HANKERING FOR HAIM: DAYS ARE GONE

As the title suggests, I've got a hankering for Haim.

I've had a hankering for them way back since I first heard them on Radio One mid 2012.

But let me explain to you why that is.

As  a 17 year old girl who hails from Derby, England's go to place for well... nothing,

except a nice big lake, some rather large hills and perhaps the odd Bakewell tart, Haim are like goddesses to me, what with their long sun kissed manes, irresistible Californian quirk and undeniable cool girl auras. 

They come from California, I come from Derby, they have sun spun tales of love

 and heart break all set against the backdrop of west coast USA, and if I tried capturing the essence

of the Derbyshire Dales, we'd have abstract sheep noises fused with football chants and who wants to hear that?

You look at them, and you want to be them.

You want the hair, the cool girl swag, the talent, everything.

Heck, I've even suggested to my little sis that we do a Haim and make a band and grow our hair out and make some songs and just be quintessentially cool like them.

But alas, she said no.

And anyway, it's not like we would be much competition, would we?

Because these girls are utterly fabulous, they're a force to be reckoned with, and when you stop to think about it, just as I did on my early morning trek to college, it's actually rather incredible what

they've achieved and just how they've gone about it.

Now I'm not trying to go off on a feminist rant, but in the present day music industry, lets face it, if you're a woman, you aren't going to get very far without taking your kit off and doing a 

spot of twerking or gyrating.

It has to be sexualised, it has to compromise on your dignity, your strength, your independence.

Your aesthetic is more important than your talent, it undermines it & overshadows it 

to the point where people are talking about the dress you wore (or didn't) as opposed to your integrity as an artist. 

You can claim all you like to be strong, fearless, feisty, but the reality is,

when you're standing on a stage in just your bra and pants or diamond encrusted swimming cozzie,

no matter how fabulous your body, who's really believing you?

I'm not criticizing female artists who do that, but it seems a shame that

 in this day and age, female artists have to resort to these measures to even be heard, let alone taken seriously as an artist. It isn't right.

And now back to the whole point of this article, that's why I love Haim.

 Because these are three girls who keep their clothes on, and through their sheer talent and feisty natures alone, have successfully managed to carve out a name for themselves and gain respect from the music industry's notorious top dogs.

For example in the predominantly male orientated NME, Haim, who are currently gracing the front

cover, more than hold their own against their male opposition and they are respected and revered by both NME and fellow artists, and that's really saying something.

No-one dares bad mouth them and why should they?

These girls are incredible at what they do. An all female rock band who make quality music without

taking their gear off and all whilst radiating that fearless, no bullshit vibe that challenges

 anyone to mess with them and what they do so fantastically well. 

They care about their music, they care about their craft and they've been harnessing their skills their whole lives, having played in their parents band for years.

It's all about the music, not the aesthetics, and surely that's how it's meant to be?

They're feisty females and loyal sisters who stand their ground in a male orientated world,

they've gone to town with the seemingly unachievable task of a being the first all woman band, not pop group, to be taken seriously by the music industry, and they've done it all with

a confidence and assurance that I wish I had myself, as well as a glorious long mane of hair pretty please.

And now, on the eve of the release, of the long awaited debut 'Days Are Gone', I hope that

we will be listening to and writing about these ladies for many years to come. 

They're brilliant now, but as time goes on they're going to evolve and develop their sound and become even more of a force than they are right now. 

They can only get better, and with that, here's to Haim.

Doing rock the right way, with long hair, snarls, epic guitar, Californian grace

 and your sisters right by your side.

BUY THE ALBUM: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Days-Are-Gone-Standard-Haim/dp/B00BPQC1AK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380450798&sr=8-1&keywords=haim

DON'T SAVE ME

THE WIRE

FOREVER

CHOCOLATE AND SEX WITH THE 1975

Now before you go jumping to conclusions, thinking I've ditched college to become a roadie in order to enjoy some rather frisky past times, involving Cadburys Dairy Milk and Manchester's finest new addition to the indie/rock scene, lemme explain.

On Wednesday I was lucky enough to go watch these guys 

The 1975, at Nottingham's Rock City and can I just tell you now it was AMAZING.

