Category Archives: Uncategorized

Townes Van Zandt.

Posted on by

Following on from Lightnin’ Hopkins and how pain is portrayed and created by singers, Townes Van Zandt in my mind is one of the greats if not THE greatest.

Songs such as Kathleen and Waitin’ Round To Die are just so painfully beautiful. If I could write anything as hard-hitting and heart-breaking as that, I’d be happy.

“It’s plain to see, the sun won’t shine today. But I ain’t in the mood for sunshine anyway. Maybe I’ll go insane.” The sheer frustration yet lack of faith here is so utterly chilling, you cannot help but wonder what was going on in his mind when he wrote Kathleen.

Townes’ life wasn’t exactly the artists dream. He suffered with alcoholism, drug addiction and was diagnosed with Manic Depression. He was diagnosed with Manic Depression at quite a young age, and a lot of his long-term memory was erased from having insulin shock therapy. A lot of artists suffer for their art, there is no doubt that Townes was one of them.

“Now I’m out of prison, I got me a friend at last. He don’t drink or steal or cheat or lie. His names Codeine, he’s the nicest thing I’ve seen. Together we’re gonna wait around and die.” So painful, you cannot help but believe he truly felt every single word here.

There will never ever be anyone quite like Townes Van Zandt.

Lightnin’ Hopkins.

Posted on by

Sam John Hopkins aka Lightnin’ Hopkins in my mind, was and always will be THE greatest blues singer ever, and quite possibly one of the greatest guitarists ever.

He sang and wrote about pain in a way that most wish they could. Don’t believe me? Watch this :

Mind-blowing right? Music doesn not have this amount of emotion anymore. There’s no despair like this, and it’s missing. It is needed. Of course we want to hear happy songs, but you need the balance. With extreme awful happy shit you find in Pop music, you need something at the opposite end. The Blues. The Blues is a genre of music that I grew up on, amongst a few others. Punk and the Blues are the two that I always remember hearing a lot of. My music taste is highly influenced by my mum, stepdad and uncle. I do believe I had the best upbringing based on always hearing Morrissey, Lou Reed, Miles Davis and Jefferson Airplane in the house.

Lightnin’ Hopkins sings the pains of having you heart torn out better than most.

S.C.U.M

Posted on by

I’ve been meaning to write about S.C.U.M for a while now, so seeing as it’s 1.38 am and I can’t sleep- now would be the best time. As ever.

What I love about S.C.U.M is well, everything really. I love the guitar sounds, I love the vocals. I love everything about them. Thomas Cohen, I must say, is a very well dressed man. Beautiful.

They’re part of the NME tour that starts mid September I think? Or October? Go see them, the line-up is pretty damn good.

Have some songs! :

If you love The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Big Pink, The Horrors- you will love S.C.U.M

Mindless violence, pointless riots.

Posted on by

I know that I use this strictly for Music purposes, but when something like this happens- I cannot help but write about it.

Why is this happening? Why are small minded fucks setting fire to peoples homes and businesses? What the hell are they trying to achieve? What are the exactly rioting for/against?

A young lad was shot and killed by the police. His family held a PEACEFUL protest. However, a fistful of yobs have taken it upon themselves to act like feral beasts up and down the country and ruin towns and cities. For what? Breaking into shops and stealing goods is NOT going to make the Police treat people any better. It is NOT going to make the Government listen and sort this mess out. If anything, they are just going to ignore. They will ignore the voices of those who want to be heard- for the right reasons.

Thing is, it is the Youth that are doing this. What hope can we place in this generation when this is how they react to anything and everything? Who should carry the blame for this? Families? Friends? Media? Schools? Lay the blame wherever you want, but nobody will take responsibility.

Burning down family businesses is just beyond words. Have the owners of this business personally harmed you? No. And even then, it wouldn’t be acceptable. To the wankstains of life who are doing this, how would you feel if someone did this to YOUR family? Don’t ever do what you wouldn’t want doing to yourself.

Life is harsh and cruel enough, why must we stoop to the disgusting level of violence to get ourselves heard? Why must they destroy communities for no reason at all? To understand any of what is happening, then I suppose you are as bad as them. I don’t personally have any faith in the Government or the police force- but doing things like this? Well, it’s just disgusting. There are NO legit reasons as to why this is happening. It should not be happening.

