Grammatics – Grammatics

Grammatics are pretty hard to place within the cataloguing recesses of my mind. On one side they have all the ingredients of the standard indie rock band, on the other side they have a cellist. They play high tempo, almost Bloc Party-esque rock music, but have such a underlying level of complexity, and scale in their music that it would seem stupid to even compare them to a band such as Bloc Party. 

They are, in the least cliché ridden way possible, in a class of their own. Impossible to categorise, to compare to anything else, as there are simply too many comparisons that could be made, too many ideas bubbling around in here. Each time I listen to this record I notice something new, an idea I’ve never heard anywhere else, and yet it manages to do this without becoming left-field, avant garde rock. In short Grammatics, despite being new, almost revolutionary, remains accessible. 
All this aside, if I had to describe this album in a few words I’d say it was dramatic, maybe overblown. But this is essentially its greatest strength, songs soar with a fantastic sense of power. The songs are incredibly emotional, while rarely seeming to transmit feelings of elation (it seems to stay within the slightly depressing range), and should affect the listener instantly,  jumping out from the background noise music too often inhabits. The voice, while perhaps being one the weakest points (it could be considered to grate a little at first), seems to complement this, straining with the music to provide a constant sense of drama. 
The lyrics are wonderfully poetic, and almost over dramatic, complementing the music again perfectly. I defy anybody not to have Murderer stuck in their head after only a few listens. 

If I had to criticise, as previously mentioned I'd say the voice could very easily get on your nerves (it does sound a little whiney), and perhaps that at times the record may seem a little too over the top for some. But to be honest, this being a record of wonderful excess, those two points almost at times count in it's favour.
To sum up, Grammatics is an album of excess, of pure emotion, of drama. Too many ideas somehow managing to overflow and create something brilliant, something completely unforgettable. This album manages to remain constantly exciting, lacking any real filler, it's an impressive debut, and one which should never fail to make an impact. 

9.5/10

Relevant: 

D.I.L.E.M.M.A

Playlists, and other animals

Ever since the wonderful spotify hit the internet, (if you honestly don't know what it is), one major ability has been bestowed upon us, besides the ability to listen to insane amounts of music. 

I am of course talking about spotify's brilliant playlists. It's pretty easy now to make up a playlist of your favourite songs, and then quickly send it to a friend. While spotify is by no means perfect, there are still huge gaps (no Smiths!), and I now have a hatred of people called Roberta, this ability for me pretty much makes it an essential piece of software kit. 

Firstly, this makes creating mixtapes insanely easy. Which are a wonderful way to quickly introduce somebody to your music taste, or show them new bands they may not have other known (I suppose you do allready,  however,  know what a mixtape is). 

Here are for example a few I made earlier: 

Mixtape for Tamsin

Mixtape for an older relative, who I wanted to quickly introduce to some modern music he may not know. 

Mixtape for You

(N.B. That was supposed to be a playlist full of new stuff you might not have heard, but I ran out of new stuff I like that spotify actually has. Ahem) 

Secondly, I've started making little themed playlists, which are pretty fun to make. For example, here is a playlist I made of happy songs, in order to cheer up sad friends:

A Playlist of nice happy songs.  

The only real limit to this activity is your creativity, and I suppose your musical knowledge (coupled with the still bulgening catalogue of Spotify). 

I won't make a raft of examples here, because I feel that this type of playlist should be a personal thing, songs that apply to you, or your friends. 

So I'll give you a few examples to set the ball rolling instead:

Songs that make you think of summer/winter/spring/autumn. 

Songs that make you think of home. 

Songs that make you think of PERSON X

Songs that will blow your mind. 

Songs that changed your life. 

And for that last one, here's one I made ealier: Songs that changed my life

I might write more on that later. 

Relevant: 

Roberta from spotify