Only up to the fifth album but every day it just gets a little bit harder to write these! I'm always going back and forth in my head about whether I made the right decisions and today, at this exact moment, I've actually changed my mind and opted for my initial number five choice...

My fifth favourite album is 2014 is Love Letters by Metronomy. This was probably the hardest choice out of the seven because this was up against Sam Smith's brilliant debut - In The Lonely Hour. An equally awesome record but at the end of the day, the deciding question was, "which one did I actually come back to the most after first listen?" and Metronomy won out.

Love Letters is Metronomy's fourth album and it definitely has some of my favourite songs of theirs on it. I really overdid this album this year. So much so, that I actually saw it performed live three times (here, here and here) in the space of four months. Weirdly, I'm still not tired of it. It's just a very well crafted album! When I heard their first single from it "I'm Aquarius" I knew it'd be a catchy album but I didn't think it'd be this hard to shake. In fact, when I first heard the single, I wasn't actually sure whether I'd like the album at all - boy was I wrong! I actually think that it's their only album that I can listen to without feeling the need to skip a track. My current favourites are "Love Letters", "Reservoir", "Monstrous" and "Month Of Sundays", but they tend to change from time to time.

I think that this is a record I'll certainly be bringing back for years to come - as I will with all of the records that make/almost make this list! Metronomy have done well with this one. It's versatile and an incredibly enjoyable listen. Looking forward to the seeing how the next record matches up.

So it's come and gone... the weekend most famous for its' mud, music and magnitude and it was some of the best days of my life. Hugely unforgettable and completely breathtaking. There's no review, live recording or mid-show phone call that can give you even a snippet of what it's like actually being there. But I'll try my best to sum-up my feelings of each artist day-by-day.

METRONOMY
I have to start with Metronomy's (not so) secret set on Thursday night. As we shoved our way towards the front through the hugely packed tent, cheers were deafening as assumptions were confirmed and Metronomy stepped on stage. They played almost every hit imaginable their newer songs like "Upsetter", "Love Letters" and "Reservoir", resonating just as much as old favourites like "Heartbreaker", "Corinne" and "The Look". Immense start to the weekend of music to follow.

KAISER CHIEFS
Continuing on the thread of "secret shows", Kaiser Chiefs graced the Other Stage as Friday's TBA act. Jumping straight in to a set packed with anthems - "I Predict A Riot", "Ruby", "Oh My God" and "Angry Mob" among them. Glad I got to catch this set because they absolutely smashed it.

BLONDIE 
I'll start by saying - Happy 69th Birthday Debbie! Here's another band that smashed it on the Other Stage. Debbie Harry is so ridiculously badass I just had to smile. She definitely hasn't lost her youth and with this set, Blondie taught some of the younger bands this weekend a thing or two - brilliant set. Hearing the whole crowd sing out "Heart Of Glass" as the sun fell over us that morning - absolutely priceless.

THE STEPKIDS
Only caught a few songs of their set but it was enough to impress me. Definitely one of the many bands that I'll be checking out because of Glastonbury. Cool set on West Holts Stage.

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA
I'm not sure if it's actually psychically possible to do the things that these guys were doing with their guitars with just ten fingers. They played with such skill and rhythm, I found myself dancing with random people throughout the crowd to music I'd not actually heard before just because it was so contagious. Fantastically skilled set.

DE LA SOUL
One of the sets that I was really looking forward to over the weekend and my oh my did it deliver. The sun came out after a short down-pour and it was perfect. De La Soul make music to be listened to in the sun, with some friends, drinking a cold beverage and feeling good vibes - and that is exactly what happened. To top it off, they performed "Feel Good Inc." and the atmosphere was indescribable. When I think about this set all I can say is, yes.

CRYSTAL FIGHTERS
After listening to You And I last year I remember thinking that they'd be a really good band to see live but didn't really think much of it or even of the album afterwards. So finally having the chance to see them live, I think it's time I listened to them again. Such an electric set and their energy as a band was great. Definitely a band that you have to see live at least once and their use of blocks of wood as percussion - yes. Killer set.

WILD BEASTS
There were a few shows over the weekend that I couldn't believe that I was actually seeing with my own eyes. This was one of them. Such an emotional set and particularly "Wanderlust" - that song hits hard both on record and live. Hayden and Tom's voices complimented each other so well throughout and really gave one of the most emphatic shows of the weekend.

PAOLO NUTUNI 
I'd obviously heard of Paolo before the festival but hadn't heard any of his songs before that, well none that I knew of at least. His voice was amazing though, and his set was far more extravagant and eye-catching than I'd expected. Backed by the beautiful fireworks from Arcade Fire's set on the Pyramid Stage as I left to walk to watch M.I.A...

M.I.A.
I missed Arcade Fire's headline set for M.I.A. and I have absolutely no regrets whatsoever. Arcade Fire's latest album was relatively boring in my opinion and I figured they'd have many more shows on in the future should I ever want to see them. M.I.A. on the other hand put on a show so great that you could only understand by being there and even though the BBC refused to broadcast it because she had dancers wearing "Stop Tamil Deportation" t-shirts on stage, the broadcast wouldn't even have been able to do it justice. The staging was breathtaking and her performance was second to none. I haven't danced that hard in a while.

