The Friday Thing: Time is Running Out by Muse

Back when this song first came out I was enthralled by it. I don't know why. This performance is absolutely fantastic. The way they've managed to get the crowd so hyped up and their stage presence makes for a very entertaining performance. Even the awkward screams he does through out make the crowd go crazy. I hope you enjoy!
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Time is Running Out (The guitar bit at 1:36 is my favourite part)

The Friday Thing: Can't Exist by Joseph Arthur

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While I was watching an older episode of 'Later... With Jools Holland', this guy came on about halfway named Joseph Arthur. He's one of those artists who records all the sounds right then and uses looping machines to create a unique, electronic, and very entertaining feel. This episode of 'Later...' also saw the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Tinariwen, and The Hold Steady so for him to stick out from these, you know he's sure to impress. Enjoy!


Can't Exist

LEAVE BEFORE THE LIGHTS COME ON-Arctic Monkeys

Leave Before The Lights Come On-
Arctic Monkeys
Status-Out as of 2006
Label-Domino
Rating-3 Feathers

Instead of coming out with another single from the debut, Arctic Monkeys have released a completely new song with two covers and decided to call that a single. ‘Leave Before The Lights Come On’ tells the story of two people who ended up together and don’t know why or how. As usual, Alex Turner has such a captivating way with words. Matt’s drumming is brilliant and the way Alex sings the song adds to the emotional part of a seemingly hopeful sound. It sounds like it could have easily been on ‘Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not’. ‘Put Your Dukes Up John’ is a cover of the song by The Little Flames. Compared to The Little Flames version, it’s much more upbeat sounding and the part where the rest of the band chant ‘Change your tune and change your hair or you’re not going anywhere’ sounds angrier and bit more forceful. Though it sounds similar to original, they still made it their own and gave it an Arctic’s flair. ‘Baby I’m Yours’ is also a cover, but of the song by Barbara Lewis. Featuring the singer of The 747’s Oisin Leech on lead vocals along with Alex, this song has a very soft and fuzzy feel to it. It sounds a lot more clean and slightly over processed compared to the original. The fact that it’s a bunch of young men singing a song sung by a woman shows they’ve got guts. When you first hear it, you think you might have the wrong disc in or something due to the fact that it definitely not what you’d expect. Now, only if you’re a die hard Arctic Monkeys fan would I suggest you buy this album. Being that the title track is the only ‘original’ song, only people with refined tastes would truly appreciate this. To rate it honestly, I'll give it a 3 for that fact that the covers are nothing special and the original stuff isn't anything innovative or new; it's just three sound songs.

“'Leave Before the Lights Come On' feels very much like it could be on the album. So we're going to put that out as a single. I remember it's the last song that I wrote about that sort of time, going out and that. My life's not really like that any more."-Alex Turner

Video for Leave Before The Lights Come On

Arctic Monkeys Official Website
Note: Sorry for my not recent posting and sorry for all the Arctic Monkeys reviews in this blog, I really like them. Someone suggested that I review this so I gave in and did. This'll be one of the few singles reviews I do for the fact that album and EP reviews are much more fun to write. I hope you enjoy, and BTW, isn't the video creepy?

The Friday Thing: Freakbeat Phantom by The Rascals

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The Rascals are one of those bands that aren't anything ultra-special, but are really good nonetheless. Compared to the studio version of 'Freakbeat Phantom', this performance is just as good if not better and you can tell that they like what they do for the fact that they get really into this performance. Enjoy.


Freakbeat Phantom

OUR LOVE TO ADMIRE-Interpol

Our Love To Admire-
Interpol
Status-Out As Of 2007
Label-Capitol
Rating-2 Feathers

