A Early Contender For Worst Album Cover Of The Year - Part 2

The other day we highlighted the lack of originality that was Air's 'Le Voyage Dans La Lune' album cover. Only a few days later this monstrosity appears....we're sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.

We're guessing this is what playing 'That's Not My Name' three thousand times does to you! 

Twitter: @JukeboxSoapbox E-mail: mail@jukeboxsoapbox.com

Never In The Same Room At The Same Time

Australia's Triple J station ploughed through it's Hottest 100 tracks of the previous year on Thursday 26th January - more commonly known as Australia Day in the land Down Under.

The top spot was taken by Goyte with the infectious, tribal-tinged track 'Somebody That I Used To Know'.

The result of the viewers poll is fair enough - it's a strong, radio friendly track - but has anyone else spotted it's overt similarity to the tantric master that is Sting? We can't quite listen to it in quite the same way any more.

Twitter: @JukeboxSoapbox E-mail: mail@jukeboxsoapbox.com

T-Shirt Tantrums

With all the World's current woes, you'd be forgiven for being ignorant about various clothing disputes with have sent shock waves through the epicentre of the music industry in the past week or so. For your ease, here is a concise summary of the events which have had us glued to our laptops of late.


1) Joy Division v Disney

The child-friendly capitalist empire that is Disney recently paid homage to Joy Division's infamous 'Unknown Pleasures' record cover - apparently without consent - and have since withdrawn the item from sale in fear of legal action. The band's remaining members - who are currently split between being in New Order and not being in New Order - don't seemed too bothered, but no chances have been taken by Mickey and Friends.


American Idiots with expendable incomes are currently bidding three-figure sums for the now hard-to-find items which slipped through the net.


2) Man Is The Bastard v Akron/Family

Experimental indie-folk act Akron/Family have recently made enemies of hard-as-nails rockers Man Is The Bastard, with Eric Wood - the founding member of the plaintiff - going on a vicious social networking tirade regarding the "stealing" of their skull design for a new batch of the accused band's merch.


Lots of F-bombs were dropped over the internet and a statement has been made by Akron/Family's bassist Miles Seaton, stating that their actions were a mere homage to the band's influence on them, which seems reasonable enough.


It is not currently clear whether the T-shirts are still on sale, but we're currently sat on the edge of our seats, anxiously waiting to hear more.


3) No Age v Kings Of Leon

Finally (thank God), L.A. noiseniks No Age have taken to fisty-cuffs with everyone's 'favourite-band-to-hate-even-though-we-loved-them-years-ago', Kings Of Leon. The four-piece from Oklahoma are accused of breaching the trademark that is No Age's LARGE LETTERS on a white background - the cheek of them!

In keeping with the spirit of punk, the duo made their frustrations known by....blogging about it. Sid Vicious would be proud, guys! No court case is expected on the grounds of stupidity.

So, that's the round-up of merchandise maliciousness...for now. And you thought you had problems!

Twitter: @JukeboxSoapbox E-mail: mail@jukeboxsoapbox.com

An Early Contender For Worst Album Cover Of The Year

Those pioneers of Parisian pop ambience were asked to provide an original score to the much praised black and white short film Le Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip To The Moon), and have done a pretty damn good job of it.

Shame the artwork was a last minute 'cut and paste' effort put together on Microsoft Paint. Sacre bleu!

Twitter: @JukeboxSoapbox E-mail: mail@jukeboxsoapbox.com

Nothing News - #1

The trouble with reporting about music is that there is often not enough to talk about. As a result, a good number of information outlets on the web feel it necessary to fill their pages with content which greatly lacks bite.


Arguably, by highlighting such "stories" on this blog, we are further perpetuating the mundaneness of them, but we'd like to think we're simply highlighting what the music press seems to constitute as news nowadays.


We'll be keeping an eye out for particularly bland pieces of information and posting as and when we can. If you should find any yourself, please do drop us an e-mail.


So, first up is:


#1 - Lana Del Rey cancels a gig


Why should we care? Because Lana is the future of music, don't cha know?


But I wasn't going to the gig anyway... True, but the gig was in London, and their gigs are far important than the ones where you live (assuming bands even bother playing in your dump-of-a-town).


That's a bit uncalled for. So, what's her excuse? She's not feeling well.


That's a bit lame, isn't it? Yes, it is, but the poor thing has had a hard time lately being the centre of attention.


