Adventures in Musica

Back in the 1970s, the musical and cultural landscape of Great Britain was flipped firmly on its arse by a movement.

It was a movement soundtracked by sloppy, snarling guitars, adorned in torn denim and spawning countless imitators. It's name, of course, was punk.

At the forefront of this movement, if history serves us correct, were the Sex Pistols; a bunch of rag-tag, socio-anarchich antichrists who struck fear into the hearts of the establishment as they embarked on a single-minded mission to rebel.

What were they rebelling against? The government? Society? The overblown pomp of prog-rock?

No my friends, the Sex Pistols and their safety pin-pierced brethren were actually rebelling against really bad butter.

At least, that's the best reason I can come up with to explain former Sex Pistols frontman, John Lydon (or Johnny Rotten, as it were), parading around a field in his welly-bobs as the star of a new commercial for 'Country Life' butter.

OK, so my return from Hiatus took longer than planned but, at last, Adventures in Musica is back in operation.

And this time it's full speed ahead along the turbulent highway known as Rock 'n' Roll.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be introducing several regular features, including a search for obscure, impossible-to-Google bands that have fallen off the radar, reviews of music sites, clubs and venues, profiles of up 'n' coming acts and much more.

To celebrate this much-needed return to form, Adventures in Musica has gone all official, and you can now check us out at any time through our propper-looking URL: www.adventures-in-musica.com

Stick around folks, it's gonna be interesting.

Just a quick note to say that I've been away moving into my new house. Normal service shall resume, as of Sunday night.

BBC Radio 1 are dedicating a whole evening to Metallica (yes them again), with a whole five hours of programming.

The Metallica night kicks off this evening at 7pm, with Zane Lowe speaking to the band about “the bands that influenced them and the artists they have influenced”. Zane’s show will also include remixes and cover versions of ‘tallica classics as well as a run-down of the Metallica back catalogue from Lars Ulrich himself.

Followed by a replay of the band’s set at the BBC Radio Theatre recorded last night, the night gets wrapped up by satanic disc-spinner, Daniel P. Carter, who hosts ‘Radio 1 Stories: Metallica’, “a 60 minute documentary about the band featuring brand new and archive interviews with every member of the band.”

A must listen broadcast for fans old and new, Radio 1’s Metallica Night goes live from 7pm this evening.

If you’re not in the UK, or if you happen to miss it tonight, don’t panic! Simply log on to http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/presents/metallica/, where you can listen to the show live this evening, or at any time for the next seven days on demand.

So much music, so litle time!

Today, your bustling blogger has been busy working his way through an ever-growing pile of promo CDs, knocking out reviews left and right and generally finding his head spinning thanks to a divergent mix of music.

In brief then, here's what's been rocking the stereo today.

Metallica, SSS, and New-York songstress, Nell Bryden have all been well-documented amongst the pages of Adventures in Musica, so, we'll skip those and move swiftly on.

Ne-Yo - Year of The Gentleman
After topping the singles charts with infectious lead single, 'Closer', R&B star, Ne-Yo releases this new album next week. Though hardly likely to enjoy much time in the 'Musica stereo, as R&B goes, this is fairly decent stuff. Somewhat generic, yes, but also catchy, bouncy and certain to be a hit.

Iglu & Hartly - And Then Boom
It's hard to fathom exactly what, if anything, Iglu & Hartly are supposed to be. In some respects, And Them Boom conjurs forth images of Eminem waxing lyrical over German synth pop. Certainly odd, but not entirely interesting.

Saint Etienne - London Conversations
A definitive, double-disc collection of the indie-dance trio's greatest hits, London Conversations is a generally enjoyable affair full of atmosphere and melody. Fusing trance, pop, guitar-pop and dialogue-driven ditties, Saint Etienne are an easy band to fall in love with, and London Conversations is perfect proof of this.

