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May 17 
Fave Song at the Moment: Arasha - Bora Bora
I went home for a week, especially for the festival of Navroz on the 21st March, and also got the chance to stay at my sister's University accommodation for the night. I met a couple of her friends including a couple of the kids at Birmingham JK, and one or two of her housemates. Special shout out to Keanu's flat mate Bhavini, another Musical Rani - we must have chatted for ages about music related topics (what else hey?) and it was just amazing to meet someone once again on the same musical level. Off course living in Birmingham, Bhavini knew loads more than me about the latest asian-related fusion music. I enjoyed our conversation Bhav! Back to this song though. It's a reminder of my trip home. I was fortunate to meet Nadia, who is a really good friend of Keanu's! In fact I'd already been chatting to Nadia on msn before hand, but anyway we met, and she was driving us around a lot, taking us to local hotspots, her apartment is beautiful, and most of all the music in her car was awesome. I'll have to review the cd, that she burnt for me, another time. This Bora Bora track stood out, and it appears on the Friction 2 compilation CD. Thanks for that Nadia, and I hope you're enjoying your time at Microsoft!
Music Topic of the Day: WinterFest 2007 - Tinariwen & Northern Lights Bhangra Band
Saturday 24th March 2007, a massive banner in the centre of town advertising the WinterFest gala night advertising Tinariwen, 'poet-guitarists and soul rebels from the Sahara desert'. I'd heard of Northern Lights because I'd seen them at the Middlesbrough Mela this summer. (A blazing hot non-blogged event, although I did meet Punjabi MC woo.) Although I'd tried to convince various friends about the possibilities of expanding their mono-cultural music worlds, I was intrigued to find that Mark was keen on checking out Tinariwen. Dubbed as masters of rock and roll, and even a lead singer resembling Jimmy Hendrix, this promised to be a memorable night. When reading up on Tinariwen, you'll hear all about the political movement, and the idea of a band formed in 1982 within Taureg rebel camps. The songs are mostly in French and the Tamashek languages, and most of their songs are about the liberation/independence of their people.
I'd just arrived back from my trip back home, and I was looking forward to this concert - African, Asian, Fusion, a bit of a rarity in the boro. Mark joined me at Middlesbrough town hall for an extra-ordinary concert. The Northern Lights were up first and people were slowly filling up the hall. They had to explain a lot of what they were doing for the non-Asian audience. Essentially, they're a popular bhangra due based in Scotland, and so there were lots of introductions to the instruments, the style of dancing, and even for part-time Bhangra fans like myself, it was refreshing to hear. The track Janaab ( Youtube link here) has really grown on me lately, and so when this came on I was dancing madly. People were slowly getting into the swing of it, and I even noticed a few people trying to copy some of my dance moves.. PLEASE! I can't dance to Bhangra music lol. An army of Black and White boro locals dancing like me. Northern Lights must have been wondering what kinda drugs we were all taking! It's funny how different songs sound in a club environment, with loud speakers and a heavy heavy bass. I say this because the DJ set included the track "Lus Lus Karde Ang" (the third track on this youtube link starting at 01:19 mins) This track used to make me physically sick. The female mc is awful, and the rest of the vocals are so squeeky. "Move put you hands in he air put em up put em up" No thanks. If you ever wondered why I stopped watching the Asian music channels, you can blame this track.
Anyway, a DMX rap on a Kray Twinz beat followed which was "sikkk" and then one of my favourite bhangra tracks by Tigerstyle: "Girl from Pakistan" ( Listen at imeem) got me back into a frenzy. It wasn't all bhangra, with Fatman Scoops 'Be Faithful', Salt n Pepper's 'Push It' and Mylo's 'Drop the Pressure' being dropped - (both of which were desi-fied remixes) The other track I enjoyed dancing to were 'Kori Giddah', the slow/fast stop/start smash - (Check out the whole track by Punjabi MC that accompanies an origami video OR some fast giddah dancers in someone's living room!) The Track 'De Le Gera' came on and Tarv, one of the Northern Lights guys explained that you have to dance by twirling around, getting extremely dizzy. Felt like the only one doing it at first, but Mark joined in, which was great fun. Legend! By the time Tiraniwen took to the stage, the place had livened up a bit, and with the relaxed atmosphere, it wasn't too difficult to get to the front of the crowd near the stage. A few kids were kicking a bottle around which was quite annoying, so Mark picked it up and that was that - confiscated. Poor chavvy kids! Tinariwen were awesome. They're look, their sound, their stage presence with Hendrix up front with the elegance and roughness that you'd expect from the desert. I didn't recognise any of the tracks, but listening back now, I clearly remember the'Cler Achel' track which I've added to my March (2007) faves list. We edged up to the front of the stage, mixing up positions on the left and right, and getting up close to one of the drummers who had an ice cold poker face.. but you could tell they were all feeling it. Some of the hippies in the crowd were re-living the 70s asian drugged up vibe, but all in all this was my first taste of culture in this town in ages! More!! From what I remember of this gig, the music was very atmospheric, and almost spiritual in a way, and I'd definitely see them again if they were over in this part of the world! Ended up reading about the Toureg tribe on my girlfriends facebook notes, which was a total surprise lol Here's the comment I left:
"So there's me reading about your Nigerien experiences, and I come across the Toureg tribe, and I think.. hmm I've heard of this tribe. This is crazy, but I went to see a band called Tinariwen - a bunch of musicians from the Toureg tribe. That's crazy. I've yet to blog about them thinking that no-one would be interested in a bunch of "freedom fighters who are infliuenced by Eric Clapton/Jimmy Hendrix" lol..but.. you've inspired me to get writing about the gig. Here's a link to short bio of the band: http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/worldmusic/view/page.basic/artist/content.artist/tinariwen_5876Nearly all their music is about their experiences as freedom fighters, and their experiences in the dessert, and it's refreshing to hear bursts of arabic recitation here and there. I loved the "allo ello I test the mic" bit loool! That's the type of thing I'd do up on stage for an hour to avoid having to the main performance!!"
