September Round-Up

Hi everybody! (Hi Dr Nick!)

Over the last couple of months I've been trying out more of the whole writing thing. As a result of this I'm going to try altering the format of the round-up posts a little. I still want to keep the round-ups because they include gigs and albums and other tidbits that don't quite fit in anywhere else.

So, behold, the new-look-but-it-will-probably-never-look-exactly-like-this-again monthly round-up!

Banks - Goddess

Finally, it's here, LA based songstress Banks' debut album 'Goddess'. It felt like everybody on the planet was waiting for this album and it also felt like everybody on the planet spent the week following its release listening to nothing but Goddess. Despite including a few previously released tracks like 'Waiting game' and 'Before I ever met you', these don't detract from the incredible songs we haven't heard before. With an 18 track long debut some may be anxious about making it through in one sitting; there's no need. The 26 year old Californian's voice is more captivating than ever. Banks takes us on a journey of her life experiences through joy and heartbreak and it is nothing but a pleasure to listen to.

Other notable albums/EPs this month:

Emarosa - Versus
Maroon 5 - V
Josef Salvat - In your prime

Paolo Nutini and Rae Morris at Roundhouse, Camden
We're all aware of this whole iTunes festival saga aren't we? Good. For me, the most exciting thing about iTunes Festival are the artists who are selected as support acts each night. This year these acts included the likes of MNEK, Gorgon City, Charlie Simpson and Foxes. We were lucky enough to see Rae Morris along with her headliner Paolo Nutini. I've been a fan of Rae Morris for a while and it was great to see her for the first time in a venue like the Roundhouse. Her voice and set sounded incredible noteably recent single 'Cold'. The room was fit to burst by the time Paolo Nutini took to the stage and rightly so. Showcasing songs from all three albums to date Nutini rattled through big singles as well as a few obscure album tracks. It was a shame that older songs such as 'Jenny don't be hasty' and 'New shoes' had been given a strange live revamp that none of us were really expecting. That was all forgotten though with the opening bars of his most recent single from third album, 'Caustic love', 'Iron sky' which sounded absolutely breathtaking. A perfect pairing of Rae Morris and Paolo Nutini resulted in a 10/10 evening in Camden.

Neon Trees and Tides at Islington Academy

Neon Trees. You know, Neon Trees? Neon Trees, they did that 'Animal' song and 'Everybody talks'. Yes, that Neon Trees! Tides scored themselves a pretty sweet spot as the only support act on this Monday night. Not only that but 90% of the crowd were their perfect target demographic. Tides do that super catchy pop rock thing that you can dance along to. Think Rixton, the second coming. A few more shows like this and this four-piece will be well on their way to mainstream success. I didn't quite know what to expect from Neon Trees and it's fair to say I was overwhelmed. Frontman Tyler Glenn pranced around the stage belting out the group's synth laden pop rock hits spanning three albums with the rest of his band right behind him. It was a shame the way Glenn voiced his frustration with their label in the UK about how their most recent album 'Pop Psychology' was released and marketed over here, but at the same time they were so grateful that they were still playing shows in the UK and that so many people had come out to see them on a Monday night. A great live act and ones definitely not to miss next time they're over here.


Top five tracks of the month:







September Favourite(s):

Video: Slipknot - The devil in I

iPhone app/game: Criminal Case

TV show: Glue

Dining experience: Chipotle, forever and always

Vine discovery related to best dining experience:

Cockatil: Passionfruit mojitos and this one with half a passion fruit on the top of it

News: The Boileroom in Guildford is here to stay

Store: Alice Takes A Trip

September playlists: YouTube / Spotify / Deezer

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ICYMI - This Week on WIIHAMB - 2014 Week #39

In case you missed it - You shouldn't have, but just in case you did.

Keep up to date with all of the daily goings-on over at WIIHAMB Daily.

Monday
Online Stores Are On My Back - read the full article here

Tuesday
21 year old Adam French's ‘More To Life’ is everything you could want from a singer/songwriter and the raspy tone to his voice makes every word sung that little bit more enticing.


