A whole lot of updates

It's been an incredibly busy couple of weeks. Sometimes I start to wonder how time manages to let me fit everything in. Of course I'm not the only who's busy recently, Rose Parade launched their Debut Video last week and last night they launched the Album at the 13th Note in Glasgow. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it, but I have heard that it was a terrific show. Facebook was loaded with people talking about it and it really just makes me wish that I had managed to be there.

I've discovered quite a few new acts over the last couple of weeks as well. 'Burn the Maps' are really standing out for me at the moment, and I would urge everyone to go and have a listen, I see big things from them in the future. They are going to be a huge hit in 2013 and I'm hopefully going to get along to a good few events.

Another piece of news I've had is that 'Twisted Illusion' (a band who really stood out for me last year) are taking the band in a whole new direction. I have no idea what direction they plan on going in, but I'm interested to see where it goes. They are apparently doing a preview of the new material in Box on the 20th of February so I'm going to try and get along and it would be good to see some other happy faces there.

I'm going to be busy on the 20th because on the same night I'm going to run around to King Tuts to see the fabulous Anna Sweeney perform. Anyone who follows my blog will know that I rate Anna higher than most performers on the circuit at the moment. She's just got such a big talent, and she's such a tiny person. I love her music and on top of that she's such a nice person to know that it makes it hard not to be a fan.

I also went to see 'Slutcake' last Friday. They're a band I've never saw live and in actual fact I probably wouldn't have heard of them if I hadn't been dragged to the gig by Mr Grant of Jiezuberband, but I really enjoyed it. I'm not a big covers band fan but they really know how to put on a show. Mo is a terrific front woman and the rest of the band are extremely talented in their field. It was a thoroughly enjoyable performance and a band who I would go and see again, possibly for all the wrong reasons but hey, we're all allowed our guilty pleasures.

I also finally managed to get a hold of Brendan Benson's newest album 'What Kind of World' For those of you who don't know, Brendan is in the band 'The Raconteurs' who to be honest I'm not a massive fan of but Brendan's solo work completely blows me away. It's very melodramatic and completely encapsulating. If you happen to come across the album I would definitely recommend buying it, or adding it to your wish list for the year.

Moving away from Music just for a moment;

The finale of Fringe was two weeks ago and I have to say I'm sad that it's ended. It was one of my favourite television shows of the last decade and it really gave me something to think about at the end of every episode. Walter Bishop is without doubt one of the best characters ever created for a television show and had given me countless hours of laughter and nonsensical enjoyment.

I'm still a bit undecided on WWE at the moment..........yes I still watch wrestling, no I don't care that you think it makes me a child, yes I know it's scripted!!.......The Rock as WWE Champion again? Not what I wanted to see, not that I have anything against The Rock but CM Punk really brought credibility back to that Championship with a terrific reign that lasted well over a year and is the longest reign in the modern day era.


Back to music;

Suspire, The Detours, Dee, Sonic Templars, Jay Ingram and Jesus Trip all take part in The Showcase at Stereo on the 24th of this month to find the Support Act for the o2 ABC show featuring Jiezuberband and Preacher. All six acts are truly outstanding and so it will be interesting to see who gets the slot.

February is a month full of some amazing gigs, I'm going to try and get along to as many as I can. I get invites to gigs every single day and I know how annoying it is when you try and promote a show and nobody shows up, but I promise I will try my hardest to get a long to many more this month than I did in January.

Music Reviews - I've been sent a lot of music to review recently, I've just been so busy with other stuff that I haven't really had the chance to get them done. Saying that though, I will work my through them this week and have them all up. Remember if you want your tracks reviewed send them over to uucmanagement@hotmail.co.uk

So that's all for just now, I'm going to leave you with a little bit of Brendan Benson to get your teeth into.