Those were the days hey Alizahra? I've got so much to write about.. and we're in 2008 now! lol! Check out more about Tinariwen on their youtube page: youtube.com/tinariwen Go go go! Update on Site Visitors (24th March 2007)
Total Page views: 16233 Page views today: 17
Page views this week: 17 Page views within the last hour: 2
Note: With the number of events lately, I thought I'd make this a short one. This particular blog entry being over a year old! Album reviews to follow later. April 06 
Fave Song at the Moment: Dan le sac VS Scroobius - Thou Shalt Always Kill
Wow! Try Lazyboy, mix in a bit of Baz Luhrmann, and then add a heavy electronic beat, with crazy crazy lyrics telling us what we shall do and what we shalt not do. Those of you on my myspace have probably seen the bulletin that I stuck up asking which were there top 3 "thou shalt not" lines from this killer track. (Stuck it up as a blog as well) Loads of thou shalt not do this or that instructions - Check out the lyrics and tune over on their myspace ( myspace.com/lesacvspip) As this is a blog dedicated to one of the maddest and weirdly close friends I have up here, the three "thou shalt not's" that remind me of this guy are: "Thou shalt not read NME/Thou shalt not stop liking a band or comedian just because they have become popular/Thou shall not buy Coca Cola products. Actually.. Mark.. The Smiths.. were JUST A BAND! Lol.. this is a loud track for 2007. I totally agree with the following article here at musiclikedirt: "Any song that manages to slag the NME & Coke, whilst covering Paedo’s, Stephen Fry, and Danny Glovers’ role in the Lethal Weapon franchise is ok by me." Mark introduced me to this track, I've also heard it on Jo Wileys show a few times and they're in Middlesbrough soon too. Let's see them Sparky Mark! Ooh the video is on youtube too if you want a quick listen!
Song Playing at the Moment: Plan B - Charmaine
Regulars on here know that I love songs with stories that either have twists at the end or tell a real deep story. This is an album track from Plan B who's did "No Good' and 'Mama' - both of which are relatively good tracks. (Prefer Prodigy's No Good [start the dance] though!) This track stopped me in my tracks as I was playing PS2 with MarkyMark, I was just amazed and didn't expect the end line at all. The story has 'Plan B' talking about a girl he's met, and how he's managed to get real close. He's quite blunt/street with his descriptions but theres a twist at the end when he asks he's telling his mate about Charmaine De La Rosa. Just re-checking the Plan B album for a mini review later, but this song certainly stands out. Good recommendation there Markus! Girls aren't always what they originally make out to be right?! Quite a few kareoki/live performances over on youtube again.
Albums on MarkyMarksMP3 CD/Albums Playing while Mark gets whooped on Burnout Takedown:
Longcut - A Call and Response 
Another impressive album was by Longcut - 'A Call & Response' - Felt like there were enough instrumentals on this track, and in some cases I'm not quite sure if any vocals arrived. It was good background music to be honest. The track 'Holy Funk' is beautiful, and would probably send shivers down your spine if heard live like 'I see you I see Me' and 'So Here we Are.' (Magic Numbers/Bloc Party) To be honest, the tracks where there are vocals are awful. Great guitars, really nice music accompanyment, but lads... get some female vocalists or something. The lead singer of Travis would have been a better choice for front man. I personally think his voice would be perfect instead of the constant wailing onsome of the tracks. 'A Tried and Tested Method' is catchy, but once again the vocals kinda wreck it for me. Verdict: Nice BG music so stuck it on a CD.
Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
 'Formed a Band... we formed a band' - Ugh.. who's this guy shouting at me? Rock and Roll? This is ear-bleeding perfection meaning that to save my ears I need to switch it off! the opening track 'Formed a band' has stuck in my head during recent weeks but the stickability/irratatingness is in the same form as the Numa Numa song by Dragostea Din Tei. 'My Little brother just discovered rock and roll" - umm I dont care. Why are you still shouting at me? Lyrics are funny but vocals are awful. Emily Kane would be awesome.. but ouch..I think I'm going to petition for a Natasha Bedingfield/Jamelia style Live Lounge cover of it just to save my ears. The 'Good Weekend' track is probably the only one I enjoyed listening to - cute in a rock and roll kinda way. The Metacritic reviews was an interesting read and before you complain (again) Mark, just because I don't agree with the majority doesn't mean I'm not allowed to dislike this album. I agree with the Guardian review but 3 stars is pushing it. Jason on metacritic sums it up: "I clearly missed something too because a friend just called me last night to rave about these guys. Unfortunately, I'd already heard this album and couldn't get through it a 2nd time" Verdict: Give me the last 32mins of my life back please!.
Plan B - Who Needs Actions When You Got Words
 I've mentioned Plan B earlier with the Charmaine track which I definitely rate, and I'm quite impressed with this album. He sertainly has a different style, and after listening to other UK rappers like Skinnyman and London collectives ala Dr Syntax/Stif of the Dump, it's interesting to follow this guys progress. The album is gritty and paints a bleak and very dark picture of Britain today. This Nme review (Thou shall not read NME) say that Plan B is "crafting simple and darkly witty songs about the reality of life in Britain. It's the brilliantly foul-mouthed sound of the summer." There's enough foul language to make one of Jag's Spurs rants sound like poetry. But unlike Jag, you don't want Plan B to shut up. He's got some terrifyingly real stories covering hot topics like the youth today in 'Kidz' and then the story about honour killings in 'Tough Love'. Underage sex, rape, drug addiction and murder. His story telling is impressive and the acoustic guitar background balances the harshness with some much needed melody. Verdict: Will buy if under a £5iver.
Danger Mouse - The Grey Album
 If Jag and Footy ace Chris Betts had kids, this would be the result. One loves the Beatles, and one is a resolute Jay Z fan (one is a complete prat and the other isn't a bad footballer - please pick me gaffer!! lol) So what do you really get when you mash up Jay Z, the 'CEO of hip hop' and the greatest rapper of all time (says the Rolling Stones)........ WITH the Beatles, one of the most critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music? Danger Mouse's quest to answer this question has resulted in a mash up of Jay Z's Black album and the much revered White album by the Beatles. Unfortunately record stores were prevented from selling the album with legal action from Beatles record label EMI. Sometimes these mash-ups make you want to hear the originals, and although I've had no real interest in the Beatles other than when Betts as mentioned them, I'm going to have to check this album out. I recognise a lot of the Jay Z lyrics from 'Public Announcement',' 99 Problems', 'What More Can I say', 'Change Clothes', 'Justify my Thug', and of course 'Encore'. A decent review from TinyMixTapes.com also questions whether more DJ's might try something experimental: 'Hopefully the ideas behind this album will be enough to start a sweeping trend which will see DJs picking up some better source material than an aging Hova with one foot in retirement and the other in Beyonce.' Verdict: Legally burning this to CD! Sigur Rós - Takk...
