music

A much-awaited album was set to be released in 2012: The xx's second studio record, called ‘Coexist'. It carried big expectations following their very successful debut album ‘XX' (2009), which brought fresh air to the alternative music scene and influenced many artists to come (like Alt-J, whose own album review you can read here).

The band's trademark playing style is definitely minimalist: Jamie Smith & co managed with just a few instruments and simple electronic beats to create a great chill-out atmosphere in each of their old tracks, using low-tone vocals which gave the listener many reasons to keep thinking, sometimes for hours, about the lyrics and the whole meaning of the songs.

However, it seems that with ‘Coexist' this approach has become a little bit excessive, and their melodies are not as interesting as they were.

Beats sometimes keep on playing for minutes without any real aim, without any really bright spark. The vocals do not provide any further interest - making it very difficult to get the messages of many songs, which remain completely hidden and leave the listener with some reasonable doubts ('Tides', ‘Reunion', ‘Our Song').

Last year it was PSY's ‘Gangnam Style'. Now Baauer's ‘Harlem Shake' has gone viral. Since February 2013, we've all heard it played somewhere. The raucous composition had its rather bewildering fifteen-minutes-of-fame earlier this year, and appears still to be basking in the afterglow of Internet Celebrity for the many meme-architects who have refused to move onto the next ‘big fad'.

Not claiming to be any musical authority myself, I set out (like so many before me) to un-shroud the ambiguity surrounding the Harlem Shake. Released in early 2012, the song didn't actually receive any notable degree of worldwide acclaim until early 2013, when the recognizable videos featuring large groups of enthusiastic, vigorous dancers began to appear on Youtube. The Harlem Shake itself has become a widespread internet meme, almost irrelevant to the song itself. However, in some circles, it has been viewed in more serious eyes, under the technical microscope of music producers whose receptions of the whimsical tune have been mixed.

A few months ago a friend strongly recommended me to listen to a music album called ‘An Awesome Wave', by debuting Cambridge-native band Alt-J. It took me some time to take his advice, but it eventually turned up as one of the best musical choices I have ever made.

The first listen may not be so exciting. It can seem like you are listening to an alternative-indie band with a very soft and comforting sound, but which doesn't stand out from the whole bunch of rather experimental emerging groups who have tried to succeed over the last few years with their debut albums. Luckily I decided to listen to it a little bit more patiently - always give music a second chance - and this time it didn't disappoint.

The first track ‘Intro' gets the listener into the atmosphere of ‘An Awesome Wave' (the album's name) which will rise through the whole record - vocals "One, two, three...Yeaaaah!" make it even more chilling -, before ending with the very intimate song ‘Taro', where the tide lowers and good vibes reach their peak.

This weekend marked the 50th anniversary of the first Beatles single to reach the charts in Britain. Celebrations have been going on up and down the country to toast the most successful and acclaimed band in the history of popular music.

Ever since the opening sounds of John Lennon's harmonica in ‘Love Me Do' were heard, the British music scene has never been the same. Though only a relatively minor hit, the single marked the first time that the Beatles came to the public's attention. Over the next year their star climbed faster and higher than anyone could have imagined as Beatlemania swept first Britain and then the US.

Now, fifty years on, the band has just as many fans willing to come out and celebrate, both young and old. The festivities this weekend centred around the Beatles' hometown of Liverpool, in the north-west of England. 

You can't help but of heard of Gangnam Style in the last few weeks. First of all it flooded the internet and now it has broken free in to the real world. But what is it?

Gangnam Style is a song and dance from South Korean rapper Psy. Though well-known in his home country, the song only went worldwide after racking up millions of views on YouTube. It broke in to the UK top 40 singles chart two weeks ago and has been climbing ever since, reaching number 1 on Sunday. Along the way, it has broken all sorts of records:

• Psy is the first musician from South Korea to get a UK number 1
• The original YouTube video of the single is currently approaching 350 million views
• With almost 3.3 million ‘Likes' the single is the most ‘Liked' YouTube video of all time

Indeed, such has been the success of the song, that Psy has been signed by Justin Beiber's management team in America. If you haven't already seen it, here is the video in question: