What a long time it's been! I'm in the middle of exams and have generally been put off new music lately. I feel as if I'm between two worlds with it. Hard to explain.
Anyway, I'm not sure how much I'll be posting. I might start a photography journal instead of a music blog because I haven't got much to write about any more and photos say it all.
It's been fun writing this blog and I've enjoyed all the feedback I've had back, I've just come to realise that there are so many blogs like this out there and it's a lot of effort to promote, write and research for this blog on my own.
If you like this blog, you may also like:
NME (I hate to say it but you probably will)
Vice Website
Music Snobbery
Last FM
Indie Blips
My favirote 2 blogs are:
Cory Kennedy - A lifestyle photojournal about her exciting life
Hipster Runoff - I check this site daily and it always makes me laugh.
Friday, 22 May 2009
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Lily Allen: It's not me, it's... poo.
Poor Lily Allen. Fresh faced and relatively unknown, she pranced into the media spotlight in 2006 as the cool rude girl with a famous dad. I bet she'd never have bothered if she knew she'd have to face all those horrible media attacks, a war with Perez Hilton and a mental breakdown.
Nevertheless, drama makes good music. Usually. But what the fuck is this?! Lily released the awesome (but overplayed) 'The Fear' which will no doubt go away for about six months and reached number one.
But the rest of the album? Pants! 'The Fear' is just about as much of a justified attack on society/media as Lily can manage. The opening track 'Everyone's at It' is a dig at casual drug use in society. Admittedly she kind of has a point when she gets onto topics like the abuse of prescription drugs, but other than that her argument seems all over the place.
I'm not sure what Allen's playing at. Her image is almost completely based on being the wacked-out party girl who doesn't give a shit but still manages to be cool. But for some reason unbeknown to us she decides to screw this and start giving a shit. Oh, and it's not only about drugs, people. She gives a shit about WAR, too! Lily appears to know as much about the American involvement in wherever as I do.. ie zilch. But this doesn't stop her from writing a song about how much she hates George Bush. 'Fuck You' is her little dig at Bush. Er, Lily? He's NOT IN POWER ANYMORE. Oh well, it's not like you spent too long on this song anyway. Worst line of the album lies in the chorus of this track; 'We hate what we do and we hate your whole crew'.
Lily's most successful songwriting is in songs about relationships. 'Write what you know' is what they say, isn't it? Well perhaps Lily should stick to that rule. My favorite track of the album is probably 'It's Not Fair' - it's about a guy who's lovely by day but crap in bed so she's unsure of what to do.
I like her songs which tell a story. Another strong song is 'Who'd Have Known?', but unfortunately this is a complete Take That ripoff. Listen to the chorus and then listen to Take That's 'Shine' and you'll see what I mean.
Nevertheless, drama makes good music. Usually. But what the fuck is this?! Lily released the awesome (but overplayed) 'The Fear' which will no doubt go away for about six months and reached number one.
But the rest of the album? Pants! 'The Fear' is just about as much of a justified attack on society/media as Lily can manage. The opening track 'Everyone's at It' is a dig at casual drug use in society. Admittedly she kind of has a point when she gets onto topics like the abuse of prescription drugs, but other than that her argument seems all over the place.
I'm not sure what Allen's playing at. Her image is almost completely based on being the wacked-out party girl who doesn't give a shit but still manages to be cool. But for some reason unbeknown to us she decides to screw this and start giving a shit. Oh, and it's not only about drugs, people. She gives a shit about WAR, too! Lily appears to know as much about the American involvement in wherever as I do.. ie zilch. But this doesn't stop her from writing a song about how much she hates George Bush. 'Fuck You' is her little dig at Bush. Er, Lily? He's NOT IN POWER ANYMORE. Oh well, it's not like you spent too long on this song anyway. Worst line of the album lies in the chorus of this track; 'We hate what we do and we hate your whole crew'.
Lily's most successful songwriting is in songs about relationships. 'Write what you know' is what they say, isn't it? Well perhaps Lily should stick to that rule. My favorite track of the album is probably 'It's Not Fair' - it's about a guy who's lovely by day but crap in bed so she's unsure of what to do.
I like her songs which tell a story. Another strong song is 'Who'd Have Known?', but unfortunately this is a complete Take That ripoff. Listen to the chorus and then listen to Take That's 'Shine' and you'll see what I mean.
