NILE RANGER – “NANDOS GAVE ME 29 CHIPS”

The Premier League’s Prize Nugget, Nile Ranger, has been in today’s Evening Chronicle claiming he can still play a part in Newcastle United’s bid for Europe this season.

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2012/03/16/nile-ranger-i-can-still-play-a-big-part-this-season-72703-30549032/

Let’s fukkin hope it doesn’t come to that!!!

The article, by Lee Ryder, is about Nile Ranger hoping to shake of his “forgotten man” tag.  The article comes after what Ryder describes as a “candid interview” with Nile Ranger, who has never scored a Premier League goal.  Apparently Ranger is close to making a return from an ankle injury that he picked up during his time on loan at Barnsley and is hoping to “get involved” in the Newcastle set-up.

It seems as though plastic gangsta, Nile Ranger, is feeling pretty sorry for himself throughout the interview though.  Ryder quotes him as saying he is “like a forgotten man” and “People think ‘This guy just gets in trouble week-in, week-out’” suggest a whole ‘Woe be Tide’ attitude from a footballer who has had more than his fair share of chances at Newcastle.

"If only I could hit the target..."

Dennis Wise brought this joke of a footballer to St James’ Park in the summer of 2008, while he was Director of Football here, and Ranger made his Newcastle debut in August 2009, in The Championship, against West Bromwich Albion.  The same month he made the starting line-up, for the first time, against Leicester City.

Despite thirty appearances that season (five cup games); misfiring Ranger only scored two goals.  Since Newcastle’s promotion to the top tier of English football, he has made twenty-four league appearances in a Newcastle shirt and is still yet to score.  He also failed to score in any of the five games that he played in while on loan at Barnsley, in The Championship, before he got injured and was sent back to us.  His career statistics are woeful.  Sixty-three appearances with a return of three goals from a forward are certainly fuck all to brag about.

Ranger states the obvious when he says that Newcastle is “a massive club” but does also claim that he just wants to “play football” and keep his “nose clean”.  Ranger has been in more than his fair share of trouble off the field, currently facing assault charges, and claims people know him for the “wrong thing”.  He goes on to say, “My challenge is to show people my talent” and also “show everybody what I’m about.”

Statistically speaking, he’s got no real talent as a striker and, if you really want to know what he’s all about, then follow him on Twitter, where he’ll enlighten you with tweets such as, “Nuh bwoy can bad mi up ah dat mi no !” and “Nandos gave me 29 chips”.

Nile Ranger on Twitter – (@NilePowerRanger)

With Leon Best, Peter Lovenkrands and Sammy Ameobi all out injured, Ranger is eying the possibility of getting another shot in the Newcastle first team.

Let’s hope the injury crisis doesn’t get that fukkin bad!

GOD MADE IT EASY ON ME…

Happy Mondays

“I like that… Turn it up!!!”

My old fella woke me up with a phone call early this afternoon.  Usually, I’m not a fan of being woken up with phone calls but I can make an exception this time.  He’s bought me a ticket for Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets at the O2 Academy on 3^rd May.  BOOM!

http://www.o2academynewcastle.co.uk/event/37894/happy-mondays-tickets

“One day he was admiring his reflection in his favourite mirror…”

I’m getting the ticket for my birthday in April and I can’t fukkin wait!  In May last year I went to see Shaun Ryder and his band playing at The Riverside, as well as Nobby Solano on his trumpet with the Geordie Latinos.  That was one of the best nights of my life… so far!  It also made performing at The Riverside with my old band a life-long dream come true.  By life-long, I mean since May last year.  I played on the same stage as Shaun Ryder once did, class!  See the video of that gig on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcoPU2cW5wc

“I can virtually do anything I read…”

Shaun Ryder and Bez are my fukkin idols and the Happy Mondays are by far my favourite band of all time so to get the chance to see the original line-up back together after nineteen years.  I was gutted when the Shaun Ryder 2012 Tour was cancelled but for the Happy Mondays to reform totally makes up for that!

