Attention Peeps!

Geocities is closing down so consequently I'm shutting down my site there that was dedicated solely to the radio station.

This means that all news about Jamjarsuperstar Radio will be directed here instead of there - I'm already putting playlists up at the minute but I think there should be some other bits and bobs about it that I'll post up too.

For those of you who haven't checked out the station, give it a go and the playlist is below!

Playlist Update

Hiya, so I've just updated the playlist for the radio station with some new stuff on there, and here it is:

Athlete - You Got The Style
Basement Jaxx - Romeo
Bat For Lashes - Pearl's Dream
Beck - The New Pollution
Bjork - Crying
Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance
Cajun Dance Party - The Colourful Life
Camille - Kfir
Chairlift - Evident Utensil
CSS - Move
Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Depeche Mode - World In My Eyes
Editors - Fingers In The Factories
Empire of the Sun - We Are The People
Feeder - Seven Days In The Sun
Friendly Fires - Paris
Goldfrapp - Caravan Girl
Grace Jones - Williams' Blood
Hot Chip - And I Was A Boy From School
Howling Bells - Digital Hearts
Ida Maria - Oh My God
Interpol - PDA
Kate Bush - Moving
Ladyhawke - Better Than Sunday
LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
Lykke Li - I'm Good, I'm Gone
M.I.A. - Sunshowers
Martina Topley Bird - April Grove
MGMT - Kids
Mystery Jets - Hideaway
Neon Neon - I Told Her On Alderaan
Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountains
PJ Harvey - Highway 61 Revisited
Roisin Murphy - If We're In Love
Royksopp - The Girl And The Robot
Santogold - I'm A Lady
The Long Blondes - The Couples
The Raconteurs - Attention
The Rapture - Get Myself Into It
The Go! Team - The Wrath of Marcie
British Sea Power - Waving Flags
Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy

Happy NRSD!

Today is National Record Shop Day in the UK - so to all of those independent record stores across the country, congratulations!

But is NRSD masking a very depressing truth? The very depressing truth that aside from not buying many physical records these days, we're just not buying as much music as we used to altogether?

The members of The Pirate Bay were sentenced and ordered to pay millions in damages yesterday, but their story is testament to the fact that no-one wants to pay money for their music any more. Sites are now offering free access to music that hasn't even been released yet and it's going to cost the industry badly if more sites like The Pirate Bay aren't put to trial (and let's not forget that this problem spreads into film and TV too - "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" has recently become the most illegally downloaded film of all time and it hasn't even had a cinema release here yet!)

Aside from illegal downloading, sites like iTunes are making sure that people are only buying singles from albums rather than investing some money in the whole works of a band or artist. Elbow frontman Guy Garvey was particularly furious about this after the release of "The Seldom Seen Kid", saying that he wants people to listen to the whole album and see it as a musical journey rather than spending 79p on "Grounds For Divorce" just because it was played on Radio 1 a few times. It makes you wonder whether artists are just going to release nothing but singles in a few years - Ash has already taken that road, and it wouldn't be surprising if many others followed behind.

Add to this the threat from websites like Amazon and Play - they'll send you CDs and offer you downloads at a fraction of the cost of any record shop with free postage and packaging. The technological age is probably having a particularly adverse effect on stores, so many will probably have to use their own websites to keep afloat.

It all adds up to a pretty depressing outlook for our independent record stores - the only one I can really think of in my area recently closed down (presumably because there was a lack of interest). My most local HMV store has reduced its music section by around 70% and is overloaded with DVDs and games - it's obvious what people want, I suppose.

Well, I don't really want to end on a very gloomy note so I'll just say congratulations again - have some cake, enjoy the company of fellow survivors.

Exciting Times!

Ooh, I'm currently listening to Depeche Mode's new album "Sounds of the Universe" a whole week before it gets released (that date? 20th April officially). And it's not illegal (but then, why would I want to do anything illegal?)

Anyway it sounds like a return to form so far. A lot of people really hate their latest single "Wrong" but I think I like the rockier feel. They seem to have banished a lot of the bleepy-bloppy sounds found on "Playing the Angel" as well which is a bonus. It's a bit like a hybrid of "Ultra" and "Violator" which spells brilliant.

If anyone else out there wants to listen to it, pop over to NME.com where I found it - you DO have to listen to an advert every couple of songs but I think that's a price worth paying personally, it;s just like listening to the radio!

Oh, I'm very excited about buying it next week (hopefully!)!!!!

Support Me!

Ah so I've noticed that I've already got a couple of followers but I know there's loads more of you out there who actually read my blog and I thought it would make sense to help you track my posts more easily (I know it helps me to keep track of my favourite blogs!)

Well that's about it really.

Have a great Easter Weekend!

Junior

Ah, Royksopp.... If I didn't know better I'd say you were attempting to make a very solid pop album. Successfully, might I add.

So how did I come to the conclusion that this was more of a pop effort than a dance one? Well alongside their normal vocal collaborators, we are also treated to the singing of Swedish popstrels Robyn and Lykke Li. Not really being a Robyn fan (find her a bit bland really), I was surprised that "Girl And The Robot" became my favourite song on the album. I might have preferred it if Alessi was singing but hey, you can't have it all and the sweeping synths more than make up for Robyn's apparent lack of vocal range. Lykke has been syphoned, perhaps predictably, to "Miss It So Much", a sweet little ditty halfway through the album where her childishly fey voice gradually finds room to maneuver into the more surprisingly powerful voice found on her own debut album.

But it's strange that Royksopp have put so much emphasis on the singing this time - it's almost as if they're trying to make up for something. All of the songs could probably get by without any vocals at all, so why certain tracks aren't allowed to just glide along like on "The Understanding" is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps the pressure to create something that's more mainstream overall has bitten them finally - but that doesn't mean that it's not a great album. The idiosyncrasies of previous albums still shine through on tracks like "Vision One" and their harder edge manages to cut a little deeper on "Tricky Tricky".

It's worth remembering that Royksopp were perhaps one of the first bands to get in with the whole 80s theme before it was cool - now their time could finally have come. "Junior" is a solid album that grows on you with every play. Now I just need to put it on again - I might get to the "love it" stage soon!