75 minutes of pure brilliance!

So this month has been quiet, in fact having just sat down to think about it for long enough I realised I haven't seen any live music AND that's maybe the reason why I've felt musically quite empty lately...well up until a whole host of music I received recently and then the discovery of 24 songs by the brilliant Paul Cook and the Chronicles which are available NOW for you to download for FREE!!!

So have you downloaded them yet? No? Why the hell not...it's FREE?!?!

And let me tell you, you'll not be in the least bit disappointed. Each and every one of the 24 songs available to download are outstanding and it's not often you can say that about any album or collection of music.


A mix of British pop, pop/rock, folk and rock focused mainly around the theme of love, relationships and heartbreak, Home Recordings show off both the talent of Paul as a musician but more importantly the depth of songwriting ability. I don't know why and maybe I'll be proving wrong but I have this feeling Paul is the type of singer/songwriter for whom words come easily. He's an uncomplicated songwriter, never trying to be overly clever, drawing on personal experiences, the messages in each song are clear and I'm a firm believer that there's no need to over complicate something...particularly if the concept is good.

There's a number of songs that really grab me but the one which is probably my absolute favourite and potentially one of the best songs I've heard this year is The Trees Cling To You (which I've posted in the sidebar in case some of you are being retarded and refusing to heed my advice and go and download the tracks).

It's a great little song which is I think is so quintessentially British and really portrays that feeling for longing for a totally amazing girl who just seems the centre of everyone elses world apart from yours (ooh that's quite deep...I think I should shut up there!). All I'll add to that is girls, at some point in your life at least one guy has felt like that about you and guys, you'll understand what I mean when you hear it.

Other tracks that really jump out for sheer quality and diversity are A Real Thunderbolt which deals with the absolute longing for the perfect life partner, Latest Squeeze which seems to nicely portray the feeling of being played by a woman (and also has a 70's feel to it) and Six Places, a song about making time and again falling in love and it going continually wrong. Oh and if none of those grab you, Monday Morning will resonate with the entire working world!


I actually can't recommend this collection of songs highly enough...if I were behind a record label I know what I'd do right now...oh, err... :-)

Night all xxx

The Free Chronicles

Some months ago, in fact the night I first became happily embroiled in the mystical musical world of The Collective (Stange Folks & Roy Rieck and The Medley Band) one other act at Monkey Chews caught my attention who I've been desperate to blog about again and to see in it's full glorious form...Paul Cook and The Chronicles.



Paul told me some months ago that "The Chronicles" part of the band wasn't quite formed and as such the gigs, albums, etc were a short while away. So as a nice little memory jogger, someone subscribed to my youtube channel yesterday and added the videos of Paul to their favourites on youtube.

That sparked me tonight to go and see what Paul's up to and there's quite some update. It appears "The Chronicles" part of the band is now formed, there's an upcoming gig at The Lexington in Islington on 7th December and Paul has recently released 24 tracks called "Home Recordings" for FREE on Last.FM. It actually equates to just under 76 minutes of music...for absolutely nothing.



There's some great tracks in there, although I can't tell you much more than that because at 24 tracks and having only ever heard 6 there is a stack of great new music for me to listen to and pass judgement on.

Go check Paul out, tell him how great he is and if you're in London, go see him on December 7th.

See ya soon folks xx

What's the blogging version of a re-tweet?

Is it a re-blog or is there another term for it?

Well whatever it is, this is one of sorts...

The night I first came across Idan Rabinovici/Strange Folks/Roy Rieck and The Medley Band, there was one other act that caught my eye, or rather my ear in a big way so having just viewed his Myspace page and noticed that he's got some new songs up there which looks on the face of it like he's closer to releasing an album, I wanted to devote a little recommendation for you to check out the brilliant Paul Cook or as he's also known Paul Cook and the Chronicles. (That is one heck of a long sentence by the way).

If you like what you hear, drop him a line and tell him and demand he plays some more gigs, but be nice in your requests, ok?

By the way, don't be mistaken into thinking that because I'm re-visiting old ground tonight that I've run out of things to talk about because you'd be wrong...there's some more exciting things coming real soon...

Bye for now xx

P.S. - If anyone know's what the term for a re-blog is, let me know please!!

Lots of Strange Folks and the Chronicles of Paul

Last night I asked the fantastic Lucy Rose and Simba if eARMusic ever put on a bad show. 6 shows in and the answer I keep forming in my own mind is NO!

Last night just confirmed again what I always say...there is nothing better than live music. Turned up to what's fast becoming one of my favourite places, the very cosy, homely and relaxing Monkey Chews in Chalk Farm with not a clue of who was performing, apart from Lucy would be hosting the evening so in my mind sub-conciously I set my expectations low...Greg Holden, Chloe Temtchine, Lisa Mitchell, Lucy Rose that calibre isn't easy to beat or come close to...but it was equalled again.

There were five acts but two that really stood out. First up was a total unknown, least to me...Paul Cook (and the Chronicles). As I now know Paul played in 2 previous bands...Brinkman and The Vessels and is sort of in the throws of forming a new band (hence the chronicles bit). Paul has a really good strong yet subtle voice that sort of reminds me a bit of Elvis Costello...maybe more than a bit but its cool either way. Anyways he played a great solo set and I stupidly didn't get more than 2 videos...which was a huge mistake. Anyways...check these out...

Bye Bye Him and Guilt

He also has a youtube channel...where there's some more videos of Paul playing in the bathroom. Go check him out, he is very cool.

Now my other little discovery, a band well two bands in one. So let me set the scene. There's one band (of 7 members) but then there's another band featuring half the actual band (3....so technically a lie....42.8% to be precise), playing under a different name....confused.com???? yep!!!!

I'll call them firstly by the collective name and then for the purposes of not confusing myself...I'll call them by the form the sub 43% form they took last night for the rest of the post...

Full Name - Roy Rieck and The Medley Band
Small Band - Strange Folks

So these are 3 guys I believe from THE Holy Land of Israel who all moved over to the UK a few months back...for the better weather of course...obviously to try and make some good music. I'll start by simply saying that the guys last night were three of the most talented musicians I have seen in a long time. Two amazing guitarists, one of whom simply owns the Lap Steel guitar whilst playing the Xylophone...impressive. The other is a vastly talents Electric guitarist of the highest order. Backing this up is Roy Rieck who sings and plays a beautiful Harmonica.

As a three-piece band they played a mix of electric and part acoustic folk/rock songs and judging by the CD I listened to and added to my iPod today, as a seven-strong unit they play the same but a bit more jazzy. There's some great tracks in there and if you're in London they're playing a few gigs near you soon...check them out.