With an ever expanding back catalogue of incredible tunes, such as the mighty 'Chocolate' and the saucy little

number 'Sex', to keep the crowd rallied and as high as a certain Mt. Everest, the atmosphere,

 as you can probably imagine, was electric. And when the beginning chords of those numbers in particular began wafting around the room, everyone, including myself, seemed to

 get an insatiable injection of life, courtesy of Matt and co. and just went absolutely crazy in the best possible way.

As always seems to happen, I found myself on the very cusp of a brewing mosh pit and for once I

just let myself go completely and got stuck right in there, being thrown to and fro like a I was stuck in a human pinball machine.

It was the best feeling ever.

You close your eyes. You listen to the music, let it fill your veins, let it take you higher. 

You sing the words and you come alive, and before you know it you're bouncing up and down like a pogo stick, crashing your body into the unfortunate soul next to you and feeling like life could not get any better than it is right there and then in that beautiful moment. 

You aren't alone. You're surrounded by a huge crowd of people who feel what you're feeling too and you're all in it together, in this instance, singing about sex, petticoats and what do you know, chocolate.

And it's the most incredible thing.

They played a variety of songs from their excellent LP and self titled debut and put on a truly phenomenal show, complete with flickering lights, a buzzing atmosphere and a turtle neck clad Matty who looked

effortlessly cool with his half shaved head and youthful, energetic and beautiful voice.

So in their role as musicians and makers of tantalizing tunes and magical moments, it's

safe to say The 1975 have well and truly outdone themselves.

Even if you don't know that many songs, like me, I would get yourself down to one of their remaining

gigs (that's if it hasn't sold out yet) and experience all this for yourself.

This is a band that has been working their arses off for the last eleven years and who

appreciate and deserve every piece of success rightfully coming their way. They make fantastic music,

they're impossibly cool, intriguing, unique and to top it all off, they're genuinely nice people too!

Lead singer Matt Healy has the crowd in his hand, commanding them effortlessly

to do as he pleases "don't start a mosh pit or I'll f***ing kill you", and after the gig 

my friends and I were lucky enough to meet him.

( Bad angle of course, but nevertheless, one cannot complain when one is meeting the lead singer of an incredible band)

Living up to his other alter ego aside 'Mr Cool' - 'Mr Nice Guy'- he made the effort

to greet every last one of us who stood adoringly in his presence and enforced a sense of world peace and ensuing harmony as if he were Nelson Mandela himself, telling us "not to get crazy and start pushing and shoving one another or I'll get scared and I'll get on that bus and go home. I'm not going, I'm staying right here and I'll make sure I meet every single one of you."

This caused one of my best friends to express her overwhelming love for Matty in the only way she knew how, by screaming happily, and who can blame her?

As a fan, to hear that was just the nicest thing and it goes an awful long way.

If I didn't already love this band, I now just want to go around with their name tattooed on my forehead,

free advertisement and all that, because they took the time to meet us and thank us and show that our support is appreciated. 

So as I said, GO, GO RUN LIKE THE WIND AND BAG YOURSELF A TICKET FOR THE 1975 RIGHT NOW and me? I'm off to the tattoo parlor....

LINK: http://the1975.com/tour

SEX

CHOCOLATE

THE CITY

GIRLS

A LITTLE BIT OF MONKEY MAGIC

*BIG DRUM ROLL & TRUMPETS ET AL.*

And why is that I hear you ask?

Well it's only because Turner & co are on the cusp of releasing

the hugely anticipated and phenomenal concoction 'AM'.

We've less than 24 hours to go until physical and digital copies of what could quite

possibly be the defining album of the decade  (big statement there), according to this week's NME,

which as a mega Monkeys fan I dutifully bought, as expected.

With streams of the album already online, it's safe to say a large chunk of

Britain and the rest of the world have 'got the goods' now, as Turner put it in the sublime 

'Do I Wanna Know'. So we can't exactly act surprised when we finally enlighten our lives with

some rather fookin' (they all say it in Sheffield) amazing tunes from a band that can never seem to put a foot wrong.

Even those of us who have resisted giving in to sneak previews of other album tracks,

for example the rather oddly named 'Knee Socks' or on the converse, the rather beautifully named

'Arabella' (a dedication to Arielle Vandenberg perhaps?), have still heard a good quarter of the

songs, with 'R U Mine', 'Do I Wanna Know' & 'Why'd Do You Only Call Me When You're High' (what a mouthful!) all having being released already.

Of course some of us, probably just me, have even restricted ourselves further.

It was only yesterday I gave in to the temptation of listening to 'Why'd You.....' after almost

a month's abstaining from it, which was quite painstaking as I had gone out and bought the single

the day of its release and had to turn down the radio every single time it was on.

That then involved subsequently forgetting to turn the radio back up, surely running up

huge electricity bills for my mother- a nice surprise for the end of the month when the bills come in.

I can only say I did it because I'm getting my copy of 'AM' at the start of this week,

and I will probably know all the words to all the songs by the end of the week.

And by the end of the month I will be completely and utterly satisfied.

By the time I see the Monkeys LIVE IN CONCERT AT SHEFFIELD in November ( I still can't believe

my luck, I really can't), I will be on the biggest high known to humanity.

But by January 2014, I will want more, like the greedy little madam I am.

So I need to drag out and relish 'AM' for as long as humanly possible, because we probably

won't be getting anything else till at least autumn 2015.

But that's okay, because judging by the raving 5 out of 5, 10 out of 10, reviews, we should be on track to be still be raving about 'AM' when we're all old pensioners in the nursing home way over in 2063.

So normally, I would  recommend you go buy this album,

but I'm not going to recommend it because I hope you've already got it on pre-order and are sitting at your letterbox waiting like the good little fans I know you are.

You don't need my word to know that 'AM' is truly one of the best things you will EVER HEAR,

and one of the best things you could ever spend 10 quid of your hard earned cash on.

So go, go on into the big wide world and get that Monkey Magic in your life!

STREAM IT HERE:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/id62820413

WATCH THE MONKEYS AT ITUNES AT 7:45PM HERE:

http://po.st/iTunesFestivalAM

DO I WANNA KNOW

WHY'D YOU ONLY CALL ME WHEN YOU'RE HIGH

BUY IT:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/AM-Arctic-Monkeys/dp/B00DKY4LBW

SOUNDBITE: CATCHING COLDPLAY- THE NEW SONG

COLDPLAY- ATLAS

Been suffering from Coldplay withdrawal symptoms? 

The Mylo Xyloto blues? 

Well my dear readers, Chris & co. are back, at least for now anyway,

and they've brought with them an exciting new record to keep us all satisfied

until the highly anticipated follow up to 2011's phenomenal worldwide success 'Mylo Xyloto',

which many expect to be released sometime in 2014.

And this little beauty is called 'Atlas'.

It's the first soundtrack to be released from Novemeber's second installment of the

incredibly succesful Hunger Games series, 'Catching Fire' and co-incidentally

it's also the first song Coldplay have ever written for a film soundtrack.

Pretty cool huh?

The song itself is pure Coldplay but as we all know, that's exactly

 what they do best. It's beautiful, it's haunting yet uplifting, it's stunning and 

absolutely captures the whole feel and essence of the 'Hunger Games'.

'Atlas' could easily stand for a single in it's own right,

and you can't help but speculate if this indicative of what is to come.

It bares no relation to hits such as 'Paradise' or 'Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall',

in fact it's probably a relative of 2002's 'A Rush of Blood To The Head' or 2005's 'X&Y',

but it's still very original and I don't know about you but I love the entwinement between

haunting and uplifting.

It shouldn't work, but it does. 

It really, really does.

Judge for yourself right here....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh3TokLzzmw&hd=1

LET'S LOOK AT THE STRYPES

The Beatles have been re-incarnated.

Well okay, maybe not exactly, but either way, The Strypes do bear more than a canny resemblance to the creators and makers of rock and roll. And if that wasn't enough of a reason to pay this band some well deserved attention, the fact they're only 15-17 years old ought to get your head turning. 

