Hulk Smash. Dont Get Found Out

Sometimes I fear that I will get found out, not that I am trying to hide anything but because people expect things of you and are more than often blissfully unaware of the chaos that goes on inside my mind to deliver something in a calm and methodical way. I think I have a pretty good grip on the inner workings of my brain, I have spent time devoted to the study of its processes and idiocentricities, not the brain in general I hasten to add  this study is not biological but merely a process of trial and inevitable and amusing error that has taught me to respect my failings and where possible use them to make me balanced. Im sure that most people would see it as a bad thing that I closely felt a kindred spirit in the latest portrayal of Eric Banner and The Hulk in the film ‘Avengers Assemble’ – “my secret is, im always angry”, that’s me all over a walking ball of rage who for the most part manages not to be green. Much to most people who have to spend time with me’s dismay I have no desire to quel this anger or maybe just a fear of what I would be left with if I did. The fire in my belly is what drives me its what lets me take on situations that could or should knock me to my knees and in a very Darwinian sense it makes me a strong predator who will hopefully not be eaten anytime soon, the occasional red mist that creates a more frightening beast is the downside to my attempts to being a respected leader and a person commanding of respect. I work to very small margins of error and walking close and falling short is to me completely intollerably fustrating which is how I devote so much energy to staying on the right side of that line and sedating my own fustrations. I guess what it blls down too is a trade off that I have made with myself that I am odviously not ready to take any more steps forward with, when things are going seriously wrong or I am in a time that others would see as chaotic infuriating and frantic I can be as calm as a hindu cow and do my best to instill that calm in the minds of others but outside of that world the small things can really set me off. I love the small things, they are the details that give this world its individuality and its beauty so yes I let the small things get to me and react in a very destructive and aggressive manner but that is because I want the details to be right and because of that I can deal with most big problems that life can create with a clear head and a focused approach. For those who have seen or felt the effects of my temper I apologise and for my twisted views on he power of ego and evolutionary dominance I make no apologies but don’t expect anybody to take these ramblings on themselves but hope you understand that they make my life an easier place to be.

I suppose its one of the true ironies of life that very few of the things you strive for or want end up being anything like you expected they would and more often than notend up being more trouble than you thought they would be worth. It’s all tied up in our intrinsic greed and lack of satisfaction with life as a whole or maybe to be more positive it is the thing that keeps us driving on rather than ever rregressing or being too happy with what we have and becoming lazy. You see I always thought that I wanted to be taken seriously, to feel that my opinions matter but as soon as this becomes a reality you walk into a mindfield of doubt and insecurities and even when your ideas turn out well and others seem to be inspired by them you start to wonder if they came from a good place or if you were guided heavily by a series of strokes of luck that are very soon surely going to run out. This of course can all be attributed to perfectly normal human parnoia but that of course could be seen as a constructed coping mechanisms to dampen our fears that we are all mainly in well over our heads. I’ve never taken things too seriously, I think it’s unhealthy, time consuming and worringly dull

I am lucky enough to be given the opportunity every day to do something that I know in my heart is the best I can do it right now, im not bragging about my success I am only wishing and hoping that everybody has that opportunity. I am counting my blessings and hoping that everybody gets the chance to step up to the play and have their chance to bat whatever the results may be. Don’t get me wrong I don’t for a minute believe that I have “arrived” as a trusted mentor of mine youst to say, It’s all small victories and all fully appreciated in my own head and without feeling the need to shout about it too loudly and if I do then taking care to only deliver my happiness in a way that welcomes other people in rather than isolating them. I wish you all the best for your lives and hope that all of you are getting the chance to be the wonderful, interesting and dynamic people that I know you all. Now i have been given my fair share of opportunity well infact I feel I have been given quite a few peoples fair share but i hope I wont be seen as arogant for mentioning mine, because if by my words I could right the wrong that lifes not fair then I think my writing would be more widely spread than the blogosphere oddity that it is. Yes I do believe in luck because I don’t think that all chances are earned and on many occasions the more deserving is not the recipient of the prize, but seizing the opportunity or not is a personel strength or failure so when stepping up to challenge oneself I do it with no fear and with an open heart because I trust in my own abilitie at that time and feel that the outcome will take me where I need to go. I know it all sounds very Zen but FUCK it, yes I do have to use so many cuss words and if you disagre well “that’s just like your opinion man”.

