AMY WINEHOUSE MURAL

A Banksy-style mural appeared near Amy Winehouse’s favourite pub in Camden, north London.

The graffiti shows the singer sporting a pair of wings while wearing a short skirt and high heels with her beehive hairstyle.

It is believed the artwork was completed in the early hours of Monday morning on Camden Lock – just yards from the Hawley Arms pub where Amy was a regular.

A spokesperson for the Bristol artist denied the artwork was one of his, despite it sharing many of the guerrilla artist’s obvious trademarks.

ZÜRICH: MINI ART FESTIVAL

Saw this beaut over on Vice…

TYPOGRAPHIC BICYCLE PRINT

Lovely piece of artwork from Aaron Kuehn.

Check out his article here for a free downloadable PDF.

THE SONISPHERE COUNTDOWN BEGINS!

With less then 48 hours to go excitement is growing over at camp Sonisphere!
Read their latest blog post here

Bill Bailey on Sonisphere TV getting excited about the gig!

A DAY IN AUSTIN

A day in the life with Matt Priest and Lima – Austin Edit.

UK FESTIVALS – WHEN AND WHERE?

If like us, you’re always on the lookout for a new and exciting festival to go to over the summer then look no further! GoFestival Guide is the most comprehensive guide to UK festivals i’ve ever seen. It has a downloadable PDF guide for every month of the festival season detailing when, where and the what kind of music you’ll be expecting to hear.

The descriptions go as far as to give you a brief history of the festival and what the general vibe is like there ie family friendly of metal mashup. Each festival preview on the guide can be clicked on to take you directly to the festival website. Its great!

CLASSIC TV AD

Why don’t we see ads like this anymore? Classic…
Found this on the Deluxe site

LEJOG kit for sale…

ALL MONEY RAISED GOES TOWARDS THE STEPHEN MURRAY FAMILY FUND.

GRAB YOURSELF A BARGAIN!

THANKS…

STAGES OF DAN – OLD MESS

ALBUM REVIEW
Stages Of Dan – Old Mess

Remember the time when bands were a gang of mates writing great songs full of passion, honesty and wit? Well those days are back. London trio Stages Of Dan are like a manly breath of beery, smokey air with a wiff of vintage aftershave cutting through the crowds of childish try hards who can’t think bigger than being the next Wombats or Mystery Jets. From the opening strains of Sufandi (currently the backing for the Channel 4 Paralympic Show trailers) you can tell that this is a band that mean business and they don’t let up for one minute. Hod Carrier is a rasping sing-a-long with driving drums that won’t let up and it leads straight in to crowd pleaser Gary (if you don’t know about Gary yet then you may be beyond help). The bitterness of Mothers Best Child gives way to the rumbling intro of Diagrams and by this point in the album you start to realise that these guys are on to something special.

You see, there isn’t an inch of fat, not one unnecessary second on this album which means that SOD have managed to combine quality song writing with a punk sensibility – no easy task. Not to mention that the way these tunes have been recorded has ingeniously managed to get as near as damnit to the Stages Of Dan live experience. Special.

The odyssey continues with stopming Das Feedback (a song that would wake a coma victim), the snarling Snap It and I Like Them Crazy the most disturbing love song since Meat Loaf revealed that there was something he wouldn’t do for love. The sinister Rusty Water convinces me that there is a much darker side to come from this band but then we all have it in us don’t we? The finale of Old Mess is R.P.G. – a continuation of the Gary story – which is where the key to this album lies. You see, Old Mess as a debut album is a sign that Stages Of Dan are ready to move on to bigger things. There is a rawness, an urgency, a sense of impatience about this album and you can’t help but feel that when they get their chance, Stages Of Dan will grab it with six hairy hands.

By Roland Monger

RECHARGED RADIO @ THE ALTERNATIVE ESCAPE

Recharged Radio at the Alternative Escape, Brighton
The Latest Music Bar, Manchester Street
Thursday 12th May 2011-05-13

So the plan was for the good people at Recharged Radio to descend on Brighton for the Alternative Escape (the Great Escape fringe, essentially) and showcase 19 of the best independent artists that had been featured on one the station. This involved a lot of musicians (natch), some A-Team style organisation and a bunch of volunteers with an unwavering passion for new music. Ltd State’s involvement came in the form of yours truly introducing the bands and chief snapper Merryn Phillips on photography duties. The day kicked off at about 1.15pm in the gorgeous basement venue of the Latest Music Bar with the suitably relaxed tones of Tom Moriarty. Following the chaos of setting the event up and getting the show live on air (that’s right, all 19 bands broadcast live via the internet), Mr Moriarty was certainly a soothing influence on the audience. Anna Neale followed on with a more upbeat acoustic set featuring Recharged’s own Pete Robbins on Cajon and various other percussion items.
Third on in the day was Jake Morley who captivated eyes and ears with acoustic performance accompanied by some damn fine Double Bass work. Jake’s wry humour and observational lyrics coupled with his lap-style strumming and hammering of the guitar made his performance compulsive viewing. Certainly a talented artist on the rise and one that will surely be gracing many a festival stage this summer.

BEASTIE BOYS – MAKE SOME NOISE

The video for “Make Some Noise,” the first single from the Beastie Boys’ long-awaited new album Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2, is quite possibly the most star-studded music video of all time!

The video, which features Seth Rogen, Danny McBride and Elijah Wood as young versions of the trio, as well as with cameos by well-known actors including Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler, Ted Danson, Jack Black, John C. Reilly, Rashida Jones, Will Arnett, , Mary Steenburgen, Jason Schwartzman, Rainn Wilson, Steve Buscemi, Chloe Sevigny, Maya Rudolph, Malin Akerman and Orlando Bloom!

It’s not just the video thats great though, the actual track is brilliant too.. It’s been a long time coming but in true Beastie Boys fashion it doesn’t disappoint.

RAISING MONEY FOR STEPHEN!

Come down, have a drink and a dance and chuck a few quid in Chico’s direction…
We’ve got four great acts lined up with the evening being opened by the one and only Chris Aliano (Murray Jam/Aliano trails)

There will also be a pair of Sonisphere Festival tickets (amongst other treats) up for grabs in the Ravenous raffle!