These four Irish rockers, Josh, Pete, Ross and Evan have been setting the music scene alight with their unique brand of music, that some have already likened to artists such as Dr Feelgood, The Yardbirds and The Rolling Stones, since their official formation in 2010. 

And along with embracing the effortlessly cool 'Mod' style, so famously endorsed by the likes of Paul Weller and recently Miles Kane, as well as sporting some rather Gallagher-esque hairdo's, The Strypes are following in the line of Jake Bugg, bringing back good, classic, old school sounds last heard when legends such as Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Stones and co. where dominating the charts.

But, like Mr Bugg, they're adding their own take on it, meaning the music that makes its way to our ears is both reminiscent of days long gone yet completely new and original. 

And I don't know about you, but if Indie's not making it's return any time soon, I'm more than up for celebrating a revival of good old Rock and Roll. 

It actually makes me feel excited to see my generation embracing rock and roll, with artists like The Strypes and Jake Bugg leading its revival, and I'm curious to see where they're going to take it.

The Strypes seem too young to have perfected their sound, and yet that is exactly what they've done.
And my god have they done it well. One listen to their cover of Bo Diddley's 'You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover' is more than enough to prove it. You only have to listen to lead songer Ross give the lyrics an electrifying lease of life to know that The Strypes are something special. 

It's just incredible, and what makes it even more so is the fact that these guys are only just on the cusp of adulthood, yet they can work sound, rhythm, riffs, lyrics, melody so well that even Sir Elton John, Rocket Man himself, has commented on the scope of their talent. 

With Noel Gallagher going to their concerts, Jools snapping them up for his Late Show, which has been known to host and cement the names of some of the artists who have soon gone on to be global legends and superstars, and record labels fighting like little girls over Barbie dolls to sign them, The Strypes are causing quite a scene. 

And they've only been going for three years.

Now if that doesn't demonstrate just how talented these guys are, I don't know what will, because with the music industry being notoriously hard to crack, The Strypes must know how to smash those windows, tare down walls and make a right old scene, because now everybody's listening and soon everyone will be shouting their name. 

Bands like this don't come around very often, so when they do, you want to make sure you're on that bandwagon, waving that flag, because mark my words in time, The Strypes really could reach the same catergory as The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, and it's only a matter of waiting.

The debut single 'Blue Collar Jane' is currently Zane Lowe's record of the week and is out NOW, with a special edition being released for Record Store Day on the 20th of April. 

Debut album due for release late 2013, early 2014. 

EP 'Young Gifted & Blue' OUT NOW

You can also catch them at all the major Summer festivals, from Glasto, T in The Park, Bestival, Reading & Leeds.

BLUE COLLAR JANE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZb8nEemK2k

YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY THE COLLAR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plBtjQekyN4

LEAVING HERE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSDWQf4bsDY&list=PLNGOj6-kH3eyJwQlHfFgCVdke3AymiQnx&index=4

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

http://thestrypes.com/

DON'T YOU, FORGET ABOUT ME- WHAT A TEENAGE CLASSIC

If you are well acquainted with movie soundtracks or in particular 80's classics, or you possess a pair of functioning eye balls, you may well already know what I am about to write about, judging by the title and the picture below. And if you are still sat there like 'huh, what's this mad woman on about?' well my friend I shall precede to inform you. 

Today's post is all about.... The Breakfast Club.

John Hughes' 1985 teen classic  that everyone says is an absolute must see film. And yes I know this is supposed to be a music blog and my job isn't to tell you about films nearly thirty years old, but seriously, the decision to have 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' by Simple Minds as the theme song is yet another  reason why this movie is so amazing.

I mean c'mon, it's such an epic song and one of the most iconic movie moments is when John Bender is walking across the football pitch with this song blazing in the background!

So because of that genius musical decision, I feel that The Breakfast Club is therefore a completely eligible subject to talk about.

So I shall begin...

Now I am the first to admit that for many years, I had a firm resilience against watching movies of a certain age, movies that were basically older than Toy Story 1, which came out in 1995. The only exceptions to this rule were Julie Andrews related classics like 'Mary Poppins' and 'The Sound of Music', as well as the normal Disney classics every little girl adores. All fantastic films of course but I can now see, so terribly clearly, that I was depriving myself hugely of a whole amazing back catalogue of truly iconic and wonderful films.

All that changed when I watched the first James Bond film 'Dr No.' at the persuasion of my father and I realised that actually, old films weren't that bad. In fact, they were actually quite good. So as you can guess, my stubborn resilience sharply declined which is why as a mature, sophisticated, appreciative teenager, I actually have a burning desire to watch all the old classics that so many people hold dear to their hearts. I want to watch these old films because in all honesty, most of them put many of the films out today to undeniable shame, as I realised when I decided that in 2013, I would do that, stay true to my resolution, and I started with 'The Breakfast Club.'

Prior to watching it, I had heard from numerous sources that The Breakfast Club is a real iconic film that every teenager just has to see. I'd heard all about the legendary ending scene with a certain Judd Nelson and I can't deny that I was a little curious to see just why that scene is considered to be so legendary. 

I'd stumbled across Molly Ringwald whilst watching a TV program and once again heard only good things about The Breakfast Club and after the film was referenced in 2012's 'Pitch Perfect', I knew I just had to be in on this little secret.

Why do people love it so much?

Well you can find out that answer only when you dedicate an hour and a half of your life to watching the movie in all its glory. I certainly did when I went to great lengths to find it online, because I am not a patient person, oh no, I act on impulse, spur of the moment rushes that mean I need to do whatever it is, right here, right now at this very second.

I promise you  that I am going to buy the actual DVD, but yesterday, when I was spending all day in desperation, trying to find a good link, I ended up watching the movie with Greek subtitles... classy eh?

I just couldn't wait a week for Amazon delivery!

But oh my, all that trailing around was most definitely worth it.

I don't know if you've had the pleasure of watching The Breakfast Club or not, but if you haven't it's basically about five teenagers, all of a different clique, who get stuck in detention all day Saturday for various personal reasons. You have Brian, 'the brain', Allison, 'the basket case', Andrew, 'the athlete', Claire, 'the princess' and Bender, 'the criminal'. 

Opting not to speak to each other in normal school circumstances, when thrown in to the situation of Saturday morning detention, they're all forced to evade normal social hierarchy and talk to one another, eventually finding that they are each so much more than just their pre-conceived, stereotyped social images.

As a teenager myself, it's obvious that I can relate to these characters as each represents a different struggle, a different limitation, a different perspective, so much so that I'm certain almost every teenager could relate to one of these characters in some shape or form.

And as the five main characters end up discussing a whole caliber of issues that affect every teenager regardless of generation, things like love, sex, drugs, peer pressure, grades, insecurities, family, you begin to realise that you aren't alone, none of us are alone. We all go through similar things when we're caught between childhood and adulthood, left to figure out life in all it's glory and struggle, and yet ironically we fail to realise that we aren't alone. 

In fact we're all in the exact same boat, all unified by the fact we're teenagers, experiencing those same changes, feelings, struggles, some more so than others, but still enough so to unify us all.

The Breakfast Club showed me all this, what I've just written above, and in all honesty I feel like a better person now because of it. 

Isn't it amazing how a movie can make you feel that way?

Even if you're not a teenager, you can still relate to the whole take on social stereotypes, which can still lead into the workplace, you can relate to the insecurities and struggles that can sometimes last your whole life and you can definitely relate to the monster, king of emotions, that is love.

And of course you will undoubtedly love the theme song as well.

The Breakfast Club really is just an excellent film all round. You have your superb casting choices, for example Judd Nelson's performance as Bender is just unfaultable, you also have your witty dialogue which has you laughing till your sides hurt or crying till you've basically flooded the entire living room. 

You have the whole relatable  aspect, you have the beautiful romance between the bad boy and the good girl, you have the lessons that you learn without even realising. 

Before watching this movie, I didn't understand why The Breakfast Club is hailed as one of the best teenage films of all time. I didn't know why everyone says 'oh my gawd, you just need to watch this film before you die' or why everyone states so proudly that this is their utmost favourite film ever.

I didn't know why girls say they love Judd Nelson so much, I didn't know what made this movie so special, I didn't even know that 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' was the soundtrack! 

