Musical Mission

Some People Think He's Bonkers, But I Just Think He's Clumsy

2009-06-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

Dizzee Rascal loses his footing and falls off the stage whilst performing at the University of Kent, Canterbury.

Mission for the New Year

2008-12-31T14:13:00.000-08:00

I hereby make it my mission to dedicate more time to the updating of Musical Mission in the New Year. Call it my New Year’s resolution if you will; Musical Mission will be facing many more updates in the New Year, and the idea is that the blog will soon be a far stronger source of music related madness.

I move into 2009 with a positive outlook on where my music blogging will take me. This blog knows no limits, and as we enter into a fresh new year I endeavour to add more quality content to this blog, attract a wider readership, and really establish Musical Mission in the worldwide blogosphere.

Musical Mission has never limited itself to any one particular genre or another, and in 2009 you will see the blog take on different musical forms with greater regularity. There’ll be more blog entries, more to watch out for, and plenty more to look forward to.

2009 is the year that Musical Mission will really get going, the year in which the blog will really start to spark. Keep up to date with Musical Mission in 2009 and I can guarantee you updates aplenty, and fresh content galore.

Have a very happy New Years Eve, and I very much look forward to seeing you back here in 2009.

Dizzee Rascal Arrested

2008-12-13T05:07:00.000-08:00

Dizzee Rascal has been arrested regarding an alleged incident with a baseball bat. The incident is said to have taken place in Orpington, Kent yesterday afternoon (December 12th), and Dizzee has now been released on bail.

24 year old rapper Dizzee Rascal (real name Dylan Mills) is to return to a South London police station later this month reports Sky News. A police spokesperson confirmed that "He has been bailed until later this month."

50 Cent's 'Before I Self Destruct' Album Out in 2009

2008-11-17T12:41:00.000-08:00

It had been expected that ‘Before I Self Destruct’ would be released at some stage before the end of 2008, that’s not going to happen now though and sadly fans of 50 Cent will have to wait until early 2009 to hear the new album from the rapper.

It’s always hugely frustrating when album release dates are put back, no one’s likely to be more frustrated than 50 Cent himself however and it’s likely to have cut deep with him that his new music won’t be out there now until later than was initially anticipated. 50 Cent is a hugely passionate recording artist, you can tell that from listening to his lyrics, it’ll have hurt him that the release date has been put back, but things aren’t always completely straight forward in life. Set backs are sometimes to be expected and fans will now have to wait a little longer to hear 50 Cent’s fourth studio album.

The good news now though is that when ‘Before I Self Destruct’ is released it’ll come complete with a bonus DVD. The DVD is entitled 'Two Turntables and a Microphone: The Life and Death of Jam Master Jay’, and is a documentary about Run DMC’s late, great, hip-hop DJ. It’s an excellent extra to be included, and although we’ll now have to wait a little longer to hear the album; the fact we’ll get such a special extra will make it well worth the wait.

No official release date for ‘Before I Self Destruct’ has yet been set, watch out for it in early 2009 however and prepare to be blown away by the fine flow and supreme talent of New York’s Curtis James Jackson.

Leon Fails to Fly

2008-10-29T22:53:00.000-07:00

Last week I stated there to be a good chance that Leon’s ‘Right Now’ album would reach number one in the album charts, and that his new single ‘Don’t Call This Love’ may even hit the top spot in the singles chart also. Quite clearly I was wrong.

Having been number three in the Official UK Top 40 the week before; Sunday 26th October saw Leon slip away to a disappointing 11th in the singles chart, his album meanwhile making a debut at number 4. Leon Jackson’s ‘Right Now’ was the third biggest album release of last week; right behind AC/DCs ‘Black Ice’ in first, and Kaiser Chiefs ‘Off With Their Heads’ in second.

Leona’s ‘Spirit’ album took the world by storm last year; Leona Lewis had number one singles all over the world and her album performed excellently also. Leon Jackson has failed to repeat the success of Leona Lewis however, and despite having spent a whole year putting it all together; it still seems to have been a relative flop. Leon was never going to be as big as Leona, by the looks of things however; people are far more interested in this year’s X-Factor competition than they are in last year’s Michael Buble style singer Leon Jackson. Great Britain loved him at the time; the young Scottish clothes shop worker who loved his mum and came good with the life changing reward of winning the X-Factor. That was last year though; Britain has now moved on, and Leon Jackson is nothing more than a distant memory.

Whilst Leona Lewis is truly world class and therefore stunned us all upon her return with her incredibly strong vocal talent; Leon Jackson is far more subtly strong, his vocal talent quietly understated. He’s a good singer; not a world beater like Leona Lewis though, and after a 10 month absence there’s seemingly little interest in last year’s X-Factor winner.

There are shades of first time X-Factor winner Steve Brookstein here; he won the shows first series in 2004, had one number one single, one number one album, and then that was more or less it for him. Unless Leon Jackson’s ‘Right Now’ album can crawl its way up the charts then Steve Brookstein actually went one better than him in achieving a number one album; his second album only had sales of 7,000 however and this could now be the way that Leon Jackson’s career is headed.

Steve Brookstein is doing okay for himself; he currently has plans to tour with the Madness musical ‘Our House’ and is also writing and recording new material; nothing too spectacular however, and certainly not doing anything at the level he surely would have expected when he won the X-Factor competition in 2004.

Reality TV has provided a lot of momentary singing stars; very few are still with us today however, and aside from Girls Aloud, Leona Lewis, and to a lesser extent Will Young; I fail to think of any others that are still going strong. Shayne Ward is still doing okay for himself, hasn’t had a number one since his first X-Factor hit however, and if you discount the inevitable X-Factor UK Christmas number one; the only chart that Shayne Ward has topped since is the Irish singles chart.

Leon Jackson’s musical career is likely to go downhill from here, and it’s not particularly likely to come back up again either. I feel sorry for the young lad from Scotland, it would have been nice to have seen him stick around for a while; I don’t think Leon will be around in the public domain for too much longer however, and if he does release a second album it’ll probably be more of a sales rival to Steve Brookstein’s 7000 than it will to the UK Top 40 album chart.

All the best of luck to you Leon; I wish you all the best of luck in this wicked world of music, it’s not going to be easy, but keep the faith and I’m sure you’ll continue to sell records. Don’t expect the record label to stick with you if sales start to slip; with drive and determination you will however continue to release music and long may you continue to do so too.

Return of the Leon

2008-10-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

X-Factor’s Leon Jackson made a return to the charts this week when he came back with his ‘Don't Call This Love’ single. It’s his first single release since his Christmas 2007 number one ‘When You Believe’, and straight away he’s moving his way on up the charts.

Currently sitting at number three, there’s a good chance that Leon will hit the number one spot this coming Sunday. Pink presently holds the top spot with ‘So What’, the X-Factor is a hugely popular programme however and there’s therefore a very high possibility indeed that ‘When You Believe’ will make it to the top of the charts this week.

Leon’s ‘Right Now’ album was released on October 20th so there’s a good chance that Leon Jackson will hold not only the number one spot in the singles chart, but pole position in the album chart also before long. Sunday shall soon show us where Leon lies this week.

Eyeliner, Energy Drinks, and No Guitar Solos?

2008-10-16T22:21:00.001-07:00

Fall Out Boy’s brand new album ‘Folie a Deux’ is due to be released on December 16th for all to hear. I’m expecting the album to be excellent, and given the quality of the band’s last album release ‘Infinity on High’ I am certainly expecting the album to be exceptional. Lead single ‘I Don’t Care’ is certainly a grower too, I didn’t like the track at first but the more I listened to it the more I loved it; perhaps the same will be true of the album also; I guess we’ll just have to wait until December 16th to find out about that one.

The band has long been one of my favourites now, always I love the sweet music that Fall Out Boy produces (well, since ‘From Under the Cork Tree’ anyway; before that the band showed mere glimpses of its future potential through tracks such as ‘Where is Your Boy’ but never truly showcased its full talent) and I just can’t wait to hear the ‘Folie a Deux’ album. Fingers crossed that the album will be fantastic, who are we really kidding though; of course the album is going to be excellent.

There are still another two months to wait until the brand new Fall Out Boy album is finally here, it’s going to be a long couple of months but I think we can all probably just about bear the anticipation. ‘Folie a Deux’ will surely be an album on the Christmas list of many.

