Chase & Status have been around for a few years but it wasn’t until the recent remix of the White Lies’ release Death, that they caught my attention. The reason is quite simply, I do not like it.

So, as I will give everything a chance I investigated further into the band being as Mr Zane Lowe was raving about them. (I respect his judgement a vast majority of the time)

What I found was an an album called More Than Alot. Now this, THIS possessed a tune that made me shiver. Eastern Jam (which happens to be quite fortunately on their MySpace) made me bellow a roar of laughter in slight shock. What a “Cool As..” tune indeed!

More Than Alot begins with an easy listening, dreamscape DnB track which hooks you right into the album immediately with a steady pace making you question what the hell are they going to do next?! This is awesome!

Following that I swear has BBC Radio1’s, Scott Mills’ sidekick Chappers with a bunged up nose narrating through the Music Club. Got to love them bongo’s too.

Against All Odds features East Ham, Hip Hop Producer Kano vocalising a funky, headnodding, breakbeat floor-filler.

I could quite easily go on but the fact is, this album is a true delight with clean, tidy, seamless production with great, bouncing beats. The lovely Dub on Streetlife is sweet. SmashTV is an aggressive, club house wonder but if any deserve a mention it is Pieces featuring Plan B. When that kicks in, you damn well know about it. Thumping, height-of-the-evening, hardcore breaks. What impressed me most about this track is the way the two farthest ends of comparable genres are gelled and waxed together with a really shiney polish. Plan B’s had great backing. He’ll be facing the stratosphere destined to be in it after the release of his debut album The Defamation of Strickland Banks is out in the very near future.

More Than Alot the Drum and Bass, Breakbeat masterclass is out now. But at the minute, it’s all about the other Being.

DQVTRY9CN7P5

Finger and Kadel adding their own little alterations and amendments on this proper bouncy House tune. Deep and cheeky.

Now, this is has the intentions on being a short review of little words because of course, music really should sell itself.

Casino are a band from Birmingham formerly known as SpiderSimpson, formerly known as Casino. (long story)

I found these guys on MySpace about 3 years ago and have periodically peeked in when the thought passes my mind to see what news they may have and on so doing that today, I’ve seen some major changes.

Last time I visited the band there was talk of disbandment and I thought it was a great, great pity because not since the Stereophonics had there been a group in Rock to just wet my appetite as much as them. With only a few singles released, I had the opinion of them being the next big thing. Sadly, it was not meant to be. Or so I thought.

With the reincarnation of Casino at the tale end of last year we have them back, ready and gearing and just you wait for it.

After one or two side projects the band have been busy in other areas, but let me tell you this people;

I believe that Rock in this country is slowly dying, I believe that this is the band that can save it. This one of the best rock bands I have heard for a longtime.

I’ll not come out with any witty, glorifying write-up. the music should speak for itself.

A Heavy Metal Machine is what we need and want.

Technorati. This is yours 3PHXU8TX3RVN

I don’t about you but in the right hands the sound and vibe that comes from a well strummed banjo is truly quite delectable.

Courtney Marie Andrews not only has the ability to sing rather beautifully with great strength and subtlety but as well as being able to tinkle the ivories I believe that this Phoenix born heavenly voiced darling can really play the banjo suitably well to the wonderful, sunshine-daydream style of music that is performed.

This is a lovely folk musician who appears to come across as quite a performer and I’d prefer to watch her perform rather than just to listen. Courtney is enchanting and I feel myself melting to her words, her music and it wouldn’t surprise me but if I was in the crowd close enough and we happen to cross paths with her eyes then I would no doubt be a slither of a man on the grassy verge where I was once perched.

The songs she has created are well structured and flow marvellously carrying you through a short journey of usually 5 minutes o so which is nice to hear rather than a quick buck storyteller like what we are now currently listening to. It’s refreshing to see and hear.

To shortly describe I’d say Courtney Marie Andrews is sweeter than fresh peaches. Really nice indeed. However, this is a girl whom I feel could really raise a roof similar to Alanis Morrisette or Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries there was only a microphone to perform with.

This girl may sound sweet like chocolate but if it was perhaps “one of those days” then I swear there is the power here to destroy hearts and souls.

This is special. Available here on iTunes if you care.

This has got such a hook to it you really wouldn’t think this to be nearly 12 years old! The cheek in this, the way it swings you about, the moodiness in it all. It’s a crackin’ track.

