We All Want Someone To Shout For

Bloc Party’s career has literally just been going downhill for years, and now it looks like they’ve hit rock bottom. As you all know, the bands lead singer Kele has been busy doing his solo work. It seemed like it was just to get all that electronic inspiration out of him, but now it seems like it’s something he wants to do…more permanently. (hear his new single here – i’m not a fan)

A week ago Kele noted that he thought he was out of the band when he happened to catch Russell Lissack, Gordon Moakes, and Matt Tong entering a NYC rehearsal space without him. That was all last week.

Now, Lissack has told NME that the band wants to get back together but realizes Kele is busy doing solo stuff. They considered doing an instrumental thing, but they’re also considering getting a singer to make new music and return to doing live shows.

It’s not really a secret because Kele’s been pretty busy doing solo stuff and it looks like he’s going to be doing that a bit longer. The other three of us wanted to meet up and make music. We were talking about just doing an instrumental thing, but now we might get a singer as well, to properly put some music out and play some shows.

Kele responded today on his blog with a post, titled “God Bless Bloc Party”:

hmm, i dont know what to make of this. a big part of me is laughing HARD at all of this but another part of me is all like WTF? im quite curious as to what a bloc party audition would be like? i wonder if they would let me sit on the panel so i could be a judge tyra banks style?

To top off all the different reports, Bloc Party’s website now says:

BLOC PARTY IS STILL BLOC PARTY

along with this image:

Remember when it was a good time to be a Bloc Party fan? I do. I was a junior in high school. I’m about to graduate college in a few months. That makes me very sad. Time to go play Silent Alarm.

New Kele song called “What Did I Do” which features Lucky Taylor. It’s gonna be on a new EP titled The Hunter that will be released on November 7.

After Silent Alarm, I was a huge fan of Bloc Party. To be honest, my love for them has quickly faded. This song doesn’t do anything for me except long for a new Bloc Party record. A real Bloc Party record.

Don’t know what happened with Kele, but this direction doesn’t work for me. Take a listen below and let me know if you agree or disagree.

Valentine’s Day isn’t exactly the best holiday for everyone. So I decided to throw together a little mixtape for all you guys out there who are cruising solo right now. To be honest, I’m really enjoying the single life at the moment, so I decided to give Valentine’s Day the middle finger. There may or may not be a cohesive bind to all these songs. These are songs that I have had an emotional attachment at one point or another. Figured it would be a good way to share my mood with ya’ll.

If you’re with me, grab this little mix. A big thank you to Camilo Bejarano for making that wonderful artwork that you see on top of this post.

I have the songs posted as individual mp3s. There is also a ZIP File of all the songs after the post. I edited the track numbers so it will show up in order if you add it to iTunes. Enjoy:

1. Cass McCombs – County Line
2. Ben Kweller – Penny On the Train Track
3. Beck – Guess I’m Doing Fine
4. The Morning Benders – Waiting For A War
5. Coldplay – Don’t Panic
6. The Last Shadow Puppets – Meeting Place
7. Albert Hammond, Jr. – In Transit
8. Creedence Clearwater Revival – Have You Ever Seen the Rain?
9. The Dandy Warhols – We Used To Be Friends
10. Death Cab For Cutie – We Looked Like Giants
11. Bloc Party – I Still Remember
12. Ben Folds – Not The Same
13. Belle And Sebastian – Seeing Other People
14. The Coral – Waiting For The Heartaches
15. The Libertines – Music When The Lights Go Out
16. Snow Patrol – Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking
17. Maxïmo Park – The Coast Is Always Changing
18. The Rosebuds – Boxcar
19. The National – Apartment Story
20. The Tallest Man On Earth – The Gardener

ZIP Download (130 MB)

After Silent Alarm, I feel in love with Bloc Party. I certainly didn’t expect them to be where they are right now, that’s for sure.

I re-found this amazing LA Blogotheque performance of “This Modern Love” and it reminded me of why I once loved this band. I was hit with emotions that I had when I used to spin the record for days at time. I remember the personally connections I made through it. It’s amazing how much of one’s life can be attached to music.

I hope Bloc Party can one day return to this greatness:

I was going through my blog archives the other day and wanted to see the official date that I started my blog. Sure enough it was July 30th, 2008, which means we are now officially 2 years young. Woah, where the hell did the last two years go?

It seems like it was only yesterday that I got the sudden urge to really start my own blog after some outside motivation from various people. It was partly a way for me to put all of my musical obsessions out there for my friends to see, but deep down I wanted to see if I could take this blog to bigger things. I remember seeing the rise of blogs like GorillavsBear, and was always amazed at how well blogs had done. Realistically, I never thought anyone would read this thing aside from some friends and family.

But here we are, two years later, and there are plenty of you. You subscribe to my RSS Feed, leave comments, e-mail me, write in my shoutbox, follow me on twitter. It’s all mind blowing. Two years ago I was just a kid who listened to way too much new music and probably annoyed the people around him with the new music he was listening to. Now I get to bother you guys, and you actually appreciate it. It’s pretty wonderful.

A lot has changed in my life in two years. Two years ago I was just about to enter college. I was only 17 years old. Now I am about to enter my junior year of college, and only have a few more months of being a teenager. I am somewhat of a different person inside, but in the core I guess I’m really the same. No matter what happens to me, this blog will always be a part of me.

I have all of you to thank for this. Without you, this blog wouldn’t be here. You guys push me to write multiple times every day to share my musical obsessions with. I hope that you enjoy this blog and that you continue to come back. I started We All Want Someone To Shout For partly for myself in 2008, but now I write it for all of you.

