If you're going to write a music blog there is only one way to do it:
You must travel to faraway lands in search of ultra rare records.
You must literally dig up long forgotten vinyl that is dripping with afro funk.
You must then return to your turntables and concoct a powerful funk brew from your vinyl treasure.
You must then release these funk-laced biscuits as mp3s on your blog for others to enjoy.
Sadly this blog will never live up to these guidelines, but I know a blog that does.
Frank Gossner, a DJ based in New York, has chronicled his expeditions to West Africa in search of vintage records in his superbly titled blog Voodoo Funk. Best of all he has uploaded mp3 mixes of the great records he has found for everybody to enjoy. There is a an interesting interview on Nylvi which would serve as a good introduction but if I were you I would swing straight over to Voodoo Funk and turn up that funky afro beat!
I think Nine Inch Nails' debut album, Pretty Hate Machine, is an absolute classic. It is full of ominous, violent music but you can equally dance and sing along to it.
I didn't buy the album until the mid-90s at which point I was mostly listening to post-Cobain grunge and the NIN sound had changed somewhat, so the album was starting to show its age. It is stupid to say it sounded very 1980s because it was released in 1989 so naturally it did, but despite this, Pretty Hate Machine was a rock album with synths and a drum machine which to my naive ears was novel. On top of this every track was a good one and most importantly my best friends older brother said it was cool - so it had to be.
OK everyone sing along:
"Bow down before the one you serve, you're going to get what you deserve..."
Last weekend I went to the Standon Calling festival with my girlfriend (fiancee!), Mum and Dad. It's only a small festival and most of the bands playing there are not well known, so we spent a bit of time surfing the internet to work out who we would like to see before we went. My girlfriend (fiancee!) spotted Lulu and the Lampshades on the interweb. We saw them playing in a great big yurt and they were great. They finished their set with this song and it gave me goose pimples all down my arm!
Well, I've suspected it for some time now but my opinions have become so important that I think I should broadcast them to the world. So here is my blog.
The idea is I'm gonna write about the stuff I like. Mostly music but perhaps it will be other stuff too. To kick off here is a cheeky little number from Casiokids which has been bouncing around my bonce for a number of weeks:
