Review: Night Visions

Night Visions

'Night Visions' is the smash hit debut album of Las Vegas alternative rock band 'Imagine Dragons'.

This album was simply a pleasure to listen to. Though the hit 'Radioactive' is a strange song to have on this album, it keeps it well balanced and well thought through. In fact, balance is the thing that I love most about the album, 'It's Time' is very much a different song from the track that comes after it ('Demons'). This group play around with everything, but they manage to make it all amazing.

Not to mention the blessing of a voice that Dan Reynolds (the lead singer) has which makes the band's songs unique. Not for a while have I listened to an album that has the same combination of unique style and voice while still being able to provide a bit of everything for everybody.

Simply put, I would put this album in the same category as 'Torches' by Foster The People, 'Babel' by Mumford and Sons and 'Mylo Xyloto' by Coldplay. Put your computer down, wherever you are and  go out to the shops to buy what will be up there for the best album of 2013.

THIS ALBUM IS AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!



Click here to watch the video for their hit single 'It's Time'

Review: Epigrams and Interludes

Epigrams and Interludes

'Epigrams and Interludes' is the debut album from 18 year old English You-tuber Alex Day.

I would like to start my review by giving some background on Alex Day. Alex Day first came to prominence in 2011 when he released 'Forever Yours', the music video garnered 1.5 million views in its first week and the track which was on a campaign for the Christmas #1 spot reached #4. Had it reached #1, he would've been the first unsigned artist to top the UK singles chart.

Since then, he has released two other songs which have charted and 3 other singles that didn't. This is album is a catalogue of songs that allow people to look at this pioneer of an artist.

The album itself has some great stand-out songs but is generally quite a childish attempt at an album. I don't say because I don't think that Alex Day has done the work on this album, I mean that the lyrics are very childish such as "We will not be stopped" and his use of a cover of "Under the Sea".

I honestly think that Alex Day's way of getting his music to the world is something that a lot of budding artists can learn from. I also think that some of his songs are very good, but I think this paticular case has a long way to go before he can start becoming a proper mainstream artist that everybody listens to.

In any case it's available for £3.99 in the UK on itunes, so it's at least a bargain.



  

More to come...

Hi. Not sure if anybody is actually reading this blog, but if you are, CONGRATULATIONS!You are the lucky winner of news of more entries from me.

First a review on the awards predictions where the Brit Awards were a total disappointment. The Grammys however were alright and had some fantastic performances. In any case, I didn't see any obvious errors when I was looking back at my predictions.

Now, the announcement of what is to come in the next few weeks. Tomorrow, Alex Day's Epigrams and Interludes hits the shelves in the UK, Alex Day is a youtuber who holds the record for highest charted single by an unsigned artist, he's also selling his album for £4, a bargain given the kind of prices music is sold at nowadays.

Come April 1, Will.i.am's long awaited #willpower will also be out with global hit singles such as 'Scream and Shout' and 'This is Love' among others. This will for sure be a hit album everywhere. On the same day, Imagine Dragons's new album Night Visions finally reaches the UK, having been everywhere else ages ago.

Beyonce is expected to drop her 5th studio album at some point in April. This is said to include collaborations with Lady Gaga, Justin Timeberlake, Rihanna and her husband Jay-Z among many others.

Finally in May, the festivity that is Eurovision hits TV screens across Europe and I will have a full guide of who to watch out for as a potential winner. Unlike last year, there isn't an obvious front-runner. 

Anyway, best hopes that this easter period will bring loads of good music to talk about.

Review: Milo Greene

As well as awards predictions, I will be using this blog to review recently released albums. I don't intend to post any negative reviews and this is neither good for my karma, nor does it help anybody else.

Milo Greene

'Milo Greene'  is the self-titled debut album by five piece Los Angeles folk group Milo Greene.

Immediately from the opening song "What's the Matter", you can tell that these talented musicians bear similar resemblance to Icelandic band 'Of Monsters and Men', and fellow Americans 'Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes'. This is largely because of the simple acoustic beats, intertwining of male and female singing, and increasingly catchy lyrics.

Similarly to many other albums such as Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto, Milo Greene chose to use many tracks of about 30 to 90 seconds of simply non-vocal instrumentals, which gives the album more depth and understanding.

The one catch that people reading this should know is that they lack the energy of many folk bands of the day. Except for their single '1957', their music can be quite sleepy and dull to some. Personally however, I think that this silent, subtle quality gives them an edge compared to a lot of similar bands. It has also been shown that songs with more silent tones can still be popular, 'Of Monsters and Men' for instance have many songs on their album that have the same kind of feel, and are still good.

In short, I think that while this band hasn't reached the pinacle of success, they have great potential to become one of the next big folk band names. Their debut effort, although not 100% perfect, has still left me yearning for more of their calm and relaxed acoustic music.  

