Issue 51 - University of Surrey's Student Union

26 MUSICThe Stag | Wednesday 14 th November 2012music@thestagsurrey.co.ukREVIEW: Ellie Goulding - ‘Halycon’By Becky Worley, Music EditorEllie Goulding’s follow up albumentitled ‘Halycon’ comesafter the critical and commercialsuccess of ‘Lights’ in 2010. Afterlistening to ‘Halycon’ all the waythrough, it became apparentthat Ellie hasn’t seemed to havelost what made her essentiallydifferent from other femaleartists in the charts. The albumhas an extremely atmosphericfeel running throughout, withhaunting, echoing lyrics andsynthetic sounds mixed withcrashing guitar and sometimesgentle piano notes. With everysong, as a listener, you get a strongfeeling of a specific emotion:sadness, anger, desperation orstrength as this really is a breakupalbum and a half. I can’t helpbut wonder what her music wouldsound like without the macabrecircumstances, as this is whatseems to set it apart. Her song‘Anything Could Happen’ was thefirst single released off of thisalbum and hit number 11 in thecharts, not her biggest success.However, I do love this song, itreally grows on you and then aftera while you find you can’t stopsinging it. It is very typically Ellie,with slightly pop/ dance elementsbut slightly quirky, but I don’t feelit makes the most of her voice. Asong of the album which trulyshowcases her vocals is the song‘Joy’, which is ironic as the songreally is quite sad, and her voicetakes centre stage and is trulystunning, sometimes tremblingwith emotion. At the very end ofthe album there is a bonus trackwith Calvin Harris which is in acompletely different vein, as hisupbeat, dance style has infiltratedEllie’s more melodic music tocreate a very catchy dance song,which stands apart from theothers. I would also recommend‘Hanging On’ which features TinieTempah.Slash! Mapping the career of a musical legendBy Craig Martin, Music TeamAlmost 16 years today sinceSlash officially left Guns ‘N’Roses and it appears that theguitarist has never looked back.Having already founded supergroupVelvet Revolver, he hasnow put together a new cohortof musical talent to continue hislegacy.His self-titled album ‘Slash’,released in 2010, featuring anumber of guest singers wasfollowed up by ‘Apocalyptic Love’earlier this year. Having featuredon two tracks on the first album,Alter Bridge frontman, MylesKennedy, was recruited full timeon lead vocals for ‘ApocalypticLove’ and the subsequent worldtour.This tour descended on the O2Academy in Brixton for a two nightstay in mid-October and I was oneof the lucky few to catch one of theshows.Having monitored the set-listsfrom previous shows it seemednearly impossible to predict theever changing opening song. Aftera tantalising wait the band’s casualwalk on stage was accompaniedby the catchy opening riff from‘Ghost’, the opening track on hisfirst solo record, and was greetedby thousands of crazed fansbouncing roughly in time.After a couple of new tracksthe first Guns ‘N’ Roses number,‘Nightrain’ was dropped intothe mix, which Myles Kennedyexpertly made his own, as with allof the cover tracks.Riff after riff was shreddedout before the inevitable yet stillincredible improvised guitarsolo from the main man followednew classic ‘Anastasia’ in whichSlash and Kennedy fought for thelimelight. There was just timeto squeeze in arguably the twomost notable tunes from Slash’sback catalogue, ‘Sweet Child O’Mine’ and ‘Slither’ before the bandretreated backstage.However, as is usual practice,they re-emerged a couple ofminutes later joined by MylesKennedy’s Alter Bridge companion,Mark Tremonti, whose new selfnamedband had played a supportset earlier in the night, to jam theirbiggest hit ‘Rise Today’ which wasvery well received by the laggingcrowd.Despite the tired legs, everyonemanaged to conjure up the energyto receive the final two G’N’R hits,classics ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ and‘Paradise City’ to round off a trulyawesome night of music mappingthe career of a music legend!Why I love...Lady GagaBy Faye Waterfield, Music TeamWhen asked to do an articleabout my favourite artist,there really was no competition.Lady Gaga has become quite an iconover recent years and, in my opinion,it is seriously well-deserved. Withall of the controversy that seems tosurround her (let us remember theincessant hermaphrodite rumours)it is easy to forget just how talentedthis woman is. Not only does Gagahave an incredible singing voice,but she writes her own music andcan play a whole heap of differentinstruments, including the pianoand her beloved keytar. She alsoputs on one hell of a show, which Iwas lucky enough to see, covered inglitter, in both 2010 and 2012.But it’s not just Gaga’s musicthat I am drawn to, it’s everythingin between that makes her sospecial. Love it or hate it, her senseof style is certainly unique, and Iam always amazed at her ability tolook downright sexy in anythingshe decides to wear. We all sawher in the notorious ‘meat dress’at the MTV video music awards,which unsurprisingly causedquite a stir. She defended her dressvehemently however, and on theEllen Degeneres show argued that‘if we don’t stand up for what webelieve in, if we don’t fight for ourrights, pretty soon we’re going tohave as much rights as the meat onour bones. And I am not a piece ofmeat!’Lady Gaga has also fought backafter receiving harsh commentsabout her recent weight gain,“Not only does Gaga have an incredible singingvoice, but she writes her own music and can playa whole heap of different instruments”telling fans she is ‘proud at any size.’She has created a web page calledBody Revolution in response to thecomments, which features picturesof the artist in her underwear,urging others to ‘be brave andpost a photo that celebrates yourtriumph over insecurities.’ Her aimwas simply to ‘inspire bravery’ andthere is no doubt in my mind thatshe has.Gaga’s determination to use herfame in a positive and constructiveway is really quite refreshing. I loveher inspirational music, her uniquestyle and her sex appeal.Stay tuned for Gaga’s new albumPop Art which will be releasedsometime next year. I can safely sayyou won’t be disappointed!Lady Gaga vamps up another stage performance