That's true. Was she the only act on the bill? No, the gig is still going ahead, but 'Our Lana' won't be there. The Maccabees were the headliners, not Miss Rey.


Oh, I like them. It's not really the end of the World then, is it? No, I guess it isn't.

Twitter: @JukeboxSoapbox E-mail: mail@jukeboxsoapbox.com

The Most Exciting New Bands Of 2012? You Decide! - Part 1 of 2

The self-proclaimed ‘music bible’ that is the UK’s New Musical Express (NME) recently posted its “20 Most Exciting New Bands Of 2012”, thus kindly taking the hassle out of finding out things for yourself. 

This is, of course, a very cynical stab at a very easy target in the world of musical media, so it seems only fair to make the effort to check out these hip young peeps for ourselves. We'll make an objective judgement of their chances amongst the plethora of hotly tipped acts that tend to emerge in the press at this time of year.

So here it goes:

ONE: Grimes

They say: Not actually grime at all, Claire Boucher is rethinking electro pop instead.

Subtext: It's electro pop, but a bit darker and with varied tempos. She's probably given that some thought.

Is it worthy of merit so soon? Current single Oblivion has a slightly hypnotic dreaminess to it which shows promise ahead of forthcoming album, Visions. Contrary to fair assumption, this is not her first release, after 2010's Halifaxa and a couple of other independent releases (including one on cassette, the cool thing). It's interesting, certainly, and could well be quite exciting live, but it's hardly jaw-droppingly good.

TWO: Spector

They say: Fred Mcpherson's latest project, a dapper arch indie collective.

Subtext: His previous two bands weren't particularly mainstream, so here's hoping it's 'third time lucky'!

Is it worthy of merit so soon? McPherson's previous bands - Les Incompetents and Ox.Eagle.Lion.Man. - did moderately well but never broke through much outside of their native London. Spector feels strongly like a final attempt to do so. His glasses make him look eerily like Ron from Sparks and the music falls somewhere between the aforementioned band's artistic approach and the 80s stylistics of last year's success story, Hurts. Current single Grey Shirt & Tie sounds overly thought out, and if you're not convinced at first, you may well be persuaded when you hear the combination of strings and French poetic ramblings come the song's outro. Despite this, they're likely to have a decent year.

THREE: A$AP Rocky

They say: Harlem's new rap prodigy, just signed for big bucks.

Subtext: He's from the 'hood but has sold out to a major label, but he's still edgy and tough and you should respect him for living the American Dream.

Is it worthy of merit so soon? No. It stands for everything wrong with American hip hop. See the 'Just Say Yes' pro-drug bullshit that is Purple Swag as one of several examples currently on the web.

FOUR: DZ Deathrays

They say: Australian noiseniks that call to mind The Scare. Remember them?

Subtext: We don't really remember The Scare - few people do - but they're kinda similar, right?

Is it worthy of merit so soon? What is sure to be pretty chaotic on stage sounds lacklustre on record. Animal from The Muppets-like drums and a fast-paced three chord guitar are combined with not-quite-sung vocals to create a loosely-hinged noise. It's fine, but it's a fad.

FIVE: Howler

They say: 2012's answer to The Strokes - expect a very successful year from this lot.

Subtext: The last album from The Strokes was disappointing, so let's pin all our hopes on these imitators.

Is it worthy of merit so soon? We don't need "an answer to The Strokes"; we have copies of The Strokes' albums for that in 2012. To be honest, Howler don't sound massively like their apparent idols, but Back Of Your Neck shows them acting like they wished they were. It's summery with a catchy (yet hollow) chorus, but has little else to offer besides this. Listening to Angles would be better, even if it's not Julian & Co's finest work.

SIX: Wise Blood

They say: A gloriously chaotic mess of Led Zep beats and Outkast-style funk.

Subtext: If in doubt, stick two cool bands together and you've got yourself an eye-catching tagline.

Is it worthy of merit so soon? Not to be confused with Jim Thirwell's Wiseblood (as if you would), Chris Laufman has conjured up something pretty interesting here. Loud Mouths is seemingly a mixture of real sounds and samples with a claustrophobic groove. Fortunately, there's more where this came from. Wise Blood has actually been going for a while now, so he's not strictly speaking new, but this is a minor technical detail to the NME.

SEVEN: Azealia Banks

They say: You must know Banksy by now - rap's potty mouthed protegee.

