Coran Clohessy

Maker of music, listener of music, attender of music. Banter

[coranclohessy]

When the grooves be off the wizard likes to skate. #elephant #skateboarding #wizard

[coranclohessy]

Busting out this bro I bought in Japan '13, I'd completely forgotten. Today's attempt is to branch out from my safe Jazz IIIs #pickboy #jazziii #chunky

[coranclohessy]

Some tasty capo action over 5 strings #capo #EPsession #groovy #PRS #EMGs

[coranclohessy]

Instinctually saying ‘no’ to change

I don’t know why I don’t use Tumblr more to rant so this might be a change to that too.. So past few days I applied for 2 jobs: a pub job which I have experience with or teaching kids how to skateboard, which I have experience in teaching kids guitar and skateboarding from a past hobby. Hindsight and a bit of help from the pub being mind numbingly quiet and boring has taught me that there’s a subconscious voice telling you to say no to change. The chance for a new experience taken away because I wanted to play it safe and familiar when most of our lives things we’re told to do revolve around monotony and familiarity. I felt disappointed but liberated to realise I’d just condemned myself to further mundane experiences but I took control and sent cleverly worded email to them to basically reconsider me so now I wait.. I think this relates to what I want to say too, which is that life isn’t short at all.. I’m 21 years old, and I don’t feel any part of my life was a waste, or I wanted to relive something or for longer. I think maybe something more precise is perhaps chapters in your life can be short, mindsets that dictate your life can be short until you take a leap in awareness and then the new chapter starts. I’m hoping I’ve taken a step in awareness with saying no to my instincts in terms of a toss up between familiarity or change.. change, unknown and experiences should be what drives us not what scares us! My thoughts.

[coranclohessy]

The Trews: Prince Charles, Islam & Selling Arms To Human Rights Abusers: Russell Brand The Trews (E252)

It's inspiring to see how passionate and informative Russell is progressively becoming. True Trew news for the people aware enough to release how truthful his words are. 

[coranclohessy]

Boards of Canada - Dayvan Cowboy

Discovered this incredible duo when checking out an article on 'games to play to relax' and a reviewer suggested listening to Boards Of Canada whilst playing it. Incredible soundscapes throughout their whole discography, so happy to of discovered these guys. Instrumental, escapist, ambient, simply beautiful pieces of music. I love the human mind when given the right tools. 

[coranclohessy]

For some reason I had this card on my mind. One of few I remember with my brief obsession with the Magic The Gathering card game. Incredible detail with the creature artwork was a big factor in the obsession for sure. This card wasn't even great but every time I picked it up, it felt good! Love the caption at the bottom of it too, fuel for the imagination! <3

[coranclohessy]

Sounds of planets

Especially after seeing films like Gravity and Interstellar this really gives me goosebumps. Adds such depth, eerie, mysteriousness to planets, in universe terms, so close to Earth. Freaks me out. Saturn and Voice Of Earth are definitely my favourite. Taking a mental snapshot or the planet then closing your eyes, imagination going a'crazy! Good stuff. Well done NASA.

[coranclohessy]

Nine Inch Nails - Still

New to this album, mostly obsessed over their With Teeth album but delving into the rest of their discography. I love the simple use of piano in their songs. Piano for me is a such an emotive instrument, more so than guitar anyway definitely. Timbre of a piano makes up so much of the emotion. Sexy stuff.

[coranclohessy]

Fink - Looking Too Closely

The first 10 seconds of this song made me smile with that feeling you get when you listen to a new band for the first time and you know the whole album will be fantastic. Credit goes to saoirseclohessy, grazie! 

[coranclohessy]

CHON

Such a fresh sounding instrumental band. just full of awesome and creative phrasing, jazzy smooth chords and polyrhythm, progressive goodness. A great example of music that doesn't need lyrics. Fuel for the imagination chaps, nice one. Look forward to the debut album release in 2015 <3

[dmt]

[coranclohessy]

Really interesting stuff you have on here! I'm really into Alex Grey and Cameron Gray art so this is a great blog to broaden my horizons! fantastic minds some people have

[coranclohessy]

Michael Jackson - Xscape

I'm late to this party too, always loved Michael's work. This album is fantastic. King of pop indeed.

[coranclohessy]

12/12/14 - Northlane, Parkway Drive @Roundhouse

To start off this I'd just like to say thank fuck the new vocalist for Northlane is awesome live. 

I saw Northlane earlier this year at Koko in Camden with Architects and Adrian was singing, he was fantastic and one of the things I loved most about his vocals were how raw they sounded, not pampered and buffed on the records but and raw and passionate as they were live. This new guy.. he's pretty damn good. Just as impressive  range as Adrian, just as good a lyricist, from what we've seen with their new single 'Rot' (which was one of the main worries, because Adrian's lyrics were so inspirational, philosophical and spiritual in some respects) now all that's left is to wait for the album release. 

