The International is a modern mixed cultural restaurant that is next to the National Portrait Gallery. The restaurant has a nice bar on the lower floor where you can enjoy a decent drink before heading on up to dine. As we were using dinner offer we had a selection of either starers and the main course or main course with desert. As we were going to the show afterwards we opted for the starters + main course combination. Both the starters and main course were served as a sharing platter with some rather Asian based cuisine. The meal was smallish but filling and really tasty. We added about £12 for a glass of wine each and gratuity.

After dinner we took a short stroll down to Playhouse Theatre. We got tickets on the top balcony in decent seats but luckily since it was on a Tuesday we were able to move to unused seats right in the middle of the balcony with excellent view of the whole stage. La Cage Aux Folles is a musical about two homosexuals who run a drag burlesque show on the French Riviera in the 70s. One of them (Georges) is the manager for the show and the other one (Albin/Miss ZaZa) is the star of the show. Together they have raised Jean-Michel who is Georges’ son from some one night fling. Jean-Michel comes home after having been gone a while with news of himself being engaged to marry the the daughter of politician who strongly campaigns against gay rights and from there on the story unfolds in a predictable but humours way. I found the show to be brilliant and especially loved seeing Roger Allam in his role as Albin the cross dressing diva, which was hilarious.

All in all the chance to go out for an excellent dinner and a brilliant show for 20 quid per person was a welcome opportunity and I’ll be sure to use lastminute.com more in the future.

A scene from the musical:

Related posts from the blog:

1. The International
2. Hereford
3. Only 9 shifts left

Emotional from Trabant is the first one and is a varied mix of rock, pop and electronic music that comes together in a utterly brilliant album. Trabant’s songs all have a distinctive feel to them ranging from a overwhelming onset of warm “happy-go-far” feelings to the polar opposite of desperation and anxiety. Each song tells a story, the stories are as different as the song themselves and it’s really worth listening to the text in addition to the thoroughly enjoyable music. Not all the songs on the album are quite up to par with the best ones but others may disagree with me on that (I specifically don’t like “Galdur”). I recommend everyone give this album a listen! Next week it will have been two years since the albums release and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

The second album is Jinx from Quarashi. Quarashi is a rap/hip-hop group that has a had a number of records released over the years they were active (’96-’05). They have often been likened to a mix between Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine and I feel that that description suits them well. The songs may sound a bit similar when you first listen to the album but each has it’s own unique vibe. I really like listening to Quarashi while running since the songs have a steady fast beat which keeps me focused and able to maintain a quick speed. I recommend this album to anyone who likes the Beastie Boys or RAtM or just music that follows that general factor.

Related posts from the blog:

1. Straight to your iPod – March 2009
2. Straight to your iPod – April 2009
3. Straight to your iPod – May 2009

The first one is For(n)ever with Hoobastank. Hoobastank has been around since 1994, yet it seems that just about nobody listens to them, which is really weird because although they are a tad bit generic rock/pop band they definitely go straight into the upper echelon of the music I like to listen to. Let’s say one of the top 30 bands or some. Hoobastank first became famous for their single “The Reason” back in 2004 and after that fell into a bit of a who cares category until they released For(n)ever in 2009. The albums strangely hasn’t had that great of a reception but I really like it. The album is rather diversified in terms of what Hoobastank has to offer migrating from their slowest songs to their songs with the fastest pace most of them falling into the easy listening category. Give this one a listen and choose whether you like it or not.

The second album this month is The Watchmen OST. This one came as a bit of a shock when I first listened to it. There were a bunch of songs that I thought were rubbish when I first listened to them. But thankfully I listened to the more than once. The song that really shine through was Bob Dylan’s performance in the “The Times They are A-Changin’” which is the song that played during the opening credits and accounts for one of the best opening credits in the history of cinema. A second favorite of mine was Nina Simone’s song of the Pirate Jenny in the tale of the Black Freighter which was unfortunately cut from the theatrical version of the movie. Other songs that deserve a mention are Hallelujah with Leonard Cohen, The Sound of Silence with Simon & Garfunkel and lets not forget All Along The Watchtower with Jimi Hendrix. All these songs wrapped into a single album simply make this my favorite movie soundtrack of all times. Go buy it today.
 

Related posts from the blog:

1. Straight to your iPod – June 2009
2. Straight to your iPod – February 2009
3. Straight to your iPod – March 2009

Related posts from the blog:

1. Wall Street Meltdown
2. The Island
3. La Cage Aux Folles & The International

The first one is Indestructible with Disturbed. Disturbed has been one of my favourite bands for years but for some reason they don’t seem to have a great following and not many people I know listen to them. Disturbed is a nu-metal band which has been making some great albums since their début in 1996 (before that time they were know as Brawl). Their last albums was Ten Thousand Fists in 2005 which I think is the first one anyone I know of (besides myself) listened to and finally gave them the recognition that they deserve. Compared to their earlier work Indestructible shows much loyalty to the previous albums but still offers something fresh and interesting to make you focus on the music as well as the message the band put forward as you listen to the album. The album offers a nice blend between harsh nu-metal and some light nu-metal mixed in to create a steady flowing pace of interesting music that is a great way of getting lost in your own thoughts while listening to great music. Disturbed is one of my favourite bands to listen to while running since it has a steady rhythm for keeping a constant pace and definitely empowers and motivates you to as you’ll feel you can push yourself further… It’s like you’re Indestructible, pun intended.

The second album this month is Only By The Night with Kings of Leon. Only By The Night came out last September and has been making some great sales in both the US and Europe. The Kings of Leon offer a solid Indie Pop Rock experience which leaves almost everyone I know satisfied after listening to their songs. The new album is in no way lacking compared to the Kings of Leon’s earlier work and offers some great songs but unfortunately it contains the song Cold Desert which I just don’t understand it’s horrible…However the rest of the albums is so great that I easily forgive them for putting that dud on there. Only By The Night is a must have for anyone who wants to listen to some easy going soft rock.
 

Related posts from the blog:

1. Straight to your iPod – May 2009
2. Straight to your iPod – March 2009
3. Straight to your iPod – February 2009

To cover the really good one first, that would be Day & Age from The Killers. The album came out late last year and has been in constant play on my computer, iPod and iPhone since then. Day & age is although shorter a much more solid album than The Killers last album Sawdust where the new songs fell into the shadows of remixes of older hits. Day & Age does not make the same mistake as Sawdust and showers you with original and interesting new songs which quickly get under your skin and makes you feel good about life, yourself and the world as a whole. If Day & Age was a person I would instinctively want to hug it.

Now you are most likely thinking if the really good one got such a good review how will the brilliant one fair? Well the mind numbingly insanely brilliant one is non other than Invaders Must Die from The Prodigy. This new album came out last month and is sooooooooo good I had constant goosebumps for all of the 46 minutes 1 seconds it took to listen to the album for the first time. Prodigy’s last album Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned in 2004 took a step towards reinventing the band who had gone through a sharp demise following their 2002 comeback. The new albums seems to continue that step but at the same time grabbing hold on the elements of Music for the Jilted Generation from 1994 and steering the band onwards to what may very well become the album of the year (yes, yes, it’s only March, but it’s that great). The album does have a black sheep in it’s midsts, the song “Stand Up” is very much out of place and good on it’s own doesn’t fit in with the album at all…. But anyway go buy this album right now!

Since I’m talking about these two great bands I wanted to also point out the Rock Wetchter is coming up in Belgium in July and I’m looking for ways to escape school and get there. I mean look at that line up it’s AMAZING!!!!

Related posts from the blog:

1. Straight to your iPod – May 2009
2. Straight to your iPod – June 2009
3. Straight to your iPod – February 2009

The music and singing in the show is pretty amazing and the actress that plays the Wicked Witch really shines through in some amazing songs on her part. The only problem with the singing is that the Good Witch has a really high pitched voice which is annoying at times.

The musical is a great show to see and I really recommend going to see it.

The musical is based on Gregory Maguire’s book series which now has three volumes while the musical provides an modified version of the first volume. I really want to read all the books when I have the time.

