Album Review - Lost Midas, "Off The Course"

Hello, 

Welcome to blog post 26! Today I'm going to be letting you all know about an artists who goes by the name of 'Lost Midas' aka Jason Trikakis. An artist who started out as a rated hip-hop drummer in his 20's, is now a fully fledged producer of his own electronica beats. Signed to the label Tru-Thoughts, his debut album "Off Course" has caught the attention of many radio DJ's from the likes of XFM and BBC Radio 6 Music. 

He has been writing music all his life, but hasn't had the opportunity to express his musicality when he was drumming for other bands. So once he decided to climb aboard his solo career and also learn many other instruments, he managed to find his sound he has been searching for as "Lost Midas".

His music is described as "electrofusion" to which he describes it as because there simply is no other word or description of his music to him. With electronic production becoming his main love, as well as a passion for playing keys. Trikakis found himself in LA where his over-lapping sounds have created a vibrant and unique sound. 

Each individual track displays his unique blends of electronic production and songwriting. I enjoy the guest appearances on the album to give it more of a dynamic range throughout the record. The album features appearances from Audris, Taylor O'Donnell and NuTrik. 

The track "Head Games ft. Audris" has impressed many DJ's and magazines alike such as DJ magazine and Radio 6 Music. Other tracks that have been in the radar of radio is "Archetype Forgotten" with plays from Huey Morgan and Steve Lamacq. "Head Games" is a personal favourite of mine because the vocals are given a lot of space in the track to which then the audience can listen to the music being produced too. 

Lost Midas is a very gifted musician with a lot of ideas and knowledge to create his own sound. Using pads, keyboards and the drum kit all at once when he performs requires a lot of concentration and perfection to get the right sound. I really admire Trikakis' admiration and ambition towards his music.

This is what other people are saying about the rise of 'Lost Midas':

“Beautiful, dreamy sounds coming out of LA courtesy of Lost Midas.”... “Amazing… absolutely brilliant.”- BBC R6Music Lauren Laverne’s Headphone Moment and MPFree  “This is fluorescent, fragrant electronic music.” - CLASH


Lost Midas will be doing a mini tour in October starting off at Low End Theory. Then ending up at the Tru-Thoughts 15th Anniversary show featuring The Seshen and Alice Russell as headline act at the Skirball Cultural Centre in LA on 24th October 2014.You can grab his debut album from the Tru-Thoughts Etch Shop and Itunes.


Thank you very much and until next time

Lewis

Website: http://www.lostmidas.com/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lostmidas

EP Review - 'Never Have Enough', Carnival Youth

Hello! 

Welcome to blog post 20! 20!? How time flies! Today I have a special treat for you in the name of a young Latvian band called 'Carnival Youth'. These guys contacted me and asked if I would review their EP for them. I was privileged when I heard the sound these teens were creating. This EP is out July 21st and I cannot wait to buy it, here's why...

The band 'Carnival Youth' formed only 2 years ago and have a very Bombay Bicycle feel to them with some indie pop and folk thrown into the mix (sounds tasty right!?). Its a nice mix to say the least and one that is refreshing to my ears. The band have managed to create music which is extremely clever for teenagers to produce and create.

The EP sounds like the band have been together for 10 years and this is their 4th studio album, but instead this is their first EP!? Its got a really good vibe to the whole sound of the EP that can crank up at an instant by bringing the whole band in, to then being very atmospheric. The song "Seasons" does this very well, its one of the more louder songs and really fits nicely in the EP coming 3rd out of 5 songs. You know it's got that energy and aura about because it when you turn it off for 5 minutes and turn it back on there is a distinct feel of excitement and that 'wall of sound'.

Once the EP starts playing I can't help but nod my head to the beat of the music. They have made some great melodies throughout the EP. The vocals aren't too strenuous to listen to either, its easy going and I like that monotone voice for the band. It suits the vibe well, if he decided to try stretch his voice throughout the songs, it wouldn't work. 

The strongest song on the EP is the last song called "Never Have Enough" and also the title of the EP. The song starts off with just tambourine and guitar to then introduce the piano with the main melody. This clever little tune has a great change for the chorus which lifts the whole vibe of the song to change to a shuffle and a key change, it definitely needed it to keep the song growing strong. By the third listen I was already humming along to the whole song.

I always enjoy a whole album to keep on a constant rollercoaster. This band do this throughout, where your ears don't know what is coming next during the tracks. 

Is it going to breakdown? Is it going to start building up? Just when your mind starts to think these through, they're throwing you off to something completely different. 

The one thing that intrigued me the most when I stumbled across a live video of them playing was the fact the drummer was also the lead singer!? I was astonished because being a drummer, I know how difficult it is to sing and play at the same time. Especially the level he is playing at for a teenager too, incredible talent! 

My personal favourite is 'Brown Eyes', its got a nice guitar melody to it to then come in with a well written drum part. The chorus is very punchy, more hard hitting than the verse which keep my head bopping (you'll have to see for yourself)!

This band are doing very well with getting the attention of the business as they have done festivals such as The Great Escape in Brighton.  They are also already booked to perform at some of Eastern Europe's biggest music festivals this summer including Sziget, and Positivus; Carnival Youth perform the following UK dates:

July 20 - Guilfest Festival
21 Lock Tavern, London (EP launch)
22 Purple Turtle, Reading
23 The Garage, London (w/ The Escapists + The Half Earth)


Look out for this bands name in the next few years as I feel they are going to blow up quickly and I have been privileged to review this EP of theirs. I look forward to going to one of their gigs very soon and don't forget to check out their EP which comes out on the 21st July 2014!

Thank you very much for reading and until next time

Lewis

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarnivalYouth

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/carnivalyouth

Album Review - 'Freedom Bound', Red Butler

Hello,

First off, I'd like to say thank you for the hugely positive response from my last post about Deafh, its been great to see so may people support the blog.

Today I will be talking about a young blues band that go by the name of Red Butler. An East Sussex based band that are made up of Jane Pearce (vocals), Alex Butler (guitar), Steve Eveleigh (bass) and Charlie Simpson (drums). This band have been one to look out for in the blues scene in the past year and now they have finally released their album.

The band have been vigorously touring Sussex and afar for gigs and festivals such as The Great British R&B Festival in Colne, which to me, for a band that have been together two years is a massive achievement to get into the blues scene so effectively and quickly. This is one of the reasons the album has been largely anticipated by many fans of the band.

The album 'Freedom Bound' is definitely a great blues/rock album which has been produced very well. Everything in the album seems to be in its right place. They have left one of their strongest songs 'Freedom Bound' till last on the album which is a great move as most albums tend to whither a little bit towards the end of an record. Not this one though, its ends with a very emotional and powerful song, not to say the least about the guitar solo! Oooo...that killer guitar solo!

If you enjoy guitar solos, then this is record is loaded with them! Alex Butler is the man with the riffs. He created them himself and is an exceptionally talented guitarist. The range of the musicality in the album keeps the momentum going with up-tempo songs such as "Danger Zone" and "Young and Free". Then can take it right down with the very emotional "River of Smoke" which is one of my personal favourites just for the raw emotion of the song, also Jane's singing in this song is off the scale. 

The song "Hoodoo" demonstrates Alex's guitar skills with some impressive slide work. Its very difficult to create some of the notes he plays in this track, including towards the end, but it creates a great delta blues vibe for the album. I also enjoy listening to how solid the bass and drums are together, locked in tight, keeping that train rolling.

Each song on the album has been extensively worked on for the past year or so and it really shows that they have put a lot of time and energy into this album and the songs they have created. When I hear the songs and think that they are mostly all original, I think that this band are very creative and have a great career ahead of them! So keep an eye out for them at one of their gigs or through their social pages (links below). 

The songs to check out on this album if you haven't got time to listen to the whole song are "Danger Zone", "River of Smoke", "Freedom Bound" and "Young and Free". I'm looking forward to seeing what the band has to offer in the next few years, they deserve it for the effort they put in too! Keep an eye out for these guys! 

Thanks for reading and until next time!

Lewis 

Website: http://www.redbutlermusic.co.uk/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/redbutlermusic

Instagram: http://instagram.com/REDBUTLERMUSIC

Book Review - Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis

Hello!

Welcome to blog post number 16! Today I will be sharing with you something a little different to what I normally post about. I like to change things up a bit every now and again and so I thought a book review (still music related) would be great to tell you all about.

The book I am talking about today is the biography of Red Hot Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis. He goes through his life as a child, teenager and musician. His journey is one that I think he lucky to still live, but his events make it one of the best biographies ive read to date.

I have read this book twice and the life events still shock me as to what he has done. A lot of this book does come across drugs and women, but you'd expect that with Anthony in his younger years. I don't want to give too muvh away,  but if you like the Red Hot Chili Peppers then you'll love this book. Its also showing the key events that happened to the band in the time they've been together such as Hillel Slovaks death, John leaving the band and coming back and how they managed to bounce back from nearly falling apart as a band. All those events from how Anthony saw them and portrayed it in his mind.




