Messi - The Genius

The word 'genius' is bandied round far too often these days for my liking. In every field (especially pop music) there's always a new one. The truth, however, is that there's very few ever, let alone today. In sport it is my view that there are two. As a snooker player, when he is in the mood, Ronnie O' Sullivan is one. He is,in my view - others are available, the greatest player to ever grace the table.

Sport's other great genius - one who incidentally seems to always be in the mood - is Barcelona's Lionel Messi. Say what you will about the ref the other night (I personally thought the sending off was warranted as the tackle was dangerous, coming in with studs showing, over the top of the ball), nobody can deny that Messi's second goal was pure genius.


Messi - A true genius

Jinking his way through 5 or 6 Real defenders, Messi slotted home with the kind of beauty and yet humility I've never seen. When I was a small child I was in awe of Zinedine Zidane, Messi, however, is even better.

Without Lionel, the other night probably would've ended in a drab draw. With him, it had two goals, one of which must go down as one of the best ever.

5 of the Best - Roads

Kerouac's most famous (and probably best) book was about them, many of us spend our lives on them and they also rhyme with toads (to be honest I couldn't think of anything else to say). Here's 5otB to do with roads...

Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street: The only time I think a sax has been necessary in a song. This one about the very famous stretch in London where Sherlock used to run around with his magnifying glass is an absolutely classic song.


Baker Street

The Hollies - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother: In the main part this song isn't necessarily about any particular highway, however, the song would be nothing without the opening gambit "The road is long, with many a winding turn". Very emotive song and also a classic.

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited: Yet another classic and the title track from what is maybe Dylan's best album (it's probably too hard to pick though). P.J. Harvey's cover is very interesting also.


2-4-6-8 Motorway

Tom Robinson Band - 2-4-6-8 Motorway: I bloody love this song so much. Keep on truckin'. The riff is so simple it's almost moronic, that however is a major factor in the song's brilliance. A quick mention must go to its appearance on the hilarious 'Margit' episode of Only Fools and Horses.

Willie Nelson - On the Road Again: Fantastic song with a touching lyric about Nelson's love of life on tour. You can't help but tap your toes to this one.

Spurs All But Out, Chelsea v United

I watched that Spurs game last night and I was quietly smug. Not because I dislike Spurs, I have next to no feelings for them, but because it highlighted exactly what I thought about their place in Europe's elite.

While beating the Milan teams may have been seen by many as confirmation of their arrival as a club of European status, for me it just underlined how far backward the Italian league has gone. Spurs, however, when faced with a real European giant crumbled. They are not able to handle the Ronaldos, Marcelos or even Adebayors (OK maybe not him, good service can do a wonderful thing for average strikers)of this world.

Two clubs who can compete at this top level, however, are Man United and Chelsea (as painful as it is to admit the latter). Tonight we will see two genuine contenders slugging it out for a semi-final place and I, for one, cannot wait. To be honest, I think the Blues will do it (and that is a horrible thing for a QPR fan to have to admit). But it won't be by much.

In other news Bibio has a new record out and my review of it should be up by tomorrow at some point, oh, and the R's are going up! 3-0, what a result.

The Cloud Player

So, Amazon have 'quietly' released their cloud player in the U.S. The implications seem huge. Could this end the iPod era altogether?

The idea is simple, instead of using your computer's hard drive as your main store for music, you can use an online storage space. This could change music forever...


How to use cloud player with android phones. iPhone users can't use it, however. Amazon vs. Apple is on!

With the CD becoming less and less popular, the next generation of adults may well have grown up using the cloud player. As our lives become more and more virtual, with friends online, communication online, is the next thing to go the music collection?

There's a really cool article in The Independent newspaper which discusses the cloud player and its implications. Check it out at http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/amazon-vs-apple-the-race-for-the-future-of-music-2256736.html.

Dude, Where's My Guitar?

I study music which means I'm shoved in the same block as many a stoned, heavy rock-obsessed, smelly loser. Meandering one's way through this lot can be quite the task sometimes, but having to listen to their conversation in the smoking area at Uni whilst trying to chuff on some of Virginia's finest plants can be even more annoying.

So yesterday, there I am minding my own, puffing away, when a couple of spotty wretches clad in hoodies with 'Tool' and 'Him' printed on them approach the NHS burdens' standing point.

Wretch 1 looks at Wretch 2 and, I shit you not, utters the words "dude, where's my guitar?" It's at this point I can barely hide my smirk. Have they never seen that dodgy stoner film with Ashton Kutcher in it, which (rather unsubtly) parodies morons just like them? It's called Dude Where's My Car?

The wretches

Fucking ridiculous I'm sure you'll agree. I stubbed out, walked off and thought to myself "I wonder if they have 'Sweet' and 'Dude' tattoos?"

What's more annoying in all this is that they went off to look for the guitar and neither of them saw how ridiculous this all was. Sorry if you happen to be a bit of a long-haired Camden Town dweller reading this and I've offended you, but that was just mental!

5 of the Best - Summer

We're experiencing something of a premature summer here in England, which, after a shitty winter, is most welcome. With that in mind, here is 5 of the Best to do with summer...

Bob Marley and the Wailers - Sun is Shining: One heavy, heavy bassline juxtaposed with seriously syncopated harmonies, the mystic air of what may well be a clarinet of some description and Marley's superb, defiant vocal. One of his best, and that is saying something.

The Fifth Dimension - Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine: One gorgeous, colourful, psychedelic track which can't fail to lift the spirits.


Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine

The Beach Boys - Surfin' U.S.A.: OK, doesn't really talk of the summer, but you wouldn't surf in the winter would you? Ok, you might, but this track is purely one for the summer.

The Beatles - Good Day Sunshine: Another one of those summery tracks that instantly makes you happy from the moment you press play.


Good Day Sunshine

Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince - Summertime: It's cheesy, it's a bit naff, but my god it gets you in the mood for summer.

Great Songs: Iggy Pop - The Passenger

Iggy - Looks a tad like WWE's Shawn Micheals, don't he?

One day, back sometime in the mid-70s, Ricky Gardiner (co-writer of The Passenger) had a chord progression stuck in his head and thought it was damn catchy. He ran straight to his guitar and whacked out the chords that would become one of the catchiest, most irresistible riffs in rock history. That riff was The Passenger. Iggy Pop would put a fine lyric and vocal on it and before long it was born. The pair had written a truly great song.


The Passenger

Iggy's lyric which is the embodiment of do it yourself, nomadic punk attitude may well be one of the most inspiring pieces of prose ever written. He summons up Kerouacian imagery of being out on the road driving through the city and paints the glory, the buzz and the cesspit feel of it all. Speaking of "the city's ripped backsides" and painting himself as some kind of Dean Moriarty character with "I am the passenger".

Musically, The Passenger is a pretty simple song. What Gardiner and Iggy did with the song is probably one of the hardest tricks to pull off - they took a simple harmony and vocal melody and penned an instant classic.

That it was released in 1977 just adds to the punk romanticism of a truly great song.