We live in a time where the current financial climate is, well, fucked. Doing things like this is going to make it worse. The Government will turn their backs on helping out the young as they will see them as immature fucks with a disgusting attitude, and to be honest- I don’t think I can blame them for it. Why help people who don’t want it. Or if they do, they are going about this the wrong way.

In 20, 30 years time these “riots” will not be remembered in a positive manner at all. Look at the Stonewall riots- at least that was for something that wasn’t worthless. What’s going on now is just disgusting.

My faith in humanity, I think, has finally faded. There is no hope, no love, no kindness. And it hurts and breaks my heart to see buildings being burnt down and communities falling apart.

Is there any coming back from this? I bloody hope so. I really bloody do.

Homes are being looted and set alight. To the dickheads doing this, how would you feel if your frail grandparents were living in a home that was being set fire to? How would you feel? Well, you probably wouldn’t would you.

The blame for all of this is going to be passed around constantly. No one will stand up and say “This is my doing.” What kind of punishment will those responsible get? A few years in prison? A slap on the wrist and a warning? Be harsh with these fucks who are doing this. Make them rebuild all they have destroyed.

Even if they rebuild what has been destroyed- the damage has been done.

Will they blame unemployement? I’ve not had a job since March. I don’t want to go around setting fire to things and smash things up. Will they blame the Government? I’m angry at the Government, but I don’t want to destroy people’s homes and ruin their possesions. Will they blame the police? I don’t have much respect for them, but I don’t want to riot for anything and everything.

This generation seem to be angry for the sake of being angry, and it is soul-destroying. The World owes you NOTHING. Stop acting like a fucking victim. Stay in school. Get an education and MAKE SOMETHING out of yourself. Acting like this just makes you a massive prick. This society is worth more than this. People are angry for the sake of being angry. It’s so wrong. So painfully wrong.

So how do we make it right?

Marina And The Diamonds- Fear And Loathing.

Posted on by

I was going to go to bed because I have the migraine the size of a whale. However, I have just heard Marina’s new song and all I want to do is listen to it on repeat for the next hour or so. I will do exactly that, I can feel my migraine disappear with each listen.

One of the most annoying yet comforting things in life is when someone can actually sum up how you feel without you doing it. When it’s a friend it can really irk you. However, when it’s a singer- it doesn’t matter. You are thankful for it and you think “how the fuck did I last this long being so misunderstood?!” I just feel so honoured to have met Marina last year. There’s not many singers I feel this weird connection with, but when I first heard her music in 2008 I felt it straight away, and it didn’t bother me at all. When you find an artist when you are lost, it is such an intense feeling and you cannot believe it has happened.

To me, this song is like a kick up the arse for me. I don’t want to delve into a personal area- there’s a time and place. This is neither. But this song feels like she has managed to go inside my head and write exactly how I feel down. I felt this when I listened to The Family Jewels. How I feel about Guilty, I feel about Fear And Loathing.

What I love about Marina is her way of writing about the things that makes a person feel angry, vulnerable, fragile and lost. She evokes all these feelings in a way that many wish they could. Hell, I wish I could. She vocalises the beauty in frustrations. The beauty being, her making you feel that it is totally okay to feel like shit. It is okay to hurt, to feel delicate. To feel shit about yourself. It’s all okay. Many will run and hide from how they feel about themselves. Many will work so hard to not show how they feel. Why should they? You’re a human being- feel something. Whether it is good or bad, it is okay to feel.

I just love Fear And Loathing so much. I know that her Diamonds will feel exactly the same, like Marina has got inside her head and just created this piece of art that sums up how we all feel.

Whatever I write about this song will not do it justice. It will not show you just how close to perfection it is. She constantly blows my mind with her lyrics, her way with words. I have every faith that her second album will be just as inspiring as her debut.

Best Coast- NEW SONG!

Posted on by

If Best Coast’s new album sounds like this, I will be so effin’ happy. The debut album came out last year, and I still play it every single day. It’s just gorgeous. Bethany’s voice is so angelic and stunning.