 This is the first album by Sigur Rós to feature vocals in their native Icelandic. Secondly this album has the track Hoppipolla, a track that Vasso sent to me just before Christmas. I've been hoping to check out the music on this album for agesa nd I'm glad I've finally got round to it. This is soooo peaceful but at the same time uplifting. I can't quite describe it. It seems to just push any negativeness out of you when you're listening. Try writing a while blog entry about Markymark!! I needed this album and I'm thankful to Mark for providing it. I've not got much classical music in my CD collection, nowt that's a ready-made chillout session, and this is once CD that I think has solved that. Hoppipolla remains to be my favourite song, and although the NME make a complete mess of the review (forcing comments such as: "James jam, are you on crack? that was the worst review i've ever read in my life."), it is still one purely satisfying experience to hear the album all the way through. Check out the track 'Mílanó' aswell for the amazing piano towards the end, I've been watching a bit of Classic FM Tv and :-o I've seen the video to 'Glósóli' and hearing it again today seriously sent shivers down my spine. The track builds up to an amazing climax and personally I think that this track borders on the sublime due to its calm, powerful and mind blowing beauty.WOW Check out the video and fall in love. Anyone wanna come see them LIVE!? Verdict: Updating wish list as we speak!
Music Topic of the Day: MarkyMark's Corporal Punishment
Just before I start, gotta explain briefly why I've dedicated this post to MarkusMarkus aka MarkyMark. Basically if you've read my myspace blog, you'll know that I had a bit of a week off from the usual Middlesbrough 'crack' life and Markymark came round for a DVD/music night and we had a wicked time. You can read about the "week of the indoor zombie" on my myspace blog.
Also wanted to clarify the topic title today. Corporal Punishment according to this Wikipedia entry means the deliberate infliction of pain intended to change a person's behaviour. I was subjected to a lot of music, and some of it was great, but arrgh... there's only so much alternative music I can take before I get depressed. Thankfully Mark had a real mix but you know what we're like with our music discussions hey?
After arriving early with the house slightly cleaner than usual, we ordered a Pizza and put Marks CDs on while playing on the PS2. I'd bought Mark 'Hot Chip - The Warning' for his birthday/Christmas and it wasn't too bad. I'd heard the track 'Over and Over' on the radio once or twice. Mark put the new Bloc Party album on. I'd seen these back in 2005 and blogged about that night here. I was never really a massive fan, but I appreciated the vocal talent and Mark was quick to show me the really deep lyrics on this album. What's the sexuality of the lead singer Kele Okereke? Does anyone care? He has a great voice and an intriguing personality. He's shown a particular disdain for interviews once quoted as saying: "Why is it important to know what I had for breakfast? Or who I went to bed with? Or what sneakers I am wearing? If it's relevant to understanding my music, then so be it. But if it's purely to satisfy the media's obsession with celebrity, then no thanks. I don't want to play that game." I say: The Bloc Party... just a band! ;-) Kele also provided vocals for the track "Believe" for the Chemical Brothers.
The third album playing while we were eating was DJ Shadow's Endtroducing. Wow... a bit of hip hop in the building for MarkyMark. DJ Shadow was a recommendation from old housemate Huw as well, and I was impressed with the chilled out feel of this album. "Why Hip hop sucks in 96" is surely a track my mate Rich is gonna avoid! Stage Invader by Linus Loves was another album that we checked out - real mix of electronic dance with a hint of Mylo, and on listening to it again online, it's not too bad. I don't think I was feeling it on the night though with all the 80's repititiveness. "Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music"!!
I've mentioned most of the albums above, but essentially this MP3 cd that Mark compiled for me, had the albums of Arcade Fire, Longcut, Plan B, DJ Shadow, Dangermouse, Art Brut, Linus Loves and even Sigur Ros. That's hip hop, alternative, indie, dance, urban Uk rapping and bootleg remixes all rolled in to one. We played the music while chomping on all the snacks I'd served up... Jaffa Cakes, crisps, grapes, yoghurt, and then mmm pizza hut as well. A bit of an all nighter as we also watched the movie: The Shaw Shank Redemption on DVD, and I'd also given Mark a kicking on both Toca Touring Cars and Burnout Takedown. Mark actually fell asleep during the movie sleep-talking with some of those usual indiscreet noises that he likes to grace the room with. As Haider once said... "Mark.. did you BLEEP on my sofa?"
Later showed Mark all the firefox extensions I'd downloaded.. slightly geeky, but I've got plenty of cool ones, now that I've switched from Internet Explorer aka sir-crash-alot! ( Check out these top 50 extensions for Firefox!) Also recommended some LazyBoy tracks including the Man Woman (Yin & Yang) and The Manual (Chapter 4), both of which were very funny to listen to.
Overall it was a crazy crazy session of music, movies and food which was the turning point after quite a difficult week. And although Mark does his best to get on your nerves, he's always gonna be one of the bestest mates up here. Weirdly enough we've just disagreed on another pool club related topic, but musically we're both flying the flags for new and innovative sounds.. Mark.. if you dress up (again) I can add ya to the Musical Rani blog!
Update on Site Visitors
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February 14 
Music Topic of the Day: The Musical Rani
After plenty of gig reviews, album reviews and musical adventures, I believe it's time to dedicate one of my blog entries to some my nearest and dearest Musical Rani's. Rani in hindi means queen, and if you've ever been reffered to as a Musical Queen, then you'll know that I've just got the deepest respect for your taste in music, your knowledge of a specific genre, or just your general love for music.
Now before I start fights there are plenty of people I know who've influenced me musically and they always get mentions but, the following 7 ladies are the ones I've clicked with in almost every way musically. (and believe me ya won't believe the buttons I've had to click to get some of these pics up.) It's Valentines day and some of the skeptics amongst ya might just see this as an excuse to stick pics of lovely women up :-p blah blah blah. Lets start!
