The Black Keys, Mcr Apollo.

I like how rock stars look.
You know that conventional look that front men try and emulate.
A certain skinny jeaned, Cuban-healed swagger. A look that’s helped many a two-bit vocalist punch significantly above the weight in the lady department, even with little discernible talent.
What is always more enjoyable however, is when I hear something that makes me positively moist with excitement AND is hugely pleasing to the eyes .Imagine my delight then at seeing The Black Keys at Manchester Apollo on Monday 6 Feb (the swagger being a slightly geeky one in this case!)

From the minute they played ‘Howlin for You’, the entire crowd were up, vibrating, willing the duo to keep the barrage of dirty, sex beats coming at them. Amplified by ‘Gus’ and ‘John’, the 2 additional musicians, they didn’t disappoint; ploughing through ‘Next Girl’ and current
fan favourite ‘Gold on the Ceiling’.

There are definite late 60's / early 70’s influences present: ‘Money Maker’ shows signs of Plant & Page grandeur, whilst the huge amount of organ in ‘Chop & Change’ is reminiscent of a Ray Manzarek‘s keys in ‘Soul Kitchen’. This is no bad thing. There is no denial of these influences; they are worn heartedly on their epauletted sleeves!

Rounding up the evening with the sad words but uplifting rifts of ‘Lonely Boy’, accompanied by a huge glitter ball – they sent me and the baying Manchester crowd, on our merry way, satisfied & spent.

The Black Keys continue their live assault on the UK till the end of Feb.
For more details go to http://www.theblackkeys.com/ .

Oh, Eddie!

Watching ‘Twenty’ – the Pearl Jam film last night on BBC4 reminded me of not only how amazingly carnal alternative music used to be but of a time far less serious – my teens!

Hearing bands like Nirvana, Sugar, Dinosaur Jr, Pearl Jam et al makes me long to be 16 again. Confident, unabashed & and in love, the world was my oyster / for the taking …all manor of soppy clichés. Sure I was cynical (I think I was born cynical and shall remain so till the day I die!!); but there was an underlying hopefulness underneath that lumberjack shirt & battered converse.
Of course my boyfriend at the time fitted the bill too! Clad always in a band T, hair like Keanu, a swagger like Mark Lanegan - he made THE greatest mix tapes – some of which I still have several years later!

Unlike now – all the music at the time made me v happy – which I guess in hindsight is slightly strange given the dark & bleak nature of it all. Hearing Kurt Cobain scream his way through ‘Negative Creep’ or Billy Corgan go crazy at the end of ‘Rhinoceros’; perving over Eddie Vedder or bowing down to the epitome of cool that was (and still is) Kim Gordon….life seemed good and no matter how it manifested itself, the future was there for the taking! Inspiring and wonderful times that had long been forgotten!

So thank you empty bank account – for making me stay in last night and taking me back to a time of greatness in my life…now where’s my copy of ‘Bleach’


You can still catch both Cameron Crowe’s ‘Pearl Jam Twenty’; along with The Late Show’s ‘No Nirvana’ featuring a selection of grunge’s finest on the BBC iplayer - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/

Lana Del Rey - The Ruby Lounge - Fri 4th Nov 2011

"I don't trust you" was the response from Lana Del Rey following the excited applause after her performance of Video Games. Whether this was a genuine or staged response,  it is yet another factor that adds to the whole Starlet venerability of the package that is Lana Del Rey, which kind of makes you think - would Lizzie Grant have felt the need to say the same sentence? It's sad that on the whole music consumers aren't happy hearing the voice and enjoying the songs, we need to be fed the whole package in order to appreciate it... But that's another debate.

Those that were there at The Ruby Lounge on Friday will know that Lana Del Rey does live up to the hype, a voice that is effortlessly haunting, with songs that ease you into a past that you've never known and then plummet you back to the present, its easy to see why she is where she is today - obviously doing what she does best! This coupled with the beautiful elegance of Lana Del Rey you could just sense that all the guys in the room wanted her (and probably already had in their minds!) and all the girls wanted to be just like her - all in all the perfect ingredients for musical success ;)

If you missed her, have no fear its inevitable that you will get plenty of opportunities to see her in the not so distant the future...

Another singer songwriter blah blah blah

This girl knows what she is and isn’t afraid to say it.

In a music world full of budding singer songwriters, trying to live the dream and make a living from music (some disillusioned, some full of ego) it’s refreshing to hear from someone who is humble and wise enough (at 19!) to realise that they are not the only performer in the world and that they are by no means unique.

This kind of ‘eyes open’ attitude oozes potential...

We like this!



For more visit Marie’s website www.marienaffah.co.uk

Noel Gallagher - New Single...

