It seems Zonuts is not closing down! It has just moved to wordpress . Let the music bloggery continue apace! (Maggie and Maity...you want to join us there? Anyone else want to join?)
It is with a heavy heart that I announce that I am abandoning Zorro on Doughnuts . I feel like it has always received somewhat stepmotherly treatment from me. I also find it sad that the lively banter found on my main blog is rarely seen at ZoNuts. I suppose it's a bit sad to have comments in mind, but I do enjoy the discussions in the commentspace. Do people think that comments on a music blog have to be about the music? Do people feel obliged to comment only after having heard the tracks? I have [...]
This post about the Smiths is going to be tricky. I've had their singles collection on hard disks past and present since 2005. But I didn't really like them until... today . The Smiths have been lurking about in my cultural consciousness since 2004 or so. I think I read about them in an article about Radiohead. They were described as the quintessential 1980s British indie band. As I began to expand my understanding of rock history, their name kept popping up. A rock geek like me is supposed to like the Smiths. Apparently they returned guitar rock [...]
T asked me to make a good old fashioned mixtape, and I have obliged. Salil made one too, and you can find it at The Rant Reader . It's good. Dancy and all. Multi-culti, even. My list isn't particularly new, but most of the songs are from this decade. I've thrown in some oldies, and a cover of a Dylan song, because they've been on heavy rotation. Most of the songs aren't that weird. Except the Animal Collective single. I think the collection moves along together nicely. [...]
~ English conductor Sir Thomas Beecham commenting on a cello player's talent. Although this is an arbitrary post to pick up after being AWOL for so long, but I really don't want to talk about life, universe, or anything else along those lines. I have been listening to some western classical music since December last year. No apparent reason, just happened to stumble across it as I was aimlessly trying to find something interesting to distract me while waiting for a job... which, by the way, I still haven't found, so I would appreciate any help [...]
A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys Painted wings and giant rings make way for other toys One grey night it happened-- Jackie Paper came no more And Puff, that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar. His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane Without his lifelong friend, Puff could not be brave So [...]
What makes Oasis one of the greatest bands of all time? It beats me. They're not the cleverest popsmiths around. And Noel Gallagher plays fast and loose with originality. Even their album art seems neither-here-nor-there most of the time. Oasis makes me want to smile and cry and pump my fist. They make me want to sing along -- even to admittedly derivative and silly songs. They've discovered some warm fuzzy place at the heart of British guitar music, channeling the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Stone Roses, The La's...but they generate a sound that somehow [...]
The Dodos are a band I recently heard on one of my Music Discovery Days. They're just two guys -- a guitarist and a drummer. These two instruments have conspired with the vocals to generate a simple yet exciting sound. These chaps seem to be talented instrumentalists (to the extent that I can pick up on virtuosity) but they haven't sacrificed that essential ingredient -- the elusive pop sensibility . I'm saying all sorts of things about them based on just two songs. But what songs they are! I strongly suggest downloading them, because they're not terribly [...]
Vampire Weekend is an excellent band with a crappy name. At the very least, their name conveys nothing about their sublimely melodic rock - it has touches of Graceland and The Police. No angular guitars. No shouty post-punk. Smooth, clever, cheerful. Here's their myspace page. (Does anyone download the mp3s I post? ) VW is getting plenty of good hype . I'm all for that. But what annoys the hell out of me is that people keep talking about how they're "preppy" and Ivy league educated (they went to Columbia). [...]
Glasvegas is a Scottish band I discovered recently, thanks to Paul Lester's excellent Band of the Day page at the Guardian. If anything, I've picked up on this band at a stage in their history that's even earlier than where the Arctic Monkeys were when I discovered them in December 2005. Glasvegas aren't even signed to a record label yet. The sound is aching, romantic, shimmery and sweet. The hype manages to capture some truth: this Glasgow quartet captures the late 1950s and early 1960s, giving it a touch of electric distortion. Their [...]