There was a serious gap in my internet usage with the move in house so when reconnectiong there has been a barage of new music as I realise how much I rely on a constatnt stream of newness but with my I-pod freezing up for no apparent reasons and the musical onslaught brought upon me from my kitchen companions is unrellentingly gangster rap and aggressive D&B there has not been enough hours in the day to listen to everything with a suitibaly attentive ear. I know that I am apparently the boss and could insist on whatever I like to be played but I also believe in the great motivational power of music and if that is the sounds tht gee’s them up then who am I to complain, I never want to be the grumpy and cranky boss who sets the tone and has to have everything his own way – I will see if I am still saying that after another months R&B flava’s.

   ‘Blunderbuss’ by Jack White So Jack finally ditches the supporting acts and assortment of artists he has released with over the years and offers us up a solo release although the list of contributing artists is longer than average but the album does have his stamp all over it. He must keep himself busy but with such prolific releasing we can only realise that this is a labour of love and that writing songs is something that is a compulsion not a chore. He has been heard saying that some of these songs and others have been kicking around for some time but haven’t seemed appropriate to produce with any of the other outfits he has performed with, he has a strong sense of where his music fits and how he wants each side of his very multi-faceted personality to be perceived. I must admit that although I have enjoyed his guitar playing and in some part his voice I have never really trusted Jack White, there is just something about him that deliberately makes him aloof and distant I guess that could also be described as enigmatic and mysterious but the cynic in me thinks he could be laughing at us all from his musical ivory tower. But he does seem to like the blues organ that is one of my favourite sounds and he uses it well in this sometimes quite joyous album. But for the most part I find the music a bit slapped together and incoherent, the man has clearly got a lot of ideas and maybe not enough patcirence. The riffs are as strong as ever but for a man who went from enigmatic rock saviour to paying dues to country roots to Bond movie theme songs its hard to feel where his self lies. For all the bands and intrigue what we really want is jack white behind a Gretsch guitar laying down riffs that very few musicians can axe up next too. The music is enjoyable but there is no consistent theme or balance that stops it from approaching greatness.

   ‘Boys & Girls’ by Alabama Shakes A&R men and women are loosing their jobs across record companies across the world, losing out to the self-marketing power of the internet and the self-fulfilling hype machines that churn out popular opinion on a minute by minute number crunching machine, one track or one performance can be all it takes to create a buzz that will spread like wildfire and become a big boot in a lot of important doors that before would have had to be bribed open by well-connected industry insiders. When those in the know do scoop us all it is usually the genius hunters at Rough Trade Records who have the knack of seeing the best in raw talent and doing the minimal possible in the way of polishing to deliver a gritty real interpretation of music that comes from the heart. The sort of band that are hobbled together from the few appreciators of abstract thought in towns full of old fashioned obstanance, but towns with a rich musical culture that with a new generation drawing influence from can make a newish and interesting combination. I do hate the hype machine though it far too often raises people too high before they really have the chance to learn what they are about and although the high points in this album that are being touted with air play and page coverage I think there are holes in the rest of the album that I’m sure will be filled with time and the small release of constraints that successful label contribution offers. But being positive there are moments of spot on blues drops and splitting yelps of vocal greatness and guitar fuzz that are rarely seen. The hipsters and the scene setters are tipping there songs to be a highlight of the summer so lets hope they come over with all guns blazing and have the rock and roll stones to live up to the hype.

   ‘…A Wasteland Companion’ by M.Ward My personal favourite troubadour pixie and guitar genius is back with another bittersweet offering that manages to fuse his deeply personal and heartfelt tenderness with his dry wit and uncanny turn of phrase. M.Ward has tapped into a time and space that remains untouched by others he has his own brand of shuffling blues rhythm and fingerpicking style that puts him in a league all of his own. One of the main things that makes me fall for an artist is a turn of phrase, a way of looking at the world or expressing it that brings new things to light or puts a smile on my face even when contemplating a situation that may be seen from the outside as dour or sad, with this music breakups and loneliness are spun into a web of wonderful words and compelling guitar lines that cheers up my cold soul. Beautiful ironies are created and stories are spun that speak of love and tragedy that are like a compelling odyssey that transports you to another place and the singer has that rare ability to give his story over to the listener and let them resonate through the passage of your own life and gives the songs meaning above just appreciation. My sad times have been soothed by M.Ward’s music and I have set off on road trips on sunny days with his guitar lines beating in my chest. I doubt that as far as an album he will ever recapture the magnificence of ‘Transfiguration Of Vincent’ but this as near as he has been since with a beautiful balance and a comfort in his own being.

