Artist of The Week : The Strokes After 5 years from where they left off in 2006 with ‘First Impressions Of Earth’, they’ve finally made a comeback earlier this year on 22nd March with their latest album titled ‘Angles’. Newer and fresher, Julian Casablancas, their vocalist added how they were having the ‘R.E.M vibes’ while producing the album and also somewhere along the lines of ‘Radiohead’. Through the span of the 5 years, Albert Hammond Jr (rhythm guitarist), Nikolai Fraiture (bassist), Fabrizio Moretti (drummer) and Julian Casablancas have produced their individual albums. Albert Hammond Jr, the guitarist many recognize from his whacky stage presence and his signature shuffling while he works his magic on his Olympic White 1985 70’s reissue Fender Strat has produced 2 albums titled ‘Yours to Keep’ and ‘Como Te Llama’. It was only within 2 years from which these two albums were produced. ‘In transit’, a classic fave sets Albert’s solo career pretty well and not only being known as the great Albert Hammond’s son, he created his own identity too. And we’ve got to say, his solo for TIOLI (Take It Or Leave It) is mind-blowing! Also who would ever think the most introvert member of the band could sing? That’s a huge surprise when Nikolai Fraiture, the bassist, formed his own band ‘Nickel Eye’ and released their album titled ‘The Time of The Assassins’ in January 2009. The tracks are infused with the reggae vibes and a very ‘verve-ish’ feel. One of the tracks, ‘Brandy Of The Damned’ brings out the true reggae lover in Nikolai. Then the one with his signature Ahead sticks resembling that of a magic wand, Fabrizio Moretti is known as the most vocal and humourous of the band. This young stud, along with two other musicians, Rodrigo Amarante and Binki Shapiro formed a Brazillian/American rock band named ‘Little Joy’. Their album which is also titled ‘Little Joy’ made up of tracks with a laid back feel especially ‘The Next Time Around’, a track fit to be played when you’re sipping Pina Colada and swinging on a hammock overlooking the vast ocean. The sound for a calmer heart. Finally the man who inspired many, including Matthew Bellamy from MUSE, with his song writing talent definitely has made it big in his solo career; none other than Julian Casablancas, the vocalist for The Strokes. In his album, “Phrazes For The Young’ , he speaks about the positive values of life in his own style of writing. ‘11th Dimension’ is a track that explains so much about how being the bigger person always results the betterment for one’s self. This album shows a very positive Jules for his solo career debut after battling his alcohol addiction. He also starred in the Converse advert commemorating the 100th anniversary of Converse Chuck Taylors alongside Santogold and Pharell Williams titled ‘My Drive Thru’. A man many look up to not only for his peculiarity but also his gift for amazing songwriting. The Strokes has their own idiosyncrasies as well. Their secret gig in London last year in June as ‘Venison’ at Dingwall in Camden totally blew cause the logo gave it all away. It was supposed to be as a warm up for them before headlining Isle Of Wight later in the year. Fans find it rather weird but these boys do what they do best, being themselves. And so, after their major successes in all their EP and 3 albums; The Modern Age EP, Is This It, Room On Fire, First Impressions of Earth, they went through an extensive break until finally earlier this year releasing their long awaited album ‘Angles’. Each track tells their own story and this album is a total concerted effort in songwriting. Julian, being the primary songwriter to most of the songs in the past albums have shared the workload with the rest of the band and we must say, they sound vivacious. ‘Undercover of Darkness’ was the first sneak peek of the new album as it was released 2 weeks before the album and it was promising and yes, the album has got to be the best one yet after Is This It. After the album release, their reviews were all over the magazines and Spin’s review was the utmost provoking of them all. Rumours of them not being able to work together anymore due to the album process which Nick Valensi, the lead guitarist, added was hard as they couldn’t get everyone in the same studio and he also commented that Julian was doing his voice recordings in another studio and have them sent to the rest of the members via email. It was deemed as unacceptable on Nick’s side and it stirred up tension as reflected in the review itself. It soon brought about rumours over the reasons that made Nick sour was the fact that he was the only one who couldn’t pursue a solo career due to Julian stopping him from using the materials that was written for The Strokes. Apparently, reporters really got out of hand with the excess unwanted stories and today, it has been cleared. In recent news, in Albert’s interview with Fuse TV, he mentioned that they are in the process of working on their new album and so did Nikolai, as he mentions of the works on the new album via Twitter. We now let their performances be the judge of their band dynamism with their recent huge performance for Bonnaroo 2011. It took us back to 2006 when Julian and his fellow comrades performed the set fit for a king. Though their age is catching up and they have families of their own, they are still young at heart. A band that deserves the standing ovation for being an inspiration to many like The Arctic Monkeys and Adele who covered their popular numbers ‘Take It Or Leave It’ and ‘Last Nite’. Earlier in one of our posts here, we also mentioned about ‘Stroked’, a tribute to their album ‘Is This It’. Overall the album sounds pretty good with the exception of ‘New York City Cops’ by Heems which we think could’ve been better if the lyrics remained the same. Nonetheless, The Strokes are the living legends of the Indie Rock music. Their signature sound will remain in each and everyone of their songs with their similar guitar licks, definitely holding their special identity. The Strokes is a band that truly deserves the recognition for being one of the best and the pioneers for unique lyrics and song titles.The Strokes have since released music videos for Undercover Of Darkness and Taken For A Fool. You can check it out below!  Also check out their recent performance of Reptilia at Paleo Festival July this year! Check their vevo out : http://www.youtube.com/user/thestrokesVEVO Albert Hammond Jr’s : http://www.alberthammondjr.com/Nikolai’s Nickel Eye : http://www.myspace.com/officialnickeleyeFabrizio’ Little Joy : http://www.myspace.com/littlejoymusicJulian Casablancas : http://www.juliancasablancas.com/ - posted by Maisha

