Summer Round-Up

I may have made a grave mistake in not posting a July Round-Up because this bumper Summer edition is absolutely bursting with cool stuff that's happened over the last two months. There were so many great releases just last Friday, let alone the past two months. I'm also very used to Summer being filled with festivals but along with a couple small'uns this summer there have been a fair few sick shows, WHICH IS COOL.



This is going to be a whistle stop tour of Summer 2015. And I mean it, ain't nobody got time for two months worth of stuff right now. Nobody. (EDIT: I'm not even halfway through writing this and it's so long already.)

July playlists: YouTube / Spotify / Deezer

August playlists: YouTube / Spotify / Deezer

Festivals

I went to three festivals over the last two months, who knew! The first was Godiva Festival which is in Coventry and it's free and it was actually really cool. This was a three day event and the amalgamation of different genres was really impressive. We only attended on Saturday evening but we got to catch Pulled Apart By Horses, Don Broco and The Wombats, which displays the no holds barred genre-wise thing quite well even though you could just stick all three under the "rock" umbrella if you wanted to. There was some chat whilst we were there about Godiva not happening again next year but even with only a few hours spent at the festival, I could tell that would be a real shame.

The second was Close Up Festival in Winchester, which was really more of just an all-dayer but who am I to judge? Chris and Sam who run the Close Up joint have a really impressive ear for great bands you've never heard of. If the duo were to move more further afield than Winchester they could without a doubt put on some incredible unsigned showcases. I also went to Hevy Fest. There is a review here and I've also still got my interviews to go up soon, like actually soon, I promise I'll make it happen.

Gigs

This is an insanely eclectic mix of shows so we'll just work through them chronologically. The Hell at The Black Heart in Camden went down on the day after the hottest day of the year and not even the pub's slushy cocktails could save us from that tiny sweaty as hell (HA) room. I think this was The Hell's first headline show (???) and it was super fun. AS ALWAYS. If you haven't seen The Hell live before, you should, ASAP. I saw Leon Bridges for the second time this year and for the second time in a tiiiiny venue at Notting Hill Arts Club. It was obviously really good and I am looking forward to seeing him at the not so tiny Shepherd's Bush Empire next month! My friends in Swim Good also did a little weekender in June rounded off on a Sunday evening at Boston Music Rooms. They did some new songs, which are good, maybe they'll record them one day... maybe they won't, who knows! Thorpe Park have been doing this Island Beats festival thing all summer, and on the rainiest day ever I went to see Ella Eyre. She's good and fun which was cool but the weather was a definite dampener (HA!). Finally in June I saw Leo Kalyan, it was a free show, I was kinda psyched, but... it was pretty meh to be honest... not sure I'd go again...

The two July shows in this particular section were GR8. So first, BB Diamond played a Vice House Party thing at Old Blue Last, and this was such a strange night for me, I actually #canteven but she was so cool. Think Katy B/Jess Glynne/girl you just wanna hang out with but actually does really great pop songs on the side kind of vibe. 'Instinct' is the only song that BB Diamond has put out so far and I am so looking forward to what else she has up her sleeve. Secondly, Huntar. *Deep sigh* Look, I know I talk/write/whatever about Huntar a lot, and I know it needs to stop but this show. THIS. SHOW. Nobody was prepared for what happened on this fateful Monday night at Electrowerkz. After watching this performance (a.k.a. extravaganza) I was so filled to the brim with excitement. Excitement that I'm not sure I've felt since I first heard PVRIS' 'St Patrick' last summer. This was Huntar's second live show (???) and it was... unbelievable. Did I mention that I was NOT PREPARED?! The new songs? Incredible, give me the studio versions now. The live versions of tracks we have heard? Amazing, record a live EP that I can listen to 5eva. A tour? Sort one out so that I can go to every date and have the best time. Oh my God okay, and breathe.

Release Shows

I went to three of these. Prides played The Victoria to celebrate the release of their debut album 'The Way Back Up'. It was so long ago that I don't really remember much about it but I remember thoroughly enjoying it and the album is good too and they drank lots of wine. The Gospel Youth played The Black Heart [cue more slushy cocktails] to celebrate the release of their second EP 'Empires'. I was kind of disappointed with how average this show was including main support The Autumn Ravine who I was also really looking forward to seeing. Let's not dwell. Finally, Jerry Williams played Barfly just the other Thursday and it wasn't technically a release show but she released her second EP 'Cold Beer' the next day so it kind of counts. Williams' has a much tighter live band set up to the last time that I saw her and it worked impressively well. We all know that slow songs aren't really my bag, but I still really really loads enjoyed the likes of 'Boy Oh Boy' and recent single 'Cold Beer'. Another exciting newcomer everybody should be excited about.

Albums I Really Loved and Listened To Loads

There were so many good releases over the last two months, I'm not really sure how to go about this.
MS MR's second album 'How Does It Feel' was really the only album from July that I thought was outstanding. Such a fun and well rounded pop album. Alessia Cara's debut EP 'Four Pink Walls' crept us on a bit but it's such a good showcase of what we can expect to hear from her in the future and I'm excited, she's going be even more huge than we think. Don Broco's second album was different but just because it doesn't sound like "old Broco" does not by any means mean that it's not a very good effort. I found myself listening to 'Automatic' a whole heap more than I anticipated. FTSE's debut album 'Joyless' got lost under the mammoth weight of huge releases last Friday, and although I found some of the lyrical themes throughout the album a little hard to relate to, tracks like 'This Is Life' and 'Safety Net' showcase excellent songwriting and musicianship. Finally, Melanie Martinez's 'Cry Baby' was not an album I ever thought I would enjoy but Martinez's weird and quirky songwriting and attitude come to light and make her standout as an artist that is so much more credible that most people realise. Some really dark themes running through 'Cry Baby' too, it's impressive that she's able to mask things like eating disorders within cooky pop songs.

EPs That Were Also Good

FKA Twigs has finally released a thing that I actually liked. Her new 'M3LL155X' (apparently it's pronounced "Melissa") EP was thoroughly enjoyable considering Twigs is an artist that I, on the whole, don't really "get". Maala released his debut EP which is paaacked full of emotion and excellent pop/electronic crossover tracks. This release seemed to just appear out of nowhere a bit but I'm glad I realised it had happened because it's definitely one to stick on repeat for days. Another release that sprung up on me was the new EP from Zak Abel, 'One Hand On The Future'. I need more time with this new six track release but from the initial listen this is an EP I would definitely revisit multiple times.

Albums That Were Good But TBH I Need More Time With

Years & Years' debut 'Communion' was good but I did have to agree a little with the NME review after my first listen... the singles carry this album for the most part and overall it's not groundbreaking. Enjoyable but nothing to write home about. Back in July I said that I actually preferred Saint Raymond's debut 'Young Blood' more than the Years & Years and Prides albums put together, but I only listened to it once, so I'm unable to confirm whether that is still the case. Georgia released a self-titled peculiar pop album and it was really good and if you're into that kind of peculiar pop thing it's definitely worth listening to. I kind of like that I have no knowledge of Georgia and what she's about whatsoever. Fairly disappointed by this Halsey 'Badlands' debut... I need to give it some more listens but I'm finding it quite samey and quite self-indulgent. Lianne La Havas' second album 'Blood' was really good for an album I didn't think I was going to enjoy, I was really impressed and I need to revisit it multiple times in the near future. Finally, The Weeknd's 'Beauty Behind The Madness'. I'm so happy that 'Often' actually made it on to this record, I was scared that it would have been left behind as just an in between albums single, but it works really well as do the other singles. But I could not off the top of my head tell you anything about the other tracks on this album because they all kind of merge into one. I found the features quite disappointing too apart from the uncredited Maty Noyes on closer 'Angel' which I did really like.

I was going to spout off some other little music related tidbits here but I've already gone on enough so I shall see you next month! (Which is only tomorrow so don' fear.)

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ICYMI - This Week on WIIHAMB - 2015 Week #34

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

In more unrelated to music news this week two major things happened - Street Feast's National Burger Day festival was off the chaaaain and I bought a PS4. (You can add me on the PS rig, I'm natalie_ihw, literally nobody has added me yet *sad face*.) But in music news this week, we had the most INSANE release day ever, escalated by the fact that we all had to deal with this on a Friday. (God, I hate global release day Fridays) But it was actually full on nuts. I plan to cover a lot of this in my Summer round-up which should hopefully be happening tomorrow!

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

Sunday
I really like this… which is slightly problematic. This is just an exclusive track to tease Eton Messy’s new compilation, it’s not Blonde’s new single. Blonde’s new single is actually ‘Feel Good (It’s Alright)’ and it features Karen Harding, which on paper sounds incredible but I didn’t love it. ‘All Night’ is great though and I was very intrigued by this Mar character. Maybe he’ll feature on more things in the future, I think that might be nice.


Monday
What is up with this Australian electronic vibey R’n’B stuff at the moment? It’s great. Everything about this track from Yeah Boy, real name Johnny Castro, is simple yet so effective. ‘Looking For Sunshine’ is the opening track on Yeah Boy’s second EP Wildfire. I really like the artwork for this EP, it’s eerie but warm which seems to fit nice and subtly with the songs.


Tuesday
I really like Nimmo. Really like Nimmo. There’s something about Nimmo that makes this ensemble look like THE TRENDIEST five piece on the planet right now. ‘Dilute This’ is a great indie pop song with a really heavy electronic influence. There’s something really cool about Sarah Nimmo’s vocals too, I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I know it’s good, especially when accompanied by Reva Gauntlett’s equally smooth tones. In typical WIIHAMB fashion, during the short space of time between Tuesday and now there is an official video for 'Dilute This' but it's disappeared from YouTube and there's a load of premiering/Vevo bullshit happening.


I love Alessia Cara. It’s nuts that this Canadian teenager is taking over the world after releasing one single. She has an EP called ‘Four Pink Walls’ that came out yesterday and each track has it's own little video on her YouTube channel. Anyway, this is her covering Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling’. I’ve heard the original for the first time about half an hour after this original post went out and to be honest, I wish I hadn't.


Wednesday
So… This track, ‘The Hunger’. You’ve heard this before. No really, you have, well, if you’ve heard ‘The Woods’ (the opening track from Huntar’s Love I Know EP) you have. The EP opens with a radio tuning in and out of a load of different imaginary stations and the first track we hear is in fact ‘The Hunger’. This song doesn’t really sound like any of the previous Huntar tracks and that threw me a little bit. The “instrumentation” is really different and a little bit strange. This is good though, I wouldn’t be posting it if it wasn’t. And where, at points, the lyrics start to become a little cliche, Huntar’s vocal performance makes you forget all about it.


Throwback Thursday
Hands down the greatest The Saturdays single that there ever was. No, seriously, this is an absolute smash hit. And it’s quite frankly appallingly that it only peaked at number eight in the UK singles chart. Please challenge me on the ‘best The Saturdays single of all time’ thing, I’d love to tell you how wrong you are.


Friday
Asha is back! This is only her second track, the follow up to the incredible ‘We Can Do This’. Her voice just seems so effortless and I am so excited about absolutely everything surrounding this lady. First and foremost, the ability to actually purchase her music.


Saturday
This is a story song and I love story songs. Catey Shaw’s ‘Walks All Over You’ is about a girl who has a guy wrapped around her finger and Catey is like 0% okay with this. It took me a while to semi-pin-point this, but Shaw’s vocals remind me a bit of Ellie Goulding, just in tone and pronunciation and things. I also absolutely love the immersive 80s vibe you get from this track, the brass bits in particular just add such a nice touch to the song overall.


This is the kind of song that you could put on repeat for a week and leave it to slowly seep into your soul. Steven A. Clark’s vocals have the smoooothest pop/soul/RnB tone to them, it’s like they actually melt into the track. Clark has an album out on the 18th September, it’s called ‘The Lonely Roller’ and after hearing ‘Can’t Have’, I guess you could say that I’m pretty excited to hear his debut full length record.


August playlists: YouTube / Spotify / Deezer

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ICYMI - This Week on WIIHAMB - 2015 Week #33

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

Another strange week of my existence being overtaken by Netflix and Crosstown Doughnuts. It's actually go to the point where I want to do guest posts on my own music blog about things that aren't music. Because rarely I do actually like some things in this universe and I think it would be cool to share those in some capacity. But at the same time, I already have quite a lot on so... who knows.

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

Sunday
You know when you’ve been waiting on something for so long, you didn’t actually even know you were waiting on it? No, me neither until I realised it’s 2015 and Sam Manville aka FTSE is only just about to release his debut album. It’s really difficult to describe what FTSE’s music sounds like, which is completely fine because you can just listen to it right here, but ‘post punk hip hop’ on Manville’s Soundcloud page seems to sum it up quite nicely.


Monday
Cool things that I did not know: Digital Farm Animals is from London and he is just one guy. Cool thing that I did know: new DFA single ‘True’ is a massive house BANGER. I’m really into the video, like really into it, and I’m not sure that I totally understand the entire concept but it all looks pretty sick and there are guns and a car chase and lots of animal masks.


Tuesday
Look, I know it’s been a mere four days since I last posted Kwabs, and I know I’ve already posted a 2014 track that Fetty Wap has breathed new life into this month, BUT IT’S BEEN EXACTLY A YEAR SINCE I FIRST POSTED ‘WALK’ SO IT’S MEGA TOTES RELEVANT AND STUFF. *Deep breath.* ‘Walk’ was and still is incredible in its own right and Fetty Wap doesn’t rrrreally add much to this other than some lolz and ‘1738′s and that’s fine, I guess.


Wednesday
‘Loves The Jobs You Hate’ sounds new and fresh and cool. This track is the first to be taken from the duo’s forthcoming ‘Over Lover’ EP due out at the start of September. I’m really into the “go fuck yourself” line and the proceeding “oooohhhhh”, that’s nice, that “oooohhhhh” bit, clever, that is.


Throwback Thursday
I actually really didn’t like Kelis when I was younger, I don’t know why, I loved ‘Milkshake’, but wasn’t particularly fussed about anything else. At 22, I can now see the error of my ways. ‘Millionaire’ is great, right, and I think it was Andre 3000′s verse in the middle that I didn’t really like here, but that’s great too. The video is also PRETTY DAMN GENIUS.


Friday
So I’m not really into this whole punk/grunge/emo/whatever it is thing that’s really big at the moment, it’s just not for me. BUT I LOVE THIS. Iona Cairns’, of Great Cynics fame, vocals are just the coolest… well, they would be the coolest if it wasn’t for her cousin Savanna who stars in the video who is actually the coolest. Cairns’ vocals though, just make the lyrics and stuff feel really real, and believable, just that authenticity kind of puts you in her shoes.


Saturday
How Heavy Was Hevy Fest 2015?
Last weekend I went to Hevy Fest in Kent and it was really cool and I've written a review type thing about it.

August playlists: YouTube / Spotify / Deezer

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How Heavy Was Hevy Fest 2015?

Come tell me how original that title and this whole concept is, I'd be stoked to hear it.

Last weekend I went to the South East's heaviest camping festival, Hevy Fest at Port Lympne Wildlife Park. *BOAST ALERT* This was my first festival with an actual "press pass" which is super cool but also pretty daunting especially with my first two interviews ever. It was my first time at Hevy too which was exciting. Lots of firsts. I mentioned Redfest in my preview and festivals this size, under 5000 attendees are my absolute favourite types of festivals.  As I just hinted, there will be a couple of interviews going up soon but in the meantime the real question is: How heavy was Hevy?

The Gospel Youth - Heavy Rain

No more than ten minutes after pushing in my final tent pegs, the heavens opened and the only real rain of the weekend started pounding down. So much so that the storm warnings in place meant that Thursday evening's proceedings were in jeopardy. With this in mind The Gospel Youth took to the stage early for their first festival performance as a band. Performing as a trio, the band pulled off faultless acoustic versions of tracks from their recent Homesick EP as well as Sam Little rounding off with a solo acoustic version of Limp Bizkit's 'Break Stuff'. You've actually never heard anything like it.

The Lion and The Wolf - Heavy Handed

That sounds bad, but it wasn't, Thomas George A.K.A. The Lion and The Wolf was just playing with a broken wrist. George said himself that his set was going to go hand in hand with the weather, playing a string of melancholy dark moody songs, but they were good though. And it's the sort of thing that I expect from an acoustic set and I'm totally okay with that because on nights like this one, I wasn't ready for another curveball.

Press To Meco - Lightweight Champions

It's two o'clock(ish) on Saturday afternoon and Press To Meco are about to take to the second stage and the tent is FULL... well not full full, but like pretty full, like almost full and definitely a whole load more full than you'd expect at this time of day. And essentially the Crawley/Croydon trio were EXCELLENT, like really good. Those harmonies and other various musical things that they do well were all very good. Their set even included a new new song, I didn't make notes so I've no idea what it's called, but it was good.

A Wilhelm Scream - Heavily Confused

And that's all on me. I had nnnnnnooooooo idea that A Wilhelm Scream did the music that they do. It transpired very quickly that I'd clearly never listened to this band prior to seeing them before my eyes and I wasn't prepared. Despite my internal confusion, I really liked it. Good punk rock but with intricate guitar lines, would see again with correct and adequate preparation.

Fightstar - Middleweight Champions

Let's be honest, from a logistical and technical standpoint, it wasn't going great for Fightstar. They arrived on site an hour later than scheduled, they were about 15 minutes late to start their set and then about 15 minutes later there was another technical hitch. With all that aside, Fightstar were thoroughly enjoyable, opening with 'To Sleep' and diving straight into 'Paint Your Target' it (should have been) full throttle from the outset. The quartet debuted new song 'Animal' live for the first time as well. I do have one gripe though, and that is that Fightstar close on 'Mono' which I found the ultimate anti-climax for the third time. Solid other than that.

Blood Youth - Featherweight Champions

Blood Youth were the pleasant surprise of the weekend. I like(d) their 'Inside My Head' EP released earlier this year but I was yet to see them live. Their set overall felt really clean and tight for a band this size, and frontman Kaya Tarsus' vocals were impressively strong throughout. I'd like to see this Derby five-piece climb their way up festival bills pretty quickly over the next few years.

Horse The Band - Heavy Night Ahead

So I know I said that I wasn't prepared for A Wilhelm Scream, but NOTHING, not one iota of a thing could have prepared me for Horse The Band. Even thinking back to it fills me with nothing but confusion. A band who didn't have any merch because they're "not a business" yet have one guy in gold hotpants and another in a pink Adidas two-piece chiming a triangle every now and then prancing around the stage. It wasn't for me and I didn't get it. Maybe if I'd managed to smuggle more ciders into the arena I would have enjoyed it more... but probably not.

The Fall of Troy - Heavy In The Day

There were very few things I needed in my life more than to see The Fall Of Troy play 'F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X' live. Very few things. It was their second album's tenth birthday to the day last weekend and that is why the trio were playing 'Doppelganger' in full. The best thing about this was that you KNEW with absolutely no shadow of a doubt that 'F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X' would be the third song in the set and obviously it was and obviously it was incredible. Hearing the whole album in full was actually fairly mindblowing. And even though The Fall of Troy aren't the easiest band to just sit back and listen to, watching Thomas Erak just shred for an hour was marvellous. (Can you tell I used a thesaurus?)

