Songs and bands

In recent weeks and months I have been listening to a lot of new and modern music. Some discovered, and some advised by others.

Blood - The Middle East

Taken from the album 'The Recordings of the Middles East'. A strange mix of songs and hard to distinguish a particular genre. Influences of folk, ambience and pop throughout. Beautiful harmonies, instrumentals and climatic build up's. For fans of Grizzly Bear.

It's Not Meant to Be - Tame Impala

Taken from the album 'Innerspeaker'. This is the best album I have heard in a long time. A wash of psychedelic dream pop with vocals that echo John Lennon.

DWLDWD - Pure Ecstasy

Knowing very little about this American band I have to use myspace and youtube to listen to their songs. A really great band who also produce psychedelic dream pop numbers but are less accessible than Tame Impala. One of the best news bands I've heard.

Slight Figure of Speech - The Avett Brothers

Taken from the album 'I and Love and You'. The album is the Avett Brothers' first major label offering and was produced by Rick Rubin (RHCP, Weezer). Although they have released many albums prior to this release. They have a nostalgic folk like essence with a modern day twist. This song is particularly catchy.

Frustrating Sound - Radio Moscow

Taken from the self titled 'Radio Moscow' album. A great band with a 60's blues feel. Elements of Hendrix and Led Zeppelin shine through on both albums.

Bio - Joe Carnall & The Book Club - Sent to Coventry

Hailing from Sheffield, The Book Club are a four piece indie pop/rock band, fronted by former Milburn lead-man, Joe Carnall. Carnall still provides lead vocals but has switched duties from bass to guitar for the Book Club. With two singles, ‘Wheelbarrows for Wallets’ and ‘What Was Said On The Landing’, the band appear to be going from strength to strength.

After the demise of Milburn, Carnall took some time out, not really doing anything with music, and studying history at Sheffield University. After about six months he began writing songs again and thereafter formed ‘Joe Carnall & the Book Club’. Carnall managed to recruit original Arctic Monkeys bassist, Andy Nicholson, who had claimed that Milburn had a great influence on the Arctic Monkeys, to play bass. Sheffield based musicians, Pat Conwill and Anthony Allen also joined on guitar and drums, respectively. The band were made public in mid 2009 and a number of live dates followed. Nicholson soon left the band to join Reverend & the Makers and was replaced by Tom Colclough, finishing the current line up for the band.

The Book Club managed to gather a small following that is beginning to gain a momentum and grow due to live appearances up and down the country. Popular songs by the band include ‘Sir Walter’, a slow burning ball room waltz, the raucous rallying call for justice for the victims of the Hillsborough disaster in, ‘Justice for the 96’ and ‘Somewhere Near Oxford’, which sounds suspiciously like a song by The Strokes. Joe Carnall & the Book Club are certainly a band for Milburn fans. Unlike his Milburn counterpart, Tom Rowley, who changed musical direction and formed ‘The Backhanded Compliments’ although now known as ‘Dead Sons’, Carnall has stuck to what he knows best, writing catchy guitar songs about love, loss and life in the city.

You can catch ‘Joe Carnall & the Book Club’ play a headline show at the ‘Friday Night Dole Club’ event, located at Taylor Johns House in Coventry on the 30th July 2010. £5 entry. Find out more at www.myspace.com/thebookclubofficial and the Friday night dole club page on facebook.

Blood Red Shoes - Birmingham o2 Academy 3 - 2nd March 2010

After almost two years since their debut album ‘Box Of Secrets’, Blood Red Shoes return to promote their second album ‘Fire Like This’; this live performance in Birmingham being the first date of the tour and coming only one day after the release of the new album. So a night of unheard songs and quotes of being more mature and wanting to be taken more seriously is in store? Well, no.

Blood Red Shoes, a grunge noise male/female pop duo from Brighton open on track one from album one ‘Doesn’t Matter Much’ and remind everybody why we fell in love with them and what we have been missing. Straight back in to the swing of things and then on to a new one. The band manage to create the right mix of old and new songs on tonight’s set list; almost alternating between old, new, old, new throughout the whole performance.

As a band, they both seem to have improved. Laura-Mary Carter appears more confident with her guitar playing and holds a better stage presence whilst Steven Ansell’s drumming and singing is as tight and ferocious as ever.

‘Light It Up’ the first single taken from ‘Fire Like This’ sounds better live than on recording with it’s cribs-esque verses and a chorus that echoes anything from Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ album. ‘I Wish I Was Someone Better’ and ‘This Is Not For You’ taken from their 2008 debut are played as is early single ‘You Bring Me Down’ and they all sound fresh and vibrant and slot nicely in to the performance, keeping the punters happy. This is reiterated with tonight’s closing track, the band’s signature song ‘It’s Getting Boring By The Sea’.

Stand out new track is ‘Count Me Out’ which hits you immediately with the first strum of the guitar. Simple verses which casually build up with alternating drum beats and a chorus that shudders through you with chants of “Always empty” and “Count me out, I’m not here” reiterating the bands lyrical themes of alienation and boredom. Another is track four of the second album, ‘When We Wake’. It’s a touching affair and is a nice shift from the loud ruckus the duo are usually known to create, to a soft breezy number that delicately builds up to a climatic finale and compliments the song beautifully. The song has Carter repeatedly ask “In the end is this all we can ask for?”; which is certainly something Blood Red Shoes fans will not be asking upon hearing the new album performed live.