The prodigal daughter: Coco Sumner. [María L.]

 

If I told you about Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, you would probably say that you don't know who is him. But if we are talking about Sting, obviously you will know who I am talking about. But today the issue is not the famous singer from The Police, but her daughter: Eliot Paulina Sumner, a.k.a. Coco Sumner.


WHO IS COCO SUMNER?
She is an English musician recording under the band name I Blame Coco.
Eliot began playing music at a young age and writing songs at the age 15. Some of her earlier demos include "I Blame Coco", "Look The Other Way", "Bohemian Love", "Darkstar", "Never Be", "Voice In My Head", "Avion", and "No Smile" (A song which would later appear on her album, The Constant), many of which were imbued with a heavy reggae influence and elements of pop punk.
The band includes Jonny Mott - Keyboards, Alexis Nunez - Drums, Jonas Jalhay - Guitar and Rory Andrew - Bass.
At age 17, Eliot signed a multi-record deal with Island Records, and spent 6 months writing and recording her debut album The Constant. The debut single was Caesar, feat. Robyn, the Swedish electropop songwriter.


I Blame Coco has also worked with Fyfe Dangerfield performing Only Love Can Break Your Heart, Miike Snow, and Sub Focus performing Splash. She has also performed with Pete Doherty, Mr Hudson and Plan B.

DISCOGRAPHY
2010- The Constant. Well, Ia have to admit

NEWS&UPCOMING SHOWS
Currently there are no news to say that I Blame Coco comes to Spain, but we hope it'll change soon. However here's the link to the official site of the band: http://www.iblamecoco.com/  , where you can see news, events, shows, etc.


FAVOURITE SINGLES (linked to youtube)
# Quicker
#Bohemian Love 
#Only Love Can Break Your Heart
#Playwright Fate 

MY OPINION [MARÍA LÓPEZ]

Well, I have to admit that actually I've just met Coco recently, but I've been listening to his album over the past days and I didn't get bored of hearing the deep voice of this girl that with nearly twenty years is making a hole in the world of indie and electropop. 

Some people believe that the fame she's taking is thanks to his father, but the fact is that only owes him the genes of which she has inherited his talent.

WHAT'S YOUR OPINION ABOUT COCO?

Skins OST[María]

Today I (María L.) am going to talk about the music from the E4 series Skins. The british teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, that changes every two seasons (picture from series 3 and 4). It explores issues such as relationships, mental illness (including eating disorders), sexual orientation, drugs and death.
But, what is a TV drama without a good soundtrack? And that's what make Skins so special, in my opinion. The soundtrack is amazing and it's all thanks Alex Hancock & Kyle Lynd. Alex chose the music from series 1 to 3; Kyle is the new music man.

The show starts with an instrumental song created by Fat Segal, it's optimistic and make you feel the style of Skins.The whole OST is a mixture of electronic, alternative and indie music, that in each chapter relates to the personality of a character, but it also includes pop music, reggae, classical music, hip hop, etc.

It includes alternative bands like Band of Skulls, Arcade Fire, Animal Collective, The Strange Boys, etc. and some band more known as Aerosmith, Blondie, The Cure, Europe, Supertramp, Simon&Garfunkel... 
You can find some pop music, as Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue, Take That, Cheryl Cole, etc., and even classical music, like Chopin or Strauss.


The link for the music guide of Skins is: http://www.e4.com/skins/series5/music.html
Here you can find the tracklists of every chapter or character.
And I'll also link to the submission of Kyle (in Spanish): http://skinsla.bligoo.com/content/view/698093/El-nuevo-supervisor-de-musica-de-Skins-Kyle-Lynd.html


And, to  finish, here are some of my favorite songs from the TV series (mainly fram the last series).

 I will be gratefull if you tell us your opinion abour the TV series, the tracklists or some bands that you are interested in. There's also an American version, so, if you want to tell us something about it, we will like to know about the music in it.

Peace & Love 

María López C.

Never Shout Never

The next group of which we talk is called NEVER SHOUT NEVER.


Who is Never Shout Never?

