Music from SimonCox.com

Muse Shepherds Bush Empire 28 June 2006

Simon Cox — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 01:00:00 GMT

Wuhooo! Just won a pair of tickets for Paula and I to go see Muse at the Shepherds Bush Empire next Wednesday, 28th June 2006! Its a special small gig with only a few lucky winners going - going to be fantastic because the new album, Black Holes and Revelations, does not come out till the 3rd of July. The show is going to be filmed by MTV and broadcast by XFM!

Update!

Wow what a gig. One of the best I have ever seen. The Shepherds Bush Empire is a small venue - not what you need for Muse really - my ultimate Muse concert must be them on a satellite/space station playing to the world - their sound is big enough for that!

So we got our wristbands and tickets and adjourned to a very nice bistro around the corner and over the road where we ate good pizza and drank good wine while watching the queue go right down the road and around the next corner. This was at about 5:30. We left the bistro at 7:30 having had our fill and watched the que shrink to nothing and preceded into the venue where we picked a spot at the back where Paula could see everything and I went to the lav. Upon me return, only a couple of mins later, Paula had made friends with two people standing next to us - who were great - so hi to Jim and Karen from Bury St Edmunds.

I thought Muse were going to concentrate on their new album but no! Every other track was a Muse classic interspersed with the new albums tracks - this may not be what you get on the tour as the band were trying things out but it worked really well on the night. The whole of the crowd at the front were going for it - and I had a look round at the back and Jim and I were right behind the Back Mosh Pit as Paula and Karen went for it big time - good girls! And the trespassers onto our elevated step did not last long (long story).

And I have come up with a theory useful for newbie Muse fans (there will be loads): If Chris , the bass player, is bopping his head big and proud, then the track you are listening to is a Muse classic - that's the criteria.

So the new material. It's very good - possibly more mainstream than the core fans are used to but it should bring more fame. Recent comparisons to Radiohead are wrong (probably from journo's that think Franz Ferdinand are great and are the new Queen - you are sooooo very very wrong...) and I still believe there is no one quite like Muse at the moment.

Purchase the album when it comes out but if you ever get the chance to see them somewhere big then sell the family silver and get yourself there because this is one band you must see once in your life!

If anyone has a set list please let me know what was played as I did not know the new songs.

Muse Earls Court 20th December 2004

Simon Cox — Mon, 20 Dec 2004 00:00:00 GMT

We are off with our good friends Liz and Chris (Kick's guitarist) to see Muse at Earls Court tonight and they are supported by SoulWax and the Zutons! Should be excellent evening entertainment as Muse really is the band of the moment. The four of us saw them at Wembley last year and they were sensational.

We are looking forward to seeing the Zutons as well as we have been hearing them a lot on the radio recently. Hopefully I will get some pictures though we are right at the back. Best for the sound balance though (yeah right...). Well we are to old for the mosh pit - last time I could see people pushing with their feet - almost kung fu kicks - which launched unsuspecting fans flying deep into the crowd. If I had been on the receiving end of that some kid would have gone home in an ambulance. Not big, not funny.

XFM are broadcasting the gig live tonight starting at 9pm - recommended listening!

Update!

What an amazing gig! Soul Wax were great - must get some of their stuff, The Zutons were superb but Muse were stunning, absolutely stunning. I thought last years concert was amazing but this year they were even better!

I have a few photos:

Second Update!

I have just discovered on the Microcuts website that it was not Soul Wax but The Secret Machines who were playing - my apologies! Why don't they tell you this stuff when you arrive anymore?

Vote Oscar on Rock School

Simon Cox — Fri, 12 Nov 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Those outside of London may not have heard of my favorite radio station - XFM. The breakfast show's Christian O'Connel has organised a competition for under 18's to send in covers of songs they have performed in a Rock School attempt to produce Britians upcoming new supergroup. The winners will eb on stage next month. Some are great and some sound like school kids but by far the best is Oscar and his cover of the White Stripes 7 Nation Army. It is pure Genuis!
Listen to it here (Warning - there may be a few Aglo Saxon words used)

To get through to the final 5 Oscar will need votes.
You can listen to Xfm on Digital all over the UK and all over the world on the internet as well. (Christian - do I get a hat for the big plug?)

Veterans of a fucked-up world

Simon Cox — Thu, 11 Nov 2004 00:00:00 GMT

The Dead Milk men are rehearsing for the forthcoming Dave Schulthise tribute concerts in Philadelphia. Dean sent me a couple of links to a citypaper.net article about their rehearsals and some little know snippets about Dead Milkmen albums.