This week PVRIS announced the release of their debut album ‘White Noise’ will be on the 3rd/4th November as well as dropping this new single/video to get us all geared up.


Wednesday
Mysterious LA based Olivver keeps us captivated with the brooding piano led intro of ‘Not Going Home’ which turns into a big Neighbourhood-esque chorus.

Throwback Thursday
It was hard to pick one song from Parachute’s 2009 album ‘Losing Sleep’ but ‘Under Control’ has always been a standout for me. It’s also hard to believe that the band'a debut album was released five years ago!


Friday
‘Love up’ was originally unveiled in May but we missed it and since it’s been re-uploaded to Soundcloud this month along with new track 'Solid gold' we thought it best to deliver it now. Better late than never eh?


Saturday
It’s so refreshing to hear rappers doing everything themselves and not drafting in other names to sing their hooks. You can literally feel the emotion that OnCue is pouring into this track.


‘Open season’ is far more upbeat/pop than some of Salvat's previous tracks but his voice still shines through brighter than anything else.


Sunday
‘Man in the sun’ sounds like the perfect radio friendly, mainstream blend of Taking Back Sunday and Letlive with a huge chorus.


Is there anything JMSN touches that doesn’t turn to gold? No, didn’t think so. This time he’s leant his vocals to California based Esta’s track ‘Beautiful torture’.


September playlists so far: YouTube / Spotify / Deezer

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Online Stores Are On My Back

Or at least they will be soon.

[Inspired by: TechCrunch]

Let me set the scene:
The music industry is dying again. This month the UK saw the lowest weekly album sales in 19 years. Hold on, didn't the value of the UK music industry grow by 9% YOY in 2013?! The bottom line is, no one really knows what's going on but as a precaution we should all probably try and save this maybe-it's-dying/maybe-it's-not industry. To do so, digital music stores might have just found the key.

TechCrunch draw some interesting comparisons between music and film
The TV and film industry is booming, anyone can see that. So why is the music industry, which is just as accessible, losing financial momentum? Philip Inghelbrecht for TechCrunch claims that it's all down to windowing. When it comes to films windowing works by films being available firstly in the cinema, then maybe exclusive to iTunes/Netflix before finally receiving a general release on DVD and Blu-Ray. For Inghelbrecht, following the windowing path with music is possibly the answer to at least some of our problems.

The revolution has started and you didn't even notice
In my opinion, revolutionary numero uno was Beyonce(/the illuminati). There we all were, December 2013, an ordinary Friday morning. WHAT? BEYONCE'S RELEASED A SURPRISE ALBUM OVERNIGHT THAT NOBODY KNEW ABOUT CONSISTING OF A BILLION TRACKS THAT ARE ALL ACCOMPANIED BY THEIR OWN MUSIC VIDEOS?! Oh... but it's only available on iTunes and if I do want to buy it I need to buy the whole shebang? Beyonce's self-titled fifth album was exclusive to iTunes for a week and during that time was only available to purchase as a full album. Naturally it became their fastest-selling album of "all time". Beyonce was followed by undoubtedly the most talked about album of the month, U2's 'Songs of Innocence'. This time, the understated masterpiece (just kidding, I haven't heard it yet and probably never will) isn't available physically or on any other digital stores until 14th October! This leaves die-hard U2 fans no choice but to succumb to the mighty powers of the iTunes store to legitimately get their hands on a copy.

So what's next?

Last week Alt-J released their second album 'This Is All Yours' exclusively to stream on Spotify before being available in all other stores today (22nd September). The cunning group then made four album tracks available on iTunes and unsurprisingly they bombarded the UK iTunes chart top five after only a few hours. Whilst Alt-J are fannying about with those two major stores, over at Google Play there are some pretty crazy deals going on. Until the end of September, Google Play are practically giving away major chart albums for £2 or less. Artists in what can only be described as this insane offer include Little Mix, Beyonce, Calvin Harris and The Clash.