Ok, so it's not all bad. I have really come to love some songs on her album like '22' and 'Him', but overall it's a thoroughly disappointing album. Seeing as it's taken her two years to come up with an album since the fantastic 'Alright Still', you'd think Allen would have had plenty to think up better lyrics than 'Fuck you very very much', but if you didn't have such high expectations as me then you'll probably think this albums alright. It's probably worth downloading the following songs;
'22'
'Him'
'Not Fair'
'Never Gonna Happen'
'Who'd Have Known'
'Who'd Have Known'
Overall, I'd give it an ANTI 4/10.
Monday, 2 February 2009
I do not believe in the new year any more..
Sorry it's been a while boys and girls. I'll try and make these more regular...
So in the spirit of the new year, I took a look at the pitiful issue of NME my mother bestowed upon me. The cover preaches 'NEW BANDS OF 2009!', accompanied by a picture of smiling Florence Welch, of Florence and the Machine, surprise surprise. The NME have been brown nosing FATM for a few months in anticipation for her 'big break', which came in the form of her first big single 'Dog Days'. Is anyone else a bit bored of her yet? I know when this blog first began, about a year ago, it was full of praises for this then fresh-faced new artist. But I've gradually become bored of her. I get this with many artists - when they're shoved down my throat constantly I just tend to dislike them.
Another person I'd like to complain about is Little Boots. This girl has to be almost as highly preached as Florence - well known for her Youtube covers on piano and synth. Yet after all this hype, if you take a look at her stuff it's really not that great. She's a pretty girl with an average voice who can play piano. Well, fucking round of applause, someone get this girl an NME award and a place on their 'cool' list. The song every one's been ranting about is her mediocre pop record 'Medal', which can be found here;
Oh okay, this song is admittedly pretty good. The verse pisses me the hell off and I hate the cowboy-style noise but the chorus and bridge are both pretty awesome. The layers of the song are intriguing and it's got a nice melody, I suppose. But surely this girl doesn't deserve the amount of hype she gets. The majority of her covers sound like Diana Vickers. Here's her butchering Lightspeed Champion;
There's one more little lady I'd like you to meet, tipped for 2009. La Roux is hotly tipped for 2009 by anyone who doesn't live under a rock. She sounds almost exactly like Little Boots only slightly more promising, although the same repetitive synth is present. Also, La Roux's music all sounds pretty much the same, although she's very radio-friendly.
Before I go crazy from slagging off all these woman, we can move away from the girls and look at the bands.
White Lies have already broken the mainstream, and I have to say they're looking pretty good. Although they do quite often sound like, as a friend of mine put it, 'an edgy version of the Editors', White Lies bring some good rock to the table in times of Kings of Leon being overplayed and Katie Perry giving music a bad name.
Other great names include Empire of the Sun; the MGMT rip-offs from Australia. Seriously, could you make it any more obvious?! It's just a bit boring. Frankmusik, who's been around for ages so I don't understand why he's suddenly famous is also 'hotly tipped'. The Virgins interest me a little more and I recommend you go and check them out. Personally, I think you should look at the following for 2009:
Frank Turner - Been knocking around for ages, about to get his big break.
We Have Band - Inspiring new band, their name's been around for ages too.
The Joy Formidable - Crazily catchy new music.
Pull in Emergency - Smiths-inspired band with beautiful vocals.
Nick Harrison - Nice guy with a few good singles out.
Elephants - Sounds like JoFo, Los Campesinos!, Pull in Emergency...
Tommy Sparks - Really really good! This year's FrYars.
So in the spirit of the new year, I took a look at the pitiful issue of NME my mother bestowed upon me. The cover preaches 'NEW BANDS OF 2009!', accompanied by a picture of smiling Florence Welch, of Florence and the Machine, surprise surprise. The NME have been brown nosing FATM for a few months in anticipation for her 'big break', which came in the form of her first big single 'Dog Days'. Is anyone else a bit bored of her yet? I know when this blog first began, about a year ago, it was full of praises for this then fresh-faced new artist. But I've gradually become bored of her. I get this with many artists - when they're shoved down my throat constantly I just tend to dislike them.
Another person I'd like to complain about is Little Boots. This girl has to be almost as highly preached as Florence - well known for her Youtube covers on piano and synth. Yet after all this hype, if you take a look at her stuff it's really not that great. She's a pretty girl with an average voice who can play piano. Well, fucking round of applause, someone get this girl an NME award and a place on their 'cool' list. The song every one's been ranting about is her mediocre pop record 'Medal', which can be found here;
Oh okay, this song is admittedly pretty good. The verse pisses me the hell off and I hate the cowboy-style noise but the chorus and bridge are both pretty awesome. The layers of the song are intriguing and it's got a nice melody, I suppose. But surely this girl doesn't deserve the amount of hype she gets. The majority of her covers sound like Diana Vickers. Here's her butchering Lightspeed Champion;
There's one more little lady I'd like you to meet, tipped for 2009. La Roux is hotly tipped for 2009 by anyone who doesn't live under a rock. She sounds almost exactly like Little Boots only slightly more promising, although the same repetitive synth is present. Also, La Roux's music all sounds pretty much the same, although she's very radio-friendly.
