I’m going to be the first to say that I’ve never really been big on the whole alt-rock, indie (for lack of a better phrase) ’scene’ and Biffy Clyro, as long as they’ve been in my mind (which is some considerable time thanks to the album cover for The Vertigo of Bliss), have never really grabbed me until recent months and the release of Only Revolutions provoked my interest enough for me to give a hoot.

I must say, I’ve been a big fan of recent singles ‘Mountains’ and ‘That Golden Rule’, however, with the release of the new single ‘The Captain’, my fan status has been revoked back to murder status. Unfortunately for me/everyone, said single is the opener on Only Revolutions. Now I’m going to let you in on what’s probably no secret and that is, I am a fairly angry man. I was lucky enough to be walking along when I heard this track so luckily there was nothing to hand to smash to pieces, I nearly killed someone who looked at me funny but I stopped myself. Anyway, ‘The Captain’ is like Scouting For Girls, it’s not lyrically terrible but musically frustrating. I guess they must have just got fed up of having NO money.

Anyway, rage aside, the following 11 songs are fantastic, which makes ‘The Captain’ such a strange inclusion on an otherwise flawless album. Stand out tracks like ‘God & Satan’, an excellent acoustic number and tracks like ‘Shock Shock’ and ‘Bubbles’ have some great musical ideas going on with the latter having a build up/breakdown that most bands could only ever dream about.

Simon Neil’s vocals are excellently heartfelt and harsh in equal doses and the album seems a very much personal affair. It’s worth noting that the album name is based on the book of the same name by author Mark Z. Danielewski (I frigging love/loathe The House of Leaves) which is a book on changes and intertwining lives through history, seen via the eyes of two characters; it’s a very personal affair and something which is reflected in this release.

Only Revolutions will win many new Biffy Clyro fans and doesn’t deviate so sharply as to alienate the older ones and good for them, but if they release another song like ‘The Captain’ I’m going to have to kill EVERYONE.

1. “The Captain” – 3:43
2. “That Golden Rule” – 3:50
3. “Bubbles” – 5:01
4. “God & Satan” – 3:10
5. “Born on a Horse” – 2:49
6. “Mountains” – 3:21
7. “Shock Shock” – 3:04
8. “Many of Horror” – 4:19
9. “Booooom, Blast and Ruin” – 3:17
10. “Cloud of Stink” – 2:56
11. “Know Your Quarry” – 3:29
12. “Whorses” – 3:56

[RS] [MultiUp]

A long overdue review of Biffy Clyro, Cardiff University Great Hall, October 25, 2009…

After a long, long weekend of (Sŵn) festival fun I was more than ready to call it a day and go to bed, with the intention of completing an impending deadline the next morning. However, I had booked my Biffy Clyro tickets months and months in advance and there was no way I was going to miss it. So with a can of Red Bull in tow I headed off to the front of the SU only to be unexpectedly met by a crowd of snogging neon-clad 14 year-olds queuing for Chase & Status, before making my way to the back, and correct entrance…

The first incarnation of Biffy Clyro was formed in 1995. The band hail from Kilmarnock, just outside of Glasgow, and is made up of childhood friends Simon Neil (vocals/guitar) and twins James (bass/vocals) and Ben Johnston (drums/vocals). United by a love of underground, experimental rock and post-hardcore bands such as Braid and Karate, along with the more famous Guns N’Roses and Metallica, the band soon sharpened their own unique sound, a strangely beautiful mixture of off-kilter tempos, impulsive guitars, untamed choruses and raw screams, all jumbled together to create a sound that sat far apart from anything else being recorded at the time, both in character and – thanks to their bold refusal to uproot from their hometown for the wider music community of London – geographically too.

The band’s first three albums – Blackened Sky (2002), The Vertigo Of Bliss (2003) and Infinity Land (2004) – arrived in an onslaught of creativity, a record released every year and relentless touring assembled a small but devoted legion of followers. Biffy Clyro’s ranks grew even more when their more commercial album Puzzle (2007) was released, stunning listeners with its achingly personal, rich and complex take on rock anthems. The band soon found themselves playing Wembley Stadium with Muse, headlining the John Peel Stage at Glastonbury and performing with The Rolling Stones. U2 even supported them at a special Little Noise session at London’s Union Chapel, although the band claim their biggest musical highlight came when they headlined in front of a hometown crowd at Glasgow’s SECC.

Cardiff University’s misleadingly named Great Hall is not exactly the SECC. Having seen Biffy Clyro twice before in 2003 and 2007, and at much bigger venues, it seemed ironic that the band has never been bigger, yet this venue was the smallest I’ve seen them in.

Disappointingly main support Manchester Orchestra were unable to play the first batch of Biffy shows due to previous touring commitments, which meant that Pulled Apart By Horses were the only support. Having seen them at (Sŵn) only two days before it was easy to make comparisons between the two performances. Although the band played the same set list they as their (Sŵn) gig, the performance was completely different. Although they definitely have the presence to fill a large stage, I much preferred their set at Clwb Ifor Bach as their songs sounded much louder, and the closer proximity of the band and audience helped to create most of the energy at the gig. That said, the audience responded well to their songs and on-stage banter and the Leeds four-piece certainly fired up the crowd for the main act.

Kicking off with That Golden Rule- the first single from the band’s latest album Only Revolutions- along with an epic display of lights, set the bar for the high-paced energy of the rest of the gig. Due to the band being invited to support Muse once more on their UK and European tour, Biffy Clyro had the bring forward the dates of their own tour. However, with their Only Revolutions album due for release halfway through the rescheduled tour dates, a lot of their set was brand new to the audience. Although hearing songs for the first time live is an amazing experience, it was also one of the gig’s weaker points, as fans were expecting more of Biffy Clyro’s more familiar back catalogue. This, combined with the fact that the band only played four songs from their first three, and infinitely better albums, meant that most of my favourite Biffy Clyro songs, and old live favourites such as Wave Upon Wave Upon Wave, Toys Toys Toys Choke Toys Toys Toys, Convex Concave, Eradicate The Doubt and My Recovery Injection were discarded in exchange for almost the entirety of Puzzle.

A less-hairy Simon Neil showcasing beautiful melodies and his even more beautiful tattoos...

Although the band played an amazing set to a packed venue, it was probably the least enjoyable gig I’ve seen them play, partly due to the overwhelming presence of new, unknown material, and partly due to the band’s lack of interaction with the audience. Although I realise that the main reason for touring is to promote new releases, the fact that aside from the two singles, The Captain and TGR, no one knew the songs, and the titles were not even introduced, meant that there was a slight air of confusion from the audience. Only two words were uttered the whole hour and 45 minutes the band were on stage, with Simon Neil saying “Awesome” and then “Beautiful” after the crowd had finished singing the melodic endings of Machines and All The Way Down. There was rightly a lot of love in the room for the band, so luckily this lack of interaction did not detract away from the incredible music they were playing.

