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News broke recently surrounding a major issue to do with Chinese phone manufacturer Huawei and the great debate surrounding the future of ultrafast mobile phone networks. Specifically, the next 'step-up' of these networks, 5G and whether or not Huawei are a reliable developer for the expansion of 5G networks worldwide, or a real threat to any country's national security. First of all, let's actually get what 5G is down on paper. As a new network, it's meant to be faster than the older 4G system, allowing speeds of up to the fastest home broadband networks. It will feature smaller transmitters than the old 4G too, with the size of the newer base stations equivalent to that of a small fridge. This also allows for better overall coverage, with signal masts having the ability to be situated in places that would have otherwise been unreachable. Smaller stations also means more of them in a smaller area; theoretically, they could be placed on every street corner, in lampposts or something similar. It will also allow for the unsightly messes that are current radio towers to stop spoiling the wonderful countryside views we have in Great Britain. Turning back a few weeks, there were talks at the National Security Council concerning the UK becoming involved with Huawei's 5G networking and then Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson giving the go-ahead for the Chinese company's involvement. However, this would be on the 'edge' of the systems, and not the 'core', where the UK fears that the Chinese spies could manifest themselves. Huawei apparently have strong ties to the communist Chinese Government and the founder, Ren Zhengfei, is a known member of their Communist Party. It is these ties that has led people to believe that Huawei are a major threat to national security - it is almost a technological 'Red Scare' being felt worldwide against state-owned and far-left aligned firms. As a result of this, and in tandem with the large trade war between China and the USA, American firms such as Google has limited access for new Huawei devices to all Google-based applications such as YouTube and Google Maps. Plus, the entire Android operating system is now not fully supported on new Huawei devices and will not continue to receive the individual application updates. This means that, eventually, Huawei devices will become unsupported on Android, albeit a lot quicker than the usual unsupported devices do, leaving the Chinese firm in a predicament with regards to whether they develop their own operating system to try and rival the open-source Android OS. News also broke earlier of contract providers EE and Vodafone dropping Huawei phones from their own 5G network launches. EE, who will become the UK's first 5G provider as of the 30th May, are launching the faster network in six major cities - London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast, Birmingham and Manchester. By the end of the year, that will be expanded to sixteen cities including Sheffield, Liverpool and Glasgow and this will apparently grow even further to fifty towns and cities through the course of 2020. In addition, chip manufacturer ARM, who are based in Cambridge have also suspended business with Huawei and the reason for this is to comply with the 'blacklist' order the United States have placed on Huawei. Once a firm has been blacklisted, like that of ZTE last year, it is near-impossible to be removed. As a result of the lack of chips coming from ARM, as well as both Intel and Qualcomm, Huawei are perceived to be developing their own processing units. BT are also apparently in the process of removing Huawei from the main areas of their 4G network, which are the major backdoors into cybersecurity breaches. Measures from such high-profile firms such as Intel and Google to phase out Huawei from their business plans ought to cause a major paranoia amongst consumers. Despite their exemplary advertising on systems such as the P20 Pro, it'll be hard for consumers to look at any Huawei products without the small echoes of these 5G incidents in the back of minds and so, we may well see sales of Huawei products drop as a consequence. In conclusion, whilst 5G may be the future for our phone networks, Huawei may not necessarily be the correct provider to lead the charge for the development of such. The hysteria may eventually pass despite these incidents worldwide and with native companies such as EE developing 5G networks themselves, they should be more reliable and trustworthy than Huawei and lead from the front into the new age of phone networking.

Turning the clock forwards seventeen years, we come to find the second album from hard rock duo Royal Blood in the form of How Did We Get So Dark? It was only last year when I discovered this album through a good friend of mine and Royal Blood put a different spin on what the confines of the hard rock genre are and overall darkened its atmosphere and feeling. This LP truly portrays this haunting change, with the title track hitting you like a violent kick in the teeth. The drumwork from Ben Thatcher is top-notch and almost metal-like in feeling and fits with the song perfectly. I Only Lie When I Love You is pretty simplistic in structure, talking about animosity within a relationship, but it entwines a sinister bassline with a seething vocal from lead singer Mike Kerr. It's almost rap-like in structure on some of the verses but soon returns to a more conventional structure, but overall, the song is absolutely fantastic. Hook, Line & Sinker is a particular highlight, talking about deception in a relationship and the overriding bass tones from Kerr, that, through the usage of the various effects pedals, sounds like a lead guitar, adds to its attitude and brashness. Where Are You Now? sounds a little more like classical rock in my eyes, with Kerr's lyrical delivery and Thatcher's drumming that is, as always, sublime. It features an absolutely brilliant riff that would be sure to get the crowd going at any festival. Indeed, they opened with it at 2017's Glastonbury and from the concert footage, it's evident that the crowd were attracted to the punchy sound. Continuing on with the different sounds, Cheap Affections sounds reminiscent of pop-punk in the late nineties and early noughties, like that of genre staples My Chemical Romance or the previously-reviewed Green Day. It's a little more upbeat in delivery than the rest of the album and gives us a different side to Royal Blood, showing versatility within the confines of the rock genre, taking on a little less heaviness, that is a welcome change of variety. How Did We Get So Dark? will go down as one of the best sophomore albums in rock history and has certainly set Royal Blood a little further down the path to musical greatness. I would certainly recommend it to everyone reading this and indeed, if you want something a little heavier than usual to listen to, look no further than this masterpiece. If you want to pick up a copy, I’ll leave an Amazon link here: https://amzn.to/2BGDqJM Or, if you’d prefer, here’s a Spotify link: More musical magnificence to come next week! UNTITLED may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through the links on our site. Find out more here.

Often unnoticed for his exemplary work, Nikola Tesla was a scientific genius. Some people know the name 'Tesla' from Elon Musk's electric vehicle venture that has become a symbol for his work ethic and innovation. The namesake, however, does not even scratch the surface of the work of one of the twentieth century's greatest minds. Born in the old Austrian Empire in 1856, Tesla was the fourth of five children. From a high-school age, he was fascinated by the teachings of his then Physics professor, which were what he described as "mysterious phenomena". He had a burning desire to "know more of this wonderful force" and indeed, throughout his career as an engineer and scientific mind, he grew to have a great wealth of knowledge about electricity. Tesla was able to perform integral calculus as a form of mental maths; this led to his teachers making the claim that he was cheating. Of course, he wasn't and so, he graduated from high school in 1873. This set him down the path to eventual greatness whilst working for the Budapest Telephone Exchange, where he reformed their entire system, allegedly creating a telephone amplifier for better sound, but this was never patented nor acknowledged. His first major breakthrough came when working for the Continental Edison Company, that ultimately led to Tesla meeting one of the supposedly great technological innovators of the modern age, Thomas Edison. Edison often gets credited with the invention of the incandescent light bulb, but he simply had an ability to sell the product, not develop it like mainstream culture states. In fact, he built on the work of twenty-two other men, including Tesla himself. Edison offered Tesla the sum of a million dollars to fix the issues he was having with his DC transformers and motors; once Tesla had sorted the issues, he went to find Edison, expecting the cash-in-hand sum. Edison reportedly said to Tesla: "Tesla, you don't understand our American humour". After falling out with Edison whilst working for him, Tesla devoted time to the development of a system known as 'Alternating Current', or AC. Edison, at this time, was trying to sell the world his 'Direct Current' system, but unlike Tesla's, it had a distinct flaw - DC required power plants every square mile to deliver power. AC used smaller wires, had higher voltages and could be transported over much longer distances. The AC system was developed to run on streetcars in Pittsburgh and in tandem, Tesla developed one of his most famous inventions - the induction motor. The induction motor that was used along with AC ran on a rotating magnetic field and because it didn't require a commutator, high maintenance costs associated with the upkeep of the overall part replacement were avoided. At the time of Tesla's invention, the American electronics market was in a war; three firms, Westinghouse, Edison, and Thomson-Houston were all trying to grow through capital investment and all tried to undercut one another. Westinghouse signed the AC Tesla contract and within two years were in financial troubles. The occurrence of corporate restructuring meant that the per-motor-royalty payments owed to Tesla had to be cut. A few years later, the payments were stopped altogether and Westinghouse would purchase the patent for a lump sum of $216,000 ($6,065,754.73 in today's US money) - this was part of a patent-sharing agreement signed with new firm General Electric, that had been formed out of the 1892 merger of Edison and Thomson-Houston. Thanks to the lump sum from Westinghouse, Tesla was free to go on and innovate until he ran out of ideas. Using his New York laboratory, he was able to develop the Tesla Coil, which singlehandedly opened doors and broadened his horizons no end. With this, he was able to develop the idea of wireless lighting - at various points in the early 1890s, Tesla would publicly demonstrate this phenomena by lightning various Geissler Tubes and even incandescent light bulbs from across the stage. After the fire in his New York laboratory, Tesla experimented with the idea of X-Ray imagery, using his friend and author Mark Twain; he managed to obtain a picture of the metal locking screw on his camera on one of his attempts, but also his hand in another in 1895. Inventor of X-Rays, Wilhelm Roentgen credited Tesla in his research surrounding X-Rays, proving not only that Tesla wasn't just a pioneer in his own work, but also in aiding the research for other people. 1896 saw Tesla present the idea of a radio-controlled boat to a crowd, in the hope that he could use it as a platform to sell to navies worldwide as a guided torpedo. The crowd made bold claims as to how the boat was running, such as forms of magic and illusion, or telepathy. Tesla went to the US Military in the hope he could sell the idea, but they had little to no interest in his invention. Ironically, in the period during and following the First World War, certain countries started using radio-controlled devices in warfare, such as the German Army with the Siemens Torpedo Glider. In his middle years, Tesla devoted time to the development of wireless transmission and the fruits of his labour were exemplified in the Wardenclyffe Tower project. He planned to harness the power of radio waves to transmit signals across the Atlantic, leaping ahead of the works of Guglielmo Marconi and his patents that Tesla believed were his own. The Great Radio Controversy had emerged in the latter half of the nineteenth century and still to this day, it is pretty unclear as to who invented the radio. Tesla was quoted as saying "Marconi is a good fellow; let him continue. He is using seventeen of my patents.". In December 1901, Marconi jumped Tesla in managing to send the letter 'S' over