SKRILLEX
An unexpected set, as we walked back to our tent Skrillex was still performing on the Other Stage and we couldn't help but get caught up in it all. His mix of dubstep and dance music had me dancing as much as I just had for M.I.A.'s set. He was absolutely smashing it - and his staging was also very awesome. Surprisingly good set, and a good end to the first day of live music.

M.I.A.'s breathtaking staging at West Holts

A couple of weeks ago (7/6/14) I went to Field Day Festival in London. Some of you might be wondering why I didn't just go to Parklife on that weekend and the reason is - this was Pixies only performance in London this year and I'm sure that you've seen enough Foals gig reviews from me this year to tide you over. Either way, here is my short, sweet and slightly late take on the first of the two days...

MOXIE
I hadn't heard of her prior to the festival but as not much had started whilst her set was on, we managed to catch some of her DJ set. This was actually the first on many DJ sets this weekend and the that actually surprised me in all of them, was how little people were dancing. I know it was early but c'mon?

PAWWS
In contrast to Moxie, I'd actually heard a lot about Pawws before coming to the show but hadn't heard a lot of her material yet. So of course I went to check her out. I have to say, I definitely don't think that she lived up to the hype completely but she had a few shining moments. One song  particular - "Give You Love" had me dancing and swaying, whilst the rest of the performance stayed fairly safe and predictable. All in all, not the most exciting opening to the live acts.

ECLAIR FIFI
The best of the DJs that we saw this weekend actually. She slayed her set and I think this was the most we saw people dancing too which was nice. I love DJs that aren't afraid of the bass, in the society of techno/electronic, a girl's gotta have a little bass now and again.

CHARLOTTE OC
One of the best performances of the entire weekend, and so unexpected too! As we were walking up to tent we could hear Charlotte take the mic and from the first note I was impressed! We ran into the tent only to be transported into a smokey room somewhere in Europe where Charlotte was crooning about lost loves. Eyes were wide throughout the whole set - best new find this month! Favourite track right now - "Hangover".

ONLY REAL
The first artist of the day that I'd actually listened to before coming. However, after Charlotte's killer performance, I don't think that I was as impressed as I expected I'd be. I really like his recorded stuff - very reminiscent of Jamie T. However, I just don't think that it transferred too well live.

SKY FERREIRA
Where Only Real disappointed, Sky Ferreira actually really impressed me. Whilst queuing for some food I could hear something good coming from the main stage and so I checked my clash finder to see who was on and lo and behold... it was Sky Ferreira! I'd heard some of her stuff before coming and was less than excited by her name on the bill but she actually sounded great live. May have to have another listen.

DUSKY
Upon recommendation from some other festival-goers earlier in the day, we headed over to the dance stage to catch Dusky DJ-ing. It was a cool set, the two played a predominantly house packed set and it was good fun. Shapes were cut and arms were waved.

SEUN KUTI
I had actually not heard of Seun before coming to festival and the first thing I thought was "this really sounds like the kind of music they play at Nandos". But who's complaining? Highly entertaining set getting the crowd pumped for the set to come...

BLOOD ORANGE
Another stand out performance from the weekend. The late afternoon sun was beaming down and Dev Hynes and co. were on top form. Dev's sprinkling of guitar solos throughout the set kept everyone in high spirits - namely Florence Welch who was dancing along side stage. Particular shout out to his bassist who clearly defied some laws of physics during this performance. This show set the bar for the rest of the main stage performances that weekend.

WARPAINT
The girls in Warpaint easily reached that bar, drawing a huge crowd and managing to fill the entire park with their hazy rock music. Being my first time seeing the ladies live, they even surpassed my expectations - everything about their set was amazing. They kept the crowd just as interested (if not more interested), til the end of the set as when they began.

JAGWAR MA
As I'd already seen Jagwar Ma under festival conditions at Glastonbury last year, I actually wasn't too fussed about seeing them but we went along anyway. To be honest, thank God that we did because they were not the same band we saw at Glastonbury! They absolutely smashed it! Huge improvement, from the first song to the last, the atmosphere was perfect!

METRONOMY
And of course the headliners. Although it was like 'Sophie's choice', choosing between Metronomy and SBTRKT, I had to give in a watch the Main Stage headliners because it was set to be something really special and it definitely was. Crowd spirits rose as the band stepped on stage and didn't dampen even during the long journey home. The crowd left, some singing Metronomy along Victoria Park's surrounding areas. Perfect end to the first day...

Last Saturday (21/03/2014) I went down to The Institute, Birmingham to see Metronomy. If I'm honest, I wasn't really expecting too much, of course I knew Metronomy would be good - I just went down hoping to be entertained I suppose. Let's just say I got what I hoped for and so much more.