Whether playing their metal epics, or exposing the more vulnerable side of their music with softer personal ballads, Biffy Clyro never fail to disappoint musically. Although the set list seemed to be aimed at the newer legions of Biffy fans, with the last song of the encore being their most commercially successful single Mountains, the band were still on top form, and demonstrating how they have managed to remain on top of their game for nearly 15 years. With the release of Only Revolutions and their support slot with Muse this winter, Biffy Clyro look set to increase their fan following even more over the next year. Only time will tell whether, which such an enormous back catalogue of amazing songs, the band will ever decide to unleash many of their earlier songs live again…

As ever, WordPress is not letting me upload any of the videos I took… these will be up soon, promise!

Hi,

Why, hello, blogging universe! How’s it been going? Good, I hope? Unfortunately my normal time spent obsessing over you has been neglected, thanks to, as I have mentioned a thousand times before, good ol’ NaNoWriMo. I apologize for that, if you care, but all this writing is quite miserable lately. My characters are crap, my storyline is crap, my sentences are crap, etcetera. It’s the sort of ordeal when I think all it’s doing is leaving me a worse writer. And like I don’t like writing as much as I did going in. Oh well, I guess. It’s hard to describe how fantastic it feels to be writing–here, now–out of enjoyment and choice, as opposed to “ugh…okay, word count….678 words..ugh….come on, Naomi, hold it together only another half hour to go.” as it has been all week. I’m in the home straight for all of that though, hallelujah.

Right, now moving on. Thanks to the time gap since my last writing(November 12th? Whoa. I left for en eternity…) and to everything that’s happened in between, I guess I’ll just jump from topic to topic in some sort of Minutemade Lemonade-enduced frenzy. Ready, Set, GO.

Okay, where to start? Ah, how about last Saturday. I went to a sort-of-friend’s birthday party. I say friend, but I honestly don’t like her much. That’s sounds cruel, and yes it is, but we don’t talk very often. I don’t talk very often to most people, and therefore I can say how my opinion of a person may be difficult to read. The party was themed as an 1800s(or possibly 1700s….or 1600s….or ignorant) Tea Party(yes, seriously). The theme fell to pieces, although some people showed up in some cheap dresses. I was offered to wear one, as I think the girl was quite desperate to see me in something other than jeans and t-shirts. Dresses don’t work on me. They ended up giggling and dropping poor uses of innuendo at every turn and making those prank calls to people on their contact lists, which in itself is illogical, but somehow they seemed to gather some enjoyment from it. Also, after failing at answering truthfully in a game of Truth Or Dare and playing a game of Wii Fit with a friend and the birthday girl’s 6-year-old brother, my finest anti-social moment so far got to shine. While the others when Hiding and Seeking, I plopped myself out on the bed, grabbed her copy of Taylor Swift’s Fearless and flipped through on a “good lyric hunt”. Yes, I really don’t understand why I thought it a good idea to do such a thing, but I did.

PS; Sadly, the best lyrics are in You Belong With Me, and only because they’re relatable. I like metaphors and poetic-style stuff. And the best of those is “It rains when you’re here/and it rains when you’re gone”. I can’t remember which song that’s from, and I don’t particularly wanr to. But it’s not really like I’d find anything really outstanding, is it?

Okay, next thing, would be school. This week was our first full week since mid October, which is quite irritating. I need my sleep. A few days ago in English we read a few memoirs by Tumon Capote which were interesting. I can’t say I’ve ever been a big fan of memoirs. Life doesn’t have a plot. Memoirs don’t have plots. And what is a good story without a plot? And, of course, we had to make our own. After long verbal fights and headaches from this, I took a short, mundane(but real) setting, and created a story from it. Oh yes, I lied, basically. As a friend said to me online a few days ago, those really are the best kinds. And, guess what, I got a whole four and a quarter pages from a lie. Social Studies lately is making me fall asleep and/or hate this country to pieces, I’m afraid to say. I had a test on the Revolution on Thursday and, God, was studying for that pure torture. Sooo many names, so many battles, sooo much cramming needed. As I sat at the back of the classroom, with my pencil suffocating in my grip and “Bunker Hill, Saratoga, Yorktown” flashing back and forth in my head, I came to the realisation that “if she’s asking me for a French general’s name, I swear I’m just gonna walk out.” She didn’t, though, so unfortunately I did not get to have my diva moment as one might have hoped. Science we’re currently doing some properties of gases and it’s alright but rather repetitive. I wanna move onto the Table Of Elements, damn it! Math is currently hypotenuses of 30/60/90 and 45-45-90 triangles. I get it, but my teacher is just awful and it’d totally make sense if you didn’t get it(which is the case for the majority). No, Mister, whatever array of numbers you decide to put on the board certainly is not 6th grade math, nor is it 7th, or for all that I know, 8th. If you want us to write equations the length of the Great Wall of China, you could go ahead and teach us, right? And he calls this is the basics.

Okay, my writing was just begging for a new paragraph there, though it wasn’t necessary at all. In Espanol we’re started to write poems for the pictures we took ona a field trip a few weeks ago. Last time I checked, poetry was all about metaphors and beautiful language and all that jazz, not using online translating systems to compile 8-10 lines of crap, but hey, I could be wrong. Let’s just say I don’t really think I’m learning anything from that. Tomorrow or more likely Tuesday for Health, my group are doing our project on Stimulants. Have I mentioned this before? I can’t remember. But, as always, my group isn’t exactly the best; There’s me, and there’s the kid who does nothing and doesn’t know how to even when he wants to, there’s the friendly but careless guy who will just talk to the others most of the time but at the end of the day gets a little work done, the annoying popular guy who likes to irritate everyone else, and the stuck up super-competitive “Go go go go go” sort of guy. We shall probably survive with at least a 70%, but my whole class is sick to the core of Jeapordy games so I can’t help but think we won’t hold attention for very long. And lastly, in gym we’ve started to do badminton. I like the game relative to most others but I’m awful at playing. I’m the one who stands at the back of the group, and lunges slightly but misses whenever the birdie comes in my direction. The others say I’m kind of good, but the haven’t seen me put myself into it, really, and then they’d see how much of a failure I’d be. I gave up trying on Friday, but hey, at least we’re at the end of the “Chumps” court, so there’s not that much room for humiliation against the nerds and giggly girls.

Of course as the whole world knows, Thanksgiving’s next week. My school gets half of Wednesday off and it’s a tradition for that morning to be spent having a little 8th grade-vs-teachers football game. The day before last we got given our roles, after giving our recommendations. From an outsider’s point of view, it’s really good because everybody gets to play to their strengths; The sporty people get to play, them, um, cheerleaderish girly girls get to dance, the musicians and actors get into the halftime shows(last year they played Teen Spirit and I died of happiness <3), anybody who loves attention gets to be a super fan, and for everyone else who can’t do anything gets to be in concession. Yes, that’s where I am! Oh, my uselessness makes me so happy sometimes. I get to do nothing with my two friends and all that stuff. It’s actually something to look forward to!

