A Couple More Reviews...

I've uploaded a couple more live reviews to my flickr page, I've reviewed two NME Awards shows from February; the Howling Bells and The Maccabees at Koko on the 25th and 27th(respectively). Hope you enjoy reading them.

The Howling Bells

The Maccabees

Anant

Jamie T Live at the Astoria

Please forgive the lateness of my post.

The other night, Wednesday 24th January 2007 to be precise, I saw Jamie T play to a sell out crowd at the charing cross Astoria. The gig was extra special as my good mate Neil's and his band - Them Nudes, were supporting. Most bands may have crumbled with the nerves and pressure but the guys relished the oppourtunity to play such a renowned venue and it was probably the best level I personally have ever seen them play to. Also supporting were the brilliant Maccabees, fronted by Orlando Weeks who never fails to dress for the occasion, he was wearing a sequin waistcoat as I recall.

Onto the main attraction - Jamie T, he played a set with lasted over an hour and saw him showcase most of his debut 'Panic Prevention', This was my first time experiencing Jamie with his full backing band(The Pacemakers), so it was great to hear some of the tracks played across 5 musicians rather than just on an acoustic bass(which he still encorporated into his set). His encore was to be blunt - mad: including solo renditions 'Living with Betty' and his cover of Billy Bragg's 'A New England', before closing with a special sped up version of his latest lift 'Calm Down Dearest'.

As if an excellent bill wasn't enough I also met up with a few ex-Northolt mates, the wintermans, Ben off course, a handfull of people from my halls of residence, two guys I met at a Bloc Party gig over a year ago, and a few of my flatmates ...in Sainsbury's of all places.

Anant

My Favourite Music of 2006

With the likes of NME and Gigwise compiling their top album/singles lists, I thought it would be a nice way to pass the time to create my own list of my essential albums that best soundtracked 2006 for me and more...

MY TOP 15 ALBUMS:
1. MUSE - Black Holes And Revelations*
2. YEAH YEAH YEAHS – Show Your Bones
3. THE KOOKS – Inside In/ Inside Out
4. CSS – Cansei De Ser Sexy
5. LARRIKIN LOVE - The Freedom Spark
6. THOM YORKE – The Eraser
7. THE GRATES - Gravity Won’t Get You High
8. ARCTIC MONKEYS – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
9. METRIC – Live It Out
10. MYSTERY JETS – Making Dens
11. KASABIAN - Empire
12. RAZORLIGHT - Razorlight
13. WOLFMOTHER - Wolfmother
14. FLAMING LIPS – At War with The Mystics
15. HOWLING BELLS – Howling Bells

(Featured Album Art)
* = No surprise there

MY FAVOURITE "NEW BAND" OF 2006:
CSS/ THE MACCABEES
After lot of thought I couldn't really decide between these two. Thus I cheated and made it a tie between CSS and The Maccabees. With CSS hailing from Sao Paulo and The Maccabees from some corner of southern England their worlds and music couldn't be further apart, however their rationale for being my favourite new bands to emerge in 2006 are because of both bands' live shows, which are more like parties than gigs to be fair.

(Left: CSS, Right:The Maccabees)

Signing out, Anant!