It’s been a great ride, but get ready for bigger and better things in the upcoming two years.

-Will

I figured I would share some songs with you that partly inspired this blog. These were some of my favorite songs that I formed emotional connections with that partly got me so invested with new music. Listen to the first song. It’s lyrics may ring a bell.

[mp3]: Arctic Monkeys – Who The Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?
[mp3]: Voxtrot – The Start Of Something
[mp3]: Arcade Fire – Wake Up
[mp3]: Bloc Party – This Modern Love
[mp3]: Wolf Parade – I’ll Believe In Anything
[mp3]: Sufjan Stevens – Chicago
[mp3]: Beirut – Postcards From Italy
[mp3]: Ben Folds – Still Fighting It
[mp3]: Death Cab for Cutie – We Looked Like Giants
[mp3]: Doves – Caught By The River
[mp3]: Interpol – The New
[mp3]: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Heavy Metal

After my internship on Monday I walked over to my favorite restaurant, Shake Shack. It was a decent walk, and I couldn’t decide on an album to settle on. So I decided to actually utilize the shuffle feature on my ipod classic. I have over 13,000 songs, so shuffle often isn’t he best idea, especially when a lot of my itunes library consists of stuff that I haven’t even listened to yet.

I decided to take a chance, and it turned out to be a great idea. Not only was the shuffle a perfect mix of stuff I listen to, but it was an eclectic mix that somehow blended together really well. I figured I would share it with you, and see what you think.

So without further a do, here is my journey to shake shack mix. Just hit play and the yahoo media player that I have installed will do the rest.

[mp3]: Gorillaz – Demon Days
[mp3]: We Are Scientists – Callbacks
[mp3]: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Higher Than the Stars (Saint Etienne Visits Lord Spank Mix)
[mp3]: Dum Dum Girls – Baby Don’t Go
[mp3]: Sigur Rós – Salka
[mp3]: Phantogram – When I’m Small
[mp3]: Wilco – Sunken Treasure
[mp3]: Doves – The Man Who Told Everything
[mp3]: The Soft Pack – Down On Loving
[mp3]: Vampire Weekend – Ottoman
[mp3]: Bloc Party – Cain Said To Abel
[mp3]: The Coral – Put The Sun Back

I’ve been really getting into a Bloc Party mood as of late and I came back to this great, great, version of one of my favorite tracks. It is an acoustic version of “I Still Remember” that the boys did for Spinners Interface. This version is stripped down to Kele on vocals and Russell on the acoustic guitar.

You can really hear every bit of emotion in Kele’s vocals. He really shines here, his voice sounds spectacular. Russell does his own thing playing really clean and crisp.

Brilliant.

[mp3] : Bloc Party – I Still Remember (Acoustic Live)

Bloc Party hold a special place in my heart. Silent Alarm had a huge impact on me when it came out, and it still remains one of my favorite albums of all time. It came at a critical point in my life, and I will never forget the memories and feelings that I got from that album both directly and indirectly. Many people know I am a huge fan of theirs. It seems that over the years, with each new release, people are becoming less, and less fond of them. Many have even said “Bloc Party is dead to me”. I will admit the band’s sound has changed greatly since 2005, but to me there is still plenty to eat up.

There is no doubt that the band is aware and concerned about the critical response fans are having, and maybe that is why there new single is called “One More Chance”. OK, probably not. But there is no doubt they are dying to stay relevant in this fast paced music game. Now the question is, do they succeed?

Zane Lowe debuted this new song on his show yesterday, and the general consensus is mixed. Some say its a grower, others say the band falls flat with their attempt for a “club track”. After enough listens I will say that it is above average for them. It starts off with a repetitive piano, Kele repeating “Give me one more chance”, then the guitars kick in and Bloc Party are in their groove. The song is a bit repetitive and safe at times, you can tell the band is kinda stuck between their rock sound, and their dance sound.

To tell you the truth I don’t really know how I feel about it yet. It isn’t bad by any means, but I am not crazy about it either. Unfortunately, I don’t think that it is going to clear any critical clouds over the doubters heads.

cheers to Phil from Not Many Experts for the tip that the rip was out there!

[mp3] : Bloc Party – One More Chance

here is one of my favorite Bloc Party singles:

[mp3] : Bloc Party – Two More Years

Bloc Party have announced that they are going to release a new single called “One More Chance” on August 10th. It was produced by Jacknife Lee and didn’t make the cut for their last album Intimacy. I am curious to hear if it sounds like the Bloc Party of old, or like the new electronic based Bloc Party.

Guess we will have to wait till August, or rather until it leaks. I know many have given up on Bloc Party, but I still believe in them. Intimacy has grown back on me as of late.

Check back here for updates!

[mp3] : Bloc Party – Ares (Villains Remix)

Bloc Party’s Intimacy has been a weird record for me. At first I thought it was fantastic, but after more listens I grew less fond of it and then I stopped listening to it all together. I picked it up a few times here in there hoping to find the band that made “Silent Alarm”. I am still trying to find a place for “Intimacy”. I don’t know if it’s bad that I am promoting a dance remix considering that this electronic/dance direction that the band seems to be heading in doesn’t seem to be working. Oh well what can ya do, in the mean time here is a cool remix of Sings to shake things up a bit

[mp3] : Bloc Party – Signs (Armand Van Helden Remix)

Bloc Party on Myspace