Why We Love: Gold Panda

For those indie kids who just want some dance music in their lives, this is one for you. Gold Panda is an amazing electronic outfit with all the dancability of popular dance music, but none of the annoying dubstep screamy drops that seem to plague all dance music today.

Gold Panda's debut full-length album, Lucky Shiner, blends electronic dance music with indie pop and folk, creating a completely unique sound. Despite including heavily produced, sample-tastic dance songs like 'You' and full on low-fi indie instrumentals like 'Parents' on one album, it works so well. This isn't an album you could put on at a party - the chill out factor of the non-dance songs is too high, but you're sure going to get a few cheers if you play some of the more dancey numbers to partygoers, clubbers and ravers alike.

The reason Gold Panda seems to work so well is down to complex layers - beats and samples are gradually built up to create some wonderful minimalist electronic music. Mixing acoustic guitars, synths, samples and a whole host of world instruments, Gold Panda is one of the most exciting musicians out there.

Gold Panda is playing a range of festivals this year, so if you happen to be attending one, we'd urge you to go and see - it's bound to bring a great party atmosphere to any serious music fan's festival experience! Movies Music and Soap will be heading to Bestival this year, so if you see us raving to Gold Panda, don't be surprised!

What's The Festival - 27th July
Stuck! Festival - 3rd August
Summer Sundae - 17th August
Outlook Festival - 30th August
FYF Fest - 1st September
Bestival - 6th September
Dimensions - 7th September

The Recyclable Youtube: Movie Songs

Youtube is probably one of the most popular websites. People use it for all manner of things, but more often than not, it's to watch your favourite viral videos, sharing them with friends and discovering new ones. One of the reasons we love Youtube is for its users' talent for 'recycling' old films, tv shows and music, mashing them up and creating their own videos.

These amazing videos aren't purely original, and this series of posts is not about videos like 'Charlie Bit My Finger' or 'Ultimate Dog Tease' but rather, it celebrates the people who give whole new meaning to our favourite things.

Firstly, we'd like to introduce you to the world of Pogo. This guy basically takes your favourite films from the 1990s and early 2000s and makes them in to songs. But here's the catch. All of the sounds you hear are from the films themselves, he's cleverly added effects, pitch control and other editing to make some truly wonderful ambient pieces of music. If you haven't heard of him by now, you should really check his stuff out. Our personal favourites include (but are not limited to) 'Alohamora', 'Bloom' and 'Murmurs of Middle Earth'.

The thing that makes Pogo so interesting, is the sheer amount of work he must have put in creating the songs. Imagine trawling through one of the Lord of the Rings films, just looking for sounds you can use, and that's before you have to cut it together into something that sounds like music! Then the guy goes one step further by making a video for it, and syncs up the dialogue he uses (often just unintelligible clips) with the video. It's truly an art form.

The next people we're going to talk about are the people who make songs out of clips in films in a slightly different way. The two best examples are 'I've Got A Jar Of Dirt' and 'They're Taking The Hobbits To Isengard'. We reckon most people well-versed in memes will have seen both of these, but they're worth a mention! Videos like these are well done, but ultimately, just a bit of fun. Compared to Pogo, they're hardly going to be in our iTunes library (although I'm sure there are people who do download them!). It's not 'serious' music, but hey, it's good fun!

Hey, you! Like the blog? Want to be involved? We're now on Twitter (@MoviesMusicSoap) so feel free to follow and drop us a line. Maybe there's something you want us to write about or maybe you have an idea you want to write yourself, get in touch! If you're a band, filmmaker or any other kind of artist and want us to review you, again, please get in touch! Or hey, maybe you're just lonely and fancy a chat...

Is Music Getting More Political Again?

In years gone by, it was normal, almost expected for musicians to have a political voice. Song has long been a method of getting one's point across and often this has been used for political reasons. This is a very brief history of some major political movements in relation to the music they inspired.