from England to Newfoundland. Tesla wagered with investor J.Pierpont Morgan to gain as much money as possible to finish the Wardenclyffe project and catch up with his Italian rival. Over the next five years, Tesla would send over fifty letters to Morgan asking for the additional funding he required to finish Wardenclyffe properly, but would receive no reply - Tesla would be forced to fund it from his own money and run himself into debt. It took nine months to do, as opposed to the few years that Tesla had proposed to Morgan, but in June 1902, Tesla would move his laboratory from Houston Street to Wardenclyffe in the hope of further experimentation. Investors in the financial sector on Wall Street would lend their money to Marconi, in tandem with the press claiming Tesla's system was an utter hoax. He would eventually lose the property in 1915, with it being demolished in 1917 to make the land more viable for the purposes of real estate. Following the closure of Wardenclyffe Tower, Tesla was broke, begging for office space in his former stomping ground of New York City. He would eventually find temporary forms of refuge in 165 Broadway in 1906, the Metropolitan Life Tower from 1910 to 1914 and 8 West 40th Street for ten years from 1915 to 1925. This last move effectively made Tesla bankrupt and at the same time, most of his older patents had run out and even with new inventions, he was finding immense trouble in their development. The last years of Tesla's life would be his most problematic, being shunned by investors left right and centre, whilst spending his final years at the Hotel New Yorker, with his only companionship proving to be the pigeons he would feed outside the hotel most days. He would spend his birthdays with the press, dining finely on dishes of his own creation, whilst telling stories about past inventions and new ones he theorised. Most notably, at the 1934 occasion, Tesla claimed he had invented a weapon that could end all wars. He coined the word Teleforce to describe it, but in most circles, people referred to it as his Deathray. He described it to be a defensive weapon that could be placed along the borders of a country, designed to defeat aircraft or ground-based infantry. It was only in 1984 that the plans for the 'deathray' were uncovered, describing a system that could fire millions of volts worth of charged slugs of mercury or tungsten at a target in fast streams. Tesla tried to interest the governments of the USA, the UK, the USSR and Yugoslavia in the weapon, but none took him up on the idea. Nikola Tesla would eventually pass away in 1943 at the age of 86, following a case of coronary thrombosis. His life is one that elements of science and engineering are ignorant of and it is only through further reading and awareness that we come to understand one of the best minds of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He's an idol of mine by way of sheer intrigue and endeavour and Tesla's work proves that with the right mind and right ideas, anything is possible. We live for instant innovation in today's society and in truth, modern-day pioneers can learn a lot from delving into the past and finding such technological magnificence.

Moving back a few years, we're taking a look at the seminal debut album from one of Britain's finest bands of the last thirty years - Coldplay and 2000's Parachutes. I've been a fan of Coldplay for many years now and whenever I come back to listen to this album, I always manage to find something a little more quirky and fantastic than with the previous time. What makes this, in my eyes, their finest work is how tightly knit the sound is - through any good sound system, it feels like Chris Martin & Co. are in the room with you. There's no finer example of this than the opening track Don't Panic - everything is so light and it's such a bright-sounding song that sets the tone perfectly. Shiver is one of the best tracks, with its perfect combination of attitude and sentimentality. The light guitar notes from Jonny Buckland complement Chris Martin's delicate vocal perfectly and this exemplifies the sheer power behind Martin's voice perfectly. Sparks is a little more delicate than the rest of the album, but that doesn't detract from its magnificence. It's pretty simple lyrically, but its deeper meaning concerns a failed relationship and the backlash that the speaker has felt as a result of its culmination. What's so wonderful about this song in particular is how it seems pretty simplistic, but in looking deeper, how it becomes a larger metaphor for a wider concept. High Speed also talks about a failing relationship, but this time the lyrics focus on the rapid pace at its progression, whilst the speaker ponders that it might fly out of control before it's too late. There's an embedded groove to it, with its minimalistic sound and sumptuous lead guitar. We Never Change is dreamy and conversational; it's like you're sat there, with Martin telling you a story for just over four minutes. In all honesty, that's the feel of the entire album's outstanding forty minute duration anyway. Genius. Parachutes has to go down as one of the best debut albums in music history full stop. It provides a masterclass in the alternative rock genre and with every listen, it just becomes all the more marvellous. It's light, but comes with plenty of attitude in places. A perfect example of the band's cohesion. Simply brilliant. If you want to pick up a copy, I’ll leave an Amazon link here: https://amzn.to/39AszgK Or, if you'd prefer, there's a Spotify link below: More musical magnificence to come next week! UNTITLED may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through the links on our site. Find out more here.

