What Makes a Good Band Name?

There are some really weird band names out there at the moment... From 'Ou Est Le Swimming Pool' to 'Maroon 5', there's no denying that when it comes to the names of bands there isn't really a norm... There is even one band - which to be fair does have some really good music - which is called 'Starf*****r'... The question is what makes these names good or, possibly in 'Starf*****r's' case, bad?

Bizarre band names are not a recent thing. Take 'The Beatles', you would think that there would be some meaningful reason behind the name, however this is not the case. John Lennon first liked the name 'The Crickets' due to the double meaning of the insect and the sport, then someone suggested 'The Beetles' and then after a few months of changing it around they settled on 'The Beatles'. So there you have it, they just liked the sound of it, and lucky for them it worked out.

However, although strange names are not just a recent thing, I believe that the importance of band names is. I am not trying to say that band names were never important, it's just that the importance has increased significantly. The beatles got famous simply because of their music, now with the increased competition in the music business you need more than that, and one thing you need is definitely a good name.

Obviously in different genres of music different names are popular, so in death metal generally some kind of gruesome name like 'Killswitch Engage' or "Eternal Tears of Sorrow' is perfect, whereas in indie music you need something alternative such as 'Two Door Cinema Club' or, as i mentioned earlier 'Ou Est Le Swimming Pool'. When i am looking for new music i can't listen to every song, so to make the process quicker i just look at the names, and if the name doesn't sound good then i won't listen to it. I realise that this means i am missing out on a lot of good music, but the reality of it is you can't listen to everything out there, you need to have some means of cutting it down, and that is my means. I can't help if when i quickly skim read a list of bands i decide i will give 'Computer Magic' more of a chance than 'The Janks'. Why is this? I don't know, there is something that makes the former name seem more catchy to me than the latter.

There is no denying that although bizarre names aren't a recent thing they certainly are getting stranger. What is more shocking is that some of these very strange names don't even have any reason behind them. When the lead singer of 'Ou Est Le Swimming Pool' was asked where the name came from he replied: "Jo (another member of the band) and I used to live in this flat together and we had a lot of random french instruments. Combine them with alcohol and you get a lot of people jumping around shouting things in French, and we ended up coming up with Ou Est Le Swimming Pool, and it kind of just stuck." And there you have it, no meaning, just randomness...What's even funnier is that he admitted to usually coming up with some elaborate story about the name because he was embarrassed to say the true reason. I remember talking about the band in a school lesson once, and our middle aged teacher being so confused as to why a band would call themselves that. It's not short so isn't easy to chant (always useful during live performances), it hasn't got a reason behind it, it doesn't relate to any of their songs, so why call it that? I guess the reason is simply to be edgy. You know that no one else will have a name quite like that...

I think that the biggest blunder of a band name has to be one of my first examples - 'Star*****r'. Did they really not think when they came up with the name that it could possibly hold them back in the long run? I suppose they thought it would be different? Maybe they decided that they were too alternative for a normal name? Either way, in 2009 they realised it was possibly a bad choice and decided to change it, asking fans to come up with ideas. Unfortunately in 2011 they had still not come up with a new name, and soon after that they broke up... 

Generally i don't think you can put a label on what makes a good band name. It has to be catchy - but how do you define catchy? Different people find different things catchy. One thing which is a fact is that it must match your genre and the audience you are trying to reach. 

Lastly here is a strange fact about the name 'Maroon 5': Other than the 5 band members only Billy Joel knows the true meaning of it - or so the band claims, this may well be a cover up for yet another band who don't actually have a good reason for their name...

The New Year's Eve Dilemma

It's coming up again, that time of the year which everyone looks forward to, only for it to happen and no one feel any different... Every year millions of people get ready to see the new year in with friends and loved ones, planning far in advance what parties to go to... Only to realise that once the second hand reaches twelve it really isn't that big a deal...

It's sad that the majority of New Year's Eves are huge anti-climaxes... Everyone gets so excited and then can't help but feel a little bit down when their big night wasn't so big at all... After all, it is just like any other day, the only main impact it makes on everyones lives is that for a few weeks you keep getting the year wrong when writing the date... So does this mean that we shouldn't celebrate New Year's Eve anymore? Should we just give in and accept that although it feels like it should be celebrated, really it is just like any other night? My answer is definitely not. There must be some reason why people still feel that it is acceptable to sometimes spend around £50 just for a ticket to a New Year's Eve party...

1) The Tradition
For years people have celebrated the New Year! Did you know that on New Year's Eve in 2010 an estimated 250,000 people gathered in London to watch the 8 minute long fire works display? Traditions vary from "Irish Wind" - a tradition of predicting the political future of a country by checking which way the wind blows at midnight on New Year's Eve, to celebrating the first baby being born. If we stopped celebrating it we would be losing a huge part of our culture.