Personally, when it comes to the world of dubstep, Marlow is part of the hierarchy. Check out his remix of Owl City’s Fireflies too. The original is number one in the UK charts and he makes it sooo much better.

I seem to be coming out with some tunes that have been and gone tonight but the thing is though, they must be good if I’m still hearing them. This is one of them.

I’ve uploaded this track because I feel the need to do so. I believe people have to hear this track because quite simply, it’s feckin’ divine! Polish DJ Codec he is. Anyone know of him, I need to hear more if not all of his work.

Now this is the kind of breaks track I like. It’s got a steady pace to it along with a filthy a tint to it. A progressive edge that unleashes magnificently. Yeah man, this is good stuff.

A really, lovely flowing breaks track with a trance tinge that’ll have you smiling from ear to ear when you’re in the heat of the moment. A pretty good number this one.

Feeling the need for this tune. Adorable track! A Stanton Warriors favourite and one true, timeless masterpiece of a record.

Once again I’m coming back to this incredible French-Electro Legend, Vitalic. This is a tune that is welcomed anytime, any place, anywhere for me. A true treasure this gentleman. I seriously suggest you get this album. It’s bloody brilliant!

When being genuinely stuck on where to begin, I feel starting with Dreadzone you can’t go wrong. Love ‘em!

I’m probably just not a fan of their work but the latest Green Day album 21st Century Breakdown really didn’t do a great deal for me at first.

The initial tracks played on the record just seemed to be all to familiar, very basic and for someone who is a fond lover of dance music, dare I say, repetitive?

If it wasn’t for the crispness in the production then I would’ve mistaken it for a GCSE music project put together by some pothead students the morning it had to have been handed in for marking.

Comparing it to tracks unmistakeningly excellent like When September Ends, Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, Time Of Your Life, initially, it wouldn’t have woken me up to the revolution it appears they’re trying to instigate. But they did.

And then, Last Night On Earth. Thank goodness. Another classic Green Day soft-tissue-requesting track that’ll melt that hearts of the strurness rock maidens. Cool track, very balanced and flowed through nicely. After that some of the songs got better, in fact, I’d say they all did. Actually rather good too. I’m not a Green Day fan as a rule. East Jesus Nowhere kicked off the start of the better half of the album really and if it wasn’t for the poor start of pubescent sounding potheads trying to get a grade.

Great album altogether. It definitely grew on me. Maybe their Rock Band game will do the same..

Every now and then, a song comes on the radio by a band or artist that you’ve never heard of, it stops you in your tracks, you’re captured by this sound, it has a hold on you and you just need to hear it again.

Death by White Lies sounds just brilliant.

The first track on their To Lose A Life album is something which is beautifully warm, soothing and will manage the crowd listening to it live, belt out any stress, worry or just simple negtivity that inhibits their lives. It is a true and theraputic record. The rest of the album isn’t too bad either you know.

There is a powerful essence of Morrissey except it doesn’t bore me to the point where I wish to take myself out to the nearest, sharp implement and introduce it to my jugula.

Fairwell To The Fairground is another lovely yet moody but still an upbeat number. After all of the festivals they attended last year, it’s a surprise to me if you’ve not yet heard of them.

The White Lies are a band I am looking forward to hearing again.

IAMX.  Let’s open another window and we’ll go there as well so we can listen to that and read this at the same time.

Now. I like Iron & Wine which is poetic, rustic, American deepsouth folk. I like Nine Inch nails which is hard, industrial rock with very much explicit lyrics yet powerfully heartfelt. I like dark, filthy breakbeats which bang and bleep in all the right places. Depeche Mode with their indie/electronic sound, anthemic vocals and all the romanticism which surrounds. But what about an Artist which can combine all of those traits and come out with something truly masterful?

I am fortunate to have found that very artist in the former Sneaker Pimps co- founder Chris Corner’s alter-ego, IAMX.

The third album is a natural, creative and productive progression from the former two. Kiss & Swallow and The Alternative are fantastic pieces of recording and lyrically marvelous.  (I am very much a fan )This is much cleaner and more refined with regards to the overall sound. 

Brilliantly structured, timed to perfection, the highs are matched with the lows, the levels are bang-on as well as the poetry laid over the dark, melodic and harmonious beats, it is divine.

