Jazz’s Blog

Shopping Organic Will Save you Money

Shopping organic seems like it would be a way to really increase your weekly shopping budget. After all, there is little debate that organic food is more expensive than buying non-organic food. However there are many reasons that organic food will save you money in the long run. First of all you need to think about whether you’re actually saving money through buying cheap vegetables and fruit. Yes, when you compare the receipts you’ll see that the prices you paid continue reading »

Selling Out

So many adverts today feature cool and contemporary music. In fact, having your song featured on an advert is a great way for an up and coming and to get noticed or for a past artist to relive their glory days and get their tune in the charts. The amazing 80s tracks “You’ll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties” is bound to make a comeback after featuring in a pretty cool Ikea advert recently!

If your music is used well, then featuring in adverts is a great way to boost your profile. Especially if the song is used to advertise a cool product like ipods! It does make you wonder what was going through the minds of cutting edge electronic band Cut Copy when they agreed to let one of their tunes be used to advertise cheap sofas and why the Polyphonic Spree thought people would enjoy hearing their song over and over again at the end of Sainsbury’s commercials…

A long time ago, one of my favourite rock bands, the now defunct Cable, provided the music for a Sprite advert. At the time, not many people outside of their native Derby had even heard of them. They scored a minor hit with the tune “Freeze the Atlantic”; a single which featured the fabulously named “The (We Did the Music for the Sprite Ad) Blues”. Sums up in one song title how many small independent bands feel about having the music used in adverts!

If you really want to sell records at the moment, however, it seems you should be persuading the producers of the hit US show “Glee” to feature one of your songs. Journey have been in the charts forever with “Don’t Stop Believin’” and sales on Madonna’s “Greatest Hits” went through the roof after the wholesome kids dedicated an entire episode to her back catalogue.

Music and Subcultures; Indie

Indie music hit Britain in the early 21st century, with bands such as the Strokes and The Libertines. They gained a massive following and mass culture began to imitate their style. This can be seen through fashion, for example Kate Moss opening up a clothes line for the high street (and is even catering to large mens clothing now). She has been a large and influential celebrity through recent years, also having dated indie rockstar Pete Doherty has given her continue reading »

Dream Theater

For this article, I have chosen to talk about one of my favorite progressive metal bands of all time, Dream Theater. For those of you that do not know, progressive metal is one of the countless sub-genres of heavy metal music which began to evolve during the 1980s hair metal scene, but they broke out of the plastic packaging of metal bands and became something different altogether.

Dream Theaters fame and legacy began when they released their second album in continue reading »

If jazz is in your heart you need to go to The Ritzy Cafe

The Ritzy Café is a great jazz bar. It is a delight that is hidden in the South of London in Lambeth. When you look through the windows it looks as though there is no one there. You may think that you will be lonely, sad, and depressed in a place like this. But, when you go upstairs you will be amazed. There are two continental-style bars. They are very cozy and welcoming. You will feel comfortable enough to just continue reading »

The Sound of Music has Come Full Circle

Everything old is new again and that relates to music as well. The sounds that are becoming popular are natural and very soul sensitive. We seem to have come full circle and the music of today is the music of yesterday. The popular and important and impressive are those that have a deep beat and that affect the sole with the use of earthy tones and intense vocals.

One example of this style of soul wrenching music is a new continue reading »

The concert I couldn’t wait to see

I was so excited when I heard that Alanis Morrisette was performing in our area. I have been waiting for years to see her perform live and my excitment was totally building as I walked past the Camden flats and houses for rent towards the venue. A friend of mine said that when she went it was not the concert she expected. Even with all of the comments from my friends and family I was still looking forward to it. continue reading »

New Glory Band Review

There is a band I had the pleasure of listening to called New Glory. Although the name is a little close to the popular New Found Glory, the music was incredibly different. It’s a small local band, but it’s going to be huge. They are a completely different sound. They play a variety of instruments and they have meaningful lyrics. I can truly picture New Glory hitting it huge and being in the forefront of a new type of music.

continue reading »

Locals

The gig was to be at ‘The Wrestler’s Son’. I had no idea who The Wrestler’s Son was, but there was no trace of him or his father when we arrived that friday. The pub did look ideal for wrestling in though, and stuff was either broken or dented inside, so that was comforting. A line of men watched us as we carried the amps and guitars in. Watched us as though we were clad in spandex and about to continue reading »

The Noisettes Conquer Sheffield!

If there is one band that is destined for super stardom in our new decade (the Tennies? the Teens? Whatever) then it is surely the Noisettes and after an aborted attempt to see them live in action last year I finally got the chance to watch them this week. Let me tell you that I wasn’t disappointed!

The Noisettes are a trio of London origin. Drummer Jamie Morrison, guitarist Dan Smith and of course the all conquering presence of singer continue reading »