∞ 8/14/2011 (9:30pm) 8 notes

#Albert Hammond Jr#Angles#Fabrizio Moretti#First Impressions Of Earth#Is This It#Julian Casablancas#Little Joy#Nick Valensi#Nickel Eye#Nikolai Fraiture#Phrazes For The Young#Room On Fire#The Modern Age EP#The Time Of The Assassins#Artist Of The Week

Artist of The Week : The Strokes

After 5 years from where they left off in 2006 with ‘First Impressions Of Earth’, they’ve finally made a comeback earlier this year on 22nd March with their latest album titled ‘Angles’. Newer and fresher, Julian Casablancas, their vocalist added how they were having the ‘R.E.M vibes’ while producing the album and also somewhere along the lines of ‘Radiohead’.

Through the span of the 5 years, Albert Hammond Jr (rhythm guitarist), Nikolai Fraiture (bassist), Fabrizio Moretti (drummer) and Julian Casablancas have produced their individual albums.

Albert Hammond Jr, the guitarist many recognize from his whacky stage presence and his signature shuffling while he works his magic on his Olympic White 1985 70’s reissue Fender Strat has produced 2 albums titled ‘Yours to Keep’ and ‘Como Te Llama’. It was only within 2 years from which these two albums were produced. ‘In transit’, a classic fave sets Albert’s solo career pretty well and not only being known as the great Albert Hammond’s son, he created his own identity too. And we’ve got to say, his solo for TIOLI (Take It Or Leave It) is mind-blowing!

Also who would ever think the most introvert member of the band could sing? That’s a huge surprise when Nikolai Fraiture, the bassist, formed his own band ‘Nickel Eye’ and released their album titled ‘The Time of The Assassins’ in January 2009. The tracks are infused with the reggae vibes and a very ‘verve-ish’ feel. One of the tracks, ‘Brandy Of The Damned’ brings out the true reggae lover in Nikolai.

Then the one with his signature Ahead sticks resembling that of a magic wand, Fabrizio Moretti is known as the most vocal and humourous of the band. This young stud, along with two other musicians, Rodrigo Amarante and Binki Shapiro formed a Brazillian/American rock band named ‘Little Joy’. Their album which is also titled ‘Little Joy’ made up of tracks with a laid back feel especially ‘The Next Time Around’, a track fit to be played when you’re sipping Pina Colada and swinging on a hammock overlooking the vast ocean. The sound for a calmer heart.

Finally the man who inspired many, including Matthew Bellamy from MUSE, with his song writing talent definitely has made it big in his solo career; none other than Julian Casablancas, the vocalist for The Strokes. In his album, “Phrazes For The Young’ , he speaks about the positive values of life in his own style of writing. ‘11th Dimension’ is a track that explains so much about how being the bigger person always results the betterment for one’s self. This album shows a very positive Jules for his solo career debut after battling his alcohol addiction. He also starred in the Converse advert commemorating the 100th anniversary of Converse Chuck Taylors alongside Santogold and Pharell Williams titled ‘My Drive Thru’. A man many look up to not only for his peculiarity but also his gift for amazing songwriting.


The Strokes has their own idiosyncrasies as well. Their secret gig in London last year in June as ‘Venison’ at Dingwall in Camden totally blew cause the logo gave it all away. It was supposed to be as a warm up for them before headlining Isle Of Wight later in the year. Fans find it rather weird but these boys do what they do best, being themselves.

And so, after their major successes in all their EP and 3 albums; The Modern Age EP, Is This It, Room On Fire, First Impressions of Earth, they went through an extensive break until finally earlier this year releasing their long awaited album ‘Angles’. Each track tells their own story and this album is a total concerted effort in songwriting. Julian, being the primary songwriter to most of the songs in the past albums have shared the workload with the rest of the band and we must say, they sound vivacious. ‘Undercover of Darkness’ was the first sneak peek of the new album as it was released 2 weeks before the album and it was promising and yes, the album has got to be the best one yet after Is This It.

After the album release, their reviews were all over the magazines and Spin’s review was the utmost provoking of them all. Rumours of them not being able to work together anymore due to the album process which Nick Valensi, the lead guitarist, added was hard as they couldn’t get everyone in the same studio and he also commented that Julian was doing his voice recordings in another studio and have them sent to the rest of the members via email. It was deemed as unacceptable on Nick’s side and it stirred up tension as reflected in the review itself. It soon brought about rumours over the reasons that made Nick sour was the fact that he was the only one who couldn’t pursue a solo career due to Julian stopping him from using the materials that was written for The Strokes.

Apparently, reporters really got out of hand with the excess unwanted stories and today, it has been cleared. In recent news, in Albert’s interview with Fuse TV, he mentioned that they are in the process of working on their new album and so did Nikolai, as he mentions of the works on the new album via Twitter.

We now let their performances be the judge of their band dynamism with their recent huge performance for Bonnaroo 2011. It took us back to 2006 when Julian and his fellow comrades performed the set fit for a king. Though their age is catching up and they have families of their own, they are still young at heart. A band that deserves the standing ovation for being an inspiration to many like The Arctic Monkeys and Adele who covered their popular numbers ‘Take It Or Leave It’ and ‘Last Nite’.

Earlier in one of our posts here, we also mentioned about ‘Stroked’, a tribute to their album ‘Is This It’. Overall the album sounds pretty good with the exception of ‘New York City Cops’ by Heems which we think could’ve been better if the lyrics remained the same.

Nonetheless, The Strokes are the living legends of the Indie Rock music. Their signature sound will remain in each and everyone of their songs with their similar guitar licks, definitely holding their special identity. The Strokes is a band that truly deserves the recognition for being one of the best and the pioneers for unique lyrics and song titles.

The Strokes have since released music videos for Undercover Of Darkness and Taken For A Fool. You can check it out below! 




Also check out their recent performance of Reptilia at Paleo Festival July this year!


Check their vevo out : http://www.youtube.com/user/thestrokesVEVO

Albert Hammond Jr’s : http://www.alberthammondjr.com/
Nikolai’s Nickel Eye : http://www.myspace.com/officialnickeleye
Fabrizio’ Little Joy : http://www.myspace.com/littlejoymusic
Julian Casablancas : http://www.juliancasablancas.com/


- posted by Maisha

Artist of the Week - Jane’s Addiction Reformed. Rebirth. Restored. After eight years of hibernation, Jane’s Addiction is back with absolute kickass music with their new upcoming album “The Great Escape Artist”. The album is set to be released on 27th September! You guys better be stoked for this! So lets recap their previous successful albums shall we?  Jane’s Addiction took over the world by storm with their first slick studio album “Nothing’s Shocking” in 1988. Songs like “Mountain Song”, “Pigs In Zen” and “Jane Says” were the few everlasting favourites. Two years after, “Ritual De Lo Habitual” album was out in the streets, with hit singles like “Been Caught Stealing” and “Stop” which was also used as a soundtrack for the famous video game ‘Grand Theft Auto’. Apart from that, their recent album “Strays” from 2003 sounds more heart-wrenching and compact. Dave Navarro’s psychedelic solos and the variety of different instruments you would never think of using, can be found in every track. God bless them beautiful musicians, despite their unusual long moment of silence :D As some of you might know, the founding member of Jane’s Addiction, Eric Avery left the band last year in March. He tweeted, “That’s it, with equal parts regrets and reliefs” to announce his departure, and previously revealed that he was not involved in any recent group photoshoots. He was also absent from writing new materials. Frontman Perry Farrell however anticipated that move from the former bassist and came out with a response, “Slipping out of that shell of a past. We are on to something faster now, and so worth the wait” Original line up of Jane’s Addiction (from left to right) (Stephen Perkins, Perry Farrell, Eric Avery, Dave Navarro) With our sincere hearts, we wish farewell to Avery and hopefully he pursues his passion for music in other projects. His last solo album “Help Wanted” was way back in 2008. Jane’s Addiction will now soldier on with former ‘Guns n Roses’ bassist, Duff Mckagan. We at MME are definitely excited to hear their new materials and proud to name them as Artist of the Week!  Jane’s Addiction’s new single “End To The Lies” shows that they did not miss out on anything that is relevant to their hard rock, metal, funk, alternative, experimental kind of genre. So far this is the best track we’ve heard and we are so ready for Dave Navarro’s hypnotic repetitive riffs with his guitar! The music video was also beautifully crafted with old school artistic elements mixed with modern street abstracts. High-end stuff from the legends! Check out the awesome vid below! Also take a sneak peek behind the scenes of “End To The Lies” “The song is about compositive assholes, that I happen to know.” - Perry Farrell You can download their second single at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/irresistible-force-single/id452165362  Jane’s Addiction Official Site - http://www.janesaddiction.com/ - posted by Fadhil

∞ 8/7/2011 (9:31pm) 3 notes

#Jane's Addiction#Artist Of The Week#The Great Escape Artist#End To The Lies#newly released songs

Artist of the Week - Jane’s Addiction

Reformed. Rebirth. Restored. After eight years of hibernation, Jane’s Addiction is back with absolute kickass music with their new upcoming album “The Great Escape Artist”. The album is set to be released on 27th September! You guys better be stoked for this!

So lets recap their previous successful albums shall we? 

Jane’s Addiction took over the world by storm with their first slick studio album “Nothing’s Shocking” in 1988. Songs like “Mountain Song”, “Pigs In Zen” and “Jane Says” were the few everlasting favourites.

Two years after, “Ritual De Lo Habitual” album was out in the streets, with hit singles like “Been Caught Stealing” and “Stop” which was also used as a soundtrack for the famous video game ‘Grand Theft Auto’.

Apart from that, their recent album “Strays” from 2003 sounds more heart-wrenching and compact. Dave Navarro’s psychedelic solos and the variety of different instruments you would never think of using, can be found in every track. God bless them beautiful musicians, despite their unusual long moment of silence :D

As some of you might know, the founding member of Jane’s Addiction, Eric Avery left the band last year in March. He tweeted, “That’s it, with equal parts regrets and reliefs” to announce his departure, and previously revealed that he was not involved in any recent group photoshoots. He was also absent from writing new materials. Frontman Perry Farrell however anticipated that move from the former bassist and came out with a response, “Slipping out of that shell of a past. We are on to something faster now, and so worth the wait”

Original line up of Jane’s Addiction (from left to right) (Stephen Perkins, Perry Farrell, Eric Avery, Dave Navarro)


With our sincere hearts, we wish farewell to Avery and hopefully he pursues his passion for music in other projects. His last solo album “Help Wanted” was way back in 2008.

