Followers

Take Control, a 16 track album, was highly anticipated album following their previous ‘Are You Satisfied?’ It was a tough act to follow but it was received with open arms and roaring from the masses.
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This album, in contrast to their last, includes numerous collaborations including Beastie 
Boys rapper Mike D. Slaves stepped out into the spotlight, with their first release, putting everything on the line which more than paid off. Now it’s almost keeping up appearances, so to speak. They had to run alongside competing artists which new sounds and new artists, boy have that done that. Ever since they first graced our ears they haven’t really left us. Thank fuck.
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One of my favourite songs from the album is ‘Spit It Out’. I first heard this when they rocked main stage during reading 2016. It was fresh, punchy and had bags full of attitude. Typical Slaves but with a little twist. Like a normal glass of orange juice but now with a shot of Vodka. It still had everything we loved though, it was louder than ever and still aggressive.
Laurie Vincent, one half of the duo, commented on their new album saying; “it’s some very old Slaves, some last album Slaves and some new stuff...it’s heavy lyrically and how it sounds.” Summed up perfectly. 


Even the new album cover is developed and edgy – just like their sound. The cover resembles Laurie’s graffiti-esq design style. It incorporates their clothing brand ‘Young Lovers Club’. I’m dying to buy a piece from their site, just waiting for my bank account to spontaneously increase. Student life is tough.

I’d say this a 4 star album without a doubt. It’s a prominent album within the 2016 music scene and incredibly difficult to overlook. If you’re lucky enough to see them on their upcoming tour, it’s going to be explosive. Get ready.


I cannot wait to see what Slaves have to offer next. 
Ok, so the trailer before the film premier dropped, holy fucking shit. The whole cast are back, without all the usual suspects it wouldn’t be the same. Rent Boy, Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie all up to their old tricks. This film takes us right back to where we left off, in 1996. We’ve waited a heck of a long time.

This eagerly awaited sequel seemed to blow it out of the water from the get go. During the trailer it included the element we all love, a homage to what came before. It starts, “Choose life” “Choose Facebook, Twitter, Instagram” A modern dystopic twist to what is bound to be a classic.
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Although the times have changed and the period between the two movies seem to be decades apart not much has changed in their world. It still oozes and overflows with excess drug use, sex, scandal and the famous “Born Slippy” soundtrack. It wouldn’t be the same without this track narrating their hectic lifestyle.

According to Rolling Stones the film is released March 3rd in the U.S. When is it blessing the UK then?


Keep your eyes peeled for another post looking at the soundtracks of Trainspotting and possible candidates for the new film. 


Holy shit did this come out of nowhere! After Jamie xx released his own material I just assumed that it was the natural end for the band and no more releases from them. I am buzzed that they’re coming back!
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From the off I’ve always loved this band. Back when they released the album “XX” in 2009 I couldn’t get enough of it. I still listen to this amazingly pure band from day to day. Their album is so easy to chill out too, effortless listening. It takes you away and helps clears out all of the shit in your head. My 3 favourite songs from that album are VCR, Islands and Heart Skipped a Beat. I had to limit myself to the top 3 otherwise I would have just written down the album in its entirety.
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Their vibe is so unique and like no other. They don’t fit in any box. How can you categorise them? Impossible. Their latest album graced us during 2012, many years ago, I think were due for new release now. From this album my favourites are Angels, Chained and Our Song.
They’ve kept their latest single artwork to the iconic ‘X’ seen on the previous album covers. In non-typical fashion they released the news of their new album during Annie Macs’ BBC Radio 1 set. There was no hype beforehand, no mention of it on any social media. They just threw it in their all casual. Apparently it is to be titled “I See You” and released during 2017. Now counting down the months.

After their single had been released it’s fair to say that everyone is getting more than a little fidgety. The track called “On Hold” is a bold way to strut back into the music scene. What a come-back after a four painstakingly long years. I’m glad they haven’t lost their gloomy touch, yet they’ve somehow made it pleasant to listen to? What is this black magic? How do they do it?
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“Every time I let you leave, I always saw you coming back to me”


Fuck me, The XX have already released their tour dates and you bet that I’m fucking there. At the front. Probably sobbing. 
So there might be a few spoiler alerts in here, that’s just a heads up!

Walking into the cinema I didn’t really know what to expect, others have said it’s a gripping movie and similar in some ways to ‘Gone Girl’, I totally understand the reference. There is a shit load of twists and turns in this film, like Gone Girl, so be prepared for your mind to be fucked a thousand times over.
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For the first 45 minutes not a lot happens, but stick with it, what you watch in those minutes’ sets up the story perfectly. It establishes a bassline, what you believe to be true. It tells you about the wife, the ex-wife, the girl next door, the boyfriend, the husband etc. Yeah it’s complicated.

