U2 get their own Skyscraper(?!)

Tonight, I will cry myself to Sleep:

From the Telegraph.co.uk

An egg-shaped recording studio suspended from the top of a 600ft luxury apartment block was unveiled as part of the rock band U2’s plans for a skyscraper that will dominate Dublin.

The “pod” studio will dangle beneath a battery of vertical wind turbines and a huge solar panel, hanging free from the innovative energy centre for acoustic reasons.

Details of the U2 Tower, which will be the tallest building in Ireland, emerged as it was announced that a consortium led by the band has been selected as the preferred bidder to design, finance and construct the £140 million project.

Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen will team up with Lord Foster, who built the “Gherkin” tower in London.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/13/nu2113.xml

Due to be completed in 2011. Nice to see from the picture that it’s illuminated by lights, is it going to be an unnecessary use of electricity? As far as I’m aware, Bono is more involved with human rights and poverty, but to lend your name to something that intends to boost an area (i.e make it more populated; therefore introducing more traffic to the region; hardly the best way to show your commitment to a global cause – fighting global warming).

Morrissey: All you need is me

New song, played on the Carlson Daly show:

Lyrically it’s a bit like the songs on “You are the Quarry”: “there’s so much destruction all over the world, and all you can do is sit there and complain about me” and a pretty good refrain; “You don’t like me but you loved me, either way you’re wrong. You’re going to miss me when I’m gone”.

and now to go study all day.

Idiot Pilot: new album Wolves

A new song taken from their second album:

Red Museum

Their album “Wolves” is only available in both the UK and USA as a digital download. It’s on the UK iTunes music store. Their first album “Strange we should meet here” didn’t have much commercial success, but have since toured with the likes of Fall Out Boy and +44, also have a song (Retina & the Sky) featured on the Transformers OST. On their first album they sounded a bit like a Radiohead meets Postal Service screamo band. From the sound of Red Museum they seem to have become a bit more Muse like, without losing the screaming. Which is good!

Pete Doherty at Turning Point

I never knew about the ‘Pete’s Cat on Cocaine’ allegations.
Pete at turning point
Partners in crime! Although in the article above it is all denied, and suggests Pete is beating his drug addiction. Good news for Pete Doherty fans and Cats everywhere!

The new Babyshambles album is quite good, it’s an escape from the 2002 sound of The Libertines and the slightly hapless ’shams debut ‘Down in Albion’. I really don’t see the point in The Libertine’s Greatest Hits album;buy both albums because they’re sort of an autobiography of a band falling apart (In a good way!).

This is a good song from the new Babyshambles album ‘Shotter’s Nation’

Unstookie Titled

Boy Kill Boy return

I’m currently sitting around waiting for my Radiohead ‘In Rainbows’ activation code to arrive through e-mail. Are they sending them out individually or something? I can just imagine Thom Yorke sitting behind a computer with a cup of coffee. I paid £5.99 for it. Apparently they have made £1.3 mill already, well a few days ago, and when you think that none of that money goes to any record company, they’ve made quite a lot of money for themselves, which can then fund the production of their discboxes.

So I just watched the new Boy Kill Boy video for ‘No conversation’. It’s a good song, not really a dramatic departure from their previous sound on album ‘Civilian’. Tracklisting for new album ‘Stars and the Sea’, out on November 5th.

1. Promises
2. No Conversation
3. Be Somebody
4. Loud And Clear
5. Paris
6. A OK
7. Ready To Go
8. Rosie’s On Fire
9. Kidda Kidda
10. Pen & Ink
11. Two Souls

Few of those tracks streaming on myspace;

http://www.myspace.com/boykillboy

The video for ‘No Conversation’ is on the internet but no streaming version via youtube.

Still no sign of the Radiohead album. Argh! I’m listening to it on nme radio. Sounds really good.

Enter Shikari to release new album

Of B-sides and various rarities on Nov 12th. Tracklisting;

The Feast’ (demo) – ‘Winner’/'Plan B’ b-side
‘Kickin’ Back On The Surface Of Your Cheek’ – ‘Anything…’ b-side
‘Keep It On Ice’ – ‘Anything…’ b-side
‘Adieu’ (Routron 500 Remix) – new song
‘Sorry You’re Not A Winner’ – Zane Low BBC Session
‘Mothership’ (demo) – debut download-only single
‘Acid Nation’ – ‘Johnny Sniper’ b-side
‘Enter Shikari’ (demo) – debut download-only single

Loads of bands seem to release b-side albums after only 1 or 2 albums. Is it worth doing so soon? It’s quite good if you’re a fan of the band, to get new fresh material in between albums, but if you’re a hardcore fan you’ve probably got all the tracks anyway. Enter Shikari are a great band, love their debut album. I do wonder that the most promising and different UK bands of the year, Gallows and Enter Shikari, both come out of Hertfordshire, and both are trancecore/hardcore music. Basically angry young men. Is Hertfordshire a cesspool? Possibly as I do live there! The towns are pretty crap: “Come Friendly Bombs” by Gallows is about Watford. Whereas the rural countryside is actually pretty nice; something Gallows fail to point out. lol.

They are two totally different bands doing different things, both make really exciting music though. They are seriously worth checking out even if you’re not a fan of hardcore music. Especially Enter Shikari who have some really euphoric moments.

New Radiohead album released tomorrow! Yaay!

Bloc Party: Flux

New song. Slightly new sound. From Radio One.

Bloc Party: Flux.

Is it just me or at the start of the verses, Kele has the infamous Cher vocal tones? The most over used auto bendy vocal thing ever.

I saw Stephanie McIntosh (Skye Mangel from Neighbours) at my union at Saturday. Completely lame. Came on at 12, played 2 songs and that was about as exciting as it got. Also Mimed! Someone threw a bottle at her, the wrong person was chucked out by the bouncers and beaten up by them (apparently). Also saw Vanilla Ice last night. That was amusing. Didn’t come on until 2am and the club was totally empty, about 20 people were there and no-one really knew that he was turning up. Still though, it was surprisingly alright, some bits anyway, his first song was good. Played with a live band, had some cool guy on drums. I don’t really remember that much to be honest.

On the subject of Neighbours, what was that band all about on Friday? They come on, start playing and there is a drum beat going on but no drums! Also Keyboards; no keyboards, but quite possibly the best acoustics ever.

Here’s a video that has nothing to do with music; Neighbours deaths!

So here i lie, in the belly of a shark…

Gallows. 2 videos. Cause they’re pretty good. Recently been randomly using their lyrics in every day situations with friends. “So fucking cold so fucking dark!” and a mistaken version of Orchestra of Wolves. “My name is Casanova! I’m basically a man! If you buy me a drink make sure it’s non alcoholic!”.

The actual lyrics.

Song Meanings.

Belly of a Shark;

Orchestra of Wolves:

Magazine asks Joy Division to play at Film Premiere

Despite Ian Curtis being pretty much dead.

From DIS:

http://drownedinsound.com/articles/2457092

Quite funny. I guess they might have meant New Order instead, who split up a few months back, but it looks likely that they might be getting back together (they did do a gig last year with a few Joy Division songs). I’m looking forward to seeing the film ‘Control’, it looks really good. Strangely though, it’s not being shown in Leicester. I think the nearest place is in London. Which is slightly weird, maybe it will go national at a later date.

Here is New Order playing a Joy Division song called ‘Isolation’ at Reading Fest 1998.

and a really awesome video of Joy Division’s “Transmission”, one of my fave songs! It has John Cooper Clarke attatched to it for some reason.

TRAiNSPOTTiNG

The perfect setting to the end of Freshers Week. iLiKETRAiNS release their debut album ‘Elegies to Lessons Learnt’ on Monday. This follows their critically acclaimed 2006 EP ‘Progress – Reform’. I’ve never seen the Charlotte so derelict, it was really strange.

Support band Her Name is Calla are a Leicester band, and one of the most interesting I’ve seen. Their opening track sounded like a swarm of bats descending down upon you (literally – on track ‘Condor and the River’ the trombone player starts playing harmonica and then it becomes more distorted as he screams down a microphone) It’s hardly hardcore music though, more like slowcore. They have a similar sound to that of iLiKETRAiNS, although a lot more melodic. There have been reviews that iLiKETRAiNS are like Sigur Ros if they gave History lessons, and lyrically it’s pretty dry and dark stuff – the new songs reference the bubonic plague, which is on par with Fresher’s Flu to be honest. I guess the one good thing about finishing uni is that you’ll never have the annual illness again. Rejoice!

I’m unsure about iLiKETRAiNS. Live they are pretty interesting, but every song I’ve heard by them has the same formula; starts off slow and builds up into some kind of dark monotone opus. It is rewarding if you give it time, and in the mood. It’s not remotely cheerful. Which is why I found “Progress/Reform” a bit painful to sit through. Live though; it’s a different experience.

Here is an iLiKETRAiNS song called ‘The Deception’, taken from ‘Elegies to Lessons Learnt’.

The Deception