And Don't Forget About That Drug Problem You Picked Up At College

I've spent the last six months of my life trying to finish a degree by putting on gigs for my university's media outlet. Which, juggling alongside being a self-obsessed self-deprecating run of the mill only child has been no easy task.
The biggest problem I encountered was the mind-set of students. They are bone idle and trying to convince them to do anything that isn’t sitting on their bum is a real ordeal. First year students are effectively sheep that follow their flat about in herds so if one of them decides they don’t want to do something the others follow. This was a bit of an issue because naturally it’s hard to convince a house of thirteen or so people that they should totally attend an event with bands that no-one knows about. We gave it a go by putting up posters in each individual kitchen but they sort of just thought we were breaking in to their homes. This is how they all pick up drug problems because one person says 'Hey, let's try Ketamine' and everyone else goes 'Yeah, let's try Ketamine.'
So if you're thinking of promoting gigs to students I'd suggest selling drugs, it's much more rewarding.

A quick two-step guide to making your Mount Kimbie album even better!!

Step One// In iTunes find your Mount Kimbie album titled Cold Spring Fault Less Youth.

Step Two// Untick the two songs featuring King Krule.

Review: American Hustle

Average.

Introducing: Bones El Galactico

The electronic music scene is buzzing right now, on both sides of the Atlantic, and like any scene that is flourishing there is some good and some bad. Thankfully we aren’t interested in the bad. Bones El Galactico is a producer reppin’ the DMV area hard (D.C/ Maryland/ Virginia) and while you may not have heard of him, it’s about time that changed. His latest single BLOW was picked up by Skream & Benga on their Friday night Radio 1 show and now he has a massive EP titled Black Winter on the way. I was lucky enough to get a few words with a man who is on his grind right now.
Check BLOW out here:

You said you were from the D.C./Maryland area and visit Miami often, is that because there are more opportunities in Miami?

I’m from Virginia Specifically. There’s no special reason, just that the majority of the artists I currently work with are based in Miami. The setting there is great as well.

With regards to travel does the music scene differ greatly between different parts of America?

Yes, every area has their own sound or a certain movement. As far as the DC area, Moombahton is the scene.

Artists you've worked with and artists you are hoping to work with in the near future? 

Within the Latin World I've worked with some great names  . Fuego , Jking Y Maximan , Elvis Crespo , Jencarlos Canela along with some new collaborations in the works. 

What's the dream and where do you want it to take you?  

The mission is to not be boxed in, or  stuck in one lane. Most people think they can only do one thing, or produce one style, but that’s boring. I’m here to prove I can be dominant in the Latin world and still cross into the other genres that I love. I also do my own music, which sounds nothing like the music I produce for others. I feel the time is right for that.

There's seem to be a real connection between the US and UK within the eletcro/dance circuit. Could you comment on that at all and have you noticed it?  

The UK audience is just super opened minded. I mean just look at how "BLOW" got played on BBC Radio 1. The UK is super supportive and early on artists in my opinion.

How would you explain your forthcoming Blackwinter EP? 

The concept of BLACK WINTER is to give the people something while I wrap up my debut PURPLE HEARTS.  It includes "BLOW" and another track entitled "MURDA .”  In addition to those I've included 3 new Instrumentals, 5 tracks total. 

I think it’s a cool way to have the people loving BLOW be introduced to MURDA and vice-versa.  Some people may know one and not the other.//

You can grab all of Bones El Galactico's current tracks and BLACK WINTER for free @ BONESELGALACTICO.COM , The site is constantly changing so stay tuned.

Follow on Twitter @Bonesthegreat

Black Winter artwork:

2013 is Over. So What?

Everything is supposed to change because the number at the end of the date you don't write in your school book anymore has changed. If you're reading this and do still have a school book that is frequently updated I suggest you look elsewhere.
Of course like everyone else I've had an interesting year (I can't list the best things, if you know you know) but why is it significant that it happened within the months ending with '13.' It's just numbers.

AND LASTLY

Why do people say 'HAPPY NEW YEAR' as soon as the clock strikes midnight, the year has just started who are you to tell me it's happy. My family could all get gunned down by feral Romanian children in the early hours of the morning and that would be a terrible way to start the new year. Don't say stupid things. If anything just say 'New Year' but I understand how the concept of time works so you're just wasting words there. Just be quiet. Imagine that.

Bye. 

What If?

Jamie Woon is Burial?

Well it isn't Will Bevan is it. Because www.williambevan.co.uk being a funeral directors is just too much of a ridiculous coincidence. I have no conclusive evidence at all, which is fine. But as I was on the bus earlier this evening listening to Rival Dealer & the windows fogged up (so I was frightfully close to missing my stop and having to walk another 500 yards) I thought what if Jamie Woon is Burial? 

Jamie Woon has been pretty much AWOL since the release of Mirrorwriting in 2011, bar a guest spot on Disclosure's album back in June. In the last couple of years Burial has been busier than ever; Street Halo (2011) Kindred (2012) Truant/ Rough Sleeper (2012) and Rival Dealer just a few days ago. Of course that is the loosest sort of link possible, that's like saying Hugh Grant could be Burial because he hasn't done much lately. But unlike Grant and Burial, Burial and Woon have worked together. In 2006/7 Woon's Wayfaring Stranger was remixed by Burial and he later co-produced Mirrorwriting's lead single Night Air. So the two obviously know each other, unless they are one and the same.

That's all I have. Once (if) I have more to go on I'll add it back here. But probably not.

I can not be an arse hole at times too.

I am sad that Mandela has died. But if you had to Google 'inspirational Mandela quotes' for something to put on your Twitter feed that's almost the same as having to ask another family member for the name of the person's funeral you're attending. As a general observation however, those mourning Mandela's death are much better spellers than those who were sad about Paul Walker's.
Sadly the idiots are still about, Arsenal's Jack Wilshere tweeted this: "RIP Mr Mandela.....your deserve it! Inspired a generation.......#inspirational" which people mis-read as him being glad Mandela was dead.

The man was 95 however, which is a grand age for anyone, and when you look at the life Mandela lead and the things he achieved, it's really not that sad at all. His life was a pretty well documented success story, but sadly we all die.
Although it may have been inevitable once Aaron Ramsey started scoring so many goals.

Danny Murphy Is Making Me Angry

Because

He doesn't think Arsenal are going to win the league. Which is fair enough, I don't think Arsenal are going to win the league (and I'm an Arsenal fan) but can't he just say that. Presumably Danny Murphy isn't very stupid, or even stupid at all, as he has no became a regular pundit for the Beeb. SO why can't he just say 'I don't think Arsenal will win the league because they never do.' ? That would be fair enough. But instead he hides behind the 'oh they haven't won any big games' excuse. Well, we made Spurs look distinctively average when people were saying they've made so many brilliant signings that they are real contenders but because Arsenal beat them it's not a big game. We also beat Liverpool who until earlier were second. We lost to Chelsea, in the least important competition ever. And United beat us 1-0, United, how it looks now aren't even a big team. So Mr Murphy why are you using terrible excuses instead of just saying what you think. Oh we beat Dortmund away too, and Napoli. FYI.

Take a leaf out of Les Ferdinand's book, he made his MOTD debut last night and was much more cohesive than you. Big Les said basically he doesn't know if they can win the league (Fair play, he's an ex-footballer not Mystic Meg) but if they can provide cover for Giroud in January they can be a real threat because if he gets injured then Arsenal are fucked. (Again, fair play.) So Les, you win at MOTD. It annoys me when people who are paid to say intelligent stuff say stupid stuff. It's like being paid to build a house but then knocking down next door's garage instead. Sort of. Not really.

Lastly, today was the first time in a long time where Liverpool have lost to a shit team and I can't say it's because Liverpool are shit. Because they really aren't.

Double lastly, Royal Blood are very good at making music aren't they. Fair play to them for making lous music that isn't just fuzzy shit. Kudos.

Only God Forgives & The Ill-Fated Internet Disaster

What up err'body. It's been a while because I've been pretending my problems are worse than everybody else's. Then my Mum phones me and confirms that my problems are the worst and nobody else matters because I'm here only son and now the cat's dead she has nothing else to care for.

CAT

Grumpy. she ded. 

This talk of death brings me on to the purpose of this post however;

Only God Forgives

Or as the un-educated bastards amongst us like to refer to it 'I thought it was going to be like Drive part 2.'

It isn't. It wasn't ever going to be. Drive, to all intents and purposes is the only normal-ish film Nicolas Winding Refn has ever made. I don't think people even know he directed Bronson and everybody saw that during the 'Oh my god Tom Hardy is the best thing ever' phase circa 2011-12.

Only God Forgives is out on DVD to own on Monday which is nice if you are a film collector but it means it does not come with the added satisfaction of watching old people leave the cinema half way through.

If this is a problem, perhaps invite all your family round for a Christmas-ish buffet and use the film as a house-clearing tool once you are fed up of making small talk with people you barely see.

Gosling spends the ninety minutes sort of just standing up, looking moody. Symmetrical, but moody. Although I'm unsure as to how many fan girls will have actually seen Gosling standing up for the full duration of the movie before they decided that looking at the posters on their bedroom wall would be much less challenging.

It's definitely not acting gold but it's hard not to admire him for taking on such an unorthodox role. Unless he just doesn't like talking and it's nothing but an act of laziness.

At one point Gosling fists his dead mother's corpse (Kristin Scott Thomas) which is nice. 'Fisting Scott Thomas' was originally going to be the title of this post but after I ran it through an image search I had to delete Google Chrome and acid bath my eyeballs as I never found quite what I was looking for.

To summarise I've no idea if you should watch it or not & if you've seen it before I'm fairly certain you won't be too bothered about putting yourself through it again.

Thanks for letting me waste your time.

Third Show on One Media Radio.

Sorry for the delay I've been busy erm. Erm. I forgot. Here it is though. Try your hardest to enjoy it.

Matthew Cooper on One Media Radio. 23-10-13 by Matthew Cooper on Mixcloud

Second Show on One Media Radio.

Listen to my second show on One Media Radio Staffordshire (www.omgstaffs.com) if you'd like too.
Note: If you listened to the first show then well done you brave bastard, this one is much more bearable.

Matthew Cooper on One Media Radio. 16-10-13 by Matthew Cooper on Mixcloud

Matthew Cooper on One Media Radio Staffs. 9/10/13 //CarCrash FM

Got an hour to waste. If yes here is my first show back on the radio. It's sketchy as fuck. But you will be rewarded with good songs so it's kind of worth it. If not, as you were.

www.omgstaffs.com

Color Film- Bad Saint

SO I sort of forgot to blog again in the past month. That's a thing that happens. Sorry. Will update it a fair bit this next week with reams (paper measurement) of nonsense.
For now this is Daryl Palumbo's project called Color Film. They're not new at all. Been going for over a year but he's Daryl Palumbo and does what the fuck he wants so he doesn't do too much of the social media hype.
They are releasing an EP towards the end of the month.
They sound like something else but I'm not quite sure what. SO if you think you know. Please post a comment. If you write Glassjaw or Head Automatica a kitten will be separated from its mother. Enjoy.

Skream- Rollercoaster (Ft. Sam Frank)

Daft Punk never created Disco, so why should they be the only ones making it. (They're not.) And now Skream AKA Oliver Jones is carrying on with the scene's revival too, which is not too surprising after his recent sets and remixes of late.

A chat with Ben. (Of Fenech-Soler.)

Back in August I caught up with Ben Duffy of Fenech-Soler ahead of their R+L festival slot and the release of their upcoming second album Rituals. (which is fab, review soon to be posted on www.flushthefashion.com) I recorded this for a feature in Music Week which has now been published so this could be stealing IDK. Just don't tell them. This was my first ever interview and I am cripplingly nervous.
DISCLOSURE: Very uncomfortable to sit through. Like listening to your parents having sex. Or your girlfriend having sex with someone else.

FRANCHISE ENHANCEMENT WINDOW DEADLINE DAY

(I know that's not what it's called but if you're not following USA Soccer Guy on Twitter. Go do it. @usasoccerguy)

The transfer window closed yesterday and Arsenal pulled off a worldy, so for once I can feel smug. But Liverpool also made some smart business this time round so I have no-one to point the finger and laugh at. Manchester United? They took the Dutch skunk from us so lets not bring that up again. That said #MoyesOut was trending for a good portion of yesterday which was fairly enjoyable and inexplicably stupid. I was beginning to think there were no fans more fickle than us of Arsenal. I don't believe for one second that those in charge of United (& Fergie) would not have foreseen Moyes having a tough start to probably the hardest job in football, and he has. So the club didn't bring in Bale or Ronaldo or any other rumours. But Bale was never going anywhere other then the Spanish capital and why would CR7 leave but he has kept you Wayne Rooney so give him time. Sir Alex once went 13 games in a row without a win. It's nothing.

Arsenal probably still need a striker but if we'd have bought a striker and Ozil people would be moaning about us not signing a CB. But if needs be Flamini can play there. And if Wenger is still feeling crazy by January he could do it all again.

Why didn't United sign Mata if Chelsea want him out (god knows why.)

I'm bored now to be honest. I'd rather watch Bad Education, which isn't great. I have substantially less to say than I thought. If you could help me with my fantasy team though that'd be most welcome.

Thanks.

Joker releases 'Joker Drive'

Floating about the internet now but the producer has released a nine-track mini album and it is COMPLETELY FREE. It's not going to change the world but it is basically like listening to a SEGA console do its thing. Pretty essential for anyone who oogled their childhood in-front of Sonic & Tails though. So me.
Joker previously experimented with this on his debut release The Vision on track Level 6 (Interlude).
It even has the little SEEEGGGA chime at the very start. SoundCloud player below.

List

I have nothing constructive or positive to say so here is a list of things I hate:
The Hobbit
Chase & Status
Scouting for Girls
Chris Martin
V Festival
David Guetta
Alesso
Swedish House Mafia & all of them individually
Armin van Buuren and all of the other producers that sound ball-achingly similar.
Robin Thicke
People who have a problem with people who own Apple products
A middle-aged man I met at the pub who thought The Rolling Stones and The Beatles never made a bad song
Anyone who dislikes Ricky Gervais or Kanye West
Anything that has left Eminem's mouth post 2003
Wax crayons.

The Weeknd- Live For Ft. Drake

The alleged beef with fellow Canadian and sort-of mentor turned out to be largely nonsense, which most of us already knew. The result is another cut from The Weeknd's first proper full-length Kiss Land. Due next month. Feels like a bit of a lazy hype song, sadly. What do you think.

The Hobbit

I never bothered going to see The Hobbit because it didn't tempt me. I didn't like the book. So when I found out old Peter was turning a 400 page book into a three part trilogy I became rather aggravated. LOTR was a bit erm wordy at times and that had three books to draw from. There is an interesting (to me) fact somewhere that represents the seconds of screen time a page in LOTR has to the second of screen time a page in The Hobbit has. Obviously The Hobbit has a lot more because there is a lot less material.
But I've waited until now to watch it for two reasons:
1. It's free. Literally. Every time I don't have money to pay for Netflix I just make a new e-mail address. This month I am 'cooper976isthebest@hotmail.com'. FYI a man trying to flog me 3 months of LoveFilm created this account for me. When I say 'trying' I mean succeeding. I buckled and bought into it.
2. I am a stubborn follower of critic reviews as I believe they know more than little people. So when I saw Rotten Tomatoes 68% rating I ignored it. Even though everyone I know told me it was 'amazing' I knew they would be wrong. They were.

I watched 1 hour 49 minutes last night before a horrendously over-sized moth distracted me from viewing. I owe it thanks. I'd say thank you but I killed it. In n hour all that happened was some singing and a wizard stroked a hedgehog. Shooting in SUPER HD (I made this up) hasn't really helped either and has made everything look a bit well fake, instead of magical. There are still another two and a half films of this to go. Martin Freeman and Ian McKellen are superb as ever, but surely Peter could have resisted the dollar signs and made one incredible three hour film out of this much loved (not by me) book instead of filling it all with large sections of sub-standard dialogue.
BLEEEHHHH.