HAPPY NEW YEAR

Just want to wish everyone a Happy New Year
I hope 2012 is everything that you want it to be

Thanks to everyone who has followed my blog this year
left a comment ... been supportive - it really means a lot
cheers :)



here are 2 songs ... yes err both ends of the musical spectrum!
and the thing is I love both just as much(!!) ... this really perfectly 
illustrates my music taste haha!!

any New Year resolutions??
- George

' excito vos somnium '

how can I fall asleep at night

today was such a grey overcast day and for some reason I just
thought of this song ...

I remember the first time I heard it ... and it still astounds me
every time I listen to it

definitely in the same league as SILENT ALL THESE YEARS
- and there's not many songs that I would say that about.

I need to see him live - and I will - the next time he comes to
the UK. I won't do my usual trick of planning to go see someone
and then just never going ...

Hope there's someone
Who'll take care of me
When I die, will I go

Hope there's someone
Who'll set my heart free
Nice to hold when I'm tired

There's a ghost on the horizon
When I go to bed
How can I fall asleep at night
How will I rest my head

Oh I'm scared of the middle place
Between light and nowhere
I don't want to be the one
Left in there, left in there

There's a man on the horizon
When I go to bed
If I fall to his feet tonight
Will allow rest my head

So here's hoping I will not drown
Or paralyze in light
And godsend I don't want to go
To the seal's watershed

Hope there's someone
Who'll take care of me
When I die, Will I go

Hope there's someone
Who'll set my heart free
Nice to hold when I'm tired

youtube comments:

remember hearing this for the first time, it stopped me in my tracks
and brought me to tears, not many songs do that for me. pretty unique
guy.

I have never listened to this and not cried.

I don't have an opinion. All I know is that it's raining outside and this
is one hell of a beautiful song.

dissolving here,melting,disappearing... touching my past and future
wounds,and becoming a scar again...

Beautiful ! It simply rips my heart everytime I hear it. Pure genius.

It's one of those rare songs that simply prove music can be art

I can only feel love for this man... There is not many songs who can
speak right to my heart, like this one do....

1:07 is one of the most awkwardly beautiful moments I've ever seen.

This has got to be one of the most beautiful songs ever, I'm bawling
like a baby every time I hear it..Pure genius

This song brings tears to my eyes

Ridiculously underrated, hauntingly beautiful.

is beauty skindeep - what is beauty - define it for me - the voice -
the words - the soul - how can we talk with our heads instead of
understanding with our hearts.

He speaks to our hearts-Close your eyes and listen

Just discovered this. Teacher let us hear it in class. Everyone was
like 'pfff' and I loved it. I'm glad he named the band, I don't think
I'd dare to ask after it since I was the only one who liked it. Liked
it very very very much. :)

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Just want to wish everyone a Happy Christmas!!
here's a Christmassy song for you all :)

it's a cover of 2000 Miles by The Pretenders (a song I already
love) ... this is a great cover by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
I discovered it around February time, on a bright crisp Winter's
day and even though Christmas had long gone, it was just so
damn perfect and filled me with such a great feeling ... I knew
then that there was only 1 song that I could be posting as my
Christmas video.

what I love about this cover, is that it's not the usual upbeat
MMB thing (which I love - I love this band!!) - but I think it
would have taken away from what makes this song *so special*
... they've kept it really close to the original - and dare I say it,
made it EVEN BETTER ... just how it's all lush sounding ... and
beautiful.

it makes me think of the Pogues 'Fairytale of NY crossed with
the Dropkick Murphys - it's definitely got that whole irish-U.S
punk feel going on - and just begs to be sang around a campfire
at the top of your lungs.

and JUST THAT BEGINNING ... it melts my heart. haha
(I'm not even joking!)

hope you all have a lovely day.

all the troubles and fears you've for years tried to forget

I've re-discovered my love of HIM ... and it perfectly suits the
recent grey skies that have arrived ... I know that if it was still
sunny, there's no way these songs would be impacting me as
much

I've not played any HIM for years (seriously YEARS!!) ... but the
past few days I've only listened to the below 2 songs!! - but that's
kinda how I am(!) ... I obsessively get back into a band, plan to go
see them when they next tour ... and then drift off (into another
band!) and forget all about my previously planned-plans .. haha!!
but anyway all this has got me thinking back to when I saw them
live - and mad that I've let so long go by without seeing them again

It's funny how a change of season can get you instantly reaching
for certain albums ... I know that it won't be long until I am playing
Little Earthquakes again (I can already feel myself reaching for it!)
but I find that regardless of the time of year, that's an album that
every few months I always end up turning to ... I don't think any
other album has such a strong hold over me - and I don't know if
it's a good or bad thing to almost need songs that much ...

anyway let me know what you think to these songs
the orchestration in IN JOY AND SORROW particularly gets me
and in FUNERAL the musical interlude bit at 2.14 and then just
2.56 onwards - geez

do you like HIM?
what songs have you been obsessively playing lately?

The Twilight Sad - Firebug, Leicester - 23/11/11

friendly faces with put on smiles

  'The Twilight Sad have built up a strong & loyal group of followers
  addicted to the epically melancholic themes that run through their
  songs. With more reverb & distortion than most ‘Lo-Fi’ bands dare
  to use, listening to The Twilight Sad is like being sucked in to a hazy
  vortex that is hot & cold, happy & sad, letting you revel in the true
  bleakness of life ... They’re hardly a depressing band but, much like
  Joy Division or Disintegration-era The Cure, The Twilight Sad bring
  a wonderfully lugubrious state of despair that is relatable & inclusive

  For pure exhilaration & wonder The Twilight Sad score very highly,
  ... it isn’t every day that a band can make you revel in unrequited
  melancholy through one song before making you want to shout at
  the world in another' - (Jack Richardson) - The Monograph




  The Twilight Sad - Firebug, Leicester - 23/11/11

  so happy I could die. really.
  I've just got back from seeing the Twilight Sad play a really REALLY small
  gig in Leicester ... and boy am I happy!!!

  first of all to back up a bit, I was paranoid the gig was going to be cancelled
  why - cause (obviously) nme.com hadn't even mentioned a tour, so I was
  wondering if people knew about it and b/ the last time I went there (to see
  Temper Trap) I turned up on the night and found out it was cancelled - and
  I was sure it would happen tonight (I know ... I'm a real optimist!) because
  I was originally going to see Josh T Pearson at the Musician - when I went to
  buy a ticket online for that I saw The Twilight Sad tickets on sale!!! I thought
  TS will be cancelled and I'll go to the Musician and that will be sold out!!

  but it wasn't cancelled(!!)

  I like the venue a lot ... it's basically a pub and the room above is where the
  stage is - it's not big at all, I'd say probably 100+ capacity. I like it a lot, it's
  not all modern looking ... I think it's my favourite new venue in Leicester!!

  I was really happy when I saw how full it was before The Twilight Sad came
  onstage ... it was just nice to be at a gig where the people were there to see
  them, after being used to gigs where they were the support act, and having
  no idea if people were enjoying them

  the second song in, I BECAME A PROSTITUTE was when it started ... just
  the feeling washing over and then engulfing you, and that's the thing that I
  couldn't get over, the sound just being all around you ... and it wasn't even
  about specific songs ... it was just about this wall of sound ... that you were
  encapsulated and just totally LOST in

  they really are my favourite band at the moment, if you've ever wondered
  (!!) 'I wonder who is George's favourite current band' - now you know(!!)
  I already thought this ... but seeing them this close (I was at the front to
  the left) just hammered this fact home (and just why I had put my faith in
  them) time and time again ... basically just me constantly thinking THIS IS
  WHY ... THIS IS WHY the whole duration of the gig - no lie ... before I've
  only ever seen them as support acts (Idlewild, Leicester uni and Biffy Clyro
  at De montfort hall) but these were 1000+ venues and I was nowhere near
  as close ... and the impact was nothing to how it was impacting me tonight

  James spoke about how this was their first headline gig in Leicester and
  that they didn't know if anyone was going to come, and how great it was
  that we had payed to go see them ... you could see he was kind of tearing
  up whilst saying it - it made me want to rush onstage and give him a hug
  (in a err manly way!) ... but I just settled for thinking 'I love you man' in
  my head

  there is a guy right at the front of the stage (he is wearing the sonic youth 
  style Twilight Sad shirt) singing *ALL* the words - real impressive, more
  than that, it was just the fact of seeing how important they were to him 
  was what I really liked ... just the knowledge that others were affected the
  same by this band ...  by the way THIS was the t shirt that I was wearing

  THAT SUMMER, AT HOME I HAD BECOME THE INVISIBLE BOY really
  made a big impression on me,  just seeing the emotion on James' face as
  he performed it ... being this close meant that I could see his eyes really
  close up - just to see how it all affected him as the songs progressed and
  the more he was drawn into them

  it was during AND SHE WOULD DARKEN THE MEMORY when everything
  really came to a head for me - just stuck to the spot whilst this huge sound
 was going on all around me, and on top of all that - the emotion of it all just
  making me want to burst into tears (really) at how damn perfect it all was 
  ... I really like that the song wasn't even my favourite (I'm taking the train
  home) and it had affected me like that

  it really had been an amazing night ... seeing the band up this close and
  having it all affect me like this (when I already knew that I loved them)
  was something very special ... and also it was just really great to finally
  see a crowd of people who loved the band as much as I do

  like I said so happy I could die.

  plaid shirt count down the front (including me) = 10
  haha!! yes this is what's going through my head!! ... but no-one was 
  wearing buffalo plaid (red/black) like me!!

  set list

  1. Kill It In The Morning 
  2. I Became a Prostitute 
  3. Alphabet
  4. Mapped by What Surrounded Them 
  5. Sick 
  6. That Birthday Present 
  7. Reflection of the Television 
  8. Cold Days From the Birdhouse
  9. Don't Move
  10. That Summer, at Home I Had Become the Invisible Boy
  11. And She Would Darken the Memory 
  12. At the Burnside

  the below video is very special ... it's the same tour as when I saw them
  support Idlewild ... and more importantly this song is when I fell in love
  with them - I just remember the wall of guitars hitting me and standing
  there transfixed looking at the stage ... and it also made me think of Joy
  Division for some reason (a very good thing for me!)












  and they then went and covered THE SMITHS and JOY DIVISION
  and I just about collapsed under the utter perfect-ness of this band
  ... if you could have seen my face when I first heard these covers

  'This version of "Twenty-Four Hours" from Scottish space-rockers
  The Twilight Sad is probably the best cover of Joy Division you
  will ever hear. The sound is immensely bigger and noisier while
  vocalist James Graham remains unexpectedly tame. The band has
  always had a knack for creating tense shivering walls of sound,
  and they translate Joy Division's calmer moments with ease, only
  louder. You can find this song and much more on The Twilight Sad
  Killed My Parents and Hit the Road. It's a limited-edition collection
  of covers, live tracks, and instrumentals' - Surfing On Steam

  tweet from last night:

  I was getting the link for their blog when I saw this by accident
  ... it was really nice to see

  if you are after a new band to love ... THIS IS THE BAND FOR YOU!!
  their songs manage to be beautiful, encompassing and threatening
  all at the same time ... and they will be the perfect soundtrack for
  your winter this year ... BELIEVE ME!!

  photos to follow(!!)

  funniest part of the night ... James comes back onstage, and the crowd

  think it's an encore and cheer ... and James goes 'I'm only onstage to

  fetch my cardigan!!!' ... really really funny moment!!

  follow their blog!!!

  thetwilightsadblog.blogspot.com

wanna go to Paris?

1.06 - 1.16

bring:  leather jacket/attitude and wistful camera stares aplenty
music (any sub-pop/4AD/matador artists ... and/or morrissey)
and your favourite ever album

**must like looking out of train windows

meet under the eiffel tower ... wear a blue rose.

are you frightened by perfection?
is this who you are, not who you want to be?

it's you, it's you ... it's all for you

I'm err kinda in love with her
haha - I'm not even joking!!

and the video ... this is my favourite kind
of video - and she's even got skaters in it(!!)
I love how those clips fit in so beautifully and
seamlessly

haha - funny thing - there's a clip in the vid
where she smiles ... and it's real cute - but I
actually prefer the moody + non-smiling
clips more!

my favourite bits in the video:

0.31 - 0.37 - 0.55 - 1.07
1.16 - 1.21 - 1.32 - 1.43
3.15 - 3.19 - 3.21 - 3.54

what do you think to Lana/the song/video?
which parts of the video do you like?
... have you fell in love with her too?!

I can never leave the past behind

  
   why.I.love.music.



regrets collect like old friends
here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way.

I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues strong
It's always darkest before the dawn.

I've been a fool and I've been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I'm always dragging that horse around
tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground.

I am done with my graceless heart
so tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart.

random #3

here's another Random post ... please be warned though, it's even
longer than last time!! ... don't be thinking ... I've got 2 minutes to 
spare - I'll just take a look at this latest blog post - cause that will 
get you like a 2oth of the way down!!

above is a song to listen to while you're scrolling down ... it's by a
band I really love, and I think the song is also perfect for this time
of year - I don't know if anyone will like it or even know the band
... but either would make me a bit happy

please let me know your favourites ... I really enjoy finding out
what people like ... and just how it lets you know that person a
little bit better
















































































a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story. Orson Welles 

"Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

'Holding anger is a poison…It eats you from 
inside…We think that by hating someone we hurt
them…But hatred is a curved blade…and the harm
we do to others…we also do to ourselves'
Mitch Albom (The Five People You Meet in Heaven)