10 Artists In 10 Words

I know, I know, the whole of February AND March just went by without me reviewing anything.

Not to say I haven't been listening to a lot of music - I just haven't been able to get words to screen in a coherent review, due to uni swallowing my life life's busy-ness. But just to show you guys how much I love you and to give you a little something to read as I collect my thoughts on my recent listenings, I thought it might be rather fun to present you with not one, but TEN micro-reviews. In one post. Coz I'm that awesome  guilty.

So. This is not a definitive list of 'best artists'. It's not even my personal top 10. Rather, here are 10 musical groups/solo acts that I think everyone needs to have an opinion on. But because I have an assignment due on Wednesday for your convenience, I've summed up their reputation in just 10 words each. Goodbye sentence structure...

10 ARTISTS IN 10 WORDS

1. The Beatles

Mop tops + fearless musical experimentation = worldwide obsession. YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!



2. Frank Sinatra

Incredible lungs. Brassy blasts. Tweaks heart-strings. Kicks Buble's ass.



3. Elvis Presley

10 words cannot outline this man's influence. Iconic. Iconic. Iconic.


4. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons

New Jersey gangsters sing four-part harmony with THAT falsetto.

5. Simon and Garfunkel

Poetry sung a third apart. Garfunkel clearly avoiding Simon's hairdresser.

6. Queen

Bulsara becomes Mercury. Opera meets rock. "Bohemian Rhapsody" blows minds.

7. U2

Loud-mouthed political activist riles crowds with ranty rock anthems.

8. Coldplay

College mates create stadium-fillers. Then wear elephant suits. WHY.




9. Mumford and Sons

Poetry and adrenalin. Shirts and waistcoats. The banjo becomes cool.



10. Adele

She loved. She lost. She ruptured a vocal chord complaining.

2011: my year in music reviews

Best new album: Reflecting back on this year, I realise I haven't listened to even half the new music that's been released...remember the reason I started this blog was because I am shamefully lazy at exploring new music properly. But from what I have heard floating around the airwaves I have to say Gotye's Making Mirrors impressed me rather a lot, so it can bear this prestigious title for 2011. It is both refreshing and reassuring to see such new and original innovation emerging amongst all the Jessie J and Nicki Minaj.

Worst new album: I'm sure Lady GaGa's latest offering would have qualified, but I have denied myself the displeasure of sitting through that and so will give this anti-award to The Kooks' Junk Of The Heart. On the upside, it was completely forgettable.

Favourite musical purchase: The Original Broadway Cast recording of JERSEY BOYS. Beautifully updated versions of epically classic songs became without a doubt my most-listened-to album of 2011. So. much. love.

Favourite review: Definitely going to give this one to Tom Waits' epic Raindogs - such a sophisticated and eclectic collection of originals gave me much delicious listening material that was beautiful to attempt to illustrate for you guys.

Most tortuous review: I have to be honest with you here dear readers...I chickened out of one review this year. Yes, I, The Wanna-Be Music Journo, who has sat through the pain of Lady GaGa, admitted defeat in the face of one album. I began with my best objective ears on and ended rather soon after by pressing 'stop' and backing slowly away from my laptop in the middle of track 3. The offending album? Joanna Newsom's Ys. I couldn't. stand it. However, I plan to return and make it through the album dead or alive just to review it for you all. Stay tuned for the carnage later this summer...

Most surprising discovery: Nothing could have surprised me more than my newfound love for glockenspiel music, resulting in my purchase of Rockabye Baby!'s U2 album. Glock 'n roll dudes!

Album that elicited the largest volume of 'meh': The 'meh' reaction is surely the most terrifying of emotions applicable to the job of a reviewer. Such albums fall into the chasms of indifference, forever doomed to a life of limbo somewhere between Flipping Fantastic and Utterly Abysmal. Sadly, this title presents me with a difficult decision...but it definitely settles somewhere between Florence + The Machine's Lungs and Michael Buble's Christmas.

Most forgettable over-played radio-trash: Let's please not mention Rebecca Black or Friday ever, ever again...for her sanity and mine, okay? And if the radio stopped playing Adele I might actually be able to contemplate the thought of reviewing her without screaming.

New favourite band for 2011: This one has to go to Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, once again courtesy of Jersey Boys. Don't roll your eyes at me. I'm certain I would have been a fan a long time ago, had I been able to find a more comprehensive collection of Four Seasons originals, but the epicness that was the stage musical has now opened the flood gates for my intense Jersey-love. This won't be the last you hear of this. I said, don't roll your eyes!

Most anticipated 2012 release: Word on the street was that Mumford & Sons' new album would be in my eager mitts before the Harbour Bridge explodes with fireworks, but with no projected release date as yet, a 2012 would seem to be on the cards. With rumours of a very different sound from Sigh No More, the band seem set to prove their versatility, resulting in much excitement from me.

Next on the list...
I'm craving 70s, 80s and some noughties alternative, so:

• Sufjan Stevens' Illinois
• The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds
• Angus & Julia Stone's A Book Like This
• Traffic's John Barleycorn Must Die
• The Grateful Dead's American Beauty
• The Velvet Underground's The Velvet Underground
• The Who's Tommy
• And yes...Joanna Newsom's Ys. When I can face it.

Bring on the holidays :D

Big hits don't die

Album: Jersey Boys
Artist: Original Broadway Cast
Label: Rhino
Release date: 1 November, 2005
Peak chart position/sales: (US) #85, GOLD

RATING: 5/5 stars

Just for the moment, my beloved Fab Four are no longer called John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Perhaps, had the four Liverpuddlians finished school and gone onto ordinary careers, The Four Seasons would in fact have claimed the title for themselves - and deservedly so. I haven't fallen this hard for a band since I first heard "She Loves You" and I'm so totally smitten I can hardly explain. But I'll do my best.

The Four Seasons, for some curious reason, seem to have fallen into a black hole of ignorance forged by the world's obsession with the British Invasion, most notably The Beatles, who happened to be active for almost exactly the same period as Frankie Valli's quartet. But it hasn't stopped the latter from permeating the musical world - even if you haven't realised it yet. Less than half an hour after pressing 'play' on the hit musical soundtrack of Jersey Boys, you will have danced your way through positively irresistible tunes "Sherry", "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Walk Like A Man" and "December 1963 (Oh What A Night)"...and don't think you don't know them, because you DO. Go find them on YouTube and then tell me that you don't know at least half the words already.

You can't make the mistake of writing off the Seasons as fluffy, happy-happy 60s pop either - despite the undeniably cheerful overtones, there is a depth and complexity to the music that keeps your ears coming back for more. Of course, the stage musical is INCREDIBLE and if you have the faintest ghost of an opportunity to see it send me the ticket instead don't pass that chance up, seriously. But it is the music that will take your heart hostage in the end. Breathtaking chart-topper "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You", contagiously catchy "C'mon Marianne",  a soaring medley of hits "Stay", "Let's Hang On", "Opus 17" and "Bye Bye Baby" and the satisfyingly epic show-closer "Who Loves You" fill the second half of the album and there's a bonus London cast recording of "Beggin'" tacked on the end. What makes this album such an absolute delight is the quality of the modern arrangements and professional accuracy with which the Broadway cast absolutely nail the authentic Four Seasons sound, adding a bit of pizazz with the definitive Broadway musical sound and bringing the classic tunes confidently into the new millennium for an eager new audience.

If you haven't seen the stage musical YOU HAVEN'T LIVED the occasional dialogue snippets during and between tracks may be meaningless and, granted, due to the layout of the show not all of the songs are present in their entirety. But whether you're a Four Seasons fan, or are simply longing for some of the best songwriting in existence to come out of the 1960s, this is a spectacularly revamped version of the originals that is impressively accurate, totally wonderful and entirely loveable. A much-needed revival for a truly first-class band.

Is it worth my $$$? - Worth. Its. Weight. In. Gold.

Listen to: Sherry, Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You, Medley: Stay/Let's Hang On/Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'bout Me)/Bye Bye Baby...then go and buy the album already!