(Excuse me while I cry of shame as you all hurtle squished tomatoes and tangerines at me).

But I'm proud to say that I understand it all completely now.

And I'm also extra proud to say this movie, The Breakfast Club, is now one of my favourite films of all time and I shall be forcing all my friends to watch it just so that we can sing Simple Minds together whilst gushing about Judd Nelson.

Oh yeah ;)

Simple Minds, Don't You (Forget About Me): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdqoNKCCt7A

The Breakfast Club Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkX8J-FKndE

(A drawing of mine I did in tribute hehe :D) 

THE FORGOTTEN BEAUTIES

So I gave you a brand new playlist update yesterday, oh yes, and I think it's safe to say there were some corkers on there. Personally, I have been quite taken by Haim- what beautiful music!- and I think I'll be departing on a voyage of Haim's back catalogue within the next coming days and you're all free to join me.

Now the reason for this next post is because in the 24 hour period between this post and the last post, I have discovered a few more beauties/ corkers/ whatever adjective floats your rowing boat and I just couldn't wait till my usual update day to tell you about them.

I have the patience of an atomic bomb. ie, it really isn't that long.

So I'm going to get stuck in there....

1) FOREVER BY HAIM 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEwM6ERq0gc

I really don't know how it's possible not to like this song. It's so simple and laid back  constructed using a classic formula and yet it sounds so unique, new, original. 'Forever' has you questioning why there is such a strong force pushing music into dubstep/ electronica, why does a song need a dubstep influence in order for it to make an impact, in order for it to be classed as 'good', in order for it to sell. I understand that for some artists, it enhances their music and they have the ability to use dubstep and electronic mavericks well, but when it's used by a pop artist, on a pop song, you can't help question why? Was there any need?

Because the Haim sisters are showing that there's still life in the stripped back approach to music, where all you need are a guitar, a beat and a voice.

I for one am happy that somewhere out there, we have a complete polar opposite to the current dubstep/ electro/ techno reign. I fully support the new approach to music where we can achieve all these wonderful, unique, extra terrestrial sounds and mash them all together to create music that seems to be delivered from another stratosphere or existence. 

But deep down I'm a guitar and vocals kind of girl; I love the 'sit down with a guitar and let yourself go' approach, and that's what Haim embrace, it's what they're about, and they do it so well.

It's a familiar, nostalgic kind of pull and yet it's so new and refreshing.

So jump on the Haim bandwagon now because I promise you, you won't regret it.

2) STAY BY RIHANNA FT MIKKY EKKO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq6hKc2SHlo

Following on from what I said above, can you understand how excited and relieved  I was when I heard Rihanna's new song, 'Stay'? In this day and age, we are inclined to expect a new Rihanna track once a month, every month and I don't know about you but I can only take so many 'Only Girl In The World's or 'We Found Love's before I want to tear my hair out in frustration. It all sounds the same, it has no meaning, no soul, just manufactured pop that follows the same formula every single time. 

As Rihanna's success evolved to meteoric heights, her approach to music changed along with it.

We used to get a mixture of pop, soul, R & B, hits like 'Unfaithful', 'Umbrella', 'Take A Bow' and the pop records only dabbled in electronica and to great effect, as seen in records like 'Disturbia'.

But somewhere along the line, Rihanna lost the soul and R & B and embraced pop and that was when Rihanna the artist became Rihanna the brand. An individual to a creation that is shoved in front of your face wherever you may go, or blasted into your ear drums on an all too regular basis.
I missed the old Rihanna, the Rihanna with soul, self-respect, innocence, the Rihanna who didn't need the provocative clothing or over produced dance tracks to be successful.
Where did she go?
Well I'm pleased to say she's wasn't erased completely, no, that Rihanna was still there and I don't know if this is a one off but anyhow, we finally have that Rihanna back, at least for now.
Her new song 'Stay' is the epitome of soul, emotion, feeling, passion; a slow ballad with vocals that ache of experience, longing, truth. Each line has meaning and the slow tempo means the message is delivered to the full extent. This is a record you can take something away from, it strikes a chord within, it resonates with you.
Unlike 'SNM' where one can't really relate to being whipped with a chain, 'Stay' relates to anyone who has ever loved another, and I think almost everyone can hold their hand high to that.
  This is a song worth hearing.