One thing that does get a little repetitive is the drug usage and rehabilitations that Anthony goes through. A lot of it is what he used during this tour and what he could deal for this tour. He'd get too drugged up to perform or write songs, so he gets help, gets off the drugs and then goes onto them again. Although this is his life and its quite harrowing to think the amount of times he put his body through all that, for the reader it does get a little repetitive.  

Reading this book you keep thinking to yourself "how are you still alive?", one example of this was when him and flea were younger (spolier alert), they loved jumping off roofs into pools and one day Anthony decided to go to the next level and go higher to 6 stories high. Jumped off, misjudged the landing and landed on bare concrete breaking his back and yet is still performing today as if he hadn't nearly snapped his back in two. Incredible. 

A lot of the stories are like this, you keep thinking "if this was anyone else,  they would be dead". So the life events keep the book going and there really isn't a dull moment. Again this is mostly for Chili fans as there are sections about the writing process with An thing going in to detail about why he wrote that particular song etc.

If you haven't read this book yet and have been on the fence, its a brilliant read and with summer knocking on our door its definitely a great read on holiday too.

If you enjoyed this blog, there is the email subscription to which you get an email when I post something new (so no spam dont worry) and you can follow me on various sites following the fancy buttons on the top right on the page. 

Thank you and until next time.

Lewis

Amazon book link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scar-Tissue-Anthony-Kiedis/dp/0751535664/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403173213&sr=8-1&keywords=scar+tissue

Album Review - Half The City, St.Paul & The Broken Bones

Hello!

Welcome to post number 14! Today I shall be reviewing an album called 'Half The City' by a very cool soul band called St.Paul & The Broken Bones. Coming from Birmingham, Alabama this seven piece band were a real treat for me to find. If you enjoy this post then don't forget to subscribe via email to get updates for the next post! 

Now, you can find this album in the "10 Albums you must hear this month" section on Itunes. This is where I found this album and as I said before, I was pleasantly surprised by the find. I was looking through all ten of the albums and not much hope was lasting out for me, they all sounded the same. Then this album was one of the last ones for me to check out and it was like a blessing. 

The bands line up is as follows:

Paul Janeway (vocals), Jesse Phillips (bass) Browan Lollar (guitars, vocals), Allen Branstetter (trumpet), Andrew Lee (drums, percussion), Ben Griner (trombone, tuba), Al Gamble (keyboards).


This band is extremely talented in creating such a fresh and exciting tone for soul. On vocals is a man called Paul Janeway and this guy has got a voice! Boy has he got a voice! I had to take a step back and really think about what I was listening to. You can't get anymore soul than this man's voice, he was clearly meant to do this for a living. He puts so much energy and commitment to his voice its so refreshing to hear from a singer. 

You can really feel the emotion throughout every song, when the band raises the volume you can feel the energy run right through. Paul really loves to stretch his vocals to the very limits, some can take your breath away with the shear power. A great example of this power is the first track on the album called "I'm Torn Up". The notes Paul sings at the end are...just something else.

The album flows so nicely with some real funky songs mixed in with some 6/8 slow soul. They seem to love to take the listener on a rollercoaster with their sound. Taking it down to the bare minimum, then bringing the whole band in with Paul going all guns blazing with his voice, to finish the songs off with a small tone from the guitar. The song that displays this well is "Broken Bones and Pocket Change". 

Another thing this band does well is utilising every instrument. Making sure everyone can be heard on the album for the greater good of the sound. The track "Don't Mean A Thing" lets every section have its little moments with the horn section for the chorus'. Then the verses for the bass to be heard clearly and again, its all for the sound. The keyboard section in "Grass Is Greener" is shone through in this track more than any of the others. It's a seven piece band, this is how it should be done. 

The songs I recommend to you are "Call Me", "I'm Torn Up", "Its Midnight", "Let It Be So" and "Like A Mighty River". 

If you're looking for a soul band that has a refreshing and revitalising sound to them, then please go check this band out. The more I listen to this album, the more excited I get about how happy I am that I've finally found some new soul music to show off to all of you.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to follow me on the social networks linked at the top left!

Until next time.

Lewis :)

Website: http://stpaulandthebrokenbones.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/StP_BrokenBones

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/St.PaulandTheBrokenBones

Instagram: http://instagram.com/stpaulandthebrokenbones