NME Tour

The NME tour again excited many people of all ages with the prospect of another 4 new talents from 2011, showing off their music to dedicated fans at 13 different venues. The tour featured four artists all incredibly contrasting from each other, with the fast, flowing beats of Azealia Banks to the heavy anthems and echoing riffs of Tribes, there was something for everyone at this years tour.

I managed to get tickets for the tour from someone I knew less than 10 hours before the gig, and so i went along to Nottingham's Rock City on valentines day. First up (after an incredibly fast moving que considering the gig had sold out weeks before) was American rapper and queen of insults, Azealia Banks. As the venue was filling up her relatively short set got the atmosphere going and soon enough the floor was jam packed with the upstairs balcony relatively tight for room as well. After 6 songs not many people knew all too well but were all happy to be the crowd for, Banks closed up her set with '212', a great tune which really got the crowd going and lit up the sea of bodies with the flashing lights and the club filling echoes of her controversial lyrics being screamed out from most mouths at Rock City in Azealia's final song of the night.

Next up was Camden four-piece Tribes, introduced to us by Banks very kindly after the '212' crowd had calmed down slightly. Their recently gained fame came at a great time for the tour after their recent release of 'Baby', and this was definitely reflected in the crowd. Playing their hits like 'Sappho', 'Coming Of Age' and 'We Were Children', the London band played a brilliant set worthy of a more experienced and a lot more popular band, which Tribes could so easily become in the next few years. The instrument heavy sound and memorable riffs rang throughout the ears of the fans shouting and singing the words to the catchy tunes, and it certainly was not a disappointment to anyone inside Rock City that night.

3rd in line were electronic band Metronomy, who gave a completely different buzz to the previous act. Main man Joe Mount and co took to the stage wearing light up/flashing badges, which lit up the stage along with the strobes, making it look fantastic against the dark backdrop of the venue. With all four members dancing around the stage whilst playing their incredibly catchy, synthesized instumentals with Mount singing, playing his guitar and tapping away at his keyboard in rapid succession and as close to simultaneously as humanly possible. Playing tracks from their critically acclaimed LPs, the Devon-formed talents blasted out hits such as 'The Bay', 'Radio Ladio' and 'The Look', filling the club from wall to wall with incredible sound like not many bands can produce, and certainly not in the way they do. Metronomy for me were the highlight of the night, as I'm sure they did for many people in the many venues they played in over the two week period of the tour.

The last act to take part in the gig were Two Door Cinema Club, an indie pop band from Northern Ireland who were the headliners of the tour. Out of the four, TDCC are probably the most popular, however not the longest running act on the tour. It was clear even before the moment they stepped on to the stage that they were the reason most people went to the gig, with the pre-set moshing even with no music playing throughout the crowd. When they did come on, they received a rapturous reception from the crowd, which carried on for the whole set. This included mostly songs from their debut and so far only album 'Tourist History', a relatively well-reviewed record from early 2010. Other than that they played a few new tracks from their forthcoming 2nd album, and previewed the new songs like 'This Is Moon' and 'Costume Party', along with their hits 'I Can Talk', 'What You Know' and 'Something Good Can Work'. They played their songs very well, and comfortably too with lead singer Alex Trimble playing throw and catch with one of his guitars with someone across the stage. However, I couldn't help but to feel their songs seem slightly repetitive, and at this point I stopped enjoying myself, despite an attempt at encouragement from my friends!

Overall it was an enjoyable night, as I'm sure the other 12 nights were for thousands of people. Again the NME Tour has been a great success, promoting new bands to people who might not have come across them until later years, which obviously is one of the aims of the tour. Again NME chose very good acts, all of which look to have very bright futures.

TLH

Perhaps conformity is a bit strong but...

When Suck It And See first graced the internet in its fully-leaked glory in May, I listened to it three times a day, without fail. It became almost subconscious, this constant looping transition of sounds creating the phonic backdrop of my life throughout my exam period. Even when actually sat in that freezing hall waiting for my wrist to seize up from overwriting, or just the cold, Suck It And See ran incessantly through my head. By the time I received my pre-ordered physical album, I knew every note backwards. I saw Arctic Monkeys at Don Valley Bowl; it was undeniably the best night of my life.

I once read an Alex Turner quote in which he expressed his wishes to be able to write a completely nonsensical song, like Octopus’ Garden. Suck It And See reached these new heights, with obscure and possibly completely insane lyrics such as ‘kung fu fighting on your rollerskates’ making up the majority of lead single Don’t Sit Down ‘Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair. At last, Turner has achieved what he believed to be unachievable, and he is able to talk about it! Moving swiftly away from the shy Sheffield lad who mumbled ‘don’t believe the hype’ into his microphone on debut single I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, Alex has now discovered international fame and the power of audience participation.

I don’t want to come across as some dreadful hipster fan who is determined to disown their favourite band at the first sniff of popularity. I’ll be honest; I used to hate the Arctic Monkeys. As a 10-year-old pop fan in 2005, I found it unimaginable that some unheard-of guitar band with an album seeming to promote smoking (very bad for your health, apparently) could knock my favourite generic autotune victims off the top spot. I fell in love at Humbug, the ‘difficult’ album. I think it provided me with a greater sense of loyalty to a band causing divisions in their existing fanbase.

