Matt Duke

Isn't he just the cutest?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

AND he has shoes that I've attempted to buy so many times, but they never seem to have my size... SO all men who wear size 11 please stop shopping for black vans, thanks.

Also, a warning, if you google image, or even google, Matt Duke the soccer player from the UK comes up. DO NOT get them confused. The other Matt Duke is a little more, uhhh burly? And a little less uhhhh appealing? Especially to the young, non soccer crazed people out there.

Alright, alright. SO MATT DUKE. I've been quite in love with this guy for a little while. I happened across this Philadelphia native while stalking another band on myspace I think. Instantly I fell in love. He's so adorable and his voice is so good. It's just him, and his guitar, and some other backing instruments but whatever that's beside the point. HE is AMAZING.

Now, because I can't seem to find him on wikipedia, I keep getting directed to the soccer player, so I'm going to just talk about stuff that is on his myspace. Where it says he looks like a teenager but his voice is much more mature (no cracking here ladies and gentlemen!).

The, "biographer" or perhaps just the blurber says that Matt (we're on a first name basis) has the voice to play stadium shows, but is more likely found in coffeeshops. WHICH is awesome because that means that he likes smaller venues that allow for a more intimate atmosphere, and THEREFORE is about the music not the money. It also says this, and I can hear my sister crooning now, that one of his heroes is Conor Oberst.

Look at those eyes... SO CUTE. This is also where it is obvious that he's not a meesly teenager, LOOK AT THAT BEARD!!
Ok SO. Two pictures were necessary for two reasons. Number one, they're both amazing. Number two. LOOK AT THE PICTURES. Seriously, he's just so cute!!! AND THE FISH! Oh my gosh. I'm seriously just so in love with him. But soon, he will be really big and famous and then I'll find out that he's short and I'll be crushed. But to the point. SO. He released his Kingdom Underground in 2008 THEN released the Acoustic EP in 2009.

The EP is almost all of the songs from the original cd, but acoustic! (DUH!). Both albums show off his cool voice and the lyrics are so clever and good annnndd I basically crumble at the knees whenever I hear anything he sings. OH and random people have covered him, which is weird because I wasn't aware that he was that big. For example, a band called The Maine, covered him at Christmas (or maybe Valentine's Day... sometime) ANYWAY. He's good. Believe me.

SO. Songs to download?

Top 5 are:

30 Some Days

Sex and Reruns

I've Got Atrophy on the Brain

A Happy Hooligan

The Father, the Son, and the Harlot's Ghost

30 Some Days... ok SO this song isn't on the EP, but it's acoustic with a piano... so I guess it's not really acoustic, whatever it's mellow. It's so cute! The guitar in it kind of reminds me of Brian McKnight songs... but it's so good.

Sex and Reruns... probably my favourite song on the album. SO GOOD. It's also on the acoustic EP, but I like the non acoustic better, it has more pizazz or something... BUT the acoustic is fantastic as well.

I've Got Atrophy on the Brain... again not on the acoustic EP. But this is the song that got me hooked. The guitar in it and then there's the piano too... holy swoon. And his voice on this song is amazing.

A Happy Hooligan... this song is just fun and makes me happy. That's all that needs to be said.

The Father, the Son and the Harlot's Ghost... NOW. This song is on the acoustic EP too, and I think, I think I like the acoustic better. I don't know how else to explain it. The lyrics again are so good, a little uhh homicidal, but whatever.

And on a finishing note... SCHOOOOOOOLLLLLLSSSS OUT FOR SUMMER!

I'm so pumped. Music, music, music. Lots of concerts concerts concerts.

Zoe, Jy... next Sunday I'm going to be at a festival SO. My post will be late. EAK. I'm sure I'll have someone new and exciting to talk about after the festival, or I better.

Florence and the Machine

I have no idea what took me so long to put this band on here. They were downloaded by chance, as in with an indie/alternative playlist. AMAZING. They're from the U.K., I know... everyone awesome comes from there! They're fronted by Florence Welch (perhaps the heiress of the Welch's Juice fortune?) and she is backed by "other musicians that make up her band." Boy oh boy wouldn't you love to be one of those other musicians?!

I'm hoping that the people that are in the picture above are actually in the band, as in I love the guy that has that much food in his mouth... hahaha, too funny. I'm thinking it's a wrap or bread or something... any other guesses?

Anyway her voice, is SO COOL. It's different and the music/lyrics is so different too. For all of the dubstep junkie/techno junkies as well, because she's from the UK there are a lot of dubstep or techno remixes to her songs. Her songs range are mostly crazy upbeat ones that you can dance to, or pretend to make a music video to... kind of like this one, so crazy. And again... ok I'm obsessed with her hair... crazy red and the dance in it is so neat!!! Or not neat... but rather cool, it's just a cool video.

I also have reason to believe that she is a fellow Amazon, so that adds to her cool factor as well.

Anyway, she started in 2007 and has basically exploded over in London since then. It could have something to do with her hair... but then not everyone is as easily persuaded as I am, so it is actually probably because of her voice and talent. ALSO apparently she is phenomenal live, though she's never come to Canada so I don't know this first hand!

NOW, her latest album is called Lungs. It was released in 2009 and received great reviews AND it's no wonder. It's awesome!!!!! It has everything you could want! Mellow, dance-y, love-y, boys suck-y... just so good!! Not only is Drumming Song on this album, but Kiss With a Fist, which was featured on the Jennifer's Body Soundtrack AND Dog Days Are Over, which made it huge in the UK.

Because I'm studying and this was my study break and I should probably get back to studying, I'll make this short.

SONGS TO DOWNLOAD

Drumming Song

Kiss With a Fist

Dog Days Are Over

I'm Not Calling You a Liar

Between Two Lungs

Drumming Song... ok awesome, the drums in it are so cool. And the lyrics are also so neat and catchy annnndd ya, seriously make your own music video with this, just maybe make sure no one is home to catch you dancing like an idiot.

Kiss With a Fist... alright, so NOT backing the moral of this song. But again it's good, and catchy and makes me kind of think of Zooey Deschanel, for some weird reason.

Dog Days Are Over... a cute kind of song, again catchy and I love it.

I'm Not Calling You a Liar... slower and just as good as the other ones, the beginning her voice just rings out and then the instruments come in. So good.

Between Two Lungs... again slowerish. But soooo good and it's easy to fall asleep to, and nice as well.

Alright SO ya this is not very long and less descriptive and there is MUCH less commentary than there usually is... but unfortunately studying overrules things... school sucks.

But soon, Alice Cooper's song will ring through my apartment. SCHOOOOOOOOLLLLSSSSS OUT FOR SUMMER!

Local Natives

This band was happened up through one of my favourite things. Creeping.

While searching one of my favourite creepage sites, Buzznet. I came across an interview by this band. Intrigued, I went to their myspace. Immediately I was smitten. They're very Arcade Fire meets Fleet Foxes meets pure epic bands.

They're whimsical and enchanting. Holy. I'm so happy I found these guys.

Ok SO. They're from LA (for people bad with acronyms such as myself Los Angeles). There are five guys in the band (sidenote, how cool/quirky is that picture). Taylor Rice, Kelcey Ayer, Ryan Hahn, Andy Hamm and Matt Frazier. Their names make me wonder if they are their real names, or if they changed them... such cool spellings. Taylor Rice plays guitar and vocals, Kelcey Ayer plays percussion, vocals AND the keyboard (yes he is officially my favourite). Ryan Hahn plays the guitar as well and does some vocals. Andy Hamm plays the bass ANNNNDD Matt Frazier plays drums. Now I'm not sure who is who in the picture, but whatever it doesn't matter. They're all pretty cool!!

A little fun fact is that the band used to be called Cavil at Rest but switched their name and are now fairly big in the UK after their first full length release (below).
Alright SO. Trippy cover, eh? This is their first full length, entitled Gorilla Manor. It was released in September 2009 in the UK and February 2010 over here. The album is phenomenal. It demonstrates their harmonizations (if that's a word) and their heavy guitar (in some songs). The album reminds me of summer, for some reason but it's just so good. It's extremely chill music, and it's clear that they can actually sing and play their instruments. Which would lead me to believe that they would be phenomenal live. On this album they also have live songs, which demonstrates that they're AWESOME live!!

This is the smallest blurb possible. But I just had to blog about them because I'm so smitten right now... a week from now, I'll probably have a million more things to say about them but that's just too bad, I'm doing this NOW.

Ok so songs to download?!?

Airplanes

Who Knows Who Cares

Shape Shifter

Wide Eyes

Sun Hands

Airplanes... this is the first song I heard by them. It's so good and cutesy, talking about flying to go see someone. It starts out with them making weird airplane noises maybe? Or it could be hecklers? I'm not sure hahaha. BUT It has a piano in it, again my weakness. So good.

Who Knows Who Cares... this is a slow song. There's a piano again. I also like the name of the song... GOOD thought to shove into people's minds.

