Tem pinta esta música , não tem?

Wendy wonders why I’ve been so cold
Wendy wonders why we take it slow
These cobbled streets
Lead up to under sheets of gold
Where fair sanity dictates
Young Prince, de-robe
Wendy wonders in lavender bed-clothes
Dusk to dawn, a lustful pawn to my throne
I’m a hollow man with twelve tin cans of woe
Wendy wonders why we take it so slow

I’ts that four letter word unspoken
Love
I’m happy staggering along Shaftesbury Avenue
I’m happy staggering along Shaftesbury Avenue

Wendy wonders in a daze to save the romance
She set the chapel to a blazing golden dance
The chains are broken,
The veins are open
She’ll sing
Let the crimson glow flow
And see what the future brings
Wendy says such abstract things
Wendy wonders why I’m still so cold
Proceeds to throw my stuff out the window
I’m a fucked up bastard
A sub-zero psycho, well I know
But like the 25 bus I’ve waited far too long
Before three come along at once

With that four letter word unspoken
Love
I’m happy staggering along Shaftesbury Avenue
I’m happy staggering along Shaftesbury Avenue
Without you

I”m back again with a little early morning music to start your day off right.  Still pulling off of my queue, I’ve got a fun little song today with a pretty cool video to accompany.  Working real late at night (hopefully for one of the last times for a long while) makes me appreciate this fun song and video at such an early hour.  Today’s jam: Eugene McGuinness – Monsters Under The Bed.  Enjoy….

Wow, this might be my first Friday blog in a while. I tend to blog early in the week for soem crazy reason. But not this week. Nope. Well… OK, then, I really have nothing else to add. Just keep rockin’ folks!

The Shazam – Meteor – **** – You literally can’t go wrong with The Shazam. This is at least their best produced record to date, and sounds awesome. But top that with great, cool songs, and you’ve got perfection. Their return was worth the wait, and this will give me hours of enjoyment.

Wilco – Wilco (The Album) – *** – A good addition to the Wilco library. This one takes a step towards the more poppy, happier side of Wilco, and that’s nice. I think they were headed this way on Sky Blue Sky, but were too verbose on that release, and this takes them back to basics.

Regina Spektor – Far – ***1/2 – You really can’t go wrong with Regina Spektor. She makes songs that are all at once melodic, weird, arty, engaging, and cool. This album keeps up that pattern and keeps things hoppin’!

God Help The Girl – God Help The Girl – *** – This CD was great. It is a cool, soulful record for the most part, but it throws some curveballs at you from time to time, making it a lot of fun. So, while a tad inconsistent, it does have it’s charms. Oh, and Belle and Sebastian related stuff pretty much gets a free ride from me anyways.

Eugene McGuinness – Eugene McGuinness – *** – A solid, good album from Eugene, who I think only had an EP before this… Not sure on that, but it is a fine album of great pop music, a bit a britpop, a bit twee, a bit of everything.

Wow, this might be my first Friday blog in a while. I tend to blog early in the week for soem crazy reason. But not this week. Nope. Well… OK, then, I really have nothing else to add. Just keep rockin’ folks!

The Shazam – Meteor – **** – You literally can’t go wrong with The Shazam. This is at least their best produced record to date, and sounds awesome. But top that with great, cool songs, and you’ve got perfection. Their return was worth the wait, and this will give me hours of enjoyment.

Wilco – Wilco (The Album) – *** – A good addition to the Wilco library. This one takes a step towards the more poppy, happier side of Wilco, and that’s nice. I think they were headed this way on Sky Blue Sky, but were too verbose on that release, and this takes them back to basics.

Regina Spektor – Far – ***1/2 – You really can’t go wrong with Regina Spektor. She makes songs that are all at once melodic, weird, arty, engaging, and cool. This album keeps up that pattern and keeps things hoppin’!

God Help The Girl – God Help The Girl – *** – This CD was great. It is a cool, soulful record for the most part, but it throws some curveballs at you from time to time, making it a lot of fun. So, while a tad inconsistent, it does have it’s charms. Oh, and Belle and Sebastian related stuff pretty much gets a free ride from me anyways.

Eugene McGuinness – Eugene McGuinness – *** – A solid, good album from Eugene, who I think only had an EP before this… Not sure on that, but it is a fine album of great pop music, a bit a britpop, a bit twee, a bit of everything.

