The Vaccines are an English indie rock band who formed in West London in 2010. The band’s debut album, ‘What Did You Expect from the Vaccines?’, was released through Columbia Records on 14 March 2011 and reached number 4 in the UK Album Chart. They were the biggest selling new band of 2011 and have drawn comparisons to The Jesus and Mary Chain,The Strokes and Ramones.

The support act ‘Joy’ did not get the crowd going at all. In fact by the third song the crowd was shouting “off, off, off”; which was disappointing as we had queued for 3 hours to make sure we got to the front row. However once ‘The Vaccines’ came on stage with ‘ No Hope’, the atmosphere changed instantly with a very excited crowd, screaming and shouting. The band lifted the whole audience into a frenzy which carried on for the entire performance.

This was the first time I have seen them, and my first time at Venue Cymru which was a great venue as it was small and created a great atmosphere. The crowd were brilliant; everyone was singing along throughout the night, which added to the, already great, atmosphere.

Just when I thought the gig couldn’t get any better, ‘The Vaccines’ played us a new, original song, ‘Melody Calling’ and they did not disappoint! To end the night perfectly they encored with ‘Norgaard’, (saved the best ‘till last!)

‘The Vaccines’ sounded amazing and the performance was so much better than I expected, I am very glad I caught the last show of their UK tour.

I would definitely see them again as I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I would highly recommend ‘The Vaccines’ to anyone who has a taste for indie rock and who likes a concert with a good atmosphere and a lot of dancing.

Innovation and ecological thinking come together in a vertical forest which is expected to be completed this year in Milan. Bosco Verticale (Vertical Forest) is a project for metropolitan reforestation that contributes to the regeneration of the environment and urban biodiversity without the implication of expanding the city upon the territory. A model of vertical densification of nature within the city! When complete, it will be the greenest building in Milan! Literally! Considering Milan is one of Europe’s most populated cities, they say this is a solid inovation in bringing clean air to the city center while introducing a beautiful design. Each apartment balcony will feature trees that will provide shade during the summer months, only to drop their leaves in winter to allow for winter sunlight.

I have to say on first impression, this looked superb. The thought of everyone playing their acoustic guitars, violins and cello’s in their forest high rise flat initially flicked my switch rather than light my forest camp fire; but then I thought has anyone thought of the view vs bush issue here? I’m not sure I’d want all those bushes blocking a summer evening sunset? What about insects, bugs, pollen, overgrown bushes invading other peoples minimal views, tree maintenance, fire hazards? The more I think of it the more this seems like a complete nightmare. Will this really work? and will it really look like the artists impression!?

There are two tower apartment complexes which contain a total of 400 residential units. The facade of the buildings will be covered with 730 trees, 5,000 shrubs, and 11,000 perennial plants. It is expected to have the same ecological impact as 10,000 square meters of forest !

The designers explain that the trees and plants will help to filter out air pollution, a major problem in big cities like Milan. “Vertical Forest helps to build a micro-climate and to filter dust particles which are present in the urban environment,” write the designers. “The diversity of the plants helps to create humidity, and absorb CO2 and dust, produces oxygen, protects people and houses from the sun’s rays and from acoustic pollution.”

This is all well and good but will the novelty wear off and in the long run will people settle for the stunning summer view instead? This is great PR but I have my doubts whether this a real long term solution?

…….although I really hope it is!

Construction on the buildings began in 2008 and they are slated for completion before the end of the year.

It was the May Bank Holiday weekend and I was driving with the sun set against a pure blue sky not mention the scattered white clouds that just wouldn’t keep still. It’s not very often a track stops you in your steps but here is one that did. A surprising combination in both melody and lyrics this song grabs the imagination and it certainly grabbed mine. The song is titled ‘Bath Is Black’ and the artist is Marika Hackman. Marika is a mix of darkness, light and reality with a surreal spoon to add. What more can you ask for I ask? So I googled her and found this acoustic version of the song which equally pleased my expectation after hearing the studio version on BBC Radio One a few days earlier. If you buy her album you’ll here the magical hypnotic sounds that support the intriguing combination of words that make ‘Bath is Black’ a welcoming airing on the much desired radio waves. Thumbs up to BBC Radio One for helping bring this to the masses.

What they say about Marika:

Marika’s music channels something very different to the happy-clappy nature of recent folk, hers is a far more potent vision in the lineage of Syd Barrett, but presented by an enigmatic beauty with a striking vocal delivery more akin to that of Nico. Testament to Marika’s rare talent can be heard on a recent covers EP that disclosed a raft of influences from Warpaint and The Knife to Nico and Nirvana.

Lead single on the mini album ‘Cannibal’, is an outwardly accessible, and eminently listenable song which BBC Radio 1’s Zane Lowe named his‘Hottest Record in the World’. On Cannibal, an outwardly accessible, and eminently listenable song there are some deep ruminations about the conflicts between human evolution and personal greed.

Intrigue is at the heart of Marika’s music, but there’s something gloriously attainable about her as an artist, and her commitment to touring and meeting with a receptive audience who are searching for the very same antidotes to the challenges of modern life.

To find out more on Marika Hackman follow all relevant links, we did! Personally, I’ll be going for the blue vinyl which you can purchase if you click here

Since I mentioned David Bowie in the Andy Warhol article a few days ago, I thought it was pretty apt to talk about Bowie’s new single ‘The Next Day’. Few people understand things the way David Bowie does? A master of mystery, theatre and more…… need we say more!? Musically and cinematically, ‘The Next Day’ is just that: A genius build of mystique and hidden meaning? Bowie plays with us in this video and that’s why we love him, and always have. Forever in play on his visionary pitch. Some might think there are deeper messages here such as the eyeballs on the plate, which for some reason remind me of The Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth along with the Stigmata references that largely play in this creative offering; but hey, I’ll leave that for others to decipher. Whatever it is there are multi level suggestions here that leave me smiling and that’s just what the best art does. It makes you feel good and for those who want to dig deeper, then there is a wealth of debate to be had, if you want it? I particularly love the way track builds and peaks around 1.36 where he sings ‘Here I am’ followed by the intensity of Gary Oldman’s close up shot and then the bleeding hands. The track then moves into it’s roll out both musically, cinematically…….and effortlessly.

Gary Oldman and Marion Cotillard, who won the Academy Award for her portrayal of Edith Piaf, co-star in the video, which takes place in a pub with a cast of characters straight out of Vatican City.

Oldman portrays a priest who at one point condemns the Christ-like Bowie, the frontman in the band playing at the bar. There’s also a Cardinal handing out cash, a praying nun and a saintly character played by Cotillard. At the the end Bowie says “Thank you Gary, thank you Marion, thank you everybody…..” and in a flash, just like Bilbo’s speech in Lord Of The Rings, he disappears without us having the chance to say thank you David!

“The Next Day” is the second video off the album which shares the same title. “Where Are We Now?”

A collection of never-before-seen portraits of Andy Warhol, taken by British photographer Steve Wood in 1981, opened recently at the new 345meatpacking building in New York City. The exhibition is call ‘Lost Then Found’ and the images were taken over the course of two hours and capture the pop artist in various un-Warhol-like poses. Wood told the BBC “The shoot was easy, it was very instinctive” and “Andy was very straightforward to work with. He trusted me to direct him as I wanted – to show him at his best. There was a great chemistry between us.” Wood explained that the 35mm slides had since languished in his filing cabinet “gathering dust” for more than three decades, hence the ‘Lost Then Found’ title of the exhibition.

Andy Warhol fused music and art to help give rise to one of the most important and influential bands of the 1960′s, The Velvet Underground. Creativity needs the freedom to naturally develop in an equally creative environment, ‘the chemistry’. Andy helped create that by managing the group and allowing them to become the house band at his studio, the Factory, and his Exploding Plastic Inevitable events. What has this got to with The Lost Then Found exhibition you ask? Well, music rises through all forms of art and when reading about the lost and found exhibition and these previously unseen images (that the British photographer Steve Wood thought were worthless!?) it posed many questions about what Andy Warhol stood for, represented and particularly where we stand in today’s society in terms of creativity, art and music.