Noureen I think I'll start with one of my closest friends Noureen from Texas. We were introduced via my other best mate Shabs and unbelievably, we've remained close for over 6 years. She's actually been there for me through pretty much every important event that I've been through in those 6 years, and listened to me waffle on about countless relationships and friendships. Besides calling me a dork and chatting in the early hours, she's been able to advice, share photos, interests and more importantly, she's recommended so much music. We've shared a lot of music together and she will always be my number 1 source for music from across the Atlantic introducing me to a lot of old and new urban music. It actually came to a point last year when I did a massive Steel Wheels shop and bought her a load of music that I knew she'd love, and sent it over for her birthday. She's one of those true friends that I haven't met yet which is understandable due to distance, but is crazy because of what we've shared. This lady has ruled the dance floors across the US, more recently New York for New Years oh and she did introduce me to the 'The Roots' - which automatically makes her a top gal in anyones books! I have a lot of respect for Noureen and it's only a matter of time before we actually combine our music collections and conquer the rest of the world! Music track that we gotta share a dance to: Trick Daddy - Sugar (Gimme some)
Keanu
 Kohinoor aka Keanu is my sister as most of you know, and she has to be included in this list. Apart from getting jealous that I've mentioned plenty of other women a lil too much in previous entries, she actually does have a great taste of music. I must admit that a large percentage of the music she owns, has originated from my own personal collection. (Had to add that in.) Everytime I hear a quality tune, she's usually the first to know about it. She listens to radio1 a lot more than me so she's quite quick to recommend me the latest and greatest tunes. She's also out in some of the hottest clubs in Birmingham, so she hears a lot of great remixes and see's a lot of artists live. She's quite quick to smash down any of my odd tastes, and always warns me if I'm straying too much into lala land, but we pretty much love the same kinda music and will continue our love/hate discussions about the asian music scene till the cows come home. She's astutely part of a massive asian collective both socially and religiously, meaning she's being exposed to all sorts of stuff that I wouldn't mind checking out, but recently she's become a lil too indie-fied. Luckily for her, she has my music blog to guide her in the right direction. Get commenting didi. Song that's exclusive to our sibling rivalry: Badmarsh & Shri - Bang ( here's a video of someone dancing to Signs)
Jyoti Don't know if the history books will confirm this, but Jyoti may have been the original Musical Rani. A Newcastle fan, a keen Bobby & Nihal fan, Juggy D's BIGGEST fan, a member of the famous Message Board Crew (MBC) where we first met, and someone who just lives and breathes the various music scenes that glow around the capital, this girl knows how to party and she know's how crazy I am to be temporarily stuck in the dullest & darkest town in the north-east grrr ;-) I've met Jyoti in Newcastle once, I've been this close to her on the dance floor at the 2004 Raghav gig without knowing, and we've been chatting ever since - While in London she's experienced dirty drum n bass, won tickets to see the Electric Proms, Nitin Sawhney, Erica Badu, plenty of top nights at the Bombay Bronx gigs AND more recently one of the best nights ever: Outlandish live - wow. Totally envious of her, but at the same time, she's a lil role model for me, and where I'd one day like to be before I get old and grey. I made here a compilation cd when I met her in 2005 and out of those, the three songs that we've both definitely enjoyed/would enjoy hearing live: Nitin Sawhney - Homelands, Swami - Desi Rock and Raghav - Winter in my mind.
Nazalene 
Nazalene aka Feeny aka 'Rishtiqs sista' used to be one of my closest friends back in the day, especially when I started uni. I was totally out of the Ismaili social scene and when my cousin Aleem introduced us on msn, we hit it off instantly. We made each other laugh straight away and although complications arose after a holiday in America, we've remained friends and met up a few times at different socials, hanging out together for the first time at the 'dinner and dance' night held in Leicester. Infact, I met loads of friends from the community through her , Shak, Azam, NimyK, my first ex, her own sister (who then introduced me to even more people!) Musically we both loved our RnB and our hiphop but it was only recently that we realised that we were both major Bobby and Nihal fans. Probably one of 3 people I've actually met who listen regulary to the show- she had the 'Keep it Under Cover' song as her screen name for a while, and next time Outlandish are in London, I'm definitely taking her down. The song that I'll forever associate with our friendship is R Kelly's Fiesta (but not this remix grrr)
Afsha
I haven't known Afsha for long, infact I haven't a clue how we met online. It might have been through Karim aka Frenchy online or just from my blog like most of my random contact. Either way I've reffered to her as a Musical Rani plenty of times, because she's got a love for many types of music. Essentially she's been recommending me plenty of RnB and Hiphop tracks that are massive in Canada, she recommended me an awesome online radio station Defjay.com that I've been listening to, and then there's been the asian tracks, the dance and house tracks.. just constant recommendations and I haven't even checked out half of them yet. We haven't been chatting long as I mentioned but she's recommended so many tracks and so here's a big thank you!
Karen
Karen from Northern Ireland! It's such a shame that she's never online any more, but we were very very close. We never actually got round to meeting up, but for a couple of months we were ringing and texting and ringing and texting. So many musical memories, especially as she introduced me to the legend that is John Legend. It was a difficult time coming out of a relationship and not knowing where to turn, but Karen helped me loads, she cheered me up and musically, she''d got me hooked on so many urban artists including the Game, Teedra Moses, more John legend, Kanye West, Ying Yang Twins, and Nate James. This girl is one cool cat with a love for all sorts of soul music, mixed with a bit of crunk and mainstream hiphop. Must admit, couldn't always stand too much 50cent, but always fun catching up with adventures from her nights out, and her mock attempts at singing Panjabi MC's Mundian to Bache Ke. Apart from ALL the John Legend songs that she recommended, the naughtiest and downright crudest song that we'd 'resist' dancing to is: Ying Yang Twins - Whisper
Vasso
 Vasso is one of my closest friends in Middlesbrough, infact the only person on this list that I've chilled with for more than a day. so far too much to write here. We've known each other for about 4 months, and we've developed a unique friendship that's taken us from hardly knowing each other, to being so close, that its scary 9how much she does knows about me.) Culturally she kicks ass, gets dragged along by her hair to Bollywood movies, knows how to have a laugh with the lads, bouncey like tigger, bubbley, cute when shy, hyper, TIRED, witty, pretty much everything you'd expect from a personality that has been brought up in Greece, hammered to death in Hebdon Bridge and then brought back alive in sunny Boro. In these 4 months, we've built up a handful of memories including shopping trips, nights out, movies galore, adventures on the darkside with those organic strawberries lol, amazing singing sessions, kettle chips washed down with mango or even liches rubicon, indian sweets, charlie murphy, running around for christmas cards/pairs of jeans, dvd nights, late night international calls, ps2 nights, concerts, and as usual with best mates, we've clicked on so many levels. With all the heartbreak, struggles & jihad (thats for u googlers), financially, emotionally, family, romantically and just general stressing bout crazy weirdos and 'friends', its encouraging to see that there she's coming out (of the closet) fighting.
 Musically, she adds a different dimension to the cd collection, and has sent me so much quality music that my 'fave songs list' for the last 3 months have been invaded by her recommendations. Luckily we compliment each other musically and I honestly feel pretty priveledged to meet someone who shares my love of music. Did I mention that she can sing? She's wrote a cute little message for me on her blog (which entitles her to a long description and a 2nd pic on here  ) and overall hopefully she knows deep down that whatever happens we'll remain close mates for a long time. Well actually wait till I leave this dump :-o <runs away and hides> Songs that define our musical journey: 'Magic Numbers - I see you, I see me' and 'Dido - This Land is Mine' and 'Raining Pleasure - Capricorn' and two Bic Runga tunes: When I see you smile and Sway.
Right that took longer than I'd planned - as I've said these women have provided hours and hours of music related chat that I could probably write for hours about the tunes they've introduced me to. So a big thank you and happy valentines day as well. I also want to shout out a few more ladies of royalty that I also connect with, not so much musically, but as this is a music blog, I'm going to see what I can do... here goes cos I soo cant forget these special souls:
Nabila: You just have to see her music taste and the song playing on her myspace (myspace.com/nabz88) to see how cool this cousin is! Shabs: This girl is one of my closest friends, infact she'll always be my 'best friend from Croydon' and we've been through many life changing moments side by side, and we've only met about 7 times! The songs: 'Things I've seen' and 'Sorry Miss Jackson' remind me of the time we first met. Those songs were huge at the time. The song that we both love is: My All by Mariah Carey. A relationship ending KILLER. Victoria: I gave Shikeela here a good intro in the last blog regarding her recommendation of the Hinder - Better than me track (this time a video with clips from sin city), but 'Dakota' by the Stereophonics is also a strong contender for "our song". Vanesa: The Shakira loving Godess who thinks I sound like Robbie Williams when I sing. She's definitely crazy, sexy and cool. ( Like TLC sims styley) Vanesa is one of the prettiest girls I know, and I look forward to her teaching me some Shakira-style belly dancing moves when I visit Argentina one day. Samia: Samia the most likely to give me a slap, but she's recommended a few great songs. Recently Mr Jones by Counting Crows, and the songs that remind me of her a lot are 'Mario's Let me love u' and 'Keisha White's Weakness in me'. Beautiful! (and that song isn't too bad either!) Sarah Cakemonster: Can't believe I missed this star's birthday last month. Been sharing musical tastes with Sarah for a couple of years now, and apart from the latest indie pop, she's a sucker for her old late 80's and 90's music. Other than a worrying interest in the Hoff, she loves the Labrinth, a movie I'm desperate to see again, not just cos Jennifer Connoley stars in it. The whole movie in 5 mins is here on video with yet another David Bowie song! (Sarah informs me that hooked on a feeling is her fave David Hasselhoff song, altho the vid reminds me of a playgroup safari video my mom embarassingly made!)
MC AAG: This young MC broke on the scene with some great rhymes with her Girls on Top track, and later I helped her tweak her date rape rap. She's only young but she has a lot of talent, and so watch this space for more updates on her latest mixtape. (And I'm out, 2-double-Ohhh-seven!)
Anissa from Belgium: Apart from teaching me bits of Hindi, Greek and Arabic, this desert rose (Sting ft Cheb Mami reference) has sent me some of the nicest fusion music ever. Hindi with Arabic, Rai music, including tracks by Cheb Mami/Cheb Khaled and a real bollywood-esque fave: Douzi - Yali Nasini (hindi remix). The classic and beautiful Ya Rayah by Rachid Taha reminds me of her everytime I hear it!
Groovy Tasha (Natasha!): My cousin from Leicester is always bouncing around, always remember her for her love of J-Lo - when I was round her house a few years back - I remember her playing it and we both loved the album at the time. Crazy. Top song: J-Lo - Play ("turn it up turn it up turn it up... turn the track UP!") (oh and woops forgot the Michael Jackson track: 'Bad' because of a school dance at the time.)
February 09 
Fave Song at the Moment: Hinder - Better Than Me
It's difficult to meet people who you totally click with. If you're a complicated person, then it can be impossible but when you do find that person, you've got to keep them close. Back in 2004 when I was re-building my msn list with new friends, I met Victoria aka AV aka Shikeela online, a girl I instantly clicked with on many different levels. If she wasn't finishing my sentences, or acting like she was my mirror image, she was being witty, and showing me that I wasn't as unique as I thought I was. She was "me" which was just too spooky! We lost contact and that was that. In the last week, she's come back online, same dodgy computer, same old Victoria, but of course lots of things have changed with 3 years passing with plenty of adventures, strawberry eating contests and a one year whimsical and unpredictable relationship. Now she's armed with a new playful image of me as a playa!!! *Yeh right* - She's introduced me to this track and interestingly Hinder invited their fans to create their own videos and stick them on youtube for a competition. I've watched a couple of videos but my favourites are the King Kong entry and the final fantasy video adaption. (There are a couple of anime entries to check out too.)
