Category: Music Festivals

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Why do we hate Coldplay?

We’ve been engrossed in Chris Martin’s charade of swell pop contemplation since 2000.

Running strong for over 20 years in the industry, they have become one of the biggest bands in pop phenomena history – charting unknown territory and raising to global stardom, all the raising critical acclaim for emphatic albums that hold beautiful pieces of music within them.

But what’s happened? Over the years, it seems we have grown tired of the same formula and the distastefulness of writing burnt-out pop – and Coldplay are next in line. It seems marginally unwarranted and frankly, undeserved for a class act of musicians who simply make music to make us happy.

Selling 75 million copies worldwide and selling sold-out arena shows and tours , they still have a hardened fan base that will simply love anything they produce. I mean, anything.

But, those lot who sneer at the prospect of Coldplay and their music – are they right?

I have seen them live and avidly love to see them doing so well, especially after growing up with the first three albums they made. But, it seems I have fallen off the radar with such a colossal band and instead, have turned to those who are simply new and upcoming. The news of new music from Coldplay doesn’t fill me with that eager excitement you’d want from a band you’re a fan of. For me, I don’t think they have their shine or edge they used to have during the 2010s. Their new album has a sense of pretentiousness about it and doesn’t have a majorly beautiful or uplifting song within the exhausting song-list. And frankly, it’s off-putting. After running for so long at the top of their game, are they set to be toppled? It wouldn’t be the first time – nor would it be a rare occasion for a huge, successful band to simply hang up their sticks and retire, satisfied with what they’ve achieved in such a hot-climate industry. The case of scraping the barrel really comes into play, right? Especially after the displays of Everyday Life. Or will they simply let the uncharted brand of the band carry them until they’re 70? It wouldn’t totally surprise me if a band like Coldplay would be next to simply shut up shop and sell their song-writing rights to a company for millions.

Now, whether you have been a fan of Coldplay or never were from the start, I’m intrigued into what you have to say about a band like Coldplay.

Has their reputation of “boring” and “stale” finally caught up with them? Or are these merely transfections from salty fans and artists who haven’t received the same acclaim as these boys have done?

Either way, let me know.

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UK Festivals issue “red alert”: insurance talks breakdown

In news that is not utterly shocking to anyone, UK festivals have issued a “red alert” after many festivals cancel, postpone and pull out plans for returning in the summer.

This comes after the talks with the Government break down regarding festival insurance, if they do happen to cancel again due to COVID, as the roadmap to return is ultimately delayed and does not place us where we expect to be.

Yet again, the UK festivals are facing unwarranted certainty and confirmation of anything set to go ahead this summer – not even the support and structure of cancellation insurance if things do not go ahead. Eeesh, we’re seeing a similar pattern as to what we saw last summer, too.

A projection from AIF (The Association of Independent Festivals) reveals that 76% of the remaining festivals left in July and August could cancel too, if no immediate action is taken to help protect these events. It seems there is simply no appetite or mere desire to save such events – despite providing countless streams of revenue each year, not just for the UK music industry, but for the country’s economy in general.

It certainly seems that the lack of action just resembles the Governments’ desire to act fast on such events and really demonstrates just how far down the list UK music festivals, gigs and local grass-root venues are.

There may have to be a rebellious act of courtesy or restriction in the streets again near Parliament, if these are to even be raised in the House. Time will tell if action is set to be taken or not, because if they don’t receive the much-needed insurance and cancel in the coming weeks, the sheer loss and weight of cancelling such events for another trading year, may not see some of our beloved festivals ever returning to our fields again.

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Song of the Day: Strabe’s Best Worst Year

No other song in the world will demonstrate the despair – and sporadic hope – we’ve been feeling this year from the last.

The true epitome of music for the summer, Strabe’s Best Worst Year is the only second release for the band, and it’s the one we’ve resonated with most.

For good reasons, too.

The pensive lyrical decisions, the funky guitar twangs throughout, and the ulta-electro beat that fashions it for the perfect bop, it is a titan of a track for summer anthems and requires your attention immediately.

A humble track from such a humble artist that is not been formally known or heard in the vines since 2019 – since this release actually.

The temptations of an amazing road trip is all too much, and you can be sure that this titan of a track will most certainly tip you over the edge. I’ll soon be hearing tales of how this song inspired a mass population to drop everything and arrive at the beach in one swoop.

Get those swimming shorts from the top shelf, because you’re going to be gone for awhile.

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Royal Blood – ‘Typhoons’ Album Review

Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher: Royal Blood

After a 4 year hiatus from their rampant, aptly-named follow-up of How Did We Get So Dark? and Mike’s rise from his struggle with the rock ‘n’ roll life of alcohol addiction … they blow off the cobwebs …let a little light in … and develop a fresh take on delectable dance-floor grooves with their highly anticipated third album, Typhoons.

Who said elements of Daft Punk would work so well with the sounds of Royal Blood, eh?

Although not featuring the same angst and bitter troubles we saw on the two albums prior, Typhoons brings a certain shine to their musical palette of still finding ways to create anthem-pleasers, but not having to always resort to the moods of their eponymous debut. While this may create some disappointment among fans as they wish for more of the same, Typhoons is a true tale of rising from your own self-destruction from “flying too close to the sun.”