After creating the genius work that was Antics, Interpol changed record labels and used three years to create the very long awaited Our Love To Admire. You may think it’s impossible to top such a career-changing album. You might be right. ‘Pioneer to The Falls’ begins the album very nicely. Just when you think the mini-guitar rant is going on a bit too long, the vocals come in. It’s a bit calm, but not too long, although due to the calmness, it doesn’t really suck you in. ‘No I in Threesome’ is one of my favourite songs on the album. It’s a tad more upbeat than the previous, but it’s pretty calm. Paul’s voice fits the song so perfectly. The song sounds like a more mature Interpol, so I’m glad they decided ‘It’s time to give something new a try’. ‘The Scale’ is pretty dark sounding compared to the last two but it’s very long and very boring. After you’ve passed out, ‘The Heinrich Maneuver’ wakes you up with its fast paced beat and it’s kicking sound. They really should have put this song first on the album because it would have sucked in even those who hate Interpol. When the song is over, you’re dying for more. ‘Mammoth’ starts out seemingly loud and nice but it actually gets a bit quieter and it gets really monotonous. It’s like no really, ‘Just spare me the suspense’, I don’t think I can take it anymore. ‘Pace is the Trick’ is extremely quiet at the beginning; as in you don’t realize it’s playing, probably because you’ve lost your train of thought from the last song. Pace is the trick to making a song good, and this song is far too slow to captivate anyone. The only thing that gets interesting is the vocals, but the guitar just repeats the whole time. ‘All Fired Up’ sounds different than any other Interpol song I’ve heard before. The drums developed that short drum roll thing and the guitar has a different distortion on it than what we’re used to. The way he sings it is also different. I must say, I really like it; it’s a different sort of sound, which is exactly what I was hoping for with this album. ‘Rest My Chemistry’ has a very subdued Jazz feel to it, which gives its own sound, but it’s pretty uneventful, and lengthy. ‘Who Do You Think’ is pretty catchy, and so much better than the previous few songs pacewise. What’s nice about it is it varies, which is what you’ve been hoping for. ‘Wrecking Ball’ is very quiet. The vocals are odd, but the rest of it is very dull. The end bit sounds like dreamscape, if you actually realize it’s playing. ‘The Lighthouse’ is very dreamlike and the little guitar blobs throughout sound like the beginning bit of ‘Anyway Anyhow Anywhere’ by The Who. By the end of the song, I completely lost my concentration and began to focus on other things. Clearly not the best addition to their catalogue, but you can think of this album as a transformation period: a period between their old sound and their new. For fans like me, it’s our love to admire for the fact that we continue to love this band, despite the bit of mediocrity that they tend to come out with.

‘We never want to stay within a certain parameter—we always want to keep moving forward, and I think we have. You don’t really want to keep making the same record over and over.’ Daniel Kessler

Video for No I In Threesome

Interpol's Official Website
Note: This is the last I'll be posting of Interpol until their forth album comes out godwilling next year. Though I gave them a 2, I still really like them and that probably won't change. Also note, I have the special edition version of this album hence the black cover. The normal version has a lion attacking some sort of elk/deer thing, just letting you know. I hope you enjoy the album or review! Thank you for reading!

MAGIC AND MEDICINE-The Coral

Magic and Medicine-
The Coral
Status-Out as of 2003
Label-Deltasonic
Rating-3 Feathers

The Coral are one of those underrated bands, even in England where they are from. By this point, these guys from Hoylake have one album out (‘The Coral’) and are known for such hits (in the U.S.) as ‘Dreaming of You'. Now with their second album out, ‘Magic and Medicine’, one could hope that these fantastic musicians make a better name for themselves. ‘In the Forest’ is a great beginning to the album. The keyboard that goes throughout adds a mystical feel to it that will be seen throughout the record. ‘Don’t Think You’re the First’ is a semi-creepy song. The guitar style they use in this helps add a very eerie and haunting mood to it that keeps you wanting more. Unlike the first two, ‘Liezah’ is very clean; almost a light skiffle. Though it contains short bursts of weird melodies, it’s becomes an acoustic sound that you’ll hear throughout the album also. ‘Talkin’ Gypsy Market Blues’ is really annoying. They’ve got the whole blues thing down, but my God, the vocals are irritating. The song gets very monotonous and James Skelly is not meant to sing the blues, ever. ‘Secret Kiss’ is a lot better than ‘TGMB’. It’s a light sounding song that has elements of the creepy keyboard sound, but the overall mood is similar to that of ‘Liezah’. ‘Milkwood Blues’ is the last blues song, and it’s better than the other, but it’s not great. They know how to play the blues, but the song is far too dragged out and too mellow. It’s almost cocktail party type music. ‘Bill McCai’ tells the story of a depressed middle-aged man whose ‘kids don’t even notice him’ and he wishes he were a little boy again. The song is a hugely nice change to the previous bunch. It’s a little gloomy, but with a hopeful tone. What really helps it is it’s undeniable catchiness. ‘Eskimo Lament’ is very dreamlike. Half way through, it gets brassy and weird but it’s still far too slow for my liking. The whole ‘rain rain go away’ idea is an exhausted concept which really makes the song lack cleverness. ‘Careless Hands’ is too similar to the last song for the fact that it’s overdrawn and you’re dying for it to end. ‘Pass it On’ sounds very similar to ‘You Like Me Too Much’ by The Beatles. It’s calm like the last two, but it’s a bit more upbeat. It’s nostalgic and it’s downright beautiful. ‘All Of Our Love’ is a combination of the calm and haunting styles of the album. The song doesn’t sound like it was mixed properly (i.e. The guitar is too loud, the vocals are too quiet…) and it’s exceedingly repetitive. ‘Confessions of A.D.D.D.’ starts out nice but it gets almost western, which is not nice to the ears or the headache you’ve developed from the last song. Halfway through it gets significantly better and I’m glad they didn’t end the album on a slow note. Though the album was ultra-fantastic or anything, they are still a sound band that with more maturity and experience are bound to make an album that’s more cohesive and pulled together. With clear early sixties and fifties influences, they are promising and just need a little Magic and Medicine.