  ‘Bloom’ by Beach House After a spell of time out of the loop with no new music coming my way and the waves of the radio and old cd’s keeping my company there can have been no better welcome back to the world of internet hunting and all the gossip and excitement that causes searching for the new and wonderful than to be wrapped in the warm blanket of the sounds created by this group. Luckily for all of us there has been no departure of style and a group that encapsulates the characteristics of the dream-pop genre they show how deep, haunting and powerful that idea can be how eerily atmospheric and uplifting it can sound and how resonant and consuming their music can feel. With all music it is the small sounds that I grow to love and without these skilfully engineered building blocks there is nothing, on a stave the music is simple and possibly insipid but the building the layers and the quality of the noises that inhabit those crotchets and semi quavers is what fills the bones to give us a production of approaching epic proportions.

The sound is grander and slightly more outrospective but that is the growth that comes with acceptance and the confidence that provides, the stages get louder and the long cooing echoes of breathy vocal seem even more appropriate, guitar lines soar a little higher and more complex but it is the casio bleeps and the swoons of breathy female vocal that are hard to resist. The sound is dreamy, sparce and fleeting yet rich and warm with a faint air of darkness with repeated themes singing straight into your unconscious brain.

Seeing this group perform on the last in the present series of ‘Later with Jools Holland’ was a treat, I love this program and when you see a band you love on there and the other acts performing that night looking on as something magical occurs. Paloma Faith the ridiculous trollop that she is trying to muster some emotional while looking completely ridiculous in a gold lamme toilet roll holder followed by the simple elegance of Victoria Legrand singing ‘Other People’ was a priceless show of how much I love being on this side of the musical appreciation spectrum.

Since the drought there has been a downpour and a season in the sun that lasted a week, some fantastic music has come my way and I hope to tell you about it a lot sooner this time because there are some bits you shouldn’t miss, so until then I bid you a welcome to the summer months and hope that it can bring smiles to all our faces.

Beauty Small & Wide

So far this year I have delved into the touchy feely side of my relations with other human beings and partly shelved my usual vitriol and not shoke my fist at too many things, the budget being that bit too much too resist. This time you find me at the start of spring, a change of seasons for the world and also for me in my life – so what better way to celebrate than with some glorious hippy rhetoric about the beauty of the world and of course some excellent music.

There is a peace in my soul that is flowing the good vibes and calm mentality into my life once more as I once again delve away from the city and into the quiet and beautiful parts of jolly old England that are still keeping this a green and pleasant land. I found the part of me that is peaceful and placid in the outbacks of Australia, hundreds of kilometers away from any human soul and reliant on the sun for everything and at the mercy of nature’s whim, there I learned a respect for the world and a new way of appreciating the small details in the grand schemes that build the blocks of this beautiful Earth. I feared that nobody would believe me, this person walking barefoot across the plains of the Northern Territory and scrambling up rock faces stroking the surface of every rock and lifting every leaf to my nose was a far cry from the lumbering drunk who had been stumbling around the cosmopolitan chaos of Brighton with little respect for anything except pub opening times. I worried that as soon as the great open spaces had folded in to man made structures and I was sorounded by human endevour and corruption I would once again languish into the haze of loutish intoxication that had been my escape for so long.My fears were of course in some way justified and my will was and is no stronger than that of any man but in Adelaide after returning from some time “out there” I sat staring at a blossom tree in an urban garden of a house where reckless abandon was in full dominion and I saw the quiet beauty of the wild twist its magic around my heart and I knew that I would always have that place inside of me, that wherever I went and however much I descended into the human world I had found my peace with the planet and I would forever know how to see its messages.

My new job became an exciting proposition as I walked to the back of the pub and saw the stretching vista of the Chiltern valley spread out infront of me. Im staring out over the view now and baby lambs skip unsure steps over green fields as Red Kite’s hover overhead looking for an easy meal. Ancient copse’s of greys and greens roll over the hills and line the sides of manuquered fields and over it all the billowing majesty of the heavens, great explosions of cloud billowing and mushrooming over our tiny lives. It’s easy again to conjour that far away fieling to suspend yourself in the quiet calm even when you are standing in the center of a very human storm. I am drawing from the inspiration of the fields and trying to be the person I know I can be, chaos can have no hold over you if you have truly surrended to the simple serrenity of a natural understanding its just much easier to do when it is painted infront of you in an unescapable vision.

I am settling into my 30’s quite nicely and feeling proud of myself while still knowing I must push myself every day to go further and be more it’s quite a slap in your own face when you realise that the things in life you once loathed are now the things that are driving you forward but that is part of the mystery of growing up. It’s all too easy to sit and consider and then type your ideas and ideal to a glowing white screen but being asked to be inspirational to others on a day to day basis is a new and interesting challenge that I am relishng. I am enjoying my space in the world it’s a calm haven that is allowing me to be the person that I need to be, taken away from the capitalist structures of urban dwelling I can even ignore the well groomed upper class types who frequent these affluent hills because I can take a look out of the window and remember my perspective and look to those clouds for the nearest I get to religion.