We turn a different corner this week and return to something with a little bit more attitude for London-based One Eyed Wayne's second album, Saucy Postcards Super Creeps. Opener Piece Of This Romance tells a Ian Dury-esque love story, with its lyrics talking about a metropolitan couple, one of whom who uses a computer to go and meet new people "the modern way", as opposed to meeting people in pubs and clubs, before the age of instant-gratification dating apps. Spanish Lounge is quintessentially British in nature, discussing the mundane aspects of British life, with its grey weather and meaningless drives around, whilst the speaker ponders various random things to do whilst he's out and about, such as owning a bar or drinking and driving, maiming passers-by. The Body's Gone echoes elements of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates with so much going on the background; its opening is a reminder of the rhythmic sixties beat music you'd hear in clubs all round the country. Along with this, Thousand Dreams is punchy and quick, harking back to the early days of The Jam in the late seventies and that sort of middle-ground punk that was prevalent at the time. Man From Uncool is a personal favourite, with its spoken word vocal tying in nicely with the lighter backing when compared to the rest of the LP. It's more alternative in sound, reminiscent of perhaps The La's and acts as a nice contrast to some of the heavier tracks, giving the entire collection a more well-rounded sound. Old Man's Balloons is a little more sinister and cold, sounding like a metropolitan folk song with its downbeat vocal and piano backing. It utilises music hall waltz timings, although the waltz done to this wouldn't be typically majestic; in-keeping with society, it would be one done with a disgruntled and disappointed feel, perhaps playing satirically with the feelings of the bank of voters in Britain at the moment. Overall, Saucy Postcards Super Creeps features a wide-range of rock tastes, from the beat of the sixties to the heavier punk of the seventies and beyond. For something a little different and very new, it's worth delving into. If you want to pick up a copy, I’ll leave an Amazon link here: https://amzn.to/2Enldlf Or, if you'd prefer, there's a Spotify link below: More musical magnificence to come next week! UNTITLED may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through the links on our site. Find out more here.

Across the political spectrum, by way of UK politics, we have parties that appeal to the majority of the electorate. Whilst there will be sectors within groups that disagree with a party's core beliefs, these groups are usually outweighed by a majority. 'Change UK - The Independent Group' are the latest bunch of rebellious MPs who are there to alter the political status-quo and give voters another option. Can they go on and become a true political force? At face value, Change UK do look to be a serious alternative option and with the sheer gusto of their abilities to enter back into the political fray so quickly, they're somewhat reminiscent of the Social Democrat Party and the 'Gang Of Four' - David Owen, Shirley Williams, Roy Jenkins and Bill Rodgers. The SDP, at the 1983 General Election, having formed an alliance with the Liberal Party, won around a quarter of the vote. However, whilst Labour only won two more percent of the vote, they gained ten times the amount of seats that the SDP did. With the rise of Change UK, it's possible that the first-past-the-post system could flaw them, if they choose to stand in a General Election. With the European Elections looming, Change UK are polling at around ten percent, some way off the leading all-new Brexit Party, led by Nigel Farage, who themselves are polling at 28%. By way of branding too, Change UK are looking to fall off a political cliff - their logo is nonsensical and their name is too complicated. It's too temporary in nature - 'Independent' is only juxtaposed by their members' previous political allegiances. Ten years down the line, if they still exist, the 'Independent' element will be absolutely irrelevant - people won't really care about the previous standings of Chuka Umunna or Anna Soubry alike. Also, using 'Change' as one of the main words in your party title is a tad old-hat, isn't it? It's too ambiguous again; all parties stand for change one way or another and by using 'Change UK' as a name, it's a little Neanderthal in delivery. From the outside, it seems like the party are championing independence but what exactly do they want independence from? The political norm? Now, I'm the furthest thing from a conformist, but the way that it seems is that we have to adhere to whatever this 'political norm' actually is to get anything done. Albeit, getting things done is what all parties need to do, regardless of political standing and by creating another party out of a bunch of rebel MPs, it's only exacerbating the issues at hand. It's more for the electorate to consider and more work to try and win a vote with more parties around. You could argue that by having more parties that there is more choice in the centre, compared to the polarised Labour and Conservative options, but it can be said that the political centre is becoming somewhat saturated. As a result, it becomes increasingly difficult for voters to choose which part of the centre to pledge their allegiances to and mark the ballot paper. The logo itself is another small gripe that could stop Change UK from becoming a major political force; four black lines don't exactly signify core beliefs, but that can be said for the rest of the political parties too. By way of branding, everything seems too archaic. With politics becoming more of an exercise in multimedia reach and the way society has become, we look for instant gratification - simplistic and convenient answers. A party's logo and also name should provide people with those answers and shouldn't facilitate the need for them to go foraging for them. What do those four, sometimes multi-coloured lines signify? Difference in thoughts? Difference in actions? There's something almost dismissive about them and an ascertained seclusion - it suggests a barrier to entry. In terms of actual politics, it's hard to define Change UK. With no official manifesto, their entire political standing looks to be determined by what they call their 'Eleven Values' on their website. To be honest, by virtue of their policies alone, it's hard to really argue with them, with calls such as higher levels of investment into public services, such as the NHS. It's plain for pretty much everyone to see that the NHS are in crisis and on their knees and with higher levels of public funding, there's a chance that the NHS could become healthier as an organisation. However, with the issues at hand, the question turns to a matter of funding. As a publicly funded institution, the NHS is reliant upon tax payments from those employed - National Insurance Contributions. The logical way to fund a better, surviving health service would be to raise taxes - something Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party is calling for too. Higher taxation levels would, in theory, give higher amounts of government income, but people always find ways to circumvent the law - those who are rich enough will hire accountants to fiddle their taxes so they pay less, or don't pay anything at all. This means that the government will most likely collect the same amount of tax as before the initial rise, or maybe even less if many rich people decide to fiddle the system. What's also got to be considered in this is the amount that taxes would be put up by, as is the case with our current levels of interest rates, there's very little room to move. Raising taxes by a couple of percent overall is likely to make little difference. There are other ways of funding better public services, such as further spending cuts, which is more Conservative than anything else, bringing another whole heap of problems. What else is there to cut? We do know for sure that all of the members of Change UK are vocal supporters of a 'People's Vote' on the subject of Brexit. They've described themselves as the 'Remain Alliance' in Twitter campaigns, evoking images of a particularly dystopian, yet sci-fi villain, confined by the political clutches that society has placed on them. A second referendum, with the way Brexit has gone and looks to be going, is a pretty null point - yes, you can 'put it back to the people', but where's the good if you have the same outcome? We've discussed this before on the site and from a personal perspective, one of the hardest things for me to see is how a 'People's Vote' would give people a viable option, apart from to stay part of the EU. If that doesn't happen, what do you put on the ballot paper? There's no viable deal from both the perspectives of Leavers and Remainers alike, so, what happens with that? It's too little, too late in my eyes and even then, there are parties aplenty that wish to try and stop Brexit. Change UK don't exactly present themselves as a viable alternative to the likes of the Lib Dems who are a more established party and do look to have a little more cohesion than some centrist political rivals. In conclusion, personally speaking, it's pretty hard to see where Change UK really fit in on the political spectrum and more to the point, it's difficult to see as to whether they can go on to become a dynamic political force. Their policies are pretty inoffensive, harking back to the days of post-War consensus politics from Attlee to Heath; do we really want more of a similar run of cuts or just trundling along, like we are now really. Something needs to be done to tackle our heavy domestic issues, like that of the prevalent crime issues this country has and with a government that's too apathetic, it's hard to see if anything would ever get done with this lot behind the political wheel.

Moving forward a good few years and shifting musical styles brings us to Marillion's revolutionary 2001 album Anoraknophobia. Within the band's now eighteen album career, since the arrival of Steve Hogarth as lead singer in 1989, the band has reinvented themselves greatly from one album to the next. Anoraknophobia sees a more modern side to the prog-rock legends and what I think is their best album with Steve Hogarth. It must be noted that this was the first attempt in the music industry at crowdfunding with fans and this did set a fantastic precedent for the future of both Marillion themselves and the industry. Opener Between You And Me is more alternative than prog to be honest, but the guitar notes from Steve Rothery are sumptuous and Hogarth's vocal is piercing. The organ backing from Mark Kelly must also be commended highly. Map Of The World is arguably the best offering on this LP, telling the story of a guy consistently chasing the girl of his dreams - someone who has got their entire life planned out, and all Hogarth, as the speaker, can do is hide the dejection behind his sharp dressing and chase her around, in the hope she notices him someday. This song features a trademark Marillion instrumental break and bridge, with the keyboards of Kelly and the guitars of Rothery combining to create an exemplary sound collage. There's a lot of groove present, with The Fruit Of The Wild Rose exemplifying this perfectly. Its seven minute duration encompasses a variety of musical themes, starting with an eerie guitar riff that soon brings in the bass and Hogarth's conversational vocal. It progresses into this lighter tone of voice with the organ backing, before jumping into the chorus where it becomes a lighter sound overall. It soon returns to its thicker sound and becomes more funky towards the end. Just marvellous. The album features a different shift to usual too, with Quartz including a full-on rap segment from Hogarth in the middle of the track and throughout the song's nine minutes, it brings something new to the prog-rock table. Whilst it may not hark back to the typical forms of prog in talking about goblins and mythical beasts, Quartz brings it right up to the present day, entwining various different elements of modern music to keep it moving with the times. Anoraknophobia is one of the best Marillion albums and by comparison to some, it's one more people should take notice of and devote time to. There's something for everyone here and its groovy nature, combined with the stalwart features of prog-rock combine to create something brilliantly left-field. If you want to pick up a copy, I’ll leave an Amazon link here: https://amzn.to/2Dd7mO4 Or, if you’d prefer, here’s a Spotify link: More musical magnificence to come next week! UNTITLED may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through the links on our site. Find out more here.

