Jefferson Airplane

They might not be everyone's cup of tea but I really enjoy listening to their music. It's total psychedelic indulgence. They were one of the original Woodstock bands, performing in the Summer of Love.

Their best song has to be "White Rabbit", but I also like "High Flyin' Bird" and "Somebody To Love".

If you want to listen to "White Rabbit" with a groovy video to go with it, click here!

For a bit of extra trivia, this song was written by Grace Slick, the singer.

Mark Ronson and The Rumble Strips

Mark Ronson is one of my music heroes.

Every song the DJ and producer works on sounds fantastic. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past two years, you must have heard his award-winning 2007 album, "Version" for which he produced cover songs sung by British artists.

There was of course the smash hit cover of Zutons' "Valerie" by Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen's very snazzy version of "Oh My God" by Kaiser Chiefs, and Daniel Merriweather's soulful take on The Smith's "Stop Me".

And now he has produced The Rumble Strips' latest album "Welcome To The Walk Alone".

From what I could hear on The Rumble Strips' myspace it sounds every bit as good as everything else he's produced, including Amy Winehouse's Back To Black album.

Of course, Mark Ronson can't take all of the credit, The Rumble Strips - a Soul/Ska band from Tavistock, Devon - have been going for years. They released an album in 2007 called Girls and Weather, and a single called Motorcycle.

In the band you have Charlie Waller on lead vocals and guitar, Tom Gorbutt on sax, vocals and bass, Henry Clark on trumpet, vocals and bass, Matthew Wheeler on drums and Sam Mansbridge on bass, vocals and orange drum.

"Welcome To The Walk Alone" will be released on July 13th.

Quilla Constance - Electronica Punk Artist

Quilla Constance is probably one of the most original music acts to emerge at this time.

She is a talented dancer and conceptual artist who is using the medium of pop music to explore the questions her art raises.

Think that sounds weird and wonderful? Wait until you hear her debut single - "Snow Daddy".

The controversial music of Quilla is best described as Electronica Punk but you could definitely liken "Snow Daddy" to dance music; and yet it's so much better than any of the dance music you'll hear in the charts right now.

It's had the Midas Touch of talented producer and composer David Greenfield who co-wrote the song with Quilla Constance, recorded her vocals and made the beats and sounds complement each other.

What makes it more interesting is that it's actually a darkly witty track about a Trust-afarian using daddy's money to fund her Cocaine habit!

"Snow Daddy" hasn't got an official release date yet (it's looking like November 2009 - to go with the snow theme!) so I feel very honoured to have been able to listen to it, and the only way I was able to even find out about it was through meeting Quilla Constance and her producer personally. Get me!

Quilla Constance told me:

"My punk vocal delivery for 'Snow Daddy' has been described as 'edgy and sardonic' and the sound of my vocal has been compared to 'Lene Lovich' from the 70s." I myself was reminded of Natalie Bassingthwaite's vocals for Voodoo Child, with the Rogue Traders.

Go to Quilla Constance's myspace at http://www.myspace.com/quillaconstance to be one of the lucky first few to listen to the first mix of "Snow Daddy"

I'm looking forward to seeing the accompanying video - which will include Quilla Constance performing!

Amy Winehouse cancels Shepherd's Bush gig

Source

Amy Winehouse was due to play London Shepherd's Bush as her first gig in the UK in months but has cancelled.

I do really hope she is getting her life back on track but it sounds like she's just getting worse.

Her last gig in St. Lucia was apparently a shambles; she allegedly couldn't remember the words to her own songs and walked off stage half-way through blaming the weather conditions.

Sources say Amy Winehouse is working on her third album. I don't think we'll ever see it. It seems to me that the only way the album will get released is as part of a post-humous greatest hits collection.

Anvil: The Story of Anvil

I knew as soon as I heard about it on the radio that I had to see it and my goodness, it was better than I expected.

