#28; Nothing Futile about this Resistance

I don’t know if you guys have noticed this but… I love Muse. i absolutely adore the band. Nothing really gives it away, apart from me constantly going on about them on Twitter, messenger and other places, does it? In all seriousness though, there’s a reason to this rather than me simply going on about how much I absolutely adore the band and the music they produce. On September 14th they release their next album, The Resistance, which will be the fifth studio album following Black Holes and Revelations in 2006, and I’m not gonna dumb down any expressions here – quite simply, I am absolutely friggin’ pumped beyond all matters of measurement for this release. Before the release of Absolution, I was mega pumped. But then before the release of Black Holes and Revelations, I was even more excited than that! But this takes it to a whole new level and I just need this album. Right. Now.

In case you don’t know, us Muse fan(atic)s have already have such a sweet free taste of the album thanks to, what I feel, is an absolute genius idea from the marketing aspect of the band. Basically, the band’s lead singer Matthew Bellamy posted a message on Muse’s twitter account, Musewire, mentioning a treasure hunt. Now, to give a clearer insight into this, not long after the release of Absolution, a US tour provided setlists with new songs being played for the first time with names in anagrams that ended up being various clues leading to special Muse-branded bikes that had worked as a fantastic and quite unique treasure hunt. The band have always had a cryptic element behind their music as plenty of times have songs appeared with cryptic names in their setlists, not to mention stuff on their website and messages within interviews and whatnot. The cryptic element of the band has been revisited in a gargantuan style within the past few weeks though, as Muse quite literally got people from around the world in an absolutely huge treasure hunt which was amazing fun to watch on and read it being solved at Muselive and Muse’s official forums. It went like this…

Muse.mu was put down for a few days and a counter appeared. When the site was back, it had been completely rehauled, obviously in spirit for the upcoming release of The Resistance. However it came showing a new sub-site – ununitedeurasia.muse.mu. The website provided a map of Eurasia, and constant messages displaying the type of language you’d expect to see from a navy/army radio, constantly cryptic and almost alarming in danger concerning their language and the way everything was being expressed, for example:

“FLASH MESSAGE TO ALL USOE AGENTS: ARCHITECTS GRAN AJEDREZ NOTE THAT STATION//COLOSSUS HAS NOT BEEN ACTIVATED.
RECOGNITION OF UNITED STATES OF EURASIA BY USA IS VITAL FOR THE SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME OF PROJECT GRAN AJEDREZ.
ARCHITECTS HAVE AUTHORIZED A TEMPORARY EXTENSION OF THE DEADLINE TO PREVENT LOCKDOWN CRISIS LIMITATION MODE.”

Yeeep. That’s what I thought. It turned out that, in various location around the world at specific times, people had to meet up with agents to receive a USB key that would provide a code for this micro-site which, in turn and gradually from city to city, unlock 30 seconds (or more) of the song United States of Eurasia! It was a brilliant, brilliant idea and I honestly have no idea how Muse fans can even begin to be smart enough to get through some of the clues being provided, which related to references from certain books like The Grand Chessboard by Zbigniew Brzezinski. After a week or so, every location had been unlocked, including a special appearance of a USB key in the United States with a message on the site almost screaming at fans to resist this, acting as if it were a trap, that is someone gave in to the temptation of meeting the agent that fans would regret it. It was brilliant! It created paranoia, worry, and mass discussions upon message boards what to do! Eventually, as I say, the song was fully unlocked. United states of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage), at 5 minutes in length.

The first new proper Muse piece in 3 or so years was finally here!! So… what do I think of the United States of Eurasia? There’s a simple way to answer this.

WOAH!!!!!!