THIS ALBUM IS AVAILABLE IN BOTH THE US AND THE UK.  
   





Click here to watch the video for the single '1957'

Grammys 2013 Predictions

Same Game! Just with the people on the other side of the pond.

RECORD OF THE YEAR

• "Lonely Boy" – The Black Keys
• "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" – Kelly Clarkson
• "We Are Young" – Fun featuring Janelle Monáe
• "Somebody That I Used to Know" – Gotye featuring Kimbra
• "Thinkin Bout You" – Frank Ocean
• "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" – Taylor Swift   

This usually goes to the best selling song this year. Hence, I'm going to say that Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know deserves the award for making a truly infectious song.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

• El Camino – The Black Keys
• Some Nights – Fun
• Babel – Mumford & Sons
• Channel Orange – Frank Ocean
• Blunderbuss – Jack White  
  This one has Mumford & Sons written all over it. In my opinion, Fun. are the only people that might stop the West London boys from winning this one.
  
   SONG OF THE YEAR

• "The A Team"- Ed Sheeran
• "Adorn"-Miguel
• "Call Me Maybe"- Carly Rae Jepsen
• "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)"-Kelly Clarkson
• "We Are Young"-Fun.

 In a year where One Direction and Justin Bieber miraculously avoided getting nominated, the Grammy voters got Carly Rae Jepsen's cheesy song of the summer wrong. In fact, the only song that really deserves to win this category is Ed Sheeran's "The A Team". However, this isn't my opinion, this is my prediction. I think that the Grammy voters who gave Fun. six nominations, will probably give them the gong for song of the year in We Are Young.

BEST NEW ARTIST

• Alabama Shakes
• Fun
• Hunter Hayes
• The Lumineers
• Frank Ocean 

 This one is a category with uncertainty written all over it. It always has been. Last year, Bon Iver beat both Skrillex and Nicki Minaj to the award. The year before that, Esperanza Spalding beat Drake, Florence and the Machine, Justin Bieber and Mumford & Sons to the award. This year, I think Fun. is certainly the favorite. However I have a premonition that given the instability with this category, it's anybody's game. For no paticular reason, I am going to say that Frank Ocean will win this award.

BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE

• "Set Fire to the Rain" (Live) – Adele
• "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" – Kelly Clarkson
• "Call Me Maybe" – Carly Rae Jepsen
• "Wide Awake" – Katy Perry
• "Where Have You Been" – Rihanna

While the album's category is a man's world, the women have dominated this now unisex pop performance category.  Simply put, I think given it's nominations for loads of other things, Kelly Clarkson and Stronger should probably win.

BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE

• "Shake It Out" – Florence and the Machine
• "We Are Young" – Fun featuring Janelle Monáe
• "Somebody That I Used to Know" – Gotye featuring Kimbra
• "Sexy and I Know It" – LMFAO
• "Payphone" – Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa

 This will either be Fun. or Gotye, but I think it will end up going to Fun.

BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM

• Stronger – Kelly Clarkson
• Ceremonials – Florence and the Machine
• Some Nights – Fun
• Overexposed – Maroon 5
• The Truth About Love – Pink 

 What with Fun.'s album of the year nomination, I think Fun. will take this one was well. Even though Florence and Maroon 5 both deserve it more.

BEST DANCE RECORDING

• "Levels" – Avicii
• "Let's Go" – Calvin Harris featuring Ne-Yo
• "Bangarang" – Skrillex
• "Don't You Worry Child" – Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin
• "I Can't Live Without You" – Al Walser 

There are some very good songs in this category. In the end however, I think it will come down to a battle of the swedes and Avicii will come out victorious.

BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE

• "Hold On" – Alabama Shakes
• "Lonely Boy" – The Black Keys
• "Charlie Brown" – Coldplay
• "I Will Wait" – Mumford & Sons
• "We Take Care of Our Own" – Bruce Springsteen

Mumford & Sons all the way.

BEST ROCK SONG

• "Freedom at 21"- Jack White
• "I Will Wait"- Mumford & Sons
• "Lonely Boy"-The Black Keys
• "Madness"-Muse
• "We Take Care of Our Own"-Bruce Springsteen 

 Mumford & Sons all the way.

BEST ROCK ALBUM

• El Camino – The Black Keys
• Mylo Xyloto – Coldplay
• The 2nd Law – Muse
• Wrecking Ball – Bruce Springsteen
• Blunderbuss – Jack White

There are good albums in here, and also AMAZING albums in here. Bruce and Coldplay have revolutionary albums, to pick between them is not easy. However simply because Bruce Springsteen's album is more relavant to Americans, I am going to go with Bruce.