Jane’s Addiction will now soldier on with former ‘Guns n Roses’ bassist, Duff Mckagan. We at MME are definitely excited to hear their new materials and proud to name them as Artist of the Week! 

Jane’s Addiction’s new single “End To The Lies” shows that they did not miss out on anything that is relevant to their hard rock, metal, funk, alternative, experimental kind of genre. So far this is the best track we’ve heard and we are so ready for Dave Navarro’s hypnotic repetitive riffs with his guitar! The music video was also beautifully crafted with old school artistic elements mixed with modern street abstracts. High-end stuff from the legends! Check out the awesome vid below!

Also take a sneak peek behind the scenes of “End To The Lies”

“The song is about compositive assholes, that I happen to know.” - Perry Farrell

You can download their second single at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/irresistible-force-single/id452165362 

Jane’s Addiction Official Site - http://www.janesaddiction.com/


- posted by Fadhil

Artist of the Week - Amy Winehouse You might have guessed who would be our Artist of the Week. She is none other than our late loving favourite, Amy Winehouse! Amy Winehouse, born in London, raised by a compassionate wealthy family and surrounded by talented musicians at a young age, began to influence herself with jazz and soul. She really felt music at that point of time and vowed to share her honest feelings through heartfelt songs she composed. Amy’s 2006 album ‘Back To Black’ was the best among her albums, with hit songs ‘Rehab’, ‘Valerie’, ‘Tears Dry On Their Own’, ‘You Know Im No Good’ and ‘Just Friends’. However in our opinions, her top notch song ‘Love Is A Losing Game’ shows how genuine and beautiful her lyrics are. Every moment brings out every emotion in this song. It brings out amazing things splashed in her own colors. She brought with her something that’s necessary for the world to hear. Below is an old acoustic live version of “Love Is A Losing Game”, and she sang it so effortlessly but in a signature of her own as we all know. :) Irrelevant dramas and unfortunate incidents have happened in Amy’s life. Amy was a strong headed person and seemed so confident of herself. However, she was battling her inner self with music and her personal life. Amy Winehouse passed away at the age of 27 to unexplained causes (we do not wish to go into that), and since then there have been numerous tributes. Sadly there were various rumors about her drug problems which may have caused her downfall. Truth to be told, she is now included in the infamous 27 club. Oh yes the club that consists of Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix, who died at the age of 27. So let us pray for Amy Winehouse and believe in the hope that she had given to us; music matters and be headstrong to earn your place! :) Let’s all not remember her as an addict but please remember her as a person, as a woman with so much nurtured talent that had developed so beautifully, showering the world with her amazing gift of a unique voice. Watch this old interview with Amy Winehouse. We love you Amy. And how can we not love that lovely accent of yours! Rest in peace Amy Winehouse. You will be remembered by many. - posted by Fadhil

∞ 8/1/2011 (11:15pm) 1 note

#Amy Winehouse#artist of the week#tribute#rehab#back to black#jazz#love is a losing game#interview

Artist of the Week - Amy Winehouse

You might have guessed who would be our Artist of the Week. She is none other than our late loving favourite, Amy Winehouse!

Amy Winehouse, born in London, raised by a compassionate wealthy family and surrounded by talented musicians at a young age, began to influence herself with jazz and soul. She really felt music at that point of time and vowed to share her honest feelings through heartfelt songs she composed.

Amy’s 2006 album ‘Back To Black’ was the best among her albums, with hit songs ‘Rehab’, ‘Valerie’, ‘Tears Dry On Their Own’, ‘You Know Im No Good’ and ‘Just Friends’. However in our opinions, her top notch song ‘Love Is A Losing Game’ shows how genuine and beautiful her lyrics are. Every moment brings out every emotion in this song. It brings out amazing things splashed in her own colors. She brought with her something that’s necessary for the world to hear.