HAPPY MONDAYS – KINKY AFRO

“Smiling like a cat when his milk came through…”

If you haven’t read Shaun Ryder’s autobiography ‘Twisting My Melon’ I suggest you do.  It’s not the best written book in the world but the content, his story, is the most inspiring thing I have ever read!  Clair got me his book for Christmas and I read it over the course of a day.  Never in my life have I read a book that quickly, it usually takes me longer than that to read a newspaper, but this was a captivating read and as I stated earlier, the most inspiring work I’ve ever laid eyes on.  Shaun Ryder is a fukkin genius!  I also got Bez’ book ‘Freaky Dancin’ – Me and The Mondays’ for Christmas and have just started reading that.  Bez isn’t as daft as he appears either.

HAPPY MONDAYS – FREAKY DANCIN’

“You know you talk so hip man, you’re twisting my melon man!”

I’ve also got a ticket for The Stone Roses at Heaton Park in Manchester on 1^st July, but Happy Mondays tops that by far!  But that does mean that 2012 is a truly epic year on the gig front.  Now all I need is tickets to see The Farm.

Drop Acid, Not Bombs

HAPPY MONDAYS – ‘ENERY

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO!

I listen to music all of the time and I listen to all sorts of music, new and old, from across almost every genre.  My favourite artists include Shaun Ryder of the Happy Mondays, David Byrne of the Talking Heads, The Rolling Stones, Ian Brown of The Stone Roses and Swede Mason, who I believe should be knighted!

I also listen to a lot of new music, particularly from the North-East because it’s local to me.  So what I’m gonna do is give you some recommendations of what to listen to, based on what I’m listening to these days.  I’ll do my best to cater for different tastes, just because I’m nice like that.

What I’ll do is recommend a handful of acts you may or may not have yet heard of and prattle on a little bit about them.  Then I’ll give you a ten track playlist that will include some of my favourite tracks as well as new stuff worth listening to and then I’ll stick the links to the acts that I have recommended at the bottom.

If you click on any of the highlighted track titles in this blog you will be forwarded to somewhere you can listen to that track online.  Same with highlighted names, they’ll take you somewhere online relative to whatever you’re clicking on.  It’s not rocket science.

The Mojags

To start off with, I highly recommend checking out The Mojags, a young Rock band from North Shields area.

The Mojags performed at The Telegraph for me on December 2^nd.  They have bags of talent and, being so young, have limitless potential.  At my gig they did a brilliant cover of ‘Hey Joe’ by Jimi Hendrix.  This is a band that’s going places so keep an eye out for them.

The Mojags at The Telegraph, 2nd December 2011

In 2010 they won the Teenage Kicks Battle of the Bands.  They are also competing in a Battle of the Bands in Redcar next year.  They are in Heat 2 on Friday 20^th January 2012.  The Battle of the Bands is held at Coatham Bowl in Redcar and entrance fee for any of the heats is £10.  The event is in aid of charity.  Get down for that and show some support for a great band and help raise some money for charity.

The Mojags can be found on Facebook, YouTube and Soundcloud.  I would recommend listening to ‘Ojay‘ if you’re only gonna listen to one; it’s my favourite of the tracks currently available online.

Also check out this video on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mhs_Dkdu2w .  It’s The Mojags video of ‘Sychophant‘, shot as their prize for winning the Teenage Kicks competition.

The Stroll

Another band on the way up is Durham based Alternative Indie Rock band The Stroll, who are a new outfit only started in August.  They’ve only got one track online at the minute ‘Different Tune, Different Mood‘ and you can listen to that on Soundcloud.  It’s a catchy track like, and displays a small portion of the talent that these lads possess.

I saw them perform live at LYH the other week when I played there with Downtown Lester Brown.  Being a brand new band they are still doing quite a few covers but their original stuff is quality.  I particularly liked ‘Searching’, which is apparently about looking for magic mushrooms.  Their choice of covers was a cool blend of things ranging from The Beatles to The Stone Roses.

The Stroll

It’s not just the music that makes The Stroll a great band in the making.  The Stroll have a great vibe and energy and create an electric atmosphere at gigs.  They’re a fun band and their crowd interaction is impressive.  Their singer Josh Pringle has good crack and his patter on the microphone in between tracks is entertaining.  This band has it all and I’m tipping The Stroll to become massive!  They epitomise everything I was after when I set up Downtown Lester Brown.  They are a fun, energetic band with a great vibe and attitude as well as plenty of talent and drive.

The Stroll are also performing in the Battle of the Bands, in Heat 1, on Friday 13th January 2012.