The story line, it’s most basic form, is about a murder of a seemingly innocent ‘girl next door’ type. The film looks at all the characters that might have committed the murder. There is a lot more to it than that, but I don’t want to give too much away!

Throughout the entire film you are convinced it’s the alcoholic ex-wife, her life is falling apart, she’s stalking everyone and being really creepy. I mean who gets a train everyday into the city when she got fired from her job? Of course she killed her right?
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Most of the film is shot from one point of view, from one particular character. But then it switches and shows you the story from a completely different angle. Everything you thought you knew, well, it turns out you don’t know shit.


My favourite bit in the film was when he got a cork screw to the neck, bastard had it coming. Admittedly me and Sam half squealed and hid at that bit. 

It's definitely worth going to see or grabbing it on DVD when it comes out.  

This legendary band which seems like it is going to last until the end of the world goes, has recently released their 11th album. Unbelievable. RHCP still have the talent and passion to put out new music, and the audience still want to listen and watch them perform after all these years. Maybe they’re like cheese? Maturing with age? The California band seem to reboot themselves after every new album they put out.
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This is album is in complete contrast to a lot of their previous work, it feels like the chili’s have taken us back to the start, where it all began. They’ve torn up the text book completely. The track ‘Dark Necessities’ has proven a huge hit with fans, they abandoned their happy go lucky sound that were so used to hearing, they’ve taken on a more dark feel. Kiedis stated that the songs are “as good as we’ve ever written”.

NME reviewed the album as a poor 3 stars which is completely unjust. Admittedly it takes a few listens to really appreciate the songs but that’s only because its chalk and cheese to what has been released in previous years. This album is old school.
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The structure of the rock and roll band remains intact, everything we love is still there; Fleas solos and funk breakdowns. This album reminds us of why they became as successful as they are today.


Of course the album isn’t for everyone but I would recommend giving it a few listens before making up your mind. When I saw them during the summer of 2016 they were electric and their new songs were well received by the thousands that turned out to see them. 
Jamie T is back to making spectacular music that is gracing our ears once again. Moving away from his eccentric, gritty youth that we all adored, he’s no longer singing, well more like raping, about boozy night and cheeky joints. He’s evolved with age as any great artist does. But he’s no grandad yet.

Jamie’s 4th album was well received, everyone literally ate it up after his 5 year break. He finally broke his absence in 2014 and treated us all with the ‘Carry on the Grudge’, now spoiling us with Trick. He rapped about the time spent away, playing on the darker elements of his life. This album just oozed the passion he’s put into it.
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Trick is extremely stripped back and raw, this spreads into every track, especially in the track ‘Solomon Eagle’, which he magnificently intertwines with a semi up beat pop element. Got to move with the times eh?

Putting Jamie into a particular music category is near on impossible. Although he uses elements of Pop, Rap and Rock he doesn’t really belong in those genres. He’s created his own niche, that no one else really fits into. He pulls language into all different directions by incorporating internal rhyming and alliteration.
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In this album he has managed to capture the bland, grey day to day life that we all endure but he turned it into something poetic. This is present in Tescoland and Police tapes. Jamie T almost slates modern technology, especially through the song ‘Drone Strike’, with confusing and sinister-esq lyrics “Guess we’re all out here alone, Like ghosts in the machine”.


My personal favourites are definitely Joan of Arc and Robin Hood. Bangers in their own rights which you can’t help singing along too. 

On the 19th of October NME speculated that Gorillaz could release their new song or possibly their whole album. How fucking wrong were they. Of course it was only a speculation but I’m not sure how much of more of this I can take, all of this hype. Just release the new songs. Everyone is practically pleading for it.
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Gorillaz had released the final four stories detailing the fictional band members activities since Plastic Beach. The four digital stories were released via their Twitter page, each short vine like video focused on one particular character. There was; The Book of Noodle, The Book of Russel, The Book of Murdoc and The Book of 2D.
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The whole story was just as bizarre as their music videos. It depicted a dystopic, twisted future, in their recognisable cartoon fashion. If you make any sense of it then please let me know.

Gorillaz have continued to tease eagerly awaiting fans but this time taking to Instagram instead of Twitter. Noodle, the bands guitarist shared a photo and teamed it with a Japanese caption which translates to “Coming Soon”.
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We haven’t had a wiff of anything since 2011 which seems decades ago. Everyone is on the edge of their seats awaiting new content. There is even more speculation that the band would be hitting the road in the coming year. I would love to place some money on Gorillaz headlining Reading and Leeds festival 2017 or Glastonbury festival 2017.

We shall see…