Summary July 2011

It's been too long since I have updated my blog.

As a summary I will mention various topics.

1) New(ish) music:

The Robert Plant - Band of Joy album is brilliant.

Paul Weller's - Wake up the Nation is also good.

The new Bon Iver - Bon Iver is beautiful.

2) Discoveries:

The Pitchfork website is good reading - pitchfork.com

Wolfgangs Vault is an amazing website for watching and listening to an incredible variety of live recordings for free - wolfgangsvault.com. There are also Ipod and Android apps that can be used to access this on your mobile devices. Extremely cool!

3) Live concerts:

I saw the Parlotones again at Teatro at Monte Casino recently. They have a revamped live show. There are a variety of props, dancers who remind me of the zombies from Pinball of the Dead (had my flipper fingers twitching), and more polished songs. It was an enjoyable experience. There are some pictures at the beginning of this posting.

I saw U2 live in Johannesburg. I had a seat way out at the top of the stadium, but it was still and excellent show. A stunning experience. Opening acts were Springbok Nude Girls (the sound quality was appalling it was difficult to recognise even their most famous songs), and Miriam and Amadou (also suffering from poor sound quality).

I have tickets for Kings of Leon who were already meant to have come, but due to injury were not able to make it. Apparently they will honour the tickets in October. I can't wait.

4) Deaths:

Since my last posting, three of my heroes have sadly passed away: Ronnie James Dio, Gary Moore and Clarence Clemons. I believe that you can hear Clarence on Lady Gaga's The Edge of Glory.

Live review: The Parlotones at Monte Casino September 10 2010

Venue: Monte Casino

You may have noticed that I tend to moan about the sound at the Dome in Northgate. This was one reason why I passed up the opportunity to see The Parlotones there recently.

Monte Casino however, I approached with an open mind. The only other show that I had seen there had been Cats, and apart from everything else, the sound was actually quite good.

On Friday 10/09, parking was easy to find, there were no big queues, and arriving at the event was a pretty stress-free occasion.

Opening Act: The Black Hotels

What do The Black Hotels sound like? They came across as a non-intrusive band playing songs in the key of Joy Division, New order, Lightning Seeds, A Flock of Seagulls and Cat Stevens. They came out in a 1 4 formation..... sorry still struggling to come down from the soccer world cup. I know that it is September already, but the high from the South African Soccer World Cup 2010 is a very difficult thing to get over. The additional guitarist on the right wing seemed to me to be a little superfluous and the keyboard sound a little high in the mix.

Overall though, quite a nice band, good songs, good sound thanks to the venue, and lots of potential. A bit more work on their stage show and they could be great.

The Act: The Parlotones

The lights dimmed, a couple of guys came on stage strumming guitars and we heard singing. Looking around we spotted Kahn jitterbugging down the aisle with drummer Neil Pauw singing about building ladders to the moon looking like a this was an incredibly funny prank. They made their way to the stage, Neil slapping a tambourine to keep time, and the show got under-way. Their formation is 33 3 1, with the Kwa Zulu Natal Youth Orchestra also in attendance. The Parlotones are in their home strip, black skinny jeans, black shirts and red ties (OK I promise - last soccer reference) at the start of their world tour. Next stop USA.

The sound is awesome, the songs with the KZNYO sound wonderful and I started to wonder why these seats felt so claustrophobic, the venue felt so hot and uncomfortable and I felt so trapped in the venue during Cats. This part was closed with an incredible duet with Axene singing the title track from 'Stardust Galaxies'.

After a few songs, they ditched the youngsters, Kahn strapped on a Gibson SG (mint condish) and they started to rock out, warning us that it would get a lot louder. It got louder, still the sound was great and the songs kept coming. The greatest chorus of course – Push Me To The Floor!!!! These guys have a whole lot of fun with their songs and the sold out crowd joined in whole-heartedly.

In terms of the show, there was great on-stage banter, very witty quips flying with no condescension to the audience. Kahn's energy was infectious, with each song delivered perfectly accompanied by leaping and dancing in his worryingly tight jeans. He is a great entertainer!

If you have not seen them live yet, make the effort, these guys put on a fantastic show! They are up there with the likes of Foto Na Dans and Wonderboom. A great South African rock band that we should all be proud of!

The day after, I feel great, my ears are still ringing and I am annoying my better half by screaming out Push Me To the Floor at random intervals.

March 2010 round up

Wow, the first quarter of 2010 gone and my blogging is so infrequent.

Two things I can report on are: Kelly Clarkson and also the BLK JKS.

Kelly Clarkson Live at the Coca Cola Dome

OK, I know that this is a rock blog, so what's with Kelly Clarkson? Well this year is not looking strong on the live music in South Africa front when it comes to international acts.....

Another point working against this is the Dome. I have yet to hear a show there where the sound can be described as at the very least good. Every one I have seen there is always abysmal.

Back to the show - the opener was SA Idols 2009 co-winner Jason Hartman and his band. The poor guy has his one chance to play in front of tens of thousands of people and it sounded like he had not even had a sound check. His voice was way down in the mix and everything sounded tinny. I suspect that he and his band are actually pretty good, but who could tell.

After AC/DC's 'You shook me all night long' blasting out the PA, Kelly Clarkson bounded onto the stage. Again the quality of the sound was rubbish, but certainly better than that of Jason.

