The original song sounds similar to an average Kate Bush modern day rip-off, the remix sounds like Kate Bush has made music with Felix Da Housecat with a 99p Flake thrown in for good measure! (I'm not sure why they needed the ice cream thrown in but the remix is damn good anyways!) Enjoy!
When was the last time that you watched MTV? What was the show that you tuned in to see? Did you turn it on to catch ‘Cribs’? Or was it ‘My super sweet 16’? My personal favorite was always the classic ‘Pimp My Ride’ when Xzibit was at the helm it was good, however the true genius started when the UK decided to put Tim Westwood as the presenter of our version of the US classic. He ruined cars up and down the country as he brought his gangster persona to a larger audience laughing at him, my personal favorite clip was in found in his lead up to Jay-Z’s performance at Glastonbury when he proceeded to pimp Michael Eavis’ tractor in the ludicrous BBC Three coverage of Hip-Hop coming to Glasto, which went completely overboard with Westwood’s ridiculous world.
The point about all of the above was when was the last time that you watched MTV for its musical programming? MTV has lost its direction, after all Mark Knopfler was singing “you play the guitar on the MTV” back in the 80’s with Dire Straights. Nowadays the only mention we receive of MTV is an advert on a different channel for their new reality show or on within the news for their ‘Jersey Shore Punch’.
MTV did of course branch out with several different channels; we now have MTV 2, MTV Base, MTV Hits, MTV Dance all of which are genre specific. However if you ask someone what music they like, the response I tend to hear is “I listen to a bit of everything”; after all we are the iPod generation. MTV used to cover all the genres, if you wanted Metal you could tune it last thing at night and get your fix, if you wanted mainstream pop you just turned it on during the day. The final music affiliation that MTV has is all those damn awards ceremonies! How many times do you need to give Beyonce an award for a good video or Green Day for an album! Unfortunately all these ceremonies now look identical and the winners appear to win the same award on a monthly basis.
I understand that MTV has received a large portion of coverage in this week’s blog; however I still haven’t mentioned the largest TV element which killed the Video star. I am of course talking about the world’s most notorious A&R man, Simon Cowell. It’s ironic that he is mentioned in this blog as he is one of the main reasons why I am able to work at Sony Music, who without him would be in financial difficulty this year. They have successfully extended their contract with him this previous week which must have cost some unthinkable sum.
Whilst he has scouted some of the largest talent the UK has to provide, the X-Factor organisation has also released several classic ground breaking hit albums and singles which can now be located in your local Oxfam bargain bin. After all can you remember the timeless masterpieces of; G4, Andy Abraham, Journey South, Ray Quinn, Same Difference, Eoghan Quigg? If you can’t trust me your not missing out on much at all, however the crème of the lot is the first X-Factor champion Steve Brookstein who apart from having a huge amount of albums sitting in our warehouse is due to be announcing his 2010 UK tour shortly, I’m certain that it will be a mind-blowing success and receive huge coverage as he graces the UK with another superb album of covers! Unfortunately the success of the X-Factor has also led to a rise in popularity of talent shows that are trying to now find the next best; dancer, singer, fire-eater, farmer and dentist the UK has to offer! I am not sure how long it will be before we finally get bored of this shows format much in the same way that Big Brother no longer creates D-rate celebrities!
Owen Pallet released two superb albums under the name Final Fantasy, however with his new album he decided to drop the Final Fantasy name and revert back to his original name. I saw him perform live last night at the Union Chapel (picture can be seen above) it was an amazing show, the acoustics were superb, the new songs are great and he once again amazes with his insane loops and building of beautiful music!
On my musical journey of the past 7 days I came across Rocky Business. A duo from NYC they mix underground hip-hop and indie pop. Coming out of the same scene as Theophilus London I can’t help but feel that these two have a much more accessible crossover potential to the mainstream if they continue to record their music correctly. 'Army of Love' sound like the White Stripes have just met Outkast, which can only be a good thing! Their mix tape will be out soon and will definitely be worth a download!
To tie in with yesterday's blog I decided to upload an old remix made in 2007 by Ed Banger's Sebastian. He remixed Rage Against the Machine's 'Killing in the Name of' giving it a superb electro sound. If you liked the christmas number 1 then you will definately like this. Sebastian is recording his debut to be released on Ed Banger Records later this year
This past Christmas saw one of the strangest chart battles in the UK to reach top of the charts for the coveted Christmas single. In the battle, we saw X-Factor winner Joe McElderry go head-to-head with Rage Against the Machine. In what was one of the strangest chart battles I have ever encountered, we saw ‘Killing in the Name Of’ claim the number one spot! This all started by a Facebook campaign which, by the end of its movement, had over 1 million followers.
What was surprising about this campaign was that although everyone seemed to feel passionate about the movement and was happy to join the group, the number of people that actually bought the single was considerably less than supported the cause. Of the 1 million people who were signed up to Facebook’s group and the countless of other supporters who aren’t on the social networking website but had heard about the campaign through one of its well publicised news stories, we saw just over 500,000 sales of the single. Half a million sales of a single is, of course, a monumental achievement and as such, was a deserved number one. However, that’s not actually half of the group that were campaigning so strongly for its chart success. Within the group, there would also have been likeminded people who purchased the track several times (I bought it 3 times from itunes using a Leona Lewis free downloads voucher….the irony! and once off Amazon at 29p!) If we consider the fact that everyone bought the single the legal 3 times from one retailer at the cheap price of less than a pint in Weatherspoons, the campaign was only actually won by just over 150,000 people. It is, of course, a monumental victory for those that started the campaign to choose such a tough battle going against Simon Cowell and the X-Factor juggernaut with a track that couldn’t be played on National radio due to swearing.
However, this has sparked a new movement with a new campaign that has come to light. Next month there is now a “The Smiths How Soon Is Now? For No 1 Meat Is Murder 25th Anniversary” campaign. Will this receive the same support that Rage received? Will the legendary British band have the same eagerness to support the campaign as Rage attained? Probably not with Morrissey and Marr not talking to each other and both still being heavily involved in music (Moz is solo and Marr is in the Cribs and Modest Mouse.) However, former drummer Mike Joyce has supported the campaign. If we look at last week’s sales, the number one single in the country was bought 87,000 times. At the moment, the Smiths Facebook group has nearly 11,000 members. If the Rage figures are anything to go by, they will need their group to grow heavily and everyone to support the song if its to see the number 1 spot that week.
By some great coincidence, there has also been a campaign to get Girls Aloud previous single ‘Untouchable’ to achieve top 10 status, supported by 9,000 strong. They want to see the only single the girl band released that didn’t make the top 10 achieve a spot in the second week of February’s charts. Have we reached the stage where online campaigns are going to become diluted? I wouldn’t be surprised if we also saw them abused by record companies trying to push a catalogue artist on the general public. I will be very intrigued to see if Girls Aloud can turn every single they have released into a top 10 success and if the Smith’s can mark their first ever UK top 10 hit!
Lastly, I have just found out that there is another campaign to get the Sex Pistol’s ‘God Save the Queen’ to number 1 for her majesty’s birthday. This campaign was started due to the chart excluding the track in 1977 where it would have reached number 1 for the Queen’s silver jubilee celebrations. This campaign has been backed by RATM’s founder and has already received great support with over 30,000 members already signed up. With her birthday being the 12th June, it looks like the most likely campaign to succeed. However, my support goes out to all of this online movements; I hope they are all successful to prove that the general public music buying population can still have their voice heard should they want to... ...and not have below-standard crap shoved down their throat!
Los Angele's hardcore band decided to take a new direction last year, they decided that they were going to become a Mariachi band! Surprisingly to all involved not only did their album actually sound pretty good but they also made a superb cover of the Prince classic! The purple one clearly didn’t allow them to cover the song, as it was omitted from the album, not surprising as he wanted to remove himself from the internet and tried suing any websites that hosted his music…..I hope he doesn’t track me down, although I wouldn’t mind him knocking on my door to try and convert me to a Jehovah’s witness doubt he would start to sign any of my LP’s though! I digress enjoy the cover!
London artist Psychologist sounds like a mix of Burial, Ambulance LTD, Portishead and Jose Gonzales. He does a fantastic acoustic cover of PJ Harvey's track 'Missed' but its his lofi electronic sound which make him someone to check out. He is yet to release anything and has a handful of shows booked in London, worth having a look if you get the chance.
