Rock Candy Funk Party - We Want Grooove

Hello!

Just a quick message to say thank you for the recent support for the blog! Its been great to see so many people reading and the fact its nearing 400 views is awesome! So thank you and continue to support this blog! :)

Onwards! (On a side note, have spelt the album title right has 3 O's in it for some reason?)

Let me start off with the fact this whole album is completely instrumental and features some of my favourite musicians on it, including my drumming inspiration Tal Bergman. The other musicians included in this are Joe Bonamassa (who Tal plays drums for), Ron DeJesus, Mike Merritt and Renato Nato. These 5 men are out to rekindle peoples love for 70's/80's funk and its fair of me to say they did a splendid job. 

With Tal the front man of this band and the producer, he had the pleasure of choosing these world renown players to join forces and create this album purely for the fun and love of making music. Each bringing their own stylistic blends of genre's together to create a tribute to old school funk. 

The initial reaction from critics and fans alike was "with it being all instrumental, would it be entertaining enough?" This was something I certainly thought about, but all was put to shame when the album was released. There is not a single second on this album that can lead you to boredom. The structure of these songs has been so well thought out that as soon as you have got to grips with one part of the song, they have already moved on to the next section. 

Although there is some repetitiveness in the songs, there is always a flare of musicianship that gives the song an extra spice to keep you entertained. Or a good guitar solo.

Each song on this album features some crazy drumming from Tal. Its all about his feel, timing and stupidly tight fills within the songs that just make it that more enjoyable for me to listen to! I'll leave you some videos at the end of Rock Candy Funk Party's work and another example of Tal's incredible drumming when gigging with Joe Bonamassa. 

With this in mind there are a few songs on the record that everyone should have a listen to. If you fancy up-tempo funk then "Spaztastic" is for you. If you want some funk to just sit and listen to "Ode to Gee", "Root Down" and "Dope On a Rope" are great tracks for you. Drummers...well there's no song better than "Animal/Work" for Tal to really shine on. I've had this album since it came out in January 2013 and I still find his drumming mind blowing. Last but not least for my recommended tracks to you. If you want something to chill out to or you've had a stressful day, then "The Best Ten Minutes of Your Life" will sort that problem out in...well... 10 minutes! 

I hope you all enjoyed this blog, this is a bit different to some of the other blogs, but I hope you'll all go and listen to some great funk! 

Until next time!

Lewis :)

"Spaztastic"

"Young Man Blues" - Joe Bonamassa (Example of Tal's drumming)

Website: http://rockcandyfunkparty.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rockcandyfunk

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rockcandyfunk

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/RockCandyFunkParty
 

Paolo Nutini "Caustic Love"

Hello!

So...this absolute gem of an album came out of no-where for me. I never was a massive follower of Paolo Nutini's work apart from the popular songs. Could this record be a contender for the best album of 2014!?

I knew Paolo was a singer/songwriter and I did enjoy his older work such as 'Pencil Full of Lead', but since he had a five and a half year gap between albums I didn't know he was coming back and I was pleasantly surprised. I cannot stop playing this album, it has everything in it to be one of the great albums that I'll be listening to in many years to come. I bought this album on Itunes as it was the #1 in the album charts and I'm now tempted to buy it on vinyl too!

The songs that are on this album have such a diverse range of genre's from funk to soul to R&B to alternative and I love this. There is nothing for Paolo to say that he did this for popularity, there is not one song on this album he purposefully made to be top of the charts like some artists these days. Each one has been crafted into something that all musicians should look up to. He's created some outstanding pieces of music including "Iron Sky". Wow... what a powerful song that is!

Fantastic Artwork

Not only are the structure and grace of the songs well produced, its the musicians he has hired for this job that impressed me. Where he found these musicians is beyond me, they must be some of the best session musicians I've heard in a long time. It's as if they have practised these songs for years it sounds that good. Nothing seems too unbalanced or over-played, everything seems just perfectly balanced for each track. I give those musicians massive credit for making this album. If they weren't apart of it, I don't think I would be rating this album so highly.

My band mate Dan said that he had gone off Paolo Nutini after his last album because his lyrics and overall vibe of the album were too 'childish'. I listened back to his old album and I understood where he was coming from completely, but I guess everybody knew him after that album. The lyrics and overall sound on this record though are a lot more mature. Obviously having five years off does you wonders. One sentence that stands out to me in the album is from 'Iron Sky' and he says "Mass confusion, spoon-fed to the blind". I still do not understand why that sentence stands out to me, but I think its genius. 

The sections that I wasn't too keen on were the interludes between songs, but once you have heard them a few times they really grow on you. Personally 'Superfly' is a great interlude just because of the movie line at the beginning talking about boys playing in the streets, but not making them very popular. A crazy bold move by Paolo! 