In the 1960s we had great social change - youth culture was blossoming, railing against parents who had grown up in a completely different era, perhaps in the interwar years or during the Second World War, accustomed to a climate of austerity and duty. America was now sending its children to die in a war, claiming to fight for democracy, while on its own soil, there were still deep-set racial democratic issues. It's almost poetic, that the line between good and evil, so clear during the Second World War, was becoming blurred. Bob Dylan sang The Times They Are A-Changin', a song about racism and social change, begging Congressmen to listen, and telling parents that their children were out of their control. Looking back on it as a young person today, the 1960s seem like a brilliant time for really meaningful music. Neil Young's Southern Man, The Beatles' Revolution and Cat Stevens' Peace Train are all examples of some of my personal favourites from the decade.

In the 1980s, both the U.S.A. and U.K. were dealing with some of the most notorious right wing governments in living memory. On the world stage, South Africa was beginning to experience political pressure, exerted by other countries due to its policy of apartheid. At home, there was financial instability, brought about by free market policies and debt culture. In Britain, Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister, who spent much time closing down mines and putting much of northern England out of work in the process. Unemployment was reaching record levels. Once again, the music scene had something to say about this. Gone were the days of gentle folk music, hippies smoking weed and holding hands, chanting for change. Music had changed. The punk scene had been and to some extents, gone, but it had left its mark on the music scene and gradually the discomfort about the state of affairs grew, boiling over into music, and even film.

Morrissey woefully sang "the kind people have a wonderful dream, Margaret on the guillotine". Although the song Margaret on the Guillotine is softly played and sang, it's lyrics hiss with venom and contain a violence that can only have been influenced by the anger of the punk scene. The Clash sang about the Brixton Riots in no uncertain terms, singing of how the police were too heavy handed when dealing with the rioters. Music left little doubt what it was talking about in the 1980s. There was no dressing it up, the songwriters cut straight to the point in their messages.

A song that is often overlooked it Peter Gabriel's Biko. This song is about apartheid in South Africa; more specifically it us about the murder, at the hands of the Secret Police, of Steven Biko, a black activist, peacefully protesting for change. The song's final lyrics are "the eyes of the world are watching you now", Gabriel, like other artists wasn't about to use pretty metaphors or obscure lyrics, disguising his views; he just put them out there for all to see. Obviously, this is just one example of a pretty hot topic from the 1980s, but it's one that always stuck out in my mind. On a slightly different note, if this is something you do not know much about, I would strongly recommend watching Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom. It's based on the true story of journalist Donald Woods and his friendship with Steven Biko. It was made during apartheid and it one of the (many, many, many) reasons it was brought to attention as a global issue. You never know, you might learn something!

Then in the 1990s, something happened in the UK. Labour won a landslide majority and suddenly it was as if there was nothing for people to sing about. Everyone knew that the Conservatives were the bad guys. Billy Bragg had spent the whole of the 1980s convincing people to vote Labour, as did celebrities more recently such as Noel Gallagher, but what now? Labour was in power and musicians had nothing to sing for. What was the alternative? An idealistic socialist or communist state which was never going to happen? The Conservatives that many musicians had grown up writing scathing songs about? Or maybe some sort of anarchy? Musicians didn't know anymore.

What happened in music between 1997 and 2010 did not truly mean anything. Bands like Radiohead and Muse decided to go off and make vaguely political references in some of their work, but Muse mostly stuck to viewing the world through what we like to refer to as the Orwellspecs. By writing songs as if they were in a George Orwell book, and that the government is secretly spying on everything we do, Muse were able to do something vaguely political without any real substance. Nowhere in their lyrics did they mention specifics, instead, "they" is used. Who or what is "they"? The establishment? The government? The Illuminati?! Who knows, but it worked and we loved reading in to it. Radiohead took this view with OK Computer (this lucky reader once read an entire article on how OK Computer is just one big reference to Nineteen Eighty Four by, you guessed it, George Orwell). In 2003, Radiohead did seem to make an explicit reference to a certain event - they named their 6th studio album Hail To The Thief, which many believed to be a reference to George W. Bush's victory in the 2000 American Presidential Election. Thom Yorke then spent the next year or so trying to make the title sound a whole lot more pretentious than it really was, because he didn't want to 'state the obvious'. It was almost as if musicians didn't want to address issues that bothered them anymore.

Bands like Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party opted to stay away from overtly political messages on their first albums - they just wanted to make people dance. One of the biggest bands of the last decade, the Arctic Monkeys stay far away from making broad political statements, preferring observational remarks about everyday life. Even Frank Turner, who seems to have roots firmly planted in folk, folk-punk and protest music doesn't want to be labelled as such, and many of his songs just seem to document the tales of him and his friends feeling disillusioned with life, rather than with the politics of today. Arguably the closest thing to an accurate political observation was when Kaiser Chiefs sang I Predict A Riot and were only about 6 years off with their predictions...

Currently, the coalition government have been in power for almost 2 years. There is so much artists can write about with regard to this. Firstly, there's a Conservative as Prime Minister, secondly, the Liberal Democrats joined them in government. Thirdly, the Liberal Democrats went back on their promise to cut tuition fees for university and instead voted to triple them. Basically, quite a lot. Plus, there's a pretty bad financial crisis going on, there's really high unemployment and we still have troops in Afghanistan. So where'a all the political music?! I hear you cry that Rage Against the Machine got Christmas number 1 not too long ago with their overtly political Killing in the Name, but that was the public rebelling against the manufactured television competition pop of the X Factor, not a genuine political movement - besides, the song is over 10 years old and refers to mainly American issues. So where are the British political musicians we used to pride ourselves on? We were so wrapped up in the awful state of the music industry that somewhere along the way, we forgot how bad other things have got in recent years.

Every now and then, the NME rears its ugly head, writing an article or two about politics, Love Music Hate Racism or how awful David Cameron being from Eton is. It's not like it used to be. In the riots in the UK last summer, countless teenagers claimed they were 'getting their taxes back' and that they were 'showing the government what it was about'. Even riots have lost their political edge, people were just filming it on their Blackberries, getting a cool pair or trainers and putting up a Facebook status about it. There was no heart and soul to it anymore, just like music. Artists don't seem to know how to complain about stuff anymore, or write a hard hitting song. As much as a tune Take Me Out is, I hardly think Franz Ferdinand will be remembered for their impact on society the way that people like Bob Dylan or the Beatles will be.

Is popular music in the UK getting more political again? That's one big fat 'no' from where we sit.

Hey, you! Like the blog? Want to be involved? We're now on Twitter (@MoviesMusicSoap) so feel free to follow and drop us a line. Maybe there's something you want us to write about or maybe you have an idea you want to write yourself, get in touch! If you're a band, filmmaker or any other kind of artist and want us to review you, again, please get in touch! Or hey, maybe you're just lonely and fancy a chat...

Why We Love: Last.fm

My general philosophy on music is that someone is not a music fan unless they have a last.fm account to prove it. If you haven't heard of last.fm and you are a music fan, then where have you been your whole life?!

Last.fm isn't just a website, it's a lifestyle choice. I have had my account since May 2006 and it is a beautiful thing. It's just such an interesting way to look at your music taste. Hopefully by now most people at least know roughly what Last.fm is so when I'm explaining it is isn't a completely alien concept.

Basically, I don't know much about the technicalities of it, but you sign up for a free account and download something which you then have to switch on in your iTunes (it is available for other music players too). This is where the magic begins. It basically uploads all the music you listen to on your computer (you can even use it with online streaming programs like Spotify) and builds you charts based on which artists, songs and albums you listen to most often.

You can add your friends, and then see what you listen to. You can search for your favourite artists, read their biographies, look at photos, see when their next concerts are coming up. You can see which of your friends listens to an artist the most. You can join groups, chat in forums, update your profile and send messages to friends. You can send and receive recommendations to friends, and the site will build up its own recommendations for you based on what you listen to. You can even see what the charts for the whole of the web community are.

In short, last.fm is a great way to discover new music, listen to music and get really anal about which bands you listen to. If you become addicted and obsessed like I am, then you'll start deliberately listening to artists that you want higher up on your charts. It's a brilliant and unique way to genuinely see which bands are your favourites, and I have discovered my fair share of music through it. I will never delete songs from my Last.fm, and it gives a near - complete listening history for the last 6 years for me. On top of this, it is compatible with iPods and iPhones (and other devices), so your charts really can be super-accurate!