Song Playing at the Moment: Richard Marx - Hazard
I love songs with stories, and when Vasso opened my eyes to Street Spirit by Radiohead, the haunting guitar mysteriously reminded me of this older song by Richard Marx. The lyrics are haunting, the actually melody is haunting, the video is crazy. There have been debates all over the Internet, and trust me to enter the discussion nearly 2 decades later. If you aren't clicking my links here, basically the guy sings about rowing up in a small American town called Hazard in Nebraska and getting accused of murder when his girlfriend is found dead by the river. This song used to send shivers down my spine as a kid. Edward Cox, a BA (Hons) Music/Popular Music graduate has analysed the video investigating the influence of film on music video. (Think its time to get a music vid for my rap!) James from Pool Club just mentioned the Boom Town Rats' hit 'I don't Like Mondays' - definitely another song that is accompanied by a sad story.
Albums Playing on Phone Since Last Time: Basement Jaxx - Crazy Itch Radio/ Justin Timberlake - Future Sex Love Sounds/ Pendulum - Hold Your Colour
Basement Jaxx - Crazy Itch Radio 
A majestic intro, a mix of dance, soul, fusion, hindi vocals, eastern european horns, country, chillout, and then up comes 'Run for Cover' straight out of the heart of the capital. This album has everything yet many Basement Jaxx fans from the early days of Rooty and Kish Kash might be unsure about the direction change. Andy Battaglia, a reviewer says: 'Where those albums ate listeners brains by the way of shuddering rythems and higher-density pastiche, this one licks those brains and lets them get off on the restraint.' This is inventive and culturally chilled to a level that almost everyone will find something they like. You know straight away what your getting with the Jaxx, and there are some really hot tracks on here. The Eastern European feel to 'Hey U' has made this track my fave from the album. This youtube video has a real crazy colourful girl dancing to it! 'Take Me Back To Your House' has an awesome video and most people will have heard 'Hush Boy' - I remember ex-housemate Huw saying in the summer that i might have to force myself to like this song because I was seeing Basement Jaxx album, and he nearly nailed me there. But the song has grown on me. I really like the rollercoaster ride that this album presents, and hearing the chilled "Go Down" track reminds me of the Metro Arena all lit up with spectacular lighting efects. (That track has backing vocals from Lily Allen according to this review.) More on that gig below! Verdict: On shopping list.
Justin Timberlake - Future Sex/ Love Sounds 
Brazilian Victor, one of the oldschool BBC Connector chat room boyz, had this album as his screen name, and even Haider was repping the tracks on here, so thought I'd check it out. Sexyback is the song to get you on your feet to be honest, forget the rest, lol when this came on in the Empire late last year, I think I took dancing to an extreme level. I know Jag hates this next one, but "My Love" is one of my favourite tunes out at the moment. As mentioned in the magic Numbers Blog below, it's definitely of those tracks that I can relate to. Do I feel appreciated? How much do I have to do to show you my love etc blah blah. go back to sleep! The other track that rocks on here is 'What Goes Around' which hasn't got an official video just yet but if it's the next single then just wait.. it's going to blow your socks off. I like the different intro's and two-track songs like 'Lovestoned" ( this is how I dance to it! yeh right!) mixed with "I think that she knows". Although someone on youtube again has mixed the future sex/love sound intro with 'I think that she knows' and :-o if your a fan of Mulder and Skully you're in for a treat. Out of the other songs the only one I think I rate is 'Losing My Way' which is chilled out and presents Justin a lil differently which is always good to see. Verdict: Will buy if under a £5iver.
Pendulum - Hold Your Colour 
Old housemate Huw bought this album and told me it was excellent! Once again I had to check this album out. I've been listening to this album on and off and arrgh it just blows my mind each time I hear it. Drum n Bass for those who don't know is the way forward. It's sad that i missed a recent DnB night with MarkyMark and Gav and of course all the endless gigs down in London. I can only imagine what dancing to Tarantula mixed in with Kawan's Other Life can sound like at a Bobby & Nihal Gig! Apart from the really hardcore stuff that I can just about handle on here, there are some really nice tracks on here you might want to check out if DnB isn't normally your forté. You must check out 'Girl In The Fire'. This review by Sputnikmusic.com describes the song as the most diverse and experimental on the album especially with it's lounge/latin American feel. Fusion is what it's all about. The review also gives out a great line by Frank Zappa regarding writing about music which i shall definitely use when this blog is on it's last legs! Watch out for the track 'Through the Loop' which includes a very dark and sinister clip of Willy Wonka speaking from the original movie when they were on the boat! remember? Scary. So much going on with this album and so I think it's... Verdict: ..definitely on wish list.
Music Topic of the Day: Basement Jaxx Concert 2006
Right it's been a long time coming but here's my review of the Basement Jaxx gig. First of all big shout out to my close friends Vasso, MarkyMark and RichyRich for coming along to make this one of the best gigs I've been to since the Prodigy hit the same arena a year before. "I was coming back from Leamington Spa on the train" (Free drink for anyone who recognises that lyric) after visiting home for a family gathering. After spending a few days in Leicester and L/Spa, it was time to return, and I just went straight up to Newcastle, my spiritual home! Honestly being home was crazy with the dinner commemorating the anniversary of the passing away of Aunty! (there's only 1 RIP) and then an absolute bombshell over in Middlesbrough with a moral/ethical/racial conundrum of epic proportions. (and I'm not exagerating!) Although a bit early, I ended up meeting the fellow music lovers in the city centre and we did a spot of music shopping. I'm not quite sure what I picked up, but like usual it's probably piled up in my music cabinet with all the rest of the CD's I collect. After trawling through endless cd's, me, Mark and Vasso left Rich for Pizza Hut, where we enjoyed a scrumptious meal. Although troubled, I think getting out of the house provided Vasso with a bit of breathing space and she picked up a few bargains at Steel Wheels. Also couldn't thank her enough for her kind words on her blog. (I think getting out of the smoggy cesspit that is Boro, was a breath of fresh air for all of us personally!)
On to the gig, we were in early, and we waiting around, it actually started a lot later then expected as we waited for the warm-up act CSS. I've got one of their songs ' Let's make love and listen to death from above' and it's quite catchy. They were a really energetic band and Mark's given them some rave reviews. The lead singer was cute with her slightly broken English and pretty much carried the band with her enthusiasm and as Vasso describes her: a superb showgirl! The band name stands for 'Cansei de Ser Sexy'. Look it up cos man I know how they feel lol!
