Don't You Just Love Us?

So while it seems once again as if half the country is at either Reading or Leeds I'm stuck at home again. I'm going to lose cool points for this but despite being really into my music and Head of Music at a radio station, I've never actually been to a festival, as much as I really want to. Next year is going to be my year though...

Chiara's out there right now though, so watch out for a mega-post from her soon. No doubt it'll fawn over Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins' headlining set so just make sure you are ready ok.

So with everyone else having fun and me stuck working in a supermarket I decided to cheer myself up with some new CD's. Unfortunatly this summer has been rather deader than usual for new releases. The upshot of this though is that this is one of the few times on the year I can work through the 'list of music I really want but never seem to have enough cash to get it because I get distracted by something shiny and new'. So, seeing as I'm avoiding going to sleep right now, heres a list and some quick reviews of the stuff I've been listening to the past few weeks:

MC Mastercuts - Chilled Lounge: So I've recently bought CD decks (more on this in another post) and am starting adventures in DJing, and since doing the chillout set at Wolfson June Event in June I've really got into my chillout stuff (101 CLub anthems was b=purchased with a similar idea in mind). This is a pretty decent compilation for just a few quid actually and has given me a few good tunes for later sets. The best by far though is 'The Sensual Woman' by The Herbaliser. It sounds like a woman reading the dirty pages from Cosmopolitan magazine over Ron Burgundy's 'Yazz flute' from Anchorman. So wrong and yet hilarious. Worth ti just for the looks on other peoples faces when you play it to them

Slipknot - Volume 3 - The Subimimnal Verses: I nicked this from my brother and it's surprisingly good. People often dismiss this band but this album has held up pretty well. There's even some actual singing. And 'Vermillion' is an absolute stormer.

Kosheen - Kokopelli: Resist is one of the best dance albums ever so the logical step is to go indie right? Pretty disappointing but the new stuff is sounding frickin' awesome so for the moment they are forgiven. Give it a listen here

Million Dead - A Song TO Ruin: I love Frank Turner's solo album of acoustic folk tracks so thought it was time to delve into his heavy rock roots. Stuff from the second album should be a little more melodic and to my tastes (it's on order at the moment) but this is fine, angry stuff, even if it lacks the charm of his solo stuff. Just buy 'Sleep Is For The Week now folks - it's the best album of the year so far and I can't wait to see him live again in September. The myspace is here if you need convincing

Mew - Frengers: oh ye Gods yes! One of the most stunningly beautiful albums I have ever heard. Full rant on these guys coming soon but just know that this record soars in every single way.

Dammit that wen't on a little - never mind, I'm on holiday so can afford these long leisurely posts.

Join me later this week when I will be reviewing a musical - those scene points are slipping away as we speak...

YCNI:M is dead

And I was hoping the first post proper would be a happy one...

"Indefinate haitus"

Two words which more often enough mean only one thing - 'thats's all folks, you may hear from us again, but it's unlikely'

And so the fantastic Yourcodenameis:Milo get added to the list of haitees (that probably isn't a word but we probably need an adjective for those who are on haitus so who cares - answers below please). No reason given, no warning, no reason to think things amiss. Suddenly they are gone. Such is the music industry sometimes.

Quite frankly this sucks. YCNI:M were a fantastic band in my mind. Quirky and complicated with some of the sharpest, clearest vocals around. Live they were fantastic as well. I was lucky enough to catch them on their last trip to Cam supporting BIffy CLyro and they blew me away with a wall of sound as tight a musical noose, even when executing the most audacious tempo changeto end the set. They even bettered Biffy that night, and that is no mean feat

Seriously, if anybody listening like their rock a little bit on the experimental side of things with lots of time and tempo changes and complex song structures you could do far worse than get yourself a copy of either of their superb full albums - 'Ignoto' and 'They Came From The Sun'

Even if you don't at least give them a listen at their myspace

ly really got into the band properly at the end of easter term but I; never forget cutting my head open on Producer Charles' ceiling playing 17 from Ignoto. Even with a bloody head it stil sounded great.

There's a picture floating around somewhere now I think of it.

A little tip - if you want to be the centre of attention at a party, bleed a lot

Come back soon guys, don't let it be the type of haitus that never ends

soundtrack - Yourcodenameis:Milo - I'm Impressed (from the album 'They Came From The Sun)

Enter Light.

Introducing the players of the CUR1350 Music Blog: Part II .

Chiara (italian): light –adjective
24. having light or illumination; bright; well-lighted (source)

Illumination -noun
5. intellectual or spiritual enlightenment. (source)

Hence: if Sandy as Sandman brings dreams, I bring enlightenment.

I function as Music Resources Manager at CUR1350 , the background of which station Sandy has so nicely outlined below. In very simple terms, I get to function as one of Sandy's hands in his Head of Music position (I am currently liking the evoked Rayman image...). I also spend a good amount of my time sniffing out music that doesn't neccessarily reach our mailboxes as being too odd. I'm a staunch believer in the "if it's good, I WILL make you listen to it" philosophy, so expect much 'gogogo!'-ing from me.

Thus, the blog: prime platform for myself and the other music team members to throw our opinions at those of you interested in reading and with a sufficient attention span to absorb them - but also prime platform for you to rage and rave right back at us via the comments, and please do. To continue on Sandy's premise: if your shouting doesn't echo, you're clearly not shouting loud enough.

Love,
C.
---

Soundtrack ----> DeVotchKa: How It Ends

Enter Sandyman

And so it begins...

Welcome one and all to the brand new, fresh out of the box, still carrying that new webpage smell CUR1350 Music Blog. We all know that the internet is full of people yelling about music, but we can offer something just a little bit different. This blog is brought to you by people actually inside the music industry(even if it is only student radio)

So introductions are in order I think :)

So what the hell is CUR1350? For anyone that doesn't know we're a student radio station operating in the Cambridge region of England, serving both universities (Cambridge and Anglia Ruskin) in the region. Give us a listen if you havn't before. We're pretty good at what we do - giving people a chance to learn the craft of radio and bringing you guys (the listeners) some great shows and music. But of course I would say that wouldn't I...

My name is Sandy and I'm probably in charge of this corner of the webisphere. My official role is that of Head of Music at CUR1350. This basically means I'm in charge of the stations music policy and playlists, which means not only do I get to listen to and judge a lot of new music, I get to do it way before most people even get hold of it. This is my first blog though so be gentle

I'm mostly a rock/indie/alternative music kinda person, although I occasionally like to dabble around a bit in things like Drum&Bass, British Hip-Hop and whatever else comes along. I guess at heart if it's got a good bit of a tune and some depth behind it it usually ticks all the right boxes. Of course the best way to find all that out is to listen to my shows but seeing as I'm out on holiday at the moment I'll leave the blatent show-plugging until later.

You'll be hearing from the other members of the music team soon enough, for now all that I can encourage you to do is to get ready to take aim and fire at everything we say. Comment, agree, dissagree and generally bitch with us please. The only thing better than great music is sharing it with/ forcing it on others. We're taking every oppertunity we can get.

In a world where anyone can shout, all you have to do is shout louder