LISTEN: July 2016 playlist

Compared to the last couple of months, July has been pretty busy, with gigs from King Charles, Twin Atlantic, Jack Savoretti, Harry Pane, The Hoosiers, Bear's Den (as well as attending a TV recording and seeing a play a couple of times). The playlist reflects the music I've been listening to live at those shows, as well as some great new releases, and I've explained why I've added each track/artist below - check it out and let me know here or on Facebook if you enjoy the tracks! Spread the word... 

1. Viola Beach Swings And Waterslides - with their album released posthumously on Friday, it feels only right to start the playlist with this track. Back in February I went along to a Blossoms show on the tour where Viola Beach were due to be playing as support, and out of respect they played a live recording of their set from an earlier show of the tour. I can't wait to take a proper listen to the record once I get some time to sit and give it my full attention.

2. Bear's Den Emeralds - I'm loving Red Earth & Pouring Rain, the new record from these guys a lot, and apparently so are lots of people as it reached number 6 in the album chart on Friday (YES!). While it's difficult to pick a favourite track as the whole thing is pretty incredible, this is a stand out track for me!

3. Biffy Clyro Animal Style - these guys released their latest record Ellipsis this month, and I'm very excited to have grabbed a ticket to see them play an acoustic show for Banquet Records in October. 

4. Leo Stannard In My Blood - Leo's pretty close to announcing news of his debut album (I hope) and I was very excited to listen to the studio version of this track, released this month. I loved hearing the track when he played it live for the first time back in February.

5. Tempesst Broke Down Blues - this track was debuted online just before I saw these guys play at the Reach Out charity gig, and it went down really well with the crowd as did the rest of the set. They were really fun live, and they've got a headline London show coming up in September through Communion, tickets here.

6. Twin Atlantic Crash Land - this month I finally got to see these guys play live, in the pretty intimate Scala. While the rest of the show was loud and energetic, a highlight for me (probably as a big fan of acoustic music) was that they performed this track, accompanied by some pretty loud singing by the crowd.

7. Jack Savoretti Sweet Hurt - I was really lucky to get into Jack's sold out Somerset House show this month, and while all of his music is pretty special to me, there's something extra lovely about this non-album track. An added bonus for Bella Italia to play the track when I was grabbing some food there before heading to the show!

8. All Tvvins Darkest Ocean - these guys, a duo from Dublin, supported Twin Atlantic on their recent tour and their set was a whole lot of fun to kick the night off with. I was particularly fond of how much fun it seemed the guitarist was having (and the fact that the bassist was the lead vocalist - hooray for changing up the normal dynamic!) Their debut album IIVV is released in a couple of weeks (iTunes pre-order) and they're playing a UK tour in October (dates on their site here.)

9. The Hoosiers Up To No Good - a highlight of the month was definitely catching these guys (for the 11th time) headlining a new festival in Rescue Rooms in Nottingham where I first saw them live over 5 years ago. They play a huge London headline in September, tickets available here.

10. Geowulf Saltwater - a really lovely summer tune, this is the debut track from Geowulf, a new duo who opened up the Reach Out Charity gig this month. 

11. Tom Lowman Blue State - this pretty cynical and relevant track ("the country's going mad, perhaps it always was") is taken from Tom's debut album Tales from the Wrong Side of History (available on iTunes here.)

12. Harry Pane Cold Light of Day - this is from Harry's Changing EP, the title track of which featured in last month's playlist as I loved the EP so much. I was really glad to catch Harry playing a short set in Shoreditch this month as part of the Coffee House Tour.

13. Gizmo Varillas Give a Little Love - Gizmo played a fun support set when I saw Jack Savoretti this month - his debut album El Dorado is out later in the year!

14. Twin Atlantic Gold Elephant: Cherry Alligator - while the other track by these guys in the playlist is from their 2012 record, this is a new track from their upcoming release GLA (a nod to their Glaswegian roots) which is out in September (pre-order on their site here and get three tracks  including this one instantly.)

15. Jack Savoretti The Proposal - while Jack's huge success over the last couple of years has coincided with the release of his latest record Written In Scars and its subsequent re-release, I'm a huge fan of his third record Before The Storm and it was great to hear tracks like this one in the Somerset House setlist! Check out a video of the track being performed at the show, filmed by Martin who I met in the queue with whom it turns out I have a few mutual friends and musical interests!

16. King Charles Love Lust - while I'd definitely have considered going along to the Reach Out charity gig if Charles hadn't been on the line-up (cake, charity, other great acts and a whole host of lovely people!), it was definitely a bonus. Playing as a stripped back 3-piece band, with a temperamental guitar and scheduled after the Euro 2016 final (meaning the set was cut short a little) the night was pretty fun and it was a pleasure to see Charles & co play as always! 