There's no doubt that over the coming months we'll see much more competition between digital services be it downloads or streams, all fighting for our attention (but mostly our money). None of the offers I've seen thus far have enticed me in. I'm a paid subscriber to Deezer and I still buy physical albums usually via Amazon, and I can't see that changing any time soon. What would these online music stores have to do to convince you to change your subscription or download using their service?

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ICYMI - This Week on WIIHAMB - 2014 Week #38

In case you missed it - You shouldn't have, but just in case you did.

Keep up to date with all of the daily goings-on over at WIIHAMB Daily.

Monday
Dae Zhen is one of the most refreshing rappers I've heard this year, not only does he completele own the verses but he takes control singing the choruses as well.


The new video for I Am The Avalanche's sing-along punk anthem '177' showcases their great live shows.


Tuesday
Darius has completely slowed down and chilled out current radio favourite 'Sunlight' making it sound more similar to something Years & Years may release themselves.


Wednesday
Donald Glover's ditched the rapping in new track 'Sober' and taken a more Frank Ocean/Michael Jackson-esque route.

Throwback Thursday
The shortest TBT so far courtesy of this minute long masterpiece from AFI.


Friday
Tove Lo popped this ace track online this week and it's left me itching to hear the rest of the album. It's not surprising that 'Moments' is personal to Tove Lo when the chorus contains the lyrics "I'm not the prettiest you've ever seen, but on my good days I'm charming as fuck”.


Saturday
The track most likely to absolutely smash it this week comes from Karen Harding and her debut single. Think Whitney infused commercial house.


New solo single from Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke preceeds the release of his second album next month.


Sunday
SBTRKT's new single featuring Denai Moore is much more reminiscent of his first album compared to previously released tracks from his second full-length.


Kiesza's live lounge cover of 'Prayer In C' turned the worldwide dance hit into something stripped back and emotional like only Kiesza could.


September playlists so far: YouTube / Spotify / Deezer

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ICYMI - This Week on WIIHAMB - 2014 Week #37

In case you missed it - You shouldn't have, but just in case you did.

Keep up to date with all of the daily goings-on over at WIIHAMB Daily.

Monday
Louis Mattrs has completely transformed both Tweet’s ‘Oops’ and PARTYNEXTDOOR’s ‘Wus Good’ into a contemporary effortless mash-up.


Tuesday
Mysterious outfit LANY  churn out yet another great eerie-electro-indie-pop track.


Wednesday
Even more mysterious outfit Huntar have released this ambient, eerie song keeping with the indie/electro/pop vibes.


Throwback Thursday
Excellent throwback courtesy of Neon Trees this week with probably their biggest hit to date.


Friday
Snakehips turns eighteen year old Raury's 'Cigarette song' into a sexy blend of hip hop and R'n'B.


In Slipknot's new video we see them say a rather macabre farewell to their previous chapter.


Saturday
Catchy, Fall Out Boy-esque new single from Set It Off is something that maybe NSYNC would have written if they were a rock band.


Excellent second single from serial chart-topping collaborator Becky Hill.


Sunday
Debut track from Irish alt-rock sibling duo Greywind, ‘Afterthoughts’ is ambient and shows the stadium-ready potential of this band.


The first track taken from Hands Like Houses' new EP featuring stripped back re-workings of tracks from their second album 'Unimagine'.

September playlists so far: YouTube / Spotify / Deezer

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ICYMI - This Week on WIIHAMB - 2014 Week #36

In case you missed it - You shouldn't have, but just in case you did.

I have finally returned from the holilolz however I am having a bit of an internet crisis so please bear with WIIHAMB if it starts looking a bit scarce over the next week.

Keep up to date with all of the daily goings-on over at WIIHAMB Daily.

Monday



Tuesday



Wednesday



Throwback Thursday



Friday



Saturday




Sunday




September playlists so far: YouTube / Spotify / Deezer

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