NYC

I found a cool video tributing to NYC..more like in homage to the city? Anyway, the video really makes me wanna go to the city. It's full of art and music, then why not going there? I feel a need to go there because of my taste of music. I've been thinking about the meaning of "What are your favourite bands?" and "What kind of music do you like?". When you ask those typical questions to get to know people, you don't really mean to know their most favourite bands or talk about music seriously. But for me, that kind of questions are not easy to answer and makes me end up listing many names of bands I like. I think everybody has like lists of music you like in their heads and the top of the lists probably often change depending on your feelings and moods. I do have a list of My Music. I like so-called indie rock and UK rock including classic rock like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, T. Rex, Primal Scream, Arctic Monkeys, The Maccabees, Mystery Jets, The Kooks, The Libertines, The Horros, Blood Red Shoes...I can list so many bands like this. But, I also like classic punk especially from the US like Iggy and the Stooges, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, Johnny Thunders, New York Doll, MC5 and even Lou Reed whichever if you categorize him into punk or not. Ah I dig enjoyable rock music that I can dance with, like JET, Franz Ferdinand and The Fratellis. I really like these bands and musicians but what most gets me excited is more unique and experimental such as Liars, Death From Above 1979 and The Dead Weather..um I think The Horrors could be in this group as well. Also lazy rock/punk like Lovvers, No Age, Wavves and The Strange Boys. Although I don't know if people call them flower punk, other or something else, I call them lazy punk/rock..in an artistic way. haha Those music really really make me feel something I can't explain, which feels good, comes from the bottom of my heart and simply makes me happy and love music more and more. I think music that makes you feel like that is what you call 'my favourite music' or 'my music'. Yup, that's it. I haven't been able to stop thinking about music these days especially when I come back from clubs where play indie rock. I like taking music seriously, because it's more than entertainment for me. :)
I think I'll probably go to NYC in a couple of years anyway!



*this video doesn't belong to me. This would be deleted without any warning.

The song played in this video is 'Thumbs Off' by The Clean. The song really goes well with the footage that represents NYC, but The Clean is an indie rock band from New Zealand. They formed tha band in 1978 and released their first singe in 1981 which is 'Tally Ho!'. This info is all from wikipedia, and I don't really know about them yet, so if you're interested in them and like the song in the video, go check them! It seems like they're still together as The Clean and they have their myspace.

Little Barrie at The Blues Kitchen 31/12/2010

*日本語の文は英文の下にあります。

Wow, I blogged again in the same month! It's pretty rare for me, but I'll try to make it "the usual" from today. :) So, it's 2011 everybody! How was your New Year Eve and New Year? Hope you had a fun and amazing night and the 1st day of 2011. Me? I did have an amazing one at The Blues Kitchen in Camden, London...with Little Barrie! haha Let me introduce Little Barrie first in a case there's anybody who doesn't know who they are yet.
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Little Barrie is a 3 piece band from London, formed in Nottingham in 1999. Their genre of music is mainly Rock 'n' Roll and Blues rock but they also categorize themselves as Alternative/ Garage/ R&B. Mm, I love garage rock. haha There are two former drummers for the band, Wayne Fulwood and Billy Skinner and currently members are Barrie Cadogan-vocals & guitar, Lewis Wharton-Bass and Virgil Howe-Drums. They released two albums before and now they have a new album called 'King of the Waves' which is coming out in February.
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Ok, and there was a NYE gig of Little Barrie at The Blues Kitchen in Camden. The Blues Kitchen has a small stage for gigs and many bands and musicians have played at there including non-blues bands such as Mystery Jets, Baby Shambles and The Maccabees even though the place is basically for Blues, R&B and R'N'R. It was the first time to see Little Barrie for me and my friend, and both of us just overwhelmed by Barrie's guitar technique. Since he's supported many musicians like Paul Weller, Morrisey and Primal Scream, you prob already know this but he is damn good at playing the guitar. I can feel how he likes playing the guitar just by watching the band playing. I couldn't believe that it was a sound creating by only three people. Now they have Virgil Howe as their drummer and his drumming is so powerful and fast that I couldn't even take clear photos of him. haha The bassist Lewis Wharton plays the bass smoothly and was like a typical bassist in a rock band that means playing the bass calmly, not moving too much but being unmissable to make the sound alive and more aggressive. Their NYE gig was really fun and exciting. I couldn't stop wearing a smile on my face during the gig cause I was so happy to be there. They went off the stage before the countdown, and I got their setlist right after the gig. Here it is. :)