Thrice - Heavyweight Champions

THIS IS IT. THE MAIN EVENT. IT'S THRICE. *fails for ages*
So I was super stoked, right, and I still am pretty stoked. This was Thrice's only UK show this year and if you like Thrice you should be gutted if you missed it. Opening with 'Of Dust and Nations' it was clear from the outset that Thrice were going to receive the biggest reactions for songs taken from their first two albums. The title track from their debut 'The Artist In The Ambulance' actually sent shivers down my spine as the whole (well, majority of the) crowd shouted back the words. 'Come All You Weary' and 'The Earth Will Shake' were also just as equally chilling. As with Fightstar, I have another gripe. There was no 'Image of the Invisible' and that shattered my entire heart into the tiniest of fragments. For me, the addition of that one song could have made this whole performance absolutely flawless.

I would like to conclude that Hevy did indeed live up to its name and was fairly heavy. I loved Hevy and I'd like to go back forever and always and I also have some interviews going up eventually, hopefully soon but Press To Meco wouldn't stop talking about animals so the whole thing's a bit of a mess really.

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ICYMI - This Week on WIIHAMB - 2015 Week #32

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

At time of posting I am currently (hopefully, like, I really hope) on my way home from Hevy Fest 2015! Really excited to share what I get up to there! Because I've spent most of this week, which doesn't seem to have been very long at all especially as I'm writing this on Wednesday, prepping for Hevy I haven't got that much to report. Although, and I promise I'll stop harping on about him one day, I went to see Huntar on Monday and it was one of THE most outstanding gigs I've ever been to. I'll write something in full somewhere about it eventually because it was that good. Anyway, the week that was.

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

Sunday
I don’t really get Melanie Martinez but ‘Sippy Cup’ sounds a lot more pop and commercial than her other singles. I also find it odd that Martinez has a such a young fanbase because her lyrical content in ‘Sippy Cup’ and recent single ‘Soap’ especially is quite dark. She’s cool though, Melanie Martinez, in a “not your typical pop star” kind of way.


Monday
I listened to the new Don Broco album, 'Automatic' and I really wanted to say some things about it, so I have. This was originally about 25 minutes long but lucky for you it's no longer anywhere near that long.
Tuesday
“KIIARA DROPS NEW TRACK. WORLD BURSTS INTO FLAMES BECAUSE FIRE.” - The entire internet for the rest of this singer’s career. ‘Feels’ is slower and more emotional (obviously, ‘Feels’, duh) than previous tracks ‘Tennessee’ and ‘Gold’, and it’s cool to hear that diversity so early in an artist’s career. The sheer scale that this twenty year old from Illinois seems to have propelled to is pretty crazy for such a short space of time.


Wednesday
it quickly became apparent that CVIRO is pronounced ‘Cairo’, but GXNXVS? I’m lost. I hadn't heard anything from these two frequent collaborators before so this is all new and exciting. CVIRO’s vocals are what this is really about, honestly, this old school soulful R&B tone is just what you needed. Credit to GXNXVS where it’s due though, without the sleek production ‘Sober’ would not be what it is. Australia, you pumpin’ out the good stuff recently, shout out to you.


I've got the the point where I'm listening to Hailee Steinfeld’s debut single ‘Love Myself’ at various points of the day just to lift my mood. ‘Love Myself’ is a mood lifter. This track’s cool though, when you think about who the “target audience” are, genuinely the sort of thing you really want younger teenagers to be listening to.


Throwback Thursday
June’s debut ‘If You Speak Any Faster’ was released during a time around '05/'06 where Victory Records were churning out so much genuinely exciting stuff including, but not limited to, Silverstein, Bayside and A Day To Remember. It was a time when I felt like Victory had everything going for them, and they did a really good job of promoting and pushing their smaller signings. I never would have heard any of June’s songs let alone stand out ‘Patrick’ if it weren’t for that.


