavigne – 'Wish You Were Here' No longer a skater girl Avril is back with her latest offering, her music has matured a lot but it's not really my cup of tea.

Sean Paul feat. Alexis Jordan – 'Down For Whatever' Sean Paul is making a bit of a comeback lately, however I think my sources may have mixed up this title of this song, it should maybe say “Got 2 Luv U”, I can’t find Down For Whatever anywhere if anyone can enlighten me then leave me a comment at the bottom.

Toploader – 'She Said' An English band making a bit of a comeback, I think they are way short of their hey day though.  This song has only had 546 hits on YouTube, Have they done any promotion?  For those hits they have 12 likes but no comments.  It’s not really for me.

Little Dragon – 'Little Man'These guys are a Swedish electro pop group, I have never heard of them and judging by this latest effort I dont think I will be looking into them to much.