Nathalie J Music

Top tip for the next big thing

I like to go to all kind of gigs. There’s unquestionably something exciting about going to a major event. When I do this I get my friend to come round with her trusty Joewell scissors and give me a new hairdo and we get all glammed up for the big occasion. However, I also love going to tiny venues like the back room of a pub to see up-and-coming bands that may or may not become the next big thing. Most of them won’t, of course, but even then, I still treasure a huge collection of artists who never made it to the big time.

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Metallica and Others Bring Tours Forward to Cash in Before Crisis Hits

Some of the biggest rock bands in the world today including the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica are also feeling the brunt of the ongoing economic crisis, though in this instance they seem to know exactly what to do about it. Of course, it is highly unlikely that any day in the near future will see Hetfield and the boys occupying their own patch of Wall Street and penning new protest songs in order to bring hope to those unable to afford the best office furniture London has to offer – instead they’ve decided to move upcoming tour itineraries around to continue raking in a king’s ransom in cash.

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R.I.P. REM

There’s only one topic that a music blog worth its salt can discuss this week, and it’s not whether to buy tin plate CD covers for your friends for Christmas presents. Even though they are really cool. No, the death of REM has been the hot topic of every musically-based conversation ever since Michael Stipe and the boys announced that they were calling it a day after releasing their first single, ’Radio Free Europe’, a mighty thirty years ago. Thirty years! I haven’t even been alive as long as REM has been making music, which is a pretty scary thought.

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A Look On the Inside of the Music of Toots Thielemans

Like the nationwide fuels company is ideal for diesel users, so is Toots Thielemans to jazz lovers. Harmonica professional Toots Thielemans warrants all of the accolades as well as honors a pro inside the jazz area has gained when they achieve old-guard master level. His audio is equally as distinctive, as real, as lively and as vibrant as when he was a younger firebrand actively playing an instrument that is much associated together with honky-tonks in addition to low course dives compared to sweetness which jazz signifies. The fact that Thielemans single-handledly has developed the particular harmonica as his own inside the jazz world could just end up being simply because he is, equally harmonically as nicely as rhythmically, seated inside the traditions with the songs. Furthermore, the simplicity of his melodic elegance is actually equally easy as well as transcendent regarding virtually any conceptual ideas that were preconceived. Anyone may bring in order to carry in collaboration along with a harmonica. Inside the hands of Theilemans, this particular instrument will be, in it’s own way, a clear rep of which the greatest jazz provides.

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The magic of local gigs

Right, i know i normally blog about gigs in and around London, but a band i saw recently whilst abroad has to be mentioned, so this time i’m talking about a little further afield. When i go on holiday or are perhaps in a different UK city from my normal haunts i always check out what local gigs are on. Attending local gigs is a great way to be lucky enough to get to see a band first, before they become perhaps huge in the future – then their heads are inflated by pounds signs and their increasing popularity fuel management companies to scrabble to sign them up. These young bands that haven’t struck the big time yet often perform with more soul and truth than of the big names. Anyway back to the band in question, whilst in Galicia (Northern Spain) I was spending a Saturday night in the town of Monforte de Lemos and happened to end up in bar where a local band Holywater were playing. I was blown away with their set, it was loud, heartfelt and real. Their music is a mix of rock and grunge rock and their set produced a balance mix of songs that displayed their talent and range wonderfully. Watching this great band in a small town out in what felt like the middle of nowhere got me thinking about how much great music is never heard by those who don’t go outside the mainstream and seek out alternatives to what we are fed by the media. This kinda made me sad…..

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Music Gigs in London – Rihanna

Fans of the R&B singing sensation Rihanna will be thrilled to know that she is performing at London’s O2 Centre from October to December 2011. The exact dates of her gigs are 5^th, 6^th and 13^th October, 13^th-15^th November 2011 and 20^th – 22^nd December 2011

Barbados born Rihanna is one of the best selling music artistes of all time, having sold more than 45 million singles and 15 million albums – which gives competition to the sale of homeware UK! This is a tremendous achievement on its own, and even more so if you consider that her career only began in 2005. Rihanna is only 23 years old and has millions of fans all over the world. She also has her own wax figure in the famous Madam Tussauds Wax Museum in Washington DC. You would also be surprised to know that this young artiste is also an actress, author and philanthropist!

Since her debut hit single “Pon de Replay” in 2005, Rihanna has just continued to churn out hit after hit. Although Rihanna is a R&B singer, her songs also sometimes converge into the dance, pop, dance, reggae and Eurodance genres. Her Caribbean upbringing is also reflected in her songs, much to the delight of her fans.

Rihanna has been nominated for 4 Grammy awards this year, and in the London gig, you can expect her to belt out hits from her chart topping album “Loud.” These hits include “Only Girl (in the world)” and “What’s My Name?” She is also expected to sing popular songs from her other number 1 albums for the audience.

Tickets to Rihanna’s gigs sell out fast, especially in London, where she has a large number of loyal fans. Currently, they are available from £40 upwards, and can be purchased through online ticketing websites such as Ticketmaster. Book your tickets early to avoid disappointment.