It's been a long wait since the infamous split of one of Britain’s biggest and most influential bands (Oasis) but for many fans it has been worth it, as Noel Gallagher releases his new single (‘The Death Of You and Me') Noel has long had a knack of effortlessly putting together catchy sing a long tunes, a gift many songwriters struggle with. And this song is another example of his exploits. After the first listen of the chorus you can tell it's a hit.

Noels lyric writing has also seemed to have matured with age and there are a couple of great lines in the song, mixed together with the cliché rhyming of obvious lyrics that Oasis became so familiar by. Noel was to most Oasis fans, the talent and brains behind the band, where as Liam was the Rock n Roll focal point of the band. They will be missed as a combination but Noel could help us forget if he carries on producing songs of this ilk.

Scams - Helicopter Parents

Released on 22nd August; ‘Helicoper Parents’ is the new single from indie band Scams. Based in Leeds, not only are they popular in the Leeds live gig circuit, the band have already played SXSW in Texas and recently returned from a stint in Europe with New Politics.

Veering towards the rock end of the ‘indie’ spectrum, ‘Helicopter Parents’ has all the ingredients to be an indie anthem - a powerful, angsty track with lots of percussion, catchy guitar riffs and the ever important addictive chorus. Lead singer, Andy Morgan, has a punch and a passion in his voice that gives the track a slight emo vibe. With an air of The Automatic and early Lost Prophets, this single has that bite to it that has been missing from guitar bands of late.

Their next big event is the Reeper Bahn Festival in Hamburg in September. Here they will be playing with the likes of Friendly Fires, EMA, Alessis Ark and a whole host of new exciting bands.  Scams are running a competition on their Facebook page, the prize being entry to Reeper Bahn Festival with flights and accommodation. Find out more by clicking here.

We look forward to hearing more from this band and wish them luck with the single release!

Posted by @jomofo

New from Berlin based Jim Kroft - Ulysses

We recently got sent the video for “Ulysses” by singer songwriter Jim Kroft.  Considering himself an ‘exile from the UK’ Kroft now resides in Berlin and has embarked on a project to film a video for each track on his new album. Debut album ‘Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’ was subject to critical acclaim and since gaining creative partnerships in Berlin & London, this sophomore offering is very much an artistic labour of love for Kroft.

Featuring on his upcoming album ‘The Hermit & The Hedonist’, “Ulysses” is a mellow, simplistic yet heartfelt melody with haunting lyrics. Admittedly, the track needed a few listens before it was appreciated, the technical term being to label it as a ‘grower’. Simple percussion and guitars teamed with soothing strings make n idyllic backdrop for the track, which compliment Kroft’s vocals.

Directed by Zeno Von Trapp from Colorstorm, who have previously worked with Noah and the Whale, the video is set round a night out in Berlin. Beautifully shot and encapsulating, it will be interesting to see which direction Kroft will take with the rest of the album-to-video project.

Posted by @jomofo

Hello Goodluck Jonathan ..

On first glance you could definitely pigeon hole this band, however on 2nd and 3rd glance you may realise that any judgement you had made about this band may just be completely wrong.

We first watched the Video for Broken Heart and although intrigued we automatically thought 'here we go, we've heard it all before' ...however after giving it our full attention and receiving their Debut album, we realised how buffin wrong we were! 

This album is not anything completely new in terms of sound but that doesn't mean to say it is not a good debut. Starting off with 'Bruises Disappear', you're pulled into the huge sound with a full on heavy bass and drum beat with guitars soaring, yet this is not the premise for the whole album, each song is its own entity and you can definitely hear that it is the creation of individuals with different influences, which when brought together binds effortlessly. There are hints of some of our favourite bands, such as Foals (earlier stuff), and At the Drive In too so if you're fans of these its a double buffin bonus!


The album 'This Is Our Way Out' is out now, so go buy it buffers, we reckon you'll like it. In the meantime, watch the video for Broken Heart below - and as always let us know what you think!

Buffin loving a bit of Pop

What does the Law of Attraction say? 'We attract our dominant thoughts' - therefore upon receiving Dirty Heart by Hologram Heart Parade our dominant thoughts must have been about way back when we were buffin about as little kids, too young for the local Youth Club, making up dance routines in the kitchen to the likes of Prince, Janet Jackson & Five Star (yes we are that old!) 


There's even a bit of Jody Watley & Jermaine Stewart in there, which all combined together results in pure unadulterated disco pop funk, and yes we BUFFIN LOVE IT!


DIRTY HEART -FREE DOWNLOAD by Hologram Heart Parade


The track is available for free download via Soundcloud, so get on it buffers!