Below is an old acoustic live version of “Love Is A Losing Game”, and she sang it so effortlessly but in a signature of her own as we all know. :)

Irrelevant dramas and unfortunate incidents have happened in Amy’s life. Amy was a strong headed person and seemed so confident of herself. However, she was battling her inner self with music and her personal life. Amy Winehouse passed away at the age of 27 to unexplained causes (we do not wish to go into that), and since then there have been numerous tributes. Sadly there were various rumors about her drug problems which may have caused her downfall. Truth to be told, she is now included in the infamous 27 club. Oh yes the club that consists of Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix, who died at the age of 27.

So let us pray for Amy Winehouse and believe in the hope that she had given to us; music matters and be headstrong to earn your place! :)

Let’s all not remember her as an addict but please remember her as a person, as a woman with so much nurtured talent that had developed so beautifully, showering the world with her amazing gift of a unique voice.

Watch this old interview with Amy Winehouse. We love you Amy. And how can we not love that lovely accent of yours!

Rest in peace Amy Winehouse. You will be remembered by many.


- posted by Fadhil

Artist Of The Week – Rise Against Yes our choice for artist of the week is Rise Against and let us tell you why! Rise Against are very well known for their ability to confront political and personal grievances through their songs and this is definitely a huge factor as to why this band is our choice for this week. Recently, Rise Against released a music video for Make It Stop (September’s Children). The video focuses a lot on teens that get bullied for being different and it recently got played on E News, which we thought is a rare thing for a band like Rise Against. The song mainly addresses the issues of homophobias and bullying. With this video, the band hopes that it makes the world realize that all this is really happening around us. The video also lets those who often get bullied because of this, know that they’re never alone and life will get better. It always will. Checkout the video below.   Songs like Help Is On The Way, Hero Of War, Satellite, Ready To Fall and Savior also touches on politics, the government, war and natural disasters. Literally almost all of their songs touch on a certain issue and they have done a really good job in writing about these issues. Rise Against are not afraid to tell the truth in their songs and they’ll continue doing so cause they’re the best at it. If you have not given Rise Against a chance, it’s time you do. We here at MME give them all the respect for being an honest band with big hearts. Watch the video below and you will see the sincerity behind the song Make It Stop (September’s Children). We can say the same for every song they have written. - posted by irni

∞ 7/18/2011 (12:38am) 2 notes

#Artist Of The Week#Artist Recommendations#Help Is On The Way#Hero Of War#Make It Stop (September's Children)#Ready To Fall#Rise Against#Satellite#Savior#metal#politics#government

Artist Of The Week – Rise Against

Yes our choice for artist of the week is Rise Against and let us tell you why!

Rise Against are very well known for their ability to confront political and personal grievances through their songs and this is definitely a huge factor as to why this band is our choice for this week.

Recently, Rise Against released a music video for Make It Stop (September’s Children). The video focuses a lot on teens that get bullied for being different and it recently got played on E News, which we thought is a rare thing for a band like Rise Against. The song mainly addresses the issues of homophobias and bullying. With this video, the band hopes that it makes the world realize that all this is really happening around us. The video also lets those who often get bullied because of this, know that they’re never alone and life will get better. It always will. Checkout the video below.


 

Songs like Help Is On The Way, Hero Of War, Satellite, Ready To Fall and Savior also touches on politics, the government, war and natural disasters. Literally almost all of their songs touch on a certain issue and they have done a really good job in writing about these issues. Rise Against are not afraid to tell the truth in their songs and they’ll continue doing so cause they’re the best at it.

If you have not given Rise Against a chance, it’s time you do. We here at MME give them all the respect for being an honest band with big hearts.

Watch the video below and you will see the sincerity behind the song Make It Stop (September’s Children). We can say the same for every song they have written.



- posted by irni

∞ 7/15/2011 (4:34pm) 12 notes

We will be doing an Artist Of The Week post by the end of this week! Any guesses as to which band we have chosen for this week? ;)

If you have any artists to suggest to be featured as Artist Of The Week here, do write in to us at awenins.mme@gmail.com or simply leave a message in the Ask/Comment section on our page.

We will pick Artist Of The Week based on the music they write, the songs they produce, the artist’s overall personality and any other works the artist have been involved in. Simply, we pick an artist that we think are deserving. All artists are awesome but hey it’s a weekly thing. So do write in to us((:

#Artist of the Week#bands#artists#singers#musicians#music