Review: Stevie B Wolf NEW! EP Alone + Alive Out Now!

I apologise for how late this post has taken me to post, I've just been so caught up in all the Christmas festivities that I've not really got round to blogging as regularly as I would like to...but it's here now.

As readers of this blog may or may not already know I am a HUGE fan of Stevie B. Wolf and after hearing his cover of  one of my favourite bands Blink 182's "Dammit" I just had to hear what the rest of his new album/EP,- "Alone +Alive" which is out now- sounded like as this cover to me sounds like a really good cover even though I thought at first there are some songs like Blink 182, Foo Fighter's, Muse, 30 Second To Mars, Adele, Fall Out Boy etc that you just don't touch at all as they are classic songs that were perfect the first time they came around, these covers to me anyway just end up sounding like bad X Factor karaoke versions of these classic songs and I always end up hating them and it just gets me angry and feeling like "why would anyone do that to that particular song?!", but as I said in my last post about Stevie B Wolf this is a really chilled, laidback, acoustic version of the original song which I love.

Anyway I digress...anyhew after hearing this I really wanted to hear what the other songs from this new EP sounded like and of course when I messaged the man of the moment Stevie B Wolf on Facebook about when I could get my hands on this new EP I immediately downloaded all the songs when they became available to download. And thank god I did download these songs as I love listening to all these songs, and if you haven't already downloaded "Alone + Alive" then I'd seriously advise you to download it!

And you can't imagine how excited I was to hear that there was a music video for "Alone +Alive" that premiered on www.popmatters.com's website on the 18th November. I of course just had to watch this as I felt like I was so excited about this that if I didn't see it I was going to burst with how excited I was.

If you haven't seen this music video yet, here is the link to Pop Matters's website where you can also read their interview with Stevie B. Wolf:

http://www.popmatters.com/post/stevie-b.-wolf-alone-alive-video-premiere/

All of the songs I think would sound so amazing on my local radio Spire FM or on "Later Live...with Jools Holland" as this would probably in my opinion get more people to listen to his music, but it just frustrates me that you'll probably never hear him on either of these instead you'll have to listen to One Direction or Justin Bieber and Stevie B. Wolf is in my view just as good if not better...well probably it's fair to say that his music is a different genre but it's definitely music that will get you tapping your toes along to...and I have just seen a tweet from Aled Philips from the now broken up band Kids In Glass Houses about how he would like to see some new bands come through so nobody has to watch the same pop acts like the bands I have mentioned above.

Also this may just be me on a rant here but where are all the A+R Music Talent Scouts from record labels when you have fantastic singer/songwriters like Stevie B. Wolf, Elissa Franceshi, dj's Eli +Fur, Mike Cavanagh etc as these all definitely have the potential to be HUGE artists! (and I think if it's all about the money for these big music labels then I definitely think that Stevie B. Wolf and some of the mentioned artists above and more that I have heard all have the potential to make the labels money!)

Anyhew....apart from "Dammitt" which gets stuck in your head and has an acoustic melancholic feel to it as I said in an earlier post about this cover from Stevie B. Wolf, and despite me feeling a little disappointed with the "Alone + Alive" music video, with this video having Stevie B. Wolf standing on what looks like a platform with the guitarists and the drummer standing in designated areas that were marked out in black, but I think this does remind me of James Bay's "Hold Back The River" music video as this is quite boring to see James Bay standing in the middle of a room playing the guitar with the drummer and guitarist stood around him while this room seems to be spinning, but I think that both songs are so distinctive in other words so catchy that as soon as you, now this could just be me but when I think about either song I immediately see in my mind these two music videos.

One thing I don't get in this music video is the different people like the little girl in a prom dress with mascara running down her face, the drunken man in a suit smoking a cigarette, the guy drinking in underwear, a white T-shirt, a bath robe and a bottle of some kind of drink in his hand or the man smoking with a suit on that's also suppose to be drunk...why are they in the music video?

I do like this song as it does definitely have a beachy feel to it, and I have to say that when I listen to it I do get this idea like there could be a group of people including Stevie B. Wolf sat round a bonfire on the beach singing along with his guitar then in the middle of the song he and the band could be on a stage with fairy lights set up across a piece of the beach where people are dancing and a girl walks in watching Stevie B. Wolf perform and when the song finishes he looks over at her.

I have just realised that this may sound just a little bit like the idea behind "Fire In Your Lungs" and that with Stevie B. Wolf saying about this song having duality with it saying about how love in general and heartbreak is never all one way and that this song has duality meaning that on one hand it's like one of the many songs that say "I miss you!", "I want you back!", and also like lots of other songs it says "We are never going to get back!", and "Don't call me!" that this idea may not be appropriate for this song.

Anyhew...in "Nothing But A Name", I like the guitars in this song and it does feel a little bit sad as it sounds to me that this song is saying that every now and again the girl's face that Stevie B. Wolf broke up with pop's up in his minds eye every now and again even though he did his best to erase her from his mind and that he acted like a menace until she finally walked away, and they should have been like a photograph that freezes a particular moment in time but they just ended up being two people who were hurt by this.

When I listen to "Getting Through" I like the sound of the keyboards with the guitars I think they go together really well, and I can just envisage sitting in a bar somewhere and this being played in the background and I just thought that for the time of year it would go really well if you were sitting right next to a warm fire having a nice mug of hot chocolate...very atmospheric! But that is one of the best things about Stevie B. Wolf's music that no matter what the occasion, the time of year or what mood your in his music is definitely going to get you feeling better and it will definitely get stuck in your head so you could carry it with you in your head all day...if your out and about with no access to Youtube or an Ipad where you could download it.

"Bold" I have just listened to really does feel like to me one of those songs on many albums that you've heard that's about Track 9 or Track 10 itself that signifies the end of the album so you feel "Oh is this album over then?" and you have to have a moment to decide whether you want to replay the whole album again or whether you just want to play a specific song,-and I have to say that that is a decision I would never do as I'm already so indecisive and I wouldn't know which specific song to choose if I had to decide, I probably be there all day at my Laptop not knowing which one to listen to again-.

This is going to probably be the last post I post on here until the new year so have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Fast and Furious are in the preliminary stages of developing spinoffs and prequels!

I know you may or may not have already seen this news story doing the rounds via various websites on the internet but I haven't had a chance to blog about it yet so I'm just catching up.

Anyhew...according to Variety.com not only will there be three more Fast and Furious films but there might be some wiggle room for this, and that there might be spinoffs or even prequels.

According to Jeff Shell chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group:

"...Vin (Diesel) has a vision in mind for three more, so let's get three more done and then see where we are from there..."

And according to Variety.com after the success of Fast and Furious 7 with this film being the first in the series of Fast and Furious to top $1 billion and benefited from the growth of foreign markets like China, where it made over $390 million, and also according to Jeff Shell China wasn't the only foreign market that this last film benefited from:

"It's new in China to them, it's new in Russia to them, it's new in most Latin America, so this is a series that's accelerating in my view, not slowing down."

So I'm thinking with this success of the last film why wouldn't the studio want to hold onto this money making machine a bit longer by probably now I think about it probably doing a Harry Potter style thing and do spinoffs, prequels, origin stories, etc -although when I've seen these films they do tend to be crap and films that just disappoint because you end up thinking why on earth did I waste my time watching that, so I'm thinking that these probably don't end up making as much money as other kinds of things that the studio could do to make money on the franchise-, the sky is probably the limit if you think about it with money making ideas for this movie franchise.
"
So I'm guessing the studio also had this thought as Universal Pictures Chairman Donna Langley has confirmed that according to Variety.com talks were taking place about ways to broaden the series' reach:

"We're certainly in conversations about how we can expand the franchise now..."

She went on to say that:

" It's an ensemble cast and there's room to bring character's in and out ".

This sounds all very exciting news but also according to Variety.com this next instalment will not be having any of the insane car stunts like ones in other films I'm thinking in particular like the ones in the last film such as the one where the car goes through 3 buildings when the team go to Dubai or the car stunt when the team go to get the computer hacker who has created "The God's Eye" and all the cars parachute out the back of a airplane and when they reach the ground Paul Walker's character has to run up the bus and jumps off onto Letty's car to get back onto land or even the stunt when Vin Diesel's character and the computer hacker jump off the mountain with only the computer hacker wearing a safety helmet, as according to this same article on Variety.com's website, Vin Diesel and the people over at the studio promise that the upcoming films will be different in tone from the adventures that proceeded them. That's why the studio brought in F. Gary Grey, the director of "Straight Outta Compton" to guide the eighth film in the series.

Vin Diesel has also said that:

" We have a director who is going to bring the darkness out the character", and the actor also promises that this next film will be similar to his previous collaborations with F. Gary Grey such as the 2003 "A Man Apart".

Jeff Shell the chairman of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group has also said that:

" You can't keep having every movie have bigger and bigger stunts forever and ever and ever."

And he goes on to say:

"Eventually you have to really focus on the story. We'll still have big stunts but bringing in this amazing storyteller is going to be great."

I understand that it would be even more ridiculous than the stunts they do now in the films if all the people involved with these films were to keep doing insane stunts forever as there is a limit to when stunts stop looking wow! that's amazing and that stunt just looks like it was totally insanely ridiculous...but I do have to say that these insane car stunts are probably one of the reasons why apart from the cars, the music, the action etc that makes these films so popular so I don't know if the stunts they will have in this next film will be able to stand up to stunts from the other movies and prove just as wow as other stunts.

Must read PledgeMusic campaign....The Fever, The Focus

You may or may not have already heard about this news, but I'm soooo excited about this news I just had to post about it up on here,-but I've been so ill recently with the flu on top of dealing with a Deep Vein Thrombosis that it has taken until now for me to blog about this-, anyhew Alex Davies and Ed Minton from Elliott Minor have gotten together to create The Fever, The Focus and have launched a PledgeMusic campaign to launch their new 2016 mini album!

Here is the link to their PledgeMusic page where you can sign up to buy anything and all manner of cool things from this new mini-album of theirs,- which as I am a massive fan of Elliott Minor for ages ever since I first heard "Parallel Worlds", and as soon as I first heard this very exciting news I of course ran over to PledgeMusic's website as quickly as possible and signed myself up to get my hands on this new mini-album of theirs as well as a download of their NEW! demo format version of "Hurricane"-, tickets for their secret launch party show which is on the 5th March at the London Garage (on the PledgeMusic page tickets for this show can ONLY be purchased through PledgeMusic), to even Alex and Ed coming round to your home with acoustic instruments for "...for an evening of music for you and your friends and family..."  And even more but your just going to have to see for yourselves just what you could get your hands on!

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/thefeverthefocus

In exchange for all of us the fans pledging to buy any of these items you'll get to have access to behind-the-scenes recording updates, video clips and many more updates...you could even if you follow them on Facebook be able to see much more updates!

If you unlike me you haven't heard The Fever, The Focus's demo version of "Hurricane" here is the link to their Soundcloud page where you can have a little listen and see what you think of it or if you want to download this or their cover of The Weekend's "I Can't Feel My Face" then I'm afraid you'll have to have pre-ordered this or sign in to PledgeMusic to access this content on their PledgeMusic page.

https://soundcloud.com/the-fever-the-focus

And if your anything like me you'll probably already have downloaded the demo version of "Hurricane", so I think it is fair to say that this has a feel of Pop Rock about it, so I can't wait to hear what the rest of this new mini-album sounds like when it comes out on the 30th April.

Fast and Furious 8 Has Finally Found A Director

You may or may have not have heard through the internet, various websites or through Vin Diesel's own Facebook page but if you haven't heard then here it is: There will be a Fast and Furious 8 and it will be located in New York, but there hasn't been a decision made on who will direct this...as Vin Diesel said himself on his own Facebook page:

"My producing partner Neal (Moritz) would love for me to just sign off on a director, but this is too special a franchise, so these matters have to be very carefully handled. To be clear, NO ONE has been offered to helm Fast 8...let alone seen a script".

But today it looks like the search for a director is now over:

And possibly a trilogy might be on the way, also as according to Vin Diesel's own Facebook page:

"Universal has been so good to me and so trusting of the vision...they have been like family...I promised the studio and I promised I would deliver one last Trilogy to end the saga. I will announce the directors on my next post".

And sure enough this picture pops up:



So this looks like to me that a director has been chosen out of all the names that were thrown into the hat such as Louis Leterrier who has directed "Transporter 2", "The Incredible Hulk", "Clash Of The Titans" and "Now You See Me",- (this film in case your wondering was the film that starred Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Woody Harelsson all have their own magic tricks but all of them are mysteriously contacted and put together to form "the four horseman", and during one of their performances they pull off a heist showing the audience that they have seemingly at random chosen a man out of the audience and that he has been transported to France and into the bank vault of one of France's biggest banks and then they disappear, this leads to Interpol sending someone from France to get the money back but also the FBI send in Mark Ruffalo to arrest the team all the time having Morgan Freeman playing a character called Thaddeus Bradley wanting to find out the secrets of these magicians as that's his job as he makes money doing this, but by the end of the movie there's the ingenious twist that Mark Ruffalo put all these magicians together and has each given this "the four horsemen" the opportunity to be invited into "The Magician's Circle")-...