Surf Hell
Twisted Little Blades
Pin That Badge
Money In Paper
Why Don't You Do It?
We can't Work It Out
Tip It Over
Burned Out
New Diamond Love
Love You
---------anchore--------------
Move on So Easy
I Can't Wait
Pay To Join

As I remember, they only did one song after 'Love You' since it seemed like they had to finish their gig before the countdown. I'm not sure which song they did. Probably 'Move On So Easy' as in order of the setlist? After Little Barrie played, DJ group Hits Dont Hurt came back on the stage and we all welcomed 2011! Also The Killer Meters played after that. Members are different from some pictures I saw before the gig, but I ennjoyed it. I like their original songs but I liked their cover as well especially James Brown's 'Sex Machine'. :) I put some pics and also a film from the gig that I took below these Japanese writing. Have a look at them!

ついに2011年を迎えましたが、みなさんどうお過ごしでしたでしょうか。
うちは贅沢なことにイギリスはロンドンで2011年を迎えました！ロンドンはカムデンにあるThe Blues KitchenにてLittle Barrieのギグ！
会場になったCamdenにあるThe Blues KitchenはBlues, R&BやRock 'n' Rollがメインのバーで、中に小さなステージを設けています。今まで色んなバンドやミュージシャンが演奏をしていて、その中にはMystery JetsやBaby ShamblesにThe Maccabeesとジャンルが異なるバンドも結構来ています。
Little Barrieはメンバーがカムデンに住んでいることもあってか、このバーで何回か演奏したことがあるようです。Little Barrieの演奏を生で見るのは今回が初めてだったけど、とにかくBarrieの演奏に圧倒された。
今までにPaul WellerやPrimal Screamのサポート、Morriseyへの楽曲提供をしてるくらいだから、ファンの人なら知ってるかもしれないけど、とにかくBarrieのギターテクは凄い。
ギターを弾くのが大好きだってのが、ギグを目の前で堪能しながら感じ取れました。
今まで２回ドラムが変わってるLittle Barrie、2008年から現在までVirgil Howe(イエスのギタリストの息子！)がドラマーを務めています。
彼のドラムプレーはかなりの迫力。ド迫力で、じっくり見ていると、彼の意識が時々どこかへ飛んでるんじゃないかと思ってしまうほど。
ドラムを叩いている最中に身震いしたり、目が白目気味になったりするから、たぶんどこかへ行ってしまってると思う。
べーシストLewisのベースのテクニックにも口があんぐり。指は弦を小刻みに激しく弾くのに、本人はなんとも静かで激しくプレイすることはなく、ロックバンドの典型的なべーシストのイメージだった。寡黙であまり目立たないけど、バンドの音を生かすには絶対に欠かせない存在！みたいな。
Lewisはギグの間よーーーくBarrieのことを見ていて、色々アレンジしたりギタープレイを楽しむBarrieが次にどうするか、どのタイミングで曲に戻るのかをじっくりと見て伺ってました。ドラムのVirgilもBarrieの方をよくみていて「バンドってやっぱいいなー！」と思わずにはいられなかったです。

Little Barrieは2011年のカウントダウン前に演奏を終えなきゃダメだったようで、上に書いてあるセットリストによれば'Love You'の後に３曲プレイする予定が、時間の都合上１曲だけプレイしてステージを降りました。その最後の曲がMove on So Easyだったかどうかは定かではないですが、順番通りのはず。。うーん。不確か。 ：（

Little Barrieのギグの後にはThe Blues Kitchen専属？のようなDJユニットHits Dont Hurtがカウントダウンをして、その後にThe Killer Metersがプレイ。ボーカル紅一点のFunkなバンドで、ドラムはLittle BarrieのVirgilがグラムロックスターを思わせるようなハットと煌びやかなジャケットを着てプレイしていました。
カバーを何曲かしていて、個人的にはJames BrownのSex Machineのカバーがお気に入りでした。
ボーカルの女性が、彼らのmyspaceで見られる女性とは違っていて、若くてセクシーなお姉ちゃんだった上に、キーボードの人もサイトに載っている写真には見られず少し戸惑いました。
写真を見る限りでは他にもメンバーが居るようです。
一体誰がオフィシャルのメンバーなんだろう。

'Love You' -Little Barrie.
This film is taken by me and from my YouTube channel. I didn't wanna have my own YouTube page but I had to since Blogger didn't work well on uploading the film. :(
うちが撮ったNYEギグの映像。'Love You'の最後の方です。やっぱりBarrieのギタープレイは最高！

and this is a music video for 'Love You'. I want you to listen to the song with a clear sound not only in the film I took since the sound cracked a bit.
まだちゃんと聴いたことが無い人の為に'Love You'のオフィシャルミュージックビデオをペタリ。この頃のドラマーは２人目のドラマーBilly Skinnerです。

I found that Japanese version of their new album has already come out last month and it includes a couple of more songs! Aw I'm jealous. haha

Little Barrie on Myspace 

Little Barrie on facebook

Follow Little Barrie on Twitter

Flats

Hellllo! it's been a while since last post as usual. Anyway this time, let me introduce a cool band that is on my recent favourite playlist! Do you know a band called Flats?

