good music is good music: July 2012

It's not that often a week goes by without the discovery of an amazing new song. Most weeks there are at least 1 stand-out track that I become addicted to and can't live without.

This week was an exceptional week in that I heard about 6 that I can't get enough of and had to share with you. 4 of them where all from one radio show by Zane Lowe's radio show on BBC Radio 1. Zane is the finest DJ in the world as he makes everything so exciting. Give this link a listen and hear for yourself.

Here are the 6 tunes I think you should listen to this week. Enjoy!

Band Of Horses - 'Knock Knock'

Ellie Goulding featuring Tinie Tempah - 'Holding On'

The Killers - 'Runaway'

Nas Featuring Amy Winehouse - 'Cherry Wine' *This is fan-fuckin-tastic!!

The Sheepdogs - 'The Way It Is'

The Rolling Stones - 'Beast of Burden' *Today marks the band's 50th Anniversary

Check out these archives if you like The Stones

Thanks for reading/listening.

Gregg

T in the Park takes place this weekend in Balados, Scotland. It's the finest festival in the UK and boasts the biggest rock stars from around the world. The line-ups are always so insane that it makes me super jealous that it's so far away.

This year's festival will see the likes of Kasabian, Snow Patrol, Miike Snow, New Order, Noel Gallagher, The Stone Roses, Florence + the Machine, Calvin Harris, Skrillex, Emeli Sande, Ben Howard, Two Door Cinema Club and many more.

I had the pleasure of going to T in the Park back in 2005 for work. It meant 5 wonderful days in Scotland - and believe it or not it never rained once. I was there to escort a camera crew + contest winners and so we did not camp thank God. We stayed in Glasgow and drove to Balados each day - which was an hour away.

We made a mistake in our vehicle rental and ended up with a Mercedes tour bus. Not a bad mistake at the end of the day. This was a 16 seater with tinted windows and a stocked bar. It was a great way to travel and even better when we got to the site. Security just figured we were in a band, based on the sweet ride, and sent us passed the traffic into the back staging area.

In 2005 the line-up was insane (IMHO) and included headliners Green Day, Prodigy, The Killers, Travis, Foo Fighters, New Order, Kasabian, The Streets and James Brown. I went for a wander backstage and saw Brandon Flowers playing mini putt, Fran Healy and the rest of Travis drinking a few cans of Tenants lager while Peter Hook (New Order Bassist) sat on a picnic bench playing his bass for a few beautiful girls. It was this amazing 'heaven like scene' of my favourite rock stars hanging and having fun.

My single strangest moment was running into the now ex-bass player of Snow Patrol Mark - seen here. I had met him a few times when the band had started coming to North America to promote their 3rd album. He had been there since the start of the band - but was recently tossed out for creative differences. Well I met him in the beer tent and he was on fire about how the band chucked him out and had some harsh words for the guys. It really put it into perspective that these so called 'rock stars' really just are dudes in a band. They too have differences and not all is happy and fun when you're touring the world playing music. They just happen to be lucky enough to have had the chance.

I loved my experience at T in the Park and would highly recommend it to anyone. Music festivals are some of the most amazing things a person can experience. It's a chance to see some of your favourites and be introduced to great new music at the same time. The atmosphere is always friendly and energetic. It helps that most are drinking and perhaps dabbling in enhancements - but regardless of what you on you're outside amongst music lovers for the day.

The festival itself is televised live across The UK and takes over the nation each year.

Here are a few clips I found from this amazing festival...