What's That Coming Over the Hill?

2008-10-14T19:40:00.001-07:00

Is it The Automatic November 2008 tour dates? I think it is you know.

That's right people, hit Welsh band The Automatic will be touring the UK in November 2008 and you'll be able to catch them at the following venues across the land:

02/11/2008 - Preston- 53 Degrees
03/11/2008 - Liverpool Guild of Students- Stanley Theatre
05/11/2008 - Swansea- Sin City
06/11/2008 - Bath Students' Union
07/11/2008 - Coventry- Warwick Students' Union
08/11/2008 - Guildford- Surrey Students' Union
10/11/2008 - Norwich- The Waterfront
11/11/2008 - Colchester- Essex Students' Union
12/11/2008 - Uxbridge- Brunel Students' Union
13/11/2008 - High Wycombe- Bucks Students' Union
15/11/2008 - Hatfield- University of Hertfordshire
16/11/2008 - Leeds University Union- Stylus
17/11/2008 - Hull University Union
19/11/2008 - Bournemouth- The Old Fire Station
20/11/2008 - Reading Students' Union
21/11/2008 - Derby Students' Union

Alex Pennie can no longer be heard yipping and yelping in the background; The Automatic is still a very good band though and well worth watching live. If you've ever been a fan of any of the band's tracks then I'd definitely recommend heading along to a show or two on the tour; you'll surely not be disappointed with what you hear.

The Automatic has been around since 2002 now. Is there any chance of the band disappearing in the not too distant future though now that Pennie has left the building? No way, Jose. The Automatic is here to stay and you better get used to it, and what better way to get used to it than going to see the band whilst it's on tour?

Seeing Pink for a Second Week Running

2008-10-14T18:21:00.001-07:00

For the second week running Pink is top of the charts with her ‘So What’ single. The track has already conquered America and now it looks all set to rock the UK too. Personally I’ve got much respect for the track; it’s a good upbeat pop rock number and a fine return to form from Pink. I’ve always found her music quite hit and miss in the past, I love ‘So What’ though and have so far played the track on many an occasion.

It’s the ‘na na na na na’s that get me; the track is just so incredibly catchy, I guess that’s the key to its conquering the world though really. It’s not the coolest track in the world to let people know you like, it’s ‘rock’ credibility is probably questioned by many too, it’s a definite guilty pleasure though and if you’re a fan of good cheesy pop rock then I’m sure you’ll agree with me when I say that ‘So What’ is absolutely fantastic.

So so what?
I like a Pink track
I love the Pink grooves
And I will dance too
And guess what?
I’m having more fun
And when the tracks begun
I will dance with all my might
Tonight, it’s just fine
It’s not cool
So so what?
I’m not a music snob
I’ll listen to what’s good
And I’ll do so with pride.

Okay, so it didn’t take me long to come up with those alternate lyrics and I’ll admit they’re not great; the real lyrics are pretty good though and as I say; if you like good shamelessly cheesy pop rock then you should absolutely love Pink’s ‘So What’.

So Pink spends another week as the UK number one and I definitely can’t fault the UK public for loving this one. Let’s just hope whoever takes over from Pink at the end of her reign at number one is equally excellent and that it’s not overruled by some euro pop discobeat nonsense; now that would be a travesty.

Can You Feel the Slipway Fires?

2008-10-14T14:21:00.000-07:00

Razorlight is to unleash its third album on November 3rd. The album is called ‘Slipway Fires’ and is to feature eleven brand spanking new tracks. ‘Wire to Wire’ is to be the album’s lead single and will receive its official release on October 20th. The single was played for the first time on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show back in early September (the 8th to be precise) and has now received well over a month's radio airplay. With so much radio airplay already obtained; knowledge of the new Razorlight album should be strong and when the album is released it should certainly sell well. Razorlight is a band with a very big following, the band has its fair share of haters but also has a lot of loyal dedicated followers who will no doubt go out and buy the album on the day of its release.

