About The Cold Cut...

The musings of a teenage audiophile. Indie, Rock, Hip-Hop, Rap, Dance, Dubstep, Garage, Metal... music crosses all boundaries. The Cold Cut is devoted to giving you a taste of what's going on in music at the moment.

About Me

A 17 year old taking his first tentative steps into the world of blogging. In my first year, its been up and down, from the slow first months to a busy time around the one year anniversary.

Showing posts with label The Stills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Stills. Show all posts

Thank **** for the weekend.

As one line of a Hard-Fi song states, I was truly 'living for the weekend'. Last week was taxing, but the work I put in has made the brilliant weekend even more enjoyable, although I already have to start working for the next wave of exams, commencing Wednesday. Fortunately, music isn't my only interest, and many of the things that I care about are reaching critical turning points this weekend.

Ahead of Wimbledon, commencing at the end of June, Roland Garros, or the French Open, has been a really enjoyable tournament. The rivalries in tennis are as strong as ever, and even Justine Henin's shock retirement couldn't detract from this tournament. The women's final was fairly tame, and Ivanovic had the game wrapped up from the end of the first set.

However, the proposition of another meeting between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer was what really excited me. It's an intense rivalry; few people beat Federer, and no-one beats him regularly. Apart from Rafa, that is. As was proved today: he dominated the match, winning 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. That final set represent the first love set that Federer has lost in over 8 years. An omen for Wimbeldon? Possibly.

The 2009 Formula 1 season has been amazing thus far; I am bitterly dissapointed with today's Grand Prix in some respects, but am also ecstatic for Robert Kubica, and BMW Sauber. To be honest, the track was sub-par, and Lewis Hamilton's mistake was unfortunate. The only thing we (and McLaren) can do is to take positives: Lewis took out Kimi as well, and although Kubica has been strong, I believe that BMW will struggle in the second half of the season. Therefore Lewis still has a strong chance of winning the championship. The penalty both he and Rosberg will suffer is a ten place grid drop at the French GP.

Euro 2008 kicked off with a few promising games. The earlier game saw the hosts beaten by the Czech Republic, which was a fairly dull game. Portugal were impressive, however, beating Turkey 2-0. Today's games are still being played (as I write this), so we shall have to see if the tournament continues to be interesting. My money is on Spain.

Apple's WWDC begins in a couple of minutes, and the rumor mill (which I follow) is at it's peak. From experience, no one knows what the iPhone looks like: if it was on the net, Apple would have removed it by now. They always do. And as always, Cupertino is water tight- the original iPhone was in development for years, and yet no-one had a clear photo of it until it was officially unveiled. Expect the 3G iPhone, shipping on 15th June (AT&T's 'black-out days'), with GPS, video conferencing, exchange facilities. It will be thinner, with the facility to turn 3G on and off, and will be available in three colours: black, white, and product (RED). Oh, and also expect a similar multi-touch device (possibly with a 2.8 screen, or much larger), although no solid news has been heard concerning this yet. New cinema displays, a black mighty mouse and the new .Mac (me.com) will be unveiled. My wildcard guess goes for new Macbook's, with the similar black keyboard/aluminium enclosure that is featured on the Macbook Air.

As ever, there is so much music being released. A few notable tracks (some old, some new) are available below:

The Stills- Being Here (Link 2)
Beyonce- Beautiful Nightmare (Link 2)
Sam Sparro- Black And Gold (Link 2)
Immuzikation- Highly Selassie (Immuzikation DangDiDiDangDadBlend) (Link 2)
Coldplay- Lost! (Link 2)

Destroy Cowboy

About 8 seconds into Destroy Cowboy's '1000 Candles' a huge electronic klaxon kicks it. That sound announces the arrival of an important band. Fronted by affable publicity-machine Steve State, and comprising Andy Porteous on guitar and 'keys' (as they put it), Andy Moore on bass, Ryan O'Donoghue on guitars and Kieran Petvin on drums, this Birmingham five piece have been making waves for a while now.

Unfortunately, with the nature of their sound, they have their work cut out for them. They aim high, but they don't falter. Destroy Cowboy possess an epic sound, encapsulating a diverse range of musical styles, instruments and ideas into some seriously impressive, catchy songs. Their songs, as pop-nuggets, have a lot of studio potential. The likes of '1000 Candles' are just a bit too long for your average listener, and could be easily cropped to perfection with some studio sheen. Regardless of this, their music has some serious crossover potential- its complex and epic, whilst remaining enjoyable listening. Not an easy trick to pull off...

Time for a bit of name-dropping- over the last few months, Destroy Cowboy have supported Cold War Kids, Tapes ‘n Tapes, The Stills, Tokyo Police Club, Humanzi, 2ManyDjs and 1990s. And just like that, its obvious that we aren't the only ones taking notice. On 28th January, they're supporting Stars at the Birmingham Barfly, a milestone if there ever was one.

Their music is such that they almost wear their hearts on their sleeves- its obvious that they want to be massive. Help them out a bit, will you? Head over to their MySpace, tell your friends, whatever. Give them what they deserve...

Destroy Cowboy- 1000 Candles

The Stills... After a short hiatus, they're back!

Finally! The Stills have returned! My wait is over!

These were the thoughts running through my mind when I clicked on two of the latest songs by The Stills, Oh Shoplifter and Helicopter, releases which I have been anticipating for 4 years. When their debut album, Logic Will Break Your Heart, was released in 2003, I became an avid follower of this band, along with many others (the album was in many people's top 20 that year): I loved lead singer Dave Hamlin's sleepy vocals, and the characteristically American guitar licks which accompanied him. I loved their album from start to finish: the lifting Lola Stars And Stripes to Still In Love Song, it was a fantastic album. The only problem was after listening to the album 20 times I was craving something new, or different, but The Stills just seemed to disappear. I waited anxiously to hear something... anything that would give me a sense of what the band's plans were. But nothing came.... I didn't hear anything about them until about a month ago, when I was reading a blog which was detailing the most exciting upcoming releases. And there it was... The Stills- Without Feathers. The album came out on the 9th May, but I haven't got around to buying it yet. I have, though, got two tracks off the album, both of which are excellent, if a little different from the bands original stuff. Click the links below to get the two tracks:

The Stills- Oh Shoplifter
The Stills- Helicopter

Tracks on my playlist today

As I lie ill in my bed, these are the best tracks that compile my playlist today. From now on, this will be a daily fixture, as well as my track of the day post... Click on the individual links to get the each track, or go here to download them all..

Albert Hammond Jr.- Back To The 101
Buy his debut solo album, Your To Keep, here...

Bjork- Crying
Buy her first album, Debut, here...

Bloc Party- Staying Fat
Buy their new album, A Weekend In The City, here.

Idlewild- No Emotion
Buy their new album, Make Another World, here...

Maximo Park- A Fortnight's Time
Buy their new album, Our Earthly Pleasures, here...

The Hours- Ali In The Jungle
Buy their new album, Narcissus Road, here...

The Stills- Still In Love Song
Buy their first album, Logic Will Break Your Heart,

Enjoy, and come back tomorrow to get the next installment in my day playlist...