Right Away, Great Captain!

I've been listening to these two great side-project albums by Andy Hull (Manchester Orchestra), released under the name 'Right Away, Great Captain!'. The story follows this 17th century sailor. Go listen to them. He's great, and this song is pretty much the bomb-diggity.

These are the lyrics to a self-titled song from the album 'The Bitter End'. You can listen to it here http://grooveshark.com/#!/artist/Right+Away+Great+Captain/284819/songs .

Right Away Great Captain
Right away great captain
I'll go where you need me
The banks of the north shore
The hills I'll go fleeting
Just give me a minute to tell my wife goodbye
I love her so dearly but its time to take real flight
On a dark desert road
Or the middle sized fake show you lead me to, it’s so dark in there

Right away great captain
I’ll surely leave everything
God blessed I love you
But God you mean more to me
Than any three hole punched fake scripture could come from me
Just know that I love you
But love's such a simile

For pearl gates of gold
I will do my best to meet you there half way
Or the whole way
On a high way you know
Where the ending will take place so beautifully
So beautifully
So beautifully

Right away great captain
I’ll go where you want me to
Don't make it much harder
Than what I have gone through
If you've got your systems I’ll tear down these walls
You haven't seen devils ‘till you've seen them all
You've got to be strong
Well I’ll take you back, if you want me to
On a highway you know
I will do my best to meet you there

So please don't leave me
Please don't leave
Please don't leave
I wish you'd say please don't leave me
And I wish you'd say please don't leave me
And I wish you'd say please don't leave me, me
And I wish you'd say please don't leave me
And I wish you'd say please don't leave me
But darling I am leaving
Yeah I’m leaving

A story about me playing the trombone

When I was in Grade 8 (St 6) we had to learn how to play instruments. The options were: trumpet, saxophone, clarinet, and the trombone. They passed the various instruments around the class and we all got a chance to play them. The only one I got to make a sound was the trombone, so I went with that one.

We had a cool trombone teacher who had long hair. He used to play 'When I Got High' on his trombone and let us leave class early so we could get lunch before the others. He also let us sleep in his class. One day parents were being shown around the school and they came to the music department and discovered everyone sleeping. It was awkward because they kept making a noise and we just wanted to sleep.

Years later I can't remember how to play the trombone. I know you move the slidey thing, but that's about all I know.

Thomas Krane at the Waiting Room

A few months my friend, Stephen the Meaven, introduced me to a band called Thomas Krane. I really enjoyed the album and when I heard they were coming to Cape Town we decided that we’d have to go to a gig. So last night they played at the Waiting Room and we trundled down Kloof Street to the gig.

We arrived early and played some foosball upstairs. I’d like to say that the Waiting Room is awesome. I haven’t been in a while, but its great and it just reinforced the fact that it is my favourite live venue in Cape Town. Sure the sound can suck sometimes but the sound usually sucks at live venues, it’s almost a prerequisite.

Anyway, back to Thomas Krane. The two-piece band (apparently sometimes there’s four of them) is made up of lead singer, Dan Hampton, who plays guitar and distorted bass, and a girl, Mary-Anne Hampton, who stands and plays drums and sings backing vocals.

They have such a unique and new sound which is great to hear from a South African band. It gets tiring listening to G-C-D all the time, and it’s great that there are people making interesting music. I really hope they get more recognition and start playing bigger gigs. South Africa needs music that is interesting, well written, and expressive like Thomas Krane.

The entrance for the gig was free, but still the Waiting Room was hardly packed. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the gig, I just wished more people were there to enjoy the music. It saddens me a bit that people have to make gigs free, and have to give away music for free (you can go to https://www.facebook.com/thomaskrane to download songs for free).

I say “high five” to Thomas Krane, and hope to go to more gigs.

PS. One thing though, they seemed a bit down. Maybe they’d had a long day, or just were tired after the tour in Cape Town but the energy wasn’t fully there. Although it does compliment the deepness of the music, possibly a smile or two more would’ve been the order of the day. But other than that, definitely a band to watch.

Chuckle o' the day

So this literally happens to me on an hourly basis. The trick is to write crap with the music on, and then never re-read it again. That way you build a good self-confidence that your writing is meaningful and moody and indie.

Shout out and props to Howard James Fyvie

 My friend Howard just released an album this Saturday. You should buy it and listen to it. That's what I did. You can listen to a few tracks and see if its your vibe by going to Howard Fyvie's Facebook page or go visit his website at http://www.howardfyvie.co.za/. I have a few mates who worked on the album with Justin Southey designing the album cover, Hans Raubenheimer who mixed the album, and Marius Steenkamp who executive produced it.