I won't be able to make the concerts on the 21st and 22st of November because of prior commitments (I'm in New Zealand) but if you are any where near Pennsylvania I implore you to try and get tickets and enjoy the music of the Dead Milkmen - a band that has had a much bigger affect on music in the US than I think they themselves will ever really understand.

I can't say much more apart from I don't see or write to Dean enough and I must get over there soon!

The Bug - digital radio

Simon Cox — Thu, 29 Jul 2004 01:00:00 GMT

Whoops. Impulse purchase last night on the way home. Can't afford it and I don't care! The Bug is a digital radio which means that it picks up the new digital radio broadcasts - including a test channel with wood pigeons and rooks in a wood - very atmospheric! Of course I use it to listen to XFM.

the sound quality is superb as are the very useful two alarm settings and the ability to pre-set 10 stations. Overall the controls are a doddle to use once you understand the basics - though having to press a button for over 3 seconds to turn it off is a week point.

The best and probably unique feature is the playback function. You can wind back a live broadcast to listen to a track again or a vital piece of information such as a telephone number, or pause the live broadcast for a moment while you answer the phone and then continue. The display shows you haw far you are behind the live broadcast.

And you can record a broadcast onto an SD card... At digital quality!

The Bug is brilliant and I have one!

Hunger Artists - Cruisin' in Zargon

Simon Cox — Wed, 02 Jun 2004 01:00:00 GMT

The Hunger Artists have released their near legendary album "Cruisin' in Zargon" online.

Guitarist and all round cute guy Mike describes it as "A free-improv old-school wheely-poppin' punk-rock noise-core psych-out with vaudeville overtones... "

More over at OOK World including the free to listen mp3 track.
Cracking Stuff. It will be going on my iPod.

New Horizon - Kick's third album

Simon Cox — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 01:00:00 GMT

!Chris Jones the guitarist of Kick gave us a digipack of the bands latest offering, new Horizon. And what a great album it is. Some music magazines are touting the band as the 'anti Darkness' - a band that is producing proper melodic rock for now and not songs that reminisce about 80ï¿½s rock. From my point of view Kick are a great band and deserve to be heard by more people. And Chris gave a thanks on the album sleeve to Paula and me which was very kind of him!

Dave Blood - gone but never forgotten

Simon Cox — Sat, 13 Mar 2004 00:00:00 GMT

Dave Schulthise, aka Dave Blood, bass player of the Dead Milkmen, my friend Deans band from Philly, has been found dead having taken his own life.

I knew Dave from the times I was invited to roadie a Dead Milkmen tour of the East Coast USA and from the three trips they made to the UK. Dave was a deep and meaningfull person who was very highly respected and a driving force in the band and will be missed by many.

Tributes can be found at the Dead Milkmen website.

The Brits 2004

Simon Cox — Tue, 17 Feb 2004 00:00:00 GMT

As I write this I am watching the Brits which seems to have grown huge over the past few years but this year has brought in a massive amount of American stars. Obviously the UK is the place to be.

So the Highlights:
The Darkness winning Best British and also Best Rock Act though Paula and I were routing for Muse for the best Rock act.

Best on stage performance was Muse with a great rendition of Hysteria, which is a pity as that means tickets are going to be harder to obtain to see them again in the future.

However best onstage performance was The Darkness!! Very difficult to choose between them

The Darkness winning Best Album of the year for Permission to Land.

Kerry McFadden saying she had farted when she came up to give an award. lol!

And the Lowlights:
50c - the man who put the c in rap. Apparently he was shot nine times as a kid in the US - don't they sell guns with 10 shots? Rubbish stage performance with a very dubious video intro pretending that HM Customs/Government forces were giving them a hard time about coming into the country and 50c and his crew turned over the table and escaped from authority to run onto stage as if they had just got there and were on the run. They is so bad n' mean.
And he just dissed the Brits - came up on stage to get his award and kissed Alicia Keys and said "thats better than the award". Not funny Mr 1/2 dollar. :(

Busted just won best British Breakthrough artist - shame it wasn't through the ice. Not surprising really as it was voted by the kiddie radio one listeners. Us XFM listeners would have voted for the Darkness.

Duran Duran. Never liked them. Never will. They had the stage presence of a collapsed blancmange waiting at a bus stop. And they played sooo many duff notes!!

The Darkness Lees Cliffe Hall 8th Feb 2004

Simon Cox — Tue, 10 Feb 2004 00:00:00 GMT

At long long last we got to see The Darkness, live at Lees Cliffe Hall Folkstone after the gig was postponed from last year. Vic Reeves turned up plus entorage and I have never seen the hall so packed. The Darkness were brilliant, loud but clear - I felt my clothes get buffeted by the sound - awesome. In the encore Justin was carried by a roadie through the crowd while he played. I have never seen anything like it - and got some pictures as he came within about 4 foot of us - picture attached.