Before I go crazy from slagging off all these woman, we can move away from the girls and look at the bands.
White Lies have already broken the mainstream, and I have to say they're looking pretty good. Although they do quite often sound like, as a friend of mine put it, 'an edgy version of the Editors', White Lies bring some good rock to the table in times of Kings of Leon being overplayed and Katie Perry giving music a bad name.
Other great names include Empire of the Sun; the MGMT rip-offs from Australia. Seriously, could you make it any more obvious?! It's just a bit boring. Frankmusik, who's been around for ages so I don't understand why he's suddenly famous is also 'hotly tipped'. The Virgins interest me a little more and I recommend you go and check them out. Personally, I think you should look at the following for 2009:
Frank Turner - Been knocking around for ages, about to get his big break.
We Have Band - Inspiring new band, their name's been around for ages too.
The Joy Formidable - Crazily catchy new music.
Pull in Emergency - Smiths-inspired band with beautiful vocals.
Nick Harrison - Nice guy with a few good singles out.
Elephants - Sounds like JoFo, Los Campesinos!, Pull in Emergency...
Tommy Sparks - Really really good! This year's FrYars.
Monday, 17 November 2008
TITLE CHANGE BABES
Yes, once again we wave goodbye to another title and hello to a new one; I find Eat Up My Music more cute, but the Myspace is still the same address- www.myspace.com/theantimusic .
Anyway, to celebrate the new title, and as a sorry for not posting in about a year, here's an uber-post.
FOALS/HOLY FUCK/DANANANANAYKROYD- Brixton Academy 16/10/08
The Brixton queue is packed on a Thursday night- everyone there seems to be attractive, well dressed and smoking- basically loads of kids looking badass. Not surprising, seeing as Foals managed to get a big enough crowd to break the barriers at the Underage in August. Tonight, however, I have a feeling it'll be more epic- this is, after all, the sell-out end of tour show for Foals, rather than yet another festival.
Foals have come far since 'Hummer' was released in 2007; by 'coming far', I mean when I mention them in conversation with less musically educated friends (musical retards to us snobs), they'll go 'oh yeah, they were on Skins', rather than 'who the fuck are they? Shut up.' After breaking the mainstream mould with a Skins appearance, Foals set up a summer of festival appearances, TV spots and radio airplay. 'Cassius' became a summer anthem, despite no one actually knowing what the fuck it's about ('the Lighthouse was an accident'?!).
Dananananaykroyd opened the show with an epic performance. To be honest, I'd never actually bothered to sit down and listen to this band before. They're one of those names you see popping up everywhere with various good support slots but never hear all that much talk of. However, after a crazy performance like that, I have to tell you to give them a listen. With a sexy front man, two drummers and a bassist who looks like she wants to kill someone, how could Dananananaykroyd do any wrong? Admittedly they were heckled by some shitends in the crowd, but support bands will always get that.
Following Dananananaykroyd were electro pioneers Holy Fuck. 'Milkshake' and 'Super Inuit' are my Holy Fuck favorites but I can't say I really enjoyed their live set that much. The band looked really into what they were doing and were so focused on making the perfect, exact noises, I don't think they looked at the audience once. What Dananananaykroyd perhaps lacked in structure was made up for with interaction from the band- however good Holy Fuck's music is, it was impossible to properly get into when it just seemed like a band practise to them. All this said, if you're not up for jumping about at shows, I recommend this band for a more laid back performance- their music is sick too.
Finally came Foals, in all their glory. Judging by the surrounding crowd's conversations, some people were less than pleased with the support bands and everyone was ready for foals. From the opening song to the great finale, Foals poured a constant flow of panging guitars, strange lyrics and strange ringing noises out into the world and let the kids tear each other apart to them. I can't ever imagine what Yannis is thinking but he always looks so scared when there's footage of him on TV. I can't say I blame him.
The entire thing ended with a right shebang. Holy Fuck, Dananananaykroyd and Foals all played 'Two Steps Twice' in some sort of multi-drum, musical orgy. With everyone on stage, this was a truly superb sendoff from a truly superb show.
