Bastille - Pompeii

It is a sickening amount of time since I last blogged, thanks to my good friend THE DISSERTATION. Since said friend has now been all submitted and deleted from my life (aside from today's finding of a mistake when looking for a quote... WEEP), I will try and get this blog back in action. Gonna start with a review of Bastille's Pompeii that I wrote months ago, but never found time to upload. Seems like a good time to whack it on here, since it's currently flying high in the charts, and deservedly so. I am in love with this song and this band.
[NB. I might try out some new layout-y font-y things on this. Bare with me].

In the three years they’ve been together, Bastille haven’t done too badly for themselves. Performing at various festivals, securing major tour support slots and having their songs featuring on Made in Chelsea and Dancing on Ice to name just a few achievements, it seems they’ve set themselves up for a pretty successful 2013.

Starting as a solo project and developing into a quartet, Bastille seem set to break the swarms of generic ‘alternative’ band we’ve had over the years. From the opening seconds of Pompeii, there’s a feeling of empowerment and optimism, needed for most at this miserable time of year. Aided by the lyrics “how am I gonna be an optimist about this,” and a simple yet intricate musical arrangement, particularly the drum solos, there’s nothing not to love about this.

There’s so many layers to this song that’s it’s almost impossible to fit them all into one review. 2013 is most definitely going to be the year for Bastille, and that’s fine by us. Now, anyone for summer?

5/5

Brit Awards 2013

It's horribly long since I last wrote one of these. The stress of third year has definitely got to me lately (cue Tragic Tuesday breakdown last week and three days of drinking honey and lemon constantly) so sorry about that! Coming back with a (slightly delayed) little review of last week's Brit Award ceremony. It was a mutual feeling between my friends, my Dad and I that there was something missing this year. There was nothing wrong with the hosting or award winners, and I enjoyed all the performances, but there was some sort of spark or controversy that we always look forward to that just wasn't there, almost like everything was too controlled. Hopefully this won't be the case next year, and we can look forward to the controversial and risky Brits that we're used to and we love.

The Brit Awards have always been met with an air of tension, and a feeling that anything could happened.  From Jarvis Cocker’s stage invasion to Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood’s disastrous hosting, and the cutting off of Adele’s acceptance speech, there’s hardly been a year when there hasn’t been some sort of Brits’ controversy. However, this seemed to be lacking this year. Yes, James Corden was an excellent host, and yes, there were plenty of drunken celebrities to go round, but this celebration of British talent just didn’t seem to deliver this year.

The problem was not in the performances. The ceremony opened with a expectedly loud and proud performance from Muse, setting the tone for the level of performances during the ceremony, with a variety of acoustic, pop and a certain American music star. One Direction gave an exclusive, energetic, pinball-inspired performance of their Comic Relief cover of One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks), a cover which has divided the public over the song choice (just take solace that it’s for charity).

The Brits even had international superstars take to the stage, starting with Justin Timberlake making a super slick appearance, adding a huge level of class to the evening. Making women all over the UK drool, faint or scream over his performance of new single Mirrors, this was probably a much-needed highlight of the evening for many. Taylor ‘legs for miles’ Swift later took to the stage in an unusually ferocious get-up, perhaps taking inspiration from having ex Harry Styles sat metres away in the audience. The night ended with Female Solo Artist and British Album winner Emeli Sandé, who luckily decided to end with Next to Me, thankfully more upbeat than her Olympics’ appearances.

There were no massive surprises when it came to the winners either. There was some confusion over who Ben Howard was from disappointed Olly Murs fans, and of course mixed reactions over acceptance speeches. Aside from this, other winners could have easily be predicted, and were all well-deserved (according to most). There was no protest over winners like that seen a few years ago from Kanye West, and no cutting off of speeches because of time constraints, although mocked by host James Corden and Adele herself. Everything seemed too rehearsed, as if the winners were actually briefed beforehand that they had won.

           

It’s not like there wasn’t plenty of opportunity for scuffles or misbehaving, what with Taylor Swift and Harry Styles in the same room, along with more than enough drink to go round. There was Sharon Osbourne’s mention of Harry Style’s manhood and Robbie William’s confused award presentation, yet these moments were overtaken quickly but some table interviews that were seemingly only used to fill time. Perhaps it was the calamity of last year’s ‘speech-gate’ that caused producers to be over-careful of what was broadcast which shattered any hopes of an actual talking point for this year’s ceremony.

As the night carried on, even the free-flowing of alcohol couldn’t provoke outrageous behaviour, although jokes became looser and more adult-friendly, sometimes falling flat to those of us not lucky enough to be there in person. Even the mini-concert we’re used to at the end of the night wasn’t there, as the Outstanding Achievement Award is no longer awarded, meaning the end of the night was met with little impact. Maybe this summed up the night as a whole.

If it wasn’t the performances, hosting or actual winners that caused the fall-down of this year’s ceremony, then perhaps it was the lack of a competitive atmosphere and an over-cautious producing approach that denied us the controversy us viewers always look forward to at the Brits. With so much talent in the UK at the moment, it seems a shame that an event that so many across the world will see failed to produce a talking point on the same level as previous years. Music stars, start planning your stage invasions and protests for next year’s ceremony please. 