"Anvil: The Story of Anvil" is a DOCUMENTARY about a Canadian heavy metal rock group by the name of Anvil, consisting of "Lips" on lead vocals and lead guitar, Robb Reiner (that's two 'b's, and yes, it's just a coincidence; for all you Spinal Tap fans out there) on drums, and another two on guitars - the line-up of which keeps changing.

Reiner and Lips have been Anvil since the 1970s, and in the 1980s they played a huge tour alongside the likes of Metallica and Bon Jovi, who went on to achieve high critical acclaim and make platinum-selling records. This wasn't the case for Anvil, and pretty much as soon as the tour finished, Reiner and Lips had to get minimum-wage manual jobs. Near to the beginning of the film you see Lips working for a catering company for schools.

Since that tour though, Anvil has kept rocking. They are currently working on their fourteenth album, but they have had to remortgage homes and go through hell to do this; to follow their dream.

The reason why it seems like I'm doing a film review for a music blog is because this documentary is so important to music. It tells of the corruption in the industry, the heartache musicians have to face; how the vast majority of musicians don't make it and get screwed over.

I have to admit, heavy metal is one of the few music genres I am not too keen on, but, I must say, their song "Metal on Metal" is pretty catchy.

This film has just stopped being screened in cinemas (movie theatres for people living across the pond from I) and I've just looked, it hasn't been released on DVD yet, but I am sure that when it does it's going to be a bestseller.

This is a must-see film for any music lover.

Alex Roots - not Fake

^ Nicked from Alex Roots' Myspace ;)

I genuinely believe that I have just discovered for myself the best female punk rocker since Debbie Harry. She is definitely up there with Wendy James and Suzi Quatro.

I can just visualise her songs playing loudly while I'm driving my car with the window open.

Alex Roots has a terrific voice, she can sing live, she co-writes her songs, she has attitude, brains, and she's really cute!

I just found her by reading an article by Paul Lester at The Guardian about how we have lots of talented young female singers entering the charts. I have to agree with him there. We've already got Lady GaGa, Lily Allen and Katy Perry and friends.

Here he talks about Alex Roots alongside Paloma Faith, Daisy Dares You, Pixie Lott, Sky Ferreira et al.

Being what I like to refer to as a "lady of leisure", I had the time to check out all of the girls' music on myspace. Alex Roots clearly shines the brightest out of all of them.

On this occasion I will have to disregard Radio 1 and say that Alex Roots deserves the most airplay on the radio.

All of Alex Root's songs are really, very good, but especially Fake which is amazing; and the video for it, in my opinion, is fantastic.

Alex Roots' Myspace - Look for the "Fake" video

Matt and Kim

I just heard of Matt and Kim while looking at DJ Samantha Ronson's website. They are actually pretty good. They've got a fresh, upbeat sound and it looks like they're making a real name for themselves. They're described on Wikipedia as an "Indie Rock duo" which seems pretty accurate to me. They're from New York.

Anyway, to check them out, go to their myspace. I highly recommend it!

Oxjam Spring Fever 2009

Here is my article for Oxjam Spring Fever 2009.

The reason it's late is I thought when Oxjam asked me to do an article, that they actually wanted it, but I was mistaken.

Still, it wasn't a complete waste of my time, money and energy because I get to post it on here! Also, I helped to raise money for charity and was fortunate enough to speak to very talented people. Here goes:

First Acoustic Night was a Great Experience

Gig: Oxjam Spring Fever
Venue: The Hillgrove, Bristol
Organiser: Julia Pflaum
Date and time: 02/04/09 8PM ‘til late

I have been helping Oxjam for the past few months; mainly putting up posters and contacting musicians. I heard from the regional manager of Oxjam South West – Melanie Skinner, about a gig happening not too far away from me. An acoustic night. Quite a lot of these happen in Bristol but I’ve never been to one before. This was the perfect opportunity to see what sort of event it was.