I have decided to start more of a layout to the Week instead of putting everything up on Wednesday I have decided to spread it over 4 days, please see below for what will be uploaded to the blog each week:
New Music Monday: A link and small piece about a new artist
Track of the Week Tuesday: A Download or Link to a track that I'm loving this week
Blog Wednesday: An article about something music related
Remix Thursday: A download of a remix which I am enjoying or have enjoyed in the past
So without further delay this weeks remix is
UNAVAILABLE SO YOU NEED TO SEARCH IT YOURSELF AS POLYDOR ASKED ME TO TAKE IT DOWN....
La Roux rose to fame last year with her quiff, I mean electro pop sound. 'Bulletproof' and 'In for the Kill' made her one of the most popular artists of the year, her debut album was nominated for the Mercury Music awards she rounded the year off with a sell out tour, however its this Data Remix that adds the dirty electro sound that would have made me appreciate the album instead of just grown tired of their imitation electro pop!
The La's only ever released a debut thus making it their finest work
Having compiled the top 100 albums of the past decade I was surprised to see how many of them were debut’s of the artists involved. Out of the 100 listed 47 were the first efforts by the respective acts, that’s an insanely high proportion. Now I do understand that this is my personal opinion however if you go through the NME, The Guardian’s, Rolling Stone’s, Pitchfork’s, Gigwise’s, Drowned in Sound or any other list you will find that it featured a high proportion of debut albums.
What is it that makes the debut album so popular? Are we excited by the fact that there’s a new band and hopefully a new sound or is it that we tend to classify bands albums against their previous efforts and thus will inevitably be disappointed when we liked their debut? Everyone always talks about the difficult second and third album but rarely about the difficult first album. Could it be that most artists have forever to work on their debut album but once the popularity has arrived the fans want to hear more and they have to rush the follow up albums? In an age where last year’s hype band is this year’s bargain bin product, with people consuming tracks instead of albums I am finding that more frequently the standard of the debut has to be exceptional to sustain the interest in the artist. After all can we really expect another great album to come out of Klaxons, La Roux, The Ting Tings or Black Kids? Most of the time once we have enjoyed a band, given them the success and become bored of their sound we will continue on our constant path of finding the next hot new act and consume their music until we get bored of them. It is incredibly rare these days for a bands sophomore album to be as good as their debut, this week see’s the release of Vampire Weekend’s ‘Contra’ album which after the massive success of their incredible debut it surprising to read all the reports saying that this album is as good as their previous effort. Is this an exception or an anomaly? Looking over the previous year there are only a handful of follow up albums which I was more impressed than the debut album; The Horrors ‘Primary Colours’ , TV on the Radio’s ‘Dear Science’; Phoenix ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, Mystery Jets ‘Twenty-one’ and not surprisingly Jay-Z’s ‘Blueprint III’ which is clearly better than his debut ‘Reasonable Doubt’. Jay-Z however brings me onto my next point, most artists who’s debut albums become popular tend to end up either living shortened careers (We are scientists, The View, Wolfmother, The Vines, Razorlight, The Magic Numbers, The Feeling, Maroon 5 to name a few) the fact is that once the debut soars to great heights and sells well the record labels expect the sophomore album to be of the same quality and sell the same figures as the debut did. This means that the bands have to either change their sound to fit in with the times or try to release a similar album which inevitably bores the fans and critics alike. Unfortunately the reality is that this will end with the band being dropped and their careers regularly ending. If we look at some of the artists who are still releasing interesting and critically acclaimed work most have been backed by their labels and allowed to release several albums, rarely their debut has been their finest work, Radiohead and Jay Z have now been recording for more than a decade and are clearly writing some of their best albums as they have slowly made it to the top of their respective genres as opposed to instant fame of the debut.
In conclusion I think that the majority of the acts out there will release their best album as their debut due to the time constraints that they don’t have in developing their sound. If it’s a good album it will clearly influence others and create a sound which people jump to imitate which inevitably leads to a genre which will predominately only ever see the releases of lots of debuts (nu-rave anyone?). However for the artists that you will be enjoying in 5 years time I it’s probably worth starting to listen closer to those whose albums are good but not great, the artists which are interesting but not hip or cool, those that aren’t manufactured for instant success! How you can tell who’s going to be around in 5 years time is near impossible to tell, however I may as well have a stab in the dark about a few artists! I would say watch out for Lupe Fiasco, Empire of the Sun, I will stick with my guns and say that I think that Wily Mason will one day get the love that he deserves! TV on the Radio, Santogold, Regina Spektor and the Mystery Jets. I know that these artists are already popular however I think that we will not only see them produce better albums than they have already done but also end up becoming the top artists in their respective fields.....