Is an American acoustic pop musician, his real name is Christofer Drew Ingle. 

He was born on February 11, 1991 in Joplin, Missouri, USA. Christofer follows a strict vegan diet. His career as a musician had to abandon theirstudies in high school, Joplin Senior High before graduating. His parents are divorced. His motto is "Love is our weapon" and carries a hippie life style. He is a Christian but was expelled from the church when I was 16. Orientation is heterosexual and supportsgay marriage. Is left handed but plays guitar with his right hand and started to play ineighth grade.

Ingle began making music as NeverShoutNever! in September 2007. His first exposure came through the internet, where he achieved success on MySpace before issuing The Yippee EP on July 29, 2008. On July 30, 2008, he was featured on TRL, where he performed his single "Bigcitydreams". He toured with Hellogoodbye and Ace Enders in the fall of 2008.

As of November 17, 2008, the official spelling of Ingle's alias became NeverShoutNever! It had previously been listed as Never Shout Never on iTunes and his management company's site. An official statement regarding the reason behind the spelling change has not been made available. In an interview, Ingle revealed that there is no longer an exclamation point after his name and that he will spell NeverShoutNever as one word when he is feeling happy, but three words when he isn't. Warner Bros. Records is spelling his name as "Never Shout Never" for the upcoming release.

Never Shout Never started touring with The Scene Aesthetic, The Honorary Title, and The Bigger Lights in late February 2009 and then toured with bands such as Forever the Sickest Kids, The Cab, and Mercy Mercedes, among others in spring 2009 as part of The Bamboozle Roadshow 2009. He played at both The Bamboozle Left 2009 and The Bamboozle 2009.

The Summer EP was released on June 23, 2009. The first single off the EP, titled "Happy," was released on iTunes on March 3, 2009.

It was announced on May 29, 2009, that Ingle had signed to Warner Bros. Records, ending a major-label bidding war. As part of the deal, Ingle will run and make releases on his own imprint label, Loveway Records.

The debut mini-album from Never Shout Never, What Is Love?, was produced by Butch Walker.

In October 2010, Christofer announced in an interview with Phoenix New Times that he would like to drop the name 'Never Shout Never' and become 'Christofer Drew and the Shout' because he is "sick of this band and the negative connotations with the band." He is also planning to switch from acoustic to more "feel-good rock-n-roll" music. 

In November of 2010, Never Shout Never and The Maine did a concert tour, where they had fans gather can foods to help those in need. As a 'Thank you' gift, Never Shout Never and The Maine released a 'Split' Ep titled 'Split - Ep.' As of December 21, 2010, the 'Split - Ep' has been available for free on the Never Shout Never website and continues, to be free, today.

His touring band is known as "The Shout". Composed by:

• Caleb Denison - lead guitar.
• Nathan Ellison - drums.
• Taylor MacFee - bass.
• Dustin Dobernig - keyboards, violin.
• Hayden Kaiser - percussion, tambourine, djembe, xylophone.

DISCOGRAPHY

Albums

• What Is Love? - 2010
• Harmony - 2010

OUR FAVOURITE SINGLES (linked to youtube)

• Trouble
• This S**t Getz Old
• Jane Doe 

MY OPINION (Laura)

Never Shout Never is in my top ten list of music groups and is at number one. I found this group a few years ago and since then I couldn't stop listening to it. I likethe message it conveys. A message of peace. All his songs are positive and cheerful.

The Strokes.

 

At the start of the week we though about make our first "real" post about the classic, the greats, The Beatles, but we though again and we decided to start with a band that we both like: THE STROKES.

Who are the strokes?

The Strokes are an American rock band formed in 1998 in New York City. Its members are Julian Casablancas (lead vocals), Nick Valensi (guitar), Albert Hammond, Jr. (guitar), Nikolai Fraiture (bass guitar) and Fabrizio Moretti (drums and percussion).