I will be open and say it – it was NOT what I was expecting whatsoever. It’s so much better than that!! The song opens softly, almost recognisable in comparison to the piano of Beautiful by Christina Aguilera (why do I know that?) with Bellamy’s softly spoken vocals accompanied by strings slowly sending the song along. It’s a very calm introduction, very soothing with the lyrics reminiscing the romance within 1984 by George Orwell, a struggle to overcome wars and barriers with a cause gone insane no matter what the protagonist of this song and their partner do. It’s a minute or two in where the jaw really drops though. Just as you get used to this… BAM! Why split these states, asks Bellamy, before launching out (in full Freddie Mercury falsetto) WHEN THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE? with an explosion of sound, guitars squealing away, and a massive smash of drums whilst Bellamy finally screams out! Woah! It’s for me after this where the song truly comes to life, as the band bellow out the most wonderfully arabian-nights sounding section of the song, Bellamy tinkling away on a piano with the orchestra still in full strength simply adding to this wonderful combination, a middle eastern chant of song going along with the rhythm and a snarling bassline under all these layers just add to make this wonderful and hugely unexpectedly sound. The lyrics continue the paranoia of a controlled society - “You and me fall in line//To be punished for unproven crimes” with the constant mention of 'they’ referring to the controlling state Bellamy is obviously screaming out in protest against. The verses fit wonderfully with these middle-eastern instrumental section, but once the final part of USoE arrives, boy does it arrive in fashion. Once again fully utilising the power of Freddie Mercury (why do people moan at this? The man was a legend!) this section of the full United States of Eurasia (+Collateral Damage) ends making a huge amount of attention, with the band shouting out “Eura…SIA! SIA! SIA!”, Dom smashing away on an almost rebellious-sounding anger of drums within the background, Chris’s bass jumping up and down to the simply unignorable vocal screams and it’s just a pure climax of emotion. The best thing about it is that this is only the beginning for the added on Collateral Damage, where as USoE cools down after a vicious attack of rebellion towards a controlling state, the song settles down to end with a 2 minute piano solo of simply Bellamy himself covering one of Chopin’s songs and adding his own personal touch to it to create an elegant, beautiful and simply stunning ending to a song that feels so angry and so frustrated. Accompanying the piano are the sounds of children playing, enjoying themselves and the return of those strings that make USoE so wonderfully unique, simply adding to the atmosphere of this outro, before they simply disappear in a sudden, the children begin screaming in the background and the sound of a missile rushes through your mind all whilst Bellamy’s piano simply strolls past at a snails pace, continuing it’s elegance when a state of panic is obviously occurring in the background. Collateral Damage is a beautiful, beautiful outro that really adds to a song that seems to angry and fed up of society only to be followed by a massive juxtaposition in a piano solo that seems so far away from the world that it simply ignores the troubles it is surrounded in.

So… that’s the first song from The Resistance. Please watch the video at the bottom of this page, it is the full song, United States of Eurasia(+Collateral Damage), that I honestly think everyone deserves to hear. It’s a wonderful song and if you’ve known Muse for a long long time, take all expectations out of your mind and just enjoy because you’ll hear nothing like it at the moment in modern rock bands. Based on USoE, the album should be pretty incredible. Even better is the news that the opening song off the album, Uprising, will be debuted on August 3rd on the Zane Lowe show (Radio 1, 7:30pm), something that I will undoubtedly be checking out in a fit of excitement.

September 14th cannot come quick enough.

#25; It’s not quite Autumn but it’s more than Spring

So it’s the typical British summertime rolling out once more it would seem – in a season that should bring sunshine, warmth, colour and clichés of a summer variety, we once more seem to put up with the usual stuff.  I’ll admit we’ve had some beautiful days so far this summer but that’s the thing – I’m having to say ‘some’' rather than mostly! See, our summer seems to be full of cloudy clouds, showery showers and generally generic weather, 3 descriptions that I’m sure will blow you away with sheer visual oomph. To get myself out of this non-descriptive summer we seem to be experiencing once more, I’ve decided to remind myself of everything that makes me look forward to the summer and gets me back in the mood of the lovely few months they should bring…

• Cornettos! OK not necessarily Cornettos’ themselves but ice cream in general. yes we’ve had the massively inflated prices of 99 Flakes contradict their actual name but Ice Creams and summer go together like peas in a pod! Whilst at Goodwood with that beautiful blue sky horizon I can’t even begin to tell you how many Ice creams I treated myself to, pure heaven. You just simply can’t go a summer without ice cream. Yum. Also, you all know secretly Strawberry Cornettos’ are the best ones. 
• Blue! No, not that absolute drivel of a band. No, not the Blue Man Group although they are kind of cool. I mean those glorious blue skies that stretch for miles and miles with the whispers of clouds stroking through their gentle views. Bliss! Absolute bliss! It’s not something us British folk tend to get treated with so often throughout the year it feels. Plus it means lovely weather of course which is always welcome. Just the colour blue itself looks so relaxing in the sky. I almost put tasty there, but I think that’s the though of Cornettos’ getting to my mind. Blue Cornetto sounds wrong.
• Relaxing! It does feel like the summer is the time of the year when everyone seems to take a step back and just chill for a bit, or so in my experience. I have no uni work to necessarily worry about, it’s a fantastic opportunity to travel and go see people and laces, books to read and catch up with, there’s lots of good music to look forward to and listen, again with the ice cream, and it’s just such a relaxing time compared to the new education beginnings of the Autumn, the Christmas stresses of winter  and the general springyness of Spring. Actually Spring’s quite nice too… but Summer is more Springier. If you get what I mean.

It’s quite wierd really because despite all this loving for the Summer, I do prefer the winter. I love the cold and the festivity and, as I am completely wierd, I find rain very relaxing. But the summer, when we get it, is absolutely brilliant because it is just relaxation central with the surrounding of bright, wonderful colours, that gorgeous breeze that brushes past and just a few months of chilling out to a cold drink and good music. When we get it, of course. I think I’ll just remind myself of this entry when the skies go grey over the next month or two…

#16; We are not amused

Let’s get the obvious thing out of the way; Muse are beyond my favourite band. Everytime they come on TV, or I hear their music, they get my undivided attention. The band have been in my mind with their incredible musical ability and what they do for years and years, and I have only seen them live once, as well as missing out on the biggest gig of their career with Wembley Stadium in 2007. No matter what mistakes they make, I continue to support them and listen to every individual piece of musical brilliance I feel they make. This year, we are getting their fifth studio album in “The Resistance”, what is expected to be a symphonic, completely bat-shit insane rock opera type of over the top thing that Matthew Bellamy seems to fascinated over creating, with the main attraction of the album expected to be a 3-track long “Symphonic Monster”, as the band call it, to close the album starting from a quiet build-up and ending in a clash or orchestral bliss. Just describing it now gets me so excited to hear this – the last album was out in 2006, and finally, we’re here with a new album! Fantastic! So… why am I so fed up of hearing about the band I love so?

The World Tour was announced yesterday. “The Resistance” tour, as the band put it, sees the threesome making their way around Europe (European Tour, surely?) from the snowy horizons of of Scandinavia, the peaks of Switzerland, and the sweltering luxury of Spain. Of course, the band will be coming home to their native United Kingdom to address their adoring fans with their new material, their classic hits, and maybe a surprise thrown in with a grand stage show. So for me, I sit there yesterday evening reading the dates in November… London, of course… Birmingham, for sure… Sheffield, ok… Liverpool?… Glasgow…and… that’s it for the UK? No Cardiff? No Manchester? Nothing? Just these measly few gigs in a 30 gig calendar? No Cardiff. And at £42 a ticket… what a disappointment. A horrible sense of anger and frustration ran through my body when I saw this, and whilst it seems a pathetic issue to get angry over, let me try and express myself to give you a greater understanding.

Why is it that Muse feel necessary to ignore the entire west-country as well as Wales? It makes no sense to me! There will be people who will travel to the Birmingham gig of course, it’s the nearest to any of Muse’s Welsh and West Country fans, but not everyone has that luxury of splashing out £45 + travel + accommodation every so often in life. This includes myself. As I say, I love the band but there’s no chance I can even begin to justify spending that much for 2 hours of something I still have no guarantee of making, and getting home from without any issues as well as the fact that it’ll be during a year of University where my future just may be depended on. We’re also stuck in an economic climate where money is a necessity; there are something I’m willing to travel for and I have my undoubted priorities in live that means the world to me no matter how far, but I’m sorry Muse, this is one area that you don’t come into. Cardiff would have been perfect, but alas, Cardiff is obviously not perfect for them.

Furthermore, 2009 is the year they’ve been touting for months and months about the new album, and finally coming back to the UK for a tour to us fans, something that has stayed on my mind for such a long time and I’ve been so mega excited for. The feeling of being at a Muse gig and seeing them perform to me is indescribable; a flurry of emotions, the incredible sensation of power, excitement, everything that the body can emotionally conjure up comes out in their live performances. There’s a reason why they’re widely considered arguably the best live act in the United Kingdom at the moment, and now I’m stuck with the feeling that I know I won’t see this after years of waiting for it so much. But…. that’s life. Life would be boring if it were too perfect, as they say.

The point of this entry is to not act like a selfish, self-centred spoilt brat who throws his toys out the tantrum – I apologise if it does seem that way but I am simply trying to convey just how much of a disappointment this is not only for me but thousands upon thousands of Muse fans nearby for sure. My sister, for example, got off the phone with me earlier today and her disappointment as I told her the new was unparalleled; she was mega excited such as myself to finally get the opportunity, after 3 years or so, to see this incredible band once again. She had constantly told me to remind her when the tour was announced, when  we could see them, when they were coming. To phone up and tell her we weren’t going because they simply aren’t close enough absolutely crushes me and her reaction comes as no surprise. Hopefully 2010 will bring a proper tour of the UK and proper dates for us to enjoy. I can only hope for now.

The new album is still on the horizon and I’m still so very excited for it. The band are still an amazing collaboration of 3 guys who create sheer excellence in their talents and like I say, I’ve missed out on Wembley Stadium, so I’ve already had stuff like this before. It still hurts knowing what could have been. It really annoys me deep inside that they simply just haven’t accommodated for all areas around the UK. For 18 months after Black Holes and Revelations, the band toured around the world with gigs never tiring and losing faith in what they were doing so there’s still hope for next year. Onwards and upwards, I myself have a fantastic summer to look forward to in my personal life and events like Goodwood and other things occurring. Luckily for me, this hasn’t ruined anything at all. I’ve probably annoyed far too many people about this, and this is absolutely the last time I shall talk about how I feel about it all. However, I still love the band, I still love their music and I’ll continue to support them. This world tour will still make me ask myself though…

…why?

A question I suppose I’ll never know the answer to.

#11; Blog for Absolution

I realise that less than 24 hours ago I had written a blog entry cerning my view upon various matters of music and how a personals musical tastes can be too easily judged upon their character as well as various other tidbits. Furthermore, I want to thank those that provided me with some amazing comments about the entry because a lot of heart went into the writing of a subject that holds my heart in a dear way and apologies for the commenting bug that caused no-one to be able to post comments (that has now been fixed!). But I do genuinely appreciate all feedback from everyone so I did truly love the responses I got and am grateful for that! But nevertheless, back onto the subject - whilst I may have written that musical entry, I felt like explaining to you why i'm such a huge Muse fan and what the band mean to me alongside my appreciation for all things musical.

What is it about 3 blokes from various areas around the UK meeting up in the coastal greyland known as Teignmouth that has attracted me so much to be in adoration to the music they create, divulge, emote and perform? How can this band mean so much to me when there are millions of people worldwide singing to make a living, trying their hardest to live off their money and make a name for themselves and yet these three guys create such incredible music personally? I will be the first to admit that perhaps I like Muse too much - just take a look at my last.fm! But to say that I couldn't go a full day without listening to them, as absurd as that sounds, would be a true statement. I realise I'll have people laughing at such an idea, that a simple band could have such a profound effect on any human being, but I knwo that it's not just myself that appreciate this band for everything they do.

I got into Muse nearly a decade ago now, about 2001-ish I would say. It must have been around the release of their incredible second album Origin of Symmetry as I sat down at my sisters house humbley watching that 'lovely' channel known as Kerrang (I was young then, OK?) when this empty room appeared with melting images, and a somber individual with striking black hair stood their gazing into my eyes... then that riff was unleashed. Plug in Baby. Matthew Bellamy just stayed still with his hands just pouring out the most addictive and stunning guitar noise I'd heard for my age at the time... his red guitar, with metal-but-bizarre faceplates swung around his body with his hand continually strumming out this riff. My eyes continued to stare as I watched in amazement, seeing a fellow guitarist on the bass with wild, bushy hair orbit his movements, moshing away alongside a headbanging drummer beringing the song to life with drumfills and snaps of, for lack of a better description, sheer awesome. 'My plug in baby, crucifies my enemies, when i'm tired of giving.' My throat had instantly started humming the crunching bassline whilst my head grew in slight headbanging movement along with the lifespan of the song. Wow. Wow wow wow.What is this!? Where the hell have these guys come from?! Wow!!! What is that riff?! My jaw was on the floor as the guitar slowly faded out by the end of the song. Matt bellamy, Chris Wostenholme and Dominic Howard has blown my brains out with that addictively catchy piece of modern rock. This was the moment I knew something was in it from my point of view to follow these guys. Ohohoho, and follow I did.

I sit here typing this blog entry to you nearly 8 years still as much in love with that band as the day I discovered them. They've released several albums since them, travelled the world, matured into their own styles of music they can develop album by album and have even sold out the new Wembley Stadium twice in 2 nights. I am not trying to advertise the band whatsoever, but I can;t help but express as a fan how much pride these achievements bring to see a band you've loved for years do so much with themselves. Yet they continue to be so fresh with their style of music and surprise you in so many ways... if you told me that in 2001 that same band would have an r'n'b based rock song getting to no. 2 in the charts in 2006 I would have laughed at an idea and ridiculed them for thinking they would even try. But they did, and yet within such an impossibly strange idea for a rock band, they managed to do it without losing any credibility.

That brings me onto my next point - live shows. Muse are THE live band. I've only seem them once in person but that one evening provided a vast amount of amazement, bliss, profound excitement and almost a level of subconscious disblelief that I had the opportunity to finally experience these guys for myself. They make me wonder so much - these are three almost 30's on a stage with 3 instruments - a guitar, a bass, a drumkit. Yet the sound they produce is out of this world; for those not in the know I'd highly suggest looking on youtube for a few videos, or emailing me/twittering me to get a few suggestions what to look at. I can't put into words just how good of a show they produce. yet it's only 3 guys!!

There is so much that I could go into detail about their music that attracts me so much and why I treasure every soundbyte that they've worked into making. At heart, Muse are without a shadow of doubt a rock band; but they're a rock band that incorporate so many other genres into their music and are brave enough to attempt this constantly. If you compare their original album showbiz to their newest album Black Holes and Revelations, the differences are beyond vast. showbiz holds three young lads introduing themselves to the world of rock music with dark, moody insight into the thoughtds of feelings of a frustrated age group living in an area they hate, wanting to escape, with Bellamy pouring his feelings into screaming falsettos and his guitar work on tracks, whether it be distorted power riffs or a soothing Italian-style acoustic. 7 years later, with their 4th studio album Black Holes and Revelations, you hear the band being so much more confident to try new styles of music, to attempt areas of rock where others may not dare tread, to express themselves and how they view the world around them with so much diversity. The album for example begins with an apocalyptic insight into the political dictatorships around the world being asked for a sarcasm bow of appreciation, and is followed up with an insight into political conpiracies, the galaxy we live in, romance, hatred, love, war through a soldier's poem, and finishing on the most over the top, completely mental but utterly brilliant western-space-rock-opera we know as Knights of Cydonia. But it would be totally rude for me to mention all thisn without going into detail into the alvums between these; their second album Origin of Symmetry saw the band unleashing their progtastic, insanely rough and brilliantly addictive riffs fully into the faces of music fans throughout the world. Whether it be an 8 minute rock epic including soothing piano riffs and a bassline that could shake a city, a church organ haunting the echoing screams of Bellamy, the hyper mess of a shroomed-up session causing the most innocently gorgeous river of arpeggios creating an sense of bliss, the album was just completely in your face in comparison to the introductory nature of Showbiz. The followup is where Muse shine their greatest so far personally - Absolution.

Absolution is an album worthy of it's own paragraph personally, and I mean that with no disrespect to Muse's other albums as each album is incredible for their own reasons. This album is my haven though. From start to finish, 12 tracks (2 non songs too, theyre only a few seconds long though) of utter brilliance, and I dare say perfection when I know that nothing in the world will ever be perfect. Rather than go into massive detail I'll tell you just where this album shines ... Where to start...Ohhh... Stockholm Syndrome... How could anyone descrbe this song in words? I'll be honest, I can never describe Stockholm Syndrome properly. Anger, frustration, everything that we feel when we're at the end of our tether. 'This is the last time I'll abandon you, and this is the last time I'll forget you... I wish I could!!!' So much anger comes through these lyrics, and yet Bellamy's vocals are so soft, soothing, almost relaxing in a song that feels so loud and almost apolcaptic. You have heavy guitar riffs being through at your left right and centre, a bassline that jumps constantly back and forth, and an incredible drum riff taking the song along perfectly. And the main guitar riff? Ohh yum. Basically if Stockholm Syndrome were a food, it'd be jelly on top of a washing machine. You know it's good, you know you want it, and yet it's sits there going completely mental in front of you. Alongside SS we have the encapsulatingly addictive Hysteria, a song that runs on a bassline that just makes the song without a doubt alongside the guitar riff halfway through, a riff that spews out a gorgeously sweet feeling for a song that screams out frustration at wanting something more than anything in life and knowing you can't get it. Despite this, Hysteria stands proudly as the 'groovy' track on the abum despite still being totally rooted in Muse's rock origins. Other highlights of the album justify why Muse are more than allowed to dabble their way into new genres - Butterflies and Hurricanes provides an uplifting, positive light of life alongside a buildup of orchestral excellence, combined with a Rachaminov-esque piano section that breaks the song into two, yet makes the song a beautiful, unique experience to behold - Time is Running Out could be considered a pop-pier younger brother to Hysteria, being a bass-driven catchy haven of emotions for the band to unleash in their own unique way. I could go on and on.. endlessly and Blackout being the album's romantic areas... Ruled by Secrecy... Thoughts of a Dying Atheist... but I've already written enough...

And that is Muse to me. Apologies if this does seem like an annoying entry to include and so much to say over something that many people may not consider to be impressive, but I just wanted to get the opportunity to show you just how Muse crept into my life and what they mean to me. I mention them a lot to friends, again I fear this may be too much, so I apologise once more if it gets to the point of pure annoyance... but this is just one of the traits I enjoy in my life and one I'm far from being ashamed of. There are many more out there moreso than myself that truly love this band for everything they stand for, everything they create, for being Muse.

Sing for Absolution? I nmost certainly will be singing!

#10; The Sound of Music

Another blog entry, two in one night? Ridiculous! But yes, i'm in a big writing mood tonight and I feel like I could let out so much at the moment, it's bit strange. Anyways, the ttitle of this entry pretty mushc sums up what I'm just thinking about right now - music. A lot of people would happily agree with me that a world without music, whether it be rock, rap, pop, r 'n b, jamaican rastafarian reggae, hardcore metal, whatever the hell rocks your world, would be a very boring world for us all to live in. I'm pretty open to music and I 100% respect that every individual gets their own rights to listen to what they like and have the tastes that they do but I do wonder -how do we as humans find it so easy to judge a person by their musical taste?

I'll give you an example with the local area I live. Most teenagers now listen to dance music, r'n b, hiphop, that kind of music. Sadly, there seems to be a general closed-mindedness approach to other genres when encountering such individuals as I have found out from experience and from off the mouth remarks that have been... 'discussed'.. in previous events. If you like rock music, or like metal, or anything like that, if you wear dark clothes or earrings or have 'emo- style hair, then immediately you are deemed a 'sweaty'; an indidivual not accepted into the chavtastic affairs that dominate the teenage lifestyle of millions throughout the United Kingdom. I know it;s almost totally ignorant of me to say such an outrageous statement without any real proof backing me up but to deny that the 'chav' stereotype is one undoutedbly routed into the younger society.

But music isn't something to be started at, judged upon, and ridiculed without giving a chance! Music is the expression that we all may hold inside in our own individual ways that allows us to express ourselves through sounds, words, lyrics, screams, instruments, anything our creativity can drive us to! If I were stuck on a desert island with my Muse CD's or iTunes with my entire library then i for one would be a happy chappy because music can get you through anything! There are so many emotions that can be protrayed in so many ways from the way an artist expresses themselves and pours emotion into a song they've worked over, or even in the manner in which you portray songs yourself. Music helps me personally keep my life going, and it would be fair to say that music is such an good indicator into how your mind is feeling - sad and down? put on some uplifting, inspiring pieces of music you love and it can make you right as rain again. Want to go crazy amd mosh like a churchill dog on a rollercoaster? Chuck on that Black Sabbath and make Ozzy proud.