Subtext: What?!? You've never heard of her!?! Have you been living in a cave or something?!? We've been banging on about this girl for all of two months! She's on the tour we put our name behind in the New Year! You're a fucking imbecile. You know nothing.

Is it worthy of merit so soon? Azealia has one of those 'butter wouldn't melt' looks which enables her to take the edge off when she drops the C-bomb repeatedly (but not aggressively) on 212. In the modern world we live in, it's sad to say that listening to a female artist with some grit within the male dominated music industry is refreshing, but it's true. There is an R 'n' B overtone to her tracks in a similar vain to Rihanna too, only with charisma. Azealia is an easy choice to tip for success on account of her being a breath of fresh air within a suffocating genre.

EIGHT: Friends

They say: Angular indie thrills from the indie collective.

Subtext: Did we mention they were indie? I can't remember. Let's say it again just to be sure we get our message across. They're indie.

Is it worthy of merit so soon? They're from Brooklyn, which seems to score a band points before they've even played a note these days, though to be fair it is the city which has brought us Dirty Projectors, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Grizzly Bear in recent years. Anyway, I'm His Girl is a too-cool-for-school warning to a bunny boiler delivered with typical NY nonchalance. If Friends were from London they'd sound wanky and pretentious, but these Yanks are frustratingly on the money so far.

NINE: Discopolis

They say: Clue's in the title - kind of.

Subtext: They play dance music, and disco is a type of dance music, and that's all we can think of.

Is it worthy of merit so soon? Laurie, Fergus and.....DAVE make up a trio of loveable idiots from Edinburgh who make electro-fuelled melodies for lovers who aren't necessarily getting any action at the moment. Lofty Ambitions is a heartfelt dancefloor-filler which sounds achingly similar to Friendly Fires. Discopolis could easily be dismissed (and kind of have been in the last two sentences you've read) but they should be credited for their sense of humour within a genre of music which is predominantly all about having fun.

TEN: Willis Earl Beal

They say: The fact XL picked him tells you all you need to know. Go listen.

Subtext: XL also picked Adele, so perhaps we'll be sick to death of him come April.

Is it worthy of merit so soon? It's hard to tell. People can be fickle. The boy can certainly sing, with Same Old Tears having the outback-of-America roots sound that works well acapella, and sounds even stronger with a full backing band, but it may not push everyone's buttons. On the basis of what is out there at the moment, Beal probably deserves to flourish, and on some level he undoubtedly will. Credit to XL for taking what could be a risk here (on the basis of sales, not talent), and here's hoping that it pays off for the artist himself. As far as the NME go, Beal doesn't fit in with their usually favoured acts, and his inclusion in their list only emphasises their craving to say "We told you so" should things work out for the best.

That's all for Part One. Part Two will follow very soon. Please let us know your thoughts and come back again soon.




Twitter: @JukeboxSoapbox E-mail: mail@jukeboxsoapbox.com

Rest In Peace, Etta & Johnny

This is a belated acknowledgement and tribute (which I apologise for) to the late Etta James and her Creolettes band leader, Johnny Otis, both of whom sadly passed away last week.


Tributes have been made from music artists spanning generations and fans alike.


Music and the music industry has certainly changed since Etta and Johnny first found success, but thankfully the music of their time will never die.


Twitter: @JukeboxSoapbox E-mail: mail@jukeboxsoapbox.com

10 Predictions For The Year Ahead In Music

1. Your favourite music magazine/website/blog will be responsible for at least one very much average music act receiving great success.

2. Your favourite music magazine/website/blog will completely overlook at least one of your favourite new acts of the year then put them in their end of year review and ignore any accusations of belatedly jumping on the bandwagon.

3. Lots of people will buy Lana Del Rey’s debut album, including your Dad.

4. A band you loved in your youth will re-form and not be anywhere near as good as you remembered, thus shitting over all the positive nostalgia you previously had of them.

5. Daft Punk will play live again, though probably not where you live.

6. White people will continue to listen to the black hip-hop artists that white journalists tell them to.

7. There will be lots of buzz surrounding a new genre of dance music containing the word ‘step’ or ‘post’ in it.

8. Apple will release a new music-centred product which will make them a lot of money, irrespective of its quality of necessity.

9. Morrissey will cheer up a bit.

10. At least one of these predictions will come true.


Twitter: @JukeboxSoapbox E-mail: mail@jukeboxsoapbox.com