A grey tinge on the summer day.

I just heard the news that Slipknot bassist Paul Gray has been found dead in a hotel room in Iowa.

While I am not the biggest Slipknot fan, I have a few of their albums, but more than that I appreciate how much the band has done for heavy music and how important their debut album was for the rock scene.

Really tragic news, especially as its not long since Dio passed away.

R.I.P Paul Gray.

May Slipknot and all of the associated families pull together and stay strong through this.

Tragic.

Summer.

Ahhhh so the sun has finally decided to rear its head and bless England with some beautiful weather!

Unfortunately I've had to spend a few hours each day stuck inside my bedroom re-painting the walls while my dad is at work as he doesn't want to do it. This has just given me a reason to listen to a stupid amount of music as I work so I'm not too upset about it.
Listening to the new Trash Talk album and lots of old Black Flag gave me the idea to make my painting a little bit more rock and roll so I added my own designs to the wall....

When I have managed to get in the sun I have made the most of it. Today I went t

o play golf with some friends and I was blown away by

what a fantastic day it was.

A few wisps of cloud in the sky and gorgeous sun all afternoon made it great regardless of how badly I was playing.

We were all shocked that there were so few people on the course, but relieved as it meant less embarrassment

when you had to head to the hedgerows to retrieve your ball!

As it was so beautiful I decided to take a few photos of the course to share with everyone else!

Fantastic day out in the sun having a laugh with some mates! Perfect!

To conclude the first of my Summer Blogs I will leave you with the soundtrack to the summer for me.... Mariachi El Bronx.

Down.

Recently I have rekindled my love for Down.

I am a massive fan of this groove laden sort of rock music. Being a hardcore fan primarily it may surprise some people that I like this sort of rock.

Down manage to blend both groove and melody with power and heaviness to create a sound that I absolutely love.

Where the love for Down begins is with their iconic front man Phil Anselmo.
Anselmo has a stage presence that is nothing short of menacing. He prowls the stage commanding his band like troops and challenging the crowd with his eyes alone. Anselmo had a lot of problems with Pantera what with drugs and falling out with Dimebag Darrel. He never got to apologise to Dime, who as well as being a band mate was also a very good friend. This loss affected Anselmo deeply.

His performances with Down show the true power of Anselmo as a songwriter principally and a frontman secondly. He writes lyrics that have real thought and meaning, yet are delivered with true power and aggression.

What I find about Down is that they harness a sense of power. The riffs and vocals ooze control from the speakers. When you watch a live video of the band, they seem to be effortlessly churning out these huge grooves like they were born to do it.

Down are a band who I would love to see in the near future. With rumours of another album coming out I may yet get the opportunity.

I shall leave you, my dear readers, with a taste of Down in full flight. A set I would love to be able to time travel to and watch for myself.

peace.x

Eyes And Nines

The new Trash Talk album is quality.

A genuinely exciting band who have yet to put out any bad material.

Every song sounds passionate and fresh, and they're close to capturing their live feel now.

Reading is going to get destroyed by the Sacramento Four and I for one can not wait!

peace.x

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hx66G3C0HM

Been listening to the Radio One Punk show as they had Trash Talk in session.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00s9wlr/Punk_Show_with_Mike_Davies_11_05_2010/

about 45 minutes in then about 1 hour 20 there are four tracks. Two from the impending album, Eyes and Nines and two from past albums.

Hearing them record a short set in a rough manner gives people who haven't seen the band a feeling of what its like to see them live.

I've been to a lot of gigs but seeing Trash Talk is an absolute experience. When you see hardcore bands its flying fists and feet from the crowd you need to watch, but Trash Talk bring it to the crowd. Singer Lee Spielmann shows no hesitation to get the crowd onstage or to get into the crowd and mix it up.

They are a genuinely exciting band who have made the mainstream sit up and listen with music that should not be at all accessible to a variety of people. Powerviolence is soon to become the new black in the world of heavy music.

Trash Talk - ones to look out for.

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The Blue Dawn

Well as its 20 minutes to 7 on the 7th of May I suppose there is one thing on everyones lips, the Parliamentary elections.

As it stands, there is going to be a Hung Parliament with the Conservative Party taking the majority of seats.

It is a triumph for the Tories but will it be a good change of direction for the country?

I feel sorry for the people who have bemoaned Brown since he came into office as the PM, they have looked at the situation he was faced with and not taken into contemplation the task he faced. They have slagged him off for not changing anything or fixing stuff straight away when he was dropped in at the deep end in the first place. Blair played his hand beautifully and left when the shit hit the fan.

As it is, Cameron and hit Etonian chums seem to be the preferred option for reforming this once great nation. The people have spoken and it looks as if the Tories will get in, even if its by a slim margin.

The great Nick Clegg campaign appeared to be media hype and spin doctor workings with the Lib Dems gaining a quarter of the seats that the Tories have at the time of writing.

It is now that the Libs should build upon their new found "interest" and try to build a party manifesto that can contend with the Big Two.

One day the Lib Dems will enter this two horse race and all will be different in UK politics.

All I know now is that its nearly 7am and I think I need some sleep.

Goodnight and god bless. I hope you have enjoyed this break from my usual music rantings, and lets all hope the Tories work for the change they have promised.

peace.x

Meet and Greet.

Tonight something awesome happened.
When you go to a gig its nice when you can talk to the band at the merch desk, or if they're hanging out after the show.
This evening I went to Oxford with my University Class to watch The Bronx. We travelled for nearly three hours on a stuffy coach on the way there and were all pretty fed up by the time we reached Oxford.

After arriving at the gig we witnessed the frankly awesome Mariachi El Bronx. Anyone who hasn't checked them out needs to, they bring it big style.
They were followed by the equally as inspiring Ghost Of A Thousand, they got the crowd moving and warmed up for The Bronx.

It was at this point that the whole class received a text from our lecturer telling us that we had secured "Press Access" to the band and to get a wristband from him.

I was immediately excited about this, The Bronx are one of my favourite bands having seen them 5 or 6 times around the country, so to get the chance to talk to them one on one was incredible.

After their fantastic set we were ushered into a room out the back of the venue and after 10 or so minutes of waiting, Matt Caughthran and Joby J. Ford strolled into the room. After an initial moment of awkwardness where no-one quite knew what to say, everyone got into conversation.
One group of people talked to Matt and another stuck with Joby. I decided to go between the two, asking questions and listening to anecdotes and stories.

Both guys were truly inspiring, giving up their post-gig time to talk to a bunch of Uni students. Even the members of the class who hadn't enjoyed the gig due to either the music not being their thing, or general ignorance were taken aback by the honesty and friendliness of these two "Rock Stars".
We talked for about an hour before they had to take their leave and after a few pictures and handshakes they left and we left, buzzing from our first real experience of rock and roll interaction.

All in all a fantastic evening, made even better by seeing and meeting a fantastic band,
The Bronx: a stellar group of people.

peace.x

Here I Go Again...

Wow its been a long time since I blogged on here.
A lot has been going on in that space of time. I have been finishing off my first year of University. As of now my work is complete and I am ready to leave.
To think that in a week I am no longer a fresher is a very odd experience as it feels like I haven't been here for 8 weeks let alone over 8 months!

My work recently has been pretty intense, pulling all nighters in the library to finish off essays earlier. But it has all been worth it.
As a result of doing my work early I was able to see my girlfriend for a few extra days and also manage to see The Bronx in Bristol on a boat. A BOAT!

Anyway, the purpose of this post was to post my last bit of work, see what y'all think of it.

This is a feature I have written about a band back home with one of my best friends in it, I hope you enjoy it:

The Cheltenham music scene is one that is growing weekly and bursting at the seams with fresh new bands. Hailing from Cleeve School, Slunk Monkey is one of the bands at the front of this new wave.
They play a type of music that is reminiscent of early Arctic Monkeys with the attitude of The Libertines.
Slunk Monkey is made of singer and guitarist Tom Love, lead guitarist Krishan Patel, bassist Henry Chatham and drummer Sam Fryer. A relatively new band compared to others around, they have only been a functioning unit since last September when Tom joined Cleeve 6th form and they started to jam together.
Their first live appearance was at the Gloucester Guildhall, only a month after they had been together as a band. Tom had been offered the gig and needed to put a band together. “It was a gamble as we had only been together a month, but we all pulled together and pulled it off, everyone was really keen to do more after that!” Tom said when I asked him about that debut performance.
After the success of the initial performance the band carried on looking for more shows and it wasn’t long before they were booked again. The Jack Frost Ball, a NSPCC fundraiser at Cheltenham Town Hall was the bands next performance where they played a set comprising their own songs as well as a few well-known covers, including Helicopter by Bloc Party and I Bet You Look Good On The Dance floor by Arctic Monkeys.
The popularity of this young band on the local scene really showed when they secured their first headlining show at local music venue the 2pigs Pub.
Playing The 2pigs is a rite of passage for young local bands to play and Slunk Monkey performed brilliantly. Playing to a sold out venue like it was no problem the band played a strong and impressive set, dominating the crowd with their presence and their ability to play a set of tight and exciting songs. Even more impressive that night was that they played above Che, a band set to make it big.
Slunk Monkey stand out from the crowd for a few reasons. On a scene that can come down to success being how good you look on stage, they are a band that plays with real integrity. Watching a Slunk Monkey set, you can watch knowing that the band is giving everything, every time. They play with passion and a willingness to entertain, a refreshing sight on the indie scene nowadays.
“We don’t have anything booked right now, but hopefully we will have some more bookings over summer for people to check us out at” said Tom regarding up and coming gigs.
If they aren’t on your radar already, they should be.

Thank you for reading.
peace.x