I have absolutely no reason to boast about my own musical tastes. I honestly feel it's no better than anyone elses and I have no reason to feel that it can be judged by others as well, but I'm always willing to listen to what people have to say, recommend, suggest and enjoy. I adore music, without a shadow of a doubt, it keeps my mind sane alongside the fantastic friends I'm lucky to have and my choice of lifestyle. But despite saying I have no reason to boast, I;m damn proud of the music I love! I look at iTunes and see allsorts from Muse, Smashing Pumpkins, Fleetwood Mac, Andy Williams, even classical composers like Rachmaninov and Beethoven whilst ranging back to the progtastic wonders such as Pink Floyd and Rush, and I wouldn't change any of these for the world. Music can have such a stupidly huge influence on your life and I'm more than thankful for the incredible sounds they've made over the years that have brought myself and so many others joy.

So whats driving my mind loco in joy recently, you may be asking? Here's a general list of what i'm hearting recently...

• Smashing Pumpkins - The End is the Beginning is the End and Ava Adore

How can such dark, disturbing songs have such gorgeously innocent choruses? It's such things like this that make me sit back in awe at the Smashing pumpkins and Billy Corgan's truly wonderful voice. They're such a good band and to say these two songs don;t stand out for me would be totally unfair because both hold so much anger and emotion yet bellow out the sweetest choruses...

• Muse - Fury

When music provides the opporrtunity to make the hairs on the end of your skin stand up and goosebumps run wild across your back then you know it's special. I can't stress enough how muvh this song terrifies me in the most pleasing way - probably the stupidest sentence I'll ever write. But it's true! Menacing riffs, crushing basslines, again a sweepingly soft chorus that speaks about the hopes of an atheist (hey!) and just a stunning piece of music

• Franz Ferdinand - Lucid Dreams

I'm not a big fan of electronic music-y genres. They can have their highlights but for me personally, I can't get into them. To be in love with a song that has a 5 minute electronic riff that bounces about from side to side in your mind profounds me to the point of unexplainability. But I can't help it - the addictive feeling I get from lucid Dreams and the incredibly sharp electro melodies it has is just a wonder for my musical tastes to be hold. concerning the album, this is easly the standout track on Tonight, which is a good album in all fairness.

• Fleetwood Mac - The Chain

I had do, didn't I? But I can't help it! That bassline... the story behind the song and the album it's from... the buildup in the song and just how incredibly poignant the lyrics are relating to Fleetwood Mac as a band and their personal issues... it's just an incredible mix of real life worries and musical brilliance. That bassline is one of the most genius pieces of composition personally, as an F1 fan seeing it open up the sport on the BBC, and as a music fan who geniunely appreciates music for the sheer talent and skill it must take to produce music like this without machines and computers doing the work for you.

• Sigur Ros - Sigur 1

So simple... but so beautiful. So quiet... yet so elegant. Sigur Ros are more than pioneers for the music theyr create in their genre. The ability to ease your worries, relax you, or create allsorts of emotions in just the most simple of forms. Sigur 1 is hard to explain because it doesn't do much apart from simply flow into your head like a silk mattress and make your mind as peaceful as possible. All of their music is a gorgeous composition of instruments, sounds, and the musical equivalent of an art gallery as bizarre as that sounds, and yet even though they don't need to do much to create the style of music they achieve, the diversity of emotions they can create for a listener is incredible.

There's so much more I could talk about musically at the moment and different songs but I shall leave it at that. Having the opportunity to ecpress myself on here concerning an area of life that billions of people worldwide run their life alongside is a pleasure because I love music because it's music. Music can sell, it can suggest violence, sex, greed, hatred, it can do anything and people may like it for those stupid reasons, yet I love music because it is music. That's all there is to it. It's emotional, it's beautiful, it;s diverse, and more importantly, it's our lives.

What would I do if music never existed?

Tap a few spoons on the table... tap my knees... and build it up from there...!