And that Deadline Hollywood.com's website through The Hollywood Reporter's suggestions of William Eubank (he has directed "The Signal") and Adam Wingard (he has directed "You're Next" and "The Guest") maybe also directing this next film in the franchise were all wrong and that the honour of directing this next Fast and Furious film has gone to by the looks of this picture F. Gary Grey who has just directed "Straight Outta Compton" for Universal Studios, "The Italian Job" (the Marky Mark remake with Charliz Theron) and "A Man Apart" that also starred the man of this very same Fast and Furious franchise Vin Diesel all the way back in 2003 has been chosen for this role of director.

And by this link to F. Gary Grey's Twitter page, we the fans like myself of this movie franchise now know the date for the next film in this series:

http://twitter.com/FGaryGray/status/652181877587992576/photo/1

But this date as well as this news about the director could all change.

But with Vin Diesel saying in his last post on his Facebook page saying:

"...but this is too special a franchise, so these matters have to be very carefully handled. Universal has been so good to me so trusting of the vision...they have been like family. I promised the studio I would deliver one last trilogy to end the saga. I will announce the directors on my next post..."

Empire Magazine's website seem to think that this might be suggesting that there will be possibly more than one director at the helm for this next Fast and Furious film...interesting theory...very interesting I'd say, I guess we'll have to wait and see if this theory is just that a theory or there really will be more than one director at the helm of this film.

Ssh! One Style Secret To Keep Under Your Hat: How To Dr. Frankenstein Your Tired, Worn Out Looking Pair Of Trainers/ or Sneakers

I just saw this on Mr.Porter.com's website's The Journal page and I thought that everybody including myself has to read this article, as it can't be just me that has this problem of after a while of owning a pair of trainers, sneakers, plimsolls or whatever you call them, the shininess of whatever colour they were when you first bought them,-particularly with white trainers, plimsolls, sneakers etc- wanes and you start noticing marks of dirt on them from where they've been worn repeatedly, or they've got marks on them from where you've been wearing them when it's been raining and you've walked through puddles, and the laces look all dirty, and then this again might just be me but by the next time you want to wear these trainers you see all of this and you start to feel like they look too dirty to wear out and about that maybe you should start looking for some new trainers because you can't just put these in the washing machine anymore!

And now thanks to Details Magazine Style Director Eugene Tong's "How To Guide..." on Mr. Porter.com's website's The Journal page which includes a handy Tutorial showing the "5 Golden Rules To Sneaker /or Trainer Maintenace" and what kind of tools you'll need for this job, and thankfully all these tools you'll need for this job are amazingly cheap,-well for the website they are amazingly cheap- but they are also of the highest quality such as:









Jason Markk's Premium Shoe Cleaning Essential Kit for £16, this includes a gentle biodegradable shoe cleaner that will clean up to 100's of pairs of shoes before you have to restock with the full size cleaner, and this kit also includes a wooden handled brush. This brush is made of synthetic bristles so is tough enough to use on all colours and material types, but for delicate materials and leather use the Premium Shoe Cleaning Brush priced at £10 as well as using the Premium Shoe Cleaner priced at £17.

And what can also be great to use to keep your trainers looking as fresh as when you bought them is Jason Marrkk's 200ml Repel Spray, this water based formula creates a durable barrier that protects a variety of materials including leather, nylon, nubuck, canvas, suede and leather without altering the look or feel of the shoes.

For all other product details on Jason Marrkk's range of amazing products that are good to use in maintaining your trainer's /or sneaker's or plimsolls or whatever you call them and stopping them looking drab and dirty, or if you just want to see this tutorial or if you just want to have a gander at this article, here's the link below:

http://www.mrporter.com/journal/the-tutorial/how-to-keep-your-sneakers-clean/418?cm_sp=shoeguide-_-sneakerscleana2-_-01-10-15

New Must Listen To Music Alert!: Martin Luke Brown

You may or may not have already heard of Martin Luke Brown and his amazing song "Scars On Scars", if you have you might have heard his music either through the wonder that is Facebook or through BBC Introducing, Beats 1 via Jack Garrett, Radio 1, or if you were at this year's Boardmasters, or if you went to this year's Reading and Leeds Festival or if you've listened to Huw Stephen's show, but either way you just have to give his music a listen to as it's instantly addictive!