The support act were rappers from Newport. We stayed in the bar for that bit.

Cheap CDs? Not likely!

Simon Cox — Thu, 22 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

CDWOW have settled two weeks before the court case that the BPI brought against them for selling parallel imported music CDï¿½s. Without going into the legalities of who is allowed to sell what to who and where, it means hike from Â£8.99 to Â£10.99 for CD Albums in the Top 75 of the Chart (Which is not really representitive of what we actually like to listen to (but that's for another time...). Result: more illegal downloading of files probably, oh but the BPI are threatening to be after your rear for that soon as well.

The British music business industry fleeced the public when it changed formats from vinyl to CD, for the younger readers vinyl was more expensive to produce than CDs but the price was nearly double for the new format. The reason given was that the manufacturers had to recoup their initial outlay but the prices never dropped and vinyl was phased out for mass consumption.

So why are CD's so expensive in the first place?
Well I found an article on a bbc.co.uk page and these figures are stated:

Typical CD Cost ï¿½15
17.5% VAT = Â£2.63
Retailer about 1/3rd =Â£3.71
Distribution = Â£1
Copyright holder = 70p
Which means that the BPI's clients, the major record labels, get Â£6.96.

CDWOW Cost Â£8.99
17.5% VAT = Â£1.57
Retailer about 1/3rd =Â£2.22 (and they don't charge for postage)
Distribution = Â£1
Copyright holder = 70p
BPI Client = Â£3.50

Post settlement CDWOW Cost Â£10.99
17.5% VAT = Â£1.92
Retailer about 1/3rd =ï¿½2.72 (assuming that the Â£2 hike isn't just for BPI members)
Distribution = Â£1
Copyright holder = 70p
BPI Client = Â£4.65

Thatï¿½s an increase of Â£1.15 per CD sold that's a huge percentage increase. I expect we will see BPI chairman Peter Jamieson get a very nice little bonus this year.

Quote from BPI
"Britain is a nation of music lovers and we buy more music than any other country - four units per capita each year. (IFPI Recording Industry in Numbers 2002). According to independent research album prices have continued their downward trend over recent years.

Latest figures show that on average a CD costs Â£10 in the UK - 2% less than a year ago. (Taylor Nelson Sofres)"

If you were to take out the cheap internet sales you would find the prices have in fact risen. I don't recall the top 75 albums being Â£15.30 less than a year ago. I recall then being Â£13.50. If we also are buying four CDs a year, that's approx. 250million CD's, then people will be buying less - three albums perhaps - especially if the price has gone up over 20% as at CDWOW, which means 195 million CD's which means a loss of Â£302.25 million to the British music business.

Hopefully that means less manufactured pop bands.

I see this move as a reactionary protectionist stance by the recording industry, who are yet again addressing the wrong problems and ignoring the reality.

For those interested the BPI surprisingly does not stand for:
Bastards Protectionist Inquisition.

References:
CDWow and BPI settle landmark case Owen Gibson, Guardian New Media, 22 Wednesday January 21, 2004

BPI release statement on CDWOW!

millionVALVE

Simon Cox — Tue, 13 Jan 2004 00:00:00 GMT

I have had three tracks by millionVALVE on my iPOD since November 2003, "Million" (re-mastered), Splitter and Separate Way and every now and again they just pop up when I am playing a full shuffle and I keep meaning to pull the pod out and see who is playing. million Valve have a really ambient moody sound thats spot on.

Who are millionValve you cry! Search the net and you will find hardly anything at all, not a good sign and highly unfair. 'Nick' (I have peiced that much together!) is a musician based in Baltimore producing "Groove-Tronica for Your Inner Spinner" (I love that!). In a flagrant steal from Ampcast I have swiped the rest of the millionVALVE biog:

"Each night, from deep underground Charm City our valiant hero is awake, wrapped in the sonic cape of what will become the next millionVALVE song. Plumbing the depths of chill, groove, vox, and vibe millionVALVE fights for the cause of original, interesting, and repeat-button-worthy tracks."

And I have to agree - this is really repeat button worthy material and I have pugged the other tracks into iTunes already.

To hear what I am quite excited about head on over to Ampcast to hear the millionVALVE tracks.

If the right people get to hear millionVALVE...

Rock Opera of the year - Muse live at Wembley

Simon Cox — Fri, 28 Nov 2003 00:00:00 GMT

Last night Paula, Chris, Liz and I went to see what I consider to be the "Rock Opera of the Year" - Muse live at Wembley. And what a fantastic night! The first support were awful and fortunately I have no idea who they were. The second were Elbow - must get some of their stuff but live in a big arena their delicate sounds were a bit lost - we could see people playing violins but couldn't here them at all - I am sure they will come across better on CD or in a smaller venue. However if there is one band in the world that need a big venue to come alive it has to be Muse - the bigger they get the better and more awesome they become. The term wall of sound really must refer to these three guys who sound like 30. A great set with Space Dementia being one of the highlights with a superb stage set taking it to a peak. It looked like the band were travelling through space at warp speed! As the last song, Plug in Baby, started off they released a 10 sheds full of black balloons onto the huge standing crowd which instantly turned into party and you really could not see the stage but this was upstaged during the encore when they released 10 enormous balloons, not unlike the balloon guards in the Prisoner TV series, filled with confetti that went high into the air as each balloon burst.
The only disappointment of the night was that they didn't play Feeling Good, but we felt great and its certainly the best concert we have seen in a long time.

Update!

SET LIST:
INTRO
APOCALYPSE PLEASE
HYSTERIA
NEW BORN
SING FOR ABSOLUTION (COMPLETLEY GUITAR)
THOUGHTS OF A DYING ATHEIST
SHOWBIZ
CITISEN ERASED
SPACE DEMENTIA
ENDLESLEY
SUNBURN ( PIANO)
BUTTERFLIES AND HURRICANS ( DEAF METAL STYLE WITH PIANO SOLO)
MICROCUTS
MUSCLE MUSEUM
BLISS
TIME IS RUNNING OUT
PLUG IN BABY
---- encore----
BLACKOUT
STOCKHOLM SYNDROME ( WITH BALOONS AND STREAMERS)

Review of The Darkness gig Folkestone 20th Oct 2003

Simon Cox — Mon, 20 Oct 2003 01:00:00 GMT

Well I was hoping to be writing a report on a fantastic nights gig at the Lees Cliffe Hall in Folkestone with The Darkness headlining. However...

We set off Monday afternoon and were tanking down the motorway when I got a call from the office telling me that Ticketmaster had rung and the gig was off. Justin had got a throat infection and cancelled the gig. How disappointing was that! I had bought the tickets early July well ahead of the furoar that the Darkness were about to impose on the world.

The only saving grace was that "3 Inches of Blood" might not be able to make a rescheduled performance and likewise, but unfortunately, the Webb Brothers might not be either - we were really looking forward to seeing the Webbs again...

The cancelled gig at Liverpool has already been rescheduled but perhaps Folkestone, and Plymouth, are just too insignificant for a A&E; department of a band such as The Darkness who are about to claim the world... I am sure the band would have loved the Lees Cliffe Hall.

Knickers to the Darkness

Simon Cox — Tue, 23 Sep 2003 01:00:00 GMT

Reports are coming in that the Darkness played a superb sold-out show at the Bowery Ballroom in the USA. Justin Hawkins ripped off his shirt and threw in into the crowd and the delighted crowd responded by throwing their underwear on stage! judging by what New York ladies are wearing this season, Sex and the City lets us know all, Justin will not have run out of G Strings for his guitar!

More at the New York Times

Philadelphia In Love

Simon Cox — Sun, 21 Sep 2003 01:00:00 GMT

Today I am doing a review of Philadelphia In Love, the new video compilation from The Dead Milkmen. It's a great DVD with a neat history of the DM's on video including their huge MTV hit Punk Rock Girl and you can really see the steps of progression, in quality, professionalism and lengthening hair and waists.

There are tons of extras as well such as the Making of the Making of Punk Rock Girl. Saw a few old faces I recognised from the past. My fav video, and has always been one of my fav tunes, is Methodist Coloring Book, its a great energetic song and a zany well edited vid. I had not seen Peter Bazooka before which is an interesting video and quite atmospheric - Rodney looks quite dangerous in it an d Joe makes a very good cabbie. I never realised Dave dressed up so much - I think he may have been forced into it by the others... and Dean as ever looks so Rock and Roll thorough it all!

With all the extras it makes a superb collectors item for DM fans and its out on the 18th October.

Rock is officially back!

Simon Cox — Sat, 13 Sep 2003 01:00:00 GMT

Sales of Rock music have beaten the pop market for the first time ever - 'Rock's on a Roll' Evening Standard. Rock has 31% of the market and pop only 30%.
The dramatic decline of pop is being blamed on the file swapping hordes of the Internet but I think that would have hit the Rock listening fraternity just as hard as Rock is going to be listened to by a more mature audience - who are able to afford computers and internet connections.
Rock bands have embraced the Internet far more than the Pop industry and use it to promote their material and talk to their fans. Meanwhile with programs such a Pop Idol and Fame Academy every one can see what the pop industry is actually about - a manufactured product. When you can pick someone off the street with a bit of singing ability and make millions out of them its a good business proposition! Rock musicians take years to hone their abilities and the public are re-recognising that.
Long Live Rock!

The Webb Brothers release Mrs Moriarty

Simon Cox — Sun, 07 Sep 2003 01:00:00 GMT

Having seen the Webb Brothers do a superb set on Wednesday I hiked over to their website (or is that webbsite?) to check them out and discovered that they have a single out tommorow - Mrs Moriarty - which is great. I also went to Amazon and preordered their new album, out on the 22 September, so I must be becoming a fan. Their famous father Jimmy Webb wrote and sang Wichita Lineman and is still touring, so they have a solid musical background. Why aren't they bigger?

I mentioned how good they were when I was on the Adam and Joe show on saturday (clang) and lo and behold they are now on the Xfm play list! (actually they may have been on there before I saw them but that doesn't do my ego any good.)

Trot over to the Webb Brothers site and you can hear Mrs Moriarty and a couple of other of their ditties.

OKGO - so we did…

Simon Cox — Thu, 04 Sep 2003 01:00:00 GMT

Paula and I went to the OKGO gig at the Electric Ballroom in Camden tonight courtesy of Xfm - I won the tickets on the Adam and Joe show last Saturday.

We missed the first band entirely having sat in the pub for too long, but arrived just after the Webb Brothers had started their set - and we are sooooo glad we didn't miss it because it was the highlight of the night by a long long way. I thought I had not heard of the Webb Brothers before but they played one song that I have certainly heard on Xfm. Their set was wild and varied with three of the guys singing in harmony - shades of the Beachboys but so very different. Several songs reminded me of early Floyd - and that’s a massive complement from me. Their slow songs were extraordinarily tight and built into crescendos that reminded me of the Muse. This is a band that have massive potential and could go a long long way. They have an album out on 22nd September preceding it with a single on the 8th. We will buy both.

And so on to OKGO. Big crowd that loved everything they did, but for us there was only one song that shone - Get Over It - and we did, quickly. Sadly we think they are a one song band, despite friends in the business who think they are 'well good'. Paula wanted to go home halfway through the set but I managed to persuade her to stay and if it wasn't for that we would have missed Get Over It which was the highlight. It got better but we didn't stay for the encores.

The highlight of the evening: several songs by the Webb Brothers though which one to choose I couldn't say…!!!

Apologies to OKGO for not becoming fans!

The next gig we are going to is The Darkness at Folkstone Leas Cliff Hall in October - with the Webb Brothers supporting. Very very exited about that!

The Dead Milkmen release Now we are 20 in September

Simon Cox — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 01:00:00 GMT

! I received a pre release copy of The Dead Milkmens new album, Now We Are 20 from Dean today. I'm quite excited as there is a quote from me reproduced in the sleeve notes from when I was a roadie with the band! If you have never heard the Dead Milkmen, and they are not that well known in the UK despite touring here three times, then go get yourself acquainted.

Now we are 20 is a great album - go buy it - available from 9th September 2003.

Permission to Land

Simon Cox — Mon, 21 Jul 2003 01:00:00 GMT

Over the past few months I kept hearing a bizarre but brilliant song on XFM and its grew on me. So much so that I just went out and bought the album - Permission to land by the UK's most outrageous new rock band The Darkness.

Everything harks back to the golden era of heavy British rock - so much so that I have purchased tickets to go and see them in October but not at Hammersmith Odeon but at the Lees Cliff Hall in Folkestone - one of my fav rock venues where I have seen many many big acts perform to the small but very vocal crowd. Some people think that the Darkness are doing a Spinal Tap and it's a big wind up - who cares, this band is going places!

My fav off the album so far is Get off of my woman. What's yours?

Radiohead TV goes live

Simon Cox — Mon, 09 Jun 2003 01:00:00 GMT

Radiohead TV has gone live at last with what may prove to be a very interesting web experiment.

! Radiohead TV has gone live at last with what may prove to be a very interesting web experiment. I liked the test card with the real cheesey music. Excellent stuff!

Radiohead new minisite

Simon Cox — Thu, 22 May 2003 01:00:00 GMT

I have been a big fan of Radiohead for years, just thought I would mention, and they have just set up a new mini site RADIOHEAD.tv which should be interesting when it launches.