Next thing. Last time I blogged, I believe, I was struggling my way through Great Expectations, yes? At last I finished that, and then I moved onto Oliver Twist. Considering my opinion of the latter, I don’t really understand why I chose that but it was okay. The pace was strange compared to the movie and the characters weren’t as good as Expectations but it was easier to handle and the plot twisted and turned a bit more to my liking. Currently I’m reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and it’s absolutely fantastic. The main character is really realistic compared to the book’s contemporaries, and I like the sci-fi genre in general, and I think the idea is really interesting. Some plot twists later have become obvious to me, I think, but it’s definitely one of the better books I’ve read so far this year and everyone should totally buy it.

Oh, and lastly; music. Only Revolutions by Biffy Clyro hasn’t arrived yet. In fact, Amazon sent an e-mail last week that said it may not get here until Christmas. There’s no way I can wait that long, so I switched an order to Best Buy and I’m hoping that may arrive in a month or so if they’re being nice. I’m trying to avoid the band so the Biffy-less days go by faster but it isn’t working too well. Hank Green(of Vlogbrothers) new CD This Machine Pwns N00bs arrived a few days ago, with the special Pre-order signed guitar pick, and it’s funny and catchy and everything I would expect of it. Lately I’ve been listening to some different stuff, and it’s been quite an interesting time for my music tastes…I’m still really loving Arctic Monkeys and have been listening to Whatever People say I Am That’s What I’m Not on repeat all week and it might just be overtaking Humbug as far as my favorite AC album goes. I’ve lost the CD pamphlet, though. I have terrible luck with CDs. I like The Beatles lately and was listening to Abbey Road earlier and it’s good. I should probably get another Beatles album for Christmas. Magical Mystery Tour, perhaps?  Also I still quite like Ellie Goulding and Under The Sheets is brilliant but I can’t buy it cause I live in this country, The Cure, The Flaming Lips, Josh Woodward, Morissey, Oasis, White Lies, and in particular Turin Brakes. Go listen to Fishing For A Dream. Yes, I don’t know how, but I’ve actually found a sappy folk song I really love.

Oh, and my guitar lessons are going well. My teacher is completely insane of course but it’s all good. I’m starting with Wake Me Up when September Ends. I haven’t liked Green Day in a year or so but it could be worse. Also, yesterday me and my teacher had a competition to guess how old Elvis Costello is and I totally won. He’s 55. Hoorah.

Have a nice week, everyone?

- Naomi

Preparations for the Merthyr Mawr 10k are well on course if today’s run is anything to go by. I ran 5.9 miles and incorporated 4 steep hills (2 long and 2 short) and a few gradual ones and although I took my time I didn’t struggle too much.

I think I’m mentally pretty much ready but physically is a slightly different issue, because much like Friday’s gym session I really found it difficult to get going, my legs felt stiff and my feet hurt but after about 2 miles and 2 short but steep hills I felt the adrenaline rushing and I finally found my stride.

I took 2 quick breaks, the first was at the foot of the first big hill for a minute or so at about 2.5 miles to compose myself and the second was at the top of it for the same reason, I never stopped again and even ran up the second big and even steeper hill without stopping before or after the climb and then ran home from there.

I never timed myself but am confident I was quite slow as I wasn’t rushing, I was more concerned with getting a good distance and getting some nice hills under my belt which I did.

The weather was terrible fluctuating from dry to drizzle to downpours and there was even a hail storm, and the wind was calm most of the but every now and then there would be a strong gush of wind which could come from any direction and would almost knock me down.

I feel tired and I have a sore right foot after the run but overall I feel good, it’s the first time I’ve run anywhere near this distance since the start of July so I’m more than happy with the run.

The run was powered by the albums “Infinity Land” by Biffy Clyro and “Individual Inconsistent” by Midget.

Zane Lowe in Teignmouth. Photo by tj.moore at Flickr.

Setlist:

1. Kasabian – Clubfoot
2. Biffy Clyro – That Golden Rule
3. Chemical Brothers vs. Party – Galvanise The Empire
4. Black Sheep – The Choice Is Yours
5. Radiohead – The National Anthem
6. U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday
7. Pink Floyd – Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)
8. Public Enemy – Fight The Power
9. Whateverman – P.E. Theme
10. Old School Break
11. John Lennon – Power To The People
12. Led Zeppelin – Immigrant Song
13. Rage Against The Machine vs. Whateverman – Killing It
14. Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name
15. Edwin Starr vs. Whateverman – What War
16. White Stripes – Seven Nation Army
17. System of a Down – Chop Suey
18. Sex Pistols – Anarchy In The UK
19. The Prodigy – Firestarter
20. The Prodigy – Warrior’s Dance
21. Ian Brown – F.E.A.R.

A radio rip is available to download for free here.

The above is not a setlist as much as this year’s most exciting megamix – and there’s a phrase I haven’t bandied around with complete abandon since 2004. Previously, I mentioned something of writing about my favourite remixes of the year and although perhaps this isn’t the ’something’ I was expecting to write, c’est la vie. This year has been fucking awful for good remixes. I could only find three that met my flaky standards. One was the Stuart Price remix of Paparazzi which I overplayed anyway and don’t really enjoy any more, and doesn’t exist much outside of the middle eight anyway. Another was the Does It Offend You, Yeah? remix of Uprising that sometimes is better than the album version – a claim which is completely reliant on my mood at any given moment in time. But I’m a complete whore for DIOY,Y remixes anyway, so it’s a completely predictable anticlimax. The third was the Filthy Dukes mix of To Lose My Life that I thought was fun for a few weeks but it dulled quickly. Thinking about it, I only really liked it because it sounded like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, White Lies and Bimbo Jones in one big melting pot, then I realised that they all do their own thing independently and it sounds better than this track. And with that thought, this brief flirtation was o-v-a-h.

I was reminiscing about the Teignmouth weekend a couple of days ago and realised that Zane Lowe’s warm up set for the evening was, not only one of the best openers I’ve seen for a band, but it fit the bill for resuscitating this dismal commentary. I’ve seen Zane DJ in a couple of other venues before, but he didn’t leave any kind of impression on me. This clicked. He actually did two half hour sets sandwiched between some really happening local bands, and the second was superior to the first, which is above. Rather annoyingly, the audio of the second never surfaced, and I don’t remember much of it other than an amazing remix of Bonkers, so I can’t even describe it. It was amazing. But back to the first set – Zane made me dance. I never dance. Ever. I’ve never understood the appeal behind DJing, or how some people are into it in the same way that I’m into peanut butter M&Ms (you’re pressing play on a track someone else created? Inspirational.) but I have a new found appreciation for it all now. Kind of.

I loved the way it was put together – though I will say that the airhorns all the way through got me excited for a play of the Freemasons remix of Ring The Alarm, which Zane obviously did not play: it was so not the audience for the Freemasons (myself aside, and I would have danced for everyone else there if it had come on),  but I loved all of the thought which had gone into each track and how it would work best in the mix. It was a great blend of genres, alongside music from today and music from ye olden days as well that provided an education for some of the younger audience members there (“Isn’t this from that Fatman Scoop song?”). It created an air of context for the set Muse went on to play, both musically and emotionally, and that’s a beautiful thing.

I would have taken System of a Down out though. I hate that song. Flobots would have worked just as well there.

Nice work Zane Looooooooooooooooooowe. I’m on board.

MON THE BIFF!!

Now five albums in the three lads from Ayr and Kilmarnock are, in my opinion, one of the best rock acts on the planet.

Although i do love this album and like all the songs, once reaching the end i feel this slight feeling of disappointment.   The reason for this is, i just wish they went back to a more Biffy of old sound. The sound I’m referring to is songs like  Toys, Toys, Toys and Glitter and Trauma from earlier albums. I really liked their heavier material. Although this is   less mainstream than there previous album Puzzle, it’s still not exactly what I was hoping they would produce.

So that’s the negative aspects of this album over with, now I can go over the many positive’s. First of all every track is really good, pretty much any of them could have been released as a single. I’ve said many a time  that i like artists who have fun with their music and mix it up, they have done that with the track Born on a Horse - one of my favs from the album -  using a sort electro piano and loads of different percussion bits and bobs, like spinners, woodblock and maracas.

Another stand out tune is Bubbles which features Josh Homme (QOTSA) who steals the show with a looong guitar solo. And Shock Shock, I really like this song, especially the way it changes pace loads of time in classic biffy style, i think this will be a great live song.

Many of horror is the catalyst of this album, its a fucking great track and in my opinion Simon Neil at his best you must listen to this one. Another great is Cloud of Stink, this one has a pretty meaty riff to it, I cant help but sing along to it.

It’s great to see Biffy getting the huge fan base now that they have worked so hard to get, they deserve it thats for sure. They had three albums out before Puzzle which thrust them in to stardom and becoming the best rock act in britain. Now five albums in the three lads from Ayr and Kilmarnock are, in my opinion, one of the best rock acts on the planet.

I remember a time, which seems many years ago but was actually not that far back, when I used to sit in my school common room during break time and watch or play on the Gamecube. I remember racing speedily along with zero gravity tracks, sweaty boys, pulses, and the sound of Biffy Clyro’s third album Glitter and Trauma. I remember slashing and hacking and generally button bashing Nintendo characters, and even further back, ducking and sniping the day away to the likes of Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Rage Against the Machine, the likes of which were all extremely new (though old to the world) and strange to my ears but eventually came to constitute large amounts of my shelf space and my ongoing musical preferences. I remember a later time, huddled around the TV cheering along to a virtual football mega-tournament including half of the boys in the year, with the song, as titled at the top of this post, adapted to the currently favoured team. “I’m feeling so Iranian like you” has always had a hugely personal feel to it, despite having never consciously met an Iranian person, let alone imagined what it would be like to feel that way. I’m much more inclined towards Bohemia, but somehow it doesn’t feel as close.

All these memories are set to music. I seem to work that way… But today I think my evening formed a memory which will not be set to a soundtrack. This evening, though my Korean friends may not agree, I feel as though I had a very Korean evening. Here’s why:

This morning was unusually warm for Autumn, especially considering my girlfriend had warned me that today would be extra cold. Well, by the time I caught the bus home from school it had gotten unnaturally chilly, and the extra layer I had carried confusedly earlier now made a lot more sense. I, however, was not feeling all too great and was not particularly looking forwards to a quiet evening at home (which I feared would turn into an evening spent canoodling my computer and it’s associated gaming software) in what was now seemingly sub-zero weather. Relatively at least. To explain why I didn’t spend the evening conquering the virtual world, I must take you even further back than this morning.

Last night I stayed up unusually late writing unusually long emails to some of those back home in the UK, having no fear of needing to wake up because the next day was SATs day. This, from what I can gather, is a listening test which happens in High schools one morning every year, and all public offices – such as schools, government buildings etc – are closed until 9 40 so that the students can get to their (very important) tests on time, even if they happen to be running late. Apparently these are so important that if I kid is running late they’re allowed to ask a  policeman for a lift to school, whence they’re whizzed off on the back of a motorbike through the unusually traffic-less roads to their test. At any rate, this meant that I could get up a full hour an a half later this morning. Unfortunately this appears to cause my routine to shake too much, and I awoke at one thirty this morning and ate breakfast, thinking I’d better start getting ready to go. Thankfully I woke up properly halfway through, finished it off and didn’t get in the shower.

I also awoke at seven-thirty, eight, and quarter past eight thinking I was late for school.

When I finally did wake up at the (self-) appointed time of eight thirty, I finished off my cereal and showered and continued to school. This sounds inconsequential, however having eaten two breakfasts this morning, instead of one today and one tomorrow, meant that I needed to go shopping to buy some more this evening or go without breakfast tomorrow, which is, frankly, unacceptable. And so, there was at least one event planned for my evening which might otherwise have been spent neglectfully.

Before I arrived in my apartment, then, I swung by the Hana-ro mart and stocked up on various fruits and goods to restock my cupboards. After this I resisted the urge to buy a cheap and huge tub of ice cream, and instead bought a lovely doughnut from Dunkin’ Donuts! Unfortunately most people don’t realise that the name implies that you should dunk your doughnut in some coffee, however I occasionally fulfil this obligation. This evening, however, I didn’t, and continued they long journey to my room (Dunkin’ is in my apartment block). Before I got to the elevator though, I realised that, rather unlike me, I felt like buying some 떡볶이 (Ddeok-bokgi)!

This is a common snack in Korea and can be bought at roadside tents every fifty metres, and is effectively rice cake in rather spicy sauce. This I bought for the pricy sum of two thousand Won (one pound), and after successfully exchanging a few comments in Korean such as “Do you want it spicy”, “Yes, I like spicy Ddeok-bokgi!”, “Oh, you speak Korean well!” and ”Thanks”, I went up to my room.

Upon walking through my door I realised that the loud drumming and music I had heard outside (but haven’t mentioned until now) was actually across the road from my apartment block, and would continue to be loud and rhythmic for some time to come. You seem to be able to play extremely loud music on the streets occasionally with no consequences… I’m not sure if this is because they got a license or if it’s just the culture, however it provided a particularly Korean backdrop to my dinner, which was eaten whilst I sat cross-legged on my bed watching Power Puff Girls on TV.

Powerpuff Girls? Yes, but not as you know them, in fact, I watched 파워 퍼프 걸Z (Paweoh Peopeuh Geolzeuh), in which the girls were seemingly older than their English counterparts, had strange personal weapons, had as much leg showing as possible along with every other celebrity in this highly conservative culture and, in this episode, were fighting against strange mutant Sushi which had somehow gained consciousness, grown significantly and was devastatingly attacking the local city. After they had been defeated by the doctor’s clever chemical formula (one of which had probably caused the problem in the first place), the girls didn’t hesitate in eating the formerly-deadly fish. They celebrated in an appropriately cute Korean style as I happily munched on my chewy spicy ricey cakes and ignored the ever louder drums.

And when this had finished I flicked over only to find a strangely impressive Gordon Brown giving a speech at the Berlin Wall anniversary celebrations, which, if you missed them, included the domino-like falling of a huge amount of giant dominoes, which I can only assume was meant to symbolise the falling down of something a little more significant. And all this comes just a week before President Obama was due to visit Seoul to discuss a somewhat similar situation involving communists and a nation divided by a big line and political tensions. One couldn’t help but wonder how long it would take for the reunification of the Koreas to manifest itself, if, indeed, it ever does. I think I can hear on the wind that it might be becoming more likely in the near future…

Whilst I pondered these deep and complicated issues I sat and ate a persimmon.

Looking back, it was a completely ordinary day, but ordinary in what struck me as a Korean way. And, I guess, Korean is ordinary for me now. Come visit me, see if you can feel what I mean… And someone tell me how strange it is that being here is normal. I feel like it feels a lot less strange than it should.

톰

Biffy Clyro – The Captain

Gone is the piercing jagged shell that once encased Ayrshire screamster darlings Biffy Clyro, storing them safe away from the sycophantic smoothness of the saccharine-sweet conker that is Radio 1, Goal of the Month backing tracks and the dear old NME; the mainstream. Just as Simon Neil’s estranged locks hit the kitchen tiles around the release of critically-acclaimed cross-over behemoth, Puzzle, a few years back, Biffy have fallen from the tree of post-hardcore insanity, smoothing over their once sharpened, glitchy edges and exposing the vulnerable pop sensibilities that perpetually threatened to seep out from day one, back in the days of Blackened Sky (see Justboy, 57 or Joy.Discovery.Invention for signs of live before Mountains recently erupted).

Only Revolutions, the trio’s fifth attempt, is a quizzical listen. Neil somewhat controversially backs conversing with God in equal measure to Satan in order to “hear both sides” on acoustic lullaby and Machines of the record if you will, God &amp; Satan, which goes some way as to cranking open the wealth of hidden intricacies that lace Only Revolutions. There’s a sense of conflicting interests embedded within, the striving for success set against the experimental tendencies and barking lyrics etched all over Infinity Land; Born On A Horse sets squelching synths against pristine guitar sheens and ludicrous lyricisms (“I pronounce it aluminium cos there’s an I next to the U and M” wouldn’t quite scale the top ten summits of Mountains) whereas the climactically frantic string squeals of That Golden Rule shriek with a neck-jerking urgency entirely absent from the power pop pieces of Puzzle, bar its frenetic opener. Quite whether their arena-conquering glistening alt. rock is the divine or the devilish voice piping up at the back of Neil’s mind is far from conclusive; Cloud Of Stink layers the least harmonious of vocals committed to plastic since The Wave Pictures and falls as flat as a leaky post-op Winehouse, whereas the endearing glinting guitar rays of possible chart-pillager Whorses shine supreme. Bubbles floats majestically to the forefront of the record alongside the swashbuckling stomps of The Captain yet filled with contradictions, Only Revolutions is vastly vapid, as Booooom, Blast &amp; Ruin, Know Your Quarry and Shock Shock make about as much impact as a Leon Jackson convention on a drizzly Monday morning in Scarborough.

Far from their ‘finest hour’ Only Revolutions blends the fruits of Biffy’s past labours into an equal-parts sweet and sour concoction, more puzzling than Puzzle, equally as blissful as the convoluted chaos of Vertigo of Bliss yet far brighter from the darkness of a Blackened Sky, there’s not a whole load of Revolution here. Yet nor is there any sense of resolution, leaving the good ship Biffy to sail deeper into unchartered territories yet over the coming years…

Scottish rock trio go full circle in their latest release

Biffy Clyro have offered up their fifth LP in Only Revolutions. Following on from the breakthrough 2007 success Puzzle the Scots have made a definite transition across the musical landscape.

Opening track and recent single ‘The Captain’ gets the boys off to an auspicious beginning. Enough ‘woah-ohs’ to fill half a Kaiser Chiefs album and strings to boot, it’s a definite attention grabber and a sign that the band hasn’t strayed too far from their last album.

Much of the album continues in the vein of Biffy’s new found love for catchy pop-rock, but tracks like ‘Bubbles’ really show where the band are at. It is the essence of a cheesy pop song. Upbeat hook, repetitive chanting chorus and the lyric “She’ll wash away your sins.” This move isn’t necessarily an evolution of the band, rather the acknowledgement that it is hard to eke out a living in the music industry with compromising some of your values.

This isn’t a bad record, the songs are structured well, the riffs are catchy and Simon Neil’s vocals are on form, but there’s a lack of heart to it. The acoustic refrains in ‘Puzzle’ were both an expression of guilt and grief for the loss of his mother. In ‘Only Revolutions’ they mean nothing but a foray into the world of mainstream pop.

6 out of 10

Debido a la final de tenis de la Copa Davis de Barcelona y a los entrenamientos del equipo nacional español de tenis, MUSE vió como lamentablemente su concierto programado para el 27 de Noviembre no se podía llevar a cabo en dicha fecha.

Pero el grupo ha reorganizado su gira de tal manera que sus fans de Barcelona podrán verlos actuar en una nueva fecha: Martes 24 de Noviembre en el mismo recinto. Lógicamente, las entradas del concierto del 27 de Noviembre serán válidas para la nueva fecha.

Leemos en la página de la promotora: “Esta situación desafortunadamente esta fuera del control de MUSE y de LiveNation y ambos piden disculpas por las molestias que este cambio de fecha haya podido ocasionar”.

MUSE asegura que “estarán ofreciendo su show completo y que están ansiosos de ver a sus fans en Barcelona”. Les acompañan en su nueva aventura europea los escoceses Biffy Clyro, presentando el enorme Only Revolutions.

Fuente: LIVE NATION.

La expectación que generó el lanzamiento de Only Revolutions, quinto largo de Biffy Clyro, ha sido máxima, casi exagerada, y aumentaba a medida que sacaban adelantos. Primero, la imponente ‘That Golden Rule’, con un final de infarto gracias a unos arreglos de cuerda impactantes; luego, la todavía más sorprendente, teatral y barroca ‘The Captain’. Disfruta los dos temas, del tirón, con su actuación para la BBC en el Maida Vale. ¡Mon the Biffy!

the words just don’t come at all.