Twenty two years ago, the worldwide industry of internet crowdfunding was first conceived. You'd think it was done by one of the great technological pioneers - the Sir Tim Berners Lees and the Steve Jobs of this world, but if you dig a little deeper, you'll find that the extremely popular funding mechanism was founded by five blokes in a band from Aylesbury and some extremely loyal fans. Indeed, it was prog-rock pioneers Marillion who invented this phenomenon. The year was 1997 and the band were, as keyboardist Mark Kelly said, 'caught a little short' during his TEDxBedford talk a few years ago. On the forum 'Freaks' (named after a Fish-era B-Side), the band would regularly get inundated with requests for an American tour. Of course, with a band whose only major hits were twelve years ago, the regular income of money had dried up from royalties. In addition, they had just been let go from EMI Records, who they'd been signed to since the release of their debut single, Market Square Heroes, in 1982. 1997 saw the release of the This Strange Engine and the sharp decline in mainstream success; the two singles released from the album, Eighty Days and A Man Of A Thousand Faces, did not break into the UK Top 40 - this was the first time this has occurred in the band's history. Despite these commercial issues, the fanbase remained loyal and the band's following turned into one of a cult. Mark Kelly was quoted as saying that it would cost in the region of $60,000 to run a US tour and a small group of fans thought it right to set up a 'US Tour Fund' for the band. People thought they were mad and that it wouldn't work. Admittedly, it was unheard of for the time, but that didn't stop the forum trying. The group of around one thousand fans on the mailing list raised one-third of the money in a few weeks and notified Kelly who then told the rest of the band. Within six months, the full total was raised and thanks to media attention in the US papers and people buying tickets to see the band stateside, a small profit was netted on the '97 tour. This was then invested into selling soundboard recordings of the individual gigs on CDs that now sell for hundreds of pounds on auction sites such as eBay. Again, another precedent set by Marillion that has continued for pretty much all concerts over the last fifteen years or so, being made available for download through the band's official store - Racket Records. Around three years later, at the turn of the millennium, the band wished to try the same with an entirely new album. This was in a desperate attempt to break the monotony associated with a record contract and to have the ability to do things in their own time. Lead singer Steve Hogarth was quoted as saying "...how would you guys feel about buying a record we haven't made yet – because if you did we'd be really grateful...". The band asked its 30,000-strong mailing list if they would be interested in purchasing a special edition album that came with bonus tracks for a small pledge - around 6000 or so positive replies were received in the space of a couple of days and ultimately, 12,674 copies were preordered. The campaign's final product was the 2001 album Anoraknophobia - an album I define as their best of the last twenty-five years. With the special edition came the album on CD, a 'bonus CD' with added rarities and demos and a large booklet that had the names of all the backers printed inside. This made the album more personal in the eyes of the band and was felt amongst the fanbase, so much so that most of their recent offerings have been crowdfunded, including their latest one, 2016's FEAR (Fuck Everyone And Run). Since 2001 certainly, the principle of internet crowdfunding has grown exponentially and with the rise of sites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, people from all ages and backgrounds can get their ideas noticed and their voices heard. Some projects on these sites fly high, such as the Pebble brand of smartwatches, whose two versions raised a combined $23 million. However, some projects come crashing down after their high-flying start. In particular, android games console Ouya received 904% of its original backing goal with around $8.6 million in funds; it reached the full total within eight hours. Within the first day of the project being available to fund, it apparently attracted a new backer every 5.59 seconds. However, once the Ouya launched in 2013, the media criticised it heavily, stating the issues being that its selection of games was sub-par and even then, the gaming experience was much better and more worthwhile on a standard Android phone. The firm ultimately fell to the hands of gaming peripherals giant Razer, who bought the Ouya software assets and discontinued the console after just two years of shelf life. In conclusion, the rise of crowdfunding has been meteoric, especially over the last decade or so, but there comes a small dosage of scepticism with its power as people may hold back on donations if they can't see the finished products straight away. The same issue comes with online shopping too as people may hold out and pay for something in a retail outlet so they can try the product before they buy it. Therefore, in practice, crowdfunding is an absolutely brilliant idea and whilst people may have issues with the intangible aspects of the products, all the sites act as a fantastic platform for unique ideas and voices.

We continue on with our seventies theme but instead move forwards a few years and into London with Elvis Costello's second album, his first with The Attractions, This Year's Model, from 1978. You may notice that the album's picture above is cropped on the left hand side and features a printers' colour bar on the right hand side - this was deliberate from the designer, Barney Bubbles and a popular technique at the time. There was also a little message pressed between the holding spirals on Side One - it read "Special pressing No. 003. Ring 434 32 32. Ask for Moira for your prize". Indeed, if people rang this number, they would be greeted by the aforementioned 'Moira' who was a press agent at Radar Records and rewarded with a badge for their dedication. If only more albums had this subtle quirkiness these days. Opener No Action is two minutes of some furious drumming from the brilliant Pete Thomas and the song itself is insanely quick and punchy, detailing a frosty time in the speaker's relationship and how they've seemingly reverted to friends. The fury that Costello feels is indeed exemplified through the song's duration of dead-on two minutes. This Year's Girl is one of two songs that form the title of the album and specifically, it talks about certain things that men are attracted to in women and he talks about this in his autobiography:"Everything in the song is about how the way men see woman and what they desire from them. If there is a lie being told, then it is the one that a girl might be prepared to live or tell in order to live up to some false ideal of attraction.". There's an awful lot of funky tracks on this album, such as lead single Pump it Up that portrays Costello's love for double entendres, portraying his addictions to a certain woman and how he constantly wishes to engage in intimate acts with them. Rather interestingly, this song is alleged to have been written whilst Costello was sitting in the fire escape of his Newcastle hotel on tour in 1977. One of the album's main highlights is the brilliantly skittish Lipstick Vogue and its insanely high energy. There's barely a moment for any member of the Attractions, nor Costello to catch his breath as everything all comes in at once - the absolutely fantastic bassline from Bruce Thomas and what must be commended highly is the erratic drumming from Pete Thomas. Both of these parts set the foundation for what is, personally speaking, the album's best offering. In conclusion, This Year's Model is a versatile collection of songs that incorporate funk, energy and emotion to create what is an absolutely fantastic album. Having only recently been listening to Elvis Costello, there really is no finer introduction to his work than this. If you want to pick up a copy, I’ll leave an Amazon link here: https://amzn.to/334Iyma Or, if you’d prefer, here’s a Spotify link: More musical magnificence to come next week! UNTITLED may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through the links on our site. Find out more here.

