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...