Underoath - Lost / In / The / Sound / of / Seperation
So many backslashes may not be entirely necessary, nor is the tinny drum-rolling intro, reminiscent of something Lars Ulrich’ left on the cutting room floor whilst recording St. Anger, which kicks off this disc.
Not quite as powerful as intense as Underoath were probably going for, this is none the less a good effort.


And that's yer lot for now, folks. Ideally, From the Promo Pile could become a regular feature here at Adventures in Musica, yet since the influx of new promos is about as random as British weather, we'll have to wait and see how we go.

Up until lunchtime, the most exciting thing to happen to me today was somewhat impromptu interview with Sarah Cracknell from British indie-dance heroes, Saint Etienne.

Whilst that was pretty cool in itself, it was nothing compared to what happened to me when I strolled back to my desk after a quick fag-break at LINC HQ and found a crisp, white envelope waiting for me. (no offence to Sarah, who was a pleasure to talk to!).

Inside, was the hugely-anticipated new album from heavy metal veterans, Metallica, and I'm happy to report that it freakin' rocks.

I'll save a proper, well-thought out review for the day job, but I'm admittedly too excited not to say anything about it right now.

Kicking off with the brutal, 'That Was Just Your Life', 'Death Magnetic' immediately accelerates to 100 mph and obliterates everything in its path.

Solos sharper than daggers cut through pummelling riffs as James Hetfield growls and bellows like a man in the middle of some cathartic exorcism.

'Favourite song' honours, for the moment anyway, go to 'Cyanide', a lengthy beast with a nasty, snarling riff lacerating a seriously filthy bassline and a refrain just catchy enough to appease those wiend on a diet of Metallica's 1990's output.

Speaking of which, though there's enough here to keep such fans happy, not least in form of 'The Day That Never Comes', die-hard fans of old-skool 'Tallica fans will not be disappointed.

As I've said before, this is the Metallica of old meeting an older Metallica, with a nod in the direction of '...And Justice For All' and a power unmatched by anything they've done before.

But if there's one surprise that nobody expected, it's the inclusion of a piano.

Yes, you read that right folks, Piano, on a Metallica album. Who'da thunk it? Said surprise comes in 'The Unforgiven III', an altogether decent track but hardly the highlight of the album.

I'll say no more on the matter for now, but trust me, if you've ever liked anything Metallica have ever done, whether you're an old-skooler adamant that everything went down hill after '...'Justice' or were raised on a healthy dose of the black album, you need this beast in your life.

It's been a busy time for your intrepid blogger as of late, and as such, news which should have been posted days ago has long since fallen by the wayside.

But let's see if we can catch up, shall we?

Perhaps the biggest music-related news this week comes as Oasis founder and guitarist, Noel Gallager is assaulted during a show in Canada.

According to reports, Noel and his band of Manchester music makers were part way through their set at Toronto's Island Park as part of Canada's version of the V Festival, when a man rushed the stage and floored the man behind Oasis' biggest hits during their classic anthem, 'Wonderwall'.

The man was tackled by security, and after a short break, the band returned to the stage to complete their set with a rendition of The Beatles 'I Am The Walrus'.

In the days that followed this incident, further reports note that a 47 year-old Ontario man, Daniel Sulivan, has been charged with assault.

The only question I have regarding this whole affair is why? Surely the one member of the Gallagher clan most folk would like to give a good kicking is the brash, cocky, younger sibling, Liam?

The mind, as they say, boggles.

But anyway, onwards and upwards.

The news exciting me the most at the minute is that The Pogues are once again set to embark on their annual Christmas cash-in. AHEM, excuse me, I mean tour.

I last caught The Pogues on their usual Christmas outing two years ago when they were supported by the rather awesome Dropkick Murphys (if memory serves me correct anyway, I'm starting to wonder if it wasn't actually Flogging Molly).

That gig was an absolutely superb night out, and I'd recommend anyone who's never seen the band live to check them out this Christmas.

And that's all for now folks. Stay turned for more later in the week.