I also have them booked for Friday 3^rd February 2012 at The Telegraph, behind Central Station in Newcastle.  That’ll be £3 in and the wisest investment you’ll ever make.

Look up The Stroll on Facebook and Soundcloud and remember, you heard it heard first!

Baron Von Alias & MistaBreeze

If Hip Hop’s your bag, here’s another act with a sense of fun.  Hip Hop duo Baron Von Alias and MistaBreeze are an audio-visual spectacle to behold, so I would recommend checking out their videos on YouTube to get the full effect.  The Baron is an emcee time-lord from 1830 and sports a huge tashe, top hat and sunglasses, so you know he’s got a sense of humour, however, he’s also an excellent wordsmith and a born entertainer.

Baron Von Alias

I was put onto Baron Von Alias and MistaBreeze by old school mate Nathan Wood, who has his own radio show.  He recommended I listen to ‘Get Wild, Gan Mental’, which is growing on me but I didn’t take kindly to it at first.  I told Nathan on twitter that I wasn’t impressed and The Baron piped up.  After a bit crack on, The Baron said I should give some of his other material a whirl.  I did, and I was impressed.  I blame Nathan for his poor choice in track selection whilst making recommendations.

There are plenty of quality tracks by The Baron and MistaBreeze so check out their YouTube channel.  You’ll enjoy their official videos and their live stuff.  I’m particularly keen on ‘White Noise’.  The Baron and MistaBreeze do make fukkin awesome videos!  I’d also recommend checking out the video of Baron Von Alias performing ‘Phoney’ on Amazing Beats, because I find it really fukkin impressive.

I saw Baron Von Alias and Mistabreeze performing live at The Head of Steam in Newcastle the other week and they are an act well worth catching.  For £5 you can see them live at The Riverside this Thursday (15^th December) http://www.facebook.com/events/109965722442103/ .

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So that’s three acts for you to check out, now here’s a couple other things that you wanna check out.

The Local Music Show

The Local Music Show presented by Nathan Wood, on Spark Sunderland.

That’s 107FM local radio or can be listened to live online at sparksunderland.com every Sunday at 4pm til 7pm.

Nathan plays music from local bands from across all different kinds of music so give that a listen and you’re bound to hear something that tickles your fancy.  Mix that with a little bit of low brow humour and smut and you’ve got yourself one canny Sunday afternoon’s listening.

Battle of the Bands

As mentioned earlier, there’s a Battle of the Bands going on in Redcar in early 2012.  The competition is being held at Coatham Bowl, in Redcar, every Friday from 13^th January 2012, with the final being held on Friday 9^th March 2012.  The entry fee to these events is £10.

The Mojags and The Stroll are both competing in the Battle of the Bands so get down for their heats and show some support.

Heat 1 – The Stroll – Friday 13th January

Heat 2 – The Mojags – Friday 20th January

Battle of the Bands 2012

Now Here’s My Recommended Ten Track Playlist

Here’s a ten track playlist I recommend listening to.  Click on the song title and you’ll be directed either to a YouTube video or somewhere else online that you can hear the track for free.  Enjoy.

Happy Mondays – Yahoo

Mick Jagger – A Memo from Turner

The Mojags – Ojay (live)

The Stone Roses – Good Times

The Stroll – Different Tune, Different Mood

Swede Mason – Bill Wyman’s Metal Detector

Baron Von Alias & Mistabreeze – Its OK

Public Enemy – What You Need Is Jesus

Gorillaz ft Shaun Ryder – Dare

Flowered Up – Weekender

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed what you’ve listened to and if you’ve got any recommendations let me know because I’m always willing to listen to new things.  Also please share this blog so that other people can hear the acts that I have mentioned and to get a little bit more publicity for the charity Battle of the Bands competition.

Thank you.

Links

The Mojags

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Mojags/162283410463944

Soundcloud – http://soundcloud.com/the-mojags

YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/user/TheMojags

The Stroll

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Stroll/152650318150277

Soundcloud – http://soundcloud.com/the-stroll

Baron Von Alias and Mistabreeze

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Baron-Von-Alias/28616761468

YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/iamsteesh

Bandcamp – http://baronvonalias.bandcamp.com/

Soundcloud – http://soundcloud.com/burnblockbeats

Spark Sunderland 107FM

http://sparksunderland.com/

Battle of the Bands 2012

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/events/233350486723088/