They're 4 piece indie band from London.
Members are...Craig E. Pierce -Bass
                        Daniel Devine - Vocals
                        Luke Tristram - Guitar
                        Samir Eskanda - Drums
According to their myspace, they categorize their music as Big Beat/ Concreat/ Experimental. They also put 'Punk' as one of their music genre on their facebook page. To be honest, I have no idea what concreat is as a music genre, but the singer Dan Devine, who's on the cool list of 2010 in NME, says "Our songs have to be fast, short and heavy". I think the three simple words explain their music pretty well. When you first hear their songs, you might think they sound similar since their songs exactly are fast, short and heavy as the singer describes but their music is addictive and stucks in your head especially if you like the rough and distorted guitar sound. When I listened to one of their song "Big Souls", I felt that their music can be described as experimental hardcore. Mm, sounds cool, doesn't it? ♥
They now have two EPs and they're available from Loog Records or their merch store. They also have upcoming shows from the March 2nd in the UK. You can check their gig schedule on their myspace (the link is the bottom of this post). Their last show was the December 8th in Brighton, Brighton Concorde 2, as a supporting band of Blood Red Shoes. They're coming to my current city Leeds during the tour in March! I think I'll probably going to see them. :)

Find more artists like FLATS at Myspace Music

さて、今日は私の音楽生活に仲間入りしたバンドを紹介！
NMEをマメにチェックしてる人なら既に耳にしたことがあるかもしれないバンドでございます。
その名も、Flats。聞いたことありますか？
Flatsはイギリスはロンドン出身の４人組インディバンド。Myspace上では、彼らは自分たちをBig Beat/ Concreat/ Experimentalと分類してて、NMEの2010年Cool Listにもその姿を現したボーカルのDan Davineは自分たちの音楽について「俺たちの曲は速くて、短くて、重くないとダメ。」と、とてもシンプルなポリシーを持ってます。
彼らの音楽ってどんな感じ？と聞かれれば、そのボーカルDanの説明が１番しっくりくる。
まさに、テンポが速くて、ほとんどの曲が2分以内、長くとも2分弱で終わる短さ、そしてノイズミュージックのような重たいギターの歪んだ音。全部の曲がそのポリシーにそってるから、正直同じに聞こえなくもないけど、１回聞いてビビッと来てしまえば最後。なんだかハマります。
初めて聞いた時は、ノイズ..と思いつつもExperimental hardcoreだなと思った。そのまんま、実験的でハードコア。笑
今FlatsはEPを２枚Loog Recordsから出しているので、興味のあるかたはLoog RecordsのショップかFlatsのmerch storeでどうぞ。たった£5.99で買えます～。

最後にしたギグは12月8日にイングランドの港町BrightonのBrighton Concorde 2で、日本でもデビューアルバムで注目を浴びたblood Red Shoesのサポートを務めました。
Blood Red Shoesと少しテイストが違うのでは...？と思ったけど、experimentalな感じと、曲全体を通して漂う暗い雰囲気が似てるかも。
今は３月からのツアー日程が彼らのmyspaceにアップされております～。私が今住んでいる街リーズにも来るので、都合があえば行く予定！
あのshortでfastでheavyな楽曲たちを生で聴くとどんな感じなのか楽しみ。きっとめっちゃウルサいんだろうけど。。笑

FlatsはNMEの注目を受けているバンドで、ニューカマーバンドのツアーEmerge NME Radarに2010年参加。ボーカルDanのインタビューのビデオがNMETVでアップされてるので、興味があればyoutubeで検索してみてください。
Flats took part in Emerge NME Radar in 2010 with other newcomer bands like Joy Formidable and Chapel Club. There is a video of the singer talked to NME on youtube. Just youtube it if you're interested!

Try their songs on their myspace. :)
Flats on Myspace

Like Flats on facebook

Follow Flats on Twitter