Après le succès retentissant de Puzzle (élu album de l’année outre-manche par le magazine Kerrang), Biffy Clyro était attendu de pied ferme pour son nouvel album.

 Only Revolutions poursuit sur la voie ouverte par son prédécesseur : un rock énergique et inventif, plus accessible mais sans aucune concession pour autant. La recette du succès à coup sûr.

Biffy Clyro est sorti du lot en 2007 en Grande-Bretagne avec l’album Puzzle, encensé par la critique et le public. Un succès provoqué par une musique plus accessible tout en restant dans l’esprit unique du trio écossais. Quitte à laisser certains fans de la première heure sur le bas côté de la route.

Avec Only Revolutions, la volonté du groupe de toucher le plus grand nombre d’auditeurs se ressent encore plus. L’assaut sonore a commencé avant la sortie de l’album avec Mountains, plus gros succès single du groupe, finalement intégré au nouvel opus. Une introduction au piano tout en douceur, avant 3 minutes d’énergie pure à coups de refrain ultra fédérateur (“I am the mountain, I am the sea / You can’t take that away from me”).

L’album commence par The Captain et ses instruments à vent qui peuvent faire fuir le fan à la première écoute. Pourtant, le titre livre son intérêt à force d’entendre les “OhOhOhOh” du refrain qu’on se surprend à reprendre tout seul dans sa salle de bains. Puis vient That Golden Rule et le retour du son identifiable de Biffy Clyro, rythme à 100 à l’heure et riffs de guitare puissants. Le final avec les instruments à cordes vient clore la boucle instrumentale entamée avec Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies, morceau d’ouverture d’anthologie de Puzzle.

Le sans faute se poursuit avec Bubbles, première vraie pépite de l’album. Du rythme, une boucle de guitare immédiatement accrocheuse, un refrain en béton. Et surtout un final instrumental maîtrisé de bout en bout, où Josh Homme vient gratter de la guitare. Un conseil : à écouter avec un casque, pour apprécier les boucles sonores qui viennent s’entremêler pour le plus grand plaisir de l’auditeur. God & Satan offre une première pause bienvenue, même si le titre n’égale pas un Eleanor du précédent album.

Born On A Horse sonne l’heure de la récréation avec ses paroles dénuées de sens. Un titre qui déçoit quelque peu par son manque d’originalité, marque de fabrique de Biffy Clyro. Le niveau remonte aussitôt avec Mountains, titre qui mérite complètement de figurer sur l’album tant par sa complémentarité avec les autres titres que par sa puissance propre.

Le titre suivant, Shock Shock, est maîtrisé de bout en bout, pour une composition poussée dans ses derniers retranchements. Many Of Horror, deuxième accalmie de ce nouvel opus, déçoit pour les mêmes raisons que God & Satan. Mais l’enchaînement à venir va définitivement enfoncer le clou.

Booooom, Blast & Ruin fait taper du pied dès la première note. Pas d’originalité ici mais une efficacité redoutable du début à la fin. Puis vient Cloud Of Stink, autre pépite de l’album. Des choeurs venus d’ailleurs, le batteur ou le bassiste qui donne de la voix avant de laisser la place au chanteur et un pont qui fait tomber les derniers murs encore en place jusqu’au mur de guitares de conclusion.

Know Your Quarry calme le jeu avec une pop taillée pour la radio. On se suprend à chantonner le refrain (“I just want to feel your body / I want you to know your quarry”) dès la premire écoute. Des paroles mises en relief par des cordes très présentes qui apportent une réelle ampleur au titre. Un prochain single à coup sûr. La dernière page de l’album se tourne avec Whorses, synthèse du son actuel de Biffy Clyro, tout en énergie et mélodie.

Au final, Only Revolutions est taillé pour le succès, bien qu’il reste en-dessous de la barre placée très haute par son prédécesseur Puzzle. En 2009, Biffy Clyro joue en première partie de Muse à Bercy, passe à la télévision anglaise, s’offre des clips aux airs de mini-Pirates des Caraïbes (la vidéo moyenne de The Captain) et fait la couverture de tous ls magazines musicaux anglais. Mais Biffy Clyro reste fidèle à lui-même :  un groupe au succès venu après plusieurs albums, et qui cherche continuellement à se renouveler dans son approche de la musique. “Le nouveau meilleur groupe de rock britannique”, comme a titré dernièrement la presse outre-manche ? Si le reste de son oeuvre est de cette qualité, sans nul doute.

Biffy Clyro special.

16th November 2009

Tracklisting:

The Stranglers — (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
The Phantom Band — Throwing Bones
Mariachi El Bronx — Litigation
Steve Mason — All Come Down
Cuddly Shark — Bowl Of Cherries
Hot Chip — Take It In
Wolfmother — Phoenix
Frànçois & the Atlas Mountains — Be Water
The Pogues — If I Should Fall From Grace With God
The Wildebeests — One Minute’s Time
Jaga Jazzist — One-Armed Bandit
Withered Hand — New Dawn
Biffy Clyro — That Golden Rule
Aereogramme — Post-Tour Pre-Judgement
Biffy Clyro — Captain (live acoustic)
Biffy Clyro — Born On A Horse
Frightened Rabbit — Swim Until You Can’t See Land
Biffy Clyro – Semi-Mental
Biffy Clyro – My Recovery Injection
Biffy Clyro – Mountains

November I’ve always thought was kind of okay. It’s the start of the chilly season, so short days, wrapping up warm and eating big hearty meals by the fire in my fictional country home that lives in my mind, seems all cosy and romantic. Come February you’ll find I have a rather different attitude to the colder season, which is generally one of ‘FUCK THE FUCK OFF!’. But for now, get a woolly jumper on, drink some warm cider and make the most of the insane amount of live music going on right now.

Last week (as an example of November being heavy on the live music) was insanely gigtastic for myself. It went down like this:

Flaming Lips at The Troxy

Wednesday - Incredible scenes at Oh, Inverted World at the Old Queens Head. It was such a special night, so huge thanks to Player Piano, Mariners Children and Treetop Flyers. Thanks also to Dave Depares for his awesome DJing – the boy has skillz.

Thursday – The Mighty Mighty Biffy Clyro at Brixton Academy: Amazing amazing amazingness.

Friday – Tegan and Sara at Shepherds Bush Empire: Brilliant girly fun.

So all that music was nice. There’s also been a few new tunes rocking my world in these newly chilly days. First is the pretty wonderful Think About Life from Montreal. A cross between Black Kids, TV On The Radio, and, er something very pop. They’re just amazing and I’ve pretty much not stopped playing ‘Havin’ My Baby’ for the past two weeks. They released an album earlier this year called ‘Family’ that I don’t think is available in the UK, but those lucky American and Canadians can purchase away.

Here are two tracks from the new album:

Havin’ My Baby – Think About Life

Johanna – Think About Life

Some time ago a band called Venice Is Sinking from Athens, Georgia contacted us. They were nice enough to send over a copy of their new album ‘Azar’ and it’s actually really great. It’s college orchestral indie-rock, if such a genre exists, and is definitely worth some of your listening time.

Here they are!

oh, and an mp3 too! Man, do we spoil you…
Compass – Venice is Sinking

So that’s it for today. We’ll hopefully have some news for you guys soon about the next Oh, Inverted World night that’s going to come and make your life worth living. We promise it won’t be long.

ok this is my first tab - its just the violin bit for that golden rule  

D|-17------------------17------------------------------------------| x2
A|-----15--18--15----------15--18--15--15--15--15--15--------------|
F|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
C|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
C|-----------------------------------------------------------------|

D|-17--18--17--20--17--18--17--20--20--20--20--20----| x2
A|---------------------------------------------------|
F|---------------------------------------------------|
C|---------------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------------|
C|---------------------------------------------------|

play both those bits twice, then:

D|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
F|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
C|--7-------------7-----------------7-------------7---------------------------------|
G|-----5--8--5------5--8--5---------5--8--5------5--8--5----------------------------|
C|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

D|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
F|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
C|--7--8--7--10-----7--8--7--10------7--8--7--10-----7--8--7--10--------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
C|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

D|-17------------------17---------------------17--------------------17--------------|
A|-----15--18--15----------15--18--15---------15--18--15--------15--18--15----------|
F|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
C|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
C|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

D|-17--18--17--20----17--18--17--20----17--18--17--20----17--18--17--20/------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
F|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
C|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
C|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Muchas ganas tenía de escuchar lo nuevo de estos escoceses. Qué se esconde tras esta enigmática portada digna de Pink Floyd? Pues otro disco en su vena más melódica. Como la del anterior, y muy recomendable, Puzzle. A algunos puede que su propuesta les suena muy moderna… Otros puede que opinen que ya no son tan asfixiantes como antes y que se han vendido. Su estilo podría definirse como un cruce entre Foo Fightrers, QOTSA, AFI… Sí, todos ellos son grupos relativamente “nuevos” y sobretodo con estilos muy personales. Biffy Clyro pueden recordar a algunos de ellos pero de lo que no cabe duda es que también poseen un estilo propio y muy personal. Siguen mezclando cambios de ritmo, riffs entrecortados y grandes melodías. La verdad es que se trata de un disco bastante variado en el que, además, se nota que los chicos se han esforzado por sorprender. La producción es simplemente brillante. Rica en matices (ese wah-wah en Cloud Of Stink lo deja claro) pero siempre en un estudiado segundo plano. Nada que nos distraiga de la base. A alguien puede que le sorprendan los pianos, las secciones de viento y cuerda pero en realidad no son más que detalles que enriquecen el resultado final sin estropearlo.  Soy incapaz de destacar un tema por encima de otro porque todos me tienen enganchado y creo que forman un conjunto potente que se complementa a las mil maravillas. Por eso soy de los que opinan que es un disco para escuchar del tirón haciendo caso omiso de los singles.  Uno de esos discos que consigue que mantenga la fé en esto del rock and roll. Me encanta que haya bandas que respiren rock clásico las 24 horas del día pero también son necesarias otras con ganas de sorprender e innovar. Biffy Clyro puede que no sorprendan tanto como con sus primeras obras pero salta a la vista que son únicos, que tienen cosas que decir y que lo siguen intentando. Bien por ellos! 

por Rafael Matos

Somos constantemente inundados por seriados americanos nos canais pagos da TV a cabo, ou nos canais abertos que se limitam às séries mais populares em versões dubladas e em horários impraticáveis por todos aqueles que não trabalham como vigilantes noturnos. Muitas dessas séries são ótimas e uma opção super válida para aqueles que, como eu, não vêem graça nas tramas de Manuel Carlos e Glória Peres. Mas fato é que, seriados não são exclusividade dos americanos. Fazem-se outras séries em outros lugares do mundo e elas são tão boas quanto as americanas.

O seriado britânico The Inbetweeners é um ótimo exemplo. A série, que está a caminho da terceira temporada, passa no canal Channel 4 e conta a história de quatro amigos nos últimos anos de colégio e suas tentativas frustradas de serem populares e basicamente, fazerem sexo. Ok, num primeiro olhar, nada de novo aqui, história batida e contada a exaustão em filmes e em seriados americanos. A genialidade da série e as risadas vêm dos ótimos diálogos que capturam perfeitamente  a realidade de muitos adolescentes, independente da nacionalidade. Piadas sobre pais e mães, opção sexual, abstinência, álcool e muitas outras estão lá, sem pudores e em situações pra lá de constrangedoras e que fariam qualquer rabugento gargalhar. E é nesse realismo descompromissado que reside o charme da série que em momento algum tenta ser o que não é. Simplesmente  trata-se de uma comédia sobre adolescentes que querem se divertir. A série é claramente feita para o público adolescente, mas se você já passou dessa idade, mas manteve a mente aberta, com certeza irá se divertir com as situações vividas pelos protagonistas, afinal, você já foi um adolescente um dia, certo?

O quarteto de atores protagonistas são ótimos. Will (Simon Bird) cujos pais acabaram de se divorciar, é obrigado a mudar de casa e de escola. Claramente um geek, ele estudava em uma escola particular e terá que abandonar a sofisticação que que está habituado para se adaptar às regras de uma escola pública. Ele agora estuda na Rudge Park Comprehensive e terá que enfrentar as chacotas dos outros estudantes enquanto tenta ser popular e fazer novos amigos. Ele logo se aproxima de Simon (Joe Thomas), Jay (James Buckley) e Neil (Blake Harrison) mas logo descobre que seus novos parvceiros não são muito mais populares do que ele.

Com apenas 6 episódios em cada temporada (uma característica das séries inglesas, que geralmente possuem menos episódios por temporada) o programa traz uma trilha sonora inspiradíssima, contemplando várias bandas do senário britânico como Air Traffic, Arctic Monkeys, Vampire Weekend, Belle & Sebastian, Jamie T, The Libertines,  The Fratellis, Kate Nash, The Wombats, The Cure, Lily Allen, Biffy Clyro e vários outros. A música de abertura é a “Gone Up in Flames” da banda Morning Runner .

E se você está se perguntando como fazer para assistir um seriado britânico na tv, sendo que os canais só dão visibilidade aos americanos, bom… existem duas respostas. a primeira é importando o dvd das duas temporadas lançadas. A segunda opção eu não posso contar, mas se você é fissurado em seriados, certamente sabe o caminho. Então corra para conferir esse ótimo seriado, diferente de tudo que estamos acostumados a ver e aguardem que em breve traremos mais séries da terra da rainha que valem a pena ser conferidos.