One of the things I love most about Northlane, musically, is the rhythmic technicality. Really sitting down and listening to what's going on with the guitar and bass in relation to the drums really makes me respect them more as songwriters, they're labelled within a genre that is so easy to get caught up in straight drumming, power chord riffs and simple breakdowns but in my opinion they definitely stand out. The syncopated, jabby nature of the drums in sections of their songs like 'Masquerade' in the interlude/clean section builds up into a more straight drumming pattern which adds so much depth and variation to the song. Their beautiful set-opener combo of 'Genesis - Scarab' is another great example of interesting rhythmic variation in both drums and guitars. This is definitely one of the main elements that keep me hooked on these guys, the quality of vocal dynamic, range, lyrical content is just a juicy bonus for me. They ended on a strong performance of 'Quantum Flux' which can be assumed is the song the new vocalist audition with because he performed awesomely throughout the track. Congrats man, you earned your place, really looking forward to the next album. Parkway Drive. This band were my gateway band into the heavier side of metal. Albums 'Horizons' and 'Killing With A Smile' are fantastic pieces of songwriting that I have always loved back to back. Being a guitarist and playing some of the tracks off of those albums were a big influence on me to pick up the guitar in the first place and put in the hours to practice, just knowing at the end I'll jam through 30 minutes of their stuff at the end of a session.  I hadn't listened to their latest album too in depth, after their 'Deep Blue' album I kind of drifted from Parkway, still always having a soft spot for them though. But that didn't matter because I was pleasantly surprised with the variation of their set, focusing their setlist on their older songs I love like 'Horizons' 'Romance Is Dead' and 'Idols & Anchors'. I was pleased because whether or not this is a shared opinion of other fans but their first 3 albums were such a breath of fresh air into this genre of music, and they mentioned they love performing at the UK so I feel like it was very fitting to pay attention to their old material which is what gave them the publicity and success they've earned today.  Winston is an incredible front man, one of my favourites, for his stamina and consistency with vocals, humble character and crowd interaction. Jeff on lead guitar, specifically on their older material, the harmonies are just perfect for a live atmosphere because they escalate and climax perfectly. Horizons and Romance Is Dead are probably my favourite songs because of the genius melodic outros he has written and how they harmonise with the backing chords. I hope in the future Parkway return to that style of writing, and I hope that performing all their old material at this gig will refresh their memories of what brilliant songwriters they can be. Awesome gig, awesome venue. <3

[coranclohessy]

Anchor - Rob Scallon

I've been listening to instrumentals a lot lately. I think the appeal for me is that because they're instrumental it leaves so much more open to interpretation. These pieces of music can be a soundtrack to any activity you want.  I use instrumental music to work, to sleep, accompanying me on a walk. It adds an extra depth to what you're experiencing whether it's in the background filling the void or something you're consciously associating with what you're doing. Fuck yeah.

[coranclohessy]

4/12/14 Novelists @Camden, Underworld

I arrived at this gig demanding to be wowed by Novelists. Since the awesome chaps at It-Djents posted a link to their first song 'Twenty Years' months back I've been listening to their teasingly few songs daily without fail waiting for either a new release or a tour date in London.

Because I'd listened to them so religiously over the months it was a welcomed surprise to hear new material straight off the bat. They had a 30 or so minute set in which the fully utilised. The ambient, ethereal guitar tracks throughout their songs really maintained the flow of the set as well as within the songs individual. I don't think I quite know how to use this word in a sentence yet but it was very segue-like. However, silence, element in live performances that I feel is generally overlooked, was impactful as well. The effect a sudden silence of sound can have on the experience is a great way to lift the climax of a chorus to a whole new level, which Novelists are no strangers to, specifically in my favourite song of theirs so far, 'Souvenirs'.

What I got from the new songs is a consistency with their songs out at the moment: technical fretwork whilst still keeping harmonic and melodic which build wonderfully into powerful choruses where the extended rung out chords glorify the vocals as so brilliantly done in their other tracks. Speaking of vocals, frontman Matt Gelsomino did not fail to impress. What grabbed me instantly from the studio versions was the clarity and power of both clean and scream vocals sounded, obviously post-production had played a part but hearing them play live confirmed he's just as good live as he is in the studio. A humble chap, stage presence and crowd interaction that of someone who understands the crowd in the sense that they ask of the crowd only what they can feel is reasonable from the response. A trait a lot of front vocalists I've seen sometimes don't gauge too well. 

As well as the new songs heard at the gig, their latest track 'Souvenirs', previously mentioned, is definitely setting up their new album to be an amazing piece of work. This band deserve more attention in my opinion, their songs need a crowd chanting the clean vocals, the epic choruses need the reverberation of a bigger venue.. I feel with the release of their upcoming album they will have earned that attention and fans will see them playing here again in the future.

-I use SongKick to make sure I never miss my favourite bands. It's an awesome and easy to use site that scans your entire iTunes library and notifies you when a band is playing at your set locations. Give it a gander!

[coranclohessy]

Taking Back Sunday - Louder Now

I'm late to the Taking Back Sunday party. Only just discovering these guys. I am hooked on this album. Been on repeat all day. YEAH