Brits Predictions 2013

Hi. Decided to start this blog because I have a real interest in the cultural world of media. Music, film and the rest is my game. Each post will be related to one of those two things.

Today I am going to predict the 2013 BRIT Awards...

BEST BRITISH MALE SOLO ACT

• Ben Howard
• Calvin Harris
• Olly Murs
• Plan B
• Richard Hawley

 I think that the majority of people would certainly expect Calvin Harris to nick this one (myself included). However much the critics that drew up the nominations love Plan B, I don't think he will beat Calvin or Olly in the final vote.

BEST BRITISH FEMALE SOLO ACT

• Amy Winehouse
• Bat For Lashes
• Emeli Sandé
• Jessie Ware
• Paloma Faith  

 Whilst I would love to see Jessie Ware nab this one, I think that Emeli Sande is a lot more popular with the voters than any of the other nominees.

BEST BRITISH BREAKTHROUGH ACT

• Alt-J
• Ben Howard
• Jake Bugg
• Jessie Ware
• Rita Ora

With all due respect to any of the other competitors, Rita Ora had three consecutive #1s, and a #1 album. Not to mention she is the only nominee who also managed to cross the pond with their music in that time, (although Jessie Ware released her EP in the US 10 days ago).

BEST BRITISH GROUP

• Alt-J
• Mumford & Sons
• Muse
• One Direction
• The xx

It's all going to come down to do One Direction have enough screaming fans to pull a BRITS win out of the bag against Mumford and Sons. I don't think so, so I'm going to go Mumford and Sons to win.

BEST BRITISH SINGLE

• Adele - "Skyfall"
• Alex Clare - "Too Close"
• Coldplay & Rihanna - "Princess of China"
• DJ Fresh featuring Rita Ora - "Hot Right Now"
• Emeli Sandé - "Next to Me"
• Florence and the Machine - "Spectrum (Say My Name)"
• James Arthur - "Impossible"
• Jessie J - "Domino"
• Labrinth featuring Emeli Sandé - "Beneath Your Beautiful"
• Olly Murs featuring Flo Rida - "Troublemaker"
• Rita Ora featuring Tinie Tempah - "R.I.P."
• Rizzle Kicks - "Mama Do the Hump"
• Robbie Williams - "Candy"
• Rudimental featuring John Newman - "Feel the Love"
• Stooshe - "Black Heart"

This is always the toughest category to predict. This year, they even made the job a lot harder by putting 15 nominees. Here goes, let's rule out anybody that has became famous anywhere else with their song (Adele, Alex Clare, Coldplay, Florence, Jessie J, Robbie Williams). From the rest of the category I rule out the X Factor winner on the grounds that it's not his song. I'm going to go a bit out on a limb and say Rizzle Kicks to win for Mama Do the Hump.  


BEST BRITISH ALBUM

• Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
• Emeli Sandé - Our Version of Events
• Mumford & Sons - Babel
• Paloma Faith - Fall to Grace
• Plan B - Ill Manors

My head says Emeli Sande all the way. My heart says Mumford and Sons. I think that given the fact that they will be coming back to the BRITS from the Grammys, possibly with the album of the year gong. It's not the favorite, but it is my favorite so I'm going to say Mumford and Sons.

 BEST BRITISH LIVE ACT

• Coldplay
• Mumford & Sons
• Muse
• The Rolling Stones
• The Vaccines

 Only Coldplay and Mumford and Sons released live albums this year. I watched both of them and I would rather be at a Coldplay concert. However I think that Mumford and Sons will have success in this category in later years.

BRITS GLOBAL SUCCESS

• Mumford & Sons
• Adele
• One Direction

To be absolutely clear about this new category. The winner is the one with the most album sales. Unfortunately, I think that this one goes to One Direction.

BEST INTERNATIONAL MALE SOLOARTIST

• Bruce Springsteen
• Frank Ocean
• Gotye
• Jack White
• Michael Buble

Two words, Bruce Springsteen.

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEMALE SOLO ARTIST

• Alicia Keys
• Cat Power
• Lana Del Rey
• Rihanna
• Taylor Swift

I'm going to go with the person that had the better year. To be honest, I would much rather see Rihanna win this, but I think that this year, the person that deserves it is Taylor Swift.

BEST INTERNATIONAL GROUP

• Alabama Shakes
• The Black Keys
• Fun.
• The Killers
• The Script

Only Fun. and the script have a chance in this category. I'm going to say Fun. because of their world wide success with their album.

BEST BRITISH PRODUCER

• Damon Albarn
• Jake Gosling
• Paul Epworth

On sheer amount of success this year, the award has to go to Jake Gosling.



Only Mumford and Sons to take more than one.