I arrived at the Hillgrove on Dove street in Kingsdown at 7PM. I spoke to the organiser, Julia Pflaum and we chatted about our shared love of poetry.
I introduced myself and the photographer, Michael Moustafi , to the first act to arrive, Karl Alesbury – “like the place but without the Y”, as he cheerfully told me while introducing himself.

He was a solo performer with an acoustic guitar. He remarked on the intimacy of the venue. I had to agree there. It was smaller than your average pub.
Karl kicked off proceedings with a cover of The Beatles “In My Life”. I felt his soft voice captured the emotion of the song well.

He then performed a song called “Glistening Lights” which was good, a brilliant cover of “Life on Mars” by David Bowie, a Foo Fighters cover, a song called “Toothpaste Kisses” and “Playing by Numbers”. His guitar playing was excellent.
Next up was Katey Brooks, another solo singer with an acoustic guitar, who described her sound as “Acoustic soul folk”. I asked her if she was likened to anyone and she replied “Tracey Chapman”. Coming from anyone except her, a young, slim, blonde lady, I would have believed her!

She started with “True Speaker”, which I loved the lyrics of. Then she played “No-one but my best”. I thought that on this song she sounded like a cross between Alanis Morisette and The Cranberries, and as I was listening, I was thinking ‘this is why we shouldn’t watch The X Factor and should start listening to real music’. It was during this song that people began to take notice of the performer and stop whatever they were doing. The pub chef came over and whispered to me:

“She’s pretty good isn’t she? When she came in she looked really nervous but I could hear her playing from the kitchen and she sounded really good.”

Her third song was “This old skin” and as I listened the first thought that popped into my head was ‘wow, this sounds like Tracey Chapman’.

By the time she was playing her last song “Lines”, there was a huge crowd around her and one could hardly move.

The next act was Bashema with a keyboard to accompany her.

Her first song was an instrumental called “Different”, and it was totally different! It wasn’t anything like the previous acts. It was a type of contemporary jazz. The second song was “More this”. I absolutely loved it. Her third song was “Phenomenal” I really identified with the lyrics of the song on a personal level. I also loved her fourth song “Writer’s block” and her cover of Radiohead’s “Creep”. She definitely made it her own.

Next up was a poet called Malusi. As a poet myself, I predicted a loss of audience but boy, was I wrong. More people actually crowded round to hear him. He was just reeling off word after word in very quick succession, from memory. The best way I could describe him is Saul Williams crossed with the lead singer of Faithless. He blew me away with his words about war. I heard a girl in the audience say to her friend

“How does he remember it all?”

While watching him I thought “this is real poetry" and that if only he was more famous, more people would appreciate the art form.

I managed to grab him for a chat after his performance. I asked him what others had been wondering, which was how he managed to remember what he was saying, and he replied:

“When I’m writing it, I just write and recite, write and recite and it just sticks.”

After him there was a singer called Tammy Payne, from the band Jukes. Unfortunately I didn’t catch the names of her songs because she came on so quietly! However my ears were able to inform me that she sounded very folky, with a hint of jazz.

Last up was Ross, another poet. He did an excellent poem which was one against the anti-smoking brigade; about how smokers should have the right to smoke without being lectured. He was another true performer.

At the end, there was a raffle, and a lady called Janine from Oxfam came up to say a few words:

“Oxfam works on developments to help people out of poverty. It also works in emergency situations. It works to find solutions...I believe that in a wealthy world, poverty is unjustifiable.”

