With another UK tour in full swing, the electropop fueled, fresh faced boys of Bangor – supported by fellow Northern Irish cool-young-things Kowalski and We Have Band, from the musical left field – strike a fresh pose; popping the cherry of the newly refitted Northumbria SU and erasing the fresh scent of newly-lacquered flooring and fresh paint with the bitter aroma of the young Indie tribe rubbing together with furious intent. Granted, the Northumbria SU isn’t the Mecha of music – unlike the grand halls of Bristol and Manchester – that these boys much deserve since their big-time debut “Tourist History” was delivered in February. But their faces donned a joyous glee that smacks of euphoria; like a band that still can’t believe they’ve made it, as they, somewhat meekly, mutter “Hello Newcastle” into the mic and dish out platitudes to the overjoyed, wanting crowd.
The Northern Irish trio of Alex Trimble, Sam Halliday and Kevin Baird, and their debut album Tourist History, are perhaps one of 2010′s freshest and most engaging new music darlings and – unlike the majority of the plethora of indie rockers and electro pop pervaders - have a unique essence that is sorely lacking since the erstwhile days of Radiohead and Bloc Party.
Example’s (28 year old Elliot John Gleave) second album has recently dropped with a mighty, dub-step and electro-pop thud onto the charts with a list of production credits that would cause any dismissive cynic to take notice; with the likes of Chase & Status, MJ Cole and Sub Focus lining up out the door of the recording studio. With the assistance of such well-known and musically adept artists, you wouldn’t be wrong to assume that Won’t Go Quietly was a musical and lyrical voyage of epic proportions, but unfortunately, it’s simply average.
With a little assistance from Lily Allen (in the form of the collab Just Be Good To Green) and the white rap scene crafted by the success of artists such as Eminem in the US and Example in the UK, Professor Green has seen himself pushed quick-smart into the mainstream with his first studio album – Alive Till I’m Dead. Not surprisingly, as this is a shot at the more subdued, calmer mainstream, the album is inherently popier then his earlier offerings (The Green Lectures) but, unlike Dizzee Rascal’s latest creations, Green still retains a degree of sharp-edged street vernacular.
I just recently – as in the last few moments – added a little QR Code to the blog. In case you don’t know, all the thousands hundred dozens few of my regular readers, a QR Code (or Quick Response Code) is a dot matrix representation of various forms of information that can be scanned by readers, and more recently phones, to reveal URLs, voucher codes, location-based information and much, much more.
My little code simply redirects to the website itself, in case a reader wanted to view the site on a mobile browser. If so, download QRReader (for the iPhone) or Barcode Scanner for Android. Here’s a larger database with a huge range of phones and compatible readers for you to start scanning quick-smart.
At the moment I’m not to sure what to do with this little QR Code, but I’m thinking a little viral marketing may be inorder to, lets say, ‘vastly increase’ my Alexa rating.
I recently had the pleasure of being on the the set of the Channel Five cookery programme – Street Market Chefs – hosted by Market Kitchen’sAmanda Lamb; a presenter and former model who, along with the production company HotBed Media, were filming in the picturesque Welsh idyll of Abergavenny.
Here’s another example of Cardiff’s many side streets and alleyways becoming the notice-board for the rebellious antics of the anarchic proletariat. This reappearance is close to the original – within a mile of one another in the Cathays district of Cardiff – and goes to show that the artists’ stenciling skills are still a little lax.
My desktop wallpaper has, yet again and impossibly, changed its stripes to a more ‘fantastical’ guise that comes straight from the digital and concept art blog CoolVibe.
Here’s yet another example of the numerous slogans, slurs and sobering statements stroon across the brick and concrete walls of Cardiff; anti-consumerist prose, somewhat sprayed haphazardly and found on numerous walls, garage doors and stuttering across the Welsh capital.
It would seem that not all the residents of Cardiff are fans of urban art declaring mutual love and friendship, as the desecrated image below demonstrates all too well. This happened several nights ago and I’ve just now captured a few pictures.
The piece is still – mostly – untouched, as it would seem the vandal of the vandalism wasn’t too happy with “Eu Te Amo” or “I Love You” in Portuguese. They must not of been a child of the world like me or the original artiste.