Where Are We Now? Has music lost it’s creative edge and can it be found again?

The genius of Andy Warhol and the way he fused both music and art in supporting the creative need to live and breathe in the right environment can bring us many lessons for the creative economy of music today. In the 1960′s art schools were independent, whereas now they have University status and therefore have become more institutionalised. A lot of the great musicians in the past 30 years have come from from the art school environment. Should we be looking at freeing up the art schools again and providing interesting spaces where the creative and intellectual curiosity can experiment freely to inspire new thoughts and visions? In the past, this has provided a rich soil for both British and American culture and future economies of depth and longevity such as artists like David Bowie and REM who have both quoted Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground as a major influence on their careers. Has music lost it’s creative edge in the West? With the domination of TV programmes such as X Factor, it could be said that Simon Cowell has been a spearhead for dumming down the nation in music, talent, education and spirit? Can we put a price on the damage already done? What do we creatively aspire too? Is that lost and can it be found ?

The Velvet Underground (with Andy Warhol and Nico)

Andy Warhol designed The Velvet Underground’s first album cover – which incorporated the banana symbol and the phrase “peel slowly and see”. On early editions of the album, the banana skin was a sticker which could be removed to display the flesh underneath.

The Velvet Underground’s first album cover

In the words of David Bowie: “Andy Warhol looks a scream. Hang him on my wall.” “Andy Warhol” is a song written by David Bowie in 1971 for the album Hunky Dory

The previously unseen images will be on display at 345meatpacking in New York in the “Lost Then Found” May 3 through May 12.

In the seemingly abundant west we have got used to living in a disposable culture where we truly value very little. There is scant consciousness of the resources we throw away both personally and as a collective. It doesn’t take a genius to understand the planet cannot sustain this behaviour indefinitely. This poignant reminder highlights the opportunities we are oblivious to when things come too easily and are discarded without care. Sometimes we don’t recognise the value of things until they are gone and we are left with nothing.

What a beautiful example all involved in the Landfill Harmonic Orchestra have set. Nothing is taken for granted. Refuse is used in every conceivable way. There is no waste.

This project shows us that even when faced with the terrible hardships poverty can bring, music is not seen as a dispensable luxury but an instrument to dignify the spirit, and propel us forward where what once seemed impossible is easily achieved.

A truly inspiring piece.

With Stacks back on my radar and Raleigh Ritchie in my sonic sensory soup bowl, there was one more band on the bill in the form of the four piece powerhouse that are China Rats. Following recent gigs at SXSW (A pretty important festival in America, to those who don’t know?) and supporting The Cribs at The 100 Club as part of the Converse ‘Get Dirty’ gig series, China Rats are already making waves and on the up with other key appearances this year at the Benicassim festival in Spain.

Having now seen them twice in similar sized venues I’d love to see them on a larger stage kicking out their crafted tunes into sea of willing music fans. The tightness of this band was really evident tonight for the loudness of the sound punched straight through my gut like a free train from transcendental……as in ‘surpassing all others, superior.

What struck me about China Rats tonight was I recognised all the god damn songs from the 1st time I saw them play back at Notting Hill Arts back in March. That’s pretty good considering I couldn’t remember one tune after seeing the Libertines pogo around the Shepherds Bush empire many moons ago. Not that I want to confuse you in any way in that this band have any resemblance to The Libertines, that’s not the case at all. In my book, China Rats surpass a lot of bands because they achieve a simplicity in writing insanely powerful pop songs with a 50/60s guitar feel but at the same hint at greater song writing ability in the form of anthemic proportions.

It’s safe to say I loved the gig at Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar and China Rats pumped out their set to finish the night off on a real high. In fact China Rats create so much energy I wonder if they could sell back to the national grid?