“I think Liverpool has kept a lot of its musical innocence. The sound that often comes out is what has sort of been passed on or influenced by another Liverpool band. It’s stayed traditional with guitar music and we’ve stayed true to it.”-Ian Skelly

Video for Pass it On

The Coral's Official Website
Note: This is their 2nd album and since then, they've come out with two others. Invisible Invasion, the one that came out directly after this, has Rootkit on it (it's a software that'll screw up your computer if you load it on) so I'd make sure you get a copy of it that doesn't have it (which I don't know how you'd tell and it's Sony's doing, not theirs). Also, because they're on Deltasonic, no band of theirs has any CD that has a U.S. release so if you find these albums in stores you're lucky. I found this at Bestbuy, the only CD of The Coral they had.

VIVA LA VIDA OR DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS-Coldplay

Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends-
Coldplay
Status-Out as of 2008
Label-Capitol
Rating-4 Feathers

From London, Coldplay is one of those few British bands that’s actually popular in the UK and the U.S. With the mad success of ‘Parachutes’ and ‘A Rush of Blood to the Head’, and the disappointment that was ‘X&Y’, you could only hope that these four would create something that actually lives up to their debuts. Now in their early thirties, they’ve decided to try a style completely different to that of the last three. ‘Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends’ is that follow-up that everyone was hoping for. The album starts out with ‘Life In Technicolour’. A cheery overture starting out and album can only lead one to have expectations grandeur. This song reminds me very heavily of strawberries: just listen, you’ll see. ‘Cemeteries of London’ is dreary enough to fit the title and it’s gloomy enough to make it not sound like a repeat of the previous song. The acoustic guitar helps add to the middle-earth feel. ‘Lost!’ is bit annoying to me. I really don’t like the clapping so much. Though it doesn’t take away from the mood or splendor of the album, I really just don’t like it. It has a coconut sound that sounds stupid compared to the rest. ‘42’ is much better than ‘Lost!’. It’s gloomy and a bit eerie with the whole ‘I’m not dead, they’re just living in my head’ thing, but it has a pure sound to it that envelops you. When the mood changes to the ‘you didn’t get to heaven but you made it close’ thing, it really captivates the eardrums. I really don’t like ‘Lovers in Japan’ for the fact that it sounds too much like U2. Though it sounds a bit stupid compared to the rest of the album, the ‘Bron-Y-Aur-Stomp’ drum sound helps to make it more cohesive to the rest. ‘Reign of Love’ has a very storybook mood. It’s happy, but with that soft piano that further reminds me of fruit, melons to be exact. ‘Yes’ has a very murky, deep feel to it that makes you wonder why they didn’t name it ‘No’. The ‘Russian Folk Dance’ sounding strings helps add to the weird but dramatic sound of the album. ‘Chinese Sleep Chant’ is supposed to be a hidden track, but it’s not really hidden. The airy vocals and upbeat drums create a much more of a ‘YES!’ feel than the previous. It really puts you in a pleasant, very dreamlike mood, one that lasts too. ‘Viva La Vida’ goes right proper with the rest of the album. The strings produce such a clean, almost emotional sound, that’s unbelievably enchanting and the enthralling vocals just tie it together. ‘Violet Hill’ is a completely different sound from the previous but the general gist really goes. The end bit with the poignant and ghostly piano really finishes off the song nicely. ‘Strawberry Swing’ sounds very Irish bag pipe-y. Boysenberries come to mind with the thick drum beat and light acoustic guitar. It’s just a bit long. ‘Death and All His Friends’ finishes the album with a peaches and cream aura. Mid way, it develops a ‘Two of Us’ sort of feel (that’s the cream). The hidden track ‘The Escapist’ sounds like the lead off with the very spacy, strawberry feel. When an album loops it adds a much more finished, complete feel to it. Though a much better addition to their catalogue than ‘X&Y’, it’s still a huge style change to what you’re used to with Coldplay. Containing their biggest hit to date (Viva la Vida), you can easily see why this album sold so well. I’d suggest it to anyone, Coldplay fan or not. Melons and berries, makes a good fruit salad.

"We feel like a new band again, rather than some corporate machine"-Jonny Buckland

Video for Violet Hill

Coldplay's Official Website
Note: It's about time I review this album being that I don't review too many albums that came out this year. I'm going to post more reviews this week, like one a day or something so check back when you can. I hope you enjoy and I love the comments!