L-R Top: Santogold, Lupe Fiasco L-R Middle: TV on the Radio, Willy Mason L-R Bottom: Regina Spektor, Empire of the Sun
Download: Good Shoes - Under Control Good Shoes released their debut in 2007, with fast guitars the south Londoners wrote an alright album which had some great singles and managed to get a decent following. This is the first single to be taken from their forthcoming album ‘No Hope, No Future’ out later this year. ‘Under Control’ has a great sound and feel to it and if the rest of the album sounds anything like this then it’s definitely going to be a good sophomore!
Unsigned band to check out: Rogues Myspace Link Having been a much hyped band for the past 12 months I cant understand why they don’t yet have a record deal! Rogues mix guitars, synth and dual vocals, clearly influenced by Klaxons they have written some larger pop songs which will inevitably land them a deal and you will find them hitting the top 40 in months to come!
Happy New Year! I hope you all had a good Christmas/New Year! With the new year comes the end of the old list. I look forward to hearing all your slatings of my list from now on as you say "How dare you leave off Muse/Animal Collective/instert name of artist that your annoyed about"
Anyways without further delay the top 24!
24. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago His beautiful voice calmly sings over his guitar for this masterpiece of a debut album. It was recorded over 3 months when he was staying in his fathers cabin in Wisconsin, the album was written there after Justin Vernon had just suffered a break up with both his band and girlfriend. The album captures the sorrow and sadness felt throughout its 10 tracks, however doesn’t bring the sadness to the listener who just sees the beauty within his voice and songs. Listen To: Skinny Love
23. Foals – Antidotes Their first album caused some controversy when the band decided to leave their first two singles ‘Hummer’ and ‘Mathletics’ off the album. A surprising move seeing the popularity they had caused on the British public, however when ‘Antidotes’ finally came out it wasn’t surprising why they were able to do such a thing. The album mixes jangly danceable guitars with awkward vocals and a storming bass line which carries you through this superb album. Listen To: Cassius
22. The Coral – The Coral The only scouse band worth hearing from that scene! Their debut album was a perfect mixture of great pop songs such as ‘Dreaming of You’ and ‘Goodbye’, retro ska with ‘Shadow’s Fall’ and utter nonsense genius with ‘Simon Diamond’. James Skelly went on penning an album each year all going top 10, however it was their first album where the majority of the band were in their early 20s that captures the perfect revival of the British guitar band! Listen To: Dreaming of You
21. Staff Benda Bilili – Staff Benda Bilili This has to be the greatest story amongst the entire list, Staff Benda Bilili are 3 paraplegic street musicians who have formed a band by bringing in some younger street kids to play music with them, they have an 18 year old who plays the most insane solo’s on a 1 string hand built instrument. They were initially playing outside a zoo in the Congo and outside restaurants to make enough money to make their living, however their debut album is absolutely superb beyond belief! The songs they have written are brilliant and if you ever get the chance to see them live don’t pass it up as they will definitely make you overjoyed that they have been given the opportunity to bring their music to the larger audience. Listen To: Staff Benda Bilili
20. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes Beautiful harmonies are the main focus of this Fleet Foxes debut album, seemingly to be the only thing that people saw at South by Southwest festival, they either must have played tons of shows or people are liars! This album is built up of 11 classic harmony guitars and is reminiscent of CSN’s old albums, I personally would love to hear a cover of ‘Guinevere’ however listening to this album will definitely keep me happy as it’s a true gem! Listen To: Ragged Wood
19. Beirut – The Gulag Orkestar Zac Condon’s idea, Beirut broke onto the scene playing their strange Baltic Eastern European themed songs, an American who fell in love with the Eastern European music that could be made brought it to a much larger Western audience than anyone could have thought possible. His songs bold and beautiful, his vocals sound incredibly mature for the early twenty year old as his lyrics flow throughout this mesmerizing album. Listen To: Postcards from Italy
18. TV on The Radio – Dear Science Their third album was the one which struck the largest chord in the mainstream, after releasing two brilliant albums which featured some of the finest singles released over those years this album was their most complete. Straight outta Brooklyn they have brought us some of the most mesmerising vocals and music, this album was acclaimed as one of the finest in 2008 when it was released and topped many charts as the best album of the year, I wholeheartedly agree! Listen To: Golden Age
