Black Mirror

Charlie Brooker is known for his glum social commentary, and his latest creation Black Mirror is no different.  The three part series explores many areas of pop culture, from politics to the X Factor phenomenon, and forces you to question the accepted aspects of our lives.

The first instalment The National Anthem followed to actions of the Prime Minister as he was blackmailed into fornicating with a pig in order to save a Princess Susannah. At the beginning of the episode the Prime Minister discovers that the princess has been kidnapped, and the only ransom her captor asks for is that the Prime Minister has sex with a pig on television. Out of the whole series, the message of this episode was arguably the hardest to pinpoint, but the public’s acceptance of such a lewd act says a lot about how accustomed we are to seeing shocking images on television. You are forced to draw parallels between the fictional characters and real life public figures, which makes this episode even more thought provoking.

15 Million Merits focuses on the culture of X Factor, discussing how far a person will go to achieve success. This episode is set in a strange futuristic world where you must exercise to earn money, which makes for a rather mundane undertone. However, the excitement begins to pick up when the main character, Bing, buys his love interest, Abi, a ticket to enter the talent show ‘Hot Shot’ as a romantic gesture. Unfortunately this backfires and she is cajoled by the judging panel to become a porn star. Bing then returns to the show because the guilt had got too much for him, he intends to change people’s attitudes towards this mind numbing form of television. The episode ends with a speech from Bing on his own television show, which felt like Brooker almost shouting at the audience to wake up and realise how low television shows such as X Factor really are. This episode seemed to drag on more than the others, but to some extent this could have been the intention, to make us think about how we accept the mundane aspects of our lives as long as we have an exciting television show to look forward to.

The final episode, The Entire History of You, with contribution by Brooker, but written instead by the makers of Peep Show, predicts how we would cope if we could relive every moment of our lives just by pressing a rewind button on a remote. The reaction of the main character actually seems reasonable; he focuses on minute details such as peoples facial expressions and body language, making inferences about his wife’s relationship with an ex boyfriend. Possibly the most interesting of all the episodes, you question how you would change if you could watch your life back like a DVD, and the reality is that most of us would become obsessed with our past. 

This series explored many areas of modern culture which many writers wouldn’t dare to, and it was refreshing to see a television programme unlike any other around currently. Although we shouldn’t expect any different from Charlie Brooker than a cold hard look at ourselves, instead of his usual in-your-face rants, he subtly makes us question our culture without making it too blatant.

Arctic Monkeys: Evil Twin

Sheffield boys Arctic Monkeys showcased a new B side to their single Suck it and See at their live show in St Lois, so what’s the verdict?

Evil Twin has The Monkeys signature stick-in-your-head chorus and fast paced guitar, but their best work comes from when they change their sound and experiment, so it’s disappointing that Evil Twin seems to have gone back to their ‘Fluorescent Adolescent’ days. The song isn’t bad by any means, and it certainly seemed to get the crowd going in St Lois, but it would be nice to see them stray from their typical sound like they did in ‘Humbug’. Come on boys, be brave.

The Stroke: Angles

It’s finally here! The long awaited new album ‘Angles’ from ‘The Strokes’, ever since I listened to ‘Under Cover of Darkness’ I’ve been waiting for this album, after all, it has been six years since their last one, but was it worth the wait?

There are a few songs on this album which I absolutely love, and the first one has to be the opening song ‘Machu Picchu’, it has lots of lively guitar and an odd Jamaican sound to it, even with Julian Casablancas’ voice which is completely different to anything I’ve heard from them before. This is one of those songs which you just can’t stop listening to, the beat is totally infectious and it has a catchy chorus which I’m a bit of a sucker for I must admit. It doesn’t fit in with the rest of the album, but in a way this doesn’t matter because it works well as a standalone track; they should definitely release this as their next single.

Next is the single ‘Under Cover of Darkness’, which again, I can’t get enough of. The guitar is energetic and definitely the driving force of the song, coupled with Casablancas’ energetic yet slightly monotone voice, it’s a tune you can’t stop listening to. You can definitely feel the emotion and passion coming through in the lyrics, specifically the line ‘we’ve got the right to live, fight to use it, got everything and you can just choose it.’

As the album progresses it seems to me that the more exciting songs are the ones which I prefer, this is my personal opinion but for me I like that they’re trying new things and experimenting a little. They appear to be doing this in ‘Taken for fool’, the vocals in particular are exquisite, and they’re so passionate and rough that they almost gave me Goosebumps. The chorus sounds a bit like their old work, but with a new edgier twist which I like, one of my favourites for sure.

‘Two kinds of Happiness’ is a bit of an unusual one, it starts off sounding like it should be on a 'Police' album, I think this is down to the beat, but then the vocals come in and this changes immediately, it does sound like they’ve slipped back into their old, slightly depressing, style so it’s not the best, and after the hugely energetic opening two songs, it does fall flat a little which is disappointing.

‘You’re so right’ is by far the weirdest song of the bunch, occasionally sounding like a song from ‘The Mighty Boosh’ due to it having that same rhythm and robotic style vocals, really strange and not something I’d expect to hear from ‘The Strokes’. This changing of the vocals doesn’t work very well to be honest, it sounds too out of place and the guitar isn’t up to their usual standard, however it is quite energetic and when they slip back into normality it gets a bit better.

The final song on the album ‘Life is simple in the moonlight’ (a lovely title I must add) is mellowed down a little, but in a way which is relaxed and composed, the song starts with a slightly psychedelic feel to it. I love the chorus where Casablancas’ voice works its wonders again, singing catchy, lovely lyrics, great finish I think.

This album has its up and downs, I don’t think it competes with ‘Is This It’ but there are some truly great tracks which have a whole new energy to them, and the vocals on these tracks are definitely a step up from their previous work. I’ve been a fan of The Strokes for a long time so it doesn’t take a lot for them to impress me, and by and large they did, but they miss the mark on a few of the tracks, still worth a listen though.

Amplifier: Octopus

I thought I’d review something a bit unusual this time, and I came across something quite...interesting. Mancunian Alternative rock band, Amplifier, have just released their third album ‘Octopus’, and I have to say I was quite taken aback by their music having never heard of them before. It’s a fairly large album, with 16 tracks, and one song clocking in at eleven minutes, but you don’t actually realise that you've been listening to them for so long because they're so unusual.

The album opens with a purely instrumental track, it has an odd mixture of noises like footsteps, and something which I think is supposed to resemble the sound of a bird. It even has occasional moments of silence before another lot of strange noises. I do like the piano at the end as it’s a taste of normality, which is a really nice contrast and works surprisingly well. This song sets off the album, and makes you realise that you probably shouldn’t try and pigeonhole them into one particular genre or sound; this song shows that they are, if anything, unpredictable.

The ‘Minions song’ is second on the album, and it changes the tone again, it’s mellow and showcases lead singer Sel Balamir’s pretty decent voice. He resembles Dan Gillespie-Sells, lead singer of ‘The Feeling’ possibly because he also sings in a British accent. One aspect of this song I particularly like is the almost chant like chorus, we hear ‘Sing along to the Minion’s Song’ sang repetitively, making it empowering and strong. We hear some piano played throughout, which, compared to the ripping electric guitar on later tracks, is very pleasant to listen to.

Then the album slips into slightly heavy metal, which I have to say I’m not a huge fan of, so ‘The Wave’ and ‘Interglacial Spell’ weren’t to my taste, I much preferred it when they were experimenting with sounds, and not fitting into a generic style. However, they redeem themselves with some of the later tracks such as ‘Octopus’, which keeps that unusual weirdness about it, after all, there's nothing wrong with some bells and a xylophone. You are then surprised to hear acoustic guitar on the track ‘Oscar Night//Embryo’, a nice track which again shows off Balamir’s voice. As for the final track ‘Forever and More’, it feels like they’re finishing off, it’s mellowed down and comes to a slow end, possibly a bit drawn out, but nonetheless a nice way to conclude.

The length of the songs is a slight hindrance with the album, but not to the extent that it gets boring, besides, their sound is so varied that it feels as though you’re listening to a new band every other track. The album artwork for this album is very interesting, and quite beautiful actually, it reflects their music in that it’s unusual and creative. I’m really glad I stumbled across this band; I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on them from now on.

The Strokes: Under Cover of Darkness

Ok was it just me who though The Strokes had split up? Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled that they haven’t as I’m a huge fan of the band, and when I heard that they were bringing out a new album I think I may have done a little dance, but it does seem like a long time since they’ve had any new music. They haven’t released an album since 2005 so you would hope that their upcoming album ‘Angles’ will be spectacular, considering they’ve had such a long time to work on it, and by the sounds of the albums first single ‘Under Cover of Darkness’ they’re on the right track.

The band originated in New York, and has been going since 1998, with their first album ‘Is This It’ released in 2001. They haven’t released an album in six years, and Bassist Nikolai Fraiture has said that they are going back to basics with this one, which sounds rather exciting.

I first discovered the band when I saw them play at V Festival in 2004 and I was instantly hooked; their catchy rhythms and Casablancas’ unusual voice sounded amazing live, and I think the fact that he looked quite intoxicated while he was performing may have added to that festival feel. As for their albums, ‘Is This It’ is number one for me personally, because the tunes are really catchy, you can connect with the lyrics, and there isn’t a bad song in the bunch. It’s very rare that you find an album like that which you can listen to all the way through without wanting to skip a track so when you do find one, it becomes quite special. It’s difficult to explain the feeling when an album really strikes a chord with you, but for me that’s how I feel when listening to ‘Is This It’ and I definitely recommend giving it a go if you haven’t already.

‘Under Cover of Darkness’ starts with a fun toe tapping guitar riff; this gives the song a hugely energetic feel. Then Casablancas’ voice comes in and there’s a distinct change between his slightly moody, low tones from previous albums. There’s one point where he actually goes quite high which is something I would not associate with him ordinarily, but he does it really well and it’s a really nice change. About half way through the song there’s a lovely, but brief, guitar solo which again has a really energetic rhythm. The song reminds me slightly of ‘Reptilia’ because of the great guitar riff, but it does have a new, fresh feel to it as well. Where their previous songs may have been slightly monotone, this song sounds like they’re trying to steer away from that slightly, it’s lively and exciting and Casablancas is trying out new things with his voice which works really well. Definitely give the song a listen, even if you haven’t previously been a big fan of the band because it’s a great new side to them.

After listening to the song I’m even more excited for the release of the album, in some ways they’ve gone back to their roots but in others they are trying out new things and bringing a new feel to their music. I hope the album, due for release on the 21st of March, brings more of this and that they don’t stop making new music soon as I’m not quite ready to say goodbye just yet.

The Joy Formidable: The Big Roar

The Joy Formidable are a new Welsh Indie band, and oddly titled ‘The Big Roar’ is their debut album. They factor that makes them stand out from other indie bands is that they have a female lead vocalist, Ritzy Bryan, who’s strong voice blends well with this type of music and gives it a modern Blondie style, even more so because Bryan had bleach blonde hair and striking blue eyes.

The album begins with ‘The ever changing spectrum of a lie’ which, if I’m honest, sounds like a bit of a cacophony of noise at the start and the end, but in between it becomes slightly psychedelic. Bryan’s voice is soft and provides a lovely contrast to the guitar in the chorus. The lyrics are very inventive in this song; I particularly like the line ‘love is the ever changing spectrum of a lie’ which creates a strong image in your mind. I’m not too keen on the finale to the song as it drags on and seems unnecessary, but in general the song is enjoyable to listen to, and a suitable opening to their album.

One song which I particularly like is ‘Cradle’ it has a fun beat and the vocals are very strong. It is perhaps a bit repetitive but it’s enjoyable to listen to and definitely uplifts you. The video to ‘Cradle’ is very creative; the camera is fixed on a close up of Bryan on a see-saw,  and cuts between her, and various people on the see-saw with her, it’s well filmed and the rhythm of the see-saw fits in well with the beat of the song.

You get the feeling that this band likes experimenting with sound, song names, and the filming in their videos. With song titles like ‘Llaw = Wall’ and ‘A heavy abacus’ you can tell that they are unusual, and their music video’s reflect that. For instance, the video for ‘Austere’ feels a bit like you’re having a drug fuelled hallucination, with strange shapes and bright red singing lips, very unusual but actually very clever.

It seems this band has a bright future ahead of them, and they are a breath of fresh air from the usual copy cat indie bands that seem to be around at the moment. They have a strong debut album behind them now and can build on that, as long as they keep their individuality they will go far I’m sure. I think it’s great that they have a female lead vocalist as it gives an edge to their music and helps them stand out from the crowd. I'd expect to hear a lot more from them in years to come.

Plain White T's: Wonders of the Younger

Illinois indie band Plain White T’s have just released their latest album Wonders of the Younger, and surprisingly they’ve steered clear of emulating their previous success with previous effort Every Second Counts.

I first became a fan of their work when I heard Hey there Delilah, which, although slightly overplayed, was quite a lovely song, with emotional lyrics, so I was excited when I noticed they had a new album out.

Album opener Irrational Anthem begins slow and melodic, but then goes into an energetic, catchy chorus. This change of tempo makes the song really enjoyable and a great way to start the album. It does bare some resemblance to their songs on Every Second Counts, but this could be because front man Tom Higgenson has quite a distinctive voice. This is a really good way to start the album, and sets it off nicely.

Another song which really stood out for me was Welcome to the Mystery; it has a strange mix of sounds which almost makes you feel like you’re in a hall of mirrors at a fair ground, it’s quite weird, but in a good way. I like that they tried to change it up and evoke an unusual emotion from the listener, bringing us back to our childhood. This song is definitely linked to the album cover which shows a rundown fair ground, suggesting that the concept for this album is creating sounds which remind us of when we were young. This is a great idea and the song has an eeriness about it which definitely struck a chord with me.

By far my favourite track of the album is Rhythm of Love which has a great summery beat, helping to beat those December winter blues. This is a tune you can’t resist tapping your toes to, and his voice is at its best, with moments of stunning falsetto. Although it didn’t chart, I think it’s a great single because the chorus is memorable and it really lifts your mood when you listen to it.

Overall this album is pretty good, it’s light hearted and Higgenson’s voice is soft, and easy to listen to. A few of the songs do sound similar to each other, but there are some real gems in there so I recommend giving it a try.