Julian, Nick and Fabrizio started playing together when they attended at the school in Manhattan. Later Julian met Nikolai at the Lycée Français de New York, and when he was 13 he was sent to Le Rosey, a boarding school in Switzerland to resolve his drinking problems and improve his academic performance. There he met Albert, and when they both came back to NY, they shared an apartment. They started a band and they performed at Manhattan's popular Mercury Lounge. Ryan Gentles, the Mercury Lounge's booker, was so impressed with the band that he left her job to become their manager. They began rehearsing hard when Gordon Raphael, a small producer of rock music scene in New York, attended one of their first concerts and gave his phone number to the band, saying the band could record a demo for them. They met days later and "The Modern Age" was released in 2001, starting a war among record labels, because according to them, the band was the greatest rock and roll that had emerged in years. 

The Strokes released their first album "Is This It" in America in October 2001, the album received rave reviews from independent publications and from the music industry, including 4 stars from Rolling Stone magazine. The influence of 70's was noted by many critics. After the release, the band toured around the world.

"Room of Fire" is the second album, although it does not reach the quality of Is This It, in it we can find songs worthy of acclaim. Several media have accused this second job as a repeat of their first album. Launched in October 2003, the album kept the familiar style of the band. Already in 2004, The Strokes revealed plans to release a live album. The LP "Live in London" was planned for October 2004 but was abandoned due to problems of recording quality.

In September 2005 "Juicebox" was released, the first single from "First Impressions of Earth" on iTunes, that came to the top of the British and American charts. The album was released officially in January 2006 and quickly rose to number one. This album shows great maturity in each of the instruments and high quality in the lyrics of the songs. Another change that can be seen in this record is that Casablancas shows much more concentration on what he does, demonstrating that his alcohol problems are a thing of the past. This, when maturity is gained by the other members of the band, resulting in one of the best rock records these days.

In early 2007, the band broke up temporarily so that each member undertake personal projects that had been pending for some time.  During a concert in the U.S. in 2007 Julian Casablancas announced that he needed a break and to be absent temporarily, plus they wanted to try to work as soloists. Later an e-mail sent by the Strokes manager Ryan Gentles, confirmed that they needed to "break up" and rest.

Since they met again, they began writing new material. In an interview for Rolling Stone, Julian Casablancas said the group is caught between the future and seventies, and that communication and honesty between them has improved. In November 2010, Casablancas announced that the content and recording the new album, "Angles" were completed and were awaiting only the editing and Nikolai Fraiture announced that the album would be out "by March", with a world tour following the album's release. He later confirmed that the release date would be March 22, 2011.

DISCOGRAPHY

2001- 'The Modern Age EP' & 'Is This It'

2003- 'Room of Fire'

2006- 'First Impression of the Earth'

2011- 'Angles' {On March 21}

NEWS&UPCOMING SHOWS.

In November of 2010 The Strokes along with Arctic Monkeys and Portishead were the first to confirm his appearance in the 2011 edition of the FIB (Festival Internacional de Benicassim) in Spain. [Click here to get some info about the Festival]

 

OUR FAVOURITE SINGLES (linked to youtube)

#Last Nite 

#You only live once

#Reptilia

#12:51

#The end has no end

 

 

OUR OPINION

This time, we have to say "our" because we are agree about what we think of The Strokes. It's a really good band with lots of 70's influence and a characteristic kind of rock music. 

 

Maria: As you can see in the right side of the page, Julian Casablancas is one of my favourite singers, I do actually prefer him singing alone than with the rest of the band, but I love The Strokes as well. Albert Hammond, Jr. and the rest of the band are really good musician sand the indie rock genre is one of my favs.

 

Laura: The Strokes is one of my favorite bands. Although not very known here in Spain but the group has great songs. And I hope you feel encouraged to listen to The Strokes all those who didn′t know this group.

 

QUESTIONS

To make you easier to comment on this blog, we propose some questions to you:

 

# Have you ever listened to the music of 'The Strokes'? What do you think about the band?

# Do you like this music genre? What other bands do you know?

# Would you like to attend to the FIB?

# Do you want us to make a post about any band in particular? 

 

 

We hope you've enjoyed our "first official post" and if you hadn't met 'The Strokes' you begin to like them as much as we like them.

PEACE & LOVE

Laura and Maria