3) KARMAGEDDON BY DOT ROTTEN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4RHabjap-s

Now here is an example of when dubstep and electronic/ techno is used properly.
In 'Karmageddon', artist Dot Rotten uses those beats as they were meant to be used, he adds to his vocals so that the message they are singing translates, he mixes in swirls and waves of electronic riffs to add power to the song. It just works so well. And it's refreshing to hear a rapper with vocals about world peace and honest love instead of the many Jag's and Lamborghini's in his crib or the 'hoes' he's got falling at his feet because he's just that cool, standing there with wearing a thick, luminous gold chain, trousers sliding down past his designer knick knacks.
'Karmageddon' is a fantastic song firstly for the musical technicality and the way it's used to build up the song in to something magnificent and secondly, for the lyrics that actually mean something.
Combine them together and you have a real corker of a song.
Dot Rotten isn't a well known rapper, he's best known for hits like 'Overload' and 'Are You Not Entertained' that were taken on board and broadcast by Radio One to successful acclaim, namely being hailed one of the best new artists in 2011.
He's talented in the way he can create a catchy hookline, match it with the perfect beats and accompany the two with lyrics of substance. Plus he has a name that plays on the infamous and beloved 'Dot Cotten' from classic soap EastEnders.
Dot Rotten hasn't had his true breakthrough moment yet, but with songs so good, surely it can only be just around the corner? Every song he releases is snapped up by Radio One, winning him a series of new fans every time, and each song is slightly different but with the same Dot Rotten blue print re-worked into something new. I for one don't know why he hasn't made the big time yet, but with every song being such a corker ( it's the word of the day), it can only be a matter of time before one of his fabulous creations blasts onto the bigger scene and sends seismic rolls across the land.
And like the title suggests, I think karma just might play in his favour.

CLASH OF THE GENRES AND GUITAR GRENADES

After flicking through a recent copy of NME magazine, I noticed how the musical geniuses there made predictions that a new wave of rock and guitar based front runners, for instance Jake Bugg, Lucy Rose etc. would amass the music top spot in the next couple of years.

We all know that music seems to work in a cyclical pattern, where one particular genre reigns supreme for a said number of years before another knocks it out the water with an almighty bang.

It's like a wrestle in the ring for musical supremacy that seems to pop up every four to six years, like the Olympics, and everyone tunes in to see if the current music champion can hold on to it's crown or if it loses it to the next best thing to happen in music ever. 

There's no telling who will win the crown but we can predict who is in favour of this prestigious title a few years into the current genre's reign. Take for example the 90's run-in to the noughties: the decade began on a high with the likes of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins most definitely holding onto the steering wheel after the all amazing classic American Rock dominance of the late 80's.

A new breed of rock, punk, indie, metal smash-ups were leading the way and they soon gave into the Brit Pop era of the mid 90's where bands like Oasis, Blur and Radiohead popped up to say hi, bleeding that new found rock styling into the pop stratosphere.

Meanwhile America were honing the formula for the perfect boy band which saw the classic five piece with mostly average voices come together in a tsunami of hunkiness to churn out hit after hit full of that cheesy pop music that we all secretly love. Forget Nirvana, Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls; America was saying goodbye to the guitar bands and hello to the pop world, Backstreet Boys, N-Sync, NKOTB, a transition which soon filtered into the UK. It wasn't long before our own Brit pop/ rock smash up gave in to the almighty power of Gary Barlow's dancing and soon Take That, Boyzone, Westflife and the Spice Girls (girl power, boom) were the people that everyone wanted to hear.

The rock beginnings of the 90's lost it's reign pretty quickly to the all too dominant pop stratosphere, so by the time the noughties rolled in, S-Club 7, Steps, Aqua and Bob The Builder (how did that even happen?) had the perfect platform to broadcast their pop offerings to the world. 

But whilst it seems that all the other genre's have vanished off the face of the Earth, alas the truth is very much far from it...

