Music

Have you ever wanted to be smarter or more popular? Well according to an article in Focus last year, singing can raise your I.Q. and your social status. I can hear many of you saying; "You haven't heard me sing yet!" and I can relate, because I used to feel the same way. Now, after hosting Karaoke shows for the past 2 ½ years I can say I know better. Mind you, I am not saying I am a singing Superstar, but I can hold my own with a few songs. How does singing raise your I.Q.?

I thought this band were just a one hit wonder on the back of the success of their fantastic treadmill video and thanks to You Tube and Facebook propagation.  But on further listening I've discovered that these Chicago indie-rockers have a lot more to offer.  The band is Damian Kulash (lead vocals and guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar and backing vocalist), Dan Konopka (drums and percussion) and Andy Ross (keyboards, guitar and backing vocals).  The band name comes from Damian and Tim's art teacher, who used to say "OK...Go!" when they were drawing.

Cowboys on Dope are a local Cologne band who play a mixture of Country, Rock, Blues and Western, and they may be German, but they sound like they come from deepest darkest Texas.

If there's one German band you have to see live - it's Deichkind.  Their music is a mix of electro and hip-hop which they call TechRap. If you're a live band fan that might not sound so great - who wants to watch a bunch of DJ's and rappers running around the stage for two hours?

Now that Oasis have officially called it a day, the word on the street is that Kasabian will be taking their place as the bastions of Brit Pop.  The Leicester band came to fame in 2005 and went on to have a massive hit with the single "Empire" in 2007.  Their new album "West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum" features the single "Vlad the Impaler" (catch the silly video on their website) and promises a few "Syd Barrett from Pink Floyd moments".  To promote the new album Kasabian are tour