Over the past few years, I've seen my fashion sense change. Yes, it's understandable that times change, but to see a favourite retailer just disintegrate before your eyes is awful. One such retailer is the Liam Gallagher-owned Pretty Green label. Founded in 2006 by the then Oasis frontman, Pretty Green specialised in reviving elements of the mod fashion, with its elaborate paisley patterns and rock-inspired designs intending to turn heads and emanate attitude. Now, thirteen years later, the brand has fallen into financial troubles and have been handed a lifeline by JD Sports, after speculation that the label would be gobbled up by Mike Ashley's Sports Direct empire. It comes as little surprise that JD Sports have come forward to own the younger Gallagher's fashion label, since JD also own retailer 'Scotts', who have stocked Pretty Green for a few years now. What does come as a surprise is the fact that all eleven Pretty Green high-street stores, barring the flagship in Manchester, immediately closed, leading to scenes like the picture above in London's Carnaby Street. What was once a bustling clothes store, radiating class and brashness, has fallen into disarray, becoming a hangar stockist above all else. Ninety-seven jobs have been lost as a result of these closures, but what is most bizarre is that with no concessions also present (House Of Fraser had these), it becomes increasingly difficult for consumers to actually purchase their clothes. One store to serve the country simply isn't enough - of course, people can buy online, but there's no 'online fitting rooms' - to get a sense of how something looks and indeed fits, you've got to try the clothes on first. I have to say, the overall 'experience' put forward in the stores up and down the country was absolutely brilliant - the staff were chatty and always helpful and moreover, the overall mood of the stores was light with a touch of grunt that obviously comes from their owner. The brand took on high-profile collaborations with artists such as Jimi Hendrix and The Beatles, creating some absolutely fantastic lines for the two, especially The Beatles with the Sgt. Pepper and White Album collections more recently. These were accompanied by a large launch event at the store in Liverpool, also in conjunction with the Cavern Club, whose resident artists (e.g. John Keats and Jimmy Coburn) often wear Pretty Green clothes. It's something a little different that the brand can have as a competitive advantage over its rivals, along with the different patterns and styles that they stock. Pretty Green fell victim to the House Of Fraser crash last year - the brand were owed over £500,000 as a result of the incident and this has probably cost them a fair amount of investment funds to expand the business or help its recovery. With thirty-three Pretty Green concessions now lost nationwide, House Of Fraser are also losing out on business and with numerous other brands also losing floor space, it looks like a downward spiral for the department store. It does beg the question though, why don't Pretty Green, now under new owners, look to put the brand in other stores? I'd guess that the answer is that there aren't many department stores left - Debenhams, for the past few months, has been on the verge of falling off the financial cliff and Pretty Green would have some competition, especially with other men's brands like Ben Sherman and Hackett, whose stocks are at similar price points. John Lewis, another competitor who could stock Pretty Green, saw their profits drop 99% in the first half of last year due to economic uncertainty and whilst they could stock the brand, with the way their profits went last year, it's difficult to see this happening. Department stores in Britain are dying out quickly and before we know it, they'll all be empty, destined to be replaced by offices or small stores in their place. What does seem strange is that Pretty Green were on an upwards path before hitting administration earlier this year. Whilst they made a £1.5 million pre-tax loss last year, that was drastically up from £5.6 million in losses the previous year; no dividends were paid out. Turnover also jumped up £17 million to £38.2 million last year and with the way the business was going from the outside looking in, it seemed like a profit could be netted this year. With the appointment of Moorfields Advisory, this was the first indication I heard of some form of financial troubles. It's fair to say that the collapse was coming, with the continuous decline of the high-street and also the challenging financial conditions that businesses are experiencing as a result of Brexit and a lack of investment. All we can hope for is that other upmarket brands don't die out and that the retailers that stock them aren't brought down as a result of financial troubles. Debenhams seems next to meet its maker and with their collapse, we could see the destruction of the department store. Of course, this is not something any consumer wants.