The introductory track to the album Nature Of Inviting hooks you in immediately with a rumbling, bouncy bassline along with near-operatic vocals.  Imogen Heap doing a delightful duet on My Secret Friend and I Am Terrified would just blow you away if you were in the front row of any live performance.

I genuinely love his work.

I have no reason for my admiration for French Electronica. Why do I seem to appreciate so much is beyond me. So to come across this particular Artist/DJ/Producer is almost overwhelming due to the divine beats, tweeks and bleeps this gentleman creates and unleashes through my speakers.

Vitalic from Dijon, France has recently-ish released Flashmob. To be honest, I’m struggling to put one track on here that can truly allow you to feel the masterful vibrations created. Poison Lips would be the best one really would as it reminds me so much of the original House music anthem by Donna Summer.

The tracks are at a comfortable dancing pace suited for all. The depth of the music is almost sordid at times with a naughty, sleazy twinge and along with the harmonious overtones that balance the music out shows intelligence as only the successful producers in my opinion can achieve. It’s all about balance I say. I would expect myself to be quite off balance after visiting a venue where he would be performing.

The tunes are sweetly delivered, progressing into what can become a frantic display of an unleashing rejuvenation.

It’s light, it’s hard, it’s sweet, it’s sleazy, naughty and just awesome.

This is a perfect example of why I love French Electronica.

This is my first write up in what is probably now 4 months. Having established the site in all it’s glory with the aesthetics, links and of course building the network to inform you all about my finds has been no easy task. Then, bizarrely, a block has been built and I’ve felt that I cannot write anything. A loss of interest has wormed it’s way into my soul and quite simply, I’ve got to the point of lethargy to which I almost had no return from. It was going to take something special that would truly move me. Something that could spark my appetite and rekindle the magic if you like. So now I introduce you to an established group that has only recently came across my ears. LCD Soundsystem.

They’ve had their latest release The Sound Of Silver out and about since 2007. Where do I find it? A new entry in the UK Dance Charts a fortnight ago. So, over two years out and then all of a sudden it’s labelled as a new entry?! How strange. But when I listened to this record I felt that perhaps it was of no surprise.

The first track is unmistakeable by many a gamer as being a theme tune to a very popular console Liberty City episode. Get Innocuous is a tune and a half. It has a certain attitude within the sound that means business, to bring you out of yourself and to take the bull by the horns. But depending on mood it can actually make you feel quite, well, innocuous.

As the album continues there is a fantastic crossover of genres as each track dabbles in another. We have the edges of punk on North American Scum and Watch The Tapes. Funky tunes such as Time To Get Away and one or two delightful and uplifting records such as All My Friends. Over the last two weeks of initially hearing this track it has become the one of the most played on the jukebox in my local watering hole. What I like most is the fact that people are asking me who this is, what this track is and I get to tell them. It’s brilliant.

Every track on this record is as unique as the previous one. All of which are individual, brilliant and worth listening to many, many times over. An excellent album.

I could go on about every track individually but there’s no point, it’s all good.

If you like only bits of punk, or some funky tunes or just a little bit of dance and rock. This is genuinely an eclectic combination and no album can truly define that any better.

For fun, politics and to disrupt plans of music industry domination

If you agree with the idea, hang fire people until the Monday before the 20th of December 2009 where the difference can be made. This is an edit to the previous written one being as the record has already reached No 20 in the last 4 and a half hours.

For me it began with this:

@d_h_morgan

Sick of bullsh*t x-mas xfactor no.1 buy “Killing in the Name” from iTunes/Play.com between: Sun 13th-Sat 19th #ratm4xmas #xfactor
11:44 AM Dec 2nd from web

Calm yourselves before the storm. Wait until the 14th of December 2009. iTunes, Amazon (see below), Play.com, HMV etc. It’ll cost you less than a pound, a dollar and will make a truly great, politically confrontational band make waves (once again) across the music industry which is what the people really want.

It’s a statement in more ways than saying No to an evitable UK Christmas number one.

Join the FB group HERE!

Quite possibly the shortest band review yet because for me, their music speaks for itself. I envisage this band to be bigger than Kasabian and I would hope so too. I’m very much hooked into their sound after seeing them live as a support band. I ended up preferring them to the main act. Just listen to the passionate, psychedelic warmth that wraps around you. Brilliant!