And I have to say that just thinking about this song I have now got this song stuck in my head...but that's no bad thing as I love this song and I have to say that as soon as I heard this song I headed to Amazon's website and just had to download this song as well as his other EP "Take Out On Me" because I really wanted to hear what if any songs or albums were on Amazon's website sounded like as this song was so good.

And I have to say thank god I did download these two EP's!

It frustrates me that he hasn't had as much press attention as some of the crapper artists or bands such as the made to order 1 direction bands that seem to be made and don't really get any press attention or they do but they become overnight hits, and get access to all the shows on primetime TV so everybody in the public domain can hear or at least have access to their music and can therefore build their fan base or at least gets an instant fan base but haven't had to really work at building this, or the latest band that Radio 1 are typically going crazy for at the moment like Foals,- if your a fan of Foals this is just my opinion and I won't apologise for that, but I don't know how after they're god awful performance on "Late Live...with Jools Holland" where they were just screaming, you can say that was a great performance,- because he sounds so amazing and with one listen to his EP you'll become an instant fan of his music and no doubt like me you might feel sad when you get to the last song on "Take Out On Me" and have to immediately press the replay button to listen to all of these songs again.

I can also guarantee that by the end of today you will be humming the tune to "Scars On Scars".

I also have to say that after listening to this EP it definitely has a feel of Tyler James' album "A Place I Go", with the first track from the EP "Take Out Of Me" having a definite Justin Timberlake vibe to it with a definite R 'n' B vibe to it.

Also, track 2 on this EP "Stitch" also has an old school motown beat to it, and it might just be me but the following track "Thorns" always make me think of something floating down a river, and now that I just thought about it the music video for this song could be that Martin (who's from Leicester by the way), is stood overlooking a bridge staring at an envelope thinking should he post it or not then he decides to crumple it up and then throws it in the river below and then walks away singing whilst having flashing images running through his mind of "the girl" that he means the song for, and then you see that the girl is walking down by the same river that the letter is making its way down and she picks it up and by the end of the video she knocks on his front door having read the letter and it saying all the words in the song and shows him that she got the letter.

But this could just be me. He is also doing a couple of free tour dates, so if you would like to see him live in the flesh and see how fantastic he is with your very own eyes then why not go on over to his Facebook page and see if he is coming to a venue near you!

Also if downloading "Scars On Scars" and "Take Out On Me" isn't enough for you then why not sign up to his mailing list to get a free download of his song "Nostalgia".

David Beckham for Belstaff at Mr. Porter

You'll want to take a look at this as it may just be me but not only are they're a few very nice stylish things in the new collection that Belstaff have just brought out, but you'll also want to take a gander at Mr. Porter's interview with David Beckham and the new short Outlaws film starring David Beckham and Harvey Keitel.

I have to say that now that I've seen this short film it seems like to me it has a feeling of Kill Bill like Quentin Tarentino has had his hands at the film, but now that I think about it this feeling could be more to do with the music being played in this Geremy Jasper written and directed short film that was made in partnership with Belstaff and executive produced by Liv Tyler.

Here is the link to the interview for your eyes to peruse over:

http://www.mrporter.com/journal/the-interview/mr-david-beckham/490?cm_mmc=Email-_-JournalDigestC-_-170915-_-GBTHEINTERVIEW

But it does seem to me that the director of this film may have taken some inspiration from Kill Bill as it seems like to me that in this film when David Beckham is sat down at a table with the same women who is sat at the back of the cinema at the end of the short film laughing it makes me think of when in Kill Bill: Vol 2 Uma Therman's "The Bride" character sits down with Esteban after driving to Mexico,- one of many father figures that Bill acquires that is also a pimp and a dugs lord- to talk about Bill and where is he.

And it also has a kind of a Kill Bill storyline to it as Harvey Keitel plays a revenge filled maniacal film director with what looks like horses going after David Beckham and him zooming off dressed head to toe in biker leathers zooming off across the Mexican desert on one of David Beckham's own motorcycles.

Also there seems to be in this short film a set of conjoined twins, evil bikers, a bearded lady and Ms. Katherine Turner starring as a trapeze artist.

And David Beckham looking like he's zooming off into the sunset with a girl in toe on his motorcycle.

And I have to say that it might just be me but all of these items from this new collection give you some really great ideas for any upcoming events, occasions or even for Christmas...I know, I know I said the C word and it's not even been Halloween yet but it's just a thought!