Anyway, to celebrate the new title, and as a sorry for not posting in about a year, here's an uber-post.
FOALS/HOLY FUCK/DANANANANAYKROYD- Brixton Academy 16/10/08
The Brixton queue is packed on a Thursday night- everyone there seems to be attractive, well dressed and smoking- basically loads of kids looking badass. Not surprising, seeing as Foals managed to get a big enough crowd to break the barriers at the Underage in August. Tonight, however, I have a feeling it'll be more epic- this is, after all, the sell-out end of tour show for Foals, rather than yet another festival.
Foals have come far since 'Hummer' was released in 2007; by 'coming far', I mean when I mention them in conversation with less musically educated friends (musical retards to us snobs), they'll go 'oh yeah, they were on Skins', rather than 'who the fuck are they? Shut up.' After breaking the mainstream mould with a Skins appearance, Foals set up a summer of festival appearances, TV spots and radio airplay. 'Cassius' became a summer anthem, despite no one actually knowing what the fuck it's about ('the Lighthouse was an accident'?!).
Dananananaykroyd opened the show with an epic performance. To be honest, I'd never actually bothered to sit down and listen to this band before. They're one of those names you see popping up everywhere with various good support slots but never hear all that much talk of. However, after a crazy performance like that, I have to tell you to give them a listen. With a sexy front man, two drummers and a bassist who looks like she wants to kill someone, how could Dananananaykroyd do any wrong? Admittedly they were heckled by some shitends in the crowd, but support bands will always get that.
Following Dananananaykroyd were electro pioneers Holy Fuck. 'Milkshake' and 'Super Inuit' are my Holy Fuck favorites but I can't say I really enjoyed their live set that much. The band looked really into what they were doing and were so focused on making the perfect, exact noises, I don't think they looked at the audience once. What Dananananaykroyd perhaps lacked in structure was made up for with interaction from the band- however good Holy Fuck's music is, it was impossible to properly get into when it just seemed like a band practise to them. All this said, if you're not up for jumping about at shows, I recommend this band for a more laid back performance- their music is sick too.
Finally came Foals, in all their glory. Judging by the surrounding crowd's conversations, some people were less than pleased with the support bands and everyone was ready for foals. From the opening song to the great finale, Foals poured a constant flow of panging guitars, strange lyrics and strange ringing noises out into the world and let the kids tear each other apart to them. I can't ever imagine what Yannis is thinking but he always looks so scared when there's footage of him on TV. I can't say I blame him.
The entire thing ended with a right shebang. Holy Fuck, Dananananaykroyd and Foals all played 'Two Steps Twice' in some sort of multi-drum, musical orgy. With everyone on stage, this was a truly superb sendoff from a truly superb show.
Friday, 3 October 2008
Report: Youtube Covers
So I've been a bit of a Youtube herm lately- Myspace is becoming a bore and I'm pretty sure no one reads this and looking at other people's Facebook photos eventually becomes tedious, believe it or not.
Anyway, since I finally got myself a youtube account (eargasmicc), I've been commenting the hell out of anything I can watch. Particularly, I've developed a 'cover fetish'. Sometimes a Youtube nobody can really outdo an original song! Here are a selection of my favorites so far:
Cold War Kids - We Used to Vacation acoustic cover
(By crazy guy. seems very into it)
Los Campesinos! - Death to Los Campesinos! Cover on Piano
(This has no lyrics, but still awesome)
The Strokes - Someday covered on a strange electronic thing by Lightspeed Champion and a random.
Mystery Jets- Flakes covered by Florence and the Machine
As she's done with other covers in the past, she changes the song completely in the simplest ways. Mind blowing.
Message if you find any more I might enjoy!
Anyway, since I finally got myself a youtube account (eargasmicc), I've been commenting the hell out of anything I can watch. Particularly, I've developed a 'cover fetish'. Sometimes a Youtube nobody can really outdo an original song! Here are a selection of my favorites so far:
Cold War Kids - We Used to Vacation acoustic cover
(By crazy guy. seems very into it)
Los Campesinos! - Death to Los Campesinos! Cover on Piano
(This has no lyrics, but still awesome)
The Strokes - Someday covered on a strange electronic thing by Lightspeed Champion and a random.
Mystery Jets- Flakes covered by Florence and the Machine
As she's done with other covers in the past, she changes the song completely in the simplest ways. Mind blowing.
Message if you find any more I might enjoy!
