Where you will be able to find all the usual single, album and live reviews; features; Music News blog and (eventually) Forge Music's own podcasts, exciting stuff!
Thank you to all the contributors who have helped keep this blog running and thank you to all the readers, please continue to read on & on & on....
All our best wishes,
Pippa Moore & Alexandra Rucki
Note: If you would like to have a go a writing for the new website, please feel free to drop us a line: online.music@forgetoday.com
Michael Jackson is expected to announce a live comeback tour at London 02 arena later on this month, as part of a series of summer concerts. The singer who has not toured for twelve years is due to appear at the venue this Thursday, to make a “special announcement”, a statement has said.
Jackson is likely to run a spate of several gigs at the arena in the form of a residency, similarly to Prince who played for 21 nights in 2007 and Britney Spears who will play eight nights in June.
The singer last performed in 2006, at the World Music Awards in London. However, fans were disappointed as he sang only a few lines of ‘We Are the World.’ Jackson is currently in the process of selling the contents of his former home Neverland, due to financial problems, and he was cleared of child abuse four years ago. The comeback tour in London follows months of speculation and rumours over the possibility of ‘money-spinning’ shows.
Alexandra Rucki
Photo Source: Michael Jackson appearing at the 2006 World Music Awards from exposay.com
It is a Wednesday evening and in the dark lair of the Foundry there is a congregation of some of the hottest music buffs in the business. The reason? To give advice on how to make it big.
Among the array of shimmering speakers is sound engineer Donard Duffy who has worked with bands like Slash and Supergrass; music producer Steve Proud who helped launch CSS; and music journalist Richard Davis, reviews editor for Artrocker magazine. The other two music professionals are Graham Wrench who manages Richard Hawley, ex-Pulp guitarist; and music lawyer Lance Philips who specialises in e-commerce laws.
The hour-long question and answer session hosted by Jack Daniel’s is both informative and entertaining. Around 40 people comprise the audience, many contributing to the discussion. The first question addresses the best way “into” the music business as an unsigned artist. Music producer Steve Proud suggests the digital age approach of contacting record labels via social networking sites such as MySpace.
“It makes it a lot easier,” he explains, adding, “But if you have a MySpace music page, there is no need to get in touch. If you’re good enough, I’ll find you.” This comes as a refreshing reminder that record label owners are just as keen to sign decent artists as artists are to get signed.
Several more questions on the same topic are tackled, such as whether you must play live (“no, but it helps!”) before Lance Philips talks about his career.“People think you can’t be creative with law, but here’s proof that you can” he muses. “I didn’t think I’d suit the traditional role, which is why I’m really glad I can combine my love of music with my work.”
Richard Davis urges budding music journalists to concentrate on writing well and getting their articles published and not focussing on a specific music genre. Everyone is then invited to the gig which follows: three bands battling it out in the semi-final. It is up to the panel of music experts to decide who wins.
Phantoms! are the first to play and deliver a mediocre set of bland, generic indie. The melodies are tight and they sound well-rehearsed, but there is nothing nearly special about their performance.
Next up is electro quartet Neon Kicks who have about as much in common with the previous band as you all thought lawyers had with music, before reading this article. Their style is unique and distinct, blending steady vocals with deep, booming bass over a sea of synthesisers.
Finally, the crowd’s favourite, Manchester lads Romanov play a twenty-minute set followed by rapturous applause. And they deserve every inch of it: the songs are catchy and melodic; irresistibly indie riffs powdered with rough, rocking vocals, and their on-stage energy is unforgettably fantastic.
At the end of the evening, the winner is announced as second band, Durham–based Neon Kicks. They will now go on to support a JD Set Gig in May and battle against two other finalist groups for a cover-mount CD on national music magazine Artrocker.
Grace Crook
For more information on The JD Set Unsigned or to vote for Neon Kicks to win, go to www.thejdset.co.uk/unsigned
Know when to unplug, please drink Jack Daniel's responsibly.
A darker feel for the usually fairly fey indie types, which builds slowly before breaking out halfway through into a rapid downhill descent, with guitars circling around Felix’s half-muttered lyrics. Underwhelming at first, but a real grower - after three listens you’ll be hooked on its menace.
Rowan Brunswick
Papa Roach – ‘Hollywood Whore’ ‘Hollywood Whore’ is the first single off Metamorphosis, the latest Papa Roach album. While it does show some early promise, notably delivering a well written guitar riff, the vocals are bad and manage to kill the song completely. Anyone other than hardcore Papa Roach fans would do well to avoid this.
James Cook
Pet Shop Boys - ‘Love etc’
A slightly awkward arm around the shoulder moment this. You know the one, when an ageing artist teams up with the younger generation, inevitably allowing them to bask in how influential they once were, whilst also gaining a bit of credibility at the same time. In this case its Pet Shop Boys fondly gazing down on the Girls Aloud hit factory Xenomania. Consequently, we get a rather stilted call and response effort, that sounds like a bland middle-ground between both artists.
Andrew McGuinness
Snow Patrol- ‘If There’s A Rocket Tie Me To It’ ‘If There’s A Rocket Tie Me To It’, is another effortlessly cool track from Snow Patrol, with a catchy chorus and dramatic end, you’ll be singing along to this in no time. The single will not be as popular as some of their previous tracks, but great all the same.
Laura Kay
Me My Head- ‘Night on Fire’ Second single, ‘Night Is On Fire’, establishes Me My Head as a furiously (even self-consciously) edgy band. Despite this rawness, the single’s B-side ‘This Feeling’ confirms that they can also be ridiculously catchy and immensely radio-friendly. Me My Head could be described as combining the anthemic style of The Bravery with the humour of Art Brut; that might not sound like the best start to a musical career, but they manage to pull it off.
Amris Kaur
Photo Sources: The Maccabees 'No Kind Words' Official Single Artwork; Me My Head 'Night on Fire' Official Single Artwork
Reading's Sylosis kick off this action-packed bill at Corporation with their brand of what they call 'Epic Thrash Metal', which, as genres go, isn't too far off the mark. Excellent and precise guitar work and a similarity to the head liners style make them a worthy opener.
Psycroptic, 'The Tasmanian Devils', as they are sometimes affectionately known by fans, are next up. Their Technical Death Metal assault is about as intense as anything you will ever find in this genre; who needs guitar solos when the guitarist is attacking his instrument with such ferocity you wonder if it had insulted him somehow. The drums are played not as a rhythmic force, but rather as another lead instrument, weaving in and out of the intricate guitar lines and complementing the music greatly. My only complaint is aimed at the strange ambient sections in between the songs, which whilst providing respite, are obviously a chance for each musician to catch his breath.
Cephalic Carnage describe themselves as 'Rocky Mountain Hydrogrind'. Whatever this is supposed to mean, they play with conviction and passion, and truly have their own niche. It is very difficult to pigeonhole them, as they seem to switch from Grindcore blasting to slow, Doom Metal sections faster than it takes most people to blink.
Finally it is time for The Black Dahlia Murder to take the stage, and any thoughts that mosh pit-goers would be completely exhausted from the previous bands are squashed immediately, with a vicious and large pit opening very quickly. Included in the crowd was someone dressed in a gorilla costume dancing like a maniac, who later joined the band on stage to headbang.
The definite highlight was 'What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse', which is slightly sped up and leaves the audience reeling when that main riff breaks into Iron Maiden-esque lead sections.
The rest of their set is filled with the Melodic Death Metal classics and the charismatic and enthusiastic delivery which make The Black Dahlia Murder such a great, and famous (relatively, of course) band. Fame which they clearly deserve.
Forge Music is the temporary blog for www.forgetoday.com at Sheffield University. We'll be hosting online versions of Music articles from Fuse, along with internet-exclusive reviews, news, blogs, opinion, features, playlists, photos, links...plus, anything else you can think of pertaining to music!
Please get in contact: online.music@forgetoday.com
It is a Wednesday evening and in the dark lair of the Foundry there is a congregation of some of the hottest music buffs in the business. The reason? To give advice on how to make it big.
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