An excess of redemption and solace, Typhoons packs the punch in another twisting tale for this Brighton band.

After the befalls of what a rock ‘n’ roll life bought him with alcohol, Mike started on the road to recovery – all to find his sense of purpose again in writing music.

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You made me believe I could change
That’s why you’re one in a million and one

–Million and One

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Life is hard when you’re losing, nothing easy’s worth doing
Save yourself, don’t throw in the towel

-Hold On

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With it, comes a redeeming of a band once lost, a splash of all-important colour and and still, a rampant discography listing once again that will no doubt shake the timbers of the arenas they are planning on performing in the Spring of next year.

At first, I had my doubts and fears of a band possibly resorting to the comforts of their softer side. Especially how big the band had gotten with their elemental nature and their dark presence in the past – – but the album has a flair of creativity that honestly was not expected from me.

Mike’s tales of struggle are littered throughout this album with Oblivion discussing losing his way with “fire in his lungs” and the demons that bring with bad habits in Who Needs Friends. The noteworthy guitar/bass combo and the beautifully simplistic AC-DC-inspired drumming is still prominent and won’t ever dissipate, of course.

But, Typhoons shows us a side to the Brighton duo we haven’t really seen as of yet. Raucous where needed but still featuring those new twists of dance-floor grooves in Million in One and Mad Visions, it is the next strongest tale for the story of Royal Blood.

Wishing to learn more about Royal Blood?

Discover more:

TYPHOONS: The Evolution of Royal Blood

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The Journey of Foals: What Went Down

A fierce album with all the heart, What Went Down is the Oxford Quintet’s fourth studio work.

But how did they end up where they are now?

With their collection topping up to five studio albums – and their enormous project of Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost fitting across a two-parter marathon in the late Spring of 2019 – Foals have been the frequent force behind the tales and triumphs of UK indie-rock music.

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With their jarring SPACE ROCK and TURBULENT ANTHEMS setting the pace, it made an unlikely formula to top the lot and break the charts.

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With five albums to choose from as an album to venture into (at least one first anyway) I had to seek out the storm of Foals‘ 2015 year with What Went Down.

DARK and DIRTY where it needs to be with Mountain at my Gates and Snake Oil, while being aware of itself enough to hold the gears back a bit with Birch Tree and London Thunder, it is such an impressive album – equally in production and music value – and for me, the far impressive to date.

Definitive in the band’s new approach to sound, it was also definitive in value too, with many music listeners returning to the music from Oxford quintet where they would once write them off for making music “too soft.”

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Foals: The Journey

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A band’s journey has never been so prevalent or distinguishable than these lot.

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Antidotes: 2008

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Starting with their pragmatic math-rock Antidotes in 2008, we saw the start of a band who were very much the fast and frantic in an ever-growing music scene. Old fan faves with Cassius and Balloons first gave us an idea of what kind of band we were dealing with …

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Total Life Forever: 2010

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… But when Total Life Forever came out two years later, we simply had to throw that out of the window. Far more lush and swell in the making, it really allowed Foals to flourish and really confirm, “right this is us, this is our sound.”

The fast, the funky and the off-balance with Antidotes was taken down a few pegs with Total Life Forever as a more sultry, considerate approach to taking life slower was picked. Rightly so, as this was the sound they eventually settled on.

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Holy Fire: 2013

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Much more brighter in complexity and contrast, came Holy Fire in 2013. Rolling with more tight-lipped writing, Holy Fire trail-blazed Foals’ distinguished sound and not only surpassed a mega indie anthem with My Number, but also hacked the charts overseas in America, too.

The album saw familiar favourites with airy Out of the Woods, critical rock additions with Inhaler aswell as fitting in the slow-burners with Late Night, that was so emphatically notable with the band from the prior release in 2010.

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What Went Down: 2015

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Simply picking up where they left off, What Went Down was a far more passionate desire to lay their stake in the ground – we are Foals and this is what we do.

Their now immense following were only thrilled to hear that more music was in the making.

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Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost: 2019 (part I / part II)

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Despite somewhat of a project with B-list unreleased works, this would be the band’s most prestigious and busiest years in the industry – releasing two music albums in the space of the same year.

Envisioning creativity and new directions, their fifth and most recent saw them delve into sounds we hadn’t heard of before. An impossible feat to do at this stage, you’d think, but we were albeit pleasantly surprised with Syrups and Cafe D’Athens off the first part. If Part I was the palatable starter, then Part II is the tasty desert of dreams.

Far more angry and emphatic, Part II is a screechy sure-fire of the best of indie rock. The Runner Black Bull, Like Lightning. With this album, I could keep going – thump after thump.

2019: “at their creative peak.”

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In all my time listening to music and being a fan of all genres, call me dumb or merely narrow-minded, but I have never witnessed such a journey in not only creating such a diverse array of music but how they seem themselves as musicians and individuals in an industry that is already so overpopulated with pumped indie kicks.

It’s f*ckin great.

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