Monday, 28 September 2009

Mumford

Saw Mumford & Sons at Dot to Dot earlier in the year and they were mind-blowingly good. They finally release this single on Spotify (and elsewhere I presume) and I heartily recommend a listen. Mumford & Sons – Little Lion Man

Wednesday, 23 September 2009

Good Louvin'

Well, my first discovery on my 1001 project has got to be The Louvin Brothers. This album from the 50s is amazing – although I would have posted it here just because of the cover... My first reaction was to laugh at the lyrics but it's pretty heartfelt stuff from two god-fearing men. A big inflence on later Byrds albums, particularly Sweet Heart of the Rodeo which features a cover of one of the tracks on here. The Louvin Brothers – Satan Is Real

Friday, 18 September 2009

My 1001 Spotify project

OK - I can't guarantee I'm going to do this, but I've decided to try to listen to all of the albums that make up Frank Sinatra – In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning

Muse cake

The new Muse album is like birthday cake - at first it's exciting and tasty even though you know you probably shouldn't be listening to it, but the initial rush doesn't last very long and you end up feeling a bit sick.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that they exist and I think there are some good tracks on there, but they've gone from bring Radiohead copycats to well... being Muse copycats - you know exactly what you're going to get - even the 3-part 'symphony' at the end feels predictable.

Still worth a listen though even just to hear this Muse – Resistance

Friday, 11 September 2009

A bit of a mash up today – finally got round to listening to the cricket-concept album, The Duckworth Lewis Method and jolly good it is too. Not as annoying as some people might think and further proof that Neil Hannon is one of our finest songwriters and should be made a national treasure The Duckworth Lewis Method – Gentlemen and Players

Also started to listen to The Temper Trap and Passion Pit offerings - both sound very promising although there's a definite Coldplay influence on Temper Trap... which probably means they'll be massive in 6 months time. The Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition Passion Pit – The Reeling

The great thing about Spotify is that you can indulge your guilty pleasures without anyone knowing... that is unless you have a blog listing all the tracks your listening to... ah well - for what it's worth the new Calvin Harris album certainly has it's moments, particularly the brazen use of the world's worst instrument on this track Calvin Harris – The Rain

Thursday, 10 September 2009

OK, first the good... I'm loving this portable Spotify and am getting through a huge amount of music as the tyres of my car hug the M1. Started the day off with MSTRKRFT to get the day going JFK – 1000 Cigarettes - Feat Freeway and then tasting the delights of the very talented Jamie T with his new album Kings and Queens Jamie T – Emily's Heart.

Have also hooked my Mac up to 'Richard's Turbo Sound System' at work so I can educate/annoy/spread happiness to everyone in earshot. Great.

Now onto the bad... these are only minor gripes but I tend to play my iPod through my car stereo – for some reason, Spotify doesn't stop your current iPod music playing when the App starts. This is quite annoying as whenever I attache my iPod to my FM transmitter it automatically plays the iPod music on there (usually the first song starting with 'A') so I have to stop this playing before my Spotify playlist will work.

It is a bit annoying that you can't create a playlist straight from an album like you can do on the Mac version - you have to create a playlist first and then save the tracks into it.

Also, the offline download sound quality doesn't seem quite as good as when you're streaming it. Well, not to my ears anyway...

These are just minor points that I'm sure they'll sort out with an update before too long but I didn't want anyone to think that I was on commission...

Damn you McCartney!

Well, having promised myself that I never needed to buy a CD ever again now I'm a Spotify-head, I end up getting seduced by the Beatles remasters and purchase the White Album. To be fair, it does hold an important place in my heart as it's the first Beatles album I ever heard, playing my brother's vinyl copy (which I still have...) on my Dad's record player when I was around twelve. It still sounds amazing, particularly in the shiny new sound quality - there's a great review in this week's NME (along with all the other records).