Friday
Whilst we (not so) patiently wait for Kwabs’ debut album ‘Love + War’ now set for release on 11th September, the South London based singer is teasing us with some tasters of what’s to come. Sohn produced ‘Look Over Your Shoulder’ is possibly my favourite Kwabs track to date... which I think means that I like it A LOT.


Saturday
State Champs are back and this is the second track we’ve heard from their second album ‘Around The World And Back’, set for release in October. I actually don’t really think that the two songs we’ve heard so far, ‘Losing Myself’ and ‘Secrets’ are much of a step up from anything on their debut, ‘The Finer Things’; kind of... more of the same just a little less catchy. Time will tell I guess, but ‘Losing Myself’ definitely isn’t bad by a long stretch.


August playlists: YouTube / Spotify / Deezer

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Thinking Out Loud: Don Broco - Automatic

I haven't had this before, this urge to need to really talk about a thing that I don't think I can do justice to written down. Although a lot of what I ended up saying was waffle, I do find it much easier to talk things through than to write them down. Writing's never been my strong point, but we'll see how this goes.

Here is what is effectively my review of Don Broco's new album, 'Automatic'.


Something I touched upon in my original 25 minute long ramble was about the type of band Don Broco are perceived as. There's been a lot of this online over the weekend and it really annoys me. I think that Don Broco get a lot of stick for being this "lad rock" "cheeky Nandos" "River Island poster boys" type of band, which I don't think is fair. And I don't think it's fair because this isn't some sort of trend that every band is doing at the moment, it's just Don Broco being Don Broco. And if you've listened to 'Automatic' with an open mind and didn't enjoy it, that's totally cool. But if you listened to 'Automatic' with the intention of disliking it when you got to the other end, what was the point in you bothering? Just ma feels, man.

I'd be genuinely interested to hear what others think about the album, especially if you want to address any of the points I've made. Feel free to comment below. You won't, but I feel kind inviting you to.

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ICYMI - This Week on WIIHAMB - 2015 Week #31

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

I've come to terms with my issues with global release day this week. It's not good man, it's not good. I'm left broken and empty on Mondays with absolutely nothing good to look forward to until the weekend. 0/10 would not recommend. But this is it for life now, isn't it? Stuck with Friday release days for the rest of ever. I'm at Hevy next weekend and I've just had the stark realisation of everything that I'm going to have to get done before leaving and I think panic mode is about to initiate. In the meantime, here's what happened this week.

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

Sunday
I’ve been toying with this track for a little while but I’ve finally concluded that it is really great. Taking ‘Afterlife’ quite literally, the lyrical content is pretty dark; but it’s so impressive that a song that, to me, is about not being good enough can be displayed in such a stunning fashion.


Monday
This is Lana Del Rey meets Halsey. ‘Girls Your Age’ is weird, right, but strange in the most interesting way. This isn’t the sort of thing I usually like but I told you, peculiar pop is taking over and the takeover is happening fast. There’s something about the lyrics that hit home with me personally I think - “he tells me that I’m hot so I tell him that I love him.” There's now an official video for this track which I have kindly added below.


Tuesday
This has been floating around for a while, like quite a little while and in that time I have grown to like ‘SK1N’, which is a good thing. Huntar’s playing his first headline show ever tomorrow which is cool and is a thing that I am looking forward to.


Wednesday
This is it. This is our twelth and final Oh Wonder monthly installment, which is pretty insane right? It’s kind of strange knowing that there isn’t actually going to be this monthly Oh Wonder “fall back” on the first day of each month, and it makes me kinda sad. But I’m so excited to hear their self-titled album in full on 4th September!


Throwback Thursday
I always forget that even way back when, Fall Out Boy have always had super over-extravagant music videos. This star studded visual for ‘A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More “Touch Me” features all of the Fuelled By Ramen crew of the time, Panic! At The Disco, The Academy Is… and Gym Class Heroes. Along with that, this track is actually really great, probably one of my favourites on ‘From Under The Cork Tree’.


Friday
I actually wrote quite a long Daily thing about this song which you can read here. In short, this is the first we’ve heard from Woon in four years. Which is a really long time when you’re me and you’ve been waiting for new material. I’d actually got to the point where I’d forgotten that I was even waiting. The thing is, ‘Sharpness’ is cool, but it almost feels as though it’s three years too late. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate it, I like it, but I don't really think it's compares to the material other similar artists are bringing out at the moment.


Saturday
Sometimes songs take a bit of time, and sometimes songs need a bit of undecipherable rap. The Knocks’ ‘Classic’ first surfaced online last summer but whaddaya know, I didn’t like it. A year on, things have changed and who better stick on your reboot of a year old track than the now international hip hop superstar, Fetty Wap.


August playlists: YouTube / Spotify / Deezer

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ICYMI - This Week on WIIHAMB - 2015 Week #30

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

I've lost the plot again this week. I think there's so much that goes on with WIIHAMB all the time, I struggle to keep the same level of commitment going all the time. Normally I would have posted a monthly round-up on Friday but the bottom line is that I just didn't write it. I couldn't really be bothered to write it. And what's the point of putting time and "effort" into something you don't want to do because no one's going to want to read that. I have written a few bits though so I might post those somewhere tomorrow. Not too sure. I was pretty slack on all other fronts this week too, so enjoy the little I actually managed to put out.

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

Sunday
I absolutely adore Jamie XX’s ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’, I think it’s one of the best songs of 2015 so far. Dua Lipa’s rework is a nice refreshing take on the track. The sample from The Persuasions’ 1972 original ‘Good Times’ is still ever present and even slightly extended at the beginning and end. Dua Lipa has then has taken over both Popcaan and Young Thug’s parts which is interesting to hear because both of those artists have such unique vocal styles.


Monday
WHAT IF I HAD MUSIC BLOG IS GOING TO HEVY FESTIVAL!
I have therefore written the most Natalie of previews that I could have written and you can read that here.

Tuesday
‘Breathe’ the opening track on Youth Club’s second EP ‘Brothers’ which was released earlier this year. I am so excited to see this band live again next week at Close Up Festival; I genuinely can not sing Youth Club’s live show praises any louder, so unbelievably tight.


Wednesday
In the description for this track on Soundcloud, Feki has written that his label told him not to release it. His label were wrong. So so wrong. I think this is genuinely one of the most original remixes that I’ve heard for a long time. Is that a juxtaposition? An original remix? Who cares, that’s what this is.


Throwback Thursday
Bet you never thought you’d see me posting Incubus on here? Neither did I really. I didn’t even know I knew any Incubus songs, let alone like any Incubus songs. Anyway, I heard them do this track on a Radio 1 session over the weekend and Of Mice & Men put up a cover of this song this week too. Exciting times for old school Incubus material, huh?


Friday
Duke Dumont, where do I start? ‘Need U (100%)’, Duke Dumont’s break out commercial hit, was one of the first tracks I posted when I started this blog and I even posted it about two months before it charted. I don’t want to use the phrase “return to form” because I think it's kind of demeaning, but if it wasn't, that's what I'd say. I don’t know whose vocals are on this track, they’re not credited, but we must remember that A*M*E wasn’t originally credited either so hopefully it’s only a matter of time.


Saturday
When I saw Tkay back in June supporting Years & Years I thought her sound was cool but nothing really stood out. I also had no idea she was Australian until now. But Tkay sounds like she could be the rest of the worlds answer to fill the strong female pop/rap crossover quota. ‘M.O.B.’ which I’ve decided stands for ‘Money Over Bitches’ is more fun packed into one track than you could imagine. I’d like to hear this in the club.

July playlists: YouTube / Spotify / Deezer

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