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We're Here To Fuck Shit Up


Because someone needed to do it..

Posted by Real Music's Not Dead Yet , Friday, 4 June 2010 16:25



This band will no doubt be the top pick for the warm-up for Snow Patrol;


This is one of my favourite songs this year the riffs are funky and it's brilliant!




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Northern Ireland?

Posted by Real Music's Not Dead Yet , Sunday, 30 May 2010 08:25















This little film by Bandwidth Films features a Norn Irish band 'Farriers' who I checked out after I saw them on the bill for Pigstock. A beaut wee video and a great wee folk band!

They're made in 10 minute shorts set at the banks of the Lagan and then one in a wood, and really create a cosy atmosphere typical of the best folk acts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_TXhhbKOAA&feature=related (Part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF15bdJZrUw&feature=related (Part 2)

On a footnote I thought i'd put this video in too keeping in the vein of intimate folk performances, Bon Iver doing a live set in a small bar, it sounds brilliant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLOr_FrJJWA

Skinny loooooveee..

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Sea of Cowards; Dead Weather's follow up

Posted by Real Music's Not Dead Yet , Saturday, 29 May 2010 09:13

Although aware of Jack White's side project (get back with White Stripes now please) i'd never really paid that much attention. 'Horehound' was good but I think they've stepped it up a bit on 'Sea of Cowards'. My second favourite track of the moment concerned with Blue Blood.. heres Blue Blood Blues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg8DMqFuip8

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Biffy Announced for Oxegen

Posted by Real Music's Not Dead Yet , Monday, 24 May 2010 15:27

It really is shaping up to be quite the line up this year it's gonna be a brilliant festival

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKWBmnI1QH4&feature=related

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Albums to Look Out For This Year

Posted by Real Music's Not Dead Yet , Friday, 21 May 2010 14:48

2010 promises to be another exciting year for music with many bands promising follow ups during the Summer and in the latter half of the year.




Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold had initially said that they would have preferred the sophomore album to be released in '09 but due to numerous live dates they rented a house in the outskirts of Seattle to record demos and do live sessions. Pecknold said that the second album would be, "less poppy, less upbeat and more groove-based" and also added that the tracks would be recorded quickly as vocals and guitars would be done in a few takes to retain the natural feel he wants to preserve. Exciting stuff especially since the new album promises to be more raw than the rustic 'Sun Giant' and 'Fleet Foxes'.









Word on the street is also that Friendly Fires have another album on the go and they've been in the studio constantly since their autonomous album recording 'Kiss of Life' and a split 12" of a 'Holy Ghost' cover. The album, untitled as yet, is on course according to singer Ed MacFarlane and they're staying off the festival bills this year to get the studio time in and record the tracks - again, exciting times.


Rolling Stone reported that Kings of Leon have reportedly 8-10 new songs being soundchecked and the band tentatively announced to NME that the follow up to 'Only by the Night' would be released late 2010 with Matthew Followil commenting that it would be a bit grungier than the previous. Hopefully a return to the good old days of 'Youth and Young Manhood' and 'Aha Shake Heartbreak' (with the occasional 'Cold Desert'-esque song of course wouldn't go amiss)


Although talk of a follow up to Klaxons debut 'Myths of the Near Future' had begun late '07, the band encountered a few problems when they had to re-record a few tracks due to the 'over-experimental' nature of the songs however Reynolds revealed that "...we've made a really dense, psychedelic record" and in November '09 they flew to Los Angeles to begin recording again.


March 31, 2009: "After a long and much needed hibernation period that saw many of the band's various other musical projects emerge, we're pleased to announce that The Strokes are now all back hard at work in their NYC space on writing and rehearsing new material for a 4th full-length album." What more can I say? Bloody brilliant. In May Casablancas stated the album would be out earl 2011



If you're an Arcade Fire fan you'll no doubt know that the band intend to release their third album mid to late Summer 2010 and have been booked for festivals around Europe such as Oxegen and Rock Werchter.

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Gaslight Anthem Album Release June 14th

Posted by Real Music's Not Dead Yet 14:30


One of my favourite
bands, 'The Gaslight
Anthem' are set
to release
'American Slang'
this Summer.


I guess the link below reveals why this band really aren't part of the regular 'one-hit wonder' 'get rich quick' phenomenon sadly sweeping the world..




And this one.. well a sign of good things to come from the band minus the incessant crowd-babble. I hate crowds. Brian Fallon's a really talented man that's for sure


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Posted by Real Music's Not Dead Yet , Thursday, 20 May 2010 14:37












(Expect something special from the London boys come July)

If you're attending Oxegen this year, here's a few reasons to be excited you may or may not have heard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vppHXehk4g
(Bombay Bicycle Club Acoustic Set)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x9B3QId1Ls
(Two Door Cinema Club playing Undercover Martyn live at ITN)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZTJ95svW7k
(Cracking Mumford B-Side)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pZkZguPAPs
(Definitely gonna make big impressions methinks; Local Natives with Airplanes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM2Ssne97ek
(One can dream... Come on Julian you know you want to)

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Posted by Real Music's Not Dead Yet , Wednesday, 19 May 2010 13:50

Well here is my first Top 5 of the Week Countdown; since the other blog has been deleted. This time I've got some new along with some old, as I like to do. Here goes.. enjoy!

1. Probably one of the best Foals songs on the new album and one of the best songs you'll get all year I reckon in this genre, minus a super special Passion Pit release maybe..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYoINidnLRQ

2. I didn't think i'd be a fan of Plan B and his strangely too high to be right voice but his album which I wrongly labelled in the Tinchy A.K.A N Dubz A.K.A Chipmunk A.K.A you get the point is actually full of quality. Here's just the pick of the bunch probably.. called 'Welcome to Hell'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiZHLeil4WU

3. An Arctic Monkeys track off the Crying Lightning single it continues the long line of absolutely top-notch Monkeys tunes but will probably fail to satisfy those of you who still dismiss the third album.. (the Crazies)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo_LFagZ5Js

4. Looking for a bit of a tune? I love Miike Snow and all I can say is kudos to Stevie Aoki - I'm not usually a remix fan but this one is the cats pyjamas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfyvTvx8juo

5. MGMT double header: in an album of tunes which generally roll into the other aimlessly (from what i've heard) these two songs stand out the most..

Flash Delirium
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut8F6TaN-PA

Big fan of MGMT's live performances, very professional. Here's Brian Eno,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzULxlFLLgc

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Foals build on their debut album to create something special

Posted by Real Music's Not Dead Yet 10:36

Foals: Total Life Forever

After hearing that Total Life Forever was due out in early May I scraped together whatever loose change I could find under the bed and behind the sofa and bought it in anticipation of what I hoped would be the follow up album to the fantastic debut ‘Antidotes’ I’d been waiting for. Let crashing cymbals, tribal drum beats and catchy guitar-keyboard combinations commence.

What I got when the opener ‘Blue Blood’ began were the sound of softly played keys and the voice of Philippakis, slowly lamenting “You’ve got blood on your hands, I think it’s my own” rather than exalting some classic Foals ‘Cassius’-like lyric. The song picks up and the remnants of ‘Antidotes’ returns in the form of an ear-catching drum line but it far from being energetic and lively, it eases in quietly and builds up before falling back again as if to say ‘Yes we’ve arrived’ without arousing the ears of the ‘Bieberites’. The opener certainly hints that this is a more grown up album – one that serious fans will learn to love.

‘Miami’ is somewhat of a change of tone, however emanating from it through the soft strings and echoed vocals is that same sparse sense of quietness. The title inspiring song, ‘Total Life Forever’ is probably the song on the album in which the most definite remnants of ‘Antidotes’ can be heard. The quirky guitar is certainly comparable to previous songs such as ‘Like Swimming’ and ‘Two Steps Twice’ but their change of direction again shines through in that the background chant weaves in and out of the riff, creating a sense of complete involvement as every instrument fuses to create one.

“The future is not what it used to be, used to be” chimes the bridge of ‘Black Gold’. The follow up album is definitely proving to be a bit of a move away but once again there are the unmistakeable tones and influences of the debut album, albeit mixed in seamlessly with the new mature, quieter yet strangely louder and fuller sound. ‘Spanish Sahara’, the epic of the album at almost seven minutes introduces itself quietly like the shy new kid before dragging itself to the fore with some of the most beautiful lyrics you’ll hear this year and you feel that maturity shining through that Philippakis and the Foals have gained. “I’m the fury in your head, I’m the fury in your bed, I’m the ghost in the back of your head” certainly suggests an elevated level of experience.

The playful nature hasn’t gone forever though and is very much alive in ‘This Orient’ which at times makes you want to jump up and flail aimlessly as the drum builds and explodes into those crashing cymbals we all knew and loved. This is however followed by a brief, twisted interlude in ‘The Fugue’ almost as if they’re saying ‘Time to calm down now again, it’s about to get dark again’. ‘After Glow’ continues, the highlight being a massive crescendo of crashing and banging by drummer Bevan and a frantic following two minutes before following trend and coming down from euphoria to the cold, lonely sounding vocals once again come through, “Get up, don’t forget everything you cared for, there’ll be nothing more tomorrow..” continued in the following ‘Alabaster’, “She’s up in the sky and the skies on fire”. Detached and desolate the tracks flow effortlessly into each other.

The final two songs ‘2 Trees’ epitomise the more removed nature of the album, with atmospheric, spacey tones and the once again meandering vocals which are the signature of much of this album and the closer, ‘What Remains’ reincarnates the slow nature of the opener ‘Blue Blood’ but massive drum beat and a soulful reprise replace the tentative sounds of the first track. The finale holds images of rallying cries and slowly burns out, having extricated the extent of their new found maturity.

“Total Life Forever” is a more relaxed album than ‘Antidotes’ however its desolate, quieter nature has enabled them to express their more mature musical inclinations. The core of the Foals is still inevitably present throughout; the slamming and crashing, tribal drum beats are still there in essence and traces of the debut album float in and out of the music but they’ve trimmed off the exuberant, over-extroverted elements to leave a soulful centre which exudes soft, mellifluous melodies and a side to which they may not have been experienced enough to show until now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ7Bue4km4A : the opener, 'Blue Blood', my personal favourite

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