Kelly actually rocked out and I was amazed by the strength and power of her voice. She also seems determined to build up some rock credibility. Between songs in which she part covered Kings of Leons 'Use somebody', she references current influences (such as KoL) and also at some stage gave us a fantastic cover of the Black Keys. All the while the audience were totally loving her.

KC turned out to be an entertaining, talented and endearing performer!

The BLK JKS - After Robots

Another revelation for me this year has been the BLK JKS. I had heard a bit about them on the blogosphere and have been looking out for their CD 'After Robots' for a while, not really knowing what to expect. I had heard that they were a South African Rock band from the townships, which intrigued me.

Listening to the CD, I was enthralled. From the cutting guitar solo on the first track all the way to the last track, these guys have laid down some great rock songs. To my ear, their influences range from Journey, Santana, Sakhile, Springbok Nude Girls (our South African rock bands like to rock with Trumpets sometimes) to Hendrix and Wolfmother. These guys have integrated a great sonic experience into their sound.

In my view they are the saviours of SA rock music right now. An offering to make us all proud!

Now I just have to try and track them down for a live performance.

2009 Wrap up

2009 has been an interesting year in terms of music.

Most magazines and web-sites are treating the close of 2009 as the time to review the decade.

Have a look at what NME magazine rate as the greatest albums of the decade here:

http://www.nme.com/list/albums-of-the-decade/158049

and while you are there also have a look at their greatest tracks of the decade.

Rolling Stone magazine have an opinion too:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/31248017/100_best_albums_of_the_decade/

As well as Uncut magazine:

http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/uncut/special_features/13805

Lists like this are all over the www. I cannot even begin to compile a list as I have not been exposed to much of the new music mentioned.

My find of 2009 was Them Crooked Vultures. The band line up of Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones represents a few of my favourite bands. Homme is a collaborator par excellance, and the high hopes that I had for this album were met. These guys have the personalities and musical skills to make this kind of collaboration work! I love it.

November update

There is a lot going on these days that is exciting in terms of music releases.

Digital remastering

In terms of digital remastering, there has been a tremendous amount of activity. The Beatles back catalogue has been released. I bought Abbey Road and love it. Black Sabbath are systematically releasing their old albums and I can't wait to get my hands on them.

I have read that Fleetwood Mac are also looking at some remastering. My guilty pleasure album of all time is Tusk, and I would love to hear a digitally remastered version.

Listening list

As previously commented, I have been listening to The Fray - The Fray. This is a great album. The sound is that of somewhere between Coldplay and Snow Patrol, but with a bit of a better edge to it.

I have also heard the Muse album The Resistance and really love it. This band is one incredible, bombastic and creative unit! The album is a frenzy of creative work, with lots of nods in the direction of Queen and our old classical composers. I would love to see Muse live again.

An old album that I have just discovered is that of the Eels - Souljacker. It is full of really great material. I am definitely going to have to catch up on their back catalogue.

The new Arctic Monkeys album - Humbug, has always appealed to me considering the link to Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Eagles of Death Metal - two of my favourite bands). I can report that it is a real gem.

Coming up

I have read that there is a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers release called The Live Anthology. I can't wait to get my hands on this. I have always enjoyed the 'Pack up the Plantations' live album, and have heard that this is way better.

September update

OK, I have been guilty of not blogging for a quite a while now, and I do apologise. The reasons are many, from losing my broadband connection, to being pre-occupied with all the new developments in my life, to hearing that Noel Gallagher's blog (oasisinet) was voted the best celebrity blog recently.

The last point has had me re-assessing my blog after examing that of Gallagher. It has been hard for me to decide how best to format my blog. I am still pondering this, but in the meantime the music news that has me talking has been that Noel Gallagher has officially left Oasis. Also the new Muse album is out this month as well the new one from the Arctic Monkeys. This is all pretty exciting stuff in my view.

My only recent music purchase has been that of the new The Fray album, called The Fray. I like it a lot and hope to provide more on why I do soon.

Please keep checking and I should have a few more updates coming.

Album Review: Fall Out Boy - Folie a deux

I can understand that there may be a lot of reasons why people do not like Fall Out Boy:

Patrick Stump’s nasally whine of a voice.

Pete Wentz’s manic midgetness.

The woah oah oah oah’s that haunt every second song as either a bridge or a chorus (or is that actually every song?).

Their habit of giving their songs long and meaningless names.

The fact that this band, who named themselves after a sub-character in the Simpson’s TV series now have a member who has actually married a real life Simpson.

Moving onto this album and still considering things not to like:

No lyric sheets for those non woah oah oah oah moments.

The song names are all written in their mirror images on the back of the cd. i.e. you need a mirror to read them (coupled with the fact that they are still as irritatingly named as above).

The fact that the band seem so successful when you just know that there are many, many better bands out there who are not as successful.

So then what about the album, all things considered being equal?

Stump is actually not whiny all the time this time. The music is rather good. The songs are strong. They only use woah oah oah oah in three songs.

Surprisingly this album is actually quite good. The songs work and Stump sings really well with the band picking up some likable grooves that have started to showcase some of their influences too. It is almost as if this is the first time they are revealing something of their true identity through their songs.

My conclusion: if you have always liked FOB, you will love this. If you have never heard FOB before, listen to only this album, you make like it. If you have heard FOB before and hated them, give this one a try it’s actually quite good.