Toms Five 2010 Tip-Off's

Not long until Christmas, and whenever Christmas is near -the end of the year is too! With that comes the BBC's Sound Of...vote, where music journalists get asked to give their opinions on what bands or singers will be big in the coming months...seeing as i HAVEN'T been asked I thought I'd lay my opinions onto you anyway! The next suggestions should be massive within the next year, and if they're not...they should be! Also, make sure you have a look at the BBC poll and match the results up, if I've not got a couple of the same suggestions the BBC have got it all wrong!

1. Marina + The Diamonds

Marina Diamandis is not only stunningly beautiful, she makes amazing music which connects emotionally with anyone who listens to it. 'The Diamonds' are her fanbase, because it is not only her songs which connect to them, it is her personally - she has blogs in which she speaks with them and considers her music as a 'group collective' between them. With her latest single 'Mowglis Road' just out, the summers beautiful 'I Am Not A Robot' and her slot on the NME tour gaining her exposure, when her album is released in February I think you will all be hearing much more from her.

2. Ou Est Le Swimming Pool

After several supporting slots with major bands such as Iglu & Hartly, Sam Sparro and La Roux, it looks like Ou Est Le Swimming Pool are beginning to make a path of their own. Their blend of Italian electro and pop is bound to make radio playlists up and down the country. Look out especially for 'These New Knights' and 'Dance The Way I Feel'. In all honesty, some of the songs do get a bit repetitive but this only makes it easier for fans to sing back to the band. But what is it with all this French mixing into band names? First La Roux, then Ou Est Le Swimming Pool... why now and why not Spanish? I guess we'll never know!

3. Bombay Bicycle Club

Why yes they've been around for a while, they won the Road to V competition in 2006, and yes this is one band that most likely because of this won't make it onto the BBC Sound of 2010 but I really think that this will be their year. After releasing their debut album last July and touring extensively playing venues and festivals, their exposure has increased massively. This band seem to show that working at getting what you want really does get achievements, working on some of their music even whilst still at school, and I predict that we will be seeing a lot more of them in 2010

4. Unicorn Kid

This young sprightly fellow is in fact called Oliver Sabin, he is 18 and is already creating storms in the music world. He is really one of the only chiptune artists that can make their music engage to a vast amount of mainstream listeners, not only hardcore chip fans. Having done his first headline tour, massive babycakes party shows and many other gigs in 2009 he is starting to release his material and as it gathers up, we can presume that a debut album is to be released in 2010. We are expecting the hype Crystal Castles got in 2008, and no doubt a similar Skins appearance will be involved in this... or maybe thats too old school now, I've heard Misfits are looking for bands.

5. Delphic

Half way through my tips now, and it seems like this list has been taking for ages...sorry if there is anyone out there continuously waiting refreshing the blog for my awaited tips. Anyhow, my fifth tip is Delphic. This band truly are one for the future, they have the indie sound to a par and huge similarities to the huge Bloc Party, who coincidentally they supported at the iTunes festival. Having performed on tv for the first time last month (November 2009) on 'Later With Jools Holland', they are starting to get noticed - not bad seeing as they've only been together since 2008. Releasing their album ('Acolyte') on January 11th will surely see them getting noticed, and I'm sure that Delphic will one of the first bands of 2010 to boost their popularity to an unimaginable scale.

Some May Call Me Sad...

But I say its very interesting to know every gig you have been to in your life. So, this post is devoted to me researching the dates and who exactly ive seen and it seems to start from when I am around 7... this is going to take a longish time and no doubt I'll miss some off. I'm putting the support acts in where I know them, though not got the best memory around!) Also, I am putting future dates in that I know I am going to, theres only two. Oh well, here we go:

1. 2nd September 2001 - One Big Sunday (Coldplay, Kylie Minogue, Jamiroquai, Faithless, Dido, Victoria Beckham, Nelly Furtado, Craig David) - Leicester Victoria Park
2. 13th February 2002 - S Club 7 : Nottingham Arena
3. 29th July 2002 - BBC Roadshow (Darius, S Club Juniors, ATC) : Skegness Beach
4. 5th April 2003 - Daniel Bedingfield : Leicester De Montfort Hall
5. 20th July 2003 - One Big Sunday (Kelly Rowland, Athlete, Electric Six, Daniel Bedingfield, Busted, Mis-Teeq, Big Brovaz) : Leicester Victoria Park
6. 9th March 2005 - Daniel Bedingfield : Nottingham Concert Hall
7. 5th October 2006 - The Automatic : Loughborough Students Union
8. 28th September 2007 - Hadouken! (W/Late Of The Pier, The Whip): Leicester University
9. 4th November 2007 - Calvin Harris (W/ The Mitchell Brothers): Nottingham Rock City
10. 13th December 2007 - Hard Fi (W/The Rumble Strips): Nottingham Arena
11. 13th February 2008 - Robots In Disguise : Leicester The Charlotte
12. 6th May 2008 - Nme Tour (Crystal Castles, Friendly Fires, Team Waterpolo, White Lies) : Nottingham Rescue Rooms
13. 18th May 2008 - Hadouken! : Nottingham Rock City
14. 5th August 2008 - Late Of The Pier : Nottingham Fopp Music Store
15. 4th October 2008 - The Automatic : Nottingham Rescue Rooms
16. 5th October 2008 - Iglu & Hartly : Leicester The Charlotte
17. 19th October 2008 - Kaiser Chiefs (W/ Late Of The Pier, The Hair) : Leicester De Montfort Hall
18. 18th December 2008 - The Fratellis : Nottingham Rock City
19. 10th January 2009 - The Mighty Boosh : Nottingham Arena
20. 25th February 2009 - Iglu & Hartly (W/Ou Est Le Swimming Pool): Nottingham Rescue Rooms
21. 28th February 2009 - Official Secrets Act : Loughborough Students Union
22. 29th March 2009 - People In Planes : Nottingham Rock City Basement
23. 15th July 2009 - Pendulum (W/ South Central) : London Somerset House
24. 9th September 2009 - Jet : Nottingham Rock City
25. 28th September 2009 - Paolo Nutini (W/Will and the People, OneEskimo): Nottingham Rock City
26. 10th October 2009 - Enter Shikari (W/TrueTiger, The Devil Wears Prada): London Camden Roundhouse
27. 25th October 2009 - Calvin Harris (W/ Mr Hudson): Nottingham Rock City
28. 20th October 2009 - Mike Fielding Dj Set: Echos Nightclub, Loughborough
29. 3rd November 2009 - Ash (W/The Panama Kings): Loughborough Students Union
30. 4th November 2009 - Frankmusik (W/Killa Kela) : Nottingham Rescue Rooms
31. 17th November 2009 - La Roux (W/Ou Est Le Swimming Pool): Nottingham Rock City
32. 19th November 2009 - Hadouken! (W/Soft Toy Emergency): Leicester University