   ‘Noctourniquet’ by The Mars Volta  This will always be a band with a special place in my heart, ears and mind. I remember so clearly the anticipation of listening to the opening build up on their debut album ‘De-Loused In The Comatorium’ and waiting for the drop to hit and the measure of this band with so much potential to be heard, I was not disappointed and against the opinions of others haven’t been disappointed by them since, they knock very loudly at the doors of genius and then run screaming in a make believe language to the deepest denizens of madness and I can’t get enough of it.

When ‘At The Drive In’ split there was a hole at the top of a genre of music that Omar Rodrigues and Cedric Bixler had done much to champion and forward even though they would never presume to adhere to any scene genre or anything so saleable. The resulting split tessellated like a broken hearted lover’s pendant with ‘Sparta’ punchy and direct was caught up in the post-punk maelstrom of artists doing much to tarnish the original ideals of punk. ‘The Volta’ descended into something very much in keeping with the punk ideal  if not the sound – Loud, Angry and Visceral but refusing to conform to any conventions and never giving the people what they may think they want. Over the last 9 years The Volta boys have created a dark and terrifying world in which there music tells deep and involved stories that encapsulate a journey through deeply disturbed minds of musical virtuoso’s that are unparalleled in their delivery and unmatched in their individuality and intoxication. So with ATDI reforming (if only for live shows) what does this do to the minds and performances of these Texan rock monsters. Some will say that this album is mellow and a slap in the face to the ideals of post-punk, some will miss the concepts and involved stories of previous releases but others also have criticised them before for retreating too far into unfathomable conjunctures in the past and I will be at the head of the camp that see’s the melody and discernible lyrics as another string to the Epirus bow that this group wield every time they produce music. As usual there are deep rich layers of sound and discord that can act as a barrier to really getting in to the music but letting yourself flow with the jarring sounds and crushing rhythms will be rewarding as the Latin melodies penetrate your ear space. The vocals are the biggest shift in this release with greater clarity while still retaining the same desperate power – the album becomes more balanced than previous releases and without feeling locked out by not being a drug addled mess in a Texan desert having dark visions of blind soul conquering deities of justice this is actually a more memorable work than ‘Octahedron’ or ‘Bedlam in Goliath’. Don’t think for a moment that means we are entering the world of the 3 minute rock song or even the 12 minute prog-rock arena, The Volta twist from concord to chaos at the flick of a battery of switches with pinpoint accuracy managing to balance an un quelled belly of fire with a melodic harmony and even moments of tenderness. Still bending language to their needs and dripping with biblical and nihilistic charm in such songs as ‘Dyslexicon’;

“In the time of the sixth sun

We are cattle to the prod

And I burn this dictionary

Because it’s my dyslexicon’

But straight after we are allowed a look into the fragile heart of this tormented man of words who sees the things he loves always turning black and twisted and never sure who to blame, the cruelty of others or his own twisted view in ‘Empty Vessels Make The Loudest Sound’;

“I am a mountain of cavernous people

Searching for a lighthouse in the fog

 the flowers that grew from the cracks in the ground you paved

didn’t you think he would warn me through the thorns of my waking dreams

when the riddles connected the dots of this constellation”

These two songs back to back show a level of duality and musical cohesion that very few artists manage to forge into a workable form, it has been said that the best reason to write an album is if it would drive you crazy not too and here we see the cause and the cure laid out for us to listen too, confessional without being needy and ferociously angry while still being disappointed and realistic. I know that this will not be an easy recommendation because for some the sheer volume of noise can be too much but if you want to immerse yourself in a deeply powerful world of music then let The Volta boys entertain you with their talented hands and disturbed hearts.

