Is there anything people won’t complain about?

Seriously. All the controversy and fuss caused over tiny, insignificant things is going crazy.

Jonathan Ross and Russel Brand, two of the UK’s best comics have been wrongly stripped of their jobs. I could write pages on exactly why they have been wronged, but I’ll put it to you this way. The day after the broadcast, 8 complaints were registered, by the end of the week, 19 complaints, two weeks after that, around 30,000 people thought it necessary to vent their anger.

A major part and contributor of this is my arch nemesis – the media. Those bastards that decide what should be popular, who should be famous, and what constitutes as news. Case in point, some papers like the Sun, accept that maybe people don’t buy their paper for cutting edge reporting or highly reputable doumentation, because no offense (irony intended) men buy it for the breasts on page 3, women buy it because it will have reports on the latest crack whore to sell their sympothy story. The Daily Mail tells us of a new reason to slit our wrists every day, and most of the others are biased in some way.

My point is that the media do not actually report news. They tell us what to think and put their own spin on news stories. An excellent quote from a Harry Potter book (can’t remember which) is “the media exists to sell itself, not to report”

Getting back to the whole Ross/Brand/Sachs situation. Because some stuck-up, hypocritical daily mail readers didn’t like comedy coming from two under 60 year olds, close to 8 million listeners have to miss out. If you think about 30,000 complaints out of 8 million – it’s nothing at all.

I’m on the subject of hypocritical whingers, Muslims have been quiet recently, but lets not forget the list of things which have upset them – A kids teddy bear, a danish cartoon, a football, Avril Lavigne, a puppy, Apple. I could go on but thats enough for now.

*Edit – no its not, full list here and discussion here.

If anyone watched ‘Live at the Apollo’ last night on BBC1, fronted by the ‘family-friendly’ Michael McIntyre, you would have noticed that he swore twice, which is twice as much as Jonathon Ross swore on Radio 2 a few weeks ago.

I don’t like a lot of things on the TV and radio. I don’t like for example, Time Team, Terry Wogan, anything with the word ‘celeb’ imbedded in it, but I don’t complain and have a furious meltdown, venting my spleen to anyone who will, or won’t, listen.

My point is that if you don’t like something, don’t watch/listen to it!! Why should I, and millions of other listeners, miss out on the massively talented Ross and Brand shows just because SOME people (a vast minority) don’t like it?

Lostalone – Say No To The World – Album Review

You could be forgiven for not having heard of LostAlone before. They are (as yet) a relatively unknown band from Derbyshire. The trio comprised of lead singer and guitarist Steven Battelle, bassist Tom Kitchen, and drummer Mark Gibson were first introduced to me as the opening act for Paramore in Manchester in mid 2007. I must confess, I hadn’t heard them before but I was really impressed by their set, and was somewhat dazed by the different sound of what is a straight up rock band. Some have described LostAlone as an emo band, but I think this is just because of the current emo trend with bands like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy going around. Say No To The World is their debut (and only album at time of writing) and I bought it after being impressed by them at a Paramore gig.

Main influences of the band have been cited as Queen, Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd, and Weezer. Whilst none of these are particularly prevalent in the bands overall sound, there are subtle nods to these bands both musically, lyrically and dynamically in the band’s music. Battelle in particular, embodies the energy and direction of the band. A versatile vocalist and guitarist, he has developed a unique stage style and appeal which has grown to include alternative slide guitar techniques, and the crowd-pleasing ‘flip-catch-guitar-solo-with-shoe’ move. Certainly at the Paramore gig this was unexpected, and the energy and enthusiasm shown rubs off onto the crowd. To sing, play and be a frontman takes tremendous skill and confidence, and when he pulls it off right, it seems like they’re the only band in the world. So, having listened to Say No To The World, here’s what I think.

Elysium is a truly thunderous opening to the album and a slap in the face to anyone who may doubt the bands potential or enthusiasm. (Note; the Youtube version is not the album version.) In a Jesus of Suburbia way, the song incorporates many different styles and rhythms in the one song, and being just shy of 6 minutes long, isn’t overly long either. The tempo starts fast and grows faster and faster until roughly halfway through when the song winds down to a slow drum-dominated beat where its hands in the air clapping/swaying/lighters in the air time. After a brief guitar solo, the song picks up speed again and finishes slightly slower than the start, presumably because Steven is knackered by this time.

Followed by this is Unleash The Sands Of Time, which is easily the catchiest song on the album. ‘To say goodbye is the hardest thing in life’ will stick in your head for weeks after hearing it a few times, and the overall song is probably my personal favourite. As with Elysium, the guitar riffs are very catchy and Steven once again displays his wide vocal range with high and low pitches throughout. At the Paramore gig, this was the song where everyone I could see was clapping and singing along which gives you an idea how good this song is.

Track 3, Silence, reminds me of a heavier version of The Bravery’s song, An Honest Mistake, because of the focus on symbols and short stop gaps in the song. Distortion effects on the vocals are cool and unlike some songs, don’t ruin the sound at the same time. Ethereal and Predators In A Maze are the only real ballad-y song, and is a break from the rest of the 100mph songs. Genevieve is the heaviest song on the album and there are some absolutely fantastic guitar riffs and solo’s thrown into the mix as well as crashing drums, and is the song which shows what the band is about. Playing loud, fast, catchy songs, and Blood Is Sharp is similar, catchy and loud.

LostAlone have toured and performed with some truly big names, including (of course) Paramore, My Chemical Romance, and made a huge impact at the Give It A Name festival. Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) has also singled them out to keep an eye on, so have a listen to the links above and see what you think. I think what is great about LostAlone is that while not a totally unique band, they do have their own style and appeal. They’re fresh and just play straight up rock music, which is refreshing in the current indie and emo dominated scene at the moment.

Overall – 8/10