Nobody really seemed to know who the support act would be and so when this band stepped on, after something like an hour long wait, and began tuning their instruments when the lights had already dimmed - I have to say I was a little bit confused. When they started playing, at first they sounded a little bit like Django Django so I was kind of hopefully excited, waiting for them to start playing something like "Hail Bop". However, when the female member of the band started singing, I knew that it wasn't Django Django. They later announced that they were called Virginia Wing. Throughout the set they had a couple of promising songs that I really got into, but besides that I wasn't feeling them too much - they were slightly underwhelming, and they definitely weren't able to prepare me for what I was about to witness next...

When the lights dimmed for a second time and Metronomy stepped on stage all suited and booted, a huge grin couldn't help but stretch across my face. They actually started slow, opening with "Monstrous" - one of my favourites from the new record. Then the show escalated, leaving the crowd with no time to even register half of the awesomeness that they were witnessing. I'm going to use this junction to highlight how much of a badass Benga is. He is easily one of the best performers I've seen in a long time, and not simply in regards to his musicianship. Benga puts on an entire show of his own, and looks ridiculously suave doing so - brilliant performer.

This show in general definitely made it more evident to me exactly how talented Metronomy actually are. Every single note was executed with precision. Some of the songs that I enjoyed most that night include "Love Letters", "Everything Goes My Way", "Holiday", "Corinne" and "I'm Aquarius" - and that's not even including the encore! Having three albums worth of great tracks to work into a setlist certainly stood them in good stead because by the end of the night they'd played, what seemed in my opinion, the perfect setlist. When they played "Heartbreaker" in the encore, it completely cemented this - the first song that I ever heard by them, and I felt just as good about it then as I did the first time I heard it. Top night!

Overall Rating - 8/10


Here are some pictures from the night...





 

February was a pretty good month for albums and you can see some of the albums that came out towards the end of the month here. However, new month, new music - so let's see what March has on offer...


PHARRELL WILLIAMS - GIRL
Since his huge hit with the Despicable Me 2 Soundtrack and massive input on Daft Punk's Random Access Memories, Pharrell has been hot on the music scene. Now that I think about all of the music that he's put out to date he does generally put out a lot of "feel good music" and I'm hoping that's what I'll get when the album drops today.

EAGULLS - EAGULLS
Leeds bred punk rockers have had major successes this year and this is only their debut! If their record continues to soar the way that their career has then hopefully we'll be hearing a lot more of them. They're currently on tour and this record drops today - definitely look into getting a copy or two.






METRONOMY - LOVE LETTERS
This band already has a pretty fabulous back catalogue if I do say so myself and so I'm excited to hear what they put out next with this fourth album. After hearing "I'm Aquarius" it did definitely grow on me - I hope the album does too! Love Letters drops on the 10th of March.






MØ - NO MYTHOLOGIES TO FOLLOW
I have been raving about MØ since around this time last year. After watching her get bigger and bigger and finally seeing more people recognise her talent, she is ready to release a full length, and I am more than ready to hear it. Another record to look forward to on the 10th of March.





ARCHITECTS - LOST FOREVER//LOST TOGETHER
LONG awaited follow up to Daybreaker from what I've heard of the album so far, both lyrically and musically it's among the best things I've heard in a while. They are currently on tour and I know that this record will produce a corker of a show! Have a listen on the 11th of March.






FOSTER THE PEOPLE - SUPERMODEL
I genuinely hope that this sophomore album is able to excel where their debut Torches fell down because the first half of that album was great in my opinion but the second half was very sub-par. Looking forward to a more consistent album on the 18th of March.







SHAKIRA - SHAKIRA
Colombian goddess Sharika is back with a few new poppy tunes for us to dance around to in clubs. After her collaboration with Rihanna on "Can't Remember To Forget You" I can kind of assume that the rest of the album will follow the same catchy song theme. However, I suppose that I'll find out on the 25 of March.





DARLIA - CANDYMAN EP
This trio has continued to impress me since hearing their track "Queen Of Hearts" and writing about them here. I'm actually really excited for this EP to drop because if the title track "Candyman" is anything to go by, it should find it's way to my Most Played list pretty quickly. Have a listen on the 31st of March.






KAISER CHIEFS - EDUCATION, EDUCATION, EDUCATION & WAR
The Kaiser Chiefs have been quite quiet recently and I'm hoping that that's a good thing and that it's meant that they've been able to work on this new record to a point where it's their best to date. But I suppose we can find out what they've been up to on the 31st of March.




 

BAND OF SKULLS - HIMALAYAN
A band that I've actually only recently gotten into and this will be their third studio album so hopefully this means that I don't have too much catching up to do. I'm excited to see what a full length record sounds like from them on the 31st of March.






March is always a huge month for albums! Check out what gems came out last March here and have a look at what else you can expect later this month below...
 
Imogen Heap - Sparks, Lea Michele - Louder, La Dispute - Rooms Of The House, Enrique Iglesias - Sex + Love, Tycho - Awake, Johnny Cash - Out Among The Stars, Memphis May Fire - Unconditional, The Pretty Reckless - Going To Hell, The Men - Tomorrow's Hits, Kylie Minogue - Kiss Me Once, and Timber Timbre - Hot Dreams.