Thursday, June 09, 2005

It's all about the music innit

Hi, my name is Reilly, and I'm an addicted to music. I just discovered the I Tunes music shop. Fuck, this is going to be the death of me. I'm getting no work done. We have some pretty nifty computers at work, and a really fast internet pipe. This makes browsing music oh so easy.

I also discovered possiibly the most detailed, wide ranging music review site. It's called Allmusic.com. It's all catergorised and cross-referenced to bands that have similar influences. This makes for an infinite amount of music to check out.

Armed with my debit card details, I took the plunge and got an account. Most albums are £7.99 and you can buy tracks for 79p. You can send in your own mixes, and look at what other peoples tastes are. They have musicians playlists, and a whole lot of "essential" lists. I've been quite choosy in my picks however. I tend to be so narrow in my choices, only because I want to find exactly what suits me at the time. Nine times out of ten, you won't have heard it anywhere, but hey, it still exists.

In the last few days, I've bought Pink Grease : This is for Real. These guys are from Sheffield and are a bit glam rock, without being cheesy. (Is there such a thing?) They seem to pull it off. This album is a belter. No filler.

The next artist I bought is a retrospective by The Brian Jonestown Massacre : Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective. I found out about this guys from seeing a trailer at a film last week. The Film is called DIG! It looks really good. It's all about 2 bands, namely BJM and The Dandy Warhols. A film maker followed them around for 7 years and watched the Dandys bow to record company bitches and BJM, well basically implode.
From what I can gather. Anton Newcombe, the guy behind BJM is a genius though. They have gone through an estimated 40 band members but made have 10 albums in 5 years. 3 of them in a year, and to boot they have gotten a nod from Patti Smith, who has booked them to open the Meltdown Festival. Where are the Dandys these days? Bittersweet.
(On a meltdown note, Who can't wait to see Television. I'm wetting my pants over it.)

Next up on the buying spree is The Teenage Fanclub : Bandwagonesque. Released, just when first wave of grunge hit the sand in 1991. This is 42 minutes of pure power pop paradise. I fell in love with this album. Infact on Sunday afternoon, in a hungover state, while cleaning the house, I listened to this album 4 times in a row. I like it that much. Go the Fannies.

Today I bought a band called Flunk : Morning Star. They are a folktronica outfit from Norway. The lead singer has a honey voice that sounds a lot like Björk, except not so tweaked. Her voice, combined with ethereal soundscapes and acoustic guitars, make the hairs stand out on my arms. Serious goosebump action.

To round it off today, I bought Mark Lanegan : Bubblegum. He's the ex singer from The Screaming Trees. This album sounds like if you tied Tom Waits down the bottom of your garden and fed him gravel, whisky and the occasional shot of morphine for a week. It's moody, troublesome alcoholic blues. Just fitting my mood today.

God I love music. But someone take my debit card from me, before I'm homeless.