Broken Social Scene have recorded an interesting cover of Joy Division’s epic Love Will Tear Us Apart. The track will appear on the soundtrack of The Time Traveler’s Wife. Hear it for yourself, via Pitchfork, HERE

Tickets go on sale tomorrow for the October gigs (in Glasgow and Manchester) of Super Furry Animals.

Lineup for the Fistful of Fandango festival in London confirmed for next month. Includes Art Brut, Eugene McGuinness, Herman Dune and Hatcham Social. More details HERE

Dan Deacon, Deerhunter and No Age have been touring together and you can see some footage below.

Hoiatus – pikk sissejuhatus!

Minu käest on paar korda küsitud, kuidas ma muusikat leian. Kuna tavaliselt tekib küsimus ootamatult, koosneb vastus häälitsustest „ummmmm…“, „khmmm…“, „ääääää“ ja „ei teagi täpselt“. Siinkohal siis räägiksin pisut kuidas ja kus siis tegelikult maagia juhtub. (Jah, ma jõuan ükskord selle jutuga väljakuulutatud artisti ja tema suurepärase EP juurde.)

• Esimeseks ja kõige tähtsamaks allikaks on Uskumatu Ulla. Kust tema oma lood saab, peate tema enda käest uurima.
• Teine suur sõber ja tähtis informaator on last.fm, kes märgib kilplaslikult üles kõik, mida kuulan ja soovitab mulle selle põhjal artiste, kes ehk meele järgi olla võiksid.

Järgnevad tähtsuselt võrdväärsed, kuid ometi omanäolised allikad:

• Kõikvõimalikud saidid: allmusic.com, thesixtyone.com jne
• Keskraamatukogu muusikaosakond; saab uurida ja arvutisse sikutada klassikat (nii popmuusika kui ka klassikalise muusika klassikat) ja mitte nii klassikat
• Soundtrackid; vaatad filmi või sarja ja kuuled head lugu, otsid sõnade järgi internetist üles ja oledki õnnelik
• Viker, Klassika ja R2; vast ei pea seletama…
• Otsingumootor; sisestad suvalise sõna ja vaatad, mida leiad
• Muusikapood (eriti soovitan Rahvaraamatu oma, seal leidub ka haruldasemat muusikat); lähed vaatad ja kuulad, kui ei ole vaene tundeng, siis ostad huvi pakkuva plaadi ära, esimesel juhul lähed koju ja otsid internetist.

Ja nüüd, jõudes viimaks ometi asja juurde! Kuu aega tagasi tegin aega parajaks ja lappasin Rahvaraamatu alternatiivse muusika riiulit ning leidsin sealt ilusa poisi valgel taustal.Nimi kõlas intigeerivalt: Eugene McGuinness. Heli oli ka huvitav, eriti jäi meelde lugu nimega „Rings around Rosa“. Paiknedes vaese tudengi kastis, üritasin koju jõudes nähtud ja kuuldud plaati leida, kuid välja ilmus hoopis teine kaheksast loost koosnev EP „The Early Learnings of Eugene McGuinness“.

Pea kõik arvustused  Eugene ja tema plaadi kohta on kiitvad; ka mina ei taha teistest maha jääda niiet alustan endapoolset ülistuslaulu.

Alustuseks 4 fakti Eugene’st:

• sündinud 1985. aasta septembris
• tegutseb Liverpoolis
• õppis kunsti
• ilmunud 1 EP ja 1 album

Plaat võib mõjuda esmasel kuulamisel tiba eklektiliselt, aga kokku tekib mõnus tervik. Stiiliselt  paigutaksin selle kuhugi britpopi uue laine, indie ja folgi vahele. Plaadi tugevaim külg on sõnad – naljakad, ladusad, kohati mõtlemapanevad – aga laulmine ja pillimängimine ei jää ka üldse kaugele maha. Kriitikud ütlevad, et tegemist on suurepärase debüüdiga ja sellega on pandud kindel alus lennukale karjäärile. Ma loodan, et nii ongi.

Lemmikuteks osutusid lood “Monsters Under the Bed” ja “A Girl Whom My Eyes Shine For But My Shoes Run From” peamiselt ikka sõnade tõttu, üldiselt kiidetakse veel lugu “A Child Lost In Tesco”, mille mõnnasusele ei saa vastu vaielda.