That was the real reason we were all there. I heard some excellent music and contributed to proceeds of over £100 for charity. Not a bad night at all!
You can listen to some of the artists featured in this article at their websites:

Karl Alesbury - www.myspace.com/karlalesbury

Bashema - www.myspace.com/bashemasolo

Katey Brooks - www.myspace.com/kateybrooks

Tammy Payne (member of Jukes) - www.myspace.com/jukesuk

Malusi - www.myspace.com/zionrianize - also has an interesting video on YouTube

Photography by Michael Moustafi

Paradise by the Dashboard Light Lyrics

Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meat Loaf

Man:
Well I remember every little thing as if it happened only yesterday
Parkin' by the lake and there was not another car in sight
And I never had a girl
Lookin' any better than you did
And all the kids at school, they were wishin' they were me that night

Together:
Well now our bodies were oh so close and tight
It never felt so good, it never felt so right

And we're glowin' like the metal on the edge of a knife
Glowin' like the metal on the edge of knife

Man:
Well come on
Hold on tight
Well come on
Hold on tight

Together:
Though it's cold and lonely in the deep, dark night
I can see paradise by the dashboard light

Woman:
Ain't no doubt about it, we were doubly blessed
'Cause we were barely seventeen and we were barely dressed
Ain't no doubt about it
Baby got to go and shout it
Well ain't no doubt about it, we were doubly blessed
'Cause we were barely seventeen and we were barely dressed

Man:
Baby don't you hear my heart, you got it drownin' out the radio
I been a-waitin' so long for you to come along and have some fun
Well I gotta let you know
No you're never gonna regret it
So open up your eyes, I got a big surprise
It'll be alright, I'm gonna make your motor run

Together:
Well now our bodies were oh so close and tight
It never felt so good, it never felt so right

And we're glowin' like the metal on the edge of a knife
Glowin' like the metal on the edge of knife

Man:
Well come on
Hold on tight
Well come on
Hold on tight

Woman:
Though it's cold and lonely in the deep, dark night
I can see paradise by the dashboard light

Together:
You got to do what you can, and let Mother Nature do the rest
Well ain't no doubt about it,we were doubly blessed
'Cause we were barely seventeen and we were barely-

Together:
We're gonna go all the way tonight, we're gonna go all the way tonight, tonight
We're gonna go all the way tonight, we're gonna go all the way tonight, tonight

Woman:
Stop right there! I gotta know right now!

Before we go any further, do you love me?
Will you love me forever, do you need me?
Will you never leave me?
Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?
Will you take me away and will you make me your wife?

Do you love me?
Will you love me forever, do you need me?
Will you never leave me?
Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?
Will you take me away and will you make me your wife?
I gotta know right now!
Before we go any further, do you love me? And will you love me forever?

Man:
Well let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Well let me sleep on it
I'll give you an answer in the mornin'

Well let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Well let me sleep on it
I'll give you an answer in the mornin'

Well let me sleep on it
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Well let me sleep on it
I'll give you an answer in the mornin'

Woman:
I gotta know right now!

Do you love me?
Will you love me forever, do you need me?
Will you never leave me?
Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?
Will you take me away and will you make me your wife?
I gotta know right now!
Before we go any further, do you love me? And will you love me forever?

What's it gonna be, boy? Come on now, I can wait all night
What's it gonna be, boy, yes or no? What's it gonna be, boy, yes or no?

Man:
Well let me sleep on it!
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Well let me sleep on it
I'll give you an answer in the mornin'

Well let me sleep on it!
Baby, baby let me sleep on it
Well let me sleep on it
I'll give you an answer in the mornin'

Woman:
I gotta know right now!

Do you love me?
Will you love me forever, do you need me?
Will you never leave me?
Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life?
Will you take me away and will you make me your wife?
I gotta know right now!
Before we go any further, do you love me? And will you love me forever?

Man:
Well let me sleep on it

Woman:
Will you love me forever?

Man:
Well let me sleep on it

Woman:
Will you love me forever?