2) The excuse for a huge night
It's an excuse to either dress up nicely or in some weird costume and make a fool of yourself, but it's ok because everyone does it! It's not like on people's birthdays when YOU may be dressed up and ready for a big one, but people walking past in the street look completely normal. On New Year's everyone is up for having a good time, and if we stopped celebrating it we would be missing out on a chance to have a great night.

3) Seeing people you wouldn't usually see
New Year's Eve is a great chance to have a catch up with people you don't always have a chance to see. It's the time of year when people have big parties with friends and family, where everyone is in a good mood and you don't think about anything else. With jobs and university it's hard to make sure you see everyone, so it's great having one night of the year when you know everyone is out - it's as if it is mandatory. Whether it is out in London or at someones house, you often see people that you definitely would not have otherwise.

4) Being part of something big
Now, this is generally the reason that New Year's Eve is an anti-climax... Nonetheless i still think it is a reason for us to keep celebrating it. When people celebrate New Year's Eve you really feel part of something. You can imagine everyone in England counting down the seconds, and then all at once shouting "Happy New Year!!". There isn't much that England does as a whole, so it's nice that we have something that the majority of people celebrate. So even though after New Year's Eve some people feel like their has been an anti-climax, it is still important to feel like you are part of something that everyone thinks is special.

5) It only happens once a year
This isn't something that happens every month, it happens once a year. Well, being pedantic each new year only happens once. Surely that is something to celebrate?

Obviously these are not the only reasons why i think that we should still celebrate New Year's Eve, there are hundreds, but they are some of the important ones. My point is that although New Year's Eve can be a let down, generally it is a fun night. You just have to make sure you don't put too much pressure on it. Realistically your life will not change between 11.59 and 12.00, even if technically it is the next year. People should put less of a burden on the night and just enjoy it for what it is - a night with your friends which also happens to be seeing one year into the next. We have to stop expecting a night to be magical on its own, and instead focus on making it special ourselves.

So, I hope that everyone has a great New Year's Eve. Sure, it may well be another anti-climax when it happens, but during the hours before and the hours after hopefully it will be a great night.

Let It Snow..

There are songs about it, films about it and even artwork about it - no one can deny the fact that everyone wants it to snow for Christmas. Why is this? Tradition I suppose... Even as someone from the era when it has only snowed once on Christmas, I still look out of my window hopeful for some snowflakes to fall, just to make the day that little bit more magical.

But what is it about snow that makes it magical? Snow itself is beautiful - there is no denying that. And although in England it often causes havoc when it actually comes, especially in the last few years when the whole of London has come to a standstill due to the shock of large amounts of snow, there is still undeniably something calming about it.

Around Christmas dozens of websites pop up just to let you know the odds of whether or not it will snow on Christmas where you live. For example, at this moment in time there is a 10% chance of snow in London, whereas in Northumberland there is a 30% chance! Either way it doesn't seem likely... But is this the end of the world? No. Last year there was snow on Christmas, and yes, everything looked beautiful. However, we got a phone call from my very elderly grandma who was upset because due to the ice she was unable to walk to her church for the Christmas service. This year we have managed to convince her to come down for Christmas in order to make sure she is able to celebrate Christmas the way she wants. My point is that people want different things for Christmas. For her all she wants to do on Christmas is celebrate the religious side, and the snow caused her to be unable to do this. 

Therefore, although obviously I love snow, I don't think I mind whether or not it snows on Christmas. Imagine all the people trying to get back to their families and being unable to due to the problems snow causes... I would prefer to have a Christmas with no possible problems, rather than a white one. So this year I am not dreaming of a white Christmas, I am dreaming of a perfect family Christmas, and I’m sure that will be magical enough.

But even after saying that, I still would love for it to snow at some point. I have a few things that I love doing when it snows, and which I’m guessing most people do also. However, first and foremost I love taking pictures while everything still looks perfect... It is definitely one of the most beautiful things in nature. After this it is always a surprising amount of fun to run around making a mess of it, making snow angels, having snowball fights, and making snowmen. When the adrenaline of the snow runs out and I realise I am actually freezing it is then time to curl up in front of the fire with a hot chocolate. I'll end this blog with some of my favourite pictures from snowy days...

The New Breed of Christmas Shoppers

It's that time of year again when everyone is rushing around, desperately trying to find that perfect gift for their family and special someones. You can go shopping on any day of the week at any time and there will be thousands of shoppers going crazy, rushing around, not caring who or what they break in their way.

Recently I went to London for the day, not to do christmas shopping in particular, just to look around and have a nice day out. I was shocked that apparently normal politeness went out the window. I'm not sure whether it was due to the christmas 'spirit', or just because i was in london, but all i know was that i cannot count the number of times i was banged into, shoved past, pushed to the side... the list goes on. What shocked me the most was that after all these 'encounters' no one even turned their heads to say goodbye, or even give me a dirty look for being in their way! I'm not going to lie, i am a HUGE clutz.. i am awful at looking where i am going and also have really bad balance, this combination means that in a crowd i am not always the best person...This being said i know that quite a few of my pushes and shoves i received during my trip were my fault. So, if someone wasn't looking and walked into me, i definitely would look back at them and give them the evils... yet none of these people did! What are these people? It's as if they are some kind of mutant london christmas shopper... So focused on their goal that either they don't notice or they don't care about being pushed around. A kind of being which comes out of people once a year...

This breed of London shoppers is urged on by the businesses who want to make as much money from them as possible. Previously shops would start their sales on boxing day, making the shoppers come to them, however since the recession has unfortunately come upon us they have had to change their tactics. This year the sales have come to the shoppers, i walked into Mango the other day and the whole shop was a sale! There were no clothes that were not included, i managed to get a great pair of jeans down from £45 to £25... If the sales are this good now just imagine what they will be like on boxing day!

I guess we should be happy about these sales, making our christmas shopping that little bit easier, but honestly after seeing everyone in London yesterday i am having my doubts. Before going i met someone who used to live in England but for the last four years has been in Sydney. Straight away she started telling me how confused she was by the sales here, however she also commented on how the people were so much more hostile than in Australia, it's as if you could fall over and people would just tred all over you. Can the early sales and lack of manners be linked? Sure - the commercialism of christmas going haywire and causing people to lose sight of what is actually important.

However, to be fair to the British i must admit that this is a rash conclusion to reach. Another thing that i was told was how the recession hasn't really reached Australia. I'm sure a link can be made here, the recession has obviously hurt everyone in different but equally bad ways, it's effected everyones lives. Christmas is a time to try to forget about the problems that have been caused, and if these sales help people to forget, then that's fine - even if it means there is some damage caused on the way (namely my being pushed around in London!). Although the main reason for these pre-christmas sales is so shops can get as much money as possible, we can also realise that the more people spend the more money goes into our economy. As demand increases and more money goes into the economy, maybe peoples confidence will grow and we could slowly make our way out of this recession and back into the good times. So for now i will ignore the pushes and shoves, in the hope that maybe one christmas in the near future people won't have to forget about all their troubles, they would have already disappeared.

We All Need A Getaway...

Everyone has that place where somehow all the worries of our busy lives seem to go away. Whether it is at home or some far away paradise, i believe it is crucial to have a getaway. It's come to that time of year for me when it has been a solid chunk of time since i have been away, and i am definitely getting withdrawal symptoms! My want to get away got me thinking about my favourite place to go, where i can relax and not think about anything! For me, that place is an island off the coast of Cornwall: Tresco. For those of you who do not know, Tresco is one of a bunch of islands which make up the Isles of Scilly. For me it is a place i can relax and not think about anything that i don't want to.

With no cars Tresco was the perfect place to go away as a child. It was the only place that i could go where my mother wouldn't go crazy if she didn't know where i was - because nothing bad ever happens there. However, the most amazing part of Tresco is the landscape, even though it is part of England it has a strange climate which allows it to have amazing gardens growing plants you would usually only see in exotic countries such as Brazil. All this amazing landscape makes for fantastic photos. I have been visiting the island since i was a child, so have a huge number of photos, but i am going to pick what i think are the best photos i have taken from this tranquil island and show them here.

Just looking at those photos makes me want to go back right now! Oh well, i guess it is time to go back to reality. I hope you have enjoyed the photos, and that they have reminded you of your relaxing getaway, wherever that may be.

TimeLine App

If you have an iPhone you may use the following apps:
calendars, notes, alarms etc..
Wouldn't it be way better if these were all in one place?
Some friends of mine are trying to create an app which does just this. However, in order to make it they need to win a competition they are taking part in. I am trying to raise interest in the app in order to help them along the way. The more interest the higher the chance that they will win!
If you have a second it would be great if you could have a look at their website or facebook page:

http://www.timelineapp.co.uk
http://www.facebook.com/pages/TimeLine-App/328735943822396

The app is an amazing idea, linking calendars, notes, alarms, reminders and projects all into one place on your smartphone.


Thanks!

Christmas Holidays For Students

So i have three weeks off from university during the holidays. Seeing as my terms are 10 weeks long it is great to have the three weeks to be able to see friends and family. However... this is made impossible due to the amount of work that we are given over this break.

Most people have exams in January, straight after christmas. Many of my friends even have an exam on the monday our term starts at 9.15! As for me, i have four essays to write, all of which must be 2000 words and are worth 20% of my entire degree... (yes, i should be writing them instead of this partially pointless blog - it's called procrastination..). Due to these exams and essays our christmas holidays are not used as a time to relax and have a break, they are a time to get stressed about work...