I THINK that all of them are up to date now, not as many as I thought but still took me an hour to research all of them xD This will be constantly added to because im as cool as... well coolness itself!

MUSIC: Killa Kela - Nottingham Rescue Rooms : 4/11/09

If Killa Kela really does get asked what is beatboxing all of the time, he does give an amazing example. Mixing between his electro dubstep songs and his faultless beatboxing, tonight gave a glimpse of his awesome talent.

The onstage atmosphere with his backing band was fun and showed three guys just having a great time. This certainly rubbed off on the audience, getting them jumping and joining in even when the songs solely relied on his voice.

A lot of today’s crowd probably hadn’t been exposed to that much professional beatboxing, but Killa Kela is a perfect way of getting newbie’s into it through a seemingly perfect mix of music.

Word will inevitably spread about Killa Kela and when it does he will be filling venues like this twice over with his beats, this is truly beatboxing heaven!

**** 1/2

MUSIC: Ash - Loughborough Students Union : 3/11/09

There are many reasons a band might play a certain location – audiences, venues, accessibility etc. But for Ash, none of those factors count. They are playing an A-Z tour of the UK and when queried about a location for letter L, Loughborough was obviously the best candidate. Take that London!

Looking perfectly natural on the Loughborough University stage, which has come from their years of playing on the music circuit, the band delved through their vast collection of songs. During their set they played such classics as ‘Girl From Mars’ and ‘Burn Baby Burn’, with new songs also put on the table.

These new songs are part of Ash’s agenda to release 26 singles in a year and whilst it is safe to say these do not have the live brilliance of some of their old tunes, they still show a safe future for Ash.

Whilst other bands from Ash’s era are reuniting, Ash have continuously been around appealing to new fans and as more years go by, Ash will still be here and as good as ever. That’s if they make it through the very rock and roll Zennor Village Hall gig that will climax the tour! At least they know the alphabet!

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INTERVIEW: Mike Fielding (Naboo from The Mighty Boosh)

So, the interview was a go go, I had a little chat with Mr Mike Fielding. Come with us now as we take a journey through time a space - click on the video to see! =)

Questions For Mike Fielding (Naboo From The Mighty Boosh)

So it looks like I have the interview with Mike Fielding, unless something drastically changes within the next day...which it hopefully won't !

But because I like getting people involved and I know there is a lot of people who are fans of The Mighty Boosh out there, I am giving you lot the chance to submit questions to the man himself, if it's good enough it may get used and you're name will be mentioned. As the interview is being filmed , you will be able to see his reply! How cool will that be? Extremely ;D

So if you would like to ask a question, please leave it below with your name and then come back onto the blog sometime on Saturday and you'll be able to see the finished product. There is no excuse to not ask a question as you do not have to register to comment! So yea, get thinking of questions, Deadline is : Tomorrow (Thursday 29th October) at 10.00pm

Tom
x

MUSIC: Mr Hudson - Nottingham Rock City : 25/10/09 (Live)

Hands down, Mr Hudson is cool. He looks cool, he acts cool and he has cool celebrity friends. But with many of his latest album reviews not in his favour, how does he bode live?

From the moment his band start playing, you are lost in a frenzy of kids vibrating under the drum beat. His new album has only been out for a week, yet a large amount of the audience were singing along to his new songs. Seeing as he is only the support act on the bill this evening, you wouldn’t expect the response he got. His interaction with the crowd was impeccable, thanking them for making him feel less like the ‘mardy bum’ he had felt like in the afternoon, the crowd were going wild for him and you could see his happiness – after waiting since 2005, his music was getting the attention he wanted and deservedly so.

Whilst in the past Mr Hudson has failed to gain wide exposure, Kanye West has made him popular with one of the songs of the summer but his amazing live rendition of ‘Supernova’ minus the Kanye West vocals shows he doesn’t need Kanye or others involved vocally, Mr Hudson has finally arrived and is hopefully here to stay.

****