17. Lupe Fiasco – Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor‘Food & Liquor’ was the freshest Hip-Hop album of the decade, with Hip-Hop becoming more commercial than ever before the decade saw some of the worst albums released, when ‘Food & Liquor’ was released it gave a breath of fresh air to a stagnant genre. Lupe Fiasco concentrated on the lyrical content of his album delivering tracks which feature stories with meaning instead of the archetypal Hip-Hop world that focuses itself on the pop and glamour. Listen To: Kick, Push
16. The Rapture – Echoes‘Echoes’ blended a perfect mix of electro with post rock indie, the album in parts is clearly post rock but will then fuse into a disco groove or back into some electro gold. Clearly live dance music innovators, they opened the way for many bands during the past decade to be able to perform live band dance music. The album includes cowbells; saxophones as well as thumping bass lines which will make you dance around to ‘House of Jealous Lovers’ like a fool whenever you put it on. This album is truly a classic of the noughties. Listen To: Sister Saviour
15. Amadou et Mariam – Welcome To Mali The blind couple from Mali have come a long way in Western music appreciation, they were relatively unknown until Manu Chao produced their 2005 album ‘Dimanche a Bamako’. The next success in the west was 2008’s ‘Welcome To Mali’ which was produced by Damon Albarn, the album is superb in its mixture of west coast African guitar sounds with lo-fi electro, the album is incredibly influenced by dance music and is a true testament to the progression of African music. Although incredibly successful within the world music circuit it hasn’t yet found the full audience which it truly deserves. Listen To: Sabali
14. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? Of Montreal’s eighth studio album was there most interesting to date, the concept revolving around front man Kevin Barnes transformation into his alter ego George Fruit, the album is wonderful as it goes through Kevin Barnes’ strange and insane world, the album although slightly depressing in its lyrical content has been composed so that it sounds absolutely superb, the track which transforms him into his alter ego George Fruit is the 12 minute ‘The Past Is A Grotesque Animal’ which catapults the album forward and makes it their finest work. Listen To: The Past Is A Grotesque Animal
13. The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots It's very hard to determine which the best Flaming Lips album is. I decided that ‘Yoshimi’ was the album that finally made me realise (sorry couldn’t resist) the genius that is heard in Wayne Coynes music. They have released some of their finest albums but it was ‘Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots’ which continued their rise in popularity after the superb ‘The Soft Bulletin’. This album is a perfect introduction for anyone who wants to hear what is so great about The Flaming Lips. Listen To: Do You Realize??
12. Radiohead – Kid A After the massive success of ‘OK Computer’ nobody knew what Radiohead would be able to do to keep people interested in their sound, they went away and worked on the follow up for 3 years and released ‘Kid A’. The sound moved towards a heavier electronic sound, with Jonny Greenwood moving away from the guitar to playing other instruments. The results were their first US #1 album and ‘Kid A’ went platinum the week of its release in the UK. Listen To: The National Anthem
11. PJ Harvey – Stories from the City Stories From the Sea Polly Jean Harvey’s ‘Stories from...’ was her second commercial success, however unlike ‘To Bring You My Love’ the production on ‘Stories from….’ Brought PJ Harvey across as a more accessible female singer than the rougher one we heard 5 years before. The songs were much more beautifully crafted and as a result the layers that have been carefully applied make this her finest work to date. Also a collaboration with Thom Yorke can also never harm an album! Listen To: A Place Called Home
10. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – BRMC When ‘BRMC’ first came out it was the album which everyone had been waiting for, the way in which they just played classic Rock ‘n’ Roll and didn’t care about what everyone else was doing would make them one of the more exciting bands that came out. A simple 3 piece which was lead by the Brian Jonestown Massacre former guitarist Peter Hayes this album is a masterpiece which shows exactly why they should be such an important band in music! Listen To: Whatever Happened to My Rock ‘N’ Roll (Punk Song)
9. British Sea Power – The Decline Of The British Sea Power Not only producing some of the greatest T-Shirts of the past Decade, BSP produced one of the finest debut albums around, after relocating to Brighton and changing their Name to British Sea Power from British Air Power they started a club night and gained a following before releasing their full length LP through Rough Trade. The 11 tracks on ‘The Decline of…’ may not make you a fan of the band but once you have seen them live then you will forever be converted into a BSP fan. Listen To: Remember Me
8. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells The White Stripes have the finest guitarist and songwriter that will come out this decade, Jack White is absolutely amazing….shame about Meg. ‘White Blood Cells’ was released as they were starting to move from the John Peel playlist onto Radio 1’s mainstream, the final album where they were able to record their blues infused Rock ‘n’ Roll with the stripped back sound of just drums and guitar. This album is the reason why the White Stripes are one of the finest bands to appear and a reason why Jack should return from the Raconteurs/Dead Weather back to form up with his ‘sister’ Meg. Listen To: Dead Leaves On The Dirty Ground
7. Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights A lot of people find Interpol depressing and can’t stand Paul Bank’s voice, those people are morons. Interpol’s rise as one of the finest bands out of NYC is justified after listening to ‘Turn on the Bright Lights’. This is the perfect example of why the debut album is a better representation of a band than their subsequent efforts, Interpol clearly worked on this album making each track fit in perfect order. The songs have all been compiled to take you on a journey through New York’s streets at night. Listen To: Obstacle 1
6. Kings of Leon – Youth and Young Manhood The Kings of Leon have definitely exploded over this decade, from that group of long haired brothers with their cousin on guitar to international superstars. ‘Youth and Young Manhood’ brought with it a raw stripped back southern twang rock ‘n’ roll band who looked damn cool and played the finest music to come out of Nashville. Doing exactly what the title says the album travels through ‘Youth and Young Manhood’ and delivers tales of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, exactly what their travelling Pentecostal Church preaching father would have hoped! Listen To: Genius
5. Arcade Fire – Funeral Canada’s finest band released this album in 2005, this album exploded and made them one of the hottest bands in the year, and barely touring ‘Funeral’ meant that everyone was just left listening to their album. Named after several deaths whilst they were recording it, the album took a melancholy direction however the songs were so powerful and remarkable that it quickly became one of the most successful releases of the year and starts my heavily influenced Rough Trade top 5! Listen To: Rebellion (Lies)
4. Radiohead – In Rainbows When ‘In Rainbows’ came out it was a groundbreaking concept, you paid what you wanted to for the download. There was no lead up to its release and barely any promotion done for the release. The album has to be their most accomplished to date, gaining a surplus of favorable reviews, they returned to the live circuit with a celebratory gig at Rough Trade East (moved to 93ft East due to security) which I queued up all day to see, ended up on Sky News and saw them play the album in its entirety, truly a superb experience for their finest album! Listen To: Weird Fishes_Arpeggi
3. Strokes – Is This it Music changed when this album came out in 2001, before that we had been inundated with crap bnb, hip hop, pop and nu-metal. When ‘Is This It’ came out suddenly the music that we listened to shifted, it paved the way for other indie bands to break into the mainstream. People started to look at New York and found that the US had a plethora of great music for us to consume. British bands realised they were able to write great songs and make a living. ‘Is This It’ changed the way the decade would progress and all this from a bunch of young New Yorker’s who got signed by Rough Trade by playing down the phone! Listen To: The Modern Age
2. Libertines – Up The bracket Before Pete Doherty became every red tops favorite villain, he and Carl wrote the finest British album of the decade. Combined they wrote some of the finest music from our shores with some of the most poetic lyrics, I would urge you to read the lyrics of the album to see quite how amazing the Libertines first album really is. The rhythm session of Gary on drums and John on bass held the band together as Pete and Carl tore at each other vocally throughout the album, a true masterpiece with the exception of ‘Radio America’! Listen To: The Good Old Days
1. Manu Chao – Proxima Estacion Esperanza I understand that most of you are probably saying “Who the hell is this guy” well if that’s what your saying, please go out and listen to this album on Spotify or better still buy it! Manu Chao has to be the most important artist there is globally. In this album ‘Proxima Estacion Esperanza’ he came into his own, he sings in Spanish, French, English, Portugese, Arabic and Galician. His musical styles vary more than a chameleon; the album is a true work of genius with all the tracks merging into each other. Most will find it surprising that this has topped the charts but after hearing this album back in 2001 it opened my eyes to many different genre’s of music and has been the most influential album of the past decade! Listen To: Mr Bobby
So tell me who did I miss out and who shouldnt have been on the list???
Bringing one guy's opinions on Music to others worldwide. If anyone wants to subscribe to the weekly mail out send an email to felix.carrasco@hotmail.com