Sunday, 21 September 2008
jumping on the band-wagon (pun intended)
These guys have been popping up all over the better-known blogs, being tipped as 'big for 2009'. I have to say, their songs are really, really catchy and after just a few listens you'll be hooked. However, I can't see them being as big as everyone else things.. but anyway, I'm jumping on the bloggers 'band-wagon' (oh dear) by also tipping these guys for the top. They sound like MGMT, CSS and Ipso Facto fused together in a musical sex-orgy. Check them out and expect to be disco-dancing to 'Veronica's Veil' very, very soon.
Rating: Eargasmic!
EG x
Sunday, 31 August 2008
new discoveries
September sucks, doesn't it? After what's always a shitty English summer, we have to return to school, college or uni. Alright, so if you're starting somewhere new that's exciting, but when it comes down to it it's just more work, more exams and more of what you left in the last educational institution. Sorry, did I ruin your high spirits?
Hopefully some new discoveries will put your good mood back.
I recently stumbled across the incredible Snowman, made of multi-instrumentalists. There's very little information about this Aussie band around at the moment- it was difficult to hunt down their myspace. Their music is simply mind-blowing- each song is a completely different style and genre. 'We Are the Plague', their most popular song, sounds like Joy Division on acid- haunting vocals with simplistic backing music. 'Our Mother (She Remembers)' sounds like nothing in the world ever before- like white noise, weird synth and vicious vocals. Difficult to describe so just give it a listen.
Have-to-hear tracks include
We are the Plague
Our Mother (she remembers)
The Blood of the Swan
My Robot Friend is someone THE ANTI caught through Last Fm as they were offering free downloads of 'Problems'. This one isn't up on MRF's Myspace, but some other good tunes are. MRF is an art-music project that's been going since 2001. Sounding a bit like drum and bass-electro with 80's Dan Le Sac vocals, MRF is for electro-lovers. A lot of songs wouldn't sound out of place on a Mighty Boosh episode, and My Robot Friend likes to have fun with it's lyrics and noises.
Have a listen to;
Problems ( by far the best track and available to download for free)
Way Down
and all the tracks up on the Myspace, especially Robot High School.
If you haven't read about Coco recently then where the hell have you been? She's been all over the trashy news papers recently over her being in a tent with Pete Doherty at Glasto. SHOCK HORROR. If you've read all the allegations in the papers, you'll have also read that her dad's Sting. How cool?! Very cool. Anyway apparently Sting was 'fuming' about Coco hanging out with Pete-the-sleaze Doherty, so maybe she'll be locked up in her room making more tracks like the lovely collection on her myspace? Maybe? Maybe not.
Anyway have a listen to 'I Blame Coco', it'll get stuck in your head for days, plus it's available to download for free.
We are always looking for new bands, so leave us a comment on the myspace or comment any post
THE ANTI x
Hopefully some new discoveries will put your good mood back.
I recently stumbled across the incredible Snowman, made of multi-instrumentalists. There's very little information about this Aussie band around at the moment- it was difficult to hunt down their myspace. Their music is simply mind-blowing- each song is a completely different style and genre. 'We Are the Plague', their most popular song, sounds like Joy Division on acid- haunting vocals with simplistic backing music. 'Our Mother (She Remembers)' sounds like nothing in the world ever before- like white noise, weird synth and vicious vocals. Difficult to describe so just give it a listen.
Have-to-hear tracks include
We are the Plague
Our Mother (she remembers)
The Blood of the Swan
My Robot Friend is someone THE ANTI caught through Last Fm as they were offering free downloads of 'Problems'. This one isn't up on MRF's Myspace, but some other good tunes are. MRF is an art-music project that's been going since 2001. Sounding a bit like drum and bass-electro with 80's Dan Le Sac vocals, MRF is for electro-lovers. A lot of songs wouldn't sound out of place on a Mighty Boosh episode, and My Robot Friend likes to have fun with it's lyrics and noises.
Have a listen to;
Problems ( by far the best track and available to download for free)
Way Down
and all the tracks up on the Myspace, especially Robot High School.
If you haven't read about Coco recently then where the hell have you been? She's been all over the trashy news papers recently over her being in a tent with Pete Doherty at Glasto. SHOCK HORROR. If you've read all the allegations in the papers, you'll have also read that her dad's Sting. How cool?! Very cool. Anyway apparently Sting was 'fuming' about Coco hanging out with Pete-the-sleaze Doherty, so maybe she'll be locked up in her room making more tracks like the lovely collection on her myspace? Maybe? Maybe not.
Anyway have a listen to 'I Blame Coco', it'll get stuck in your head for days, plus it's available to download for free.
We are always looking for new bands, so leave us a comment on the myspace or comment any post
THE ANTI x
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