D is for Dead Belgian

D is for Dead Belgian

I was not able to post Thursday sadly as I didn’t get computer access until it was too late!

Thursday night I went to see a band called Dead Belgian, I was a little unsure at first as most of the songs are in French, after a while though I started to get used to this and actually just enjoy the music. I’ve always found it odd how you do not have to understand a song in order to enjoy it.

I recommend this band as they do an excellent mix of slow, sad songs and more lively dance tunes!

D is also for Disaster which is how my final project for KCC Live went, now there is a very strong chance I will not get the show slot I wanted. Friday evening I was a wreck (hence why I did not post then either), I have not felt so crushed in a very long time.

Thankfully it is not certain yet that I won’t get a slot, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

DFTBA

C is for Curiosity

C is for Curiosity

I have this great problem where any kind of unsolved mystery will niggle away at me until I go completely mad. IT could be the simplest things, nothing that even matters, but I have to know!

Walking past a sweets isle with kinder surprises in is when I first really started to notice it. The desire to buy all of the kinder surprises because I needed to know what was inside. I stopped myself thankfully but ever since I have noticed that I get very angry if I start a story I cannot finish. Even if it is a boring story, I need to know how it ends.

There is a Youtube group known as the Yogscast who used to do a series called The Shadow of Israphel. For some reason they have stopped doing this, whether it is issues with their Minecraft sever (where the game was based), they are simply doing other projects first, or are completely scrapping this project. It drives me mad, I really want to know how the story ends!

Does anyone else find this?

DFTBA

B is for Bright

B is for Bright

As in... Bright Young Folk, the folk music website I review for (http://www.brightyoungfolk.com)

and also my day.

The weather has improved much today and we have finally had a warm sunny spell here in Liverpool!

Also bright today was my first day working for The Daily Mice. I’m really looking forward to these next few weeks placement and as a good cherry on top I found out I am not in on Friday so I will do all the stuff I need for my KCC Exam and final project then. Thank the lord!

DFTBA

A is for Abysmal

A is for Abysmal

As in my posting on this blog.

I must admit I have posted a lot more recently than I thought I had. My most recent post was about the Bellowhead Broadside album launch party.

Even before that my posts were a little inconsistent however. Then as of October it stopped completely. Is this pure laziness? No it is not and let me tell you why.

Despite being unemployed (More on that later) I managed to find myself taking on more and more new projects as of the end of last year.

First and foremost I will no longer review Folk music on this blog. This is because I am now writing for one of the UK’s main Folk review websites: Bright Young Folk (http://www.brightyoungfolk.com)

So if you want news and reviews on Folk, please refer to there. (I will probably post links to my reviews as they crop up on here). I’m really pleased by this advancement as it really will help me with my desired career.

On which note, start of January I enrolled to start Presenter training for KCC Live, a community Radio Station up here in Liverpool (well Knowsley, they get touchy about that), and I am hoping to start a new Folk music show with them soon!

Despite my five years in amateur Radio now I haven’t really done much in the way of a Folk Music show, my last couple of attempts have been very short lived, my time as Station Manager for Liverpool Hope University’s Radio Hope was only five months and I think I only started my show in the second month of that. I then decided this year to start that show ‘Folklore’ up again but I have only managed two shows and now I have to stop again (again more later).

What has happened, much to my surprise, is my networking skills have improved. I went on a twitter campaign and started contact several folk bands (starting with come contacts I already had in Flaming June. They have a new EP out by the way ‘Rumpelstiltskin & the Perils and Promises of Womanhood’) and since then loads of bands have started sending me demo CD’s and agreed to interviews. This along with the music I have been getting from Bright Young Folk has all been very helpful.

This was of course until I had to pull ‘Folklore’ at a moment’s notice. I’m not extremely worried as if things get better I should get a new Folk show with KCC Live fairly soon. Although herein lies an issue.

With being officially unemployed I have to have finding paid work as my main priority. I could leech off benefits and my parents and survive but frankly I don’t like doing it, I’m sure the tax payer does not like me doing it and it has left me feeling down in the dumps of late.

I finally thought I was getting somewhere with this as an agency who do disability support in Universities called Clear Links agreed to take me on. The way this works had me curious since you get given individual clients... that makes this a very odd time to be taken on.

I was still excited at first thinking this would be perfect. I could work for Clear Links and get myself a fair amount of cash, get off the dole and then do the reviews and Radio on the side until I get a paid job doing that.

Of course if something sounds too good to be true it usually is. I have to wait for an e-mail which will give me two weeks notice before the next registration day for Clear Links. So this means it will probably be a while because they are unlikely to need to register me until near the start of the next academic year. (I’m assuming).

So I was kind of back to square one. Then I was contacted by the Work Experience department of the DWP and they had found a placement which could be suited to me. This job is working for a children’s education website called The Daily Mice. I went to a meeting at the headquarters and as a result I start tomorrow.

Now this could go on for about eight weeks as voluntary work experience. There is a chance (a high chance they say but who really knows) that I can get a paid job with them afterwards. If this comes to be then that would be very nice and I can finally get some stability into my day. I think it will be easier to do things like blogging and learning to play my Melodeon and maybe even more consistent exercise if I have this set work pattern to keep me in check.

It has however, mucked up my other plans. I do not know for certain when the Clear Links registration day is, so for all I know I’ll get an e-mail tomorrow saying it’s in two weeks. It may not come until after the placement and I have been offered a full time job.

It has also come at an awkward time as tomorrow I was meant to sit my presenter exam for KCC and I have a final assignment due in on Friday.

Here is another reason I have called this post Abysmal. People’s response times to e-mails.

I keep my phone on my 24/7 and I get all e-mails through to my phone. I check every e-mail that comes through throughout the day and I reply in some capacity, even if it is just to confirm it has been received. I hate it when this is not reciprocated. Now some people would argue that they never answer e-mails outside of work time. Generally fair enough. But not in Radio. The industry does not work like that.

For this exact problem arises. I sent an e-mail on Thursday to say I can no longer sit the exam at the appointed time and need to reschedule to an evening. I have not even been given my booking time to use the Studios for my final project yet, which is now extremely limited if I am to complete for Friday.

Since I have not had a reply I do not even know if they received the e-mail. So I will have to try again tomorrow which may not get a reply until Wednesday. I only have tomorrow and Wednesday night available.

Uh.

Abysmal.

DFTBA

Bellowhead: Broadside album and launch party

Bellowhead Album Launch Party and Album review

I’m finally back after a least a couple of months of not posting. I must apologise for this, a combination of getting a nasty bug and just never having much time to write has gotten in the way but I am hoping to now post regularly and release a new post at least every SUNDAY.

To kick us off I am going to do a review for my favourite band Bellowhead. This eleven piece folk band has just released their latest album ‘ Broadside’  which has already reached number 16 in the UK top 40 charts!

When you listen to the album it is not difficult to work out why, they have once again excelled themselves with an excellent 12 tracks. This latest audio feast even has a nautical theme which works it’s way into all of the sets and the album style. Their promotional picture featuring all of the band dressed up in various nautical and buccaneer dress makes for a soft smirk before even putting the CD into the tray!

Before the realise of the album Bellowhead did release one track ‘ 10’000 Miles’ as a music video to wet the appetites of awaiting fans. The video is not too serious and it comes across extremely quickly how fun it must have been for the group to actually record! Please check it out here:

I ordered the play.com special edition CD which came in a book which had little amusing profiles on each of the band members and of course the lyrics to all of the sets. I like this little book, the artwork inside alone is very well done and it just gives us something a little different from an ordinary CD.

The best track for me (closely followed by 10’000 Miles) is the tracked called ‘Lilliburleo’. I just love everything about this track! I find with each Bellowhead album there is usually one or two tracks which has me literally jumping around the living room and on this album that is the one. The lyrics are about a farmer’s wife abducted by the devil but quickly been returned after she quickly shows the power of a woman’s wrath. For me however it really isn’t the lyrics that I like, the fast paced melody and blast of different noises and the chorus of “LERO LERO LILLIBULREO !” Being yelled really gave me Goosebumps.

Most of the other tracks are typical folk ballad  usually involving lost lovers and sinking ships and general sad or gruesome tales. The band has changed much of their overall tone from the session type folk of songs like ‘Sloe Gin’ and ‘Frogs Legs and Dragon’s Teeth’  to much more brass based folk with hints of rock mildly worked in. This isn’t completely new for the act as previous tracks such as ‘Little Sally Racket’ also followed this pattern but generally they would be in the minority!

I’ve really enjoyed the album and can’t wait to see them again during their November tour. Hopefully it will not be long until they release another album but until then we have new Faustus and Belshazzar’s Feast albums in the works.

My only issue with the album is this: Buying the itunes album gives you two bonus tracks.

Well thanks guys. First of all I never saw this advertised anywhere, I only saw the play.com exclusive. Secondly I am currently unemployed. I cannot afford to buy a CD and the itunes album just for two extra tracks, it’s not fair to do that to people. I am also a collecter of CD’s, I like having the physical thing, I always feel as though I am losing out slightly simply downloading music and you never know when your itunes or computer could get corrupted and break and somehow wipe out or music library. This latter part is just a general peeve of mine though.


ALBUM LAUNCH PARTY

I entered a competition to win some free tickets to the ‘ Broadside’ album launch party down in London. Now I entered this on a whim, I got an e-mail so I put my name down. Much to my surprise I won 2/20 free tickets. I was then faced with a problem, I had to cough up the money to go down to London. I then hit another snag, I had to attend a JSA interview the next morning which could not be changed. After very nearly having to give up the tickets I did manage to find some cheap accommodation and reasonably cheap train tickets (Trainline... seriously it really is cheaper) and could go down.

Now any other huge fans like me, or indeed members of the band yourselves, please do not be offended by this next part, keep in mind the context that I have had to spent a lot of money to go down without really any idea what I was going to.

I was at first disappointed with the launch. We were greeted with a free token for a shot of rum and a black beetle pie and this was great, but then as far as I could tell all we were then getting was another hour and a half concert. At this point I was feeling very miffed.

There was nothing wrong with the performance, it was of course a brilliant atmosphere and a fantastic gig. However, I am going to see them twice on their tour in November which already has cost me a lot of money.

Thankfully that wasn’t ‘it’, the band then spent the rest of the night mingling with the 200 or so guests, taking pictures generally chatting and in the end the whole thing was most defiantly worth it. I guess I was just anxious because of all the money I’d spent and really wanted to get my money worth.

I spent a good portion of my time discussing squeezeboxes with John Spiers as well as catching up with Paul Sartin whom I have met twice before and Benji Kirkpatrick who I met at Shrewsbury. I was very glad to finally meet Rachael McShane (although I feel I may have come across as annoying to her woops...) and have a bit more of a chat with Jon Boden.

Overall the album and the party have been great successes and I will be sure to review the two concerts I attend in November.

Until then please check back next Sunday for my next post!

DFTBA