Kings Of Leon - Mechanical Bull

So I surprisingly got a paid week off work. So the first thing I did on Monday was rock on up to my local music store and pick up my copy of the new Kings Of Leon record 'Mechanical Bull'. I pre-ordered this way back when I heard not 'Supersoaker' but the other track 'Wait For Me' . . . it's a stand out tune and I had to have the album just for this alone. Thanks to the wonders of the internet I had already clapped ears on the record, but it didn't lessen any excitement at getting a hold of a new piece of vinyl.

I learned a significant lesson jumping in to buy this; always check with the band website before you buy from a secondary retailer. On the official site this is just £14.99, there's probably delivery after that, but I felt I got slightly stung for £19.99, especially when I noticed they had a colour vinyl version on the website!

Anyway small grievances aside glad to have gotten a hold of this, liking it . . . a lot! Although 'Wait For Me' is still my jam on here I feel some others might usurp its place in my head. 'Tonight' for instance, I love Calebs voice in this one, lots of great voice crackles, even if it sounds a wee bit like The Immortals on the last album.

Package wise the vinyl is solid, great gatefold, nice art work. Especially like how the neon sign reflects off the black vinyl as seen in the first photo. This is 180 gram vinyl so nice and thick a spread out on two records, means you have to change over more regularly, but there's no compromise on the sound. Usual download code, although I couldn't get it to work until Tuesday, a small first world inconvenience. 

With this being the sixth album from these guys I still love that they endeavour to bring a certain feel to each album. They have they're signature sound yes, but the moods that each of the albums have are distinctly different. It's nice to hear that Mechanical Bull is up beat and aiming to please with lots of great stories. 

  

I've had it on a few times now and the artwork really reflects the mood which is nice to see. On repeated listens this has made its way on to the radio station in my head that plays parts of songs on loop for days on end. The main chorus line in 'Temple' has current residence there.

Having a week off and having a new vinyl to listen to as well as a certain video game to play (you may have got a copy of yourself) my day dreams are of driving fast cars through a sprawling American city and listening to this record. The Kings Of Leon and GTA5, can this week get much better? 

  

White Lies - Big TV

Earlier this month I was at a wedding in Newcastle. Now two things were playing on my mind that day. One: one of my best friends was getting bloody well married! A scary prospect when you still think of yourself as young, free and single, you're the oldest of your group of friends and one of them's getting hitched! Two: I was in a town that had an obscene amount of choice when it comes to buying music, especially vinyl.

I was very diligent and chose my time carefully to quickly nip off to go after a record I was very much looking forward to getting a hold of. I am a bit of a White Lies fan, I don't know if it's Harry McVeigh and his distinctly brilliant voice, the way they mold great electric guitar with keys and electronic sounds, or the way they craft melodies . . . probably all of these, but I really love them.

'Ritual' rarely left my record deck and their new record 'Big TV' is starting to do the same. At first it didn't grab as much as 'Ritual' did, it doesn't have that particular haunting feeling, there's still a little of it there, but it's rather more upbeat.

The title track 'Big TV' is a stand out tune with a ridiculously simple guitar riff at the end that just hits me, I love the sound. Beyond my personal favourite 'First Time Caller' the record doesn't really reach those heights of the first few tracks with 'Space i' being just a wee precursor to some of the ideas on the way. I do like the record as whole, but its stand outs sit on the A Side, with some fairly good tunes on the B.

As a package the vinyl's nothing to shout about, it sounds great on the deck, good weighty record, the usual mp3 code to get your digital fix. A good record, if mildly disappointing in parts, but it's grown on me over time. It's rarely not playing in my car on an mp3 disc.

The wedding was utterly blissful, friends got married in an art gallery, astounding setting. I also finally bought Alabama Shakes 'Boys & Girls' when I got this, great day all round.

Listen: Spotify

Arctic Monkeys - AM

My father is a lovely man, he took the time out to pick up this utter beaut from my local HMV as my work commitments had me unable to pick it up until Saturday. It was waiting for me when I walked through the door, so I'm starting this off by saying thanks a million Dad.

So here it is the fifth album by the Arctic Monkeys 'AM'. Love the cover and the packaging, it's a simple killer delivery in black and white.

The vinyl has a gate fold cover, 180 gram vinyl (nice and weighty) with a paper sheet with tracks and lyrics. Also worth noting the paper sleeve that the record lives in is lined with anti static polythene. Now I'm not a massive geek but these things protect the records better and it's always nice when they bother to give you one like that . . . ahem.

The album itself is a belter. I'm always impressed with the direction this band take with their music, never staying in the same place for too long. Everyone I know slated 'humbug' and 'suck it and see' whereas I've always enjoyed them, however 'AM' has a something else, a confidence and an attitude that wasn't quite there before. It's a shot in the arm, one that you want to replay as soon as it's over. The tracks you've probably heard like 'do I wanna know?', 'why'd you only call me when you're high?' and of course 'R U mine?' stand out but sit well in harmony with the rest. The stand out track for me being 'Arabella' with it's Black Sabbath esque riffing.

It's a great record, one I'm glad I got on vinyl as for that extra fiver you get a package that stands out and looks very cool on the player. The inside photo only solidifies why I love this format, it's a great portrait of a band brimming with confidence and it's blown up to 12"s rather than on a much smaller CD. This also comes with an download code and you can choose either mp3 or super high quality wav.  

Listen: Spotify
Buy: Domino Records

I like to buy records

Hi there and welcome ladies gents and germs to my rather haphazardly conceived music blog. Something I've been stewing over for a while now is sharing my musical adventures with people along with my cinematic ones over at Shhh . . . I'm watching this. This evening like a bolt from the blue I was having a beer and suddenly decided to get started.

I'm a music addict, more so than my cinematic indulgences, I live with the soundtrack of music and I can rarely cope without some form of back drop to everything I do. It's an affliction I love to have, my wallet sometimes doesn't thank me for it, but it's a big part of who I am.

If you're reading this no doubt you have a similar affliction and you consume music just like I do in various different ways. Although I lean towards a certain medium (you'll probably already have figured that out) I'll take music where I can get it. With so much choice out there it's hard to get a grip on what's worth checking out and whether it's worth it. I used to work in HMV seeing over the music department so finding new jams proved fairly easy in that environment, I discovered so many bands I would otherwise not be privy to just by listening to any covers that caught my eye.

This isn't a really a review blog, I'm not going in depth or wanting to bore you with endless points of view. I buy records with increasing regularity, and the aim is share the music I come across and my points of view on a business that's always changing for better or for worse and hey, maybe you'll enjoy it.

My tastes range, on the odd occasion straying into popular dance or hip hop, but my usual rule tends to be if it's got a guitar in it I'll give it a go. If you're looking for a marker on my taste the cover photo for this blog pretty much sums me up. You can also check me out on Twitter and Instagram . . . I have a habit of talking about or taking photos of what I am listening to.

For now say hello in the comments and let me know what you're listening to atm.