Shape Shifter... This is also one of the first songs I heard by them. It's slower again, but picks up by the chorus. And the way the chorus shows harmonizing and it's very very folksy.

Wide Eyes... this song has a really cool drum thing going on, with a weird percussion instrument, that's kind of ticking... I'm not sure what it is but it adds to the cool rhythm of the song. Again it's folksy, but soo good.

Sun Hands... apparently I have some obsession with nature songs right now. This song starts out about climbing a hill or something. I just love it. Again the chorus is a melding of everyone's voice... LOVE IT.

Ok SO. That's all for today folks.

Enjoy.

Biffy Clyro

Ok. Now. I know that everyone must be very confused... Biffy Clyro, just one guy right? This picture is just a guy with two randoms? NO! Yes, I was fooled as well. Biffy Clyro is an awesome TRIO from Scotland. Gasps all around, I know, I know.
This band was happened across because they were listed as "one of the must have singles" from one of the bands that I listen to. Immediately I downloaded the single and was hooked. It was soooo good, I was completely smitten with this guy, later I would find out that it was a band, but whatever. The band would fit in with alternative/grunge rock. Their older stuff is more grungy and their more recent stuff is more alternative, but still has heavy guitar to give it the grunge feel. Their melodies are amazing and they switch riffs a lot, providing a "new-type" feel to the song, it's not just the same three notes being repeated for 4 minutes.
The lead singer, as well as guitarist, Simon Neil has the coolest voice. It's smooth and unique, like caramel... mmmmmm. Neil also has the dark hairy beard, he's the dark one in the picture. I've seen pictures of him with just some scruff, with a Santa beard and with it like that. Regardless of the length of his beard, his voice makes him so dreamy.... Now. He's backed by TWINS. James Johnston, who I believe is the one with long hair. He slaps the bass and backs up the Neil on vocals. His twin, Ben Johnston also does backing vocals and he plays the drums. No one has any idea how badly I would love to steal his jacket, perhaps tailor it a bit and then have my own leather jacket. Wikipedia informs me that this band is a Johnston family affair, the twins other brother is Ben's drum tech! That is what I call family support!!

The band has been active since 1995!! Neil put the band together when he was 15 and they are still trekking along! They have released a total of five studio albums, their last album (Puzzle) reaching number two in the UK and their most previous one, Only Revolutions, has gone to number eight. The new album is absolutely fantastic! It was released on November 9, 2009 and has 12 tracks... all of which have been on serious repeat on my iTunes. There are fast songs, slow songs, songs that are just right. Some are cute, some not so much. Holy it just has everything that you need!! And it's so different from everything that's being played right now on the radio. Seriously, I can't stop listening.
I'll take this next step slowly. First of all, two songs to download from Puzzle, Folding Stars and Now I'm Everyone. Now I'm Everyone is faster and has such an awesome climax. Folding Stars is more of a typical song, but I love it, it's the song that got me hooked!!

Songs to download from this album though?

Bubbles
God and Satan
Know Your Quarry
The Captain
Mountains

Bubbles--probably my favourite song on the album. It's fairly long, but you have to get through it the first time just go hear the epicness. The beginning is fairly lax and repetitive, but once you get to the first bridge, you'll be hooked. "There's a girl, there's a girl, there's a girl, there's a girl and she's down by the river..." So good. There may be a religious undertone to the song, but whatever, it's so good.

God and Satan... now this song definitely does have a religious undertone, noted from the title no doubt. This song is acoustic and the drums slowly make an appearance. The end of the song is so good, Neil's voice gets tight and then relaxes again to end it. Amazing.

Know Your Quarry... this song begins with a piano, synth type thing (again my weakness for the piano). Then an orchestra type thing comes in later, all these instruments, with their regular guitar, drums and bass. Oh it's so cool. I love when rock bands incorporate classical instruments.

The Capitan... The opener for the album. It starts out so quietly with some sort of stomping/marching and it gets louder and there's a yell and then these amazing horns/guitar slash craziness comes in. It's definitely the best song to open the album with. The actual music is just so happy go lucky with the horns and just gives you the jolly feeling.

Mountains... back to the mellow songs. The piano starts it again (I know, it's getting annoying). His voice starts out so softly then picks up when the drums, guitar and bass come in. This song is definitely an inspirational type song. It's amazing.

Did I say that this band was amazing enough? Because they seriously are. Walk, jog, no RUN to your nearest computer or CD store and buy their music. They're so good. Wait it may be better to capitalize that. THEY'RE SO GOOD!!!
Enjoy.