Recent entries created by Mathew Mannion

Christmas Number One

Please, for the love of God, buy Jeff Buckley’s version of Hallelujah instead of that X-Factor tosh, because it really is much better.

Buy from Amazon MP3

Mathew Mannion : 15 Dec 2008 09:21 |  Comments (17) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Are Hot Chip the coolest band ever?

Just how awesome is this track!?

Hot Chip – Shake a Fist

Discuss.

Mathew Mannion : 15 Feb 2008 13:02 |  Tags: Audio Cool Hot Chip Music |  Comments (9) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Bishes, hos, driving music

Music is a wonderful thing. Since I’m completely deaf from the waist down, I often have the music very, very loud in my car, and I sing quite a lot louder than that. It passes the time while I sit waiting in queues for idiots. What surprises me though is how enjoyable it is to hear old, crap songs when compared to new, very good stuff.

Let’s take the example of today. I was stuck in traffic on the M42 (not an uncommon occurrence), feeling very tired and horrid and icky, listening (and singing) to Interpol. That’s all well and good, and I listened to a few other things as well (Foo Fighters, Radiohead etc). But then I got bored and stuck Radio One on, for the dreaded Wonder Years (which must go by some kind of mantra of “an oldie but a shittie”).

Gotta say though, I heard Ol’ Dirty Bastard ft. Kelis – Got Ya Money, and it’s probably the most fun I’ve had on my own while in a car between the hours of 5pm and 6pm on the last day of the month when that day is a Friday. I’m not sure if it was the frustration, the volume or the over the top singing of the wrong words by myself, but it was the best thing ever. What a fantastic driving choon! Almost enough to make me wish it was 2001 again…

Mathew Mannion : 01 Dec 2007 01:43 |  Tags: Audio Kelis Music Nostalgia Odb Old Dirty Bastard |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Radiohead – In Rainbows

It’s good.

http://www.inrainbows.com

Mathew Mannion : 10 Oct 2007 10:07 |  Tags: In Rainbows Radiohead |  Comments (4) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Needs more strings

Radio 1 has literally jizzed itself with glee at the fact that they’ve had a positive response to starting to play the track “Hey There Delilah” by Plain White T’s. The track has done pretty well, not least in that it reached the top of the charts in the US over a year after its initial release (as Wikipedia says, no doubt because of it’s appeal to weepy housewives as well as teenagers).

When I listen to it though, it’s just… bland. But when you listen to it closely, I think I know what’s missing; cliche as it is on an emo-acoustic track, it needs strings. Not in the first verse, of course, oh no – it needs them in the second verse. Gentle violins playing what the guitar is trying to emulate with a cellist line. Awesome.

I wish I had the skills to mash up some strings into this (I think if I had a midi keyboard it would take me all of about 20 minutes to show you what I mean), but you can just imagine in the meantime.

Amazon

Alternatively, buy it on iTunes, saving yourself £7.

Mathew Mannion : 01 Aug 2007 09:43 |  Tags: Acoustic Music Plain White Ts Strings Video |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

A new addiction

Kate Nash. ♥

Kate Nash – Foundations

Thanks Eddie

Mathew Mannion : 01 Jul 2007 10:19 |  Tags: Kate Nash Music Video |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Call For Submission: Mashups

I hereby demand mashups! They can occasionally be better than the original, which makes them wonderfully special.

As first contributor to this, I give you a Loo and Placido mashup of The Beatles’ (Girl), Black-eyed Peas (Let’s Get It Started), Ludacris and Kelis. Much better than the original version of Girl :)

Loo & Placido – Black Beatles

Send MP3s of mashups here: http://files.warwick.ac.uk/mmannion/sendto

Mathew Mannion : 29 Jun 2007 14:48 |  Tags: Audio Beatles Black-Eyed Kelis Ludacris Mashups Peas |  Comments (2) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Rumble Strips

I went to see The Rumble Strips headlining the NME new music tour recently, and considering that I had never heard of them, I was pretty happy to now have. A lovely, lively mix of ska and indie that begs to be sung along with, combined with everyone going pretty bloody mental at the gig.

I love the lyrics on Alarm Clock as well:

Well my alarm clock he ain’t working
But I don’t really mind
Cause he ain’t no friend of mine
He kept waking me up all the time
Saying

Beep, beep, beep
Get on your feet
You gotta get a job
Cause you’re in too deep
Oh no, oh no

Well I don’t like doing things
That other folks tell me to do
So I hit him with a hammer
And now he’s quite subdued

And when I wake up in the morning
He don’t even make a sound
And my life ain’t slipping away
Because his hands don’t turn around

Beep, beep, beep
Get on your feet
You gotta get a job
Cause you’re in too deep
Oh no, oh no

Bonus tracks

The Rumble Strips – 4 Walls
The Rumble Strips – My, Oh My

Mathew Mannion : 11 Jun 2007 10:21 |  Tags: Audio Music The Rumble Strips |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Damn Coolest Mixtape in all the land

Lately, I’ve got into more and more music that is the epitome of cool as hell funktronica. Here, I share with you some of the funkiest. Buy these albums, players.

Hot Chip – The Beach Party [Buy Coming on Strong]
Maroon 5 – If I Never See Your Face Again [Buy It Won’t Be Soon Before Long]
Calvin Harris – Vegas [Buy I Created Disco]

Mathew Mannion : 23 May 2007 14:58 |  Tags: Audio Calvin Harris Cool Hot Chip Maroon 5 Mixtape Music |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The Rakes Live From Amsterdam Webcast

Writing about web page http://www.fabchannel.com/the_rakes

The Rakes will be performing live tonight from Melkweg in Amsterdam at 7.30pm. The entire concert will be webcast live over the Internet with both video and audio on fabchannel.com and after tonight the concert will be included in the video archive to watch on-demand.

The Rakes – Fabchannel Webcast

Mathew Mannion : 18 Apr 2007 13:59 |  Tags: Live Music The Rakes Webcast |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem