Teehee. Karma.

Hello world.

On a very usual Sunday-or-was-it-Monday night, I was at home. Doing homework, probably, because that's a pretty safe bet at the moment, or possibly watching Peep Show or lurking around Facebook or eating a yogurt or probably all of the above, when I came across something online. Then Iprobably put down my yogurt, stopped listening to Mark Corrigan's babbling, or forgot all about stem-changing verbs, because as it turns out, The Biff were having Visa issues.

Oh yeah. That band. Ha. I'm not sure if it's okay to say I almost completely forgotten about them...but I was nearly there. I hadn't completely, honestly, I was still pretty pissed but I was trying to forget the whole thing. My beloved were in the state, which is a rare thing because a lot of this country literally cannot understand the Biff, and I couldn't fucking go because I was born four years too late. But oh...visa issues. I can safely say that that beats Babyshambles last-minute ODs and that Kings of Leon pigeon-crap incident we've all heard way to much about, in terms of gig issues. Visas. Jesus! How great is that? It had never crossed my mind that such a thing could happen to a band. I mean, these people have people for all that stuff, right? But no. The impossibly baffling world of immigration, travelling, and visas strikes again. Two third of Biffy Clyro were not allowed inside the country for a Boston show. Instead, just Simon(minus the Reading and Leeds white hair and beard, I should add) came armed with an acoustic guitar.

I didn't see it, as I mentioned. Wasn't allowed. But the great thing is, not only do Visas strike again, but karma strikes again...you heard that, the Biffy management team? You fuck me over, I somehow subconsciously infiltrate the American Embassy and stop most of you from entering the country subsequently creating a free gig. Yeah. You do not mess with me.

In other music news, B-Flo's album came out a few days ago. Brandon Flowers. I'm getting it tomorrow if I can find it somewhere. Two years ago, I was a Killers hardcore fan. Like, scarily hardcore. I'm not saying I don't like them anymore, it's just that shirtless Scottish people(et cetera) have sort of gotten in the way. They write good pop songs. But I will tell you now, when I hear Crossfire on the radio, I am not loving what I hear. In fact, I'm not even sure I'm liking it at all. It's so bland, so boring, so cliched, it's frankly almost unlistenable. Yeah, I have a bad taste in music and stuff, okay? There seems to be this indie idea that Brandon's so uncool that he's now cool to like. Oh indie music. You're so pathetically transparent. But who knows, I'll get Flamingo tomorrow, maybe it'll be worthy of a 7/10 or something. You never know.

Have you guys heard Gold Panda? Looooove some of their stuff. I don't know the first thing about chillwave, but apparently this is it, and honestly, it's kinda good. It's crackly and calm. The title is fitting. But also a bit weird, and danceable and stuff. It's a very colorful band, I wouldn't say trippy, but you know. Colorfully vibrant. I love music like that.

From colorfully vibrant to black-and-white melancholy acoustic loveliness; Villagers. Have known about them for like a year now and just got properly around to listening to Becoming A Jackal. Un. Bel. Ievable. Every single song is incredibl, soothing, astonishing. Not only with Becoming A Jakcal, but ship of promises, Meaning of the Ritual, all the rest. It's getting better and better. Plus, Connor's voice is reminiscent of Peter Silberman from The Antlers. There isn't exactly a yawning chasm between The Antlers and Villagers I'd say, and The Antlers' Hospice is possibly my all time favorite record, so it's all good. If you wanna go folk and go folk well, Villagers are a must-cite influence.

My Spanish teacher's young and energetic and makes us do stupid things like sing songs, even though we're moving at too fast a pace for that. Spain and South America aren't necessarily famous for their music, so we're basically being force-fed Shakira every other day until the end of January. But we finally got round to Gitana...and...I really like that song, okay? Like, I find Shakira boring for the most part, and this so isn't. it feels both musically very rich and very organic, and her voice sounds great, especially en Espanol. the instrumentation is wonderful, too! Oh, it is just lovely.

So, um, that's more or less it, bar a bit of All Time Low and Jonsi and Freelance Whales. I promise, give me another week or two and school will straighten out, and I might stop complaining about it and actually write something, okay? Oh, not that you care. But I care. Writing's so fun.

Soo. Adios blog.

- Naomi

Woohoo, Yeah Biffy Clyro

Hello.



I was thinking earlier today what my top ten favorite songs ever are. Ever. A lot of people will tell you they 'have too many to decide' which in my opinion is a bit snobbish. Most of them are like 'oh, look at me and the four hundred songs on my ipod'. Silly people. If we weren't like three posts into this blog, I'd list them. But one of those songs would definitely be I Could Feel A Hot One.



It's a song by Manchester Orchestra. I went to see them in March, mostly because I was really into Biffy Clyro, one of the openers. I remember thinking them okay, but not being overly impressed. It was a kinda nice, fuzzy country-rock-ballad thing for an hour or so. I was tired then. There were four bands there and I'd wanted to be within Simon Neil's perspiration range(not quite, but nearly) so I'd stayed there the whole time. The Biff were arguably the best band I've ever seen live. And I've seen, like, Muse and the Prodigy and stuff. It was surreal. Being British, to me they're this enormous stadium-filler of a band, but in a small-ish place in Boston they were like nothing. I was the only person in that room who was in awe. How the hell can I be less than five feet away from Simon Neil? How is that even possible? It was amazing. They were great. I don't know why, but I really connected that day. I was destroyed when they ended, a mere half hour of shirtless soft rock later. That terrible post-concert feeling lasted for an almost unbelievably long amount of time. April kinda sucked because I couldn't stop thinking about how great the whole thing was. It was rainy that night, really really rainy, and I backed out and leaned on a wall and was just really...well, really sad, frankly, the band I(at the time) absolutely adored had just left and probably wouldn't return for a long time. Manchester Orchestra were on by that point. They were playing that song. With MA, their set seemed to merge into one--except that song, that one song. In all its simplicity, its sadness, its crushing lyrics, its hope. It was poignant. it was terrifying and heartbreaking and astonishing and beautiful. Perhaps a moment I will never forget. That's why it's one of my favorite songs.

Um, I guess in that way it's one of my favorite songs because of another band, if you get me. Weird.

In slightly related news, I'm 14. I live in Boston. Monday, Biffy were supposed to play in Boston tomorrow. that is, if you're over 18. Not. Fair. This was my first experience with the Over 18s Only curse and it's bloody annoying. I was due in for a moody, whiny blog posy about how sad I was gonna be. And oh, was I gonna be sad. My life has no worth, I love music, I've nothing to live for, all of that nice stuff. the slightly weird thing is, the Biff had Visa Issues and aren't coming. Huh. Weird, huh? And kinda funny too. Yeah, screw you too, you only get a Simon Neil acoustic version, you don't get the twins. I win, in the most pointless way possible. Wait. Simon bleached his hair for Reading and Leeds, right? Shit. I loved his hair--le'ts face it, he was gorgeous before--but now...no. But somehow I wouldn't have given anything to see that.

Speaking of R&L briefly, I need to get back with the Libertines. I mean, this is an enormous time for a really great band, a hugely significant band, so it's a hugely significant time for music, just 'cause of them. I have barely watched the vids yet. Only a press conference. Peter's so witty and you can laugh at them when he's high--it's funny either way. I think Peter's great. Oh, the great Doherty + Barat songwriting duo, you gotta love it.

In case you can't tell, musically, I'm still a bit busy at the moment, but I will get back to it soon. I'm still listening to the ten songs from last post, and a lot more of the National. High Violet gets better and better every day, it's incredible. still, my freelance Whales CD, which is incredible. And I've been into Kol(yeah, I don't care what you think). it took me forever to 'get' Only by the Night but now it's like, wow, this is amazing. I'm listening to Kurran and the Wolfnotes--I'm liking what I hear. And Robyn covering Bjork(thanks, NME). Also, Imogen Heap, a bit, I really need a CD of hers. Jonsi. I finally decided I did like Mark Ronson's Bang Bang Bang--I wasn't sure for a long time. It's a catchy song, but please, can everyone STOP singing in French? Seriously. like, stop. Now. Please? You sound really stupid. Also, just a little bit of Gold Panda, and Radical Face. I <3 id="SPELLING_ERROR_39" class="blsp-spelling-error">the Radical Face bandwagon.

I'm seriously convinced that interested no one but me...but hey, it's something, right?

- Naomi