PeaceT(b)lo(g)

Hi there, for the ones non-Italian-speakers, the subject means “Tomorrow: closed for holiday!” and it refers to the sign you put on the door of a shop that is, exactly, on vacation. And that will be since tomorrow and for more than two weeks. So today we got the last post of this week.

We talk again about rap from UK. Today we have Klashnekoff.

Mr. Darren Kandler, A.K.A. Ricochet Klashnekoff or just Klashnekoff (pronounced K-Lash-Nek-Off), was the founding member of the “Terra Firma Crew” along side Skriblah, D.Ablo, Diamond Ruff and Smasher. Klashnekoff is one of the freshest talents on the UK Hip Hop scene at the moment and is on his way to hit the success. He is currently working hard on his own album and The debut Terrafirma Album (following the critically acclaimed mix tape THE FOUNDATION) both of which will be released in 2009. This young very talented singer started writing rhymes at the tender age of ten, way before rap became the cool thing to do. The conscious MC is named after a Russian gun, but the reason he chose this stage name Klashnekoff is because to him it represented a freedom symbol. Through the news on TV, he saw these little child soldiers in Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Dafur with their little Klashnekoffs guns what it meant to them.

And his name makes sense to the title of the song we got today, that is “Murda” (Cavina, spare us any interpretation of this title..):

Hope you’ll enjoy the rest of the time from now till my return.
Domenico

Yes, I’m so thrilled about going on holiday that I can’t resist talking about that on every occasion. During these days I’m studying the theory for scuba diving certificate and I’m quite excited to try this new experience. Will tell you more when I’m back from holiday.

So, let’s continue with the short week, today we have Just Jack.

Just Jack (real name: Jack Allsopp) comes from London and the things which inspired his style are: dance music, break dance, electro hip hop and house. He wanted to be a break dancer at eight and his love for dance music led him to start DJing at the age of fifteen (!). About his music, it reminds me about Mojo at the time of the hit “Lady”.

I like the following sentence he stated when talking about himself: “I never had heroes and never wanted to be like other musicians”…“I have no affiliations to anyone, I’m not part of a gang, I’m not a part of a scene and I don’t have a sound that’s obviously a part of a scene. I’m Just Jack.”

Let’s dance with Jack, then, to the rhythm of the song “Starz In Their Eyes”:

Domenico

Don’t worry, in Vienna today we got no ice or snow. It’s just a countdown. Because on Thursday I’m finally going on holiday. Therefore, you will get a bit of a pause from the daily posts and the BLOG will be back in a couple or weeks or so.
I was thinking about what to post today and I thought that a little bit of hip-hop would have fit. Then I thought about something closer to Raggaeton would also have been cool to listen to.
In the end, today we talk about Plan B.

While looking for some info on this artist, I found there are 9 different ones having this name! Some of them play hardcore/punk, while some other do rock. The one we’re interested in is a Ben Drew, a rapper from Forest Gate, London. He has described his character, in school days, as “a bit of a cunt”. He is signed to 679 Recordings, home to UK rap act The Streets. His unique sound is characterized by his use of acoustic beats and lyrics involving drugs, rape, murder and underage sex (the usual stuff we hear from US rap, that proves UK stuff ain’t different at all!).

I found this song, that is “Mama”, to be not so bad. I like the guitar in the background:

N-joy it. Domenico

And we end this week by playing songs from another indie-rock band. This time we have a band that is not a band anymore, that is The Deirdres.

The Deirdres were a Derby, United Kingdom based band. Once located within the strange music scene of Derby, the Deirdres consisted of 7 members and they rose to fame in October 2006 when they appeared on the BBC Antiques Roadshow programme, where they performed the theme music. Then the band started playing gigs later that month, making their debut at the Halloween party of the Greyhound pub in Derby. A year later, and the band released their first single ‘Dinosaurs That Can Swim’ on ltd edition 3 inch CDs, and almost a year after that the band released an EP called ‘Why Do My Glasses Give You The Heeby Jeebys’. As you can see, imagination and word-funny-games are not missing at all! Three-sevenths of the band + one girlfriend (Emily Bell) played a gig in Melbourne, Australia under the name ‘Can You Say Nincompoop’ which included some Deirdre covers and other songs.

I found a couple of their songs on the web and I noticed the incredible resemblance with “Los Campesinos”. Then, the song I chose is “Milk Is Politics”:

Domenico

It seems to me this week we’re doing fine. Some rock here and there is always well appreciated (at least by some of us). So let’s continue with this indie-rock week.

Today we have an almost unknown band, named My First Earthquake.