What is to be expected from the band’s third album though? Well, having loved the first and not been so impressed by the second; I’d have to say that it could go either way. The band could return to form and come up with an album of ‘Golden Touch’ quality tracks, or on the flipside of that could continue down the average route that was trodden much of the time with album number two. I’d love to see the band return to the excellence of its debut album, who knows what will happen however and I guess we shall all just have to wait until November 3rd to find out.

With ‘Up All Night’, Johnny Borrell showed himself to be a highly talented performer and songwriter; if he can once more show some of the skill that he showed with the first album then we will all undoubtedly be in for a treat. Fingers crossed, and roll on November 3rd; we believe in you Johnny.

Bad Lashes First Act to Leave the X-Factor

2008-10-11T21:07:00.000-07:00

Having not been terribly great but not too bad either; Bad Lashes were tonight voted off of the X-Factor as the first act to be ousted out of the competition. It all came down to a sing off between Bad Lashes and Girlband; with the judges votes split at two apiece though, who would be leaving was then decided on which band had received the fewest public votes.

The wait was horrendous, both bands were in tears as they waited in anticipation, Dermot O’Leary finally announcing which band had received the fewest votes after what must have seemed an eternity for the girls, and it was Bad Lashes that was the unlucky act heading home. Bad Lashes didn’t take the news too well, and who can blame them; they certainly weren’t the worst act out there tonight, that acclaim must surely go to Daniel, a man who survived on what I can only assume was a sympathy vote.

I’ll admit that neither of the girl bands were great, were they terrible enough to be in the bottom two though? I don’t think so. Bands scarcely do well on the X-Factor and it looks as though the 2008 edition shall be no different. I’d like to see JLS do well, and Simon Cowell actually suggested tonight that JLS is the best band the X-Factor has ever seen; I certainly wouldn’t argue with that, JLS is an excellent band and has the potential to go far. For Bad Lashes at least the journey is over however and the girls must now head home and return to normality, the X-Factor dream is over, and although a singing career may still be on for them; the X-Factor is not going to be the one to provide it for them.

Girlband survive to see another week on the X-Factor and twelve has now become eleven as we head into the next week of the competition. Best of luck to all those still involved in the competition, and let’s hope next week is another excellent one on the X-Factor.

Favourite Record Labels

2008-10-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

A lot of people have favourite bands, what about favourite record labels though? My personal favourite is Fueled By Ramen Records. It’s a fantastic pop punk record label and when it comes to pop punk I just can’t get enough of the genre! For many years now pop punk has been my musical life and I just absolutely love so many bands in this category.

Over the years a lot of pop punk bands have come and gone, Fueled By Ramen has always been there for me however and always been more than willing to serve me a new pop punk band or two on a plate. I love the label and never do the label’s bands disappoint. Do you have a favourite record label though? If you do then be sure to let me know what your favourite is.

Good bands always get a lot of attention, what about good record labels though? They definitely deserve more love than they currently receive and it’d be great to see more love shown towards the record labels that make music so special.

Who’s got the X-Factor?

2008-09-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Every Saturday there’s an X-Factor show at current. We’re still in the audition process at the moment but before long our artists will be heading off to boot camp and it is there that the X-Factor journey truly begins. There can only ever be one winner, who will it be this year however?

Will Simon Cowell once more hand-select someone that can be as big as Leona Lewis? I doubt it, it will still be fun to watch though and I can’t wait for the show to get properly going. The audition stage is the best bit of the show though, it’s the stage at which you get a load of nobodies thinking they can sing when they so blatantly can’t. At times it provides for painful viewing, at others however your eyes will be filled with tears of absolute laughter.

Leon Jackson won last year, he’s due to release his debut album on October 20^th 2008 and I’m sure that there are a lot of people out there that just can’t wait to hear it. It should be pretty special, in less than 2 months we will officially find out however and be able to judge as to whether or not Leon’s album is quite as good as that of Leona Lewis.

Expect big things of the X-Factor this year, and keep checking back here for further updates about the show and the progress of it.

The Ting Tings Take A Bow

2008-05-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

Finally the most annoying band ever to have graced the top of the charts has been knocked down. This week Rihanna came, saw, and conquered as her new single ‘Take A Bow’ became the new official UK number one. Now I wouldn’t exactly call myself a Rihanna fan but I’m certainly pleased for her, it’s a refreshing and much needed change for the UK charts and finally The Ting Tings bite the dust with the horrendous ‘That’s Not My Name’ single.