Lõpetuseks muhe/kriipi video…

… ja natuke akustilist laivi ka.

PS! Tal on ilmunud ka päris plaat: Eugene McGuinness nimeks. Natuke rahulikum ja unistavam, aga samatore.

Welcome to Episode 14 of Indie Music Hour. In this episode, I play 2 tracks by each chosen artist. Look out for a bunch of special episodes coming up in the next few weeks!

Full tracklisting:

We Were Promised Jetpacks – Moving Clocks Run Slow

Now Now Every Children – In My Chest

Death to Promo

Aren’t blogs great? All the music you could possibly want at the click of a button? And then you don’t even need to stay on t’internet to play them all back, Spotify. Grand. Faced with an Everest of promo singles (and a solitary full record) the merit of dishing out endless plastic discs throughout the UK and even the world is waning. With today’s release of Coldplay’s live album ‘Left Right Left Right Left’ recorded God-knows-where, it’s about the last thing we need and the title’s about as original as its conception yet at least its only available as a download for the time being. That is until they thrust a copy into the clasping hands of every Coldplay fan (if such a thing does in fact exist) that attends one of their September enormodome shows. In the shadow of the mountain at base camp lie the tired, dated releases from The All-American Rejects (‘I Wanna’) and The Rumble Strips (‘Not the Only Person’). The former regurgitate their formulaic repetition over power chords with the added pandemonium induced by arpeggiated synths whilst the ‘Strips’ Charlie Waller’s monotonous baritone howl can’t be grasped from the hands of nothingness even with the orchestration of Final Fantasy’s Owen Pallett, the production of (the straight) Ronson and the mixing of Rich Costey. Yet more hours needed on the Tavistock leisure centre climbing wall or we’ll never make mountaineers out of these chancers. Up next is perhaps the worst sleeve since Hard-Fi decided artwork no longer constituted a fundamental part of musical production and a desecrating Blondie cover to match; In This Moment’s ‘Call Me’ encompasses everything that has been, and still is hideous about glammed-up pop. Promo CDs are often said to function fairly well as coasters. In my youth, I would shoot crap CDs with my brother’s BB-Gun. This would have been time to lock’n’load.

At a somewhat higher altitude half-way up the mountain Mike Snow’s reggae-infused, light-hearted electro soother ‘Animal’. Whilst there’s not a single ferocious edginess to this one future releases may well witness him scaling mountains and charts alike. If anyone’s still bothered in the slightest by singles. One band who certainly seem bothered are those West London toffs, lingering in the shadows posing like Interpol in the early hours in the Old Blue Last White Lies. Perhaps they’re getting a bonus lolly for every time they release melodramatic juggernaut ‘Death’. Alternatively it’s one of few decent songs they’ve penned within the hurricane of hype they’ve generated. Following the heady heights scaled by Noisettes and their insistence on not upsetting the rhythm, they return with their polished Motown-esque crooning of ‘Never Forget You’. Certainly a step up from their rough’n’ready debut record, it seems unlikely that this’ll scratch its name into ‘the fabric of this world’ alongside The Temptations and The Supremes. Likely to be forgotten this time in two weeks. Boy Crisis’ ‘Dressed to Digress’ over-indulges on witticism and cheap blips. Dubious artwork and a free transferable tattoo however may come in handy. Eugene McGuinness has been lurking in the doldrums for far too long. ‘Wendy Wonders’ is Western enough to soundtrack a bottle brawl in down-the-back-of-the-sofa America and then throws in a gospel choir for good measure. How lovely. ‘Tabasco Sole’ is, by any stretch of the imagination, a ridiculous moniker to crop up even on The Flaming Lips’ proposed double CD currently in production. Yet The Voluntary Butler Scheme’s twee-as-you-like vocal ping pong could play behind CITV and regain the odd shard of dignity. Rationality gets substituted with the surreal yet in an age of feminine electro it’s a welcome break from dubious crew cuts, Princess Roux-Roux.