I don't know about you, but this seems to go through my head: "If i don't do well in these exams, i'll fail my degree, then i won't be able to get a good job, then i won't have any money, then i won't be able to move out of home... ever... or i'll be in a lot of debt..." and so on...

I know non-students think we have nothing to complain about, we have long holidays and no worries... but i do not think that this is the case. Sure, when you have a full time job you don't have as much holiday or free time... BUT when you DO have that free time, it's just that, FREE time. Whereas when we have free time it is nothing of the sort. Instead it is a time to get more stressed and, to make matters worse, in the christmas holidays we turn to comfort eating, which never ends well... I can't count the number of my parents friends who have said to me "Oh, you're back from uni! that must be great, a nice long break, it's alright for some..." at which i have to reply "well.. yes, i am back... but i do have four essays of which count for 20% of my degree. But yes, you are right, it's alright for some.." through gritted teeth.

So, instead of coming out of the christmas holidays relaxed and detoxed, we are in fact stressed and (in my case) a great deal heavier due to the consumption of ridiculous amounts of food. And then, when we do get back it's not like we have any more of a break, it's straight back into 9.15 starts and lectures throughout the day.

Overall, i just want to get the point across that although students do have long holidays, this does not mean that they are relaxing and full of fun. I know it sounds bad, but i can't wait to have a job and never have to take an exam ever again. However i can't promise that at some point in the future i won't look at students and think "it's alright for some...".

Music Covers: A new way to hear your favourite song or a way bands ruin perfectly good music?

Due to concepts such as "Radio 1 Live Lounge", covers have become much more widespread in recent years. The question is has this new wave of covers brought about a different but enjoyable way to listen to our favourite songs, or are these covers creating new, worse, memories of the songs we used to love? In this blog I am going to evaluate a number of these covers and come up with my top and bottom 5.

I have been an avid fan of Radio 1 live lounge since the first CD came out in 2006. The only covers I had come across previous to it being released was the odd one stuck on the end of an album as filler. A number of songs stuck out of that album for me, namely Lemar’s cover of “I Believe in a Thing Called Love”. Now, I was never a fan of Lemar, normally I wouldn’t choose to listen to his music. This meant that I assumed that his cover of this song would ruin one of my (at the time) favourites by The Darkness… it was only when I listened to it that I realised it was a fresh take on an amazing classic, and even though it was done by someone I didn’t really like, that didn’t mean it wasn’t good. However, if I thought this song was good, I had no idea how amazing some of the songs could be when I liked the artist and the song AND it worked. The best example of this in the first volume on radio 1 live lounge was (in my view) Razorlight covering “Hey Ya”.

However, part of the brilliance of the first Radio 1 Live lounge CD was that there were artists covering their own songs. Although these songs were great, a chance to hear artists without all the alterations (the Photoshop of the music industry) this isn’t what my blog today is about. As the Radio 1 live lounge volumes went on there were some great covers, such as Paulo Nutini and “rehab” and Keane covering “with or without you”.

With covers becoming more “fashionable” they began being released by bands more frequently. This brings me to my favourite band for covers – The Kooks. Among their covers have been “Violet Hill” (Coldplay),  Young Folks (Peter Bjorn and John) and “Kids” (MGMT). Out of these only one was done through Radio 1s live lounge.

However, even though I love the idea of music covers, that doesn't mean that I don't realise that some of them are an abomination. After listening to the most recent Radio 1 live Lounge (Volume 6) I found myself having to stop listening to some of the songs before they finished simply because they were so awful. The problem with this is that it can ruin the original version of the song for you. For example, whenever you listen to the original version the cover comes to mind, and you find yourself mildly repulsed… Quite often covers go wrong when artists don’t make the song their own, they just try and sing to the same tune and the same rhythm even though it doesn’t suit their voice at ALL. It’s one thing if a band puts their own stamp on it, so even if it doesn’t sound great it’s often amusing. But when they just sing it, seemingly not putting any effort into changing it, and it sounds bad… it’s just not right.

Overall, I think that covers are a great idea. Even though the odd one will make your blood boil, the fact that so many of them create a new way to listen to a classic song make them worth listening to for me.

Lastly here are my top and bottom 5 covers:

Top 5:
The Kooks – Young Folks (Peter Bjorn and John)
 Maximo Park – (I’m Gonna be) 500 Mile (The Proclaimers)
Just Jack – Love Fool (The Cardigans)
Stereophonics – Nothing Compares To You (Sinead O’Connor)
Starfucker – Girls Just Want To Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)

Bottom 5:
Everything Everything – What’s My Name? (Rihanna)
Corinne Bailey Rae – Sexyback (Justin Timberlake)
Biffy Clyro – Love Sex Magic (Justin Timberlake)
Little Boots – Beat Again (JLS)
Miike Snow – In For The Kill