Weekly Playlist

Admittedly I have been a little slack on the 'weekly playlist'. In the time I last blogged a playlist I have seen my listening range from metal to dubstep which, probably shows how bad I am at updating this thing. Anyway, this is , in short what I have been listening to.

A-Side

1) The Smashing Pumpkins- Tarantula

2) Tool-Schism

3) The Besnard Lakes- Chicago Train

4) The Walkmen- On The Water

5) The Black Keys- Never Give You Up

6) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds- Jesus And The Moon

7) Nick Drake- Three Hours

8) Richard Thompson- Beeswing

9) Richard Thompson with Raymond Kane- Time Has Told Me

10) Arcade Fire- Rococco

11) Talking Heads- The Great Curve

12)Klaxons- Valley of the Calm Trees

Side B

1) Maximum Balloon ft Aku- Tiger

2) Katy B- Katy On A Mission

3) Magnetic Man ft Katy B- A Perfect Stranger

4) Benga- Night

5)N.E.R.D.- Hot N' Fun (Boyz Noize Mix)

6) Pryda-Niton

7) The XX - Do You Mind

8) Vampire Weekend- White Skies (Basement Jaxx Remix)

9) Toddla T - Skysurfin'

Live Music

I hear a lot of things at my current place of work but today I was left dumbfounded. I was confronted with the statement, “live music is shit” which was then followed by, “oh no, I saw Bon Jovi once and it sounded exactly like the singles”. I was startled and like a cornered animal fought out with shock and contempt . I was confronted with two equally dangerous statements; one was the fact that someone actually still liked Bon Jovi and secondly that somebody could dislike live music. I have since been compelled to write about the beauty of live music, an art form in its own very right and in a world where music is easily and illegally distributed, it allows a certain freedom of expression.

I read recently that celebrity is now the focal point of youth culture where it had once been music. This is plainly evident when it comes to what is described as ‘the X Factor generation’; where money is pumped into a circus act which celebrates idiocy and humiliation in contrast to an artist trying to lure record labels in by playing various clubs and pubs. What we have in these shows is exactly that; a show,where music is in the background. Now I don’t want to be all 'Daily Mail' and brandish live music a dying art form destroyed by money-grabbing egomaniacs. Live music is quite clearly flourishing with Glastonbury recently celebrating its 40 year anniversary and big acts selling out arena tours within seconds. This may be surprising when you think how accessible music is today but goes to show what live music has to offer

My first ever gig, at the tender age of 11, was AC/DC so I may be a little biased when it comes to the strengths of live music. As well as selling a ridiculous amount of records, AC/DC have succeeded on the back of their fierce reputation as a live band. Recording in many respects is just one aspect of a song and seeing it live can bring about a completely different interpretation. It is the artists chance to put emotion and feeling into a song and truly connect with an audience. I remember this being the case with Sigur Ros a few years back at Benicassim. I hadn’t been a massive fan of the album (apart from the Sony advert song) but seeing the band perform live was a completely different experience. They were absolutely incredible and created an atmosphere that you could never achieve from a CD recording and really did make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. There is also a lot to be said about a bands contact with it's target audience. Damon Albarn recently reacted to criticism of Gorillaz’ headline slot at Glastonbury by conceding that they had not made the successful transition from an animated performance to one of human musicians. I personally do not go to a gig to hear an exact replica of the song heard on the radio, but to see a band perform it how it is meant to be heard and seeing music as its truest art form.