Then along came Suck It And See. The most accessible record they’ve ever made; played on Radio 1 and in Topshop from the earliest Brick By Brick stages. Suddenly everyone was a Monkeys fan, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There are some true gems on that album, from the opening chords of all-round-British-appeal She’s Thunderstorms, the more haunting All My Own Stunts, the melancholy and contemplative Love Is A Laserquest right through to the nostalgic and general feel-good denouement provided by That’s Where You’re Wrong.

What’s most noticeable about the tracks I’ve just named are that none of them have been released as singles. This may be an advantage as their dull overplaying could easily result in their demise, but it seems that, understandably, Arctic Monkeys have chosen their most accessible tracks to release. As of now, they have released four: Don’t Sit Down, The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala, Suck It And See and Black Treacle. I cannot pretend that I’m not disappointed. In my opinion, three singles is the maximum that should be released from a studio album, for fear of effectively deadening its appeal as an album, killing it off.

And then there are the videos. Brick By Brick depicted a girl smoking next to her record player, and therefore wandered dangerously close to pretentious waters. Don’t Sit Down and Hellcat were flashing lights and scenes of Don Valley which seemed suitably good-natured. Suck It And See introduced the character of Matt Helders clad in denim and leather and tumbling around the American landscape on a motorbike with an incredibly pretty girl. The guns, gangster image and slight shades of S&M were off-putting, personally, but the video went down a storm with the masses, and so Black Treacle’s was shortly released, depicting Helders in prison while a woman wriggles around on a car bonnet and Alex raises his eyebrows nonchalantly and greases his quiff. It’s such a far cry from the piss-take videos of Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, and the transition of the Monkeys into America seems greater with every newly-announced tour.

They’re still my favourite band, and they still make great music, but I can’t help but be saddened by the inevitable that is the Arctic Monkeys’ expansion into something more accessible in order to satisfy international expectation and demand. It was always obvious that there could never be another Whatever People Say: that was a debut album in a lifetime, perfectly portraying the everyday life of four normal lads in that particular place and that particular time with such a grating sense of realism that it was gorgeous. However, the last year seems to have proved that there will also never be another Humbug. As Arctic Monkeys take off into the realms of worldwide popularity (and possible domination?) it may be that those dark depths achieved so shudderingly in the likes of Dance Little Liar may never be reached again.

KLH
(not my own images)

Review: Lioness:Hidden Treasures - Amy Winehouse

When Amy Winehouse died in July, fans rushed to her home in Camden to mourn the loss of an outstanding contemporary British talent. Despite a life plagued by addiction and an abundance of bad press, it is impossible to deny that Amy’s voice was fantastic: individual, soulful, and ultimately the representation of a vulnerable but incredibly talented woman. I must confess that, like many others, I joined the Amy bandwagon with Rehab in 2006, and drifted off it again in the lengthy period when her only mention was an unflattering photograph in the ‘Caught on Camera’ section of a trashy magazine. However, in the horrible recognition that an unexpected death brings, I fell in love with Amy once more, and awaited an album with great anticipation.

Some were doubtful about the circumstances of Amy’s death, and some were doubtful about the announced album and its right to release. Obviously, compiling a suitable posthumous album for a singer who had released no major work since 2008 was pivotal to leaving a well-deserved legacy. In my opinion, Lioness: Hidden Treasures is near-flawless in showcasing Amy’s superb talent and individuality, not only as a singer but as a person, tainted with so much unfair criticism during the course of her career.

What surprised me most about the album was the sheer positivity emitted from almost every track. Used to hearing the deep, heartbreaking vocals on Back to Black, Lioness gives an overall impression of unchallenged optimism. From the catchy opening chords of single ‘Our Day Will Come’ to the spine-tingling concluding notes of ‘A Song For You’, the album shows Amy in her element; happy, unconcerned and overwhelmingly likeable.

Highlights include ‘The Girl From Ipanema’, in which verses are interjected with ecstatic shouts and du-wops from Amy and the original recording of ‘Wake Up Alone’ which is slower and somehow more heartrending than the studio version as Amy contemplates lost love in those drifting and echoed last notes. The immediately following ‘Best Friends, Right?’ is instantaneous in its mood-enhancing quality, Amy’s voice rippling in catchy repeats of ‘but we are best friends… right?’ Her undeniable and unexplainable charm is especially apparent in this carefree track, light-hearted and guaranteed to provoke an unintended singalong, much like the well-loved ‘Valerie.’

‘Body and Soul’ was the last song released before Amy’s death, highlighting Amy’s versatility in combination with the voice of award-winning jazz singer Tony Bennett. As a final single this was outstanding in terms of demonstrating Amy’s achievement, and due to her tragic and untimely death acted as the pinnacle of her development as an artist. However, Amy was never boastful or diva-like in her attitude, and it seems entirely appropriate that she unknowingly bids her fans a final farewell in her infectious accent through the concluding soundbites of Lioness: Hidden Treasures, in which she chats away quite unconcernedly like the down-to-earth British icon she was.


KLH