Fashion faux-pas aside, The Virgins ooze such sleaze and slick in equal measure that while ‘One Week of Danger’ isn’t their most venomous offering, its dwindling falsetto and macho-smeared bolshiness is rather refreshing. Not that Casablancas & co should go abdicating their Brooklyn crown of slur just yet. Whilst Empire of the Sun may have been swept into the shade by the emerging talent of fellow Aussies The Temper Trap, ‘We Are The People’ is a slab of melancholic acoustica glittering enough to ignite eyes, ears and hearts alike. Remember Silversun Pickups? The Californian quartet who menacingly threatened to pick up Smashing Pumpkins’ mantle of lo-fi, low-slung guitar masterings once Corgan’s toys went out the pram? They’ve returned with anthemic ‘Panic Switch’ with sonic landscapes that roll over crests of crushing bass and androgynous vocals. Sublime. Paris’ adopted Londoner Dan Black shines up the diamond in the rough, buried, evidently, under six feet of glacial ice. ‘Symphonies’ layers sumptuous strings and ambient vocals reminiscent of The Postal Service over the hi-hat tisch of Rihanna’s ‘Unbrella’ and it’s wonderful. We ought claim this one back from les Français. The artwork to The Mars Volta’s latest, ‘Cotopaxi’, depicting Mount Cotopaxi ought suffice to elevate the chaotically organised duo towards the top of the pile. The trace of a song in their space-funk confirms this concretely. Mind-manglingly maddening. If Mystery Jets’ ‘Twenty One’ were teleported forward around a decade the result may well sound something akin to Flashguns. Whilst their brand of disjointedly enlightening indie may enchant, they put forward a Vice DON’T on the relationship front in ‘I Don’t Not Love You’. Buy, don’t try this at home. And the single album proper amongst all that? Marmaduke Duke’s ‘Duke Pandemonium’, which I’ve already given a grilling. In a positive George Forman way though…

So, if you’ve ever considered tackling an assault on Everest perhaps you’ll discard the idea right this second as if trawling through so much new music is that challenging, it’s hopeless. Unlike the mountain however, the CDs have now been flattened and await an undecided fate. If any tickle any fancies, answers on a postcard please.

Hello, bonjour, and howya!

Well, change was promised yesterday and change is what you are going to get, beginning with this debut issue of A Small-Time Player in the World of Pop. Hat tip to anyone who can tell me what Whipping Boy song that refers to without recourse to anything other than their not-quite-faded-yet-thank-you-very-much mental faculties! Anyway, with a little trial and error still to come, the intention is for this series to grow into being the site’s weekly music magazine. See we all shall!

Music @ Live

The main live show highlight of the week was the visit of The Breeders to Vicar Street on Monday evening. They were making their way a little blearily back from Minehead where they had been the curators for the latest ATP Festival. The show was their usual blend of chaos, shambles, and couldn’t-care-less grins. A couple of amusing highlights in the mayhem were a roadie, who looked suspiciously like David Dickinson, scrambling around on the floor between several of the songs, as well as Kim looking like she was wrestling an alligator at times as she later tried to throw her acoustic guitar around. Despite this, they still provide a very engrossing set, cramming more into an hour or so, than some bands could come up with in a week.

The support band of Funeral Suits were also pretty good and are worth keeping an eye out for, as they will be playing a variety of shows around the country in the coming weeks.

Music @ Headphones

Music listening this week was dominated by thoughts of the Primavera Sound festival beginning next Thursday. It seems that most Irish alternative music heads worth their I-saw-The-National-in-The-Cobblestone t-shirts are heading over this year and with good cause, as the line-up is really rather stonking. Anyway, keep an eye on Twitter / 8tracks for some mixtapes that I will publish next week in the build-up to the Barcelona bonanza!

At the same time, I also found some time to listen to the latest offerings from the like of Apostle of Hustle, British Sea Power, Deerhunter, Jarvis Cocker, and Lindstrøm & Prins Thomas. As featured on this site already, British Sea Power have scored a re-release of the famous 1930s mockumentary Man of Aran. In particular, check out Come Wander with Me!

Music @ Videos

Finally, here are some cracking tunes to get your weekend off to a great start:

Loch Lomond – Witchy

oooOOOooo

A Hawk & A Hacksaw – I Am Not A Gambling Man

oooOOOooo

Patrick Watson – Fireweed

oooOOOooo

Eugene McGuinness – Wendy Wonders

In response to djeddieo’s recent recommendation, The Ettes, I present Shrag.  Not quite the same throwback as The Ettes, but they are a mostly-girl punk group from the UK so I’m unfairly throwing them in the same mix.  Shrag’s take on their punk is a little more methodic than the peppier Ettes.  Ghosts Before Breakfast brings memories of old school Brit girl punk, like X-Ray Spex.  But FortyFive 45’s is clearly the song that will pave their way.