Man:
I couldn't take it any longer and dang I was crazy
When the feeling came upon me like a tidal wave
Started swearing to my God and on my mother's grave
That I would love you 'til the end of time
I swore I would love you 'til the end of time

Together:
So now I'm prayin' for the end of time
So hurry up playin' around
'Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you
I don't think that I could really survive

I'll never break my promise or forget my vow

Man:
But God only knows what I could do right now

Together:
Prayin' for the end of time is all that I can do, ooh, ooh
Prayin' for the end of time
So I can end my time with you

Man:
Well it was long ago and it was far away and it was so much better than it is today...(fade out)

Woman:
It never felt so good, it never felt so right and it was blowin' like the metal on the edge of a knife...(fade out)

Well there you have the best song to do at karaoke. You seriously need to practice it first but it's some of the best fun anyone can have in their life. If you're a male you need a female friend and vice versa. I strongly recommend it.

I love this song because it's almost like a play within a song, like an opera....sort of.

I have a very special place in my heart for Meat Loaf but that's for another post.

Shining Light - Ash or Annie Lennox?

Have you even heard this song? It's truly beautiful.

Which version do you prefer? Ash, who are responsible for the original, or Annie Lennox?

I asked myself this question and found it very difficult to answer, but eventually I decided to root for Shining Light by Ash. I do tend to prefer original versions of songs for their integrity, but also as a classic rock fan I just love the guitar chords and lead on this. Annie Lennox has got a wonderful voice though, and she is a great lady.

I must say I haven't heard that many Ash songs, maybe I should get into them a bit more.

By the way there isn't a competition going on between them, I just thought it would be interesting to choose between them!

Jimmy Page Robert Plant No Quarter

I wrote a post a while ago about an album I managed to practically steal for £3; No Quarter: Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Unledded (1994).

I first listened to it when I was about 19 and I was round an older male friend's house drinking and smoking (:O tsk tsk bad I know but to be honest, the best way to listen to it is probably just with friends, chilling out in the evening).

Anyway at that point in my life I'd vaguely heard a few Led Zeppelin songs before but didn't know much about them. I didn't have a clue who it was on the tape I was listening to, playing guitar and singing; I just knew that what I was listening to was real music.

So you can imagine my surprise when my learned friend enlightened me with the news that it was in fact Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. They had recorded an album without the other members of Led Zeppelin.

By the way, I'm not saying this album is one of the best classic rock albums ever made, it's not. But it's certainly one any fan of real music should listen to!

No Quarter does include some Ledhead faves such as Kashmir and The Battle of Evermore - a song originally recorded with Sandy Denny - but for me, the best song on that whole album has to be "Friends". That's the song that made me blow out a smoke ring and mumble "Hey...whoozat singing?"

Paul Hegley

^^From Paul Hegley's Myspace: Him in the recording studio.

I went along to the Bull and Gate in Kentish Town in London last night to watch my cousin, Paul Hegley, solo singer and guitarist play an acoustic set.

He played four original songs, "Bricklayer Blues", "Smalltown Celebrity", "What I Really Love", and one yet to be recorded - all written by himself - and one cover; Bob Marley's "Jammin'".

All of the lyrics of his own songs conjure up plenty of imagery and the guitar fretwork is just amazing; proper bluesy stuff.

His cover included a new arrangement and sounded very interesting to say the least.

If I had to say who Paul Hegley's voice most reminded me of I would venture a cross between Jon Bon Jovi and Luke from the Kooks, but that doesn't really do it justice.

Before you make any comments you shall have to check out his myspace, where you can listen to his three recorded songs.

Eagles Hotel California Lyrics

On a dark desert highway
Cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of colitas
Rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance
I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
I had to stop for the night

Then she stood in the doorway
I heard the misson bell
And I was thinkin' to myself
This could be heaven or this could be hell
Then she lit up a candle
And she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor
I thought I heard them say


Welcome to the Hotel California
Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Any time of year (any time of year)
You can find it here

Her mind is tiffany twisted
She got the Mercedes-Benz
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys
That she calls friends
How they dance in the courtyard
Sweet summer sweat
Some dance to remember
Some dance to forget

So I called up the captain
"Please bring me my wine"
He said, "we haven't had that spirit here since nineteen sixty nine"
And still those voices are calling from far away,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
Just to hear them say

