Making Friends

Hello dear friends! Today I am writing very briefly about one of the downsides of living in halls of residence (not that there are many!) because it's happening right now and I'm pondering it as a result.

The gentleman below me and I have only met once during my time here (and I'm not even entirely sure which one he was) and at that point, Declan, Beth and I were rolling around on the floor laughing like loons on loon tablets. However, I have learnt quite a lot about my downstairs neighbour from his taste in music.

At some point each day, usually when I am sitting in my room "studying" (i.e. Eating cheese and biscuits, painting my nails, blogging, arranging my stuff/timetable etc.) the gentleman downstairs will begin playing loud club dance music from the (rather impressive) speaker system he must have down there. I know that dance music is designed to have a very noticeable bass line and hence would be fairly audible at any volume, however, this particular music is being played so loudly that I am able to tell what the song is.

Think about that for a second. I, Emma, can identify the club music which is being played. Any other genre, you might sort of say "well, yes, but you know every piece of music ever released" but club dance music should make you think something's up. Firstly, I absolutely hate club dance music and know very little of it; the fact that I know some is merely a reflection of Freshers' Week and its effect, the fact that I can identify it shows how loud it must be. Secondly all club music sounds exactly the same when played quietly, for it to be identifiable, it must be quite loud....

So I have come up with a solution. Many of you will think it childish, but to you I say "Ner ner ner ner ner!!!" I have declared "Battle of the Awful Music", which means that every time his music is so loud that I can hear it, I turn up the music I'm listening to to drown him out (and hopefully educate him in what music should actually sound like.) So far today, Mr Underneath-Room has been subjected to "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by the Beach Boys, "Ticket To The Moon" by ELO and "I Wish It Could Be A Wombling Merry Christmas Every Day" (Fat Boy Furry Crucial Dub Groovy Acid Burrow Garage Mix) by Roy Wood and the Wombles, which he may well have actually enjoyed.

Grow up? NEVER!!!

Musical Education - Seriously, you should know this by now

As Jeff Lynne has two new albums coming out later this year, I have been pondering the awesome world of music. And by music I mean proper music, not that rubbish that passes for music nowadays (golly, I sound at least sixty)...

OK, so, a brief lesson on Rock Family Trees:

• So, Jeff Lynne was in a band called "The Idle Race", who were alright.
• Then he got bored of them and moved to a band called "The Move" (so called, because all their members moved about a lot).
• Also in "The Move" at that time were Roy Wood, Bev Bevan and Rick Price (previous members include Ace Kefford, Carl Wayne, Trevor Burton and Richard Tandy).
• Roy Wood had moved to "The Move" from "Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders", where he was constantly fighting for supremacy with (surprise surprise) Mike Sheridan.
• After "The Move" Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood and Bev Bevan rejoined forces with Richard Tandy to form "The Electric Light Orchestra" ("ELO"), who are one of the best bands ever to have existed. "ELO" also included about six or seven other members, most of whom played strings (and Bill Hunt, who played keyboard and french horn).
• The incredibly talented Roy eventually left "ELO" to pursue a more lucrative career where he wasn't fighting for supremacy against other incredibly talented musicians (Lynne). Roy then went on to become the lead singer of "Wizzard", one of the other best bands of all time, along with Charlie Grimma, Nick Pentalow, Mike Burney and Rick Price (from "The Move"), amongst others.
• "ELO", in Roy's absence, picked up several new members, including Kelly Groucutt and Mik Kaminski, and became extremely successful. Eventually, somewhere in the midst of the eighties, Jeff Lynne got bored and left, after writing a song about it (as you do). 
• After this, "ELO" picked up an excellent new singer called Eric Troyer and formed "ELO Part II", "Orkestra" and "The Orchestra" in quick succession (Jeff Lynne had the rights to the "ELO" name).
• Both Kelly Groucutt and Jeff Lynne took up solo careers at various points during the nineties and two thousands. Jeff Lynne also "reformed" the "ELO", still having the name rights, but with girls, and very few of the actual original members. They did a tour called "Zoom" in 2001, but everyone seems to agree that the less said about that, the better.
• Jeff Lynne was also in the supergroup with the best lineup ever (Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, George Harrison and Bob Dylan - I know, right?!?!) - The Traveling Wilburys.
• Roy Wood, in the meantime, has been in several bands since Wizzard; firstly there was "The Wizzo Band", which was weird and experimental, "Roy Wood's Helicopter", "Roy Wood's Army", "The Roy Wood Big Band" and, now, "The Roy Wood Rock and Roll Band". ("Roy Wood's Army" and "The Roy Wood Big Band" were both mostly, if not all, female apart from Roy. This makes them doubly awesome. "The Roy Wood Rock And Roll Band" is not all female, as the majority of the musicians from "The Roy Wood Rock And Roll Band" all went off to have families and babies.)
• Roy was also part of a supergroup called "The Rockers", who were the House Band on the TV show "OTT" (which Roy wrote the theme tune for). This band comprised of Phil Lynot, Chas Hodges and John Coghlan.

