My Top 50 Albums of 2013

1. Foals – Holy Fire

2. Dick Diver – Calendar Days

3. Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

4. Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork

5. Wavves – Afraid of Heights

6. Touché Amoré – Is Survived By

7. The Bronx - IV

8. Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II

9.     The Bennies – Rainbows in Space

10.   Violent Soho – Hungry Ghost

11.  Junip – Junip

12.  Krill – Lucky Leaves

13.  California X – California X

14.  Cold War Kids – Dear Miss Lonelyhearts

15.  Earl Sweatshirt – Doris

16.  Foxygen – We Are the 21^st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic

17.  Grim Fandango – Flicker Noise

18.  A$AP Rocky – LONG.LIVE.A$AP

19.  FIDLAR – FIDLAR

20.  Frank Turner – Tape Deck Heart

21.  The National – Trouble Will Find Me

22.  No Age – An Object

23.  Arctic Monkeys – AM

24.  AFI – Burials

25.  Washed Out – Paracosm

26.  Surf City – We Knew It Was Not Going to Be Like This

27.  Scott & Charlene’s Wedding – Any Port in a Storm

28.  Beach Fossils – Clash The Truth

29.  Caves – Betterment

30.  Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Mosquito

31.  City and Colour – The Hurry and the Harm

32.  Generationals – Heza

33.  Transplants – In A Warzone

34.  Paper Arms – The Smoke Will Clear

35.  Danny Brown – Old

36.  Laura Marling –Once I Was An Eagle

37.  Local Natives – Hummingbird

38.  El-P & Killer Mike – Run The Jewels

39.  The Dillinger Escape Plan – One of us is the Killer

40.  The Uncluded – Hokey Fight

41.  Mazzy Star – Seasons of Your Day

42.  Clowns – I’m Not Right

43.  Atoms For Peace – AMOK

44.  Kurt Vile – Walkin On A Pretty Daze

45.  Jim James – Regions of Light and Sounds of God

46.  Yo La Tengo – Fade

47.  Jay-Z – Magna Carta Holy Grail

48.  King Krule – 6 Feet Beneath the Moon

49.  David Bowie – The Next Day

50.   The Stevens – A History of Hygiene

My Top 50 Tracks of 2013

1.     The Smith Street Band - Ducks Fly Together

2.     The Smith Street Band - Don't Fuck with Our Dreams

3.     Cold War Kids - Miracle Mile

4.     Junip - Line of Fire

5.     Foals - My Number

6.     Wavves - Demon To Lean On

7.     A$AP Rocky - 1 Train (feat. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson & Big K.R.I.T.)

8.     California X - Sucker

9.     Dick Diver - Water Damage

10.  Vampire Weekend - Diane Young

11.  Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Swim And Sleep (Like A Shark)

12.  The Bennies - Highrider

13.  Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener

14.  Queens Of The Stone Age - If I Had A Tail

15.  Touché Amoré - Just Exist

16.  The Union Pacific - Eye to Eye

17.  Big Sean - Control (feat. Kendrick Lamar & Jay Electronica)

18.  The Gun Runners - Pen & Paper, Broken Strings

19.  Dick Diver - Calendar Days

20.  Wil Wagner - More Like Signals Midbest

21.  Earl Sweatshirt - Molasses (ft. RZA)

22.  The National - I Should Live in Salt

23.  Major Lazer - Jessica (feat. Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend)

24.  Violent Soho - Covered in Chrome

25.  Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?

26.  Beach Fossils - Clash The Truth

27.  Surf City - It's a Common Life

28.  Krill - This Morning

29.  The Bronx - Ribcage

30.  The Smith Street Band - Bigger Than Us

31.  Unknown Mortal Orchestra - So Good At Being In Trouble

32.  Local Natives - You & I

33.  Big K.R.I.T. - REM [Prod. By Big K.R.I.T.]

34.  Washed Out - It All Feels Right

35.  The Bennies - My Bike

36.  Frank Turner - Recovery

37.  Foxygen - San Francisco

38.  Scott & Charlene's Wedding - Lesbian Wife

39.  The Uncluded - Delicate Cycle

40.  Dune Rats - Red Light Green Light

41.  Foals - Inhaler

42.  Grim Fandango - Sirens

43.  Earl Sweatshirt - Whoa (ft. Tyler, The Creator)

44.  Dick Diver - Lime Green Shirt

45.  Jim James - State Of The Art (A.E.I.O.U)

46.  Mara Threat - Romantic Things

47.  Paper Arms - These Nights

48.  City and Colour - Of Space And Time

49.  Thelma Plum - Around Here

50.  Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Better Days 

Mate's Day Monday - Shane Boden

Hendo asked me to do Mates Day Monday today. It’s a huge honor considering today is his 27th birthday.

Hendo and I have known each other all our lives so I thought I would go through and pay tribute with songs that remind me of him.

There are quite a few as you can imagine so this is just a small selection with a bit of back story.

In chronological order(sort of):

Matchbox 20 - 3am

I think it was my 8th birthday and he gave me a cassette of Matchbox 20 album "yourself or someone like you". My very first album. Not a bad start.

Fatboy Slim - Fucking In Heaven

It was Hendo's 11th birthday and he got a copy of Fatboy Slim - "You've come along way baby" from his parents. We had an old school sleep over at his place. We must of played this song 10 times in a row just cause it had the word “fuck” in it. Haha.

Pennywise - Bro Hymm

Roll on to the teenage years when we were 16. A lot of nights of our youth were spent drunk belting out the lyrics to this song.

Supergrass - Sun Hits The Sky

Fast Forward to the end of Highs School and me and Hendo decided to make a summer 2004 music mix. This song was on it and got a hammering driving out to the beach and back.

U2 -  I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

Many U2 songs remind me of Hendo for some reason or another. This juts being one, but it reminds me of the time we went to sounds music store and bought U2 Cd’s. I got Greatest Hits 1980-1990 and he got 1990-2000. I definitely got the better one.We also got free How to dismantle an atomic bomb t-shirts.

Alien Ant Farm – Glow

It was the Big Kumara in wellington on a Wednesday night. The Band had just left for a wee break. Me, Hendo and another mate Paul Watts decided to get up on stage and sing into the microphone as this song came over the speaker. As it turns out the microphone was still on and our horrible voices echoed through the pub as we belted out the lyrics. Bouncers came from all directions in a hurry but we managed not to get kicked out. That’s Kumara for ya. RIP Big Kumara.

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
Those of you who were at Victoria Uni with us in first year may remember the bad taste party at the Big Kumara. The music started out pretty average so Hendo convinced the DJ to play a CD of his. We ran back to the hostel made and burned a CD in record time. The DJ played it and this song went off. We were dancing on the stage yelling the lyrics.

Green Day – Brain Stew

A friend of ours Whitey was trying to teach Hendo to play guitar and in particular the opening chords to this song. While I was trying to play Playstation, I must have heard the intro 50 times that afternoon and now when ever I hear it I think of Hendo’s clumsy finger trying to play guitar.

Neil Diamond - Sweet Caroline
It was my Uni graduation on a Tuesday night in December. After pub crawling from Hotel Bristol with Myself, Hendo and Scott Nicol going to every bar along the way and asking for their worst shot we arrived at El Horno. The bar was dead but a mate of ours worked there so he put on this song. The three off us danced on the bar to it, grabbing swigs from the tequila bottles hanging from the ceiling.

AC/DC – Anything

Being friends with this guy for such a long time his love for AC/DC kind of rubs off on you. I now know plenty of useless facts about them as well as almost there entire back catalogue just from hanging out with him. He may not listen to them so much these days but im sure there still well placed on his top bands of all time list which he’ll be happy to tell you even if you don’t ask. So for this reason anything by AC/DC reminds me of my best mate.

Thank you to NMAB for letting me share this with you and if you have any of your own please share it too.

Happy Birthday Mate.

Mate's Day Monday - Grant M Kay

As a tribute to some special people, here are top 10 shout out to that special day in everyones life. It was a great day which we were all stoked to be apart of, congrats to Holly and Josh!!! After the events of 8/11/13, this top 10 'Knees' no further intro!!