Both Duffy and The Ting Tings currently have two tracks apiece in the Top 40, Duffy deserves that success but The Ting Tings most definitely do not. The ‘Beat It’ cover from Fall Out Boy is currently on the rise also; maybe that could even replace Rihanna next week? Who knows! Let’s rid the charts of The Ting Tings though, this my friends is an emergency.

The UK charts disgusts me sometimes, particularly when tracks such as The Ting Tings, Crazy Frog, Bob The Builder etc. get to claim the much coveted number one spot. People always realise the error of their ways however and it’s only a matter of time before the general record buying public realise just how bad The Ting Tings really are, success is never sustainable when the quality of your music is that poor.

Talent Scouting

2008-05-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today I have been on a musical mission to discover new and exciting artists, talented bands that have yet to gain the recognition that they so deeply deserve. I’ve found plenty! The world is so rich with musical talent, it truly is excellent to see and just casually browsing through Myspace Music for instance this is something that you will most definitely find.

Whichever genre of music you look too there is plenty out there that have not gained the popularity that they so rightly deserve. I really do hate the music industry of today, too many untalented bands flourish whilst many remain far less fortunate that are actually vastly more talented. It’s not right that this should be the case, always has been though and probably always will be.

Some genres of music just seem to get overlooked all too often; genres such as that of Drum and Bass, underground genres that many follow but not enough for these genres ever to be considered as particularly ‘mainstream’. All too many people would happily listen to the latest Hip Hop track of the day whilst ignoring such talent as High Contrast or Q-Project, it’s not right but it happens.

I have a rich dislike for the record industry, I do however think it’s absolutely fantastic that such a rich depth of talent exists out there in the world and that so many artists are as talented as they are. Have a browse through Myspace, try out a few new bands; you might just find you new favourite artist.

Give Me What I Want and Give It To Me Now

2008-05-19T01:50:00.000-07:00

The Kids in Glass Houses track 'Give Me What I Want' is one that I personally am a huge fan of. When I first heard the song on the radio I though that it was a new Motion City Soundtrack tune, how wrong could I be?

I've been following this band for some time now, I've got a signed limited edition vinyl of theirs that I picked up a while back and hopefully some day soon it shall be worth quite a lot of money! I'll probably just keep it however, it's very pretty!

Anyway, no more waffling; Kids in Glass Houses basically are brilliant and this 'Give Me What I Want' track is most definitely no exception. Without further ado, here my friends is the Kids in Glass Houses Give Me What I Want Video. I do hope you enjoy the track just as much as I do!

Play a FoxyTune For Me

2008-05-17T13:56:00.000-07:00

Recently I have discovered the most brilliant music website in the form of FoxyTunes. You can type in the name of any artist and the website will return for you a list of videos for that artist, a biography, website links, photos from Flickr, lyrics, and Amazon links also as to where you can buy the artists albums.

FoxyTunes truly is a brilliant service, particularly for those that have a Squidoo account. It’s an easy way of compiling information about any given artist and using this information to your own advantage; whether this be to compile a blog, music review, or just for general fun.

Basically FoxyTunes is a service that I thoroughly recommend taking a look at. I could seriously spend hours searching through this website, watching music videos of all my favourite artists. The website is run by Yahoo Music and I must say that Yahoo have done an absolutely excellent job with this one!

Mad About Music

2008-05-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

Always I have had a huge passion for music, never do I tire of writing music reviews and forever I shall strive to keep up with the latest goings on within the music business. I am mad about music; music runs through my veins and is a powerful nature of my soul.

I am a music journalist, I love to write and have been writing about music for the past five or six years now. I like to think I am forever getting better at my trade, improving all the time and always gaining in experience. As time passes by I find that my words are freer flowing, I can type all day and still never run out of things to say.

In every passing day I must listen to music, it’s a basic need and daily requirement for me; something as important to me as both eating and sleeping also. I love to listen to music and it fills me with joy to write about it also.

Forever may I remain mad about music, continue to stay passionate about sound and put to words my personal point of view.