“I don’t wanna be how they want me to be.” So apt. “You don’t want me to be how they want me to be.” So true, so true right now. It’s just a beautiful song that you have to play on repeat and wrap it around your heart. Metaphorically, of course!

People vs Music.

Posted on by

I have made it clear on many occasions that I find it so easy to fall in love with a piece of music, yet feeling anything (romantically) towards a person is damn near impossible. Obviously I have felt something to a couple of people, but my feelings for a piece of music are more constant and maybe more honest. I don’t know. Maybe I will get carried away writing this and you may think, “Olivia, you need help.” I don’t. I need someone to pay me to write. I also need that Velvet Underground boxset I saw in Manchester last year. Oh, and tickets to see The Kills and Zola Jesus. I’d appreciate it if someone took me to see them. Or just gave me a ticket and I’ll go on my own. Be a bit odd if I went with a stranger.

Anyway.

Music is my life. I’m not one for thinking, “Oh I’d love to settle down blah blah blah.” So far from it. I want to write and write until the day I die. I want to go to as many gigs as possible, fall in love with new bands, rekindle my love for old bands. I want to follow a band on tour and write about it. Just like in Almost Famous. I want to make someone feel the way I do about music with my words just like Lester Bangs and John Peel did to me. I want to leave a mark. A positive mark. I want to get people into music that makes them feel something from the depths of their soul, that reaches a place they thought couldn’t be reached. Make the impossible- possible. For me, for anyone. I don’t care who. I’m rambling.

The way I feel when I walk into a record shop is like a child in Toys R Us or someone looking at their partner. Full of love and awe. When I go to a record shop, I have to pick up the records I want. Touch them and study everything about them. I take every single piece of detail in. I do not understand people who download music at all.  Why would you prevent yourself of the greatest musical experience? Buying an LP or CD, going home. Laying on your bed, playing the music and flicking through the album’s artwork. Laying on your bed with the music playing and you just catapult yourself into another world. You escape because reality can be a bore and a pain in the arse can’t it.

Music makes you feel things that every day life can sometimes rob you of. I mean sure, you can listen to a love song and think, “I wish I could fall in love.” Then again, you can listen to a painful, heart-wrenching song and think, “I hope I never ever feel like that.” There is something about music that can make you feel less scared. There is something about people that can terrify you.

I’m 24 fast approaching 25 and I am not afraid to admit that most of the time, I feel like a loner. Yet, when I play certain songs- I don’t feel like that. If I go to a friend and told them a problem I had and they said, “Oh I can relate.” I’m not entirely sure if I would believe them or feel comforted. Yet, say if I felt like shit and played a certain song and could sense that the artist was conveying everything I feel- I would feel comforted, and I wouldn’t feel so alone with what I felt.

Musicians have so much power over the likes of you and I. Maybe they shouldn’t, but they do. The amount of times I keep everything to myself and just play a song to make myself feel better is insane. I feel more secure with hearing a song than using my own words. Maybe I just don’t have the words. I’m pretty good with expressing how I feel to certain people. I mean, there’s only two people I’d do that to- but I can do it. Yet sometimes, all it takes is for a song. A certain line to just hit the nail on the head and for you think,”Yes. That’s it. That is exactly how I feel!” And suddenly, you feel okay.

So, in short, music has the power. The power to do anything and everything to you. It will not let you down. It will not leave your side.

I will end this with a few quotes from my favourite film of all time, Almost Famous. That film changed my life.

“They don’t even know what it is to be a fan. Y’know? To truly love some silly little piece of music, or some band, so much that it hurts.”

“If you ever get lonely, just got to the record store and visit your friends.”

Youth Lagoon.

Posted on by

Every so often an artists comes around and just blows me away with their sound. The vulnerability in their words and the passion in their music just leaves me stunned and in awe.

At the moment, it is Trevor Powers aka Youth Lagoon that is blowing my mind with his beautiful music. If you love Beach House, I promise that you will adore Youth Lagoon. He creates music that you can use as a reflection or a way to escape. In some cases- both at the same time. It is music to make you think, “Shit….that was written about me.” Yet at the same time you can wack your headphones in, and just forget everything and everyone around you. Just lose yourself in the beautiful, perfect sounds he has created.

Youth Lagoon Souncloud page.