Top 10 Wedding songs

Gather to the Chapel - Liam Finn I hated this song to start with but after a while it really grew on me. Smooth and easy to listen too accompanied by a solid video makes this a really good start for this top 10. Also Liam Finn has a fantastic beard! Fun fact about Liam - He was featured on Rolling Stone's 'Artist to Watch' package in November 2007. He is also a KIWI, chur bro!

White Wedding - Billy Idol Billy at his dirty best. Despite not every being married, this is one of the biggest wedding songs ever. Fun fact about Billy - He went to Sussex University. Tom Walker went to Cambridge and he will not stop talking about it!!

Love and Marriage - Frank Sinatra Before there was a Modern Family there was a dysfunctional one...great show and a great song by 'The Chairman of the Board'. Fun fact about Frank - He has a scare from his lip to chin. This was caused when he was born and was pulled out with forceps

Grow Old with You - Adam Sandler The Wedding Singer takes me back to first year of Uni when I met my future wife. Special times. It is a great Fun fact about Adam - There are no good facts on google about Adam Sandler...

Closer - NIN This is Pete's somewhat disturbing wedding song pic...this may ruin an otherwise nice top 10 Fun fact about NIN - Marilyn Mansion was discovered by NIN

Forever and Always - Shania Twain Released in 2003, this international classic has warmed the the hearts and beds of millions world wide. Unfortunately for Shania, her husband and co-writer of this song Mutt Lange was warming someone else's bed...gutter buzz Fun fact about Shania - Her dad brewed moonshine during the great depression

Wedding March - Felix Mendelssohn Classic...I am pretty confident I won't go to a wedding where it is used but some people like it. Fun fact about Felix - His sisters name is Fanny

Marry you - Bruno Marz This 2011 smash hit from Bruno's debut album Doo-Wops & Hooligans was another set to stardom for this curly haired, MJ look-a-like. Fun fact about Bruno - He was arrested for cocaine possession in Vegas in Sept 2010

Can't Help Falling in Love - Elvis Presley Just a great song by one of the most loved artist ever! Fun fact about Elvis - His natural hair colour is brown, the carpet doesn't match the drapes.

You've got the Love - Florence and the Machine Some hot as people like this song! Fun fact about Florence and the Machine - I was the 25,476,911st person to watch the video 'You've Got the Love' on Youtube..

Mate's Day Monday - Carmen Saywell

When We Were Young Punks

 I am going to kick Monday off with days of our youth and music we used to pass the time

I am also going to do it all in rhyme

When we were in high school we had a music scene

It might be still cool now or it’s a bit of a has-been

For me it was the music of hard-core and punk

For others it was rap, reggae of funk

I want to hear what music made your ears bleed

Or if you enjoyed it more when you had weed

Here are the bands and stories that shaped my younger years

When we wore clothes that were covered in patches are tears

All Left Out the first band I saw live

While seeing the bleeders in a circle pit I took my first dive

I spent all my weekends at youth zone wearing band Tees

Dropkick Murphy’s were the first band I saw from overseas

We played the Ramones ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ on repeat

And all my friends stopped eating meat.

Songs of Summer were Rancid’s Time Bomb and NoFX’s The Brews

The guys all sported Mohawks and chucks were our only shoes

The best albums were Out Come the Wolves and Punk In Drublic

Everyone became straight edge but only in public.

So tell me when you think of high school what scene and bands come to mind?

Were you a metal head, Goth, stoner, popular or one of a kind?

Mate's Day Monday - James Ward

 

My dear friend Hendo has asked me to write a spiel for Mates Mondays, we often have differences of opinion, I detest banjo playing hipsters, dreary guitars, and steaming piles of shit (AKA The National), but we do see eye to eye on epic guitar riffs, and 80s metal. Today I’ve decided to share a few of the albums that are close to my bleeding heart, looking at the list, people who don’t know me might think I still wear black shirts and hate authority, they are probably right. Most of these albums are from the 90’s and looking over the list again it’s a bit vanilla, I mean there’s nothing particularly edgy about adding Foos to any top ten list these days, but the hours I have spent singing to Everlong or My Hero at the top of my lungs speeding along with car windows wound down, gives it a special place in my musical heart.

The first album I ever bought on my 3 CD spinner Sony was Jagged Little Pill, and I’ve been trying to regain my masculinity ever since (admitting this is part of closure) I must have been 13-14 at the time and she was the bees-knees, my pre-pubescent voice could hit all her screaming high notes and the angst in her lyrics appealed to me. I promptly made up for this transgression against the heterosexual male population by buying RATM and thrashing the ever loving shit out of it, to this day I still know every lyric to every song off that first album, it left an indelible stain on the tablecloth of my life – Fuck “The Man”, Fight “The Power” The Offspring album choice was difficult, but the energy and emotion of Ignition in my opinion completely trumps a more “campy” energy that increasingly emerged in their later stuff I don’t want playful guitar in my albums, less vegetables, more meat. Don’t get me wrong there are some gems in the later things, but after Americana I didn’t follow them anymore. Generally people wouldn’t picture me as a Marilyn Manson fan - I don’t wear anywhere near enough eye liner, but some of his stuff is really interesting, Im not sure how much of this has to do with Trent Reznor behind the scenes but he was one of my fav artists to get high to, layers and layers of music – like a symphony built upon some really good lyrics.

The rest of the list isn’t particularly imaginative, but in all honesty those are the albums I spent my 15-25s listening to and I love them all in their own way. I’ve probably bored you to death with justifications for this list, and after this Ill probably never be allowed to write another, might be that my next list actually has some music from the last decade in it! Keep up the good work Hendo, without you introducing me to good music I’d still be listening to the Edge. Because Im such a GC, Ive also created a Spotify playlist that you can link to and listen to my song choices from each album, give it a spin!

Here's the playlist

In no particular order;

1 – The Offspring - Ignition
2 – Rage Against the Machine – Self-titled
3 – Foo Fighters – The colour and the shape
4 - Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magic
5 - Alanis Morrisette – Jagged little pill.
6 - Tool – Aenima
7 – Marilyn Manson - Antichrist Superstar
8 - Rise against - the Sufferer and the Witness
9 - Shihad - the General Electric
10 - Smashing pumpkins - Meloncholy & the infinite sadness
11 - Blink 182 - Dude Ranch
12 - Nirvana - Nevermind

Mate's Day Monday - Paul Salter

 My Musical Love Affair

I've been thinking about all the music in my collection that I could write about. Most of my music taste sits firmly on the heavy side of noise with an odd blues/jazz cd when the mood suits.

The most played music in my library is by a band that has been a bedrock for me throughout the years. The band is Def Leppard.

The first album cassette I ever bought was Hysteria. I was 13 years old and it changed my life. I lived and breathed this music. I wanted to play it, listen to it, I wanted to be them and I was desperate to see them. Six months later I got that opportunity down in Bournemouth.

Many years have passed since then. I'm almost 40, I own every piece of music they ever released and some bootlegs that they didn't. I've lived in Australia for 15 years now and (coincidentally as my wife says) I fly home for a visit when Def Leppard are touring there. The last time I flew back home I saw them in Bournemouth once again. It was a full circle moment.

The last time I saw them live was a couple of years ago here in Melbourne and they nearly took the roof off of the arena. The concert aspect is the showbiz, the bright lights, the merchandise and fanfare. Don't get me wrong I love the experience but it's all about the music for me.

The music that has become the soundtrack of my life, which got me thinking why do some bands stick? How do some crawl under your skin, seep in to your blood, your bones and your soul? Why do we follow the bands we do?

For me and Def Leppard it was a mixture of rebellion, rawness, coolness (yes even with the mullet that I grew as quick as I could) and on some level it was acceptance. Their songs told me I didn't have to pretend to be something I wasn't. But mostly it was the sound. The thumping electrifying sound that made me want to move and live.

With the talk of a new album not too far away and possibly a tour I'm ready and waiting. Rocket yeah!

So NMAB followers, which band got under your skin and why?

Paul Salter
 

Mate's Day Monday - Andrew McLaren

Let the Children play.

 

Thanks to NMAB for letting me write a piece and carry on some bullshit about what music I listen to and what I love. Can I just say that I love Hendo. Fact.

Alright boys and girls, here we go……………

Children by Robert Miles.

I never thought much of this song; yeah sure it was good when it come out in the mid 90’s but not something that ever stuck out with me. However it was one of the vivid memories I have from the 21^st September 2013. That was the song that was playing in the café we were in when it was attacked by terrorists in Nairobi.

That was the song that was playing when I was shot and almost died.

It’s amazing what sticks in your mind when events such as that day unfold. The music playing on the café speakers was something that really held focus as I was bleeding from the multiple gunshots and grenade shrapnel. All through the attack that haunting tune just stayed with me.

I will not go into the events of that day too much. They are still pretty raw to me but what I will tell you about is the music that I listened to enable my recovery in hospital. Music is good for the soul and if anyone says it does not help when you are injured or sick has never used it as therapy. Trust me, it works.

I listened to that song again today for the first time while writing this piece. It gave me shivers, brought back memories of that day. But to be honest, I now have a new and unusual love for that song. It will always sit with me and it does have a sort of special, morbid place in my heart.

After 12 days in the hospital I was hooked to my iPod to get me to sleep, wake me up, keep me going and hold my concentration. The drugs I was on, the lines I was hooked up to and the moaning of the other patients mixed with all the sounds of a Kenyan hospital created a cacophony of noise I needed to escape from. Sometimes I had my ear plugs in, other times I let that shit play loud.  I can tell you right now, Kenyans are not fans of Slayer’s “Divine Intervention”.  Maybe they just haven’t really appreciated metal here yet?

But there were several tunes/albums that stuck out with me, held and kept me going. A few oldies but a couple of newbies that I heard while living in Kenya.  So here they are:

Robert Delong – Global Concepts. Its about 9 months old now but this song has so much energy and oomph I was listening to it every day. It got me up and got me going and really got me moving. This eclectic German fellow is going to be a big star one day.

Watch The Duck – Poppin’ Off. This song is almost a year old but damn its catchy. When you can mix a little dub step, blues, indie, D n B and a very Bobby Womack lyricist this song is a winner out and out.

Blakroc – Blakroc. There really is not one song one here that is filler. Every song is great and  is one of the most complete albums I have ever heard in Hip Hop. The Black Keys were awesome in this collaboration and as some know I am not a huge fan so they really did themselves proud.

My Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West. I do not care what this guy does in public. Hell, I don’t read gossip mags. This by far and away was my fav Hip Hop album in the last 5 years – Close second was “Watch the Throne” but I listened to this album trying to get to sleep at night. Runaway is the best song to drift off too.

Divine Intervention – Slayer. It’s the greatest band in the world. Enough said.

Coming From Where I’m From – Anthony Hamilton. This guy’s voice is one of the best I have ever heard There is a touch of Jackie Wilson and you can tell he is channelling Sam Cook and Marvin Gaye as well. He is also the face of Kenya’s Premier lager too. Unfortunately I will be missing his concert here in Nairobi by a few weeks as we should be back in New Zealand by then.

Tired – Stone Sour. I have never been a huge fan of Slipknot but thoroughly enjoy Stone Sour and have a new found respect for Corey Taylor after reading his book – The Seven Deadly Sins. This song is one of my favourites off the concept 2 part album “The House of Gold and Bones Part 1”

So I go back to that song that I started this diatribe about. Children by Robert Miles. I will never forget this song. When it come out in 95’ it didn’t really resonate with me as I was in a Hip Hop/Metal phase at the time. I can tell you right now, that song; I will remember as long as I live.

Take care y’all.

Andrew

THE SMITH STREET BAND

 

This is NMAB’s first ever interview and what a great way to kick things off! Wil Wagner gave up some time in his busy schedule to answer a few questions via email.

Hi Wil,
Thanks heaps for taking the time to answer a few questions; you’re the first interview ever on Never Miss A Beat!