What could we say about these band? They play something like dance/rock/electro music but using real instruments, having a nice female singer somehow reminding me of Courtney Love. Their songs talk about zombies, soup, sprinkler systems, cross-dressing boyfriends… the usual stuff. In the end, this Four-piece band based in San Francisco is nothing special, but still not bad compared with other ones.

I chose their song “Sack Lunch” as the one I like more (I found other three/four from the same performance they had for this song):

Domenico

And let’s continue this week that started with some nice rock mood by posting something similar. Today is supposed to be around 37 degrees (at least here in Vienna, according to the forecasts) and I found a band that reminds me of summer.
Then, here we go with The Steeples.

The Steeples are an indie band from Ormskirk (what?!) near Liverpool. Coming from the city recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as having the most number 1 hits in any country, it’s easy to see that this band have clearly inherited Liverpool’s hit-making gene.

Their music reminds me of The Libertines, when Pete Doherty was still not a junkie. There is something light and easy-going that results in sweet and adorable songs. Hope you will agree with me when you will listen to the song I chose today, that is “Loosy Lucy”:

Domenico

Here we go after the rafting weekend. Lot of adrenaline did run thru and I thank my friends for the great birthday gift. While looking forward for the next new thing to do, that will be the scuba diving experience in Sardegna (hell, I have to study the theory and I’m still at the beginning…), let’s start the post-80s-week.

Let’s go back then to something more contemporary. Let’s talk about The Metros.

We must say that there are 3 bands with the name The Metros. The first a 1960’s Detroit soul group, another was a North Dakota based group in the mid 1980’s (but we had enough 80’s…) who eventually moved to Minneapolis and a current British rock act. Guess which of the three I’m going to talk about?!

This south London five-piece band is born when the lead singer Saul Adamczewski discovered his dad’s old vinyl collection and tried to give this band the sound of south London. Initially inspired by ska, The Strokes and The Libertines, Saul and friend Jak began listening to the sounds of Squeeze, The Specials and Ian Drury and The Blockheads. It resulted is a fusion of pop, punk, funk and rockabilly.

I found their second single, “Last of the Lookers” and here it is for you today:

Domenico

And finally we’ve reached the end of this 80s-week. It was a nice experiment that allowed me to go back in time and listen to some of the songs I hadn’t think about since such long time ago. The 80s have been such a weird time. Some very crap music was pushed like hell. Funny thing is such music was much better compared with the “actual” crap (and not) music.

To finish the week, I thought that one of the symbols of the 80s was actually Ms. Luisa Ciccone, A.K.A. Madonna.

Madonna has practically made everything a pop star can do. Singer, songwriter, entertainer, dancer, record producer, film producer, film director, fashion designer, author, actress, entrepreneur!
She has been always ahead compared with the other pop artists. She was the one who pushed dances (e.g. Vogue), new trends (e.g. fashion, haircuts), the one always in the center of the news (e.g. scandals, gossips), the saint and the perverse.

It’s hard to choose a single song from this artist but finally I found maybe the most 80s-video she made (I know, I know, there is also “Like a Virgin”, “Crazy for you” and others…). Today we have the song “Holiday”:

Enjoy the weekend.
Domenico

Maybe some of you did notice that yesterday’s post wasn’t present. If this is not the case, I don’t know whether to be happy (because none complained) or sad (because none watched the BLOG)…
In both cases, let’s try to keep the pace and let’s publish TWO posts in ONE!

The first band I’m going to talk about is Tears for Fears.

This British pop-rock duo is around since the early 80s and it’s formed by Roland Orzabal (I had to mention this name, because it made me smile when I read it and I thought about Orzoway) and Curt Smith.
Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, they were initially associated with the “New Wave synthesizer bands” of that time but later branched out into mainstream rock and pop, which led to international chart success. Apparently, they have sold more than 22 million albums worldwide (including over 8 million in the United States alone), especially with the album “Songs from the Big Chair”, that contains so many singles and from which I didn’t know the song to choose.
Finally I decided to post the song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”:

The second band I’m posting today is INXS.

From wiki I can say that: INXS come from Australia rock, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney.Mainstays are Garry Gary Beers on bass, Andrew Farriss on keyboards, Jon Farriss on drums, Tim Farriss on lead guitar and Kirk Pengilly on guitar/sax.[3] For twenty years, they were fronted by Michael Hutchence on lead vocals, whose “sultry good looks” and magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band. Initially known for their New Wave/ska/pop style, they later developed a harder pub rock style, including funk and dance elements.

From my memory, I can say that Mich Hutchence is still such a cool singer to me and that it’s a pity he died. I think we all have danced to the song I’m posting today, that is “Need You Tonight”:

Domenico