Town trip part II: The rejuvanated HMV.

So, after finding the Joe Strummer badge I went into Centra for some chocolate and discovered the Clash mentioned on the cover of Q magazine - hence why I bought it today. Then I went into HMV. Funnily enough as I walked in and said "wouldn't it be brilliant if they have brought in new shirts and got Clash ones?". Well, they had actually! I near died because I've never seen The Clash in the shirts section in the one in town in my life! It was a London Calling cover shirt. They also had a new Battle Born Killers one which looked beautiful and a True Faith New Order one, which were new to me. They've also cut their prices away down because of Head, which is great because prices in HMV were getting ridiculous. Although they were selling a rather bog standard Blondie best of compilation for £12 which I thought was an insane price. Anyhow today I could have gone nuts: it's ironic that they finally got Bleach (Special edition) by Nirvana in. I think I may need to make an exception in the CD hiatus rule and buy that. They did however have three gems that I couldn't resist, Parallel Lines is my first Blondie CD, Simon and Garfunkel Live In New York City is a great live album I heard for the first time a few weeks back and Loaded by The Velvet Underground is my first Velvet Underground studio album. I've heard it in full too and I remember really liking it, although I now can't remember any of the tracks that didn't feature on their best of compilation that I own! I'll be especially interested how that goes. I have to say that today has been my most succesful day in town for a while, for the Joe Strummer badge alone I'd say!

Sound of The Week: Albums

So, this week I've been listening to one artist overall above all else: The Velvet Underground. I first heard some tracks from The Velvet Underground & Nico a few months ago and I didn't know what to make of it. Much like Hounds of Love by Kate Bush it was a challenging listen on first play, but there was a mystique about the music that made me want to explore it further. I guess that was Lou Reed's voice initially; I've heard his Transformer album and I think its a great album. A few weeks ago my interested in Velvet Underground restarted when I heard the track Rock and Roll (I'm actually listening to it now as I type this post). It was a brilliant and addictive song and I decided to get their greatest hits; which I fortunately found last week at the record fair. I've been playing it non stop all week! With the exception of I Heard Her Call My Name I love every song on it already. My favourites being Herion, Rock and Roll, I'm Beginning To See The Light and Some Kinda Love. It's just a brilliant listen. I've managed to listen to two of their albums so far too, these being The Velvet Underground and The Velvet Underground & Nico. I've really enjoyed both so much too, I've got a strong feeling The Velvet Underground are going to become one of my all time favourite bands!

Honourable mention: I also this week finally listened to my copy of Nirvana's live album From The Muddy Banks of The Wishkah. A brilliant album and this is coming from someone who doesn't tend to listen to live albums so often. There's so much energy in the performances compiled on the CD though, absolutely brilliant and I prefer that version of Smells Like Teen Spirit to the studio version. For new albums I've heard the best one this week has to be Little Boot's brilliant second offering, called Nocturnes and scheduled for release tomorrow. Check it out electronic/synthpop fans!

In terms of re listens, I also played Madonna's Music album. This was always one of my least favourite Madonna albums... until now. I'm not even sure why it was one of my least favorite Madonna albums really. I think its because the album does have a weird schizophrenic electronic acoustic hybrid. Truth be told I'm no great lover of acoustic style material: albums in this vein tend to always be my lesser played albums of artists even if I'd consider the artist an all time favorite. That said, I love how there's a variety of electronic sounds to be heard on Music: Electropop on the title track, slightly trance sounds on Runaway Girl and triphop on What It Feels Like For A Girl. The latter two tracks in particular I have a new found love for. Its definitely becoming one of my favorite Madonna albums now!

Sound of The Week: Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster

Sunday (and the week) is nearly coming to an end here in the UK. I've been busy today finishing Prison Break (I felt Final Break was just needless) and starting The Walking Dead. Today has gone in so fast I very nearly missed my first post in a new little series for the blog: The Sound Of The Week. It's basically me highlighting a track that's been getting frequently aired this week by myself.  So, this is the track that's been getting the most plays from me this week. I've got to admit - I was tempted to post Some Kinda Love by The Velvet Underground. Alias, I went for Stiff Little Fingers.  I've known this track for around a year and I hold it in very high regard. In my view it's one of the best songs (from one of the best artists) to come out of Northern Ireland. Not only that but one of the best punk songs (and bands) also. The Clash will always be my favourite punk band, but Stiff Little Fingers aren't far behind them for me. I know I am biased given that I live in Ulster so there's obviously a local connection at play here, but I do honestly feel Alternative Ulster is better than anything Sex Pistols ever recorded. It was a song written about very real issues. It was written about life in 70's Belfast. A place that was very dark indeed. I wasn't alive then, but based on what I've seen of it in retrospective footage etc I'm glad I missed out on those days. Dark, paranoid and desolete seem to be three words that sum it up aptly. Many of Stiff Little Finger's songs were essentially about how the young people of the time were disenchanted living in such a negative place. I still think it holds a lot of relevance today even. Obviously not to the same degree, but elements of the lyrics still ring true for me. Belfast has moved on so much since the 1970s (long may it continue in that vein) but its still got a long way to go. I was born in 1994 and believe me - I get fed up living here sometimes. For me though Alternative Ulster I find more inspiring than anything. It's motivational, and makes me want to contribute to the postitive growth of my city. The music is also rousing: I just love the chug chug sound of the guitars nearing the song's outro. I've been listening to the song a lot lately because at this moment in time I'm trying to think of ways I can make my future job (hopefully) of music journalism benefit Belfast as a whole. A brilliant song by a very underrated band.

The Runners Up

• Madonna - Oh Father
• The Velvet Underground - Some Kinda Love
• Little Boots - Confusion
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Sacrilege
• The Beatles - Love You To