- Couple of gigs coming up at The Old Bar, great venue. What’s your favourite spot to play in Melbourne?

Old Bar has gotta be up there! It's such a great small room, super vibey and fun to play! I love playing the Reverence Hotel there just because it really feels like home and the people who run are some of our best friends!

 - I’ve been spreading the love for Smith St Band back home in NZ, you’ve got a bit of a following there. Any chance of trip across the ditch for a couple gigs in the near future?

I'd love to and it's in the works! We've been talking about it for ages, I reckon our next major Australia tour will feature a few NZ dates though!

- Massive tour coming up with Frank Turner, congrats! That’s awesome. What band would you most love to tour with?

Thanks! I'm amazed and excited about the tour! It's gonna be so fun! As far as the band I'd most love to tour with, thats a tough one! I reckon the Bennies are still my favourite band we've toured with and I'd love to hook up another big party with those dudes! My dream band to tour with would be The Weakerthans though. They're my favourite band ever and I'd love to watch them every night!

- The Melbourne music scene seems to be thriving at the moment, can you recommend some up-and-comers to look out for?

Can I ever! The new Bennies album is 5 star party brilliance! Faces will be melted and melons will be bent when that comes out! I'm loving the new Apart From This album as well, a recent member of the Poison City Records family! This band called the Fly So High O's I just saw for the first time and they're gonna get really big really soon I reckon, their songs are fucking beautiful! And there's a little up and coming supergroup on the cards called Freakwave who I've heard a few demos of, featuring members of A Death In The Family, Blueline Medic, Kill Whitey and a heap of other great bands and they're really fucking good to!

- I’m sitting here proudly wearing my Smith Street Band beanie, what’s next for band merch?

Got a few new tees coming out for the EP tour, I've been doing a lot of research into some kind of footy jumper but they're so expensive!

- Summer coming soon, how about some Smith Street band jandals? Beach towel?

Shit, beach towel is genius! I wanted to do coffee cups, joint papers and lighters for a while, maybe we can get them cracking to!

- Loving the new track “Ducks Fly Together” an obvious Mighty Ducks reference there. What’s your favourite movie in the trilogy? Who was your favourite player on the Ducks’ roster?

BATMAN! The new Christopher Nolan Batman movies are my favourite movies ever! I like them a completely irrational amount! Ummm its hard to go past the boy done good, everyone's best mate Coach Bombay! Aint no team without a coach!

- You’ve had a couple of awesome releases this year with the solo album and Smith St EP, What’s next for Wil?

I'm working on a new solo EP at the moment, but it's a bit of a weird one so it may never get released! There will be more solo stuff out soon though hopefully, I'm always working on stuff!

- Never Miss A Beat loves a guilty pleasure; we even had a party dedicated to them. What’s your ultimate guilty pleasure track?

Nothing compares 2 u by Prince! What a fucking song!

Thanks again for your time, can’t wait to see you guys on the 10th. Best of luck for the upcoming US/Canada tour.
 

The Smith Street Band’s new EP “Don’t Fuck With Our Dreams” out today through Poison City Records.

Never Miss A Blog

NEVER MISS A BEAT - In case you were wondering, that's my nephew on the logo. He's pretty awesome.

This is all very new to me, in fact the first blog I've ever attempted. I am really enjoying my little Never Miss A Beat page so I thought why not throw down a bit of a blog where I can really review albums, get some guest bloggers along and just talk some music smack, it's what I do best.  Perhaps the best way to start the blog is give you a little run down on my background in music appreciation. I say music appreciation as that's all I can do, appreciate it. I've attempted to play a few instruments in my time but unfortunately I was not blessed with good hand-eye coordination or a decent singing voice. 

Dad's Beatles Box

Looking back, my music listening got off to an embarrassing start. The first cassette I owned was "Some Gave All" by Billy Ray Cyrus, this was the album with the hit song "Achy Breaky Heart" man I could bust some sweet line dance to that track. I grew up as a bit of a pop fiend, had albums from 5ive, Boyzone, Hanson, Savage Garden and that kind of trash but I always had time for whatever vinyl my old man wanted to play. I used to love sitting there, listening while he played his Beatles, Zeppelin, Dylan and Queen records. He introduced me to the wonderful world of rock music.

Puberty hit and so did my music obsession. It wasn't long before this pimpled faced teen was a full-on bogan. Bands like AC/DC, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, Guns N' Roses, Metallica and Black Sabbath dominated my music listening and my wardrobe. I've always been proud of the music I listen to and love to show it by wearing band T-shirts. High school years were very hard rock but thanks to Tony Hawk Pro-Skater and some input from good friends I also found Punk! Ramones, The Clash, NOFX, Bad Religion, Pennywise, Millencolin and Rancid were among the bands that found their way into my discman. I'd sit there in class with an earphone in one ear while my mate listened through the other earphone.


Throughout Uni my music tastes was constantly developing. I'd spend every spare dollar I had on beers, takeaways (that'll explain the 25+ kgs I put on at uni) and CDs. Through first year it was all classic rock, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, The Police and Rolling Stones, those kind of bands. I even had a bit of love for Kiss and Def Leppard. As you probably would have guessed by now, I love writing lists. The best way to procrastinate from uni assignments and study was to rank my top 500 songs, AC/DC's "Highway To Hell" always held the top spot.  Second year came along and my tastes started to change. I opened my eyes to indie rock, a genre I had turned my nose up at in the past. The Black Keys, Kings of Leon, The Strokes and The White Stripes were amongst the first bands to grab my attention. During my later years at uni it was mostly indie rock I'd listen to but AC/DC remained my favourite.

Bon and Angus tribute - my first of 8 AC/DC T-Shirts

I've never been as obsessed with a band as much as I was with AC/DC. My AC/DC collection included all 18 albums on CD, Back in Black and Highway To Hell on vinyl, 3 concert DVDs, a book, 8 T-Shirts, a hoodie, a singlet, 3 posters and a pair of slippers. I even once came close to getting the AC/DC lightning bolt tattooed on the middle of my back, thankfully I didn't get around to it. In January 2010 I lived a dream and finally got to see AC/DC live. After far too much Jim Beam and a hectic van ride, my friends and I arrived at Westpac stadium. The Checks played first followed by my favourite Kiwi rock band, Shihad. That's about the last thing I remember about that concert. Waking up in the morning, I was gutted. Disappointed in myself for getting so drunk I couldn't remember a thing. Thankfully my good mate, who had been kicked out of the venue about 2 songs in, was keen to go again. We made the decision not to drink a drop of alcohol and headed to the gig after a few Red Bulls. This night will go down as one of my life highlights. It truly was a dream come true.

 I felt after seeing them live I'd reached my AC/DC peak. It was time for another band to take there place at the top. That band is The Black Keys. I first heard these guys on a Punk-O-Rama compilation album that featured their track "Thickfreakness", I fell in love. I collected up all their previous releases and waited in anticipation for their new album "Brothers". Later that year they were announced to play Big Day Out 2011, shit I was excited! They pulled out a week before the festival, shit I was gutted! "Brothers" is a great album but it's no "Rubber Factory", so much love for that record particularly the track "The Lengths".

I was living back at home at this stage, was there for a year saving some money before a planned move to London. My plans fell through and I made the move to Melbourne instead. This is a move I've definitely not regretted. I love this city and all the music it has to offer. Since living in Melbourne my music obsession has been stronger than ever. I would have seen close to 100 bands live in the (almost) 2 years I've been here, The Black Keys included. I've got an amazing group of mates who are also passionate about music. There's nothing I love more than sharing music and hanging with them at a gig. 

Music means a lot to me, it's much more than just a source of entertainment. Life doesn't always go to plan and often we are hit with challenges that aren't easy to overcome. No matter how hard life can get at times, music is always there for you. Putting on my favourite albums is guaranteed to cheer me up and put smile on my face.

Thank you all for following Never Miss A Beat, sorry for the occasional spamming on your news feed. I hope to carry on sharing my favourites with you all and spreading the love of music.

Much Love,

Mark