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The Richest Rappers

Music stars and celebrities in general are rich people. I know someone is thinking that they really get broke later but the fact remains that having wealth is a norm in stardom. That is why celebrities are in heating oil and earn bad publicity whenever they appear to be out of money. The list of those who have become broke is endless but that is not even the main focus here. What I am going to achieve is to say a few things about the richest rappers alive. The order is not necessarily in order of how rich the rappers are. Jay-Z is widely known in the industry as a rich rapper and as the husband of singer Beyoncé as well. Their combined income for last year was around 150 million dollars and the rapper himself is worth in the region of half a million dollars. His business includes but not limited to fashion.

G-unit rapper 50 Cent is also a big name when talking about the rich in rap music. An observer recently that 50 cent has become even richer than many of the rappers he met in the game. His wealth came from wise investments and of course his G-Unit fashion line which makes clothes and footwear. Another rich rapper who has business interests in the fashion industry is Diddy. His Sean John line fetched him millions of dollars and he was recently chastised by a small section of the media for buying an expensive car for his son who turned 16. The common thing about these rappers source of wealth is that they all invested in fashion.

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Time for T

OK, so it’s only three months until the Scottish music festival T in the Park, which means I am officially allowed to get excited about the big Perthshire event! I check the website religiously every week to see what new names have been added to the line-up. The last big name to be added was one I was delighted to see as they’ve not played live together for years; my personal heroes of Britpop, Pulp.
Cooler than a chilled cucumber and more stylish than a pair of custom rings, Jarvis Cocker could do no wrong in my eyes at his peak, so let’s just hope this mini-comeback of sorts (I don’t really count it as a proper comeback as he has been making solo music since Pulp split up) lives up to my expectations. It’s always slightly worrying when you go to see a band that you’ve worshipped and adored for many years; you can’t help but build up their performance in your mind, even before the warm-up band have got onto the stage.
I don’t think I’ve ever been really disappointed by a concert before. Sometimes I’ve been more intrigued than impressed by a performance – like when I went to see The Darkness and Justin sang one sang from the shoulders of a roadie walking among the crowd like a spandex-clad Jesus – but as long as the band can play their instruments and the singer can hold a tune, then I’m willing to forgive most mistakes or faults in a live performance. After all, it’s not like I could do any better!

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No such thing as guilty music pleasures

When someone asks you who your favourite guilty pleasures are, what kind of responses do you get? For me, my answer to this question is The Spice Girls, and it is always met with groans from whoever posed this common question initially.
Let’s admit it – you also smirked or even considered closing this tab on reading that last sentence. As a music lover however, I propose we ban this notion of ’guilty'once and for all.
Like film and literature, music is one of those things that unites us and the passion for this media is incredibly strong. There is no stigma attached to loving music to such an extent that it’s fanatical, so why should there be judgement passed on how one fulfills this passion?
When I’m done with general life stuff such as mortgage payments or investing through companies like Galvan research, I like nothing more than to unwind to a good record. Obviously ’good'is subjective not only from person to person but even to an individual’s mood (I don’t always listen to The Spice Girls, you understand!). To judge something as a ’guilty'song or band implies that one knows what music is ’good'and what is ’bad’, and there is a description for people like that – intellectual snobs.
At the end of the day, we’re never going to agree definitively on matters such as what is and isn’t quality music. You can trash an artist or production as much as you like, but a person’s tastes are untouchable – so long as that person fully enjoys it, nobody has the right to try and make them feel bad about it.

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Dead or alive

I always find the annual list of the top earning dead musical celebrities pretty cool, if a little macabre. Maybe it’s just me, but I can help imagining their ghoulish figures appearing on stage to accept the accolades from the industry and their adoring fans. I have to stop eating cheese last thing at night, and falling asleep looking at my Jonathan Shaw landscapes don’t I?

It certainly seems that dying is a sure fire way to resurrect your career, if you’ll pardon the pun. Perhaps it’s a little extreme, though if the Cheeky Girls decided to throw themselves off a cliff in the hope that “Touch My Bum” would make it to number one, I don’t suppose many people would notice.

Unsurprisingly, the number one earner for 2010 was Michael Jackson, whose agents and record label had the relaunched Greatest Hits album out before he was even cold in his grave. Or so it seemed. I can still remember where I was and what I was doing when I heard that Michael Jackson had died; I was texting my friend a sick joke about Michael Jackson dying…

As the list goes down it gets a little classier, with the King in second, though a massive $215 million behind Wacko Jacko. Perennial successful dead musician John Lennon came in third, with Jimi Hendrix bringing up the rear at number five.

So which rock legend is at number four, in amongst that exalted company? Jim Morrison perhaps? Or was 2010 the year of reggae and Bob Marley made it into the list? No, it’s the composer Richard Rodgers, the man responsible for my favourite musical of all time, The Sound of Music. I may try and act like a hip and cool musician, but when I was fourteen I didn’t just know all the lyrics to Sound of Music, I knew every line of dialogue too. Well, that’s my street cred blown out of the water…

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