Additional cred goes to Shrag as they are MySpace friends of The Thermals. Here you can hear the title track off of their upcoming album Now We Can See.  Immediately recognizable as The Thermals, this tune is a little more radio-friendly sounding than most tracks off of their previous (amazing) album The Body, The Blood, The Machine.  But don’t be fooled, one quick listen to the lyrics and they certainly haven’t softened their commentary.

I had initially heard Shrag on the Huw Stephens BBC1 podcast, where I also heard the London duo Swanton Bombs (which I’m learning is the name of a professional wrestling move).  I don’t know how to describe these guys, but I’m the most excited about them of any band in this post; at times polished (Turnstile), at others rough (I Like It)…  I can’t decide which I like better.  My current favorite Sorrysayer sounds like a cross between Ray Davies and Jonathan Richman backed by The Fall.  Their current 4-song EP, Mammoth Skull, is available at iTunes.  You can also download their debut LP for free here.  The duo is made up of Dominic McGuinness on guitar, piano and vocals and Brendan Heaney on drums.

If you like the more polished stuff, Dominic’s brother Eugene McGuinness has a music career going in his own right.  Eugene’s approach is much more of the cool, pop crooner type.  So cool, he even has a song called Fonz.

The Henry Clay People are an LA based group whose MySpace description appropriately reads Americana/Indie/Rock.  But the songs about working and drinking, and even traces of Skynyrd guitar fills (listen to Something In The Water), don’t fall flat as some corny southern rockers.  Mixing in nods to Pavement and Modest Mouse keeps an interesting edge.

Finally, I haven’t quite decided if Art Brut are a novelty act or not.  Their 2006 album Bang Bang Rock and Roll is a very smart and funny work of punk snarkiness.  Even so, I let their follow up album, Its A Bit Complicated,  fall to the wayside; most likely of fear that their tongue-in-cheek approach may not continue to stand up past one album.  Well, their next one, Art Brut vs. Satan, is due out on April 20.  It was produced by Frank Black, and apparently has a song that pays tribute to the Replacements… With those two factors I may have no choice than to get back on the Art Brut train.  Alcoholics Unanimous is the first single…

Is he going to be another favourite artist under the Domino label, like Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand and Lightspeed Champion? Though his album has been out quite a while, it didn’t really get in my head. I recently got two tracks from him, which are quite exceptional.

Moscow State Circus

Steady chords and strong vocals have a definite Last Shadow Puppets feel. As the finale starts, jangly keyboard chords are inserted and backup vocalists sweep in and it ends with crashing drums.

Those Old Black And White Movies Were True

As the title suggests, the musical stylings of this track takes us back to simpler times, with soaring vocals and slow accompaniment from other singers, gentle guitar chords, weeping violins and gentle plucking.

I just ordered his album from amazon and I can’t wait to see the results.

Myspace

Buy: Amazon, iTunes

We said farewell
And we synchronized our watches
And arranged for the meeting of our crotches
On the other side of the planet
On the other side of the world

Eugene McGuinness – Fonz (acoustic)

Eu acho muita mancada você ter nascido em 85 e já fazer música desse jeito. Sem falar nos clipes e capas de discos.

Mas tudo bem, cheguei cedo hoje no serviço e o Spoleto está dando uma garrafinha de coca-cola grátis pra quem comer ravioli com molho de camarão. Who’s da boss?

E o outro inglesinho Eugene McGuinness ainda é atormentado pelo bicho papão. E daí gasta 5 horas na internet antes de dormir… Como eu não iria me identificar com o mocinho?
Folk contemporâneo sempre bemvindo!

Eugene McGuinness – Monsters under the bed
Eugene McGuinness – Moscow State Circus
Eugene McGuinness MySpace

Eugene McGuinness 

 Imaginem que,  há muito muito tempo atrás, o Rufus Wainwright um dia se cruzava na rua com o Patrick Watson e, 2 meses mais tarde se casavam num castelo medieval e partiam para lua de mel no Kit: Eugene McGuiness é a banda sonora deste amor.