OK, that's a family tree which is practically horizontal. But awesome. For more information, check out this video, which is the best thing on the web:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRDqpaDEG3k <-- Watch it, or be forever shunned...

Awesome Songs For Undisclosed Purposes

Hello, I have to choose a song for something and I have now pondered my way down to a shortlist. If anyone is out there in the big wide world of the internet and wishes to comment, please do.
My choices are:

Need You Now - Lady Antebellum What can I say? It's a beautiful tune which appears to basically sum up my life right now (yes, I'm that sad). It's about two people who've broken up or something and don't talk to each other any more. However, they both still love the other, meaning they sing this beautiful, supposedly accidental, duet. The instrumentation is really good and I highly recommend you listen to it. So here is a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OfsZyYPLoI Unfortunately, it may not be totally suitable for the purpose I need the music for as it's a duet and there's only one... Never mind. Volunteers for a mystery project?


It Should've Been Me - Yvonne Fair This, for those who don't know, is a beautiful soul song about a woman whose boyfriend/fiancee leaves her for someone else and she basically stands up at their wedding and says "You said we'd be together forever and now you're marrying this bint? Dude!" But not...
Anyway, it's a really nice song and I think it'd be suitable, but the instrumentation leaves something to be desired. Anyone who's not heard this, it can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v_QB56-d5w and yes, Dawn French did do a version in "The Vicar Of Dibley".


We Are Family - Sister Sledge This song, well... There's nothing I can say that you don't already know. It's awesome and it applies to every aspect of my life. it's really cool and I can't even be bothered to describe it to you.... but here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBpYgpF1bqQ If you don't know it, you don't deserve to be a mountain sheep. Hand in your membership badge at reception.


Midnight Blue - Electric Light Orchestra Ok, now the ELO section starts. But I've chosen two, don't worry, it's not exhaustive. Basically, this song is beautiful and sad and happy and emotional and all those wonderful things a song should be. It's about a man who's so in love with this woman that he can't imagine his life without her. I'm not sure I understand the colour reference, but it adds to the poetic imagery. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwBGBElJcuo Watch it. Now. This is the song (husband permitting) that I want as my first dance at my wedding.
There is another song called "Midnight Blue" by Melissa Manchester and it is also wonderful, but sadder. Please listen to that if you get the chance too... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WweQJCqOFyI

Getting To The Point - Electric Light Orchestra a hugely sad song, written by Jeff Lynne when he decided to leave the band, it can also be seen to be about basically anything life throws at you where you look and you say "I can't handle this, I have to stop". My Dad listened to it the night he decided to quit Scouting for the first time. It's a really sad (if slightly techno) song. Give it a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfvYIwe6IJ4 If I ever needed a break-up song, it would be this.


As always, let me know what you think. I have Twitter, so come and find me if you're interested in my stupid thoughts and ponderings. Please check out my friend Emily's Blog at http://shirleynomates.blogspot.com too, she's a good writer, and she's almost as awesome as me. But awesomer.