Related posts from the blog:

1. La Cage Aux Folles & The International
2. The Chronicles of Narnia
3. The Soloist

The first album this time around is Appeal To Reason from Rise Against. This is Rise Against’s fifth studio album and really shows how they have grown as a band, their songs are amazing and I have few word that justify how much this album appeals to me (pun intended). When I listen to the album it’s pretty much every song that shows me something interesting. This albums is at a fast pace and great to listen to while working out as well as a casual listen. What really surprised me was that Rise Against’s texts have matured amazingly. Each song contains an interesting and compelling story which you find yourself losing yourself in while listening to the songs. As an example the song Hero Of War tells the tale of a patriotic young man who goes to war to fight for his country and falls into a situation where he and his fellow soldiers commit horrible acts of violence. The song then continues to tell that once the soldier returns home he is greeted as a hero but he feels shameful and ashamed for what he has done during the war. This song alone has more content then the plot of an average Hollywood movie. Anyway get this album right now it’s amazing, I love it.

The second album on my list this month is The Black Swan from Story of The Year (no it’s not just because I finished reading Nassim Taleb’s Black Swan recently). The album comes in two versions, one with 13 tracks and then the version with 5 bonus tracks, I recommend the latter even if it’s only for the song Wake Up. The Black Swan continues Story Of The Year’s transition to more aggressive and harder rock but seems to have brought back that sparkle from their first albums Page Avenue which made me like them so much. The songs are aggressive, fast paced and sufficiently varied to warrant listening to the album as a whole a couple of times. Story Of The Year may not appeal to everyone but if you like interesting alternative hard rock which is borderline metal with a band that is true to their fans wants and needs then give The Black Swan a try.

 

Hero Of War – Rise Against

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAG1i3JfUvA

Wake Up – Story Of The Year

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpsDsS3KFN8

Related posts from the blog:

1. Straight to your iPod – May 2009
2. Straight to your iPod – June 2009
3. Straight to your iPod – March 2009

All I could muster when I saw this was a big old ‘what the fuck’…. I thought why would anyone want to listen to porn music most commonly referred to as the worst soundtrack music of all time. So I thought I’d look around and see if people actually listen to this, not only did I find out that there are some insane people in the world who like this a lot but there are people like the good people of The PornOrchestra:

NO ONE CARES | WE DON’T KNOW WHY

The PornOrchestra is an attempt to radically reinterpret the soundtrack to pornographic film. This complicated genre has taken its share of scorn: from adult film producers who refuse to pay it any mind to legions of consumers who instinctively snap the sound off after pressing Play.

STOP THE WAH-WAH

Performing live improvised and composed scores to pornographic film, the PornOrchestra invigorates the mysterious experience of the Voyeur-cum-Auditeur. The equivalent of a circus band with its collective eye on the trapeze artist: the PornOrchestra teases out the thrill, amplifying the collective gasp at pornographic triumph —and tragedy— using the most eclectic and creative musical minds working in the Bay Area today.

Here you can also find an interview with their spokesmodel about the idea for the orchestra. Seriously I couldn’t make this stuff up:

“Then I thought I would change the world one porn video at a time by renting a title, overdubbing with my original soundtrack, then returning the video to the store shelf….What if orchestras were the engine of expression in pornography?…One of the participating musicians told me for him this project is ‘an experiment in subverting the commercial element of the original to present the inner world.’ Another mused that it could just be ‘really hot, or really evil, or both and sick, or maybe a little beautiful.’”

I decided to look a bit deeper and not only did I find out that the porn industry has their own ‘Golden Globe like’ award ceremony called the AVN Adult Video Awards but it also contains a category for Best Original Song!. I didn’t find the song from ‘Big Phat Apple Bottom Bootys 13′ seriously don’t try to google that. BUT the song ‘Rock And Roll (In My Butthole)’ with Brutal Enigma is available on youtube, christ why would people subject themselves to listening to this:

I also found a interesting interview with a guy that kind of fell into making porn soundtracks because his friend got a job doing the lights for a porn, you can read it here:

…He gave his boss a demo reel of some Matmos songs and the response was terse: “Can they make normal music?” We lied and said yes, and the result was a surreal business meeting in which we were given the golden rule of porno music making: “Don’t make it too interesting.” We tried our best to honor this Zen request, and went on to make five porn soundtracks, four fetish and one “vanilla” and all gay (though we’ve since gone on to make music for a straight porn film also). Trouble is, when you have to work on an extremely short deadline for an audience that’s not really listening all that closely, you wind up making weird and, yes, interesting music anyway….

Man this has just made my day. I’m going to go listen to Rock And Roll (In My Butthole) once more…

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1. PG Porn
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1. Pragma video
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