Pretty much I'm just giving a shout out to mates, and yes I just used the term 'shout out'. I am not proud of myself, but these things happen sometimes. So remember to check this space, don't go anywhere. Stay tuned to Yo-TV (crosses arms and nods head like a gangster). Boom!



Connect with Michael-John If you'd like to connect with me follow me on twitter at @MJPhillip , and on Google + by going through to my Google Plus page.

What I'm listening to at the moment

I created another playlist of songs I'm listening to called 'An Acoustic-Choral-Folky Playlist'. This time its a bit slower and more choral. These are songs I'm really enjoying at the moment and are pretty cool.

I made the playlist shorter this time as I think it gives it all a better flow instead of just being a bunch of songs thrown together (at least thats what happened in my head).

You can listen to the playlist on Grooveshark  by clicking on this link http://grooveshark.com/#/playlist/An+Acoustic+choral+folky+Playlist/57031123

1. Its Christmas So We'll Stop (Choir Version) by Frightened Rabbit
2. Distraction #74 by The Avett Brothers
3. Where In The World Are You by Great Lake Swimmers
4. Rambling Man by Laura Marling
5. White Winter Hymnal by Fleet Foxes
6. Play it Again Sam! You Don't Have Any Feathers by The Manchester Orchestra
7. Lovin's For Fools by Sarah Siskind
8. If Its The Beaches by The Avett Brothers
9. Nothing Short of Thankful by The Avett Brothers

Connect with Michael-John  
If you'd like to connect with me follow me on twitter at @MJPhillip , and on Google + by going through to my Google Plus page.

Josh Garrels New Free Album

You should listen to the new Josh Garrels because not only is his latest album free, but its really good. If you don’t know who Josh Garrels is you are like a mirror image of me before I clicked this link http://joshgarrels.bandcamp.com/. After clicking the link I downloaded his music and then I smiled, especially when I listened to Farther Along.

Lottery Tickets New Album

It has never made me bleak that a band released a CD for free until today. The Lottery Tickets’ new album Occupations has been released for free and I am listening to it as I write this post. It bleaks me that a decent band has to give away their music for free and don’t get anything for it.

I like the Lottery Tickets, cool stage presence, good music, and I sort of know James Acker cos he bought my guitar once. The album is sweet and they’re rad (although they’re always on the verge of breaking up). If you get a chance to watch them live do it!

Thats all I have to say about that.

Oh and go to http://www.mediafire.com/?689sc8h8qo43y3e and download their album.



Connect with Michael-John
If you'd like to connect with me follow me on twitter at @MJPhillip , and on Google + by going through to my Google Plus page.

Songs I'm listening to at the moment

I decided to create a playlist of some of my top songs at the moment. The list has some music that I think deserves a listen and that isn't well known especially in South Africa. Excuse the hipster-ness of the list. Here is the playlist on Grooveshark http://grooveshark.com/#/playlist/What+s+Happening+In+My+Ears+At+The+Moment/53065518?src=5 (let me know if the link doesn't work).

Old Old Fashioned

Frightened Rabbit

Devil's Spoke / Sneh Ko Marg

Mumford and Sons, Laura Marling and Dharohar Project

The Twist

Frightened Rabbit

Left on Laura, Left on Lisa

The Avett Brothers

To Darkness / Kripa

The Dharohar Project, Laura Marling & Mumford & Sons

I And Love And You

The Avett Brothers

Sleeper 1972

Manchester Orchestra

Poke

Frightened Rabbit

Photosynthesis

Frank Turner

Acid Rain In Africa

Beans On Toast

I Fancy Laura Marling

Beans on Toast

The Outdoor Type

Frank Turner

Your Rocky Spine

Great Lake Swimmers

January Wedding

The Avett Brothers

Home (featuring the Gulu Widows Choir)

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Chuckle o' the day

It makes me mad when people say I turned and ran like a scared rabbit. Maybe it was like an angry rabbit, who was running to go fight in another fight, away from the first fight.

Jack Handey
                                                                                          

This chuckle also makes me think of the band Frightened Rabbit who are totally rad and you should totally listen to them if you haven't yet. They have been my band of choice to wake up to at work in the morning. That makes them cool. Well not really, they were probably cool before then, plus they're Scottish so they come pre-cooled.