Friday Feature - Andrew Belle

This week's Friday Feature is Andrew Belle, singer-songwriter from Illinois / Nashville, United States. Andrew uses next to no electronics in his music yet creates amazingly emotive and epic songs without ever sounding over done or pretentious. He is proof of the power of pure talent - something that can never be recreated using the autotuner.

 

Where will I have heard him before?

Andrew has appeared on stage with many acts such as Ben Folds however you are most likely to have heard his music on the small screen. The shows his music has appeared in include; 90210, The Real World, Ghost Whisperer, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Grey's Anatomy, The Vampire Diaries, One Tree Hill, Pretty Little Liars, The Lying Game and Castle.

Featured Song: In My Veins

Where can I hear more?

Every so often Andrew appears on Noisetrade samplers and currently has his single Static Waves offered there for free. Otherwise he has two EPs and a full album available to download from your store of choice.

What is his website?

http://andrewbelle.com

Next week: The Submarines

Thanks for the 1000 hits!

Thank you to everyone who has visited my blog over the past four months! It was originally started purely so I could enter the ENO competition so I am pleased you guys have stuck with me even now the competition is over! I hope I will continue to entertain you with my posts for another 1000 hits!

If there is ever anything in particular you would like to see me blog about please do let me know!

Silent Hill Animations

Recently I've been getting into the Silent Hill games (in a big way). I'm even going to dust off my PS2 so that I can play the games that never made it onto PS3. What really helped inform my decision were all the excellent Silent Hill videos on youtube (cut scenes, playthroughs, the lot). If you like emotionally loaded and deeply psychological plots as well as creepy, CREEPY horror (both in atmosphere and actual monsters) and gameplay that relies on problem solving as much as killing things then you'll LOVE Silent Hill.

You may find you love the series enough to draw a fan animation.

Yes...there are Silent Hill fans so dedicated and talented that they are able to produce fan animations! And they are good!

Heather Mason from SH3 by Xarity (a creator of many Silent Hill & Resident Evil animations both comedy and serious)

So sit back and enjoy my pick of the Silent Hill fan animations (These videos WILL contain spoilers)

Silent Hill 2 as an 80s sitcom

 

Close Enough Pictures Present: Silent Hill

 

Paper Silent Hill 3

 

Alice Human Sacrifice (Vocaloid) by Xarity

 

Pyramid Head's #1 Fan (inspired by the first film rather than games)

 

Silent Hill 2 the Musical Medley - The Courtship of Pyramid Head

 

1234 (Feist) Silent Hill

 

Resident Evil and Silent Hill Memories by Xarity

 

Silent Hill 2 Chibi Edition (the second part never got made)

 

Vincent is trying to bring the sexiness of Silent Hill back! (it's not an animation but it's Vincent Smith being sexy so...who cares that it's not an animation?!) (Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake)

 

My last pick is actually about Resident Evil (though it does contain a James Sutherland cameo) but I think it's adorable so here it is anyway!

I Think I Love You! (David Cassidy) by ShadowLeggy (the Resident Evil version of Xarity)

Watching all these excellent animations make me want to do one now too! What do you think?

Friday Feature - Stamps

Haha! I was so busy playing Silent Hill 3 I almost forgot to do this! Big apologies!

This week's Friday Feature is Stamps, Bob Morris' current band from Los Angeles, United States. Stamps continues the duet aspect of The Hush Sound with fantastic vocals from Ren and Bob as well as great instrumentals from third member Adam. Their first two EPs Tramps and Stamps Ventures of a Lifetime are really quite joyous examples of indie pop. The majority of both EPs is light-heart and playful - honestly fun to listen to again and again - then nicely rounded off with a gentler, more meaningful ballad such as the beautiful 'Things You Do To Me'. The band has now drifted from its chamber style to experiment with an electronic / dance sound.

Where will I have heard them before?

Apart from the obvious (Bob being from The Hush Sound) Stamps has been touring with various bands and hitting various festivals. You may have also have confused them with various other stamp-named bands and musiciansyou were looking for (iTunes and amazon really don't help there, lumping them all together like one uber stamp music thing)!

Featured Song: Over Again

Where can I hear more?

Stamps offer many of their singles for free when they are new so follow them on twitter / facebook / tumblr for each new release. Of course they also have their lovely first two EPs Tramps and Stamps Ventures of a Lifetime which are easily available for download. You can also download their new dance style singles from iTunes and amazon. They don't have a full album out yet but it will be really interesting to see when they do how much of it will be chamber style and how much of it will be dance style. I hope they haven't dropped the chamber style for good - I think if they find a good balance of both the album would be sensational!

What is their website?

They have an official website but I found it really buggy so here is their tumblr.

Next week: Andrew Belle

Archangels at Canterbury Cathedral

This will probably be my last Archangel hunt as I'm running out of places in the UK that I know contain images of Archangels rather than just Gabriel or chubby cherubs. If you know anywhere else please let me know! I love going on Archangel hunts!

Canterbury Cathedral is in Cantebury, Kent, UK and is famous for being where the Archbishop of Canterbury (the head of the Church of England) hangs out, where Thomas Becket was stabbed in the head by four of Henry II's knights and where the pilgrims are headed in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It is also one of the few churches in the UK whose stained glass windows survived the bombings of World War II.

Archangel Gabriel

 

This piece is by Valerie Dean and is actually for sale as part of an exhibition at the cathedral.

 

The Christopher Whall Window (1902)

 

The Christopher Whall window in the south west of the cathedral has to be my favourite stained glass window ever! It contains images of the archangels Gabiel, Michael, Uriel and Phanuel or Raphael (I can't remember which it is!) and is generally a beautiful piece of artwork. Unfortunately at the moment the cathedral is having a lot of work done in the area of this window so it difficult to get a good view of.



Archangel (Saint) Michael

Uriel

 

This is two thirds of the main part of the window. You can view the whole of the window and other pieces by Christopher Whall at the Christopher Whall Flickr group.

 

Here is another window featuring Uriel, Gabriel, Michael and Raphael which is not accessible to the public.

The altar below has absolutely nothing to do with angels...I just like it!

Cheese murder is wrong

I saw this picture in the Lakeland catalogue and instantly thought...meme XD

Friday Feature - Gold Motel

This week's Friday Feature is Gold Motel, Greta Morgan's current band from Chicago, United States. Gold Motel continues the more dreamy, melodious side of The Hush Sound with music perfect for a hot summer night by the beach. Retro, playful and wistful by turn, Gold Motel create the kind of music perfect to appear on the soundtrack to your life or a super cool indie film.

Where will I have heard them before?

Apart from the obvious (Greta being from The Hush Sound) songs from Gold Motel's first album Summer House have appeared on various adverts. The band have been very busy touring, supporting such acts as Family of the Year, Skybox, Mark Rose, Steel Train and hellogoodbye, creating a very swanky cover of 'Here in Your Arms'.

Featured Song: Perfect in My Mind

Where can I hear more?

Gold Motel appear on the odd sampler but very rarely (and usually for a limited time). They enjoy touring so that would be a good way to catch them but of course you can also buy their albums Summer House and Gold Motel. I recommend going for Summer House first as it is a more complete album with a unifying theme of summer in California. If you like that then you can be daring and try the more varied offerings from Gold Motel the album.

What is their website?

http://www.goldmotel.com/

Next week: The final instalment of the Hush Sound journey: Stamps