Music of the Month - June

I am very sorry for the rather large gap in my Music of the Month posts... I have been revising and sitting my AS Level exams, so have been rather busy. All finished now though! To get me through the rather stressful exam time I have been listening to a lot of soothing music. The summer is here finally and the festival season is upon us. I am very excited for Glastonbury this year and wish I was going, but I shall be content with the TV coverage. More excitement is on it's way as I am lucky enough to be seeing Matt Corby this weekend, and Mumford & Sons, plus many amazing guests, next month. It has been a little worrying as Ted Dwane, from Mumford & Sons, has been rather ill with a blood clot on the brain recently, but all is fine and he will hopefully be well enough to play at Glastonbury and the London gig. Anyhow... Here is the music I have been listening to these months; I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! If anybody has any music suggestions I would be delighted to hear them!

Iron & Wine - Jezabel and Boy With A Coin
Iron & Wine, aka Sam Beam, is the most perfect music for getting rid of stress. His voice is so soothing and the blend of instruments, guitar, banjo, accordion, electric guitar, drums etc, make a beautiful combination. I fully recommend the album Our Endless Numbered Days for listening to after a long day - it is soothing yet compelling, both musically and lyrically. Jezabel is a fantastic song, taken from the astoundingly good Woman King EP. It is rich and rhythmical, and makes a thoroughly enjoyable and fascinating listen. Boy With A Coin is another amazing Iron & Wine song, with a wonderful video - the dancers are beautiful.

Dry The River - Bible Belt and New Ceremony

Dry The River are one of my favourite bands of all time. Their sound is so unusual yet familiar at the same time. It is difficult to provide a simple explanation for what the music is that this band creates; it is extremely complex and varied, taking elements from folk, rock, emo, Americana and gospel. Their debut album Shallow Bed is wonderful, taking the bands acoustic versions on YouTube to another level and introducing much energy and atmosphere. However, the acoustic versions  are still equally as fantastic. The Shallow Bed (Acoustic) album showcases the more folky side to the band, highlighting Pete Liddle's fragile vocals, the wonderful harmonies and the violin. Religious influence is very clear in many of the songs, such as Bible Belt and Shaker Hymns - these songs also draw on aspects of American history and the King James bible, lending the tracks a certain seriousness. It was very hard to settle on just two tracks, but I think that Bible Belt and New Ceremony show Dry The River in all their complex and wonderful beauty.

Christopher Paul Stelling - Solar Flares and Brick x Brick

Christopher Paul Stelling is one amazing musician. In my opinion his guitar playing cannot be matched in beauty and excellence. It is too fantastic for words. His new album False Cities is wonderful and I cannot recommend it highly enough, the same goes for his Songs of Praise and Scorn album. The song, Never Been There, I consider to be the most darkly beautiful piece of music ever, of which I was sad not to be able to upload a video. Solar Flares is lovely and the recent song Brick x Brick, taken form Christopher's new album, is fantastic - the video is great too. 

Music of the Month - March

Good Evening!
This here is my second Music of the Month post, in which I share some of the music I have been listening to recently (February's post here). It is funny and slightly depressing looking back on the last post, for there I am just getting excited for the coming of spring. Oh how wrong I was! The weather now has decided to revert back to arctic midwinter here in Britain - most of the country is covered in snow and it is very cold. The flowers which I planted last week in a bout of luckless optimism have now promptly died from the blanket of snow which mercilessly crushes their fragile stems... I may be slightly exaggerating there but, yes, my flowers are not looking to good, and it has been snowing pretty bad. Even as I type there is a boding black cloud lurking on the horizon, no doubt full of snow again...
Anyway, enough of my moaning about the weather, it is Britain; what can we expect? On with the music!

David McCaffrey - Your Old Ways and Stars
I was very pleased to see the wonderful David McCaffrey this month, supporting Joe Banfi (featured on my last music post). I love listening to live music and watching David, equipped with only his voice and guitar, was spellbinding. His voice is beautiful and he plays guitar very well. I feel very lucky to see this amazing artist just starting out on what will be a lovely career.

Lord Huron - Time to Run and Ghost On The Shore

I was recently introduced to Lord Huron by a wonderful and beloved friend, and I am so very grateful.  I love this music - it is wonderful and deeply atmospheric. It is great music to have echoing around the house, and listening to the lyrics is like listening to old stories on summer nights. I love the video for Time to Run - it is like an old western - they are, strangely, my favourite kind of film; you can't beat The Magnificent Seven! Ghost on the Shore has to be my favourite of Lord Huron's songs; it is truly beautiful.

Pokey LaFarge and The South City Three -La La Blues and Hard Times

Oh, how have I only started listening to this music again this month? I discovered Pokey LaFarge a few years ago, but only rediscovered it last week after a friend reminded me of this beautiful music. I love old-timey American music and Pokey LaFarge is a shining example of America's wealth of musical talent. The music he and his wonderful band create is amazing - old-fashioned yet always new; it is the kind of music that will never get old and everybody can relate to in some way. 

