The week

What happened this week? I got drunk a lot. Like, Thursday to Sunday? Pretty much spent it drunk. One of those nights consisted of seeing the NME Awards Tour thing, the night I wasn't drunk but walking through Cardiff I totally wished I was. Oh, student life.

But yes, NME Awards Tour. You may have already guessed that I didn't see Glasvegas, and you've probably guessed that my complete obsession with everything Florence-related escalated further (I was hoping for some sort of Florence encounter, but I probably would've just squeed and then died on the floor). Friendly Fires were surprisingly brilliant, White Lies were pretty lacklustre but Florence was just beautifully epic wonderfulness - I was in a fit of smiles for the duration of her set. She even kinda like, walked to the barrier but unfortunately I was in the row behind the barrier. Shame.

Also this week, the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs song came onto my radar, Zero. Unfortunately rather a disappointment - I really hope the album doesn't continue along the same lines as the song.

AND A REMIX. Micachu's remix of Radio Ladio by Metronomy's pretty damn freakycool. I'm seeing Micachu next week and I have no idea what to expect, but if it's anything like this then it should be pretty cool.

Call cardiology.

You know how I was totally dissing new bands of this year? I don't know if this band are new or not, but The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are definitely a band I want to hear more of. They sound kinda Ramones-ish mixed with hugs or something. UK dates plz?

The new surge in Christian Bale remixes is also providing so much entertainment today.

Bleak

I woke up this morning to find outside my Halls covered in snow. Any other day it would've been much welcomed, but today I was due to catch a train to Bath to see Late of the Pier. Alas, this did not happen but thankfully said gig has been rescheduled to February 23rd at a better venue. Result!

So no, this is not a blog about the weather. Although bleak, snow provides some fun and laughs for a while (at least while you're young enough to enjoy it). This is a blog about upcoming gigs in not just Swansea where the selection is appalling (Dear Swansea Uni Ents, I am NOT going to see The Twang) but Cardiff too. And the UK generally.

This is through searching for just one gig, any gig in the upcoming months to go to (aside from those I'm already going to) and it made me realise that while 2009 is a brilliant years for comeback albums, it is terrible so far for new bands. I tried Dananananaykroyd. I tried Joy Formidable. I tried The Answering Machine (while they are releasing a second album, they're generally new to me). And don't even get me started on that NME New Noise list that I went through listening to - are Empire of the Sun supposed to be a joke? Even Sky Larkin haven't ignited the same level of excitement as Johnny Foreigner or Metronomy last year.

Of this new class, there are two bands which are really doing it for me. And while I've bored everyone to death about the first of these (there's somewhat of a Florence Welch shrine on my wall), the other are a band I came upon last week - Dinosaur Pile-Up. They kinda sound a bit like Pixies crossed over with Weezer or something, and their newest song "Traynor" is quite fucking delightful. So check them out.

PS. I also like Mumford and Sons.

PPS. WHO THE HELL CONVINCED TILLY AND THE WALL THAT 90210 WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA?