music – Page 4 of 5 – The Orbital

23Feb

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Features

Coffee House Sessions: The Step

Jess Hines interviews The Step and talks to them about their song writing, their thoughts on popular talent TV shows and working with Liam Nolan - who worked on Adele's "Hello". Crosslands is alive and buzzing with students as the crew enters to set up for another Coffee House Sessions performance. Performing tonight is London based Italian indie duo, The Step. Stefano and Oliviero begin to help organise the stage the moment they enter, despite already playing at two other university venues today. Bright eyed and smiling they seem surprisingly energetic, considering they had performed at Winchester university only a matter of hours ago. Soundcheck has everyone in Crosslands quieting down and turning their attention to the two figures at the front. They tease the audience with a brief ...

25Jan

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Features

Coffee House Sessions: Izzy Bizu

Jess Hines talks us through the beautiful performance that Izzy Bizu shared with the students of Royal Holloway and the interview that took place shortly after... The atmosphere at Crosslands was cozy and calm. Laughter danced in the air, as the equipment was set up and the cameras began rolling as 21 year-old singer-songwriter Izzy Bizu crooned into the microphone a little; soundcheck. Her velvet voice quickly drew the attention of the entire room, students turned in their seats as their eyes were lured to the front. Izzy warned the audience she’d only just woken up, tired after performing twice already that day in different locations, for her university coffeehouse tour. Her voice however was so powerful, so strong yet it appeared to flow effortlessly from her lips as she began her se...

24Nov

By Nebiu SamuelNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Film & TV, Music

‘Amy’ Documentary Review

Many documentaries struggle to find a cinematic style and voice which warrants it to be released in cinemas however in the case of ‘Amy’, it delivers on giving you an emotional, cinematic and musical experience. The documentary focuses on the rise of Amy Winehouse, through her time in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and singing in blue clubs in North London to her international success, her problematic personal life and her tragic death. The main feature of ‘Amy’ is how director Asif Kapadia (Senna) and editor Chris King uses Winehouse’s poetic and autobiographic lyrics from songs like ‘Stronger than Me’, ‘I Heard Love is Blind’, ‘What is it About Men’, ‘Rehab’ or ‘Back in Black’ to build the narrative around and is able to make it seem Amy has a voice in the film. Through the documenta...

26Oct

By George SomersNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

For The Record: Is Vinyl Back To Stay?

In the not-so-distant future, our children will be jealous beyond belief of our VHS videos and the battered cassette tapes we find in the attic. It's not as bizarre as it may seem. With the surprise resurrection of vinyl, and record sales rising swiftly from the horizon, the ancient relics of our parents' teenage rebellion years are now selling for far more than they were originally worth. The quirky, counter-culture markets of Portobello Road and Spitalfields in London are now dominated by typewriters and polaroid cameras, while indie fashion trends are subtly creeping their way back into mainstream life. How have those retro devices suddenly surged in popularity in our hyper-technological and interconnected era? 'The Guardian' reports that sales are at an 18-year high, which make u...

7Jun

By Jordan ThorneNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Brandon Flowers’ The Desired Effect

The Desired Effect is Brandon Flowers’ new solo album, released in the UK on Tuesday, May 18. Even if far from The Killers’ emblematic alternative-rock style, it shares with the band the same unpredictability, because it likes to play and experiment with all the nuances of rock and pop music, always with surprising results. In collaboration with the famous producer Ariel Rechtschaid, Brandon has created a composite and varied musical repertoire, a versatile collection of songs that covers an interesting range of the sub genres of pop/rock music. The instrumental beats of 80’s synth-disco alternate with a hint of 90’s reminiscences of new wave rhythms and the massive, driving presence of choruses reverberating through the whole album under Brandon’s clear and powerful voice. The upbeat, m...

26Feb

By Safi SyedNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Froot – review

The phonetically correct sounding tree offering titled song, Froot, is the latest release from marina Diamandis aka Marina And The Diamonds. Released on her birthday, she uploaded the lyrics to her Instagram a day before , naming the day “Frootmas Eve”. Co produced by marina herself, the song has been described as “dark disco”. Fans of marinas sophomore album effort , Electra Heart (charting top 40 in Americas Billboard Hot 100), will be pleased that in the this introductory song for the new album the upbeat and synth vibes are symonomous throughout. . Electra (her side character) is clearly not dead and her sound can be clearly heard in this song. Songs with hooks to rival We Found Love by Rihanna, Marina has a rare knack for producing brilliant dance music but with profound(i...

26Feb

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Culture & Literature

The sound of 2015

2014 was a great year for music with George Ezra, Royal Blood and Sam Smith all bursting into the public sphere and it seems that the trend is set to continue. James Bay, 23 year old singer-song writer, has a similar sound to George Ezra and Ed Sheeran and has had success supporting the likes of Tom Odell and Kodaline. Mellow and raw, his stripped back style has led him to be long listed for the BBC sound of 2015 award. Hot on his heels is American singer-songwriter Ryn Weaver whose song Octahate caught the attention of Charlie XCX and Hayley Williams to name but a few. The track held #1 on Billboards emerging artist track for 8 weeks. She self classifies her sound as “fairy pop” and lists influences the like of David Bowie and Fiona Apple. But if you’re looking for something a li...

28Jan

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Sports & Socs

Sports Club Members find their Voices!

With the New Year fast approaching, Holloway’s sports clubs will be hanging up their kit and finding their voices as part of the RHUL Sport Choir, an innovative new project led by musical director, Amy John. The choir comprises a handful of sportsmen and women with little or no singing experience except their sideline chanting, to raise money for this year’s BUCS charity; Marie Curie Cancer Care. “It aims to get people out of their comfort zone” the former Women’s Football President explains. “We’re doing something completely different to raise money for charity”. The Sport Choir is already set for an exciting few months with preparations in place for a launch night, and the planned release and sale of a single after a Colour’s Ball performance in March, with all proceeds going to Marie Cu...

28Jan

By Emma BradleyNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music, Theatre & Performance

Understanding Opera; Misconception & Snobbery

In its prime, opera was considered in much the same way as we now think of cinema. So what keeps so many young people away from opera today? Two obvious reasons are the initial uncertainty of watching entertainment in a foreign language, and perception of opera being exclusively geared to a wealthy elite. However, there are more subtle prejudgements surrounding the genre, such as how popular music today is linked to a more free and casual vocal style as opposed to the vocal precision and intensity of opera. With this in mind, how do we go about dealing with the issue of inaccessibility in opera? Is it more important to have an audience who can access and experience more of the work, or respect the composer’s original opera? Taking libretto (the operatic text) as an example; the composer...

28Jan

By Alana GradyNo Comments

Culture & Literature, Music

Holloway’s Music Scene…

With the arrival of Rebecca Miller, the music department has seen a great many changes and the forthcoming term is no exception. To start the term we have the second in our celebrity masterclass series, a flute masterclass with Juliette Bausor. Principal flautist of the London Mozart Players and of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Juliette will be giving a masterclass to some of Royal Holloway’s flautists. This is generously supported by the Alumni Fund and is free to students. After their first term as Ensemble in Residence, the Badke Quartet are returning in a variety of events. They will be doing two masterclasses, one an open event to the public, coaching student chamber ensembles. Any group can take part and it is a wonderful opportunity to be coached by professional musicians. The Badk...