Music of the Month - February

Spring is nearly here now in Northern England - a few flowers are out and the snow is finally gone. To celebrate the coming of the good weather I have decided to share some of the music I have been listening to to get me through the winter. I think it would be nice if I could carry this on every month, for I love discovering and sharing music - it is such a special thing and an important part of human culture. [Just to clarify I do not own any of these videos, they are off Youtube].

Matt Corby - Brother and My False

All the way from Australia, Matt Corby is one hell of a musician. The music he creates is utterly beautiful and soulful. To me, Matt Corby's voice is the most beautiful in the world - even challenging the legend that is Art Garfunkel! - it is full of soul, passion and grace, and the range to his voice is just outstanding. These two tracks are my favourite, but I find all of his music absolutely wonderful. Have a listen, you will not be disappointed!

Joe Banfi - Nomads and Where Did You Sleep Last Night?

I have recently had the fortune to get tickets to see Joe Banfi in March, on his first headline UK tour for the release of his new EP Nomads (cannot be recommended highly enough). I look forward to this date as I have been a fan of his for a while now. A relatively recent addition to Communion Records' wealth of talents, Joe Banfi is a promising musician. His voice can go from a quiet whisper to an emotional howl often in one song, sometimes in the same line - his music is filled with raw emotion and passion and the stories he tells through song are outstanding. I love the split screen music video for Nomads - a nice piece of filming there!

The Tiger & Me - I Left The Wolves Behind That Night and Pantomime
The Tiger & Me are a wonderful sextet from Melbourne, Australia. Having six talented musicians, including three lead singers, in one band, you would expect the music to be very complex and unusual - it is, and that is part of the beauty of the band. Combining elements of folk, rock, waltz, gypsy and pop, and mixing them together, this band creates some truly wonderful and unique pieces of music. They have recently released a new album The Drifter's Dawn which features the wonderfully bright Pantomime. The epically good I Left The Wolves Behind That Night comes from their amazing album From A Liar To A Thief. The video of that particular song that I have included is great - wonderfully shot, and really shows how talented this band is. Enjoy!

Hope these few songs have brightened up you're day wherever you are!
Best Wishes 

Thoughts on a Mumford & Sons Concert

I am a little apprehensive of this post, for it is not the kind that I intended to do when I set up my blog. However, I felt compelled to share my thoughts on this subject, for it is very dear to me. Last Tuesday I was lucky enough to see Mumford & Sons in the Newcastle Metro Radio Arena. (I apologize for the quality of the photos, they were taken on my phone) I cannot describe in words how wonderful it was to see my favourite band in concert.  The power of music always amazes me. Here are my humble thoughts...

Starting with a quick word about the support acts. The first was a British band called the Post War Years. Because I have never really liked that style of music, I was surprised to find my self really enjoying their performance - the energy and love the talented young men had for their music was obvious, and watching them perform was compelling. I was rather in awe of the lead singer's dancing - a strange dance it was but intriguing! The second act was the Dawes, all the way from America. I enjoyed their songs and will look more into their music. Obviously, the crowd went wild when Marcus Mumford was invited to do a song with them!

 Finally, it was the turn of Mumford & Sons. As was to be expected the place was in uproar - the starting song was the magnificent Babel. Though I go regularly to concerts, I have never been standing, so was a little taken a back by the energy of the crowd, but by the end of the song I was jumping and singing along with everybody. Our proximity to the stage exceeded my expectations (front row!) - Ted Dwane was less than a metre away and I was able to see his beautiful Movember moustache!

The gig went on for longer than I expected - for over two hours! They played about 15 songs; classics from Sigh No More and newer tracks from Babel. Thistle and Weeds was exceptionally beautiful; with a really long building intro and the tension is slowly built up into a most divine and well composed piece of music. Hopless Wanderer was, obviously, a great one to hear live - the energy of the band is infectious! I was very pleased that Broken Crown was included, for it is my favourite; a dark but hauntingly beautiful song. It was also lovely to see Winston Marshall sing For Those below on his own - he has a beautiful voice - the audience went silent. A very surreal moment.

When we thought the concert was sadly coming to an end, the band went off stage; but then appeared at the other side of the hall. For we were at the front of the main stage, we could not see them, but heard the band play an acoustic rendition of Timshel and Reminder. Again, the crowd fell silent and it was incredible moment to hear the divine voices echoing round the place. The encore was The Cave (epic!) and The Dawes came back on to play With a Little Help From My Friends together. A very fitting ending to an incredible night.

What a great concert! I still cannot believe that I have been able to see Mumford & Sons. The energy and passion they have for their music is incredible and infectious. It is obvious that they love performing their songs and that really comes through when watching them live. Because this is a band who primarily focus on live performances, it is incredible to see them in reality, much better than listening to their albums. I definitely recommend their concerts to anyone who loves this incredible band or even just loves concerts in general. Apart from going to the Tate's Pre-Raphaelite exhibition (review coming next week), seeing Mumford & Sons has been the highlight of my life!