You see, whilst the biggest genre of the day flaunts it's stuff like the new Kate Moss or Naomi Campbell or the hottest club in London town (where all the Royal's like totally go and get wasted), there is always an 'underground' scene of which the majority of people seem to forget.

In the 90's, the underground movement was R & B, hip-hop, soul and the beginnings of dub-step, dance-hall and electronica, all the genre's that we've heard nothing but of the last eight years. If you were remotely pop or rock related during the 90's, you were swept up in the tidal wave, no underground beginnings for you.

 But if you were anything outside of that bracket... well lets just say you were given a first class shove in the direction of the underground door.

It seems to be that whatever is currently not in the charts, the airwaves, the magazines, but is big in the world that exists outside of the ' pop culture', that is what will soon be supreme in a few years time. 

I mean, look what happened to dub-step, grime, R&B etc., after the underground years of the 90's, rappers and soul singers like Kanye West, Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, Jay-Z, Mary-J, Alicia Keys all found their way to the top of the pack. Cheesy Pop was definitely on the out and suddenly this movement of music had it's well deserved and long awaited moment.

Of course two or more genre's can easily co-exist in the top spot, for instance now it seems to be a mix of electronic/ dub-step and pop, however it does seem that pop is always going to be the 'blueprint', the underlying construction or basis, and the next biggest genre provides the brick work, the decoration, the fleshing out of the over-used structure.

So will the day ever come when one genre finally kicks pop off the top spot, to which it has clinged to like Madonna clings to her long gone glory days and youthful looks?

Well in recent years, it has looked likely; hip hop and R&B definitely had it's moment in the last decade when it co-existed alongside the very powerful new rock/indie scene of 2001-2007 which was full of the likes of Arctic Monkeys (woo!), The Kooks, Coldplay, The Strokes, Snow Patrol, The Killers, Razorlight, to name but a few.

But of course like that ever so frustrating fly, that has idiotically flown into your house in the hope of claiming that last bit of chicken salad you ate last night, and which you just can't squish, pop always finds a way of fighting it's way back and it probably always will.

But the way in which we embrace new sounds, artists, genres is changing, allowing artists outside of the pop bracket to get the recognition they deserve. Artists like Ed Sheeran, Tinie Tempah, Labrinth and Adele have really come in to their own and shown us what true artists should be like, look like and sound like.

Meanwhile the mega maestro's of dance, electronic and dub-step, such as the almighty Skrillex, Chase & Status, Swedish House Mafia, Avicii are hogging all the airplay and they have clearly been rubbing off on the pop offspring of today. Faster tempo's, powerful bass beats, electronic riffs and auto-tune are a rife and when done well, the product is something literally out of this world.

So I guess the question now is which is direction will music turn to next?

If you ask me, I believe that there are still a few more years left in this current genre mash-up; the Skrillex sound still has enough electric spark to keep the fire blazing, and of course today's culture has fully embraced both this electronic sound and the notion of rap and R&B. If anything, it encourages it; this once foreign concept of speaking words as fast Felix Baumgartner sky falling to Earth instead of singing them, is what we all know and love.

You could say it's part of our culture.

Now being a rock and indie slave, I'm not going to lie that despite my own new found love and appreciation for the likes of Avicii, Drake, Jay-Z, Skrillex and so on, I really want the guitar age to be as powerful as it once was. For me, 2006 was the only year in my sixteen year life where all the bands I adore were triumphantly on top. My Chemical Romance, Arctic Monkeys, Snow Patrol, all on the airwaves, magazines, internet and despite being only ten years old,  I loved it.

I long for a repetition of that time so badly that it's almost an ache in my chest. Of course the guitar and indie movement never lost it's touch, it's always been there, always will be, but unlike pop, it does get pushed to the sidelines and sometimes, all I want is to turn on the radio and have the Foo Fighters, The Killers, My Chemical Romance and a whole host of other fabulous musical instrument and songwriting enthusiasts dominating the country, the world, just like they once did.

So to conclude this awfully long post, I predict that this current age will last for the next three to four years and will begin to bleed into other genre's, such as the new 'Rock'n'Rave' output, just like back in the 90's.

But from 2016 onwards, I believe that rock, indie and the good old guitar will have it's time once again.

Anyone with me?