Welcome to the hotel california
Such a lovely place (such a lovely place)
Such a lovely face
They're livin' it up at the hotel california
What a nice surprise, (what a nice surprise) bring your alibis

Mirrors on the ceiling,
The Pink champagne on ice
And she said "we are all just prisoners here, of our own device"
And in the master's chambers
They gathered for the feast
The stab it with their steely knives
But they just can't kill the beast

Last thing I remember, I was
Running for the door
I had to find the passage back
To the place I was before
Relax, said the night man
We are programmed to receive.
You can check out any time you like
But you can never leave

That's Eagles - "Hotel California" lyrics. The lyrics to my favourite song of all time by my favourite band of all time. And I had the honour of seeing them perform it live in 2006 and I can honestly say that's one of the top three moments of my life.

The show lasted about 4 hours and I'd thoroughly enjoyed three and a half hours of it when they all stood up, said thank you to the audience and walked off. I was horrified and outraged, because they hadn't played Hotel California. I demanded an encore, I nearly lost my voice, yelling "Hotel California! Don! Don! Don! It was no use, the lights had gone out on the stage. I was so upset. Then a little light went on. In the middle of a stage there was a guy in a sombrero playing the trumpet. "Very nice", I thought, but I was still upset.

Then he played a really long note, and stopped. All of a sudden, all the lights went on, and that unmistakable first chord boomed out. Hotel California! There was Don Henley on the drums and, of course on vocals, Glenn Frey, Timothy B. Schmidt, and Joe Walsh on the guitars and a host of backing singers and other guitarists. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I listened.

They played it perfectly and Don sang absolutely beautifully. They even had the famous guitar duet from the original recording. I was singing along with the hugest grin on my face.

You can't really get much better than that. It is a truly amazing song. All of their other songs are absolutely brilliant but "Hotel California" is their best. I strongly recommend that anyone who wants to learn about real music should buy "Eagles: The Complete Greatest Hits" released in 2008.

Hotel California was released as a single in 1977 and went to number one in the US. It won the Grammy for Song of The Year in 1978. It was written by Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Don Felder. Eagles were inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of fame in 1998.

It's a staple rock n' roll song for a lot of people, hence my earlier post.

Why The Cure are amazing

^ Neal Preston, www.thecure.com

The Cure is one of my top four favourite bands and I thought it was only right that I do a post about them sooner or later.

They only became one of my favourite bands very recently. Up until then, I'd just heard a song here and there, a theme tune to a programme (Close To Me), or a song on the jukebox (Boys Don't Cry), or on the soundtrack to a film (Just Like Heaven), absolutely loved it but not known who it was by and not really cared, until I discovered all of these amazing songs were by the same group.

I can't really explain why I like their music so much. I believe it may have something to do with the sound production. Their music really comes alive with a good sound system. A thought I keep having about them is that their music is like an "ear massage"!

Lady Sovereign fell out of my good books lately when she sampled "Close To Me" for her latest song. It just shouldn't be allowed. The Cure are unique and no good will come of meddling with their songs. If a song doesn't have all of the ingredients; the instruments, Robert Smith's voice and the sound production from another planet, it's not The Cure and it will just sound mediocre.

I just had a little peek at their website and found a beautifully written letter from the gorgeous Robert Smith to his fans on the first page. It's his argument against all music being free, and I totally agree with him.

I've always thought about the artists out there that are trying to put food on the table, hence why I started this blog.

The Cure have just finished a tour and I am absolutely kicking myself for not going, but I wouldn't have been able to afford it. Maybe next time.

They actually released a new album called 4:13 Dream last October, which I may just have to buy, and they are releasing another one this October! They are pure geniuses.

By the way, they formed in 1976.

Homeless people - Encourage them!

This isn't really related to music but I felt I had to share it.

