Kids in Glass Houses

Well i'd like to say from the start that I love Kids In Glass Houses. They play with passion, and really let rip when they want to make a point, for example the guitar solo in "Artbreaker II" in Dirt is spine tingling. It builds anticipation that increases with the addition of the bass drum and building of guitar parts, to a ballad like section by Aled.  It is contrasts like this in their music that make KIGH something special. From their punchy, go at 'em songs such as "Fisticuffs" to their emotional, flowing songs like "Saturday."

They released two brilliant albums, "Smart Casual" and "Dirt" both filled with good songs that grab your attention, and keep you hooked until you're jumping up and down in time with the beat and wishing you were on stage with them.

It is from here however that things started to go downhill for KIGH, when they released "Gold Blood" which is a good enough album, but doesn't quite have the same feel to it as previous material, and then "Peace" in 2013, which i didn't even buy due to the reception it gained from thousands of fans who were disappointed with its content. The reason these two albums were received with such distaste is because they tried too hard to be something they aren't. The riffs in Gold Blood are too dissonant, and the lyrics produced with a hoarse quality that doesn't correlate to Aled's voice. 

I would not however condemn KIGH based on their last two albums, as they produced a lot of good material, and were a joy to see live, when the whole band would dance and jump around on stage. As many of you will know, they announced their break up and farewell tour a few weeks ago. They will be missed.

Kings of Leon

Now before I start, I'd just like to say that I have nothing against them as people or their music. It's always nice to listen to them when you want to chill out etc, but I cannot bring myself to call them a "Rock" band! That would involve some degree of skill from every member of the band, using their instruments as more than just accompaniment for Antony Followill. All they do is play simple riffs to support the lyrics, as if they were all an after thought. It is almost as if they are the supporting members of a pop singer, for they have no input to the show! Antony has a great voice, and has made some great songs (e.g Sex on Fire, 17, Use Somebody etc.) but they as a group should not have the audacity to call themselves a rock group. Now, I don't know if they can play their instruments with some degree of virtuosity, but they certainly didn't show it when I watched then play at the Isle of Wight Festival. The show was boring, and the drummer appeared to have the same beat for every single song...

I'm not going to say that they don't work well as a band, but they certainly shouldn't be calling themselves "Rock" comparing themselves to the likes of ACDC or other true rock bands. They would fit in well playing at indie festivals or if Antony made his career solo, as he has a great voice, but I really don't see how the rest of the band have any input into the songs, apart from the fact that Antony cannot play guitar to save his life! 

What is a "Contrapuntal" texture?

I'm a Music AS student, and when describing a piece of music I often have to refer to its texture. This is all well and good until someone asks "What is a contrapuntal texture?" To stop this question being asked I shall explain. Wikipedia hardly has the most concise way of explaining it, but in essence, a contrapuntal (or polyphonic texture) is where two independent lines of melody play at the same time. For example in a string quartet, if only Violin's 1 and 2 are playing, and both appear to be playing independently, (i.e.. neither appears to be accompanying the other) then they are performing with a contrapuntal texture.

Ian Watkins

Most people can agree that Ian Watkins (front-man of Lost Prophets) is a member of the human race that is better off in prison than out in society. However, should we judge his choices in life to be parallel to the music he made? Should his actions be reflected in his lyrics, or can we listen without thinking of his disgraceful actions? For those of you that don't know, Ian Watkins was a paedophile with several rape and attempted rape allegations, along with accounts of distributing child pornography. This, in my eyes makes him a disgusting, and irrelevant part of the world, but should his bands' music be so harshly judged for his actions? As many will know, the band split up just months after he was convicted. This could be seen as understandable by people that view the whole band as a reflection of him, however they lost their entire livelihoods, gave up their professions and what had been their lives for a long time. And for what? Someone else's acts. This view is the one I am concerned about, as they did nothing wrong, yet were effectively forced to give up the thing they love. Not only that, but as I mentioned above, many of their fans feel that they can no longer listen to their music due to the thoughts it provokes. 

My question then is this, should we (those who enjoyed Lost Prophet's music) stop listening to them in fear that we may be seen as supporting a rapist and a criminal, or ignore the part of Watkins that landed him in prison, and listen for the good times, and for the simple fact that they played good music. Not just him, but all of them.

Why do we classify music?

Why do we classify music?

Music today is a less defined culture compared to that of the 20th century. Nowadays we have genres and sub genres up to our ears just to put a label on something that should be simple. I am as guilty of this as anyone, but when did we start saying "oh yeah...I like [insert generic genre here]"
It's unnecessary, and almost certainly detracts from the overall concept of music. Nothing needs to be branded into categories upon categories until an artist's songs can have different genres within an album or even within a song. There is no need to call the guitar solo after the middle eight a "hard-core metal riff" and then revert to labelling the rest of the song as "indie." This divides people immensely on what should be an experience enjoyed by all. Nobody is completely devoted to one genre of music, and no metal-head can say they don't enjoy the occasional "gay-pop song" once in awhile. It shouldn't be that someone can't enjoy a certain artist just because they have shown their allegiance to another. I'm, not saying that this is common practise today, but we have certainly gone to far in deciding what music is this, what music is that. If you enjoy a certain type of music, listen to it, but don't let it stop you listening to another.