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Why I fucking hate Liam Gallagher.
The Gallagher feud has resulted in a vastly overrated band disbanding, and in its place two new sounds have emerged. It's a shame though that without Noel, Liam is incapable of writing songs with any depth. He seems to have reincarnated a mediocre Oasis, whilst Noel continues his brilliant songwriting in 'High Flying Birds'.
It's an even bigger shame that as well as producing shallow music, Liam Gallagher is a first class tosser. Not only does he claim to be "the greatest frontman who's ever lived", he has taken the time to slate some of the most iconic and influential bands of our generation, Radiohead and Muse sitting amongst them. It's irritating when artists like Liam can get away with producing poor music and remain successful, through feeding off a huge fan base which had already developed from a former band - Oasis, who were essentially a well plagiarised replica of the Beatles.
These are my reasons for hating 'Beady Eye'. They are a distinctly average group, with a frontman who squats behind his mic and groans down it like a bored teenager. Anyone can have a distinctive or well recognised voice, but that doesn't represent any scrap of musical talent whatsoever. If it wasn't for Oasis' dedicated fans I could easily see the group fizzling out. Unfortunately, Liam's status seems to be keeping them afloat.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing more from High Flying Birds!
George Butcher.
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Why Jake Starmore Hates the world (6)
Shit Driving is what I hate about the world. This week's article is going to be based around one of my many, many pet hates; Poor driving. I realise that, not being able to drive, I should have no opinion on this but I beg to differ.
Put behind the wheel of a car, I'm sure I'd have no idea where to start after the pedals and steering but I believe those who are 'trained' to drive should be able to turn a fucking corner using their indicators and without almost killing me.
I chose to write about this, this week because just 4 days ago I was almost run down but some prick in a Nissan. I was minding my own business, walking home from school when I hear Tinie Tempah blasting out from a small, run-down Nissan and behind the wheel i see a scrawny, spotty teenager sporting some primani sunglasses and trying to look hard. Before crossing the road, I looked to see if there were any cars wanting to turn and there weren't so i began to cross. At this point Captain Dickhead swung round the corner and had to break pretty sharp-ish to avoid hitting me. Naturally, I flipped the finger which caused our young "bad man" to look a little taken aback.
My bouts of... Pedestrian Rage... probably do involve me overreacting slightly but is it too much to bloody ask for you to hit a little nob-y thing when you want to turn a corner?
Jake Starmore X.
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Overlooked Albums 5: Masakari- The Prophet Feeds
Its strange how I connect to new music. Some albums have built reputations around them, earning themselves a place amongst musical legend. Other albums might be side projects of other bands I like, or songs I hear on the radio. The prophet feeds is none of the above, I decided to listen to it because it had great fucking cover art. The manga influenced style, the strange monster grasping towards an oblivious monk and the threatening purple hue all make the cover of the album a genius piece of art in its own right. Without an idea of what I was about to hear, I found a Masakari song on youtube. Thank god it lived up to the music.
‘Masakari’ means a battle-axe, found typically in China and Japan, and stretched over a metre long. The band’s music is the sonic equivalent of this. It is a crazed clusterfuck of americanpunkmetalcrust. That said, it is perfectly accessible, which is especially surprising when the blistering pace of the album is taken into account.
The accessibility of the music is achieved through the production. The vocals- which turn most people away from hardcore music- are low in the mix, which means the screams and grunts of the vocalist actually help, by adding to the dark chaos of the music.
Songs such as ‘Rapid Dominance’ and ‘Tempt Providence’ are manic all-out numbers, but that doesn’t mean the band disregard melody for a second. In fact, dissonance is only really embraced in ‘Pain Conceived As Tool’. It is this track in which the band abide to another theme which carries across the album: the use of samples in order to convey a political message where the tortured vocals are beyond understanding.
The crazed punk slowly reaches a climax. The album is building up from the now-sedate sounding ‘Rapid Dominance’ into the faster ‘Salvation reigns’. By the time the album reaches ‘Abandoned’, any melody, or subtlety observed earlier has long since been suffocated by the frantic guitar lines.
The track following ‘Abandoned’ is the slowest yet, and even that’s a tad excessive. But Masakari have saved the best to last. The samples, pace and sheer violence in the album culminate in its bloody conclusion: an untitled track. This is the crowning point of this album; the samples criticise racism in the American army in a terrified post-9/11 world. The track starts with a single sample, but the band slowly build up, until the voice is hidden under the band’s wall beautiful guitar work. And the song is beautiful. It’s the most simple in the album, being little more than a chord progression, but it is pulled off with such brilliance, not drawing away from the sample, but enhancing it.
36 minutes later, the album is finished. I’ll keep this short: if you want to get into hardcore music, buy this album. If you are a fan of hardcore music, this album will show you a dimension of the genre you will never before have seen.
Rapid Dominance 8/10
Pain Conceived As A Tool 8/10
Tempt Providence 7/10
Salvation Reigns 6/10
Echoes 7.5/10
The Voiceless 7/10
Nausea 7/10
Abandoned 7/10
Echelon 6/10
Untitled 10/10
Overall: 7.4/10
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Mystery Jets - Serotonin
It was around this time last year when I found out that the Mystery Jets were releasing a new album, and at first I was ecstatic; I genuinely couldn’t wait. But after a while it began to dawn on me that maybe this new album would not be at all like I expect it to be; I mean, they set the bar pretty high with their previous two albums (Making Dens and Twenty One). So, I decided to go online and check out the promotional singles that they released: ‘Flash a Hungry Smile’ and ‘Dreaming of another World’, and at first I was surprised. Don’t get me wrong, they were both very good songs, but they were of such stark contrast to their previous albums that I became pretty sceptical about how it would turn out.
At last the big day arrived, July the 5th 2010, and after my first listen I was quite disappointed. However, the album soon began to grow on me, and pretty soon I couldn’t get enough of it! I’ll take you through my favourite three on the album:
‘Alice Springs’ is the first track off of the album, and what a way to open. The keyboard on this album plays a much more dominant role than on their previous albums and it’s very clear on this song. The lyrics are also more mature and feature what some might consider insightful phrases which in my opinion almost make the song; that and the exciting, high tempo chorus, which provides a nice contrast from the much slower verses.
‘Show me the Light’ is the 6th track on the album and was released as a single on the 1st of November 2010. It features what sounds like an electronic drum playing a funky beat alongside a simple but effective, distorted guitar riff. This is just another fun song with seemingly irrelevant lyrics, but a great song nevertheless.
‘Dreaming of another World’ is the seventh track off of the album and was released as a single on the 5th of July, the same day as the album. The song starts with a cheerful guitar lick, followed by a keyboard rhythm that continues pretty much throughout the song. This is one of the singles that made me realise that they’d made large changes to their music, however, in a way, it is very much like their previous stuff.
I’m a very big fan of about half of the album, but I’m not sure about the other half. Don’t get me wrong, none of the songs are particularly bad, just not at all like the other albums, where every song reached a high standard.
I like the Mystery Jets, but I cannot compare any of their albums to another, simply because they’re almost all completely different styles of music. It varies from mood to mood which one I prefer, but I would definitely recommend all three of them.
Michael Cardenas X.
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New BBM Leaked Photos Give Hints Of What is To come in OS6?
A leaked photo of the new BBM (6.0), for all you cool kids out there. New features appear to include an updated interface and colour coded conversations/contacts, something which used to only be in a separate app, although there is no mention of BBM moving onto iPhone or Android, as we heard it might back in January. Smart move though, does anyone know any reason to buy a Blackberry apart from BBM?
Ben Thomas
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Think you got the short straw?
Hello, my name's Leah Hidden. I've never written anything like this, and I don't intend to cover it up with posh shit, I'm going to tell you how it is.
I've had it from head to toe about people moaning from the most pathetic of situations that can easily be fixed by a click of somebody's finger, and everything to be forgotten and dealt with within a week. Usually, it is the case, but when it comes to the point where people are moaning about how someone you liked got off with someone else, or some shmuck got the same dress as you and you wore it to the same party, grow the HWIGHCGSPODWEIF up and move on. You make yourself look like an idiot, and you honestly need to think about what you're saying before you go and make yourself look immature and stupid.
The worst part of everything, is people falling in too deep. I feel hypocritical saying this, but people that throw themselves into things too deeply know that one day; they're going to get hurt. Particularly, when people say 'I love you' or, 'You mean everything to me' after them dating for 2 days. Sure, people go through the stage when they have a serious relationship and take an outlook on how to change, but I think it's the fact people aren't open or willing to advise others because they feel like no-one else felt what they felt. How wrong can people be? I know relationships affected by having sex, getting too deep and not being able to get out, not knowing how to help one another, not being able to talk, friends forcing them to go out, even mental issues. Yet peoples honestly think that by having a tiff about not meeting up one weekend means they have to break up? If you think that's love, God only knows what hate is for you.
I conclude, people should think twice when thinking 'their life is over' and being too over dramatic. People are in much worse situations, no matter how deep in the rabbit hole you may think you may be.
Leah Hidden X.
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Brilliant Advertising: Part 1
This is so cool, if you can't see very well its a snow cannon that the ski slopes use to create more snow when its getting warmer, and Wrigley's decided to cover it with their man to emphasise the fresh breath.
Ben.
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Shot on EX1 and Letus Extreme.
Please check out Joe's website at http://www.joe-shaw.co.uk/
www.philipbloom.co.uk
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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1625040/
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Director: Jimmy Costa
[email protected]
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3408210/
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Cinematographer: Bryan Koss
http://web.me.com/bryankoss/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2260618/
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The whole team thanks the staff @ Vimeo for featuring this on the HD channel and everyone else on Vimeo for the great feedback.
Thanks for watching!
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Album of the week: The Kills- Blood Pressure
Listen to the live stream on this link: The Kills Live Stream
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Overlooked Albums 4: Music and Me- Nate Dogg
It’s an interesting point in history for hip-hop. After a few years in which untalented, flowless, auto-tuned sellouts (Lil Wayne in particular) were able to flourish, talented meaningful flows and inspired choruses are making a comeback. Perhaps best indicated by the immanent release of the 11-years-in-the-making Detox, or the recent triumph of progressive mainstream hip-hop via Kanye West, a key hip-hop revival is on its way.
But the revival of what? The great R’n’b/Hip-Hop singer. Not like Akon. Not like Usher. Like Nate Dogg, who sadly passed away earlier this month. Having sung on such classic hip-hop tracks as ‘The Next Episode’, Nate’s position in the hall of hip-hop fame was clearly set out for him. Even if his greatest achievement, 2001’s ‘Music and Me’ continues to be overlooked. Whilst the album is r'n'b overall, the featured rappers give the album a very hip-hop feel.
I Got Love
The catchy, Bink! produced r’n’b number is slow and infectious. Dogg lays out his vocal ability for the world to see, alongside solidifying his already untouchable reputation. 10/10
Backdoor
The pace doesn’t pick up from the slow r’n’b of ‘I Got Love’ but the addition of a brass section warms the track, but does little to distract from the fact that this track is not more than a development of the previous track. 7/10
Keep It G.A.N.G.S.T.A. 7/10
I Pledge Allegiance 8/10
Your Woman Has Just Been Sighted 6/10
Your Wife
The Dre Produced number features a classic beat and has the chilled feel of other Dre songs, which, combined with an amazing delivery from the producer and Nate, makes the track brilliant. 10/10
Another Short Story 6/10
Concrete Streets 7/10
Real Pimp 7/10
Ditty Dum Ditty Do
The fact that this song is under the name ‘Nate Dogg’ means nothing. Snoop Dogg makes the track with this flawless flow. 10/10
Music And Me 7/10
The quality of this album outlines the fact that the death of Nathaniel Dwayne Hale was not just a tragedy in the sense that a man died age 41- it is a tragedy for music.
7.7/10
Amar Desai X.
© All opinions and comments copyright Vivacious Magazine 2011
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The Drums-The Drums
The Drums is the debut, self titled album by American band, The Drums. The album was released on the 7th of June 2010, just as summer began, and it couldn’t have been released at a better time; for myself (and I’m sure many others) this album provided the soundtrack to my summer holidays with the extremely summery, almost cheesy guitar riffs and lyrics that don’t make any sense, with some really summer based titles, such as ‘Let’s Go Surfing’.
Jonathan Pierce’s voice matches the key of the guitar perfectly, it’s just a shame that it has been auto tuned and he cannot sing well at live shows. Nevertheless, don’t let this fact put you off of the album.
The second track ‘Me and the Moon’ was released as a single on the 31st of May 2010 and was received quite well by the public, although achieved no notable chart position. Like most of the songs on this album, it starts off with a basic but fun drum beat, and one by one introduces the singing, guitar, keyboard etc… This is possibly my favourite song off of the album. It was the second promotional single for the album (the first track on the album ‘Best Friend’ was released on the 28th of May, just three days before).
The third track off of the album is called ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ and it is quite likely that you would have already heard this one, with its easily recognisable chorus line: “Hey Mama, I wanna go surfing!” which made my summer. This track achieved the most success off of the album as a single, peaking at 63rd in the UK charts. Definitely give this one a listen.
The seventh track on the album, ‘Down by the Water’, is another joint favourite of mine off of the CD. Whilst the chorus may not be exciting or relevant to anything you have ever done/will do, the verses evoke passion and a powerful voice from Jonathan Pierce (the lead singer) and their lyrics could easily have a connection with you. The easy drum rhythm and the soft drone of the keyboard make this the perfect song for a summer’s evening, once again reflecting the theme of summer.
Overall, I rather enjoyed having this album on my iPod, blasting out of my dock whilst I tried to enjoy my summer, however, the only qualm that I have with this album is that other than the three songs that I have described in greater detail above, nearly every other song on the album sounds exactly the same. So, if you’re one of those people who just stick an album on and press play, you’ll enjoy this; however, if you’re the opposite, and choose each song that you listen to individually, then definitely check out the three songs reviewed above, and also try ‘Saddest Summer’ off of the Summertime! EP released by The Drums in 2009.
Michael Cardenas X
© All opinions and comments copyright Vivacious Magazine 2011
#drums#down#by#the#water#let's#go#surfing#surfin#ben#thomas#vivacious#magazine#me#and#the#moon#jonathan#pierce
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