We move forward twenty-six years for our next album with my beloved Arctic Monkeys' 2009 rather surreal album Humbug. Unlike the two albums that preceded it, Humbug sees the Arctic Monkeys take a much darker turn compared to the fast-paced, action-filled LPs from a couple of years prior. It was recorded entirely in the USA and saw Queens Of The Stone Age producer Josh Homme roped in to help the boys out. He's remained with the band since, along with James Ford, so he must be doing something right as this album is a production masterpiece. It collates elements of desert-rock with more distorted and prominent bass tones that can be found on the likes of Crying Lightning for instance. It's bass-heavy with rather off-the-wall lyrics that mention confectionery ("strawberry lace";"gobstopper") and Turner manages to entwine all this into the overall theme of a love-hate relationship that this song talks about. Tracks such as Pretty Visitors also feature out-there and enigmatic lyrics, but what is notable about this album is how sinister it is to the listener. In particular, Pretty Visitors is a complete kick-in-the-teeth with its ominous organ backing and drily-delivered lyrics. There's these absurd rhymes present and it's this difference to anything else in their back catalogue that makes this album stand out. Moreover, Fire And The Thud, is perhaps a little more downbeat and sombre and is a wonderful rarity that more people should discover. The song comes in stages and builds to a rather hectic guitar solo that overpowers its latter part. In a way, portrays the beginning of Turner's conversational lyrical delivery that would be essential for the AM and Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino albums that followed. There are elements of a darker, perhaps more melancholic tone with Cornerstone exemplifying this perfectly. Despite the melodic, lighter guitar backing that rings the bells of Johnny Marr and The Smiths, the lyrical content of the song concerns Turner searching various pubs to find girls that each resemble his ex-lover ("I asked her if I could call her your name..."). The song's story isn't entirely true, but upon occasion during the most recent tour, Turner has thrown in a couple of lines of dialogue between Cornerstone and the following song such as "And all these years later, we’re all really good friends now, remarkably. It didn’t last with the sister. I think she married a chef.", making a recurring joke of the supposed truth of the song. Overall, Humbug is a real fan-favourite album and is one that should be appreciated in its entirety. It's certainly in my top five and one that even just fleeting fans of the rock genre can enjoy greatly. It appeals to a multitude of audiences and that's the uniqueness of the Arctic Monkeys I suppose. If you want to pick up a copy, I’ll leave an Amazon link here: https://amzn.to/30Wj9Zi Or, if you’d prefer, here’s a Spotify link: More musical magnificence to come next week! UNTITLED may earn an affiliate commission when you purchase through the links on our site. Find out more here.

News reached us a few days ago of some new legislation passed by the long-time 29th Sultan Of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, that permits the stoning of homosexuals and the amputation of thieves' limbs. These new laws have led to the announcements from various high-profile celebrities such as actor George Clooney (pictured above) to boycott Bolkiah's lavish hotels that include The Dorchester and The Beverly Hills, seen above. It does beg the question though - is it right and necessary to boycott such uptight establishments? The new laws originate from the most extreme form of Sharia law, the moral code of the Islam faith. Punishments are divided up into two categories - 'Hadd' offences and 'Tazir' crimes. 'Hadd' are those where there are set consequences in place for the most serious offences and 'Tazir' are those where the punishment is left to the judge. Some examples of 'Hadd' offences include theft, which in Brunei is now punishable by amputation and adultery, which carries the harsh and inhumane penalty of death by stoning. Sharia law is enshrined in Islam's holy scriptures such as the Quran and it is not uncommon for these laws to be in place - it trickles right down to explain to Muslims how they live their lives and the rules that they follow. Brunei first introduced Sharia law in 2014 with phases of crimes and punishments that primarily comprised of prison sentences and fines. Offences included pregnancy out of wedlock or failure to pray on Fridays. Under these new laws that were enforced yesterday, those found guilty of intimate homosexual acts can be stoned to death or whipped - this is a common occurrence in the most extreme cases of Sharia law. Even before 2014, homosexuality was illegal in Brunei and carried a ten year prison sentence with it. The laws are not just limited to the 420,000 citizens of the small Asian island, but also to foreigners and children too, even if they are not Muslims themselves. In the wake of the legislation, famous celebrities such as George Clooney and Ellen DeGeneres have campaigned for the boycott of nine luxury hotels owned by the Brunei Investment Agency, of which the Sultan is the head. DeGeneres herself called for people to 'rise up' against the establishments and greatly disregard those hotels as valid places to stay. Elton John also joined with Clooney to further condemn the new Bruneian legislation. Clooney was quoted as saying: "I've stayed at many of them," Mr. Clooney wrote, "because I hadn't done my homework and didn't know who owned them. Every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens." Clooney raises the point that it is the responsibility of people to stop using these hotels as they are directly paying the Bruneian officials, including the Sultan himself, that are enforcing these laws. These new laws has caused a spate of further action from major businesses such as the Australian division of Virgin, who have cancelled staff deals with Brunei's national airline that allowed staff to book discounted Royal Brunei flights for leisure purposes. Australia's second largest airline sent an internal memo to employees explaining that the new laws also apply to those who are in transit in "Brunei-registered aircraft and vessels" which only exacerbates this already large issue. An honorary degree presented to the Sultan from the University Of Aberdeen in 1995 is also being looked into by their Honorary Degrees Committee and could be revoked. In a statement, the university said that "The University of Aberdeen is inclusive and open to all. In light of this new information, this matter will be raised as a matter of urgency with the University's Honorary Degrees Committee." In conclusion, it is indeed correct and right to boycott the Sultan's hotels due to this frankly inhumane legislation that has been allowed into the Bruneian judicial system. Penalties such as stoning for adultery are not uncommon in some Muslim countries and it is not just Brunei. It is up to activists and the public in general to stand up to the horrible treatment that literally anyone could receive as a result of these 'stronger Islamic teachings'. George Clooney and others have raised a rather interesting point here and it's one that everyone should follow, regardless of nationality, race, creed or culture.