JCS On Songs You Need To Download

Songs You Need to Download

James Christopher Sheppard divulges the tracks he has on repeat.

Korn ‘Get Up’ (featuring Skrillex)

At school in the late 90’s, if you liked metal, Korn were a pretty good starting point. Now, seventeen years since the debut, Korn release their freshest single in years. I first heard ‘Get Up’ on kerrang radio and had to double check who it was. The collaboration with master of dubstep, Skrillex, throws Korn’s aggressive thrashing metal sound into brand new industrial waters. This is the best song Korn have released since 2002’s ‘Here to Stay’. Fucking incredible.

Melanie C ‘Rock Me’

Rock Spice Melanie C finally returns with the first release from her long-awaited fifth solo album, The Sea. ‘Rock Me’ is vibrant, simple, catchy, up-beat and addictive. With her own very loyal following, and sales of over ten million albums worldwide, sporty spice still has a great deal to offer.

Within Temptation ‘Sinead’

New single from Within Temptation’s flawless album The Unforgiving is ‘Sindead’- the beat-heavy, industrial tinged dance/symphonic metal track. Yes, ‘Sinead’ is the most cross-over single Within Temptation have released and it’s gaining all sorts of attention. For the first time ever, the band have had official remixes commissioned from the likes of German hard dance band Scooter. The most surprising thing about the remixes is that they actually work. Check out the ‘VNV Nation Club Mix’.

Charlie Simpson ‘Parachute’

Fightstar front man Charlie Simpson, will unleash his debut solo album in August and ‘Parachutes’ is the second single, following the mellow ‘Down Down Down’. ‘Parachutes’ isn’t a million miles from the sound of Fightstar, but is enough of a departure to be only Simpson’s. The song is softer and relies more on acoustic sounds to build song to it’s climax. Vulnerable and powerful at the same time. I am truly impressed by the quality of this.

Amy Winehouse ‘Back to Black’

For me, ‘Back to Black’ is the ultimate Amy Winehouse song. Following her tragic passing on Saturday 23^rd July, this song seems more painful and sadder than ever. Winehouse was a visibly very troubled soul, who sadly lost her battle with depression and addiction. ‘Back to Black’ will stand testament to what incredible art she created, if only for a short time. You will be forever remembered, Amy.

Pulp ‘Common People’

Since seeing the iconic band, Pulp, perform at this years Wireless festival in London, I started listening to their back catalogue repeatedly. It’s only as an older listener with a writing background that I can really appreciate just how genius Jarvis Cocker’s lyric writing is. ‘Common People’ seems more appropriate for me right now than ever, as I am a boy from Surrey residing temporarily in the depths of Hull. ‘Common People’ is an iconic and timeless song, that could be the anthem of recession ridden Britain- ‘dance and drink and screw because there’s nothing else to do.’ Absolutely.

JCS is Eyewear's Music Critic, and is based in Hull and London.

IQ AND THE POETS - ARE YOU SMART?

When you open your mouth to speak, are you smart? A funny question from a great song, but also, a good one, when it comes to poets, and poetry. We tend to have a very ambiguous view of intelligence in poetry, one that I'd say is dysfunctional. Basically, it goes like this: once you are safely dead, it no longer matters how smart you were. For instance, Auden was smarter than Yeats , but most would still say Yeats is the finer poet; Eliot is clearly highly intelligent, but how much of Larkin 's work required a high IQ? Meanwhile, poets while alive tend to be celebrated if they are deemed intelligent: Anne Carson, Geoffrey Hill , and Jorie Graham , are all, clearly, very intelligent people, aside from their work as poets. But who reads Marianne Moore now, or Robert Lowell , smart poets? Or, Pound ? How smart could Pound be with his madcap views? Less intelligent poets are often more popular. John Betjeman was not a very smart poet, per se. What do I mean by smart?

"I have crossed oceans of time to find you..."

In terms of great films about, and of, love, we have Vertigo, In The Mood for Love , and Casablanca , Doctor Zhivago , An Officer and a Gentleman , at the apex; as well as odder, more troubling versions, such as Sophie's Choice and Silence of the Lambs . I think my favourite remains Bram Stoker's Dracula , with the great immortal line "I have crossed oceans of time to find you...".

THE SWIFT REPORT 2023

I am writing this post without much enthusiasm, but with a sense of duty. This blog will be 20 years old soon, and though I rarely post here anymore, I owe it some attention. Of course in 2023, "Swift" now means one thing only, Taylor Swift, the billionaire musician. Gone are the days when I was asked if I was related to Jonathan Swift. The pre-eminent cultural Swift is now alive and TIME PERSON OF THE YEAR. There is no point in belabouring the obvious with delay: 2023 was a low-point in the low annals of human history - war, invasion, murder, in too many nations. Hate, division, the collapse of what truth is, exacerbated by advances in AI that may or may not prove apocalyptic, while global warming still seems to threaten the near-future safety of humanity. It's been deeply depressing. The world lost some wonderful poets, actors, musicians, and writers this year, as it often does. Two people I knew and admired greatly, Ian Ferrier and Kevin Higgins, poets and organise

E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

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