Monsters Under the bed – banana por 30 dias

High Score – banana por 30 dias

Eugene McGuinness ist ein musikalisches Genie. Was das Mini-Album „The Early Learnings of …“ bereits andeutete – auch wenn die Zahl der bemerkenswerten Ideen die der langfristig hervorragenden Songs bei weitem übertraf –, bestätigt das reguläre, selbstbetitelte Debüt.

Allerdings geht die Songwriter-Begabung weiter im übermäßigen Ideenreichtum unter. Da kann der 22jährige noch so sehr betonen, er „möchte lieber für seine Unbeständigkeit bekannt werden, als für eine ewig gleiche Leier“. Wie ein Sturzbach ergießt sich „Eugene McGuinness“ aus den Lautsprechern, lässt staunen und den Mund offen stehen, am Ende ermüdet die Vielfalt, das dauernde Wechseln der Genres, die Unbeständigkeit im Herangehen, die Verwurstung von 100 Jahren britischer Musik in knapp vierzig Minuten.

In der Farbigkeit, der Kakophonie einer Spielearkade eines britischen Seebads, eines Jahrmarkts der Jahrzehnte, verlieren sich Einzelheiten des Songwritings, gehen Sprachwitze wie „Any Brick Can Build A Palace“ oder die vielfach zitierte „unflätige“ Zeile „We said farewell and we synchronized our watches / Arranged for the meeting of our crotches“ unter, alles verschliert, verschwimmt, wird undeutlich und breiig. Die Vergleiche mit Jahrmarkt – oder Seebrücke – und Spielhalle charakterisieren Eugene McGuinness’ Debüt treffend. Ein sehr britischer, verspielter Ansatz des Musizierens, die geschaffene Klangkulisse und die gewählte Instrumentierung rufen solche Bilder hervor. Dazu trägt nicht zuletzt ein roher, eher ungeschliffener, geringfügig wie Lo-Fi wirkender Sound bei.

Zwischen Cabaret- und Brit-Pop, zwischen den 30er Jahren und den 60er Jahren des 20. Jahrhunderts, zwischen romantischer Ballade und vorwärts stürzendem, über die eigenen Füße stolperndem Blödsinn, zwischen The Kinks und Pulp, The Pogues und Duke Special wieselt McGuinness durch sein vollgestopftes Absurditäten-Kabinett der Popmusik. Nach dem energischen Einstieg mit „Rings Around Rosa“ und „Fonz“ beeindrucken im Laufe des Albums vor allem die hoffnungslos nostalgischen und romantischen Balladen, die eigentlich keine solchen sind („Wendy Wonders“, „Those Old Black And White Movies Were True“, „Knock Down Ginger“), in denen McGuinness croont wie kein zweiter, sowie der Vierklang musikalischer Achterbahnfahrten: „Nightshift“, „Crown The Clown“, „Not So Academic“ und „Disneyfied“. Diese vier Tracks verdienen eigentlich eine eigene Genre-Bezeichnung, ein Label “McGuinnessmus”. Ohne jede Scham werden hier fantastische Ideen an kreative Einfälle gehängt, mit Mut und Intelligenz purzelt hier ein Looping aus einer Schraube, und … wenn es schlecht läuft, muss sich der Hörer am Ende tatsächlich übergeben.

Die Kreativität des Albums geht auf Dauer auf Kosten der Einprägsamkeit, die musikalische Phantasie des Künstlers macht das Album schwer verdaulich. Bezaubernd und eigen, modern und altmodisch, einzigartig und doch vertraut. Eugene McGuinness ist eine Hausnummer, die es sich zu merken lohnt, ein Künstler, der nicht nur eine weitere Rarität in einer Sammlung sein sollte, nicht nur das fünfblättrige Kleeblatt, der dreiflüglige Schmetterling, die schwarze Rose, die nur zu besonderen Anlässen spezielle Gäste beeindrucken soll.

22 year old Londoner with very Irish moniker triumphs.