   ‘Sonik Kicks’ by Paul Weller  Here is another artist who has more than earned his place in the hall of fame and legend status and has become the synonymous leader of an on-going revolution that has been pushing on since even ‘The Modfather’ was born. But what happens when ‘The Modfather’ becomes the ‘ModGrandfather’ and the brand becomes impossible to escape, I once saw Mr.Weller pushing a pram around Preston Park -Brighton in full pinstripe suit and peacock feathered hair looking every bit the part but a part of me was unsure how real it all was or if he had become what people expected him to be. The hairstyle and that look have gone through many adulterations and adaptions but back come’s Weller the elder statesman to vamp his sound and bring a style that he is very heavily touting as modern to a new audience and a sympathetic old one. In all honesty I really wish he hadn’t bothered because I hate to say bad things about him but I find this offering to be dull lacklustre and at sometimes desperate. Surrounding yourself with younger versions of yourself and letting them tweak modulators and play synthesised sounds over your musical ‘B’ sides is not a reinvention it’s a dull attempt to sound vital and make people think there is life in the old dog yet. This is making me sad to write because I once thought that Weller could do no wrong, he was the first artist that I owned the complete back catalogue of on cd (mainly as I was still saving up for the more extensive Beatles one) and “Broken Stones” was the first song that I shared with a girl as “our song”. Rumour was that Weller’s desire to explore his softer side as a songwriter with songs such as ‘English Rose’ was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Bruce Foxton and the rest of ‘The Jam’. Weller rode the 90’s wave heavily and with obvious skill but for me the turn of the millennium was one too many  centuries for this musical survivor and none of his output since then has been notable except by is disappointment. There is a very repetitive tone through this album and the guitar work seems to meld into a fuggy sound that masks any true sparks of the original Weller sound. But don’t get too down about it put on ‘Setting Sons’ and relish in a true English hero in the prime of his life and let this piffle fizzle out.

   ‘Port Of Morrow’ by The Shins  James Mercer is Indie royalty and his absence from his flagship group has caused ripples across the jingle jangle lo fi’ish community, what was he doing playing around with essentially dance producers when what we really want from him is lyrical genius and another look into his perpetually confused and lovesick cynical view of the world. There was some derision over the bands last offering many thinking it was a little too bleepy and far too cheerful, I disagreed but am also glad that this album is soaked in the bittersweet and encapsulating everything we fell in love with the band for in the first place.

There is something in this album and indeed the group that is impossible to emulate and is missing from far too much modern music and that is character. Watching the latest musical monstrosity ‘The Voice’ on BBC One and hearing the hopefuls be told how talented they are when really all they are displaying is a very 90’s vocal style of making sure every note in an octave has been achieved in as short a time as possible, they could sing at me until I turned blue and fell over and I would still not care a jot because they have no character – destined to repeat the songs of others in a bland style that is only really excusable at a drunkard party closely followed by vomiting and blacking out. I read 95% of the Harry Potter saga and even after the 1,084,000 words that ordeal entailed I still didn’t give a ploppy shit if Harry lived, died or turned gay and declared his deep arousal at all things ginger and magical because the twerp had little to no character. For an unassuming indie gent, resplendent in jeans and cardigan Mr.Mercer only has to open his mouth once to have me hooked on his every word and hoping things turn out well – that’s style baby and this album oozes it from every pour.

There are melodies and harmonies that come straight from the first two albums echoed in a childlike innocence coupled with a teenage yearning and a few years of experience. This isn’t new ground but well-trod and firm underfoot for a band that made their names with these intricate love songs sung to the stars in the dead of night. If ‘Chutes Too Narrow’ was caught up on a fantasy of how love can be then this is an album that has been chewed up and spat out by love and still wants to sing its praises. “No Way Down”;

“Make me a drink, strong enough

To wash away the dishwater world,

They said was lemonade”

How could I resist? The lyric is right up my street so go back a few years before Indie started getting so dark and broody and when you still had guitar songs that were not folk and float in the wonderful world of The Shins.

   ‘Mr.M’ by Lambchop If Mr.Mercer is Indie royalty then Kurt Wagner the pivotal member of Lambchop is a foreign dignitary of the highest order, it’s one thing to be brilliant but the myriad of line-up’s and plays on musical styles outputted by this outfit since the early 90’s has been consistently brilliant, a rare and beautiful thing. The tides of the musical styles that Wagner and co have displayed have ebbed and flowed over the years but the lounge singer voice and aching beauty of the music has seen them through to arrive here when the styles are in the limelight to be well practiced masters and it shows in every song, in every chord, in every note. Laid back and effortless would imply a lack of attention but in reality I mean it to imply that this is not forced it is one of the most natural, open and heartfelt recordings I have heard since – well last year and the astonishing album by Bill Callahan. I have drawn something new from this album at each listen and grown to like it then love it with every play, it is an unassuming but addictive piece of work that soothes at the same time as it challenges you subtly to look at the frailties of this world. Kurt Wagner operates well on the side of the self-deprecating masses whom it is hard to truly hurt because they see the ridiculous nature of the world and the great balance between the irrelevant and the important. There is a wounded sound to the vocal that gives the gravitas of experience like a sage oracle who’s every word should be hung upon as if it is the last we will hear, there is also beauty and innocence like a Disney cartoon or the saccharine world of Burt Bacharach where love lives inside of bubbles but this sings of the sugar hangover that follows where we see that good time for the temporary and unreal that it really is. There is nothing happier than misery in my opinion and this album I could wallow in cuddle up near and shake inside until all my troubles are far away – I hope you let it in and help it heal you. It’s all good so I refuse to pick out specific songs I just urge you to listen.

I have been away for too long due to my immersion in my new world, limited access to shops or internet has limited my new music acquiring abilities and when needing to display your character through the medium of a work stereo it is important to rely on old friends so thank you Biggy, J5 and the wonders of Fela Kuti for helping me set a president and be there for me in unsure times. I will shelve my need for constant cooking and figure calculating to be back sooner next time and hopefully under a brighter sun. Until then listen close and listen loud my good friends.

Going Viral & Spitting Back

I do intend to carry on a series of blogs about the relationships that form our life and make it a nice place to be but I thought that I would take a small break to be a little bit more light hearted and speak about more modern dilemmas.

I have blogged before about technology and briefly about the Internet but the way it expands and includes itself into our lives is an exponential expansion that deserves observing and realising as the game changing system that it is and not brushed aside as mundane and ‘So last Wednesday’. With a campaign video made by a group of young well doers there mission has managed to gain support and attention around the world and is influencing the actions of world leaders and mobilising American troops to give help in an African conflict. The ‘Kony 2012’ campaign became big news and spread at an incredible rate with the video reaching 83,614,332 views on You-Tube alone. I am not here to pass comment on the content of this particular campaign but to show the way the Internet is mobilising people by getting messages that appeal directly to them straight into their homes and affecting them in a very real way. Much of the protesting that has been going on around the world from the peaceful ‘Occupy’ movement to the citizens putting their lives in danger in Libya, Syria and Egypt has been orchestrated by messages sent through Facebook and other internet medium. We have here a uniting tool that gets right into our homes and can talk to us about issues with little to no worry that our involvement is being too closely tracked and we have resources at our fingertips to research any information as and when it is sent to us. So take on lots of information because its so easy but use reasoning and the information available to make your own filters and make up your own mind, it’s never been easy to spread “facts” but it has also never been so easy to check up on their validity.

Going “Viral” is a marketing managers dream to create something that has a momentum all of its own and will spread exponentially with no effort from the creator to publicise, but the Internet has a funny sense of humour and a twisted sense of logic, new things have become funny simply because of the way the data is transferred and something that has a quirky global appeal can be the simplest idea that sparks the biggest fire. With the vast majority of mobile phones now being able to record video and YouTube giving an open invitation to share this with the masses there is a flood of content than can be funny just by the shear volume. ‘Nyan Cat’,   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH2-TGUlwu4 has amassed 68,445,599 views and a simple home movie of a baby biting a toddler’s finger aptly named ‘Charlie Bit My Finger’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM has attracted a staggering 432,847,294 views. These videos or meme’s can be used like trading cards in as you pass along the little nuggets that you have found springing from the most inane situations or the depths of the strangest parts of peoples brains. These skits animations and ideas would stand no chance of Television commission and would fall flat on their face if they did; they exist in their own world where there are few rules and little censorship. Personally I find these to be great curiosities, its not like these are the only thing that the Internet or indeed YouTube gets used for, we share so much useful information online that it’s good to take a break to watch a series of cat videos. The point is that these seemingly innocent pieces of zany and irrelevant video seep into our mind and become the perfect vehicle for all kinds of messages and ideas, Viral marketing will be the primary mode of advertising within the next few years and it will get you if you like it or not.

Thinking forward to the technology that will enhance our life in the future is a daunting and exciting prospect, when you see the meteoric rise of web based systems in my lifetime we can only assume it will continue in this fashion and I am hopefully poised to embrace and utilise anything I can, so expel the fear and accept that certain things that used to be all about people will now be all about computer screens and be part of what will be on offer.