One thing that stands out to me the most about this album from anything else is the amount of energy Paolo puts into the songs. You can hear in single one of them that he has poured his heart and soul into every song. Each song he has spent countless hours creating and producing and now they're ready to go onto a record he wants to put every ounce of himself into each one and its fantastic to hear. 

The top songs I would recommend on this album are "Iron Sky", "Scream (Funk My Life Up)", "Let Me Down Easy" and "One Day". The song "Better Man" is one of the songs that shouts out to me a song for a partner because they lyrics are so true from a guys point of view to a girl in a sweet way. Although don't get me wrong the other songs are fantastic, but if you don't have a lot of time these are the ones to check out!

I would seriously recommend anyone who is looking for new material to give this a good few listens and enjoy each song. This may not be everybody's cup of tea, but it shouldn't of been my sort of music, but each one grew on me and its definitely going to be a tough contender for best album of 2014 for myself and maybe in the industry!?

Thanks for reading and enjoy the music!

Lewis :) 

Website: http://www.paolonutini.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaoloNutini

Twitter: https://twitter.com/PaoloNutini

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/paolonutini

P.S As a quick pointer, I was so engaged on writing this I wrote it in 20 minutes!? Though this was just the text, without putting links or photos in. Listening to the album whilst writing I guess helps, but this was one blog I've just poured out onto.

My Favourite Artists: Frank Turner

Hello!

This is the first blog in the series called 'My Favourite Artist'. These blogs will be looking at people who I really enjoy listening to, the advantages and disadvantages of the artist and the best tracks they have to offer. Also a little warning too... there is some use of offensive language in this blog. This will be a very long (and I mean it) blog, but I hope you'll all stay till the end as I'll put up some videos for you to go listen to some of his best work.

So, what better way to start this series off than looking at this artist who is easily in my top 3. Mr Frank Turner. 

He is a folk/punk singer-songwriter from Hampshire, UK and his lyric writing is a talent that most songwriters would die to have. I am a massive fan of speaking from the heart and writing down lyrics that really mean something to you. Every one of his songs have been from past experiences or tell a very true tale in life. I'd like to start off with some example of his lyrics just so you understand where I'm coming from before I start rambling. 

"I Knew Prufrock Before He Became Famous": 

"Well life is about love, lost minutes and lost evenings, 
About fire in our bellies and about furtive little feelings, 
And the aching amplitudes that set our needles all a-flickering, 
And they help us with remembering that the only thing that’s left to do is live..."

"Love Ire & Song": (My personal favourite song)

"Well it was bad enough the feeling, the first time it hit, 
When you realised your parents had let the world all go to shit, 
And that the values and ideals for which many had fought and died,
Had been killed off in the committees and left to die by the wayside,
But it was worse when we turned to the kids on the left, 
And got let down again by some poor excuse for protest, 
Yeah by idiot fucking hippies in 50 different factions, 
Who are locked inside some kind of 60's battle re-enactment..."

"Redemption":

Well I tried so hard to not turn into my father, 
But if I only ever skip out his choices will I ever choose better? 
Oh the sad truth is the grass, it will always seem greener, 
So I left you alone in a restaurant in London in winter, 
You deserved better..."

"Peggy Sang The Blues":

"It doesn't matter where you come from, 
It matters where you go, 
No one gets remembered, 
For the things they didn't do..."

"Substitute":

"And if music was the food of love
Then I'd be a fat romantic slob
Well music, it's my substitute for love"

Hopefully you get my point now why I believe he is such a fantastic writer. Apologies for the large amounts of examples, its hard to get all the best lyrics into a small section. Believe me it was more difficult than I imagined!

So, above are some examples of his lyrics. I spoke to one of my BIMM tutors about him as he is a massive Bob Dylan fan and he believes that Frank Turner is the young generation version of him. Let me explain what he told me. Bob Dylan wasn't afraid to speak his mind, write down how he felt and this shocked a lot of people. Which inevitably got him to be one of the most successful and popular singer-songwriters to date. Although some of his songs were on the borderline, including one about a famous murder and the details of what happened, this type of writing hasn't been apart of songs since. 

Well, not since I discovered Frank Turner. Some of his writing has shocked me personally and its a good feeling. One song he wrote called "Glory Hallelujah" , he was basically saying that there is no God, go and be free everyone. The chorus of that song goes;

"There is no God

So clap your hands together

There is no God

So ring that victory bell"

When I first heard the song I thought 'woah.. woah... woah, he can't sing this, its offensive'! Then when my tutor at BIMM told me about how Bob Dylan's song writing was much worse to the point people wanted to kill him, it made me see how spiritually free Frank Turner is. The fact he doesn't give a shit about flipping the finger to Christianity is a bold and brave move. I'm surprised his record label Xtra Mile gave him permission to put that on his record!