Wenn Eugene McGuinness Musikfans mit seinem Debüt-Minialbum “The Early Learnings Of Eugene McGuinness” eines gelehrt hat, dann dass ein homogener Sound für ihn Langeweile bedeutet. So erwartete den Hörer eine wilde 27-Minütige Reise durch die Musikstile. Dabei bewies er in 8 Songs eine ähnliche Wandelbarkeit, wie David Bowie während seiner gesamten Karriere. “The Early Learnings” stellte für McGuinness auch eine wichtige Lektion dar, es “war gut, und es hat mir Spaß gemacht, zum ersten Mal im Studio mit all den Spielzeugen und blinkenden Lichtern zu sein”.

Nach der Übungsrunde folgt nun für Eugene McGuinness also die erste Runde auf Albumlänge, für ihn ganz offensichtlich mit einigem Stolz verbunden, benennt er es doch ganz schlicht nach sich selbst. Eine Konstante ist bei allem Stilmix auf “Eugene McGuinness” dann allerdings doch auszumachen, die Stücke tändeln zwischen schnelleren, rockigen Stücken und ruhigeren, poppigen Stücken, alle etwas rau und mit großer Liebe ausformuliert. Der Opener “Rings Around Rosa” ist ein Brit-Pop Meisterstück, an dem Blur ihre helle Freude gehabt hätten. “Fonz” ist ein waviger Post-Punk-Bastard, der ins Ohr geht und sich mit seinem Refrain auf ewig festsetzen möchte. Aber auch die ruhigeren Stücke, wie “Wendy Wonders”, “Those Old Black And White Movies” und “Atlas” sind auf ihre unterschiedlichen Arten, stets melancholisch angehaucht, Beweis für das songwriterische Geschick des jungen Engländers. Auf der ersten Single “Moscow State Circus” präsentiert sich McGuinness von seiner bombastischen Seite, mit Männerchor, einem vollen Bandsound und eingängigen Beats ist der Song auch einer der größten Hits des Albums. Eugene McGuinness bringt mit einfachem und ganz klassischem Songwriting die letzten 50 Jahre Musikgeschichte in knapp 40 Minuten auf den Punkt. Das Produkt ist einzigartig und in Anbetracht des Alters von Eugene McGuinnes ganz erstaunlich.

Video zu “Moscow State Circus”:

Myspace von Eugene McGuinness
mehr Infos bei Domino Records

Ariane WhiteTapes

Gosh, I haven’t updated in a while so I have an array of different subjects I want to write about.  I think maybe I should make a new entry for every subject instead of lumping it all together in one? would that make for an easier read?  I dont know, I’m still new to blogging so forgive me.

Ok first. movies.  I’ve crossed a few more off my list.  After my must-sees are done I think i’m going to do some must-reads.  I can’t remember what ones I’ve watched since I last updated but the best one of the bunch was definitley “Raging Bull”.  Once again, Robert De Niro was SUPERB. Why doesn’t he do greatness movies anymore?  What was the last REALLY good movie he was in anyway?  I also watched “Goodfellas” and “Once Upon A Time In America”, both of which he was in.  I didn’t realize I had so many movies on my list with him in it.  Oh, yeah and I watched “Dog Day Afternoon” yesterday…that was really good and the fact that it was a true story made it even better.  I highly recommend either Raging Bull and/or Dog Day Afternoon.

Next: music.  Nothing makes me happier then when I discover a new artist or album that I insta-fall in love with.  I downloaded an album from this boyish looking guy named Eugene Mcguinness (he’s irish, i think ) on a whim and loved it.  If you like clap your hands say yeah or modest mouse or gosh maybe a little radioheadish?  I dont know, if you like TALENTED MUSICIANS then get his album.   He definitley has an awesome voice and very catchy songs.

Now: job.  I’m still loving my amsterdam family.  The kids really like me and I really like them.  Host parents are awesome.  However, I’m not so bummed that my job is ended in January anymore.  You see, I am STRUGGLING financially and I think I need to get a real job.  That pays more then aupair pay.  I neeeeeeeed to get out of debt  

and last but DEFINITLEY not least: Quinten G Robert Matheny was born!  He totally has the same nose as preston and parker.  Just look at the proud big brothers.  I can’t waaaaaaaaaait to meet him

Ok. i’ll try to do more frequent updates so I’m not so vague about everything.  Sound good?  I’ll leave you with a picture of me with my “small” cotton candy. yes, that was a small.

I have uploaded a few more pics to my webshots also.