The Night’s Food in Numbers
60 chefs
100kg of tomatoes
120 litres of fresh lime juice
130kg diced lamb shoulder
150kg butter
220kg red cabbage from Cambridgeshire
550 front of house waiting staff
1200 lamb best ends
1500 food preparation hours
3000 eggs
5200 pieces of crostini from 175 foccacia slabs
7800 “truffles” rolled
15000 glasses

List of Winners

British Male Solo Artist – Ben Howard

British Female Solo Artist – Emeli Sandé

British Breakthrough Act – Ben Howard

British Group – Mumford and Sons

British Live Act – Coldplay

British Single – Adele – Skyfall

Mastercard British Album of the Year – Emeli Sandé – Our Version of Events

International Male Solo Artist – Frank Ocean

International Female Solo Artist – Lana Del Rey

International Group – The Black Keys

Brits Global Success (For International Sales in 2012) – One Direction

British Producer of the Year – Paul Epworth

Critics’ Choice Award – Tom Odell

Special Recognition Award – War Child

(I was trying to get a video of JT doing Mirrors but that didn't work so here's Taylor Swift instead)

Steps - Light Up The World

The second delight I got to review was Steps' Christmas album. Yep, I kid you not, Steps have decided to bring out a Christmas album in ANOTHER attempt for a comeback. I'll be honest, I was a massive Steps fan back in the day, and I am pretty gutted I didn't get to go to their comeback tour (yes, I am THAT sad. I was pretty jealous of my friends that went). Unfortunately though, I just didn't like this album. Sorry. It's 5,6,7,8 all the way for me.

Thought you’d rid yourself of cheesy 90s pop? Think again. Having already attempted one comeback, Steps are yet again trying to infiltrate the charts by entering the dreaded Christmas market. Yes, they are releasing their own Christmas album… sorry. As much as they are a guilty pleasure for me, being a fan of them however many years ago, I think a Christmas album may prove to just be a cheese overload.

This, their first studio album in twelve years, mixes their unapologetically cheesy pop sound with some Christmas classics, although I’m not sure how many are recognisable at first listen. The album opens with History is Made at Night, complete with seasonal saxophone and standard Christmas beat. Perhaps an attempt to secure a more mature audience, they have chosen an album opener that compares a romantic night scene with a school-based scenario. I’ll quickly gloss over the error over ruining a Stevie Wonder song, and talk about the one original song on the album, Light up the World, conveniently also the title track. Not exactly encompassing the Christmas theme, this is where the cheese really hits, and messages of encouragement are showered upon us. “Imagination will set you free/just gotta work it out” is the height of this, encouraging us, I assume, to be creative and achieve our dreams. Only at Christmas I suppose.

If you recognise When She Loved Me, it’s probably from Toy Story 2, as Sarah McLachlan performs it beautifully as Jessie (the cowgirl, if you can’t remember). Although Steps’ vocals aren’t tragic, they can’t match Sarah’s voice, and if you’re anything like me, you may fast forward the song pretty quickly so as not to ruin the film. From Christmas [Baby Please Come Home]¸ the idea of this being a Christmas album really starts, and it’s from here that you can really imagine this being on in the background on Christmas day. Ok, their vocals aren’t great, but they’re not the worst… and there’s always the option of minimal volume. The album ends on the classic Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, a relaxed, pleasant end with a lot of instrumental, to an album that you’re probably sick of by now.

I’m in two minds about this album. The child in me loves the cheese, which you can’t slate Steps for, as their bubblegum pop is still loved by many around the world. The vocals aren’t completely tragic (note: completely), but this album brings an amount of cheese and an element of boredom that doesn’t quite click. I’d love to love this, but for some reason, it just doesn’t work. Sorry Steps.

2/5

Little Mix - DNA

Long time, no blog. Hashtag third year problems. Anyway, I recently did some new reviews for Spark*, the first of which was Little Mix's new single, DNA. I loved this from my first listen, and I still love it now. They're the first successful girl group to come out of X Factor, and the first to actually get past the first few weeks of the show in the first place, and they're continuing to go from strength to strength. They've got great voices, and I think they've got a long, fantastic career ahead of them. 

Look at today’s charts and you’ll see an abundance of girl power, from the ever-present Rihanna to the return of Girls Aloud. Pretty convenient for X Factor winners Little Mix. Having broken the curse of the girl-bands on the show, Perrie, Jesy, Leigh-Anne and Jade have consistently hit big in the charts and gained many a-fan along the way.  

DNA shows a darker and more mature side to Little Mix, far removed from the polished pop sound we’ve come to expect from them. This more grown-up style makes a bleeding good tune, and moves them away from the X Factor manufacturing that has perhaps befallen previous winners. All four girls also get a chance to show why they were chosen in the first place, with solo sections highlighting their fantastic vocal abilities.

Little Mix are definitely bringing back girl power, and we’re more than grateful for it. I’m pretty confident we can expect more pop gems from these four for many years. Dare I say the new Girls Aloud?

4/5