It’s been a while since I have had a rant at our ruling class which is more to do with myself getting consumed in the events of my life than them making any attempt to cease there meddling ways of interrupting and vulture like preying on the weak and needy. The venomous money snake George Osborne set out with the countries piggy bank this week to once again declare a financial war on anything remotely fun. It’s not easy to get on in the world, I don’t know if it ever has been, I am certainly still feeling the financial burden of the childish recklessness of my youth but at the same time we as a nation will be expected to do the same for the country and its past mistakes. Personally I will in many ways be better off with higher personal allowance of tax but will promptly blow this extra cash very quickly when I attempt to drink, smoke or travel anywhere in my car to do anything except go to work. Unless I can succeed in becoming exceptionally wealthy I will be forced into a situation of working into my seventies and even then have anything I have managed to save taken from me when I have precious little strength to defend myself. I do sound worryingly true blue when I talk about the welfare state and even as far as right wing when I talk of my final solution to the benefit classes but in truth it is a system of dependency offered up by past administrations that have made it easier to take than to have value and pride and earn. Maybe we can trust the Conservatives to deal out the harsh attacks on the low income families that may start to force a change in attitude but as I have shouted in many people’s ears, we will never achieve true change while greed and avarice are at the core of our beings, where financial attainment is the new enlightenment. We must install pride in the hearts of the nation before asking them to deliver on any front. There are of course far too many of us and the constant spread of our population without the infrastructure to support it makes us all as a nation a dis-functioning family fit for a bust up and paternity test on a day time TV show. So as I have ended a few blog posts and as is the call to arms for the warrior poets who will stand on the ashes of a broken Britain and usher in a new age of true Democracy I call at the top of my lungs Viva La Revolution!

    Bruce Springsteen - ‘Wrecking Ball’ Many people get called Boss every day, in building sites and offices across the land people in charge have risen above and are referred to simply as The Boss but only one man has done that through the power of Rock, there has been a King, A King Of Pop and more Queens than I care to mention but there is only one boss.

Three years since his last release and several more since he appeared with such bombast with the full E Street Band line-up with added horns to get Springsteen back to a huge chest beating Americana that will have you bashing your fist and yelling along. After playing at the inauguration of president Obama a lot has changed in the field of American politics and as elections loom and the cash cow of American democracy is being milked for every drop here one of America’s rock icons shows his colours in a joyful album of praise for the American dream  as an ideal but shaking its fist at the failures and injustice that is evident every day– the way that only Springsteen could. Even if the sentiment of the lyrics ‘we look after our own, wherever this flag is flown’ might be a double edged sword pointing at the egotistical tyrants that some of the rest of the world see when looking at the star spangled banner but for that die hard Democrat it is a chime of the Liberty Bell and a yellow ribbon round an oak tree for a ferociously patriotic nation and musician.

The thing that allows Springsteen to evoke quite damming indictments "If I had me a gun, I'd find the bastards and shoot 'em on sight," from the track “Jack Of All Trades”, is the polished production and glossy finished sound that places him in the Rock ‘N’ Roll hall of fame at the same time it attacks the country that would support such a bourgeois ideal while trampling on the workers who built the country to begin with. This is the 17^th studio release and from the cold harsh sounds of ‘Nebraska’ to the journey to the centre of the American folk tradition on ‘The Seger Sessions’ and always with the memory of the late 80’s sheen of ‘Born In The USA’, Springsteen and the exemplary E Street Band have looked at the same problem from many angles, but it’s at its best when it is played out to the big band sound the nation loves while simultaneously spitting the lyrics that tell of a mistreated and repressed people, it’s the American dream in Blues form and it’s the stuff that raises one lonely man with a guitar and a pen to be ‘The Boss’.

This is a real fist pounding album of drivetime hits with the anarchy well hidden, the titles sell you and the rhythm pushes you so hit play on ‘Shackled and Drawn’ or ‘Jack Of All Trades’ and listen to the hypocrisy that is the American Dream.

   Disappears – ‘Pre-Language’ There is a raw power here that instantly engages me, a beating urgency that makes you feel the expression of emotion in much more than the angst ridden nihilistic lyrical content but in the beating fists of the guitarist and the pounding bass as it churns out fury in every well timed snap.  Coming out of Chicago and picking up an uber respectable guitar player in the shape of Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth since ‘Lux’ there debut album in 2010. They return with their style that has been describes as Shoe-gaze, Grunge and even Krautrock set to stun and bidding your attention you pathetic worms.

The music on display here is as cold as a mortician’s slab and as blunt as my comments about James Blunt, this could be my album of the year where I poo poo whatever anyone else has to say because for me it just plain hit the spot. When Joy Division and Can were producing music I was yet to surface onto planet earth, when The Pixies, Nirvana and Sonic Youth ruled the roost I was busy riding my bike and listening to the soft rock of my parents liking. I am glad to hear a resurgence of these influences making new and exciting music in the tradition of those stylised rock gods. A fierce repetition drives the point home and the guitar roars and soars with an epic rock quality while still operating under a punk grit and pointedness that is jagged and severe. This is the second album of the year that has made me proud to be a punk again and with At The Drive In Hitting the stage this summer it seems like a true resurgence in the true spirit of punk without the pandering to a childlike audience. The spirit of punk was an attitude of spitting in the face of any authority with words and attitude to be nihilistic in nature and to believe in something far from the status quo this attitude was taken on by those tired of a rock formulaic progression while still maintaining its venom and angst, post-punk is my holy land and always has been because it adds elements of intelligence and musical cohesion to full on heartfelt emotion and loud and proud honesty.

I may be getting dragged into some hyperbole and overstating the point but here but I think this album may get overlooked and I want to set my stall out to say I really enjoyed it, I’d love for you to have a listen to the spitting venom of ‘Replicate’ because it does just what punk says on the tin.

   Band Of Skulls – ‘Sweet Sour’ In the summer of 2005 there was a brief relapse into a summer of love when The Magic Numbers came onto the scene with arc wide smiles and sending out the spirit of brotherly love not only with their  genetics but with their music.  A few years later there was a resurgence of raw power as the top of the hipster scenes toyed together with epic titans of rock and produced an aged raw power with a modern twang with a sterling album from ‘Them Crooked Vultures’. A few years later again in the backwaters of Southampton a group have managed at moments to fuse these two musical occurrences into something once more new and exciting, fusing more influences than it might at first seem.

What I know of The Southampton music scene I know from a sage oracle of musical knowledge and all round ginger god Mr.Olly Onslaught and his most excellent musings in his blog http://ifoundthisvoiceinmyrecordcollection.blogspot.co.uk , which I urge anyone listening to have a look at for some top rate musical musings. Anyways it seems modern Southampton is churning out bands fusing sounds and delivering a powerful record with some riffs that will have the steadfast of head bangers at least nodding along.

I could well be accused of musical snobbery as I first became aware of this album from a TV advert which always puts me off, I just don’t like to see an album sold like this, I don’t know why but I think it concentrates your thoughts on the commercial selling point of an album rather than the actual chords played. It takes the stylistic approach of a band well out of their hands and into the hands of marketing executives, but as there is a track on this album called ‘The Devil Takes Care Of His Own’ maybe that is devoted to those putrid spawns of Satan.

In its most successful and memorable parts this is an album of crunchy heavy riff driven rock that has all the head banging credentials but it is in reality half made of much more delicate and understated songs with close harmony and a much more Indie production value. I like duality and though some may think it weakens the message I think it shows a good use of attack and decay ‘Lay My Head Down’ waits till four minutes in to bring on a clash of reverb but then takes it back to a simple solo and a mellow vocal. But for floor filling songs that will surely be setting off a festival crowd or two this summer it has to be the upbeat songs that sell this but they two are full of good harmonies and playfull tunes, listen to ‘Bruises’ and listen Loud

   Sharon Van Etten – ‘Tramp’  To Describe something as no frills might initially sound like a shallow and insulting comment against someone’s expression, but with the ever expanding genre of modern female singer songwriter’s performing under the folk umbrella there is beginning to be a division of modernists and purists, so ‘no frills’ isn’t a negative for me as I am on the side of those who are brave enough and talented enough to let the simplicity of the song and the clarity of the unclouded voice tell the story, which goes back to the very origins of the Folk tradition.

This Brooklyn songstress approaches her music with a personal touch, she has a moody voice with a rasp that sounds hung over or desperate – the lyric is pure yet poetic the tune is in key but without being polished or fake. Her style has attracted some collaborators and supporters who are at the forefront of rediscovering an ancient style With Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner collaborating on a cover of the closing track of her 2010 album ‘Love More’. Guitar and drum duties on the opener and some of the tracks falls to long time folk/indie miserabilist Matt Barrick of The Walkmen which gives an angsty platform for Miss Van Etten to talk of ‘Serpents in my mind trying to forgive your cries, Everyone changes, in time, I hope he changes, this time.’ Its an album of understated beauty and non-shouting anger and pain, there are vocal fuge’s of cooing la’s and fawning ahhhs but it returns always to pithy lyric,  music is clearly an escape and this is an evacuation.

There is a confident resignation that comes with more than a short while dealing with bitterness, an acknowledgment of your own failings and an appreciation of the pleasure of pain. It’s an honest look of the emotions we have to deal with through lives as while there is love there is also loss and the best moments are hard fought for. Start with lead single ‘Serpents’ and the glory of the rest will follow but for me the untold bitterness of ‘Kevin’s’ is where this exciting artist is at her simple best.

I’m about to shift my life up a gear and hopefully make a positive impact on my day to day existence, that does involve moving into a detached house so hopefully the volume levels can increase and any possible stresses can be drowned out in a glorious haze of rock. Hope to speak to you soon and in the meantime happy listening and big smiles all round.