Sebastian Payne

2008 has been a year of musical discovery for myself - finding new artists and rediscovering older ones. Our past station manager at Purple once said to me you have to challenge yourself musically, listen to things you wouldn't normally and go back to things you weren't sure of in the past. Kings of Leon is a family band, in the vein of the Beach Boys with members all related to each other, interesting...however, it was their album Because Of The Times that hit a note with me.

For some unknown reason, I have had the tendency in the past to simply 'write off' some musicians after only hearing a few songs, like Kings of Leon and Fleetwood Mac, both of which are streaming through my speakers and leaving me eating my own words. Fans that changed my mind and realised they have done what I thought was impossible - taken key ingredients from 60s blues-rock, 70s hard rock and 90s alternative and thrown them in together to create great rock music, with a modern edge. The album opener Knocked Up, is a slight mystery - revolving on a slow riff that continues throughout - I was expecting this to build up somewhere, but it didn't; yet it is still enjoyable. Black Thumbnail has a steady beat with some more variation and nice low-end bass guitar work. It's a very enjoyable album to listen to, and not just for background music, Rolling Stone made it one of their top albums of 2007 and it gets positive reviews from the NME. I have yet to explore their past albums but from bits I have heard and read, it has been a progressive journey to Because Of The Times and their sound alters on each cut.

Kings of Leon have 'the nack' for catchy modern rock tunes, similar to the Raconteurs but with a little more spit and polish. They are currently touring the UK and are hitting Newcastle in early December and it seems I have been a little late on the tickets front. Although it is not ridiculous sums of money yet on the second hand market, I'm hoping for a good eBay find in the next few weeks to see how they do in the shoddy Newcastle Arena. I've been to Earl's Court, O2 Arena, Wembley Arena, Newcastle Academy, Emirates Stadum and Newcastle City Hall but nothing compares to the Metro Radio Arena. It's dark, an eye sore and has the acoustic properties of a wet fish. Most bands seem to avoid it and go for the smaller 2,000 seater Academy. From what I've heard, bands have little choice about venues, otherwise I can't imagine why anyone would choose to play here.

In the song Fans, Caleb Followill talks of 'the London scene' and returning to England to play to their fans who come for "the king they want to see". However, I doubt they'd be so excited at the prospect of the local arena here.

Reunited rock band The Verve have shot straight to the top of the album charts with their first release in more than ten years. Their album, Forth, was recorded when the band reformed last year following a split at the height of their success.

Seems my prediction of the Verve shooting straight to number one in a week has come true today. It's nice to have some guitar based music from an all-English band leading the charts for a while. On another note, lots of footage from Reading and Leeds festivals will expire on the BBC's website soon so be sure to check it out if you haven't already. The best sets I have watched today are those of MGMT, Foals, Raconteurs and Rascals. Again I am kicking myself for not making the trip to the festival. Next year, maybe!

I mentioned in my last post about The Verve's new album and this is the first song you hear - it was written obviously to make think, wow! The sounds and noise are just phenomenal, that a band of their stature is still making music as experimental as this. Compare Richard Ashcroft's solo works to this and they seem like an empty bottle of milk, a shell of what the Verve can produce.

If you enjoy this, go and buy Forth.