Not only is his songwriting to a high standard, he also put together a band that can produce some beautiful music. The band are called 'The Sleeping Souls' and they're a four piece band that know how to put on a show! Along with Frank Turner's energetic stage presence, these four add to the energy and will make you dance your socks off!

All four members are extremely talented with a feeling of brotherhood between them and Frank. The cliché roll of a singer/songwriter is to get a band together and it be very much I'm the singer, you're the band and that's it. With these guys its completely different, its Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls, although separate names, they are all very close. 

Now... to be a good musician, half of it is talent and half of it is to be a performer. Now this guy is definitely  a performer! If you search into Youtube and look up any performance he has done, he makes everybody dance in the venue, even if you're up the top he knows if you're dancing or not! Its incredible to watch! I hope one day I can be part of this massive party. Yes I haven't seen him before, but this won't be for long!!!

I think the one thing that I can think off the top of my head that is a criticism, although this was only when I first heard him. His voice can sometimes be a bit off key and when I first heard his voice I wasn't at all convinced. Now though, I love his natural voice, no tampering, no auto-tune and he really does stretch his voice to the very limit at times! 

Anyway...I feel like I've rambled on enough! This guy is definitely one to check out! His lyrics are bar none the best I've heard for a very long time! 


Thank you so much for reading till now, I apologise for the length but don't say I didn't warn you!

Until next time! 

Lewis :)

Some examples and links for you lovely people:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/frankturnermusic

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FrankTurner

Website: http://frank-turner.com/

The Dirty Guv'nahs "All Of My Good Friends"

If you want a great album that gives you what you expect and want. One that has great guitar licks, a strong beat and songs that don't get boring then this is your album ladies and gentlemen. 

Hello!

So today I'm going to be reviewing an album from the website Noisetrade called "All Of My Good Friends" by a Tennessee band called The Dirty Guv'nahs. These guys are more than just an American rock band. 

So as I was browsing through Noisetrade I stumble across the name and think..."I've got to see what these guys are doing" and I don't think I've ever been more delighted and relieved in my life! When you scout around for new music there is always that element of doubt that is circling your mind when a band captivates you. The bands group photo (see below) looked awesome, it had me hooked and I loved the name. To my delight, this band are what everyone needs in their iPod.

Can anyone else agree with me that the photo above doesn't scream out an incredible band!?

Anyway, on with the review. 

So this album was put together purely for publicity as its based around fan favourites from the past with the latest single from their new album added too. "Hearts On Fire" came out 11th March and I will be reviewing this in the near future. The single called "Morning Light" is by far my favourite song on the album. It just screams out Americana Rock that has just been produced in such a clever manner. These guys were smart in putting their strongest song first in the album because as a regular user of Noisetrade, I usually tend to judge an artist by the first song and move on if I'm not feeling the song, so props to them! 

The other tracks are again well produced, well written and rehearsed and just a lot of fun to listen to. Its the first time that every single song on the record has kept me entertained throughout and I loved it! This is all thanks to the guys in the band who are all smart enough to come up with fantastic written parts and structures. Time and time again I come across a song that can either get repetitive or boring, but not here. 

I saw this quote from them on their latest album which I thought I would share with you all. Its very true to any artist who makes an album. 

"Tears were shed and relationships were stretched during the year of writing and recording it took to make Hearts on Fire, but if we’re honest we’ve been working on it for our entire life. Being in a band and writing songs isn’t just about trial and error with chords and melodies. It’s a place of exploration, for pouring your heart and soul into your work, into your bandmates, and into the honest places that hurt, tear, and break you. In the end, it’s the hard work in those honest places that refines us all and produces the most beautiful results."

This quote from the band just sums up the effort people put into music for your enjoyment. One song that can relate to all this is called " Blue Rose Stroll". To me it sums the band up in one song. You can hear all of the instruments clearly, the lyric that stands out to me is "you've gotta move your feet to make it out alive". Its very true, nothing comes to you without putting effort in and that's exactly what these guys have done. 

To finish this fantastic album off, they go back to their Tennessee routes to slow things down. "The Country" is a beautiful track to relax to and really feel like you're in the heart of Texas. 

These 8 amazing songs are on Noisetrade for your pleasure completely free which is a real treat! I was really glad I found this band, that's the beauty of discovering new music!

Thanks for reading and until next time!

Lewis :)

Noisetrade Link: http://www.noisetrade.com/thedirtyguvnahs/all-of-my-good-friends

'Morning Light' Youtube link:

Website: http://www.thedirtyguvnahs.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dirty_guvnahs

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedirtyguvnahs

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