The music industry has always been filled with a mixture of talents and genres ranging from the detestable pre made pop bands, cheesy trance DJ’s and love song singers to the talented singer songwriters and bands. The main difference in my opinion between the rubbish and the great in music is down to something that cannot be taught or bought and that is raw musical talent. Too many people seem to have been able to bypass the musical talent part of things and have been let loose on the microphone!

If you look back over time, you can see many of the bands that had this raw musical talent produced loads and loads of albums, and many of the bands are still around today, in their old age, still performing. If they are no longer performing, they are still involved in music through the production side of things. The same cannot be said of put together outfits that have no musical inspiration of their own. They simply sing what someone else has written for them, and have their vocals corrected by the people in the recording studio. I think it is a bit of a joke that so many of these people are given the chance to make music, as they are just seeking a few minutes of fame.

There are a great number bands out there that have been producing really great quality music for years and years, album after album, and yet they still do not receive the play time they deserve on the radio due to these manufactured bands and singers filling the airwaves. They should entertain themselves with a new chess set rather than in a recording studio. Incubus is one such band that has been making superb albums for well over 10 years now, and has a huge underground following. Radio play time is very rare though, and I bet that if they were played on the radio, people would love to hear it over the rest of the rubbish.

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This year’s Mercury Prize may only have just been handed over to the divine Polly Jean Harvey, but that hasn’t stopped the music press from dusting off their crystal balls and giving us their insider tips on who is going to scoop the award in 2012. I have no problem with the music press giving us their hot tips for the future (even if most of them are back in their pharmacy jobs by the end of the month) but predicting the winner of an album prize that has always prided itself on being a little bit different a whole year in advance is just crazy talk!

The Mercury has quickly become the equivalent of the Brits for people with brains. Which is why it saddens me to see such banal and drab suggestions being put forward by the likes of the NME when it comes to 2012’s front-runners. Kasabian. Coldplay. Radiohead. Even Noel Gallagher’s first solo effort is a “sure” nomination according to whichever 40-year-old writer still turns up to the NME office in his ’Wonderwall't-shirt.

Don’t get me wrong, if any of those established acts produce a great record between now and this time next year, then I’m sure they’ll be on the short-list and one of them might even take the prize. But when you look at the list of Mercury winners over the last five years or so, the odds are very much against acts who have already “made it” taking the award. OK, Polly Jean is a megastar in certain circles (i.e. me and my friends) but Elbow were hardly the darlings of the music press, until ’The Seldom Seen Kid'won the Mercury and started appearing in music collections across the country. Do me a favour, music journos, save the predictions until we’ve actually heard the albums you’re touting as a sure thing for the Mercury. Let’s face it, there’s a tiny possibility that Radiohead’s new material will be maudlin and depressing and Coldplay’s self-absorbed and arrogant, while Noel’s new album just might sound like Oasis'greatest hits…

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Fleet Foxes released its second album, “Helplessness Blues” in May 2011. Fans of the Seattle folk band who loved their first album will not be disappointed by their follow-up.

While paying homage to its folk hero influences like Simon and Garfunkel, the band also puts its own stamp on the 12-tracks of “Helplessness Blues”. The band’s signatures – the organic feel, the poetic lyrics and delivery – are still intact, though there are more mature sounds, and more exploration musically.

The album’s opening track, “Montezuma,” features the band’s signature harmonies. This, coupled with the song’s old-fashioned lyricism might make some feel the song is formulaic. It is like someone seeking Teaching Assistant Jobs and not expecting much only to be pleasantly surprised. But the end result is pleasing, if not musically avante guard, and delivers what fans of the Fleeting Foxes want.

The second track in the album, “Bedouin Dress,” shows more inventiveness in its composition, bringing a breath of freshness without straying far from its core sound. The mix of familiar and new can especially be seen in the 8-minute track “The Shrine/Argument”, which begins rather conventionally, but then gets a dramatic punch of percussion and inventive vocal elements.

The album’s title track is arguably the best of the album, incorporating the best of the band’s signatures with a more modern sound. It is by far more than a stand out.

The album is a fine second outing, thoughtfully constructed to showcase the best of the band, while also showing they can also delve into new territory with style.

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The Foo Fighters are one of the few remaining rock bands that have stayed true to their music, and have generally “behaved” themselves. Their latest album Wasting Light displays their finest work yet, and ranges from softer songs to their iconic hard rock.

With eleven tracks full of voice, harmonies and soul the Foo Fighters have delivered another rock and roll album that needs no ridiculous PR stunts or large format printing. The cover itself features the bands five members, Dave, Pat, Nate, Chris and Taylor.

Bridge Burning” sets of the whole album with the exclamation “these are my famous last words!” After this, their single “Rope” follows reminding us of the bands former rhythms and “Dear Rosemary” features Bob Mould. The songs begin to get softer after “White Limo” and “Arlandria”, with “These Days” progressing to the mellow tracks. The final track “Walk” “which was featured in the credits of the movie “Thor”) closes the album to a strong close.

All eleven of the songs build to their own climax and are powerfully and cleverly composed. Like their old albums “Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace”, “The colour and the Shape” and “In your Honour”, the Foo Fighters have no particular theme that defines them other than great music. Dave himself explained how for “Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace” the band did not stick to their usual instruments for many of the songs. Nevertheless “Wasting Light” seems to reveal a more sophisticated style of rock from this band that will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the greats.

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To fill the gap of John Liiva, a female vocalist Angela Gossow joined the band. The fan followers of the band were upset to see a female vocalist as they felt she wouldn’t be competent like John Liiva and thought that Michael had chosen her because of their love relationship. Generally, female guttural growling singers are hardly found in metal bands but Angela Gossow has a remarkable vocal skill as she is capable of making deep and shallow growls. In fact she can even growl lower than some of her fellow male equivalents. Her first record, Wages of Sin (2001) was an immense success and was a major breakthrough record. The second major hit record was Anthems of Rebellion (2003).