When all that noise was over, it was finally time to see the Jaxx and man they did not dissapoint. The gig was amazing full stop! They played ALL my favourites starting off with 'Jump and Shout' early on mixing in their classic dance killers with some of their newest album tracks reviewed ealrier. I think the faves that they didn't perform were 'Get me off' and the Dizzy Rascal classic 'Lucky Star' - but hey it wouldn't have been the same without Dizzy hey?! Vasso had somehow managed to get right at the front of the crowd up against the barriers and she was dancing her ass off, and she only paid a tenner for her ticket. Big shout out to the seller on Ebay for getting her the ticket at the last minute. We were all dancing to our favourite tracks with the Jaxx fusing a few current hits into their set including Justin's Sexyback, and Fedde Le Grands 'Put your hands up for detroit)' A few quick links before I forget:
2) The only other Newcastle gig review I've found other than ours is this really excellent review at hecklerspray.com
Back to my gig review, it was cool to see the visuals on the screen including that hilarious dancing bear from the 'Take me back to your house' video. At the recent electric proms gig in London, the Jaxx had replaced the visuals with more live performers, live russian dancers, breakdancers and a live gyspy band playing horns and an accordian. In Newcastle, we had photos and videos of the city's landmarks on the big screen, video clips from the latest singles, a cheer leader doing the splits, the guy in a flowing white robe with African flags for sleeves smashing it with 'Jump & Shout', guys with monkey masks and some in the crowd as well. Not forgetting the really beautiful acoustic version of 'Romeo'. The crowd were singing along. Found a few different clips of this version from othere gigs: here at Dublin, here at Glasgow, and here at Wembley. Gives me goosebumps just listening to this and then hearing the intro to 'Take me back to your house in those last 2 venues! WOW. You've just got to see this lot live to fully experience the show, just as the review of the Manchester gig states: "Basement Jaxx are one of the best live acts this country has ever produced, and it is a crime if you live your life without seeing them at least once."
Update on Site Visitors
Total Page views: 14565 Page views today: 6
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Last 5 searchs for Ak's musical Journey
1) 'pictures nose bleeds' - Typical. You aren't gonna get any luck here. How about a google search for Andrew WK? Try: here2) 'ldn(acoustic at bush hall) mp3' - Acoustic version of Lily Allens track is available for download at virgin. Try: here3) 'outlandish interview on mbc' - Try: Visiting the MBC here, and Outlandish's myspace here 4) 'M.I.A. & Corner Shop - Topknot ' - Bit more news available on their Cornershop's newspage. Try here5) 'beautiful mind soundtrack download' - Haven't seen the film yet but check out the whole album for under $3. Try here
Mp3 Download of the day 
Just been on Jay Dhabi's myspace and found this 10 minute DJ party mix that he's made available for download. There's such a variety of mash-ups and clash-ups here including the Sona Family's Glassy, Q-Tip, Brim Full of Asha Vs Sexy Back, Nelly Furtado's Maneater, Elena Rigby by The Beatles(???!), Promiscuous Girl, Tag Team, and a bit of 'Put your hands up for Detroit', and various others. Gosh I remember showing this to my sister over Christmas - she couldn't believe her ears. Check the first track that plays on this page here: http://www.myspace.com/liljaynyc
Message from AK
Thanks for all the recent comments, and of course the usual moaning that I write too much/don't blog regularly. And quick shout out to Yusuf aka Yus2Gud - you know you're the real star of my blog. (Now send me some more quality tunage!) Valentines day is round the corner so I thought I'd do something special! for my next blog- watch this space.) January 25 
Song Playing at the Moment: RJ Productions - 459
Bobby and Nihal compiled a 'best of 2006' playlist and amazingly didn't include this 2006 classic. Gotta give this track a mention because to put it simply: ITS BEAUTIFUL. Now beautiful is hardly the descriptive word you'd use for a high octane drum n bass track like this, but just as I was starting to think the show had gone slightly stale, this track popped up and deservedly got a lot of airplay. The best of 2006 radio show had some great tracks though including Riz's 9/11 blues, and the mash up 'Kawans other life'. Other great Asian dance tracks included Jay Dhabi's 'Mubai after dark', Audio Dakoo's 'I am Jack Smerking Jaanwar' and 'Darya I Nur' by Fusing Naked Beats. The latter being a track that Rich loved and ended up downloading from iTunes while i was over at his house. I was invited to help record a demo for a radio show we're both working on! Yes DJ AK at your service. The RJ productions track made such an impact on me, along with 'Danja Atari's Too Late' track, that when the opportunity arose to have my own radio show at the University of Teesside, Rich and myself recorded a fusion radio show demo. I'll be sticking it up on my myspace soon.
Note: Changes happening to my music blog. I spent a lot of time trying to complete this particular blog over a hectic Christmas schedule, and realised that the music lists that i've been updating have been upgraded so you can write a short description of each song and even include the album details with links to Amazon. This means that I can minimise the length of these entries with just the album reviews and main blog topics. It'll save ya reading all these ramblings - notice on the main image, I have a zippy-esque zip over my mouth to shut me up... stop me spitting my lyrics! Check out the December 2006 list and the January 2007 list!
Fave Song at the Moment: Justin Timberlake - My Love
With this being the last time I big-up my favourite song, and with so many months since my last blog entry, it was practically impossible to find a track that summed up the quality of the last few months. One of my favourite songs over the last few months has definitley been 'My Love' and it's one of the few quality tracks from his album. I think Justin's a great entertainer and I've enjoyed dancing to "sexyback" every time I've been out recently. I've checked out his latest album so will be blogging about that soon too. With Michael Jackson's career pretty much extinct with a face to match, Justin's started to take over the pop world. This track in particular is great to slow-dance to, great to chill to, and the video like usual is stylish, surreal with Justin showing what a performer he is. I had a few of the lyrics as my msn screen name for a while actually. He's asking his girl a couple of questions.. I think he's just split up with Cameron Diaz fueling the usual trashy rumours. As youtube comments suggest, he probably hasn't got over Britney especially with his latest song ;-) So tell me.. "what would you do if I wrote you a symphony to tell you what you meant to me? or if I wrote you a love note.. and made you smile at every word I wrote? What would you do!"
