Why Radio 1 is shit.

RahRahRah! Damn BBC cutters! With their cutty ways. Sitting in their little cutty cut-rooms, cutting all our favourite things. 6 Music, Asian Network, my grandma's life support chord, the rope that holds a 1,000 lb anvil above a hutch full of little bunnies just sitting, muching on carrots, waiting for their lives to burst into fruition. The cutting bastards!

YES we all know that 6 Music is a fantastic station but NO you did not listen to it regularly did you Mr. "I'm going to sign a petition and voice my outrage"? You listened maybe once or twice, maybe not even at all! But you'll sit on your facebook page, clicking "Become a fan" on every single group or page you see dedicated to saving a station that, somehow, no-one and everyone listens to. Doesn't it strike anyone else as odd, that a station that is supposedly listened to by over 160,000 people (according to the facebook group) on a regular basis, was even thought about as a possible section of the BBC network that qualified to be cut? I'm sorry, but this is just "Sachsgate" all over again. A bunch of people who just want to complain, come out of the woodwork and claim to be avid fans of 6 Music, then harangue the Beeb for ever considering cutting their favourite station. I realised this, of course, after I signed the petition. But that's not the point.

My point is, that the BBC should take a long hard look at what they have on their network. 6 Music, while being a great station, doesn't get many listeners. While Radio 1, which is a shit station, gets thousands each day, because it has an FM frequency. Give 6 a frequency spot and I guarantee the numbers will go up! Better yet, give 6 Music Radio 1's slot! Everyone needs to realise that Radio 1 is just a playlist, repeated over and over again until the clock hits midnight and someone with a shred of musical integrity gets a turn at the decks once a week.

I would rather listen to the sound of a hutch full of little bunnies being crushed underneath a 1,000 lb anvil than listen to Fearne Cotton talk about how she "loves" the new tune by N-Dubz or Owl City or just about bloody anyone she plays on her mind-numbingly boring show. And I would roll around in the bloody, stinking remains of those crushed bunny rabbits before I wilfully listened to Greg James spout his usual mouth-excretions about "how cool" his week's been or the time that he met Howard out of Take That. I DON'T CARE. I want to listen to music that I haven't heard before, not the same song that the last 5 DJ's have played previous to this bloody show.

Cut Radio 1 BBC cutters. Leave us with 2 for the oldies, 3 for whatever they do, 4 for the old people, 5 for the sport and 6 for the MUSIC. And stick Zane Lowe on there too, he's starting to turn into a commercial prick but he still plays some good tunes. And please let me tell Fearne Cotton she's out of a job, I'd love to see how cheerfully she reacts to that. Knowing her she'd probably hug me and skip down the street before hurling herself of a bridge, smiling like a twat and going "gurrrrrrrrrrrrrr" before she hit the water, face first, never to return again.

Bit of a stretch for charity

Shane MacGowan is one of my all-time favourite singers/songwriters. Yes, I know he's a little bit odd, and not a great singer, but it's his persona that gets me, and he (and his friends) have just released a version of Screamin Jay Hawkins' hit 'I Put A Spell On You' in aid of the Haiti cause.

This is, obviously, good news. Great song, and hopefully some great names and voices to sing it, and raise some money for the cause. Here's a link to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf69vIQL_u8

However, when I listen to that song, I can't help but think... I don't like this. Shane does his bit as you'd expect, but then Paloma Faith enters and the song goes steadily downhill for the next few minutes. On her part, Paloma can't handle the style she's trying to go for. You can't do what Jay Hawkins did, which is the mistake that almost everyone in this video makes. Nick Cave for example sounds pretty disappointing, as does the guy after him. They all seem obsessed with making screaming sounds like Hawkins, and as such they don't concentrate on being in tune. On a lighter note, Johnny Depp's guitar solo is pretty damn good.

So I'm going to buy the song for charity, but I doubt I'll be listening to it.

Brit Nominations

Album of the last 30 years:

Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head

Dido - No Angel

Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms

Duffy - Rockferry

Keane - Hopes & Fears

Oasis - (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?

Phil Collins - No Jacket Required

Sade - Diamond Life

The Verve - Urban Hymns

Travis - The Man Who

DUFFY?? KEANE?? TRAVIS??

I'm sorry. Did my mind play a trick on me or were Queen not actually making albums in the 1980's? When did Hopes & Fears become a better album than The Game or The Works?? And no Radiohead? Or The Smiths? Even Dido got a mention! Am I crazy or is half this list just ideas pitched by a bunch of people who just couldn't be bothered anymore?

Why nominate Travis when you've got Muse, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party and so many more forward-thinking modern bands? Why give the nod to mediocrity? Who are Sade?! There are 5 songs on that list that, in my mind, have a reason to be there. But the others make no sense whatsoever.

And as for the 'Critics' Choice'?

Ellie Goulding
Delphic
Marina and the Diamonds

Congratulations BRITS judges! You've picked the 3 most obvious choices in the world! How about you do your own research and not just pick who the NME tell you to pick? Hmmm? To be honest, I'm not going to watch the Brits. I can't be bothered watching some has-been 'rock-star' hand over a pointless trophy to yet another pointless artist. So I'll pick my favourites and then read about someone else winning the day after:

• British Female Solo Artist
  Florence & the Machine

• British Male Solo Artist
  Paolo Nutini

• British Breakthrough Act
  Florence & the Machine

How Mumford and Sons aren't in here I'll never know.

• British Group
  Muse/Kasabian

• MasterCard British Album
  Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

• British Single
  Alesha Dixon - Breathe Slow
  Alexandra Burke Ft Flo Rida - Bad Boys
  Cheryl Cole - Fight For This Love

  Joe McElderry - The Climb

  JLS - Beat Again

  La Roux - In For The Kill

  Lily Allen - The Fear

  Pixie Lott - Mama Do

  Taio Cruz - Break Your Heart

  Tinchy Stryder Ft N-Dubz - Number 1

I couldn't care LESS who wins this. They're all terrible.

• Critics' Choice
  Delphic
  
  

BRITs Album of 30 Years

Oasis - (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?

• International Female Solo Artist
  Norah Jones

• International Male Solo Artist
  Bruce Springsteen

• International Album
• Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3

• International Breakthrough Act
  Animal Collective

Go look at the other nominations if you wish to feel as depressed as I do about music today :)

Waltz No.2

I like this:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8503117.stm

"A Dutch violinist has made pop history with the highest charting classical album this century.

Andre Rieu's collection of Strauss waltzes, Forever Vienna, rose two places to number two - one place behind Alicia Keys's The Element of Freedom."

The fact that a classical album has made it to number 2 in the charts has brightened my day to be honest. Classical is somewhat of a lost art, but it's nice to know that people still appreciate its values out there, what with the singles chart looking like it does at the moment. Hope for real music after all? Perhaps... Although Jedward seem hell-bent on destroying its cause. But hey, they'll be coke addicts living off the royalties of X-factor repeats in 6 months anyway, so what do I care?

Most played songs this week (01/02/10)

Get Back/Run For Your Life - The Beatles

&

Big Wiggly Style/Danger:Wildman - The Devil Wears Prada

4am musings on life

Karma's been a real bitch to me today.

On the plus side, I spent last night with Lyd on our 2-year anniversary (happy days) and today played possibly the best gig of my life so far with Sterling.

However.

Today I nearly died of stress after spending 2 hours looking for a bag of keyboard cables that turned up on my bed. After the gig I developed a huge eye infection that has made it water uncontrollably in pain since. I have also burned myself several times, pierced my finger on both a nail and a McDonalds cup and have no phone because I left my charger at uni.

This seems to me to be unfairly disproportionate. Add to this the fact I still don't have a job and you get a set of life-scales balanced very heavily on the side of "Oh for fuck's sake!"

So, Karma, tomorrow I expect good things, and only good things. Because today overall has been fairly shitty. You bloody cosmic reconcilliation device you.

Anything Ross can do

This is in direct response to the post Mr. Ross Dryden just posted on his blog (look in my followers to find it). He decided to list his top 5 favourite songs of all time, and now I will be doing the same! Please keep in mind that my music taste changes with the wind so these are merely my favourite songs at this current time, it usually changes every couple of months!

In no particular order...

Hoppipolla - Sigur Rós

This is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful songs ever written. No other song showcases Sigur Ros' astonishing music in quite this way, despite the numerous other pieces of art they have created with their instruments. I still remember the day I first listened to this song all the way through, walking home with my headphones in, through the woods on a gorgeously sunny day. I honestly nearly cried at the crescendo at about 2:30 in. The emotions that this song bring up will stay with me for the rest of my life. (Also see - Ara Batur from með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, the moment when the gong is smashed along with the choir is just unbelievable)

Subterranean Homesick Blues - Bob Dylan

This is just Dylan at his best. I won't lie and pretend to be a huge Dylan fan, but you can't argue with this song. Unlike some other songs from the man, SHB manages to be fairly catchy and easy to listen to, along with it's insanely witty and biting lyrics. This is why, lyrically, Dylan is such a massive influence on me. Why write a song with no meaning? Why waste your time? This is a perfect protest song in the sense that it's subtle, but so clear. I'll show anyone who says they don't like Dylan this song to try and persuade them otherwise. Crowning glory - Lennon said that he didn't think he could write a song to contend with this.

The Beatles

Okay, now this was a hard decision. Obviously a Beatles song is going to be in here, but which one?? With so many to choose from I honestly have no idea where to go. We Can Work It Out jumps at me, because for me it shows the transition from a catchy rock band into a more psychedelic and adventurous group. But then there's Taxman, Drive My Car, A Day In The Life, Across The Universe and SO MANY MORE!! So I'm going to go a little left-field and choose one that has meant a lot to me recently...

The End

Obviously not the greatest Beatles song ever written, but The End really was the end. It is technically the last Beatles song on record. Coming at the end of Abbey Road (an amazing album) it gives you everything. The beginning - with the sharp guitars and "Oh Yeah's!" of John and George, the middle - with Ringo's sudden burst of a drum solo(?!?!?!?!) and finally, descending into Paul's trademark staccato piano break. And what better way to end The Beatles than with that line - "And, in the end, the love you take/ Is equal to the love you make"? Finally spiralling into that beautiful orchestration courtesy of Mr Martin. They took a hell of a lot of love, and they gave a shed-load of it back to us all. Perfection.

New Born - Muse

New Born encapsulates Muse. It's not the prettiest song they've written, or the most complex, but it gives the listener everything they need. The piano intro, that riff (Oh God... that riff!) the HUGE chorus and insane guitar solo(s). This song also illustrates Muse's desire not to conform - being the first track on an album they were told to make "radio-friendly" to take the American market. Immediately we get Matt's falsetto piercing the gorgeous piano-tinkling (his voice being just one of the things their previous record label had asked them to tone down) and then we get the bass blown out of our speakers by the sheer savagery of the riff that kicks the song into life. Tone down? Can you imagine what Muse would be like if they weren't larger than life? I shudder to think.

And finally...

You Keep It All In - The Beautiful South

Yes, I know it's not a cool song. Neither is it a cool band. But The Beautiful South were a huge part of my childhood, being pretty much the only band that my parents ever listened to. I could have chosen any song from their back catalogue but You Keep It All In just jumps out at me as being one of my favourites, and it's a great tune too. The witty interchanges between Briana Corrigan and Dave Hemingway gave the song that perfect Beautiful South style that made so many of their songs great to listen to. The idea that the two lead singers were conversing through the song was amazing to me in my younger years. I think I need to thank both The Beautiful South and Queen for at least making me aware of music during my first 15 years on earth. Without them I don't know how I would have ever experienced the joy that I feel now when I hear a new band/an old band that I love.

That was fun! There's so many more I want to talk about though...