Music

Welcome to my music section. Here you can read reviews of my favourite albums, see my instruments and read about my music recording. Hopefully, one day, I'll have some tracks to download.

Random album review

Manifesto by Roxy Music

Roxy Music

Manifesto (1979)

Art Rock, Rock

Manifesto is always overlooked as a Roxy album, which is a crime. The world of music was going through a huge transition, in the form of punk, but Roxy were holding their place. Despite a three year gap, their longest break up until that point, their new music was as strong as ever. The opening track, also the album's name, seems at first to drag out the motif, but you soon come to love the space before the fast pace of the following tracks. The album has everything: classic Roxy that we know and love, such as the angular rock of "Still Falls the Rain"; the more arty side of rock, in the cool "Ain't That So"; and nods towards the coming "Avalon" era, in the harmonious "Spin Me Round". A good word to describe this music is "sophisticated": everything is well thought out, precisely placed and perfectly executed. This is also the last album that felt like Roxy Music, as they were then known to be. Buy it, you'll love it.

Track list

  • 1. Manifesto 5:29
  • 2. Trash 2:14
  • 3. Angel Eyes 3:32
  • 4. Still Falls the Rain 4:13
  • 5. Stronger Through the Years 6:16
  • 6. Ain't That So 5:39
  • 7. My Little Girl 3:17
  • 8. Dance Away 3:48
  • 9. Cry, Cry, Cry 2:55
  • 10. Spin Me Round 5:15

Featured instrument

Taylor 310CE electroacoustic

Taylor 310CE electro-acoustic

I didn't expect to buy this. I naively thought I could go into "Sound Control" (now out of business) in Birmingham, try a few guitars in a detatched fashion, and leave safely. I failed, miserably. The main problem was that the salesman was brilliant: I told him the kind of price-bracket I was interested in, and he knew EXACTLY what I needed. And he was right, as I fell in love with the Taylor 310CE straight away. My innocent trip to Birmingham turned out to be the most extravagant shopping fling I've ever done, but, if you'll excuse the ridiculous Americanism, it was SOOOOOOO worth it. Every time I play this guitar I'm amazed by it, which is how it should be. When I plug it in I'm even more amazed. I love Taylor for creating this guitar just for me, which they quite clearly did.

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Hi, I'm Jon Cairns

I'm a web designer and graphic designer who likes to create good-looking, accessible websites with XHTML, CSS, AJAX and PHP. I'm also a musician, photographer and student, and I live in Durham, up north in the UK. Use the links at the top of the page or just above to navigate my site, or read my blog to find out what's going on in my life.

Updates

  • 22nd Aug Added a new blog, "The Great Synchronisation". It seems that all of my updates are blogs these days!
  • 21st July Added a new blog entry, the first in two and a half months! Join me in the celebration of this momentous occasion by reading it.

From the blog

28th Aug 09

The Great Synchronisation

A few minutes ago I was sitting on a sofa with nothing to do, thinking, "maybe it's time for my annual blog entry". You may be wondering whether you should bother reading something that's been created simply because I had nothing better to do, but I submit to you that all good things are created that way. Think about it.

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