My Summer Playlist

This is the old man in me talking here, but there are few things I enjoy more than sitting in the backgarden in the sun listening to some music. Every year I devise a wonderful playlist which decides what I listen to in my leisure time, where the glorious sun is shining & I can put in my earphones to drown out the sound of my terrible neighbours.
The playlist is essentially my own personal soundtrack to my summer and these are the songs I will be listening to.

The Pixies - Here comes your man
I love this song because of its awesome surf guitar riff, zany lyrics & just the general feel of it. It may remind you of 500 days of Summer but not this guy. I remember being 16 and riding my bike through town in the sunshine and not giving a flying fuck if I get anyone's way.

The Shins - Australia 
I heard this song during a pretty shitty time in my life. I was failing 6th form and I was dealing with a break up but this song made me happy during what are arguably the worst time in my life. I doubt it will have that effect on many other people, but this song reminds me of nothing but optimism.

Arcade fire - Sprawl ii (Mountains beyond mountains)
I didn't really think much of this song since I first heard The Suburbs two years ago but this song has since grown on me. If you listen to it in the sunshine you can see why I have included it in my Summer playlist. It's perfectly upbeat and should have been an anthem if there was any justice in the world.

Bill Withers - Lovely Day
I defy you to not thoroughly enjoy this song. I also challenge you not to sing the prolonged "Lovely daaaaaay" in the chorus. It must be one of the unwritten rules of music to sing along at that particular part of the song. Pointless jokes aside I really enjoy this song because it's song writing in its most purest form. It may have been covered and sampled more times than I can count but you can always enjoy this version's authenticity.

The Beatles - Here comes the sun
I feel like some crazy fan-boy always including Beatles songs in my blog posts but there generally is a Beatles song for every occasion. This could not be more evident as this song is arguably the best Summer themed song in existence. Enjoy.

I'll also be listening to these belters this summer 2012


The Ramones - California Sun
The Stranglers - Peaces
Deftones - My own summer (shove it)
The Kinks - Sunny afternoon
Otis Redding - Dock of the bay
The Ventures - Walk don't run
Beach Boys - Surfin USA
Guns n' Roses - Paradise City
Los Lobos - La Bamba (Don't pretend you don't love it)
Wolfmother - Vagabond
Two Door Cinema Club - Something good can work
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Californiacation
Moby - Porcelain
David Guetta featuring Kid Cudi - Memories (Go ahead, look down on me. It's a tune)
Fatboy Slim - Sunset (Bird of Prey)
Coldplay - Paradise
Mumford & Sons - Little lion man
Stardust - Music sounds better with you
The Doors - Ghost song
The Stone Roses - I am the resurrection
The B52s - Rock Lobster!
The Foo Fighters - Times like these
Blur - To the end
R.E.M. - Shiny happy people
Weezer - Island in the sun
The Tornadoes - Bustin' Surfboards
Bob Marley - Sun is shining
The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony
The Cure - Just like heaven
 Calvin Harris - I'm not alone

Like my playlist? I don't blame you. Want to add more to it? All recommendations are very welcome. 
Let me know by tweeting me: www.Twitter.com/Citizen_Kelbel

The Magic of the album cover

We all have our interpretations of what a good album cover has to be. It has to catch the eye of the consumer & stand out on the shelves whilst shedding a positive light on the artists themselves. Pointless jargon aside I love album covers because essentially they inspire me. Album covers can change my perception of a song just by existing on my I-Tunes. You must have your own ideas of your own favourite album covers but here are a few of mine.

Pink Floyd - Dark side of the moon
If you are familiar with this image then congratulations for being part of the human race. It's an extremely iconic album cover & one of the best ever. The album itself is also brilliant so if you haven't heard it already, go ahead & treat yourself. I would love to say that this album cover defines Pink Floyd and there would be an element of truth to that but the truth is their other album covers are equally as iconic. This cover though is the most recognisable.

Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
It's not his best album but arguably the best album artwork to be featured with his music, and it fits perfectly. Apparently the two characters in the picture are two Swedish women...who knew? But you cannot deny it's just an excellent piece of artwork.

Radiohead - In Rainbows
Radiohead are one of the few bands that really put a lot of effort into their album artwork. Every album stands out and that is helped by the wonderful images that have been created by their album artist Stanley Donwood. It would have been easy to mention OK Computer but In Rainbows stands out because of its incredible range of colours but also its an extremely underrated album. Listen to it.

Of course..
They can't all be winners but this is the essentially bad, more modern day album cover. A simple smile from the subject and bam we have ourselves a winner. It is obvious there is no creativity here. The music industry needs creative album covers right?

Wrong...
I'm not Lady Gaga's biggest critic but this is quintessentially one of the worst album covers I've ever laid my eyes on. I hate it & so do you.

What is your favourite album cover? Can you think of any worst album covers than what I've offered?
Let me know by giving me a Tweetarooni: Citizen_Kelbel

Gimme a God damn Bassline!

The bass guitar is the most under-appreciated instrument in Popular music. I know this because I have never really understood the importance of a bloody good bassline in a song until I took a step backwards and really looked into what makes the bass guitar great. It provides the rhythm in which the rest of the band has to follow, the drums especially. The point is the bass is a vital part of any successful band no matter how present it may seem. What I have here is some solid evidence of how integral the bass guitar can be. Enjoy.

The Seinfeld theme tune 
This is just brilliant. Okay it may not be the finest example of the Base guitar in the music industry but it makes me happy. As a rookie radio presenter I can assure you that I will be using this as a bed for years to come.

Pink Floyd - One of these days
There is nothing to hate about this song. It's essentially the best example I could possibly think of concerning the bass guitar. Gilmour & Waters both take different bass guitars in this 6 minute homage to the Doctor Who soundtrack (Seriously listen in at 3.00). It blew my mind the first time I heard it & I haven't heard anything emulate it since. Fantastic.

Queen- Another one bites the dust
 For me is an anthem. Unless you're what I like to call "Music deficient" or you're a baby I doubt you would not be aware of this riff. I rarely listen to this song thanks to Gladiators in the 1990s playing it incessantly but I can appreciate how brilliant it truly is.

Muse - Hysteria
As a hardcore Muse fan I was always going to include this. It's astonishing how this manages to exist as a riff and not something that was created by a computer, its simply inhuman. Sure this song has been over-saturated by adverts for macheesmo action films staring guys like Vin Diesel and Jason Statham but I really believe this is something the British music industry can be proud of.

The Beatles - Taxman
I don't feel like this song needs an introduction but here is a brief one. This is The Beatles & this is Taxman which has the most infectious bassline possibly ever and possibly the finest song George Harrison has ever written. Enjoy it with caution.

These are a few of my favourites, I'm sure you have yours so let me know what yours are on my Twitterooni - @Citizen_Kelbel