Today I was sitting outside Liverpool Street Station in London with my can of diet coke when a guy walked up to me and asked if he could make me a copper wire sulpture for some spare change. I practically bit his hand off. My own copper wire sculpture? Usually you have to pay at least £5 in shops that sell those.

He said I could have one with my name on or a flower. I chose the flower.

He made it out of a single copper wire, about 30cm long, and he made it so quickly and with such grace. In exactly the time it took him to make it he explained that each of the four petals on it represented one of the four elements, and he explained it so beautifully it was like poetry. I got all of that for a pound.

If any of you live in London, go to Liverpool Street Station where he usually is. His name is Darren, he's very polite and he's from Johannesburg. If he approaches you, buy a sculpture. Some people might have reservations about what a homeless person might do with his revenue, but I honestly don't care what he does with it. I believe talent like that should be encouraged because it could really do some good in the world.

Lyrics that are disgusting/cheesy

^^ Taken from omg.yahoo.com

Lady GaGa:

Her songs are very catchy indeed, but I am afraid I have no love for her.

I seem to be the only one with this opinion but I think the lyrics "'Cause I'm bluffin' with my muffin/I'm not lying I'm just stunnin' with my love-glue-gunning" are absolutely disgusting and have no place on a pop song of someone who markets her music at teenagers.

"Bluffin' with my muffin" seems to have become a popular phrase, judging by a quick look on Google. I'd hate to think young girls are walking around saying that. The words just make me cringe.

Another one, Taylor Swift. Am I also alone in thinking this song is nothing but rubbish cheese?

She's basically inserted the words "Romeo and Juliet" into a mediocre teeny pop tune and somehow people think it's the best song since sliced bread. The video is so pretentious and arrogant it almost makes me want to puke, along with the line "You were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles/And my Daddy said stay away from Juliet"

Yuck!

Mika!

Who would have thought a lonely, bullied Lebanese kid could grow up to be a talented and visionary songwriter and performer with 283,998 friends on myspace (when this was published), a host of awards including Ivor Novello Song of The Year 2008 and the BRIT for Best British Breakthrough Act 2008, and be a hero for so many people?

His debut album "Life in Cartoon Motion" can not only boast having the most number of songs on a given album that I really like, but also amazing artwork that the guy himself contributed to.

His album has definitely got the biggest feel-good factor of any album I have listened to in my life, with songs like Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) and Lollipop. But it's more than that.

I feel as a fellow former child bully victim that his music truly connects with me, unlike any other artist's work.

There's only one question us Mika lovers are asking.

When is Mika's next album coming out?!

To be honest, I think if this one album was all he ever produced in his life, it would be more than enough. I just feel he is capable of getting more out.

Any Mika fans out there? What do you think? Have I missed the announcement?

Getting Lost in Allston

^^^ By K.A. Ambrose

The most amazing blog I have ever seen has been brought to my attention, and it is by someone called K.A. Ambrose who lives in the United States. The blog is full of colour and it is written with such passion and spirit.

"...we should be able to approach , as we would call this the pre-enlightened age. thing that are just outside of really feeling. they come as disturbances in the force, and define a way of interaction but jar intuition jam its frequency and determine out side of us.

“ a knight and a night did battle
a days of daze followed. “
.
For all the nobility of thought and reason. we are bound to the documentation of feelings.
but there in that, , Walking is a mater of
how you see”
all life is creation. Be that a return to roman classics, then further the conversation with enactment. with acceptance, mean the god man first cares he is god man, life is the futility of civilizations merit systems, only a quiet day to let birds in . lets light shine. the ability to aee hear, feel that and every dawn is heaven. While responsibility doesn’t first become, no magical powers except maybe empathy, no guessing the lottery number for materialism are only so. All higher life is without. "


Ambrose is a writer, and artist, but also a truly wonderful musician that goes by the name of Kada. Go to http://www.enertialcall.com/ and download Getting Lost in Allston, which is simply one of the sweetest pieces of music I have ever heard.