17. Tom Figgins Rain On Me - I'll stop rambling about the charity gig soon (did I mention it raised around £1650?!) but one last thing... it was great to see Tom play again, with a highlight of the night being an impromptu performance of his stunning track Crave (not on Spotify but a demo on Soundcloud) to 5 or 6 of us as he tested his guitar after it fell from his case as he tried to leave. 

18. Bear's Den Gabriel - to celebrate the release of their record, Bear's Den played a mini tour of record stores, including Rough Trade in Nottingham (read my post about the show here.) With the band finishing off their beautiful, full and fairly warm set with an unplugged performance of this track within the crowd (like this performance in The Netherlands), it feels like a nice place to finish the playlist at!

LISTEN: Leo Stannard - 'In My Blood'

Best news - Leo Stannard has released In My Blood, the first taste of how his debut album is going to sound. Leo debuted the track when I caught him playing a show for Mahogany in February, and it really stuck with me for the beautiful and powerful singalong (pretty special particularly for Leo to have so many singing to a completely new song). You can watch a similar performance for the Ruby Sessions here. 

Leo is going on tour in October (including a show at the lovely OSLO Hackney), all the dates and tickets are here. I'd recommend getting along to a show if you can and if you enjoy the track, particularly while he is still playing these small venues! As well as stunning tracks like this on the piano, Leo is primarily a guitarist, and his live show is something to behold, with his unique percussive style gaining him comparisons to the likes of Ben Howard. I really hope that he gets all the success he deserves when it comes to the release of the record!

LISTEN: May 2016 playlist

With deadlines, and moving back home (and away from Oxford and it's wonderful music scene) I've only been to a couple of gigs this month, so when it came to making a playlist of what I've been listening to this month, I couldn't just rely on artists I've seen live... One of the shows I have been to is childhood favourites Busted, so they feature, alongside current (teen?) favourites The Hoosiers, so this month's playlist is pretty nostalgic. Here's the playlist, and I'll write a little to explain why I've included the tracks below. 

1. Busted Meet You There - loved seeing this track performed live from the B stage at their arena show in Nottingham, one of my favourite tracks by them! 
2. Tom Odell Magnetised - new track from Tom's upcoming album Wrong Crowd which is released on June 10th! Wish I'd nabbed a HMV priority ticket to his London instore album launch/signing... still tempted by Brixton later in the year! 
3. Leo Stannard Lost (acoustic) - can't get enough of Leo at the moment, excited to see he's done an album cover shoot this month so hopefully some album news is on the way!
4. The Hoosiers Cops and Robbers - my favourite band, featuring three times on this month's playlist (deserved!) because on Saturday (28th) it was 5 years since I saw them live for the first time, which was my first proper gig too! SO many great times since then.
5. Grace Lightman Faultless - I saw Grace supporting Liu Bei last October, her vocals on this new track are pretty stunning.
6. Sam Beeton Moving Out - what makes being a fan of The Hoosiers even more special for me is that at that first show 5 years ago, Sam was supporting and I quickly became a huge fan of his music. 
7. Neverlnd Someone - my favourite local Oxford band, sad to miss these guys playing both the recent BBC Introducing show at O2 Academy and at the first Common People Festival this weekend which I'm sure they smashed! This is the latest in their monthly free tracks, and is avaialble to download here.
8. Robot Swans Pricks of the Trade - alongside Busted, these guys were my only other gig this month, running the door for their Tigmus album launch at Modern Art Oxford. Listening to them beforehand and at the show this is the track that stuck with me.
9. James Blake (ft. Bon Iver) I Need A Forest Fire - James Blake made a return this month, and while I struggled to choose which track of his to include, I couldn't really steer away from his collaboration with Bon Iver. Those beautiful vocals!
10. Jake Houlsby Carousel - recommendations always come from wonderful places and I was pointed towards this track by my secondary school Media Studies teacher - love it!
11. Fyfe Stronger - after seeing him on the Communion New Faces tour back at the end of 2014, I'm glad to hear that Fyfe is returning with an EP, of which this is the title track.
12. The Hoosiers Don't Say What Nobody Wants To Hear - another track from these guys, my favourite from their acoustic album, recorded in a church in London (video of this track here, and some more videos of tracks from that album here.) 
13. Busted Sleeping With The Light On - with the house lights down and everyone's phone torches on, and everyone singing to their heart's content, this track was pretty special at the show a couple of weeks ago!
14. Wheatus Teenage Dirtbag - this will probably make me lose my music cred faster than Busted, but it was pretty fun to hear this performed live as they're supporting Busted on the tour!
15. Sam Beeton Can You See The Light - album version of one of my favourite tracks of Sam's, taken from his record In The Yard which was released early last year. It was great to meet up with him and catch up after not seeing him for over two and a half years this month!
16. The Hoosiers Everything Goes Dark - there is no better way to finish off the playlist than with another Hoosiers track (especially as, being pretty nostalgic, what I've been listening to this month includes a LOT of their music.) EGD is certainly my favourite track from their debut record, and probably my absolute favourite. I adore this acoustic version filmed in Arizona which is on the DVD that accompanies the re-release of their second record.

WATCH: Leo Stannard - 'I Need Time'

I feel like I've started posting about him quite a bit but that certainly isn't a bad thing... Leo Stannard has today shared a picture of a photoshoot in London which, hopefully, means that artwork/promo for the record is being shot - so there's got to be an album announcement in the pipeline! For now, here's an acoustic performance of I Need Time, showing that beyond being a pretty skilled guitarist, Leo is pretty handy on the keyboard...

WATCH: Leo Stannard 'Lost' for Mahogany

Second year is over (woo!) and I've been spending the last few days trawling the library for books relevant to my dissertation topic, but I felt like posting something, so my first step was to visit the Mahogany Youtube. I wasn't disappointed as last month they uploaded a new Leo Stannard session performance of his track Lost. I was lucky to win tickets to his Mahogany show back in February and was really glad to finally see him perform live after being a fan from a distance for a few years. He's just finished up a small support tour with Nina Nesbitt and (a quick read of his Facebook tells me) he's heading straight to the studio to work on some new music which is great to hear!

You can get this track on Leo's Free Rein EP alongside three other superb tracks from iTunes here.

LISTEN: February 2016 playlist - my month in music!

After remembering how much I enjoyed creating a playlist at the end of last year with something like 60 tracks from various artists I'd seen live, new records I'd enjoyed and music I'd rediscovered over the year, I thought I'd create one entitled Feb 2016, a little musical insight into my month.

All the tracks but two (Jack Garratt and Little Brother Eli) are from bands and artists I've seen live this month and wanted to share with you all, and although I'm totally averse to Spotify and the tiny amount it pays artists, and would never use it a primary listening tool (someones got to buy physical music...) - it is pretty handy for a playlist! I didn't want to label it as a 'tracks of the month' playlist or anything, because I'm not being critical or comparing the tracks, simply sharing what I've enjoyed this month in a really personal way which I believe is in keeping with the nature of the blog itself!

A little note about why I've chosen each artist/track:

1. Leo Stannard 'My Friends Got Love' - having known about Leo for a while I finally caught him live this month at a Mahogany show and was taken aback by his talent. This track is my favourite track from his recently released EP Free Rein.
2. Roberto y Juan 'I Used To Relax' - I went to see the band's EP launch mostly to check out the support set from Count Drachma aka Oli Steadman, but have been struggling to stop listening to the EP since! 
3. King Charles 'Tomorrow's Fool' - one of my favourite artists, I saw Charles and his band live twice on his tour in February and this is one of my favourite tracks from the recent album, that guitar solo just before 2 minutes in...
4. Little Mammoths 'Waitresses & Barmaids' - it's only February and I've already seen these guys play three times this month, the first time for almost 3 hours acoustically in a booth at a Notting Hill pub, the second at Oxford Sofar Sounds, and the last, this week, the first gig I've ever organised.
5. Blossoms 'Blown Rose' - having not really listened to these guys until the day of the show I went along to their sold out gig at The Bullingdon in Oxford (I run the venue's Twitter so get free access). I've been hearing a lot about them and it was clear they're pretty well loved - and there was a lot of love in the room for Viola Beach too, who should've been supporting them on the tour. 
6. Sylva Kay 'The Bend' - Sylva supported at the Jonny Payne show I ran the door for in Oxford at the beginning of the month, and while I was busy with the door during her set, I caught some of her soundcheck and loved it!
7. homeplanetearth 'Phat Phil' saw these guys last night playing a support set for Bel Esprit, and was introduced to them through my placement with Tigmus, who they're playing a few shows for. Love this debut single!
8. Jack Garratt 'The Love You're Given' - you probably don't need me to tell you who Jack Garratt is as the man has become absolutely huge as of late with awards and nominations all over the place. This track from his debut album Phase which was out recently is the one that stuck with me after I saw him support Mumford & Sons in November.
9. Jonny Payne & The Thunder 'Across the Brooklyn Bridge' - before running the door for Jonny's show in Oxford earlier this month I took a listen to some of his session videos online and loved this track!
10. Roberto y Juan 'What's Your Favourite Colour?' - on the band's new Monster Love EP, this is probably my favourite track - loved hearing it live again when they supported at the Little Mammoths show I organised earlier this week.
11. Tom Figgins 'Giants Played In Woods Like These' - a couple of sessions Tom filmed with Mahogany have been uploaded this month, including this track. He played a superb set supporting Leo Stannard at his Mahogany show. 
12. Leo Stannard '19' - couldn't decide which track to share from Leo's EP and loved his show for Mahogany so much that I decided to just share two! Definitely felt like I was watching a star in the making at that show, can't wait to se where his music takes him this year.
13. Little Mammoths 'Keep The Rounds Coming' - this track features on LM's album which is out later in the year and I've been sent to review (brilliant stuff!), it's also pretty fitting as they're playing 20 shows in pubs around Ireland over 8 days in March (acoustic sets in the day, rock n roll at night). 
14. Ryan O'Reilly 'November - Live' - as a rule I'm usually pretty fond of the supports I've seen play with King Charles, and this months tour support was no exception (and also a very nice guy when we chatted backstage after the London show). Loved his set at both shows, particularly this track with its "you'll never change the world with your songs and your guitar, there are people half your age, and they're going twice as far" chorus, a fairly melancholic reflection on combining a relationship with a career in music.
15. Little Brother Eli 'Who Do You' - while setting up some Facebook posts for Tigmus about an upcoming LBE show later in the year, I listened to some of their tracks - particularly some acoustic videos from various Sofar Sounds performances, and had this track stuck in my head for a while after!
16. Eliza & The Bear 'It Gets Cold' - similarly to Blossoms (in the same weekend, in fact), I went to their gig at The Bullingdon having not really listened to them until the day - when I discovered I knew one track as it had been on an advert. Had a really fun night at the show and this track went down pretty well, as did the whole show! 
17. King Charles 'Animal Desires' - with his new album out in the last week of January ,and a tour in the middle of the month, much of my month has been spent listening to Charles so I had to finish up the playlist with him! When I saw the track listing for the record I was very happy to see this track included.

If you've made it this far - I'd love to hear (either as a comment on this post, or onto my blog Facebook page or my Twitter) if you enjoyed the playlist or a specific track. If the response is good I might carry on making monthly playlists! 

LIVE: Leo Stannard, George Taylor and Tom Figgins for Mahogany (23/2/16)

With the show I'm putting on tonight in Oxford, I'll have been to 6 gigs in 9 days (somehow fitting lectures into that!) I was lucky enough to win tickets for a Leo Stannard headline show put on by the wonderful guys at Mahogany last night. As can be expected by the calibre of their session videos on Youtube, it was a cleverly chosen line up and a really beautiful night of acoustic music. 

First up was Tom Figgins, who I've seen probably 5 times before but he continues to impress and surprise me. He's been gaining a lot of momentum recently and I'm excited to see what the next few months have in store for him - being backed by Mahogany can't hurt! His first session with them, of his track Giants Played In Woods Like These, has received over 11 thousand views since being shared earlier this month, and his second session, the absolutely chilling Crave, premiered yesterday, watch below...  

Second up was George Taylor, whose music I hadn't heard before, but I found that it fit in quite well with the rest of the evening. Mahogany are, in a similar way to something like Communion, folk who you know you're in safe hands with when listening to artists they like. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed George's set but it did get a little repetitive after a while (which doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing), I get the impression that he's used to performing more with a full band than solo.

Leo Stannard at Courtyard Theatre for Mahogany

Last up for the night was headliner Leo Stannard, who at just 20 has been backed by Mahogany for a few years now. He first started to get noticed at 16, at which point I saw a video of him performing and commented saying I liked it, to which 16 year old Leo responded by adding me as a friend; so I've vaguely followed his career for a few years but until last night hadn't paid too much attention - more fool me! Having recently released his Free Rein EP, Leo played the tracks from this interspersed with a few others, bringing on friends to join him for a few tracks on cello, electric guitar and drums. With his unique percussive style, which you can see in his latest video for Lost (which is on the Free Rein EP) below, Leo brought something fresh to the performance, and I couldn't shake off the feeling that I was witnessing a star in the making (I think the rest of the packed out crowd at London's Courtyard Theatre would agree), the next in line with the likes of Ben Howard, George Ezra, James Bay and Hozier. The prospect of having to get up at 7am to get to a lecture this morning suddenly seemed worth it, Leo's set was great, and I'll definitely be following his career a little more closely from now and hope he gets as far as he deserves!

You can get Leo's Free Rein EP from iTunes here - my favourite track is probably My Friends Got Love, and there's a lovely Vevo dscvr video up of the track here which is certainly worth a watch. Overall a lovely night and I'm glad both to have finally seen Leo live and to have eventually got along to a show put on by Mahogany and hope to go to more of the same (upcoming Mahogany gig listings here.)