PS.: a série fez tanto sucesso nas duas primeiras temporadas que já está com a terceira confirmada para 2010 e um filme também está nos planos dos criadores.

…en het was breathtaking, geweldig mooi en één van die avonden die nooit mag ophouden.

De allerliefste kon niet, dus Bekka ging mee. Good old days, want in 2003 waren we ook in de Ahoy. Dit keer gingen we netjes met de trein op een normaal tijdstip en niet zoals in 2003, toen we er al om 3 uur s’middags stonden (overigens stonden we toen wel vooraan <3 ).

En ja, de ipods gingen mee in de trein, want meeblèren doen we graag.

En de Ahoy raakt voller…

…en voller.

En ja, we zaten ver bovenaan, waardoor MUSE op kleine poppetjes leek die je met liefde in je zak wilde stoppen. Ik haat only-internet-sale voor tickets…ik sta liever 5 uur van te voren bij het GWK voor kaartjes. Maar, we hadden kaartjes, we konden alles goed zien, we werden niet pletgedrukt en hoeften niet te vechten voor ons leven (2003 en 2006 :/ ) en de bar was achter ons!

biffy clyro was er als support. Maar ik kwam niet voor hun dat ik vond ze niet zo interessant
(en mijn telefoon heeft echt een crapp kwaliteit maar de batterij van de camera was natuurlijk op…)

MUSE had echt het waanzinnigste decor <3

En met het meest bombastische einde wat je maar kunt bedenken was het de meest geweldige avond

Ik had ook filmpjes, hele mooie zelfs, maar daar schreeuwen Bekka en ik zo hysterisch doorheen dat ik dat niemand wil aan doen (:

Yes it's better than Puzzle...just.

After 2007s ‘Puzzle’, even Biffys’ army of fans doubted that the band could top what was undoubtedly one of the albums of the year. Bold, brave and brilliant, ‘Only Revolutions’ is sure to propel Biffy to the top of the rock world.

‘Stomp, Stomp, Stomp, Stomp, Woo!’ earmarks Biffys’ triumphant return to the scene with the third single off the album – ‘The Captain’. The song is the only one of its kind on the record, with its bellowing horns and brass sections paving the way for an aquatic adventure. The highlight is the catchy as hell ending of vocalist Simon Neil singing “Lets love death away!’ over a glorious brass frenzy.
Second single off the album ‘That Golden Rule’ takes over proceedings with its blend of Nirvana-esque vocal chorus and never-ending assault on the ears topped off with another orchestral ending, but this time louder, heavier and more impressive.
Another factor making this Biffys’ finest album is Simon Neil transitioning from between classic Biffy and his other band – Marmaduke Duke. ‘Many of Horror’ and ‘Born On A Horse’ reek of the Dukes’ influence, with the latter reminiscent of a funky 60’s pop guitar riff along with a huge classic Biffy chorus.
Biffy team up with ‘Them Crooked Vultures’ and ‘Queens of the Stone Age’ guitarist/singer Josh Homme to deliver the Kings of Leon esque ‘Bubbles’, one of the highlights of the album. With a clean guitar riff right from the Followills’ books, another classic Biffy breakdown and a raging chorus accompanied by Hommes’ resounding solo, this is one of bands finest songs to date.
Biffys’ onslaught of rock continues with ‘Booooom Blast & Ruin’, ‘Whorses’ and ‘Cloud of Stink’, the latter shoving twin brothers James and Ben Johnston in the vocal limelight whilst Simon burns through one of the albums’ strongest and most ferocious guitar riffs.
Penultimate song ‘Know Your Quarry’ offers weird and wonderful promises with its medieval ballad, in which Biffy hold off the weird just enough to make the song more wonderful, showcasing Biffys’ amazing talent and variety in their songs. After ‘Puzzle’s’ acoustic masterpiece ‘Machines’, ‘Only Revolutions’ brings another in the shape of ‘God & Satan’, a truly beautiful song showcasing Simon Neils’ lyrical ability, and firmly slotting his place as one of the worlds finest.

Only Biffy Clyro would be so modest as to name their fifth studio album ‘Only Revolutions’, since that is exactly what the band has accomplished – a revolutionary album and the sound of the decade. This is one of the most complete albums you’ll hear this year and many to come, and with the inclusion of 2007s’ juggernaut ‘Mountains’ as an added bonus, one of the best. It’s a shame that such a hardworking and unique band will be overlooked in what seems to be a electro pop bollocks world nowadays. But that won’t stop this behemoth of a bands’ inevitable rise to rock stardom.

All that’s left to say is…Mon the Biff!

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			     Born on a Horse - Biffy Clyro
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Tabbed by: Andy
Email: andy_rhcp@hotmail.co.uk

Tuning: Drop D

Clean
e|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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A|-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6/-----------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

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G|---------------------------------6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6------------------|
D|-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

e|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------8-8-8-8-8---8----------------------------|
D|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-6-6-6-6-6-5-6----------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------6-6-6-------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

e|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|---8-8-8---------13-13-13---------4-4-4--------11-11-11-----11-11-11------|
D|-6-------6----11----------11----2-------2----9----------9-8----------8----|
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D|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

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G|---8-8-8---------13-13-13---------6-6-6--------11-11-11-----11-11-11------|
D|-6-------6----11----------11----4-------4----9----------9-8----------8----|
A|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Distortion
e|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-11-11-14-14-13-13-11-11-13-13--|
A|-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11--|
D|-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11-11--|

e|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-14-14-14-14-14-16-16-16-16-16--------------------------------------------|
A|-14-14-14-14-14-16-16-16-16-16--------------------------------------------|
D|-14-14-14-14-14-16-16-16-16-16--------------------------------------------|

e|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-6-6-6-6-6-11-11-11-11-11-2-2-2-2-2-9-9-8-8-------------------------------|
A|-6-6-6-6-6-11-11-11-11-11-2-2-2-2-2-9-9-8-8-------------------------------|
D|-6-6-6-6-6-11-11-11-11-11-2-2-2-2-2-9-9-8-8-------------------------------|

e|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-6-6-6-6-6-11-11-11-11-11-4-4-4-4-4---------------------------------------|
A|-6-6-6-6-6-11-11-11-11-11-4-4-4-4-4---------------------------------------|
D|-6-6-6-6-6-11-11-11-11-11-4-4-4-4-4---------------------------------------|

Clean
e|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-------------9------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-6-6-6-6-4-6--------------------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| /  slide up
| \  slide down
| h  hammer-on
| p  pull-off
| ~  vibrato
| +  harmonic
| x  Mute note
===============================================================================

Sapete che razza di figata sia tornare a casa propria da casa della nonna dopo aver fatto un superpranzo a base di pesce e beccare questa?

Oggi wordpresscacca non mi fa caricare video quindi andate qui (dopo cmq lo aggiungo).

Ve lo dico io. E’ una figata grossa

Adesso ascolto Only Revolutions.