I have over 133gb of music in my itunes library, over 20,000 songs that would take me 64.3 days to play. Then why do I suddenly click on this album and play it 3 times in a row, plonk it on my iphone and play it over and over and over at work?

Quite simple really – it’s bloody marvelous.

It’s full of well crafted songs, played by a bunch of guys that should now be millionaires, a bunch of guys with talent led by former World Party member Steve McEwan. They were actually an English rock band based out of London. With Peter Clarke – bass, Matthew Crozer – guitar and Tim Bye – drums. They made a sound grounded in solid musical grooves – in fact they didn’t do much wrong – they just never made it.

How sad is that?

Peter now works in a crisp factory
Matthew teaches English
Tim sells Insurance and
Steve is a lollipop man.

How sad is that?

More to come in the next mix.

Chatting online with Cheezy the other day and he recommended I listen to Beirut’s new album. Funny he should mention them as my youngest pup loves it and can’t believe that I don’t – maybe I’m missing something here. Anyway I promised Cheezy I will play again – I have… and the Cheezeman has done good, there’s much to like here – a good album.

Cheezy wondered if it could be next month’s Album of the Month, not sure it’s that good especially when there are new releases by Wilco, Laura Marling, June Tabor & Oysterband, Lindsey Buckingham to name but a few. But it is worthy of a review – so I asked Cheezy to write one

“Shit! I’ve never written a review in my life & don’t think i can start now. I either like some song/music or i don’t & really don’t analyze why.

The title track is my favorite + the other two links I put up. OK, take the title track: I love the guy’s voice, the sparseness of the song, it hits me in the heart & makes me happy, but damn near makes me want to cry as well”.

Enough said – thanks Cheezy.

Do you fancy writing a review of your favourite album (old or new) – you know where I am.

What’s all this fuss and ballyhoo about ‘Helplessness Blues’ the new album from Fleet Foxes. It’s quite a good album – quite good with a few highlights that made me go “mmm…I like that” (Bedouin Dress/Grown Oceans) but does it deserve all the 5 star reviews and cross-eyed music journalists wetting their grubby little pants? NO.

My Morning Jacket’s new album ‘Circuital’ on the other hand seems to have been released without much blaring of trumpets. And it a far better album.

I have a lot of time for MMJ, have very fond memories of listening to ‘Okonokos’ constantly for 3 days while in Amsterdam with my youngest pup a few years ago – happy days. They’re a good band who always seem to produce the goods – always able to see past the hype and crap of the music industry and just plod on making good album after good album – definitely my type of band.

There are no surprises on this album, 10 great songs with massive hooks, a little bit of funk and a couple of rather lovely smoochy slow songs that will have thousands holding their lighters aloft in the months to come. It also has some lovely harmonies intertwined with a delicate country feeling similar in many ways to Fleet Foxes but so much better, more genuine more honest.

MMJ have in fact outfoxed the Fleets.

01 Victory Dance

10 Movin Away

Let me share with you two amazing albums with no words, no singer just music…and to coin a phase…just great music.

The Astounding Eyes Of Rita – Anouar Brahem

05 Al Birwa

Route One Or Die – Three Trapped Tigers

02 Noise Trade

Rarely has an album sounded so good on first listen – rarely sounded so complete, like a long lost friend or an album from your youth that had been cast aside then rediscovered prompting much deep joy. And yes it does get better……….

I know very little about Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip) Charles Hayward (This Heat), John Coxon (Spiritualized) and Pat Thomas’ (Derek Bailey) but these guys came together for one day (yes one day) and recorded the songs of Alexis Taylor with very little planning, preparation or production. Maybe this is the way all music should be made

09 Nothing But Words

10 You’re No Good

You may know that I’m fasting - well not actually fasting, but not buying many albums these days and concentrating more on the song. So far this year I have only bought around 5 albums, a very small number for me.

So when I do buy an album it has to be something special, by a band that I know will really make me go “mmm…….I LOVE this”.

Unfortunately, Elbow, with their latest long player, fails to do this – or even come close.

05 Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl

This is a shame, as I do like these guys and the album ain’t bad – take ‘”Jesus Is A Rochdale Girl’. Absolutely nothing wrong with it, nice acoustic track with a nice melody, hushed vocals really nice. But that all I can say about it…………it’s nice.

The thing that stays in my mind as I write this is – I have played this album around 5 or 6 times and once the album has finished I am struggling to remember anything about it – it’s gone – there is nothing remarkable about it – nothing to make me smile – nothing to make me play it again.

Am I missing something here – please let me know – it’s had great reviews, they’re a great band just a bit bland on this album.

11 Dear Friends

Just doing a bit of browsing when I read some comments on Amazon about a review I wrote on Muse’s last album “The Resistance” - and I think I may have upset a few people – oh well – tough nuts the album is tosh. Hey maybe I should do more bad reviews on here and Amazon – maybe that will get some more people commenting.

This is the review:
I don’t really like Muse. In fact I can honestly say that they get on my nerves. I dislike the way the music press lick their arse – dislike the way they’re seen as the saviours of modern rock music – dislike the way they make music (I can see them now in the studio – “Yes let’s have a piano intro like Freddie would do, yes lets have big drums like Roger would do” “ooh ooh ooh Matthew, tonight we’re going to be Queen”

The only album worth half a listen is `Absolution’ with `Time Running Out’ and `Hysteria’ as obvious highlights but the rest I fail to find many things that make me go “mmm”. Their new album is much the same – starting with the old theme from Dr. Who it goes steadily downhill until it reaches the pits with a 3 part overture (Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1 [Overture], Exogenesis: Symphony Part 2 [Cross-pollination] Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3 [Redemption]) – I just can’t be arsed anymore with this tosh, where’s the delete button.

* Overall: 1.0 out of 5 stars5

These are the comments
A. Panama says:
Why are you reviewing a product like this when you hate the artist altogether? Make a blog and post it there. This is to give honest, unbias reviews to help customers, not to whine about a band you are clearly infatuated with.

Joao Couto says:
It is obvious why he/she did that! Because he is the kind of person that thinks. I like this group of bands so everything else is just garbage! He/sHE should be the kind of listener who values his favourite bands saying bad things about the others. But everyone have their own music preferences, but what anyone cannot denie is that muse are one of the greatest bands nowadays!

Mr. Daniel J. Roebuck says:
I agree with you that this review is biased, but I can easily deny that muse is one of the greatest bands. Foo Fighters, Scars on Broadway and The Zico Chain are much better… muse have become overrated, and have started with the usual conveyer belt rubbish that everyone likes. BHAR sucked, but compared to the Resistance it’s brilliant. I miss the days of Origin of Symmetry. Now that album had a real power to it.

Mr. Jbk Ryan says:
the exogenesis overture is the pits?? grow up and expand your musical tastes. I appreciated Muse since Showbiz while thinking that bellamy was a bit egotistical but this album blew me away, deep and engrosing. I’m still listening to it several times a week to this day which is very rare. So, in my not so humble opinion, Muse are the greatest band in modern rock as they’re doing something different, operatic and bombastic with vision. You can keep your whiny college rock, I’ll stick with the stuff for grown ups. ok?!

‘The greatest band in modern rock’-really? Nope I don’t reckon that such a grandiose statement can be taken seriously-yeah, ok its your opinion, but I fundamentally disagree with it.
S.R.J

Nugent_Dirt says:
Why not. Sometimes it’s a case of simply having to redress the balance, to provide an alnerative to all the brown-nosingly sycophantic nonsense that’s often spouted about Muse, Radiohead, REM and a few others

C. Allen says:
this reviewer is a comedian, fancies himself as a top notch critic, top notch fool more like

So there we go it’s official, I’m a top notch fool

image by musicstack.com

Earlier today my lovely niece (the youngest dog sprog) sent me a link to Matthew Kilford’s MySpace page. Gulp. Just one listen later and I was off buying his House on the Hill EP – a bit of a record for miserly me who normally takes at least six months of will I, won’t I to eventually persuade myself to part with the spondoolies for new music.

Having listened to the EP all morning, I was going to wait for laughing dog to have a listen and write a review (I’m that sure he’ll love the music) but he’s up to his proverbial armpits in the new job at the moment so in lieu of the rave review that’s in my head, I’ll just point you in the direction of the music, some useful links and let you make your own minds up.

First up, a little background from Matt’s blog:

Matthew Kilford is a Swindon born singer/songwriter who currently resides in the relative serenity of the Oxfordshire countryside. Matthew is already creating a buzz on the live circuit having supported The Low Anthem in New York plus playing with Andy Yorke, Dawn Kinnard and Seth Lakeman. Autumn 2008 saw the release of his first four track E.P. entitled “House on the Hill”, which was chosen for radio play on Tom Robinson’s BBC Introducing show, and Mojo’s “Church of Dave”. In 2009, Matthew was selected to play at the Radio One Big Weekend Official Fringe festival, and at Camden Crawl (he’s been welcomed back to play this year). He also provided a highly acclaimed cover of Hank Williams’ “Calling You” for the compilation album “Sacred Songs For Worrying Times”, which sat comfortably alongside contributions from Richard Hawley, Noah and the Whale and David Arnold. Keen to play more festivals, Matthew entered the Glastonbury Emerging competition 2010 and reached the final 10 of the public voting stage (out of 1,600 entries). He was also picked by 6 Music and Radio 1 to play Wychwood 2010 festival on the BBC Introducing stage and has been confirmed to play Guilfest 2010.

Autumn 2008? I’ve missed two whole years of his music? Dammit. See, there’s the problem with the music industry – we’re force fed cowellcrap™ where singer songwriters of this quality would be unlikely to get through the auditions, let alone survive the behind the scenes manipulations that ensure that the “winner” is the most likely to line Cowell’s pockets.

Anyway, let’s spread the word about great singer-songwriters like Matthew. Here’s a great review at Last.fm that I would’ve written if I *ahem* could string a review sentence together. (It’s my brother wot writes the reviews in our family.)

Matthew Kilford is a singer/songwriter who currently resides in the relative serenity of the Oxfordshire countryside. Matt once played guitar in the highly acclaimed indie rock outfit Belarus, but all that’s in the past. The future, as they say, is where it’s at. After the demise of the aforementioned Belarus, Matt began to work in earnest on his own songs, enjoying the simplicity and freedom of being able to write and perform with just his voice and an acoustic guitar. After a short while some of these songs popped up on the internet and people became extremely interested in the sounds they were hearing. With songs that highlight his extraordinary voice and skilful guitar playing, whilst retaining hooks and a unique songwriting slant, this is something far more magical than another acoustic troubadour furrowing his brow. After a handful of powerful performances Matt is already creating a buzz on the live circuit and has crafted a set of tunes that possess echoes of Jeff Buckley, PJ Harvey and Joni Mitchell without actually sounding like any of them. This autumn sees the release of his first four track E.P. entitled “house on the hill” which promises to be a fine debut.

Here are some shots taken at a gig at The Vic, Swindon by scooooter

Lastly, rather than buy the EP on Amazon, I got it directly from Matt and in a lovely email/twitter conversation I came to the following conclusion – he’s a hugely nice fellow and deserves great succcess. Let’s go spread the word people!

Oh and he needs to get the lyrics to all tracks up on the internet pronto. Straight from Matt, here are the never seen before lyrics to House on the Hill just for you guys.

House on the Hill by Matthew Kilford
I live by the house on the hill
I sit there alone, oh so cold, oh so still
Oh darling I wonder, does this light shine for me.
Oh darling won’t you stay here with me.

A better man would often walk by
Head up to the house on the hill
filled with pride

The sound of their shuffling
feet always warmed me
This girl, this girl only loved me

One day I was awoken by the sound
Of the church bells that were ringing
Oh so clear oh so loud

I ran to the churchyard and what did i see
This girl had forgotten me

She came out holding his hand
They kissed for the crowd that had gathered around
I stopped for a moment, my heart skipped a beat
My love she was staring right at me.

The carriage was two steps away
They kissed as the crowd cheered
but this wasn’t the same

Her eyes followed mine as the carriage went by
This girl had a tear in her eye

Now she lives in the house on the hill
She sits there alone
Oh so cold, oh so still

Looks out of her window
there’s nothing to see
expect that light that she shines there
for me

A new album is on the way in January 2011.

I can’t wait.

In the meantime, go buy the House on the Hill download at Amazon or the cd from Matt. Off you go!

Don’t be misled by the inclusion of David Gilmour in the title here. He’s present and correct throughout in spirit and more (wait til you gasp at 14 mins and 41 secs of the Metallic side) but it’s still Alex Paterson and Youth in all their glory doing the business – and what business it is.

The music simply wraps itself around you – pulls you in – then licks you all over – finally releasing you to press play again – to start this orgasmic aural experience again…and again…and again.

Tis the only way I can describe this amazing album.

01 Metallic Side (Metallic Spheres _

One of the good things about this website is the music that I get sent by some Record Companies and PR firms. They usually ask me to review or promote an artist for them – now this gives me a bit of kick. Call me simple – but I do get a thrill when asked to do this, as I am not a journalist or connected in any way to the music industry – I am simply a music lover who loves to pass on to you any new music that I like – so yeah I do get a thrill when asked to help.

I don’t review all I’m sent as some are not suitable for the site – but some are very good. One of the artists in that category of very good is Diane Cluck and her album “Oh Vanille / Ova Nil” – sent to me by Andy from 3 Syllables Records (thanks Andy).

Its not any easy listen by any stretch of the imagination, her voice can be harsh at times and its basically just her and guitar, with backing vocals sometimes added. Its sparse, delicate and quite rough around the edges – its also truly spellbinding and can quite literally take ones breath away – a magnificent acoustic achievement.

Its not easy to compare her to anybody, maybe Bjork (but aren’t all female vocalists compared to her?) maybe Sandy Denny, now that’s a compliment, maybe I shouldn’t compare her to anyone, maybe I should just listen and enjoy Diane and her songs, her subtle spirit and her way with words – she means every word every syllable. There is a passion here that is rarely found these days, a passion and uniqueness that marks her as a special talent and marks this album as one to turn to on dark and stormy winter nights, when one needs time and space for reflection.

This is Diane’s first release on 12″ vinyl. The album has been lovingly mastered by the legendary Ray Staff at Air Studios in London, and will be presented beautifully on 180g heavyweight audiophile vinyl, housed in a doubleweight inner sleeve and embossed doubleweight outer sleeve. “Oh Vanille / Ova Nil” will be hitting the shelves on 8th November 2010, and Andy is currently taking pre-orders at www.3syllablesrecords.com.

As I write this the album has just ended – I feel good, I feel relaxed and I feel like I want to hear this extraordinary singer sing her songs again – so I press play again, pour another glass of South African Shiraz, put my feet up, close my eyes and I’m………….I’m……..relaxed and happy and ready for another day,another riyal.