"How can you not be patriotic?" she asked me (between bouts of nibbling and nuzzling) on Republic Day. Her father was in the Army, though, so I had to watch my answer. (It had a lot to do with fucking uneducated moron politicians .) Urban Indian musicians aren't half bad, though. Talented, many of them are. Studio production quality is far removed from Western standards, but despite GIR being almost fifteen years old this year, it's still a nascent industry, so nobody minds. (I suppose technically all recorded Indian rock music is "indie" music, huh?) [...]
This isn't the big post I just talked about. But I love men who can sing. And obviously, I do not mean I get turned on by them or any such crap. I just love good singing. I also like Christmas carols, I like a dash of irreverence, and I LOVE Africa by Toto . (Sorry, I have it on CD, not on my comp, and I don't feel like taking the trouble to rip it :).) And thanks to my well-known Friends fetish, I got the Hanukkah reference. [...]
I promise. Big long post with lots of material and lots of songs. Until then, you can read this to tide you over. But it's not only about music. Hey Yohan, can we invite Floppy to contribute here? I don't want Zonuts to be my solo music blog. Plus, her tastes run more in line with readers here. Constantly hearing that metal and trance don't interest people has made me hold off quite a few posts [...]
If you like pop music, my opinions on music, Simon Cowell, British radio, Top 40 music, countdown lists, Christmas, reality tv shows, or merely have ten minutes to spare, do head on over to this post on my other blog. If not, you're at the wrong blog, fella...
Who's up for some modern-day renditions of a few carols? Relient K is a pretty good gospel rock band. A little too 'American teen', if you get what I mean. But they play their instruments well, their faith is strong, and they have a sense of humour: What's a partridge? And what's a pear tree? Well, I don't know, so please don't ask me But I can [...]
There's a lot of nice music floating around the UK Top 40 radio airwaves this time of year. Leona Lewis, Alicia Keys, Timbaland Presents One Republic, and the group that sang 'Uninvited'-- good stuff, all. Worth downloading. But this is talent! Amy Macdonald -- Mr Rock and Roll Talk about a lovely folk/pop song. Very Gordon Lightfoot indeed. Amy Macdonald is only twenty years old. Scottish. Influenced by Travis and The Libertines, apparently. (I have to stop researching posts on Wikipedia! Although I did remember she was Scottish. Virgin Radio [...]
How can anyone resist a band with such a beautiful name? I came across Marillion a few years ago, while watching a Dream Theater DVD that had a clip of DT playing at some lucky-ass jazz club in the States with various guest artistes, two of whom were Marillion band members. Easter is a beautiful and underrated song. Marillion then popped up again after an opportune trip to the UK resulted in my picking up a crateload of excellent prog music cds (prog-- progressive rock / metal) that I would've found impossible to get [...]
The title of this post is misleading. I don't know how to categorize the music I'm about the write about. It's excellent stuff, though. High quality. I like neat little symmetries. For example: 1. In the 60's and 70's American bands rawked (MC5, Jimi Hendrix), and the Brits made textured, sophisticated pieces (Pink Floyd and all the other proggie bands). 2. In the 00's, British bands rawk (Arctic Monkeys, The Libertines, Futureheads ) and the (North) Americans make textured, sophisticated pieces (Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, and [...]
I've been meaning to do this for a while. I've made a little compilation (or "mixtape" if you're a hipster) for my dad and mum. My parents had a profound impact on my musical preferences. It took me a while to start listening to music that didn't conform to their taste. In college I rapidly expanded my aural horizons, and during the holidays I occasionally attempted to get them to listen to what I had picked up. At some point I gave up, despite my success in getting them to appreciate The Grateful Dead's American Beauty , [...]
Zorro on Doughnuts
No Church In The Wild
Nas - Daughters
The Rains of Castamere by The National
CHROMATICS "THESE STREETS WILL NEVER LOOK THE SAME"
DIIV "How Long Have You Known?" (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
iamamiwhoami: kin - Teaser
Album Review: alt-J – An Awesome Wave
Azealia Banks – ’1991′ & ‘Van Vouge’
Big Boi & Theophilus London (feat. TRE LUCE) - 'She Said OK'