Albums Playing on Phone Since Last Time: The Magic Numbers - Those the Brokes/Borat OST/Notorious B.I.G - Duets: The Final Chapter
The Magic Numbers - Those the Brokes 
Regulars on my blog will know that I not only bought the first self titled album, but my housemate Huw bought me another copy for my birthday. I listened to that album throughout the summer as I worked at Ramsdens, and it proved to be one of my favourite albums of 2005. It was always going to be difficult to live up to the first albums success, and when listening, you can't quite see which songs are going to sparkle as singles. The first single from the album 'Take a Chance' reminds you of what made you love them in the first place - pure pop heaven - and although the album isn't as good as their first, I'll still recommend it because it's certainly one of those you're not going to get bored off. Highlights include 'This is a song', 'Undecided', 'Let Somebody In', and 'Running Out'! Mark hit the nail on the head with his comments: 'The album deals with serious issues concerning love, hearbreak, relationships and emotions all in a a cute sing-along manner' - which is what the magic numbers are all about. Verdict: On shopping list.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan - OST 
2006 saw a Borat attack America, and invade our movie screens. I'd been a fan ever since his early days on the Ali-G show, and ended up watching the movie with Jez, Table Tennis Adam and John Chan. Apart from the obvious laughs and the expected toilet humour, I came out of the movie hearing some extremely beautiful music and some very fun catchy tracks. Everyone knows my Eurovision obsession, and with recent music sharing sessions with new Pool club member Vasso, I've become a bit more aware of European music. Straight after the movie, I checked out the album, and wow I had to see the movie again. Crazy hey? Weirdly enough, there's no Kazakstani musicians on here with all the musicians originating from balcan and gypsy backgrounds. Vasso informs me that she's heard of Goran Bregavic. As Vasso has an intriguing taste in music, with influences from many of the surrounding countries around Greece, I unsucessfully tried to get her along to my second viewing with the rest of the pool lads. One track "Mahalageasca" by Mahala Rai Banda really stands out in the movie and is definitely one of my faves along with the really beautiful Ederlezi by Bregovic which accompanies the sad parts of the movie when Borat finds himself alone. There are sound bites taken from the dialogue in the movie and these are scattered throughout this soundtrack ending with the hilarious Kazakstani national anthem! Verdict: Gotta stick this on the shopping list due to its delicious taste of undiscovered world music!
Notorious B.I.G - Duets: The Final Chapter 
"The Biggie Duets... Jazze Phizzle (phizzle phizzle)" Yep we all know the start of Nasty Girl, and ouch what a hot album. Although I rarely fully check out rap albums, I was glad I had a good listen to this one. There are some crackers on here, with a wealth of artists collaborating. The highlight is definitely Whatcha want featuring Jay Z. A heavy beat, catchy and man you should see my attempts to rap along to this! Eminem, Nas, Diddy, Fat Joe, Snoop, Mobb Deep, Twista, Mary J Blige, Missy, Ludacris - man it just reads as a who's who of hiphop! Then add Korn and Bob Marley, and you've got a great tribute to one of the worlds greatest rappers. 'Spit your game' is the soundtrack to the MC Riz jump-off rap battle video on his myspace. So I'd already heard this one and although I wasn't feeling all the tracks originally, the albums grown on me so much that I ended up bying it twice and getting a copy for Rich for his birthday! Jag, a mate I've met through Chris Betts likes his hiphop and loves the akon track on here. It's another highlight of a highly recommended album for any rap fan. Verdict: Bought!
Music Topic of the Day: The Magic Numbers Gig 2006
It's blogging time again and suprisingly I'm writing this while on my way to another gig. Must be filthy rich, I hear you say. Well not quite. MarkyMark had informed me about both tonight's Basement Jaxx gig, and Friday's Magic Numbers concerts a couple of months back when I had cash!" Note: I'd wrote all this nearer the time, only now am I finding time to stick this online.
On to the Magic Numbers gig. After being held back in Middlesbrough after a houseparty and an expensive haircut, I had to take the train up to Newcastle, instead of taking Rich's offer of driving up. Although the pre-gig warm-up music in his car would have been ace, my haircut over-ran, and I couldn't handle trawling around Steel Wheels - a bit boring if you've got zero cash/you're not filthy Rich!
I met up with MarkyMark & RichyRich, at Northumbria's Student's Union café. Directions given by the family of one of the warm up bands 'Horsebox.' Chilled around for half an hour then queued up. I'd had my own mini warm up to the gig on the train, listening to both albums, that I'd stuck on to my phone. I'd bought the Magic Numbers debut album a while back, and Huw had kindly bought it me again as a Birthday pressy, and so I'd been listening to the tracks on repeat all day. Ended up giving the fellow queuers a blast! (Show off!)
Horsebox were the first warm up act, and I was pleasantly suprised by the band. One of the band members had a xylophone and looked like he had taken a few drugs beforehand. Sorry if you're reading this family members. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, because he was getting into it, and the crowd were applauding. A lot of the songs had a food theme which was making me hungry! The second warm act was David Kitt and he was great. He had a great voice, and even did a duet with Michelle from the Magic Numbers. Note this was when Rich perked up after being asleep for the last hour. It's difficult when you have to stand up at a gig hey? Where's those VIP balcony seats we ordered?
Things had already started heating up with the hall filling up. Finally the Magic Numbers entered the arena, or what could be classed as a small intimate venue. They were awesome. I didn't think I'd get dancing, but Rich, Mark, and myself were dancing and singing all night. Big shout out to markymark at this point, for getting me the tickets on time, nearly scared me when he said he didn't have them while we were queuing up. Nutter! Each member of the band has a distinct soothing voice, and there were a couple of times when the hall was in awe of the sweet melodies and delicate tunes that were perfomed. They started with the opening track of their new album 'This is a song' and continued with all their singles and plenty of album tracks from both the first and current albums. As soon as 'I see you, you see me' came on however, I was in dreamland. That track as mentioned before is just one of their best songs, and has some extrodinary lyrics that I really relate to. For me, hearing this live is straight up there with Bloc Party's 'So Here We Are' - infact it's even better! ouch!
Their 2nd album as reviewed above hasn't in my opinion got as many classics, but it's still worth checking out. They played a few from the new album including an exclusive solo effort that you can hear on their myspace. Personally I didn't think I'd dance as much as I did, bu |
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