Presently, the band members are Michael Amott, Christopher Amott, Angela Gossow, Sharlee D’Angelo and Daniel Erlandsson. The main composer of the songs is Michael Amott but he also takes help from the other band members, especially Angela Gossow and Christopher Amott. The types of songs they sing are melodic death metal which is a subgenre of classical death metal. Few other albums released by them are Rise of the Tyrant (2007), Doomsday Machine (2005) and Root of All Evil (2009). The songs and albums are available as freebies on certain websites.

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Summer only means one thing to me; festivals. OK well, two things really. Because summer also makes me think of chilled glasses of cider sitting while outside a Looe hotel, watching the sun slowly setting. Bet you can almost picture it, eh?

Most people think music festivals only come in two sizes big and absolutely massive. Glastonbury fits in the latter category, with its countless stages. The Scottish event T in the Park is another absolutely massive one. Did you know that for the weekend that festival takes place, the campsite in Kinross is the third largest “town” in Scotland?

I’m not even that keen on the big festivals, to be honest. The Leeds/Reading combination or Rockness in the Scottish Highlands, for example. I prefer my festivals to be smaller, cooler and, even better, only a few miles drive from my home!

Which is where Party in the Park comes in, an annual event held in Trereife Park just outisde Penzance. You’re not going to get any superstars headlining this music festival, but you will get to see some of the best local bands and singers, of all ages, all music genres and, unfortunately, all abilities! The standards have improved in recent years, but there always seems to be a couple of teenage rockers who slip through the net, despite their singing and guitar playing being of rather questionable ability!

As I said, the best thing is definitely the fact that I don’t need to travel the length of the country to enjoy the ambience of a live music festival; free buses run you into Penzance after the event is over, if you don’t want to take your own car, but with Party in thr Park finishing at midnight, you can stay sober at the festival, drive yourself safely home and still have time for a few beers when you get back!

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A bit of a diversion, this post, but as I sit in my lofts north london I thought I’d share with readers here some thoughts on how rock and roll can be used to great effect on stage, as part of a critically acclaimed and popular new play now touring round the country. Mike Bartlett is one of the United Kingdom’s most successful younger playwrights, whose Earthquakes in London was a huge hit at the National Theatre in 2010. Currently touring is his play Love Love Love, which explores the generation gap between the so-called “baby boomers"- the first generation of UK youth to really experience popular music as we know it – and their children.

The play begins in 1967, as the Beatles are about to premiere their new song All You Need is Love in front of a worldwide television audience. A rather conventional young man, Henry, is waiting for his date Sandra to arrive, but his Oxford student brother Kenneth won’t leave the flat to give the young couple some space. By the end of the first act, Kenneth has seduced Sandra – and they dance to the live broadcast of the Lennon – McCartney masterpiece before Henry enters and is broken. At the top of Act 2, some twenty years later, Kenneth and Sandra are married with two kids. As the curtain rises their youngest child, Jamie, is coming it the full Ian Brown impersonation as he lip-syncs along to the Stone Roses'She Bangs the Drums. As soon as the older, sleeker Kenneth enters, he’s yelling at his son to turn the music down.

Using these two songs both illustrates the generation gap in terms of the kind of music that’s played and the actors'and audiences'response to it. Plus they’re both great tracks! Highly recommended viewing.

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Big things are afoot in the world of no deposit car insurance. The EU regulators (unpopular already) are expected to rule that gender-specific car insurance companies or policies are discriminatory. One company sticks in the mind for all the wrong reasons: at the cinema, three Australians (not renowned for their singing voices) wail about car insurance in a garish pink Cadillac.

Essentially the insurance company caters for women. Without men (statistically much more likely to make an insurance claim) increasing their premiums, they can buy car insurance for much less than they would be able to at a mixed-gender insurance company. It makes sense – if I was a woman, I wouldn’t want to have to pay more money to insure my car just because of the likelihood that men will crash over the course of the following financial year.

Be that as it may, the EU regulators are suggesting that it is in fact sexist and discriminatory to only allow female drivers to buy insurance from your company. I can sort of see their point – if I barred women from my bespoke yachting agency, then I’d be told off. Not least by my stunningly attractive wife and two beautiful daughters, who need to use the facilities before their record-breaking round-the-world pedalo next week.

I, for one, think that women-only car insurance is not particularly discriminatory. It would not be able to exist if it was not selective, so opening it up to men effectively abolishes it. It isn’t fair, no, but nothing is really fair.

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Some genres of music seem to get more stick than others. Metal is one of the those that really seems to struggle to get the critical acclaim that it deserves. Rock music, of course, is always going to be cool. While it is has now been terribly commercialized by the music business, it has somehow managed to maintain a rebellious edge that has kept the kids coming back again and again ever since Chuck Berry pioneered the Rock that just keeps rolling these days. Pop similarly manages to somehow get an incredible amount of positive attention, despite it being so formulaic and lacking imagination. Sure, it’s perhaps the most enjoyable music but there’s little thought behind it. And then there’s classical music. Classical music is of course going to get endless credit.

Metal, considering its popularity, is just filed away in a chest of drawers by critics who think that they know better. However, I think that sort of the world’s best musicians are metal musicians. At the speed that you have to play — without using computers — you have to be absolutely incredible to get anywhere. The drummer needs to be able to do some incredible double bass maneuveres, and the guitarist needs to have 19 fingers and seven thumbs to be able to hit every note. Metal deserves better coverage, especially the vocalists. It’s almost impossible to train someone to become a metal vocalist. You have to have an incredible range, from harmonious shrieks to utter screaming pain and beautiful highs.

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