If you're an artist, it also presents opportunities that few take full advantage of. You can upload pictures, your own music (and set songs to just be a sample, be played on Last.fm's random radio or be free to download). It gives you an idea of how popular your music is, listing how many plays there have been overall, by how many users, and, of course, makes charts so you can see which is your most popular song. On top of this, you can create events, so when you're playing live, people can find out about it and state their attendance.

Last.fm provides opportunities for music fans and musicians alike, and more people should definitely get into it and stay into it!

Hey, you! Like the blog? Want to be involved? We're now on Twitter (@MoviesMusicSoap) so feel free to follow and drop us a line. Maybe there's something you want us to write about or maybe you have an idea you want to write yourself, get in touch! If you're a band, filmmaker or any other kind of artist and want us to review you, again, please get in touch! Or hey, maybe you're just lonely and fancy a chat...

Films That Really Matter To Us: 24 Hour Party People

For more info on "films that really matter to us" posts, check this post out.

OK this isn’t one of those must see films unless you know who Tony Wilson, Joy Division, Happy Mondays and Factory Records are. 24 Hour Party People takes its title from the song of the same name and it’s a biography of Tony Wilson’s heyday years.

24 Hour Party People is presented in a really cool way – it’s not exactly a dramatisation, but it’s not a documentary either. If you are aware of who the real Tony Wilson was, you’ll appreciate Steve Coogan’s portrayal of him. It’s played as a documentary with moments when Coogan talks directly to the audience, but there are also some really effective film moments too. Ian Curtis’ suicide is one example of this.

Control - too narrow minded?

What I love about 24 Hour Party People is that it doesn’t just focus on the doomed career of Ian Curtis. So many tv shows and now a film – Control (2007) – have documented his tragically short life, ending with suicide at just 23. However, what these films, books and shows fail to address is the fact that Joy Division was not the end for the Manchester music scene, nor Tony Wilson and Factory Records. In fact, it wasn’t even the end for Joy Division themselves, who regrouped to form the very successful band, New Order. 24 Hour Party People goes way beyond this – it goes right up until the final night of the legendary Haçienda club in 1997.

Starting with the influential Sex Pistols gig in Manchester in 1976, 24 Hour Party People shows the crazy life that Tony Wilson led and includes all the bands we’ve heard of, and some of the ones we haven’t. It’s everything I could possibly want in a film – it’s about music: how it’s made, who is influences, how it changes over time and the cultures it creates. The film makes the music the centrepiece in Tony Wilson’s story, he lived it and breathed it and this is effectively conveyed.

Steve Coogan is amazing as Tony Wilson!

24 Hour Party People has the balls to exaggerate, but they normally tell you when this is (“I definitely don’t remember this happening”, says the real Howard Devoto as he is shown sleeping with Tony Wilson’s wife), but as Tony Wilson says, “when you have to choose between the truth and the legend, print the legend!"

I can’t really put into words how amazingly chaotic this film is, yet it makes perfect sense given that it’s about a record label that was so badly run that it hardly made any money and sold records that lost them money just because they looked nice (see Blue Monday – New Order). If you’re interested in music or pop culture, this film is a must see!

Why The Smiths are TOTALLY not depressing.

Morrissey's smiling and holding flowers: not depressing

Why do so many people hate on The Smiths because they are ‘depressing’? OK so some of their music isn’t exactly going to be included in Ministry of Sound’s next ‘Ibiza Dance Albums’ compilation, neither will it be featured in the 'Happiest Songs In The World Awards' but does that mean you can’t enjoy listening to The Smiths? If you’re just listening to the music, and not the lyrics, then you could be excused for thinking they are a bit depressing, but if you’re not listening to the lyrics, you’ve probably missed the point of listening to The Smiths in the first place.

I believe there are three kinds of Smiths songs:

1.     The hilarious songs:

Girlfriend in a Coma: funny?

Smiths fans: we just 'get' this

Some of The Smiths’ songs have hilarious lyrics. I’m not talking about listening to your iPod on the train and getting funny looks because you’re laughing so hard songs, I’m talking about funny-witty lyrics. I’m sorry but what’s not funny about ‘Vicar in a Tutu’ and ‘Shelia Take A Bow’. As for ‘Girlfriend in a Coma’, please don’t tell me that song isn’t funny because everything from the lyrics, to the relatively upbeat music, not to mention Morrissey’s brilliant delivery of the lyrics make it just that.

2.     The “I relate to that” songs:

I think the majority of Smiths songs fall into this category. Maybe it’s to do with how much you can relate to Morrissey’s lyrics, so I suppose you could argue that it’s depressing that I relate to them as much as I do. But if you are someone like me who does relate so much to the songs, you think it’s bloody uplifting that you’re not the only person on the planet who’s miserable because you’ve just found a job. Sorry, but it’s true.

3.     The depressing songs:

That's just depressing...

OK so yeah, I’m admitting that there are some depressing Smiths songs. Shock horror. There are some, but they really only make up a small amount of Smiths songs. These include (but are not limited to) ‘Never Had No One Ever’, ‘Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me’ and ‘I Know It’s Over’. They are genuinely tugging-on-your-broken-heartstrings-whilst-twisting-cut-glass-into-your-miserable-soul songs. I mean ‘I Know It’s Over’, as far as I can decipher is about someone wanting to die because they have just realised that the person they obsessed over never really had anything to do with them and was essentially all just a dream. Think of it as the depressed version of ‘Funny Little Frog’ by Belle and Sebastian.

A final closing point: the BBC ran a poll about songs to listen to when you're depressed and 'I Know It's Over' won. You're hardly going to tell a depressed person to listen to a song that's going to make them more depressed, are you?! 

Why We love: Radiohead’s Amnesiac

I’m one of those people who that the sun shines out of Radiohead’s behinds. I believe there are many of us. Most music critics will tell you that OK Computer is their finest recording, and many will go on to assure you that it is the finest album ever made. Sure, the album’s a masterpiece, but I don’t think it’s even their best work, let alone one of the best albums ever made. I suppose you think I’m going to be pretentious and say Kid A is my favourite (if in doubt: that’s the weird ‘experimental’ one they did after OK Computer).

The crying bear: so much better than Pedo Bear

Kid A, close, but that’s simply not pretentious enough of me. I’m going to be uber pretentious and tell you that the best Radiohead album of all time is Amnesiac. Yes, Amnesiac, the crazy sister recording to Kid A, the one that you probably don’t own and have listened to once on Spotify before declaring that you just didn’t ‘get’ it.

So now you’ve picked your jaw from your desk and re-hinged it, I’m going to tell you why.

Amnesiac flows like a dream, and compared to Kid A, it sounds like ‘experimental Radiohead’ without being too floaty and slow [hear ‘Treefingers’ to see what I mean]. If you really want, you can look at it as having a song from the different ‘eras’ of Radiohead on it. Ie there’s the guitar driven Pablo Honey/The Bends/OK Computer music, the ‘artsy fartsy’ Kid A music and then the ‘despair at the modern world’ music of Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows. There really is nothing to dislike because although these sounds are quite different, somehow, they fit well on Amnesiac.

If you want crazy time signatures, listen to ‘Pyramid Song’ and I dare you to try and tap your foot. If you want more of Radiohead’s weird ambient music, listen to ‘Like Spinning Plates’ and try and decipher Thom’s lyrics. If you want full on jazz, just listen to ‘Life in a Glasshouse’. There really is something fun for all the family on this record! Lastly, if you were in any doubt about this record, check out the amazing re-vamped version of ‘Morning Bell’: it’s loud and almost acoustic compared with the original from Kid A. I love both dearly, but Amnesiac’s version has more bite.

Baically, if you haven’t already given it a go, try Amnesiac as your next Radiohead listening venture. BUT, if you've never listened to Radiohead before, you might want to try something more accessible, like The Bends or OK Computer.