Olympics

With no football currently it has been very easy to be drawn into watching the 2008 Olympic Games. It seems to be on all the time and just about everywhere you look there is something about the Olympics. So far in the Olympics there has been a heavy focus on the swimming events and there seems to be so many heats, finals and events in the pool you get lost with what’s going on.

It’s hard to ignore the fact that Michael Phelps is cleaning up big style as far as swimming goes. He is already considered the greatest Olympic athlete, swimmer and man in the history of the Olympic Games. I am just incredibly happy and feel extremely privileged that I was alive during his prime. The man must have fish DNA. No. Shark DNA. He is a monster in the pool and I won’t be surprised if he wins all the medals he has entered in for (eight; five won so far).

The British have done pretty well in the pool and it’s good to see that most of the swimmers we have are very young ranging from 17 to 20 years of age. So we have a good future ahead of us for the London 2012 Olympics. Although the men pretty much have no chance if Phelps is still swimming in 2012 which you imagine he will be.

I’ve also been fascinated with the table tennis; hockey and today the beach volley ball grabbed my attention. The game I was watching happened to be Russia versus Georgia, both countries I wouldn’t expect to be particularly good at the sport. How many beaches do Russia and Georgia have? Anyway Georgia were getting hammered in the first set but came back and beat the Russians which seems slightly fitting when you consider what’s happening between the two countries at the moment.

So far the games have been fantastic and with track and field events set to begin on Friday the Olympics will get a lot, a lot better.

Single: Golden Silvers – Arrows Of Eros

Golden Silvers are an new band, to me anyway. They remind me of a mix between Mystery Jets (new album ‘Twenty One’ sound) and a slice of Larrikin Love. Imagine that sound for a second and then think toe tapping, catchy and poppy and then you have the sound of Golden Silvers. A pretty spectacular mixture I’d suggest.

‘Arrows Of Eros’ is pretty much doing the rounds on many radio stations, however BBC Introducing was where I keep hearing it. Huw Stephens is to thank for me hearing it, good job Huw.

“There was a girl who lived in London town. The scenes and sounds, they would only bring her down” is the lyric which stands out for me. I know for sure if this song was the sound she heard living in London town it definitely wouldn’t bring her down. It would most certainly get her up on her feet and get her dancing, for sure.

‘Arrows Of Eros’ is the perfect pop debut single by Golden Silvers, the song is out via Young & Lost Club and you should buy it (here).

8/10

Golden Silvers – Arrows Of Eros

Single: Magistrates - Make This Work

Magistrates are a band, from Essex. I’ve been to Essex and have family there and there is no way a band from Essex should sound like Magistrates. Magistrates sound very much like they are from across the pond; their style fits in well with a lot of the American bands having success in this country at the moment. If you click here then you can download the single from the website for absolutely nothing, pretty swish eh?

Lead singer Paul Usher has an extremely unique voice; listening to his voice you would never ever think that he was from Essex. I know how people from Essex sound (when singing) and they certainly do not sound like Paul Usher. ‘Make This Work’ is sleek and stylish and has a real groove to it; you can bet it’s going to be a dance floor hit for Magistrates.

Signed to XL Recordings Magistrates appear to have a very bright future ahead of them, especially if they can continue writing songs like ‘Make This Work’.

8/10

Label Focus: Wichita

Wichita Recordings are a label based in London and have a great roster of artists many of them being some of my favourite bands.

Wichita do not get as much recognition as many labels despite them being a very good label that has a reputation to allow their artists to have complete control over their music. Which is of course fantastic and very rare with virtually all major labels so it’s refreshing to hear about a label that allows the artist the control over releases, recordings and so forth.

Two of my favourite artists on the Wichita label are Les Savy Fav and Los Campesinos. Los Campesinos released their debut album ‘Hold On Now, Youngster’ on Wichita earlier this year and Les Savy Fav’s fantastic album ‘Lets Stay Friends’ at the end of the last year.

Bloc Party are another extremely successful artist on the Wichita label and one of my favourite bands of the last few years. The Cribs are another band that Wichita can boast to have on its roster and with The Cribs they’ve always allowed them to be themselves. Both artists mentioned have released successful albums with The Cribs having three on Wichita and Bloc Party’s third album out fairly soon will be out on Wichita.

Wichita has some extremely talented musicians from across the pond as well with the likes of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bright Eyes, The Dodos and Giant Drag all apart of the Wichita family. Other artists worth mentioning on the label include Simian Mobile Disco, Those Dancing Days and Swedish trio Peter Bjorn and John. Overall Wichita remain one of the consistent labels in the country and you can imagine they’ll continue being just as consistent.

Premiership Season 08/09

Supporting Manchester United whenever the season starts you always predict that the title is going to end up in Manchester at the end of the season. We’ve been so lucky over the years that you would be silly not to predict anything but the Premiership crown come May 2009. This time last season it was the same story and thankfully May 2008 was a very good month for everyone involved with Manchester United. Where do the challengers come from? The same ones as usual but Arsenal and Liverpool can’t win the title (I may regret saying that). It’s mainly between United and Chelsea, if United were to sign a top class centre forward it’d be more straight forward, but they won’t so it’ll be very interesting.

Elsewhere the relegation battle doesn’t appear to be as interesting as usual because the three teams that came up look the most likely to drop back down again. Out of the three of them West Brom have the best chance but even then losing players like Gera and Phillips will be a big blow and they could yoyo back to the Championship like so many others. Above them expect to see the likes of Wigan and Bolton because they are the two others who could face a long old season.

Sunderland and Fulham have spent the most it seems and they could both have good seasons if they can keep the key players fit. Teams like Newcastle and Middlesbrough will never really be in serious trouble because they both have goal scorers and Boro are usually very solid at the back. Everyone is predicting as usual that Everton as usual will finish 5th however this could be the season where the toffees struggle. So far not signing any players and selling Andy Johnson could result in a lowly finish for the blue half of Merseyside.

Aston Villa could push for that 5th spot if they can get a proven goal scorer and another option in midfield. Tottenham will fancy themselves to get a top 6 finish however if they don’t sign another forward then it could be a different story. They are also quite dodgy at the back with the likes of King and Woodgate both very injury prone. Then the full backs Bale and Hutton both prefer attacking than defending, however the midfield looks very promising with Jenas, Modric, Bentley, Lennon, Dos Santos, Huddlestone and Zokora.

Other sides like West Ham, Hull, Stoke, Blackburn and Manchester City (let's fucking hope so) will probably have quite miserable seasons but Portsmouth are very likely to get a top 6 finish with the strike force of Crouch and Defoe. Domestically the League Cup could end up with a team outside the top four again (Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Newcastle all come to mind). However the FA Cup will DEFINITELY end up with a top four side, hopefully Manchester United. Eight excruciating days remain; pre season football is really getting to me.

Label Focus: Moshi Moshi

Moshi Moshi Records are a small independent label based in London; the name means Hello in Japanese and is also a B-side by the American band Brand New. Moshi Moshi over the years have released some very important singles from some of the biggest names in British indie music. Over the years Moshi Moshi have released a couple of their own fantastic compilation albums.

In 2006 Moshi Moshi released the compilation ‘Can You Hear Me Clearly’ which includes songs by bands such as Hot Chip, Bloc Party, The Rakes, The Grates, Yeti and more. More recent compilation album ‘Moshi Moshi Singles Compilation Volume 1’ which includes bands like Late of the Pier, The Wave Pictures, Kate Nash, Danananaykroyd, Friendly Fires, Slow Club and more.

Moshi Moshi is most famous for their single releases but more recently have released some full length albums. Hot Club De Paris fantastic debut album ‘Drop It ‘Til It Pops’ was released on the label and their new released ‘Live At Dead Lake’ is also available on the same label. Quite excellent Tilly And The Wall brought out one of my favourites of 2006 with ‘Bottoms of Barrel’s’ on Moshi Moshi too.

More recently The Mae Shi released ‘Hlllyh’ on Moshi Moshi and it remains my favourite Moshi Moshi release to date. Alongside the quintessential English band The Wave Pictures LP ‘Instant Coffee Baby’ which is really growing on me this year. Moshi Moshi continue to release some fantastic singles and some even more fantastic albums. Keep up the good work Moshi Moshi!

Do The Splits

Eight months into 2008 and there already have been several casualties with bands, some good bands but mainly bad ones. August saw the announcement that Nashville rockers Be Your Own Pet announced they are splitting up. From all the splits this year the Be Your Own Pet split certainly saddens me the most because on record and live they were one of the best new and young bands around. Live they have so much energy and the self titled album is a great debut album and despite some criticism I really enjoyed the follow up ‘Get Awkward’.

Wolfmother have just announced they will no longer be recording music together and the members will go their separate ways. I am pretty sure we will see that big afro of Andrew Stockdale back one day but just not with Wolftmother. I can’t say I am that disappointed about this split because Wolfmother were not a band I really had much excitement about.

Earlier on in the year Mumm-Ra announced that after several years of constant recording and touring they would split up. Like the Wolfmother split I wasn’t terribly upset about this despite them having a couple of good songs. Northampton band The Departure announced they would no longer be recording as The Departure. This was something I was expecting for some while although their debut album ‘Dirty Words’ was a pretty good album you could never see the band lasting very long in the industry. The Dead 60s were another band to announce their split this year which was something that like The Departure did not surprise me. The first album was very listenable with some really good songs but the second album was absolutely terrible.

The final band to mention is Big Scary Monsters band Meet Me In St. Louis who I always really liked. Sadly I never got to see them live which was where I